


Living an Indoctrinated Dream

by Aberron



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-11 09:51:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 90
Words: 1,070,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7043260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aberron/pseuds/Aberron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sending Shepard back in time? Wildly inefficient. Unlikely to produce significant changes to timeline. Sending the Illusive Man back in time? </p><p>Difficulty level has increased. Jack Harper, The Illusive Man, is back where it all started. New Cerberus, New plan, and the Reapers watching, always watching. Sending a Hero back in time does nothing; Sending back this guy? Priceless. AU.</p><p>Epic length story about the Illusive Man and how he plans to get back at the Reapers.  Includes lovable characters and a deeply realistic portrayal of the Human Systems Alliance, the Council, and the Batarian Hegemony.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fugue: Waking Dream

This is the first chapter of an idea that has been stewing in my head for a good while. I have five more chapters written, but they are being poured over for corrections and other such niceties. This fanfiction is written by a fan rather pissed about the ending of Mass Effect 3, but I understand the reasons why Bioware had to scramble to fill in plot when the lead writer got kicked off the series.

So, let me present to you An Indoctrinated Dream. Mass Effect with Ego.

_If you wanted me to apologize, you would have brought a lawyer._

_-Jack Harper_

The feeling of a bullet passing through your head is quite surreal. Surreal right until your nerves that let you know that you are hurt start screaming out to let you know that you have been hurt. Shepard's bullet passed right through the frontal lobes, and unfortunately due to his reaper hardware he had installed, he had a much better response system installed behind his eyes. He jerked his head as the bullet broke through his improved skull, the grain sized piece of burning hot metal, inferno ammo, Her favorite, burned its way at a different angle. Thanks to his involuntary head twitching, the bullet then impacted his spine, passing relatively safely through the rest of his head. So he had a perfect view of her as she lowered her gun, and dragged her broken body over towards Anderson's.

He consciously turned off his nervous system, as with a burnt and broken spine there wasn't much point to having it on. More importantly, it turned off the pain that he was receiving. Sometimes there were benefits to the Reaper hardware. Thanks to the chat he just had with Shepard, he finally realized the consequences of those. At that time he didn't really want to think about it, but now he had a lot more time to think about it. His mouth wouldn't move, but he could shift his eyes around. He watched as Shepard and Anderson had their last little chat. He wished he could insert some commentary. Content to watch as Shepard got a seat for the final battle of Humanity, Jack Harper reflected on all of this.

His goals for Cerberus, his life's work, had been subverted by the enemy. The moment he implanted himself with those eyes he knew something had changed. He had thought that he had it under control. Looking back, he could see a clear path of small and simple decisions that showed the same Indoctrination that he had been looking for within the Citadel Council. He had found it, for certain, but only where his Reaper overlords wanted him to. He had been played like a cheap instrument, leading what should have been Humanity's brightest hope to become their darkest future. The future as it stood right now was not one that he would have wanted.

The Reapers had started the battle with about 1:2 odds against them. Right now it was looking more like 1:1. The Citadel forces were being systematically cut down before they could pierce the kinetic barriers of the Reaper Dreadnaughts. One by one the ships were falling, and burning up in earth's atmosphere. If Jack had the capacity to be angry, he would. The Reapers had removed his emotional responses from his mind, to better his ability to micromanage Cerberus. That didn't mean that he couldn't analyze the situation and pass his own judgement. Hell, this whole situation was a giant setup. The Reapers had the battle in their greedy little tentacles, and had agents in every single fleet. These agents could alert the Reapers to any plan that the allied forces were forming. He knew this because he made sure that these agents were in place. For Cerberus. For the Reapers.

His mind went through all of its capabilities. The only thing he had control of currently were his eyes, and his brain was slowly losing oxygen. He could probably act for the next minute or two before his brain lost enough blood that he would no longer function. The Reaper hardware was the only thing keeping him going. So, he had plenty of time to organize his life and all of his decisions. Without emotions to slow things down he could correctly say that he had been manipulated starting within the last ten years. So, when he helped found Cerberus it was under his own power and mental control. He wasn't manipulated then. That at least would give him something to smile about. If he could make his mouth do more than drool senselessly and let his lifeblood drain out. Poor hardware, to stop working when his spine was destroyed. Whose idea was that to have just one connecting point for all his hardware? Oh right. That one was actually his own choice. Now he wished he could grimace. Shepard had far too much practice shooting husks for his liking.

Speaking of Shepard, she had gotten up and was fiddling with the data uplink to the Citadel's core. He had been trying for hours to break in, so he didn't expect her to be able to go anywhere he couldn't. His eyes opened wider in surprise when the lift started working, but she hadn't even gotten past the login screen. He focused, his zoom enhancement focusing on the screen she was holding onto for support. It was showing the same screen that he himself had been stuck at. That meant that this lift wasn't rising from her input, but from an outside source. This all reeked of a trap.

The lift rose, stopping at the base of the citadel. All around him, he could see the fleets locked in a one sided slaughter. One Reaper was nearby, just sitting and observing the citadel. He knew this one. Harbinger, if he could guess. Harbinger was a larger Dreadnaught, and had two sets of main plasma burst weapons. It was a unique addition to the Reaper. Harbinger was sitting a comfortable distance away, content to observe. But to Jack, this all made him come to a realization. Just as he had been manipulated, Shepard was next. How much of the Lazarus Project was made up of Indoctrination pieces of cybernetics? Had Shepard already been compromised?

Judging by her lack of response to the stimulus around her, he had to assume she had been. This was all engineered by the Reapers to control the outcome, while letting the sentient species believe that they were making their own decisions. He knew how this would end, because the hardware in his brain was letting him process all of the facts, conjecture of Shepard's actions, and expectation of how a synthetic might react. The Catalyst, the entire goal of the Allied forces, had connected with the Citadel.

While under the control of the Reapers, he had been told to leave their little project alone. Now he knew why. It was another manipulation, just like the Mass Relays, the Citadel. It was all just another layer on their complete and total victory, making the newly-allied races spend and waste resources on it. Resources that could have been better spent making holdouts, or some other plan that led to the races escaping or such. However, the Catalyst was designed to interact with the citadel.

He was dying, and in his moment of death he could feel at least a little clarity return. Enough to recognize that whatever the Reapers were planning, they needed a sentient to initiate it. Shepard started talking into thin air, seemingly communicating with something in the chamber. He couldn't see anything. Further signs that she was Indoctrinated. Before he could consider anything further, she started walking towards an exposed power conduit. It was all the way on the left, and had sparks that looked remarkably like the red sparks that flowed off of the Reapers. She was delusional, walking towards the conduit with both hands outwards, reaching for the exposed cabling. That sounded remarkably like the Reapers getting what they wanted.

Time to do something about it. One thing that he had built into his head, considering his desire to process information, was another Omni-gel layer, allowing him to fit an Omni-tool into the space where his thyroid used to be. He had software to manage what had been removed. Hardware layers, too. Another layer that had been added was some offensive software. Specifically, a Heavy Overload package. He would have had to use it on Shepard to strip her of shields earlier, but when she arrived most of her hardsuit had been burnt off. So there was no need for it. Now, though, he accessed the software with his slowly dying brain. It was taking too long, but that might have been because he could hardly aim the ocular motors on his implants any more.

Still, Jack Harper had made his life a series of stunning victories. He had only had to kill someone directly three times. Anderson wasn't his choice of action, but he was technically the one pulling the trigger. He could take partial responsibility. Murder in the second degree, but most assuredly not the first or third. The other two were a bit more personal. Still, no sense getting nostalgic when you had a galaxy-wide plan to throw off. Just as Shepard came within range of the conduits, and the energy started arcing towards her, he activated his Heavy Overload. The small tech burst latched onto the conduit, and the sparks changed from their normal red to a deeper orange. Jack could safely assume it was a good thing, because in the background he could see the Reaper, Harbinger, almost get startled and try to charge the Citadel.

Jack couldn't smile, but he really, _really_ wanted to right now. Shepard fell to the floor, mouth spasming and ears bleeding. Looks like the Lazarus Implants were rejecting her. She didn't deserve that. Too bad Miranda didn't go behind his back and put in a control mechanism like he hoped she would secretly do to spite him. Still, it would probably end in the same situation they were in right now. The Reapers would still have won, because all of his decisions were still being influenced by them at the time.

The last thing he saw was a sphere of oscillating colors rising from the Catalyst and rushing towards the Reapers. Including himself, of course. It looked like a grand mess. Shepard and he were both bleeding out on the ground, him from blood loss and her from convulsions as her artificial lung and heart implants failed and stopped pumping. He could appreciate the Reapers taking away his emotions at this point. They would have made him wretch or turn his head away from the energy as it rushed him, picking up speed and -

* * *

"Sir, stop twisting your head or you'll lose the other eye!" Someone was saying. "Stay still!" "Nurse, bring some restraints, we have to go into the nerve!"

"He's losing blood!"

"Found the bullet! Sinus cavity! Forceps!"

This was not the memory he wanted to have. But the pain was so _real_ , it almost felt like it wasn't a memory, like he was back in Australia. The Reaper hardware should have filtered the pain out by now. He tried to blink, but something was holding his eye open. The other was a mass of pain, almost like there was a knife in there. Shoving his head forward, he could feel the jagged edge of a knife drag on the bone of his cheek. So there really was a knife there. But more importantly, he had not done that in the memory.

"Pinch that! He is losing more blood!"

"Forcep went through into the mouth, get a suture!"

"My Hell! Get that bullet out of him, now!"

That wasn't the script. He wasn't supposed to be seeing this. Yet here he was, on the operating table in Australia. He had gone hunting with his friend and associate, Henry Lawson. Things had gone poorly when Jack got gored. Then, an accident occurred in the worst form when he fired his gun and the bullet refracted and part of it went into his eye. Which lead to the operating table. Henry owned a medical firm that researched genome manipulation and artificial organ replacement. This included his own private hospital, where Jack was being worked over.

This was all during the 'Great Shift Forward' in technology that was happening as the Prothean archive on Mars divulged more and more data. Sometimes it was just fun to break out the old guns and use them. Much more sporting than a railgun system that was as easy as a video game to point and shoot. The mass effect allowed weaponry to change everything. Bullets still hurt, though.

Through the haze, something was forced over his mouth, making him feel drowsy. He supposed that if this was real, he should at least be a gentleman and stay still so they could fix him. But, knowing this must be some lucid dream or some form of afterlife, he had to keep some form of decorum. He breathed in more deeply, letting the cloudiness rush across his senses and take him far from the operating room. Hopefully the next lucid dream would be when he took home President Scott and her very beautiful aide. That was a much preferred memory.

* * *

3 Days Later

"Henry, I am still not positive this is all real." Jack told his friend honestly. "This all feels like a lucid dream." They were in a hospital room that thankfully had a tint control of the windows from the bed, along with temperature control, and control over the door lock. Henry went to the very best of accommodations for his friend. They had been friends since the founding of Lawson Enterprises, when Henry got his first big fund from Jack's company. Jack had a huge host of companies all focused around the networking of capital and manpower. He could be classified as a Venture Capitalist, but at the same time was very different. He was a capitalist for any concern or opportunity that benefited humanity as a whole.

"That's the painkillers, Jack." Henry said, still apologetic about their trip. "You have been heard screaming at night. We have you on so much pain medicine that it is difficult to have you in a mindset that you can think clearly in."

"Oh I can think clearly, Henry." Jack said, speaking but unable to see. His remaining eye was behind a blindfold. "More clearly than ever."

Henry snorted. "I doubt that. But I do need your opinion. I have started cloning an eye for you. But my best doctor claims that it won't be as functional as your previous one for at least a year. The other option is to get some sort of cybernetic enhanced eyes. That would work faster and get you back on your feet. We can start the operation at any time. But first I need to know what you want. We both know your parents and siblings aren't around to advise me on this anymore."

More from Henry that didn't follow the script. Very interesting. This lucid dream was entertaining. Jack would at least let it play out, perhaps to see what the Reapers were doing this time. "The cybernetics sound useful, but I don't feel comfortable using them. I'll take a real eye any day." There. His first real action to throw off the timeline. In the real memory he had taken the Cybernetics, not wanting to take any further time off for a wound. If this lucid dream was controlled by the Reapers, they would implant the cybernetics anyways. His lungs and throat were working fine, if a little tired from the operation and healing. He would not attribute anything to screaming, as that would play into this entire dreamscape that the Reapers had stuck him in.

Henry got up. Here he would tell him that the cybernetics were it. Then this would all be revealed as yet another layer of Reaper plot. "Alright, Jack. We will start the implantation in thirty minutes. I'll do anything I can to make this up to you, my friend." Henry said, getting up and heading for the door. It certainly sounded legitimate, coming from Henry. But unless he could see he couldn't verify if he was lying and going around his back or not. Nothing was real, nothing could be trusted, and he couldn't be Indoctrinated further. Not when he had the choice.

As they wheeled him out of his room, he grinned. Time to test the theory. His eyes would only be the first of many tests in this lucid dreamscape. If the Reapers could replicate his old emotions and memories, he would have to be thorough. Unless, of course, he could throw off the entire plan from the beginning. He was currently one of the five hundred wealthiest humans, and in the top four hundred for most powerful. That didn't matter against the Reapers.

He laughed a tiny bit as they put him to sleep for the surgery. Oh yes, even in his dreams, he would win.

* * *

Four Months Later

Jack had tried everything. He was getting no signs of trouble from the Reapers at his attempts to change the memoryscape. It was for certain, not a dreamscape. It was all memories, with his body experiencing the normal amount of pain, physical therapy, tiredness, stress, and exhaustion. Whatever they had done, the Reapers had made all of this so real that it _felt_ real at times.

His hypothesis was simple. The Reapers were analyzing his mind, seeking out the strategies and methods that he would use to counter them, if he had more foreknowledge about them then in the reality that was a complete failure. His eyes had finally recovered, still the brilliant blue that he so vainly loved. He had not been able to change much, as far as he could tell. But so far he had kept the 2140 Olympics from becoming the bomb-ridden disaster that they had normally been. Of course, that was because he had been trying to get more biotic potential in the human race, and had rigged a space ship to explode and create that effect.

Not a single harmful consequence. In fact, the opposite was happening. The Alliance was supposed to be ramping up for confrontation against rebels that didn't exist, in response to the bombing crisis. Now, though, the plans for humanity's first fast attack frigates were being removed from the shipyard, something about peacetime interests. Unacceptable. When the Turians attack in 2157, the Alliance won't be ready in time. Not at the rate they are going.

So, Jack started making a plan. This dreamscape was so detailed that it almost felt like the Reapers were pulling information from more sources than just his own memories. Perhaps the records that were on earth helped them build this dreamlike playground. Jack tested this, walking into random bars and taverns as often as he could, and scheduling random vacations to places that he despised. But in every case he met new people, and of course their background checks verified who they were. The Reapers had a fully realized system. A complete network of people and memories that had him confused.

Shepard wasn't even around yet to help him kill them all. He also had no intention of going through Relay 314, an alpha relay that could dump him anywhere. All of the clues were out there, besides a few known Reaper artifacts on earth, Eden Prime, and Shanxi. He had a list of places to destroy, annihilate, and remove from the history books. But more importantly, he had a plan. If the Reapers wanted a counter-argument to their complete victory, and had him running in their little maze, Jack was going to prove to them that Humanity was more than a threat. Humanity could have won, he was sure. There were too many moments where the Reapers preferred to subvert than achieve total victory. They would not have done so if they believed that Humanity didn't pose a significant threat. They would not have gone to such great effort to subvert _Cerberus_ if it did not pose a great threat.

So, he would give them a show. Prove them right, that their subversions were real. Whether this was what they wanted or not, he didn't know. No actions had been taken to alter the memoryscape from the side of the Reapers. Certain things had changed since he had come into the timeline, and it all could be traced to his own actions. It became harder to trace his spent money, but he could blame his random trips everywhere. So, he had hunted down all of the differences from his memories and this dreamscape. He could feel pain, he could be stabbed, he could be strangled, he could get drunk, and he could feel nicotine again. Now _that_ was something that gave him a bit of comfort. With all of these memories to compare against the memoryscape, he had to do something to keep himself calmed down and focused.

So, cigarettes. The good kind. He had a series of the electronic cigarettes delivered for use when he had a woman over. If Jack Harper was anything, it was that he could enjoy a fine wine, smoke, fight, and to top it all off he would have a fine woman to enjoy as well. So, looking back at his bed, he could see three bottles of wine, a pack of cigarettes, and a model asleep on the covers. Zalia Thern was a wonderful example of humanity. Perhaps he could talk to Henry about putting some of her DNA into Miranda, when he made her. It wouldn't be long now, all things considered. Just in case he already had some of her blood and hair. She was too tired to notice his work, and he didn't have time to sleep with his erstwhile companions.

No, there was too much that needed doing. He could afford to take the time to show off his wealth, his women, as that was expected. He could not afford to come under scrutiny. So, he had to maintain the appearance. More importantly, business had to expand, infrastructure be ready for when the Turians and the Council invaded. Perhaps he should focus more on Shanxi. If perhaps that planet was targeted, and became a security hazard. More military would get transferred there. Jack Harper was not the most infamous bastard of his race for nothing. Of course, in this memoryscape he hadn't formed Cerberus yet. That was only made in response to the fact that aliens did exist, and they did have an agenda. Last month he had created a front company, hiring a few mercenaries and getting a few ships.

Vido Santiago was a very easily manipulated man. He assumed that there was a motive behind his supplier, his clients. Not all of the money involved came from him, of course. Other rich and curious individuals invested in this sort of thing. So a conglomerate of front companies existed, covering the expenses and movements of a mercenary group. Next month they would be sent to Shanxi, to start some trouble. Piracy, rampant violence, and a side dish of targeting pro-military demonstrators. Everything needed to make the angry politicians call in the military. Vido Santiago would die, as he promised to his co worker, Zaeed Massani. Massani had a loyal streak in him. Of course, he had to somehow convince Vido to betray him within the next year in order to create the revenge complex within Zaeed. The drive for this would lead to one of the founding groups of Cerberus.

This time, Jack wasn't going to play nice. Cerberus would rise, and would be ready for when the Turians came. For when Saren Arterius came to Shanxi.

* * *

2152, Earth, Van Jensen Towers, Argentina

Twelve years. Twelve years of tests, work and effort. Jack grimaced. Some of his actions had very real consequences. Shanxi, for instance. Not quite his best work, trying to accelerate the growth of humanity. Vido Santiago had betrayed Zaeed Massani, alright. He nuked the poor bastard when Massani took a bullet through the head and got back up, killing all of the men sent to kill him. So, Vido decided to destroy one of the ships that Jack had gotten him, loading every scrap of Element Zero onboard, and blowing it up right on top of Zaeed. The explosion claimed a quarter of the island they were working at, and released enough Eezo into the air that at least half of the planet would get some form of biotic children at this rate.

Vido then betrayed him for other contacts. Namely a terrorist organization. Calling themselves the Shanxi Reds, and declaring war against the local government, which was Jack's original intention for them to be armed for, they began operations to break down the government of Shanxi. Unfortunately, the Reds had a lot more built up than Jack realized. At this crucial juncture, Jack Harper could only directly see and control the movement of money and goods. He didn't have the AI experts, hacking teams, or spies planted in the secure locations necessary to be able to predict the military response.

The Assembly held off on any decision regarding Shanxi for two weeks. The military was then given the order to go in. By that time, it was too late. The mercenaries couldn't fight any sort of space battle, but they had taken control of the local government. More importantly, budget cuts and lack of ships of any size to bring in armored vehicles broke the Alliance's reaction. Shanxi was put under blockade. Alliance Marines held a few locations on Shanxi, where refugees were fleeing to, but couldn't make any headway against the well armed Reds. Talk of other groups aligning themselves with the Reds was going on all over the cluster, leading to Humanity in chaos.

It was all his fault. He armed the mercenaries with every weapon he could, trusting that the colony's marine contingent was being lead by general Williams, famous for his pragmaticism and preparedness. Instead, General Williams was serving at the Prothean Archive, where a small terrorist action had taken place, damaging the Prothean Beacon. In Jack's eyes the attack was much more critical. The files on the Catalyst had to be removed, it was too much of a threat to his plans.

So, General Hansen was instead in charge of the defense of Shanxi. He assumed that the mercenaries would be poorly armed and armored. His forces got attacked and scattered when the mercenaries stole all of their heavy vehicles and bombarded their headquarters. Vido had been recruiting heavily from the gang-ridden sections of earth. Worse, the colonial militias couldn't even organize before the mercs got to them. The Shanxi Reds had become a full scale revolution, one that the Assembly wasn't ready for and the recovering military wasn't prepared for in the slightest. Arcologies in New York, Chicago, Las Angelos, and other cities in the North American States were rioting in response to the Red's declaration of the Systems Alliance being weak, controlling, and undeserving of their citizenship.

Strikes, riots, and demonstrators were everywhere, parading for or against the Reds. The Assembly had not left the building. So, Jack had to revitalize his plans. The Turians might come to Shanxi and find it in the hands of well armed rebels, or they might just miss the Turians all together if this continued. Relay 314 had been found, but was in the contested zone near Shanxi. No research vessel was allowed near an area known for mercenaries and pirates.

All of this still paled in comparison to the budget that had been issued to the Alliance Military. It hadn't been raised in fourteen years, even with his attacks and raids he had planned. Local militias and police forces all received kinetic barriers and hardsuits, supplied by the government, as the local law enforcement was seen as a better investment than a fleet of ships that couldn't be allowed to investigate crime or do anything more than land troops in emergencies.

From his position in the penthouse suite of the Van Jensen Towers, he could see demonstrators in front of Hiddel Airspace, one of the developers for the combat suits used by the Alliance Marines. They were not very popular right now, as their most recent products had been issued to the Marines going to Shanxi. It had flaws. Many flaws. Being prototype technology, that was understandable. But these flaws all showed in the magnetic grips of the boots. They were functioning improperly, and had not been properly tested for what happened when hit by an Overload. The boots would lock up, making the wearer dead meat to anyone aiming at him.

Hiddel Airspace wouldn't survive the month. Some of their top board members had already committed suicide. The CEO was no where to be found. Jack had money on being somewhere close to the bottom of the Atlantic. Head in his hands, he looked at his old plan, painstakingly handwritten years ago.

_1\. Establish Shanxi as Military frontline world_

_2\. Encourage Biotics in humans without massive deaths_

_3\. Kill Donnel Udina_

Number three he wanted to be fulfilled, but Donnel Udina had yet to become an adult and do something stupid enough to warrant disappearing. Politicians were useful, and there was no guarantee that what he had just done would change his position as Humanity's Ambassador. Number 1 had failed miserably. He had not predicted that Zaeed would force Vido to nuke him. But then Vido had shown signs of imbalance. Number 2 was not as easily accomplished. But he had an in.

Henry Lawson had created a safe amount of Eezo to expose adults to that created the chance of making someone biotic. Or at least their children. So, biotics were coming along, just not in the numbers he needed to have ready for a possible counterattack against the Turians. The first generation of human biotics were coming along, and Jack had already funded the right companies to develop biotic implants. It took considerable force to convince Meridia Corp to design it, but perhaps this time there would be less of the trouble that involved the L2s. It was a pity that he still needed some biotics to experiment on to get there, but Henry provided a large number of clones for the purpose.

Henry was of course, getting suspicious. Jack Harper was a businessman, not a megalomaniacal overlord. At least, this early on Jack had been constrained to that. Which lead to why He was in Argentina.

His Omni-tool, one of the first generation models, and very new, buzzed. "Mr. Harper? A guest is coming up to see you."

"Has he received proper clearance?" Jack calmly replied into the receive

"Yes sir. I sent him with a complimentary bottle of wine for you both."

"Excellent." Merelda. A perfect hostess and example of Argentinian genetics. She had been fantastic the week before, and his hotel stay following had been of exceptionally higher quality as a result. "If I need anything else, I will be sure to let you know."

"Of course Mr. Harper." The line clicked off with a small racket. This first generation lacked many things. Like proper haptic interfaces. They had buttons. He preferred that over touch screen models. His eyes slowly dragged towards the door, his older left eye reaching the door first. His younger and cloned right eye followed, but drifted slightly. Jack didn't mind it so much. He didn't want the cybernetics. When he had upgraded his eye models with supposedly Prothean designs, he had fallen under the sway of the enemy. That wouldn't happen this time.

Though he did miss the zoom feature, infrared, and the ultraviolet. It just paid to be prepared. He barely heard the elevator doors open, at the far end of the hallway. The orderly steps of Henry Lawson came to a stop next to the buffet table prepared earlier.

"Jack! What the hell are you doing?"

"Whatever do you mean, Henry?" He asked, not quite sure what he was complaining about. Or which project. Sometimes it was hard to remember which projects Henry complained about before being Indoctrinated in his actual memories and this memoryscape. He still believed that this was all just the Reaper's playground. He had yet to see their presence, but trusted that it would come. Too many signs still pointed to their existence. The archives, the relays, and certainly the Citadel. It was out there.

"Jack, I know that you funded those mercenaries. One of them was using your directed energy weapon you mentioned. All of their hardsuits were made by Hislopp, with my medical suite installed." Henry was fuming. Ah, so he was worried that I had abused his trust and used him and his technology.

"So what if I did?" Jack casually asked. There were no listening devices here, and nothing could be traced back to him. He knew it. Henry may have just noticed the pattern, the same as anyone could if you were in the game long enough.

"Jack, if we lose Shanxi, we lose the highest concentration of Biotic potential in the human race! Why the hell would you cause this?"

"This was not my intention." Jack told him honestly, sitting down at the table and beckoning for the chair across from him. "I am willing to walk you through my entire thought process, Henry. It is why I invited you here, after all."

"I had to track you down, Jack. I spent two weeks looking for you, only to find you were just sipping wine here in the Towers." Henry did sit down, but was far from alright with the situation. "You want to explain why we might have a hand in the worst tragedy since the Great Wars?"

"Firstly, the leader of these mercenaries now answers to a different client. One that preferred large explosions to smuggling and piracy. My original intentions were to create a rising crime rate on Shanxi, forcing the garrison to ask for help from the military to put down what has now become the Shanxi Reds. This was supposed to take Shanxi and turn it into one of our best defended colonies, where we could create the next generation of biotics in peace.

"The situation went out of control when the man controlling the mercenary company for me was nuked. The very same nuke that started this entire mess. It was also laced with over thirty tons of Element Zero. Most of Shanxi is going to need medical attention for years after this. You don't have to take a side."

"The planet is under blockade, and the military is unable to seize control from the Reds. How can anyone salvage anything from this?" Henry said, looking horrified at the casual mentioning of Jack's mistakes.

"The same way I can look at your genetic efforts to clone female versions of yourself in some sick sense of dynastic authority as simply experiments into the human condition instead of the sickening works that they truly are." Henry looked affronted. Probably was still a secret to everyone else at his labs. "The same way I orchestrated these attacks, with the aim of militarizing our Alliance. I am looking at the much bigger picture. In less than ten years, The Alliance will have either collapsed or become a stronger military power."

He took a sip of his wine, perfectly chilled, thanks to Merelda. "When the Alliance comes out of this, these Reds will be swept away in our new strength. Their supplies will run out eventually. When they do, they will be taken into custody and stripped from their positions." Unfortunately, this army of trained and experienced, albeit rather slightly, mercenaries would not belong to the new Cerberus. His original goal was for these men to be absorbed into what would eventually be Cerberus. Fear was a great motivator. Especially of the things that were dangerous out there.

"They have no fleet to extract them, and no possibility of being backed up. This will resolve itself soon, and you can come in during the chaos, set up a biotic hospital and training center, and we can put together the final piece of the puzzle. Henry, I have engineered this entire situation knowing the consequences. It is only a matter of time."

"What about the rioters on earth? New York Arcology is on fire right now." Henry pointed out.

"They will quiet down as time goes on. These 'Reds' will not last very long. If anything this will be remembered as a scare."

"And if it doesn't calm down, Jack?"

Jack did take a long moment to think about that. "Then I activate a backup plan." He calmly said. "This one is a bit more extreme." He needed some time before anyone was ready for his backup plan. Opening the relay early was risky.

"How extreme?"

"Enough to warrant nuking Shanxi until there is no resistance." Whether the Turians or the Reds were the targets would be up to the Alliance. He didn't have enough pull there.

"Jack, you sound like you are out of your mind." Henry slowly said.

"I might be. Sometimes I have to map it all out before I can understand it. But the patterns are there. I am not the only one seeing this. Others in the Alliance are coming to the same conclusion and will make the same ultimatum."

"Good god, you need a hobby." Henry muttered.

"The wine, the women, and the travelling isn't enough?"

Henry grumbled. "That's not the problem, Jack." He took a long moment to consider his words. "You have been a conspiracy theorist for as long as I have known you. When I started my company, you had legal documents prepared for me to sell my company to every other investor. I thought you were insane, until I realized this was standard procedure for you. You haven't made anything simpler all of these years. But taking this entire Shanxi situation into your own hands, you are almost declaring the government meaningless. Even you can see the pattern there, Jack. I don't want Humanity torn apart by a civil war that you orchestrate."

Henry was smart enough to see between the lines. He just didn't know about the alien threat looming right behind the relay. "What if I told you it is not Humanity I am worried about?"

Henry glared at him. "That threat is unsubstantiated. Aliens _might_ exist. If they do, they _might_ be hostile. You can somehow see an alien threat on the horizon?"

"Henry, I can't give you direct evidence. It is all a pattern to me. We are expanding so fast that we are hardly finding enough planets to get settled on. Eventually we are going to find something that has already done that. When we do, I don't want Humanity to be unprepared for it."

"Jack, your actions are going to get the attention of certain individuals. Do you know that you are being watched?"

Jack knew. There was always someone watching. He was one of the few people on the planet capable of orchestrating a planetary revolt. "I am aware. There are only ten others that could have done what I did. Among them only a couple have any significant interest in off world activities. I know that they are watching me."

"Yeah, well they certainly know how to pick them. Some redhead had been staked out at the bar for hours. The kind you know can't be single. The Alliance put one of their best on your tail, Jack." Henry pulled up his own Omni-tool. The picture showed a face that belonged in his bed or on a model magazine. Perhaps both. His heart stopped beating for a second when he saw the name though.

_Agent Shepard_

_Office of Alliance Intelligence_

"They know what you like, Jack, and they are just waiting to bait you."

Jack smiled. How quaint. On the inside he was panicking. Hannah Shepard was supposed to be on board one of the ships in the Alliance Fleet. Something drastic had changed. She was in the OAI, not the Navy. What inspired that change? It must have been something he did. Her file said she was an O4. Officer. Some time was spent in the force. Jack had been trying to get his agents into the military for years. He needed to keep track of Hannah Shepard and Greg, the Marine that fathered the hero of Humanity.

"Maybe I should spring the trap." He mentioned. Henry guffawed.

"You're serious."

"Of course! An innocent man would take this opportunity. Plus, you were considering going after the hostess downstairs."

Henry nodded. "You've been there first, I would imagine." At his nod, Henry shrugged. "As is usual. I would imagine we are not the first or last in line with her." Henry shared many of Jack's vices. It was why they got along so well.

"Her name is Merelda." Jack said, getting up from the table to grab his designer jacket. "Borrow the suite if you need it."

"Where are you going?" Henry asked.

"To spring the trap. Tonight I will either be in bed with Hannah Shepard or in some sort of prison. Either way I won't be here." Jack said, checking all of his pockets. No weapons. Hannah was probably trained in close combat techniques. All he had was a lighter, his credit cards, a wad of cash, and his cigarettes. Those blessed pieces of calm in his raging memories. This, though, was the first sign of something that might not have been a result of his actions. He had to investigate. "Good night, Henry. Enjoy the food and the room."

"Good night Jack. Don't say anything too forthcoming to the good lady." Henry said, looking a bit worried. Jack couldn't let it bother him, though. His heart rate was on fire, and he was filled with an anxiety that he was unfamiliar with. This was _new._ This wasn't an expected reaction or subtle manipulation coming forth, this was straight up new information. This had the Reapers all over it.

The elevator hit the bottom floor, and Merelda came over to Jack. "Mr. Harper, what can i get you?" She was always right on top of things. But every tool had its use. Merelda was of more use elsewhere currently.

"Merelda, my dear, I need you to take the elevator up to my suite. You'll find everything you need there…" He said, offering a twinkle in his eye that the old cybernetic ones were never able to do. She smiled, a warm glowing smile that might mislead lesser men. But Jack was not a lesser man. He was a very smooth operator. He could see the hints of a frown at the edge of her lips, the slight change in dilation of the eyes, and the tightening of her shoulders. Merelda liked his wallet much more than his charm. Alas, he had more important things to settle. Namely, the redhead in the black dress sitting at the bar, who had been coolly watching him the entire time he had entered the lobby.

"Of course, Mr. Harper." Merelda said, stepping off to the side to find someone to relieve her post. He did own this company, and they knew of his tastes. They would accommodate him or they would be fired. It was simple. Ignoring Merelda as she stepped into the elevator and to the waiting Mr. Lawson, which would keep both of them out of his hair, he moved to the bar.

Hannah Shepard was not someone he had put much effort into before. She wasn't something he had factored in before. Now, he really wished that Henry had just left so he could have contacted his few contacts that he did have. But considering that she was OAI, there really wasn't much he could do. How Henry came by that information left him wondering, but then again he needed some sort of connections to keep his genetic research viable with the politicians.

Now, though, she was here. This was not coincidence. This must have been a direct result of his actions. Unless this was the first thing the Reapers were doing to confound his plans. He had to investigate this. Nor could he chance her leaving and another agent replacing her. Right here and right now, was the antithesis to his plans. Hannah Shepard, according to his memories(Which he had handwritten onto a journal to preserve their clarity years ago), was supposed to become a Naval Officer, hook up with Greg Smith, and create the hero of the galaxy that Jack was pinning his plan on.

She had no wedding band on, or any sign of a tan line left by one. He could see that from her hand that was on the bar. So, Greg wasn't in her life yet. Or perhaps her life was no longer compatible with the existing scenario. Being in the Intelligence division might make a life with Greg impossible. That would mean that Shepard, hero of the galaxy, might not even be born. The Reapers may have already won this time around with just one move.

He fought the urge to grit his teeth. His plans and actions would mean nothing if Shepard wasn't coming. He was not the charismatic leader of the revolution that he had originally dreamed of being. Jack Harper was the details specialist. He had to admit, being the leader of Cerberus was fun for its purposes, but it had never panned out. It had never become the force of nature that could topple governments and resurrect Humanity in a glorious new image. Unless what you would call the Reaper plan could be considered.

"Bring me a New Alexandria. 2131." Jack said without looking at the bartender. But he knew the man heard him. It was expected that when Jack Harper orders a drink in his own hotel, he gets it. Not thirty seconds afterward there was a bottle and a glass with a temperature filter on the side of it. Perfectly chilled liquid just was one of those luxury inventions that mankind could pride itself on. He didn't actually like the New Alexandria vintage as much as others, but their bottles were highly reflective surfaces.

With it, he could finally take the time to study this version of Hannah Shepard. Young, at least currently, mid to late twenties, he would imagine. Shepard got her beauty from Hannah, for certain. She also got her facial features, hair color, and yet did not have her eyes. Those must have come from Greg. She did not have that inner beauty that normally attracted his attention, or the model body that he usually held as the most important quality in his partners. Still, she did have some grasp of herself. There were no bulges in her dress to suggest that she was armed, but the muscle tone in her arms was a good warning. She could probably win in a fight against Jack.

Unless Jack was prepared for that. His designer jacket had a number of wonderful additions. Firstly, a system to activate kinetic barriers around himself, something he insisted on. Adjusting his lapels activated the system. It was weak, inefficient, and lasted for a minute or two before needing a recharge. But it was one of the first generation barrier systems. The second was an integrated medical suite built into the shoulder pads. He would be able to notice poison or inhalants any time he was wearing this jacket. A minor fortune, but Jack was a paranoid man. He did have the right to defend his interests.

A holdout gun was hidden along both sleeves, and Jack had practiced for hours to be able to assemble it within fifteen seconds. That was a bit more expensive. But the signature material and shape of his jacket was one that hid the weapon quite well. He hoped he wouldn't need it for Hannah. Her dress was one of those comfortable luxury ones. Loose enough to hint at curves, but tight enough to give you an idea of what was actually there. Loose enough to hide a knife or extremely small pistol in a few places. He grinned into his drink. Perhaps that might be the highlight of his night, checking a known threat to his entire plan for weapons.

He took a long drink, and brought out his Onmi-tool. They had only been released for a few weeks, and the sight of the glowing device got some amount of attention. They were expensive. That fortunately would change with time, engineered technology, and some pre-planned competition in the form of alien companies. That would drive human industry to rapid expansion. He would do his best to create hype in the mean time.

Typing up a message, he sent to his two contacts in the Alliance Marines to check for a Greg Smith and find out where he was. It was essential that he be found and gathered. From his memories, and the memory-Hannah's own words, Shepard got her inner fire and drive from her father's genes. That was something that made Shepard something more than Humanity as a whole could offer.

Finishing his message, he locked down the Omni-tool and set it down, anything he could do further from this location not being necessary at this time. So, with nothing to do but find more excuses to examine his target, Jack Harper drank. This wine was one of those more earthy tasting ones. Not exactly his favorite. But the bottle was more important. Hannah took her time to check over his clothes, ostensibly looking for a weapon or some other tool in his suit.

She was most certainly here for him. He couldn't simply let her go on like this, guessing at his intentions. He waved the barkeep over, who acted as fast as humanly possible to exit his thrilling conversation with some of the attorneys here to manage the complete failure that was Hiddel Airspace. It's breakup would be accomplished over the next few weeks. They of course wanted the best of comforts to work from while the Hiddel employees tried to barter for their company's holdings.

"Make sure that the lady gets a glass." Jack said, pointing to the bottle he had in front of him. The barkeeper earned his pay and more when he simply fetched another bottle to pour from rather than sully Jack's bottle. Hannah gave him a winning smile when she received her glass of wine. The bottle did not follow the glass, but was kept within easy reach. Jack let the man go with a nod, knowing that at any moment he could call upon him again. Then, as casually as he could, he went back to his Omni-tool and started reading one of the news stories on the riots here in the city.

He didn't have to wait long. Hannah slid over to the seat right next to his own.

"I take it that was your invitation?"

"Take it as you will. You were bored in my hotel. Everyone else here seems to be occupied or otherwise interested. Yet here is one guest that seems to be uninterested in the current events nor are they among our guest list. So my invitation is one based on both suspicion and curiosity."

Hannah immediately got comfortable. At least one sign that she really was there to observe him. "Do you make it a point of knowing all of your clients?" Her voice was trained to sound a little bit hopeful. But Jack had all of the knowledge of two lifetimes on interpreting body language.

"I make it a point to know all of my clients that don't fit a certain mold. Most importantly, why you don't register on any of the guest books." With that, he took a long drink of his wine. He really wished that this brand tasted better.

"My name is right there in the books, Mr. Harper." she stated, almost grinning.

"Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't. My security officer alerted me that your identity did not match up to the card you brought with you." Jack told her, looking at her directly for the first time. The reflection in the bottle was helpful, but didn't do the woman justice. He noticed a scar hidden underneath one of her shoulders, and some skin discoloration along her collarbone. Most likely from domestic violence. Old, the colors mixing almost perfectly into her skin. "My concern is that I have an Alliance officer in my bar that has no reason to be here other than to contact someone."

Hannah's eyes were hard. But her face hadn't shifted at all. "You seem to be insinuating something about me. I trust you won't complain if a girl has some secrets."

"It depends on the secrets you have. Your name is most certainly not Allison."

"Whatever gave you that idea?" She asked him. Probably interested in his contacts, which at this time he had none. Thank God for Henry Lawson. Well, then he had nothing to lose since he had no one to reveal.

"The same man who told me your real name." He casually mentioned. He desperately wanted a cigarette right now, but that might come off as a nervous habit. Which it was. You don't go through two lifetimes of memories without at least some crutch or escape. "If you wanted my attention, you have it. What does the Alliance need from me, that they are willing to send you?"

Hannah grinned. Let her think she had the advantage for now. "The Alliance has no need of your services or tactics, Mr. Harper."

"Yet here you are at my hotel, most likely with a team in support of your surveillance. You have something you want or need, and I am hoping to deal with it before questions start being asked. My clients expect a certain amount of privacy, you must understand."

"Oh, it is your clients that I am worried about, Mr. Harper. Very specific clients." she said, but never took her eyes off of him.

"Please, call me Jack." He offered. If nothing else happened, Jack would never break character in front of her.

"My name is Allis-"

"Your real name, please. I don't deal with secrets very easily." He said, smiling.

"I truly go by Allison." She countered, unperturbed.

Jack laughed a bit. "My contacts tell me you go by Hannah."

Her gaze travelled down to her cup. "Hannah is my middle name. Your contacts are misinformed, Jack."

He would not flinch. This blatant lie must be something that the Reapers had done. He had done nothing to anyone near Shepard for good reason. In order for his plan to go forward, Shepard had to be born under the right circumstances. Something had been done to Hannah Shepard. He hadn't done it. If he had, he didn't know how he did.

"All I have is a notification that an intelligence officer is at my bar. A Staff Leuitenant, at that. I don't much else about your background or details about your life." At this point, all of this was true. "That does not mean I am not interested in hearing about it. What is all this about?"

"At this time, you should worry more about your clients, Mr. Harper. We don't have anything to tell you or alert you to." Hannah smiled. He would not call her Allison. That would be letting the Reapers win, even on a small level. "Thank you for the drink. Next time perhaps something a bit more tasteful?" She said, standing up and walking back to her seat.

Jack gritted his teeth and drank more of the earthy wine. She gave him only one more glance before pulling out her own mobile device and settling back into her chair comfortably. He took all of this in, and contemplated, running through the scenarios in his head. It was not coincidence that she was here.

His Omni-tool vibrated. Glancing down at it, he scowled.

_Greg Smith is MIA, according to the AAR of the troops that attacked Shanxi's port. His body was not recovered, nor was around 200 others. Intelligence reports place him in three possible locations. Dead on the field, in hiding and fighting a guerilla action, or a prisoner of the mercenaries. Local agents can't narrow down the possibilities. Greg Smith is a Commander, and most of his files are classified. Trained as a Spec. Forces Operative._

Jack kept up his scowl, sending another message to his few remaining contacts in the now-subverted Shanxi Reds. He used one of the contact users that the Reds were familiar with, one of their clients and suppliers. Little did they know he had stopped supplying them.

 _One of your prisoners taken in the fighting might be a high value target. I need a list of the prisoners taken in the fighting, It will be worth your time._ Jack then left a large amount of money as a potential bribe. It was less than ten minutes later that he got a confirmation of a reply, from three of the five contacts he messaged. Greg Smith was among the names. As were fourteen other unlucky men and women. _Ransom and Execution to occur tomorrow_. Jack gritted his teeth. They were going to kill him. He divided up the money between the three contacts, letting them all know that he appreciated their honesty. They wouldn't remain contacts for long, all things considered. Within a month this entire situation would become impossible for the mercenaries to maintain. But the military had no plans to go down there in force again for a while.

Jack couldn't convince anyone to keep him alive when the leaders of the Reds answered to someone else. But he needed Greg Smith alive. This called for some well deserved nicotine. Lighting up a cigarette, he heard the sound of footsteps leaving. His bartender had left him a small bowl for his cigarette and had topped off his glass. All while not alerting him. That was dedication. Or just a very real fear of being fired for bad behavior. Jack could at least let him have a large tip as compensation. He probably got paid this much in a month, but the amount of comfort he was creating in Jack's life was worth it.

He couldn't let Greg Smith die. But at the same time he didn't have any Cerberus Commandos, Kai Leng, Miranda, or any of his old dependable lot of minions. Nor did he have anyone who could shoot a gun readily at his disposal. The closest thing he had was Zaeed. He had been nuked. Well, he could always try to create some false signal and send in the cavalry. But they were still using those Biddel Airspace armors. They would get torn apart. At current conjecture, Greg Smith would be executed tomorrow.

Unless Jack took a serious risk. Ashland Hislopp had just completed their prototype space yacht for him. It was the fastest spacecraft that he could both afford and build, which made it humanity's best. The military might have had better engine technology, but Jack had slipped in an extra large element zero core.

 _Prep the Talon for launch. Will be there within 4.25 hours._ He sent to his contact in Ashland. He didn't have anything other than a ship and a prayer of this new plan working. But he needed someone with guns and the knowledge of how to use them. Jack had fired his in practice, but had never quite gotten that soldier mentality down in this memoryscape. In his previous set of memories he had been a soldier for a short time. Perhaps it was his hatred for traditional authority, or his need to question everything. Either way he did not enjoy any thoughts of being a soldier this time around.

His memories showed him entering the armed forces, but that only slowed down his plans. In his old life he had run into a Reaper artifact during his time in the military. Going from what he remembered, he had already found and destroyed it. He didn't feel like slowing down his plans within this memoryscape the Reapers had him caged inside. He could accomplish more without the connections he made last time. Four years for two lousy contacts that betrayed him in the end? Then again, he was Indoctrinated. They did have some logic behind their decisions.

He needed some guns and some people that knew how to shoot them. Loyalty would be questionable in any group that he went to, and he would be subject to even more intense scrutiny if he tried to hire any other mercenary group that was open. His motives would be questioned in every case he was considering. All but one would lead to eventual incarceration and jail time.

He groaned, but got up from his chair anyways. Walking calmly over to Hannah, he sat down beside her.

"Here for the next drink already?" She said. "My notes tell me you don't usually do this unless you have quite the dry spell."

"You are here about Shanxi." He stated. Her eyes darted towards her drink. "Your suspicions have merit. If you want to confirm or deny them, you are going to come with me in the next few minutes when my shuttle gets here. There is a situation developing that requires the expertise of someone more militarily minded than I."

She had to think about this for a moment. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me." He let some cigarette smoke go past her face. "Five minutes until my shuttle gets here. You have until then to decide." By God he hoped she would make the choice that ended with Greg Smith alive and well. From there, Jack ignored her attempts to get his attention. He walked to the elevator, and flagged down the concierge. Merelda was upstairs, which means that her replacement had to do. Jaime was a decent replacement. He was slightly underappreciated, and overpaid. In his expert opinion, not worth the time he would spend talking to him.

"Jaime. There is a bag in my room that I need. It is at the foot of my bed, and is the only bag in sight. Get that, along with my wallet on the table. I need it in two minutes." He said in a no nonsense manner. Jaime actually did his job and rushed up the elevator. Jack didn't want to interrupt Henry if he could avoid it. Sending Jaime would be considerate. Going up there himself would just be rude.

He turned back to the bar, where he could see Hannah still staring at him, wondering if he really was going to do this. Jack wasn't sure. His entire plan rested on Hannah and whatever team she had as backup. Since he had the time, he made another message to his contact at Ashland-Hislopp.

_Send four of the newest hardsuits to the Talon. Add in three of your new Lancer rifles and any sniper rifles still in the experimental stage. Add some Hammer shotguns and some pistols that seem workable. Include some grenades and the kinetic barrier suites inside each of the hardsuits. I will cover the costs._

After finishing the message, and cursing the technology for not being intuitive enough. The future would bring great things. But by the time he had finished typing, Jaime had come with his bag. He was also straight faced. Henry must still be in the dining phase of the seduction. Either that or he found Merelda not to his tastes. At least he could safely say that he offered him the best.

Hannah saw him directing Jaime with his bag. She got up immediately. She marched towards him, any training on civilian actions gone as she approached. Even with those heels she walked like all the recruits were trained in boot camp. "What did you mean back there? About Shanxi?"

"Everything you want to know or can guess at." He calmly replied, as he noticed people clearing the way outside. "My pilot is here. Are you in?"

"I'm on assignment, I can't just leave!" she said, looking towards the elevator. So she wasn't here for him, but rather for someone else. Oh well, their loss.

"Allison." Hannah, in his mind. "I have need of someone trained by the Alliance for special operations. I am going to Shanxi right now. Your mission, important as it may be, will be eclipsed in importance by this one."

She started walking with him. "Shanxi is under military blockade, you can't just go past it!"

He turned and looked her in the eye. "Humanity itself is at stake if I don't. I normally don't involve myself directly, but this time is a special occasion. You and your team are invited to join me. But if you are coming, the time is now." The shuttle was coming down, and as he walked it started blowing the coats of the people surrounding him. His was heavy, and barely moved. She noticed that, he was sure.

"Why should I even trust you?" She yelled over the sound of the shuttle.

"You'll never know why if you don't get on right now!" He said, directing Jaime to place his bag in the back and stepping gingerly onto the shuttle's seats. These first generation ones just weren't that comfortable, and shook terribly. But he sat down, blowing the last ounce of smoke from his cigarette and handing the butt to Jaime. He took it and moved to deposit it immediately. "You coming?" He had to yell. The shuttle was just too loud.

She had a moment of indecision, and then stepped onto the shuttle. "My team is en route. They didn't catch up yet."

"How long?"

"Thirty minutes. They'll be-"

"Too late. My shuttle is leaving. I have already secured armor and weapons." At this she looked over at him, with a look that could almost be called hostile. "If you want to know why I am doing all this, you can either watch the news tomorrow or be there with me as we make history." He said, settling back into the seat cushion.

"You sound insane!" She yelled back.

"It is relative." After what he had seen, most certainly. "Are you going to watch the news or help me?"

She glared at him for a moment. "I guess it is relative. I'll go, just to make sure you get arrested. Or committed." Jack smiled. "Whatever end comes first, I suppose." She stated finally.

"Let's make history!" He said, tapping the glass and letting the pilot know that they should get started. Like a well paid and well trained minion, he took off without a moments notice and the door closed at almost one hundred feet. He put on a headset and spoke into it. "Ashland-Hislopp. Once we are over international boundaries go as fast as you can. They are expecting us in hanger B at their headquarters."


	2. Fugue: Perks of the Trade

Chapter 2

Hannah got over her decision within minutes. Then she had to get in contact with her superiors and explain what she was doing. _That_ looked like a very uncomfortable conversation. Probably one with deeper consequences for him, since he did nearly abduct her. This would all lead to some awkward questions, but that Jack could deal with. He had lawyers and money to keep them distracted and hunting for evidence that he had long since cleansed and removed.

So the only consequences were him bring brought into the limelight, and being the subject of rumor and focus from the government. He could deal with the investigations, What he didn't need was the added scrutiny. But he didn't have much choice. He needed the Turian invasion to get the push for Cerberus. Until then, he had to focus on building up the infrastructure of Humanity. He calmly waited for Hannah to finish her talk with her superiors, and in the meantime drank some water and ate a nutrition bar. Shuttles had yet to get all of the amenities that he was used to. Thankfully his shuttle was stocked from his last trip.

He cleaned the outside of his coat with a lint roller and made sure that his hair was in place. He had to look impeccable when he landed, and most certainly not in a rush. He had the time to wait. When Hannah finally came back and sat down, she looked angry.

"We have been ordered to land. You are going to be brought in for questioning, Mr. Harper." She said, looking resolute. Jack just laughed. Nothing could impede him more than an investigation.

"Negative." He dismissed, knowing his pilot could hear them. "If we don't act now Humanity will suffer and the trouble on Shanxi will spread. Before you ask, no, your incompetent military cannot do a better job. They are the reason we are going there in the first place."

They were interrupted by the pilot over the intercom. "Sir, I have Alliance fighters inbound demanding I change my course. Orders?"

"James, ask them who their commanding officer is. Comply with them but be ready to resume our course when I figure this out."

Hannah scoffed at this. "You think you can simply ignore this? My superiors are going to question you about all of this, once we land."

"Sir," James replied. "General Garfield of the Earth Defense fleet is the one in charge of the fighters. They will be all over us in three minutes."

"Comply, James. I will get in contact with someone and they will let us go." Jack told him. "Also, are you rated for larger craft, James?"

"Uh, yes, sir." He said uncomfortably. Jack was known to be very demanding on his staff. The pilot probably assumed he was going to be sent on some other task somewhere boring.

"Good. I'm going to expand your duties. I'll need your services on our next leg of the journey. You'll stay as my pilot and get a nice pay grade increase fitting your duties. The specs for the new craft will be uploaded to your phone momentarily." He said, cutting the connection right after James stuttered some form of thanks. He glanced at Hannah, who was looking smugly at him, probably imagining him on some sort of torture table. He activated his Omni-tool and brought up its call functions. He disabled the normal encryptions and sent his call to a certain office in New York.

"This is the office of Senator Scott. How may I assist you?" A crisp voice answered. Hannah started to frown.

"Angelina, this is Jack Harper. Is she free to talk right now?" Jack didn't let a smile show on his face. After seeing President Scott and her secretary in his memories, he decided to advance that timetable in his memoryscape. Now it was going to pay back rather nicely.

"Jack! How nice to hear from you! Are you coming to New York anytime soon?"

"Sadly, not within the next couple of days, though I do have a meeting there sometime next week." He paused so that Angelina would understand that he wasn't calling as a simple social grace. "I need to talk to the Senator. One of her generals has decided that my shuttle is illegally travelling."

"Oh, Jack! That sounds horrible! I'll get her right away!" Hannah started to get up from her seat, looking annoyed with him. He gave her a look and raised an eyebrow. She didn't come close enough to be picked up by the microphone, but she was noticeably close enough to hear whatever he was going to say to Scott. That didn't matter.

"Jack, what's going on?" The voice of Senator Scott came into the omni-tool. Scratchy, but the technology to improve that would come from the Asari soon enough.

"Dierdre." Senator and future President of the Alliance Dierdre Scott was not exactly beautiful and not exactly dulcet-voiced, but she had a sharp wit and a memory that never forgot a slight. "One of your attack dogs in the Defense fleet is trying to submit me to questions. My company was just implicated in the Shanxi issue. I was on my way to Ashland-Hislopp to gather the information that your board of investigation will no doubt need, but I can't do that from behind bars."

"You are asking quite a bit from me, Jack. I can't simply let you go without some sort of promise." Dierdre said. Thankfully Jack had spoken to her enough to know that she was at least considering it.

"Dierdre, I can offer at least two hundred million in donations from businesses and individuals for your next campaign. I can fund it on my own, but I don't think you need any fingers pointed."

Her laugh was cold. "Let me, guess, Jack. You'll be paying through front companies and employee records? No, if I am agreeing to this I want this through honest donations. Perhaps you can host a dinner in my honor, too?" He would have to to get the donations, and it wasn't bad press to support Dierdre. He just didn't want the spotlight.

"You have a deal. I'll be in New York next week to finalize the arrangements."

"I look forward to it, Jack. Now, I have a bulldog to leash." Her side of the call ended with a click. Hannah was looking at him, annoyed and astounded, he would assume. Though her eyes flashed with anger when he glanced up at her.

He said nothing, waiting for her to demand, to tirade, to yell. She did none of those things. She simply sat down across from him. "You just put two hundred million credits on the line in order to finish this?"

Jack nodded. "Humanity is never not worth saving. No matter how much money I lose or lose the chance of gaining, I will always act in its best interest." Perhaps Cerberus wasn't quite the interest Humanity needed this time around, all things considered. It wasn't the best for Humanity to have something that directly threatened the STG and other groups. The bad press and the poorly managed initiatives only created distrust. Though he could blame the Reapers for mismanaging him as a resource.

"So, this is all for some ideal you have in your mind?" She asked coolly.

"You could say that. I just happen to have a lot more pieces to the puzzle that is our race than you do. This mess on Shanxi is only the start of our problems." Problems with a large tentacled metallic monster representing them.

"Your ego claims much, Mr. Harper." Hannah scolded. "So, do you think that your stunt with the Senator is going to work?"

He grinned. James spoke up about thirty seconds later, thankfully just within the timetable for his cheeks not to burn from being in the smirk they had been. "Sir, the fighters have been called off. Returning to previous course. And, um, thank you for whatever you just did sir."

"Your flight record will remain impeccable, James." Jack said. He then activated his Omni-tool and went through the complicated process of sending the specs on the _Talon_ to the pilot's terminal. James' phone wasn't quite smart enough to be able to receive the file. "There are the specs you need to have down before we land. That will be your next hot seat."

Hannah got his attention again, noticing the file transfer. "So we are going to a ship. What, pray tell, will a civilian ship be useful for?"

Jack smirked. "Getting to Shanxi before our objective has expired."

"We? I think you are confusing the situation. I won't be helping you unless you are going to give me full disclosure." Hannah said, looking more like an officer and not a women dressed for a party.

"I can give partial disclosure. I can't verify the other information you might want yet." More like preferred not to at this point, as he didn't have enough factual sources to reference to prove anything. "I needed someone who could shoot and know when not to shoot. I am taking you to Shanxi, where we will go in and rescue a group of captured Alliance Marines. Among them there is one who I have personally invested in. He is the test bed for a number of genetic modifications that I and my associates hope to pass on to the rest of the armed forces." Jack said clearly and concisely. Hannah took a moment to absorb the information, her eyebrows furrowing. The one on the left was longer than the one on the right, he noticed.

Proving that Greg Smith was a testbed would not be hard. Henry owed him a few favors and Greg would be the man to provide them. "Why is he needed so desperately?" Hannah finally asked.

Jack scowled. This time for effect. "He is the only survivor that had the modifications. I need him alive to make millions of credits of investment return. My contacts report that he is being held on Shanxi in the Red's most tightly controlled area."

Hannah shot him a look. "Tell me about your contacts."

"Do you promise to keep them a secret until the situation becomes clear?"

She scoffed. "We both know I couldn't. Shanxi is on everyone's mind. Any information that can help answer the questions will be investigated thoroughly."

Jack pulled out a cigarette. This was more to make her uncomfortable than the get rid of any nervousness. That would be impossible when the mother of Humanity's hero was in a shuttle with him and he was risking everything. But it did help him feel like he still had a measure of control over the situation. "I'll answer that question when we get to Shanxi. All you need to know right now is that if they were revealed this early in the game we would not be able to accomplish our mission."

"Your mission. I still have yet to agree to this. Right now all I see is an egotistical billionaire worried about his investment." Though she probably suspected worse. He would, in her situation.

"You will agree, though. Once I show you the answers about Shanxi." He paused to blow some smoke towards the air filter. The vent was conveniently to her left. He could still stare her down. "I'll offer you a deal, just as I offered Dierdre. I'll give you all the information you need to sort out this mess, and in exchange you get my subject back."

"You'll need some proof to even convince me a little bit, Mr. Harper." She replied, but didn't outright disregard him.

"The name of the man you'll want to kill is Vido Santiago. He leads the Shanxi Reds that are causing the mayhem. He doesn't have much of a criminal record, but he fought in the wars in Africa a few years ago. Nothing about his file there stands out other than his kill count." Which was never verified. Africa had enough problems. "Call me Jack. If we are going to be working together I would prefer it to be on a first name basis. I don't usually get this forthcoming to women in the military. Or people in general." Their predictability and uniformity made them rather boring after a while. The physical features that he cared for usually got disturbed by musculature during basic training. Hannah was an exception to most of this, lacking the same musculature but wasn't exactly what he normally looked for.

"How did you come by this information?" Hannah asked. She was at least not demanding that they get on the comm with her superiors again. That would just require another very expensive favor.

"I happen to know a few of the larger players. I will disclose everyone involved as part of your investigation." He set up the board, the players, the pieces. He would have to set up Vido as the inspiration behind all this. Though he still had questions himself. The Shanxi Reds had gone under new management, and he had not been able to see it coming. Though, unlike his days in Cerberus where he carefully monitored everything his employees and minions did, he couldn't afford to do that yet.

"Say I believe you. What do you need me for?"

Jack showed his open palm to her. "I need someone who can slip inside the Red's controlled area and extract a soldier. I can't fire a gun without a lot of technological assistance to be of any use," A complete lie, but she had to feel like she was the better combatant. "So I need you. I had enough weapons and armor prepared for your entire team, but I guess you will have to do. I know where they are keeping him and where they are quartered."

"How? Shanxi has been under a blockade, nothing is coming in or out!" Hannah demanded.

"The old radio stations can still send messages. I send mine encrypted into the emergency relief station's broadcasts. These are unfiltered and can always reach their target." Jack said calmly. In reality he owned the telecommunications network on Shanxi through a front company. The military bands were operating on his hardware. They hadn't been able to afford to set up their own yet. Hopefully that would change soon. Of course, that didn't mean he also used the old radio bands as well. Every man needs backups. Having the experiences of living once, he had been placing secondary plans within all existing possibilities.

Except, of course, Hannah Shepard. That he didn't plan for, and now it was biting him. Though even if he did plan for it, he would have to exert his influence in the military too early. His memories told him that he had initiated the Cerberus movement due to the strong xenophobia that existed at the time of the Turian invasion. That might have to change. If he wanted Cerberus to survive this time, he might have to change the original objectives. Advancing Humanity, well, Jack would be offended deeply if he had to give up that. He truly believed in Humanity, even in the depths of Indoctrination. He wasn't going to give that up.

"So let me ask this. Why do you care so much?" Hannah asked carefully. "This isn't something that people like you risk your lives over. Why not just send some henchmen or hired guns?" At least she was frank about it. Even when mentioning illegality and everything. "Any asset that would be capable was not close enough to deploy." Or were nuked and were therefore not able to deal with this. "Everything I had to deal with a mess like this is deployed or otherwise occupied. So, I went with the remaining options. Namely, you, or possibly the Romanos cartel for enough hired muscle to get the job done. You are the supposed cheaper option, but after what I had to do to get rid of our fighter problem,"

" _Your_ fighter problem."

" _My_ fighter problem, then. But you were supposed to be the easier option. Not quite true after everything was said and done. Either way they also took control of some of mr board member's assets on the planet. Terryl Construction is the company assigned to develop the colony. Their corporate headquarters were designed inside of a mountainside overlooking the main colony development. It is immune to orbital bombardment." By design, of course. No need to mention that. "It is also quite the scenic view, or so i have heard. Either way, there was no easy way of dislodging the Reds once they set up shop in the headquarters. Thankfully, my board member has given me the blueprints and the code keys to get anywhere we want to go within the building."

"So, that's your in? You have blueprints and an Alliance agent. You think that will be enough to successfully lead a prison break?"

"I only want one man. The rest of the captured marines are the concern of the Alliance, though if given the chance I would not mind saving them." Jack said. "My investment is worth more than the entire platoon's training three times over." A small number for someone that just became critical to his plans. In reality it was something more like four billion credits. To start. He chuckled a bit at his own joke, which made Hannah react.

"Those are soldiers that put their lives on the line for us! Don't mock them!"

"I apologize. I was considering something partially related. Their lives are worth the time and effort, no matter how small or large. Though I sincerely hope that they are still alive when we get there." Jack told her honestly. She still had her love and respect for the rest of the armed forces, but the fact that she was in Intelligence meant something changed. She said nothing to him after his apology, not expecting it. Though it was rare, Jack did try to apologize more in this memoryscape that the Reapers shoved him in. Death made him at least more considerate. Even if some of those apologies only came when forced by legal intentions.

"So, Allison," Hannah, he almost said. "What is your opinion on the budget cuts recently?"

She gave him a quizzical look. "Why is this important?" Ah, she didn't trust him. Well, to be fair, he had only given half-truths and unfulfilled promises so far. She didn't trust him enough with her political opinion. Or she didn't care. But being in the military, she probably did care on some level.

"Every question that has consequences is important. This entire Shanxi situation has everything to do with the budget cuts. So, what _is_ your opinion on the matter?" He asked, bringing his hands in front of him and letting his cigarette just get held for now. The nicotine wasn't calming him down anyways.

She looked almost angry for a moment. Something got personal, then. With women that could be more than a few things, but for Hannah he was willing to bet that it was related to the topic. Or she might just be thinking about dragging him into custody. "I disagree with them, for certain." She said carefully. "Why would you say that about this situation?"

"Shanxi only had a militia system in place. That militia was armed with Mark I Rutger rifles, which have some of the worst heat dissipation technology on the market. First generation gear that couldn't punch through a solid wall. They made a good target for a group like the Reds. Shanxi is also high in silicates and is rich in natural resources. A developing gem of a colony, yet poorly defended."

"We haven't had to defend our colonies before!" Hannah snapped.

"Then this is a first. Well armed and armored mercenaries with time, preparation, and some sort of plan for Shanxi have landed and taken it over. They were in place days before the military responded, and they knew the technology used by the marines and were prepared for them. So, the budget cuts affect all of this. The lack of monetary gain mean that the Alliance chose the Biddel armor line." He then brought the cigarette back up to his mouth and sucked in, as this all felt rather uncomfortable to be divulging this information. "The Biddel armor line has issues with the magnetic lining in the boots. Strong electrical discharges can cause the legs to lock up, and the magnetic lining to activate. This caused the death of almost every single marine that landed in the spaceport, due to the magnetic lining issue." Hannah looked horrified. This information had not completely propagated through the entire media yet. The Alliance had been quiet about their defeat so far, but the Shanxi situation was going to come out.

"So they got wiped out?"

"The casualty rate was excessive, yes. The few survivors were the ones captured by the Reds. Or they have been quiet and are still fighting a ground battle somehow. I don't know if any of the other testbeds for our gene mods are surviving in other places, since the names of the dead have not been released." It was doubtful that it would be released for a while, if the mercenaries were hard to wipe out. "That is why I am taking such drastic action. Do you see why I approached you?"

"But the Alliance-"

"Doesn't have the capability or people in place to get the job done. I don't have much but I will make an attempt. The Alliance will probably see what I am doing a bit differently." Jack admitted. In reality if the Alliance intervened at all, past this point, he would be detained and no favors would let him escape. Jack looked down at his omni-tool, which had lit up with a message.

_Talon is prepared and armor and weapons are supplied. Pre-flight checks will be done before you arrive. Want to file a flight plan to begin with? I can file that for you and have it cleared in an hour._

_Todd Hislopp_

Todd, chairman and director of Ashland Hislopp, was a colleague that Jack could depend on. He didn't ask why the _Talon_ was needed, but helped him anyways. Jack spent the next fifteen minutes plotting out his path to Shanxi, one that was both fast and avoided Alliance patrol routes. Thankfully he knew what those would be from memory. Plotting those and then marking the coordinates into his first generation omni-tool, he filed them all into a nice little script and sent them to Todd.

_The Talon's pilot is coming with me, but I would prefer to have some people on hand to help. What is the skeleton crew size that the ship can run on?_ He typed. He didn't remember some of the details of his craft, having been more focused on the developing Shanxi situation.

_Five. I have already provided an engineer for the core and would like to offer your choice of any staff members outside of my secretary. Since you have a pilot I can assume you will be in charge of navigation, freeing up those two on the roster. The other staff members mentioned are the cleaning crew and chef._ Was the reply from Todd within minutes. He would owe him a large favor in the future, but Jack grinned. It was worth it. Last time he hadn't gotten himself a yacht until Cerberus was well underway. This time he would enjoy that a bit earlier.

_Skip the chef and send me some takeout meals from the local best. I will return within a few days, so a few warmed meals will be fine. As such, I won't need a cleaning crew either. I'll get someone on that when I return to my people and spare you any losses in payroll. I do thank you for the engineer, though. I don't have anyone on hand of the right skill set._ He typed back. Nodding to himself, he was about to take his hand off of the Omni-tool when it lit up again.

This time it was populated by a list of restaurants and style of food. That cheeky bastard had predicted that he would ditch the chef. Clever. It also had a list of options for wine by the vineyard and year. Todd was going to get himself a new yacht himself when all the favors were paid back, probably. Jack grinned and started filling out his orders, sending them to Todd and forwarding them to his secretary, who was for certain helping him get all of this done. She was stolen from his company while he had helped Todd establish Ashland-Hislopp. Before he finished using his Omni-tool, he typed a quick message to Henry.

_Henry, thanks for the tip. You can have the room. I won't be there for a while. We are going to take my yacht out for a trip. Though you might want to be paying attention to the news in a couple of days. It could be scandalous._ Hopefully Henry would be prepared to bail him out if things went south. He had in the past and this time around, Jack hadn't insulted him or treated him poorly. Last time he had treated Henry like a colleague who got too attached to his floundering business. This time he helped fund it and paid him back for the eye surgery and other such related expenses in full.

_So you really did lead her on? Didn't know that Alliance agents were so easily taken advantage of. Best of luck to you, and I'll have a hospital ready room for you just in case._

Henry would be ready. But a more pressing concern was Jack's navigation plan. He didn't have anyone on hand to do that for him on the _Talon._ So he had to get up to speed on it. Pulling up the specs on his Omni-tool, he started reading.

"What are you doing now?" Hannah asked. For the calls and messages she had been quiet, though probably more than a little curious. Intelligence agents often were. She didn't have much access to anything for communications and no one from her superiors had tried to get in contact with her since she had called them.

"Are you familiar with starship navigation?" He asked her. He finally got some sort of idea for keeping her busy.

"Well, actually, yes, I am." Hannah admitted. "It's been a few years but I know some basics."

Jack nodded. "My craft needs someone to follow a very precise navigation path. You feel up to doing that?"

"Do you trust me enough to do that?" She said clearly. He may have to take a calculated risk in this, but if it meant Hannah Shepard agreeing with him it might be worth it.

"I do. I expect the best from someone who has sworn oaths to protect our government." That's why his recruits from the Alliance into Cerberus were the hardest to rationalize certain decisions to. "So, want to be in charge of Navigation or not?"

"What if I lead you the wrong way? My only experience has been on stations, you realize." She snarked.

"Alright, you are going to handle the armory when we get onboard. I had a few experimental weapons placed onboard, as well as some decent armor. While you get used to your weapons, I will study the navigational controls." Jack transferred the specs he had on the armor and weapons that he knew about to a datapad. These filled up most of the memory, so he disabled its communications drivers and made sure it was secure before handing it to Hannah. No sense in letting experimental corporate secrets get out. Even if they were such low tech.

Once she had the datapad, she looked up at him. "Still don't trust me?" She checked the comm protocols first, then.

"Not my secrets to share so freely. My clients don't enjoy having their newest technology out in the open. For example, those rounds that appear to be made with Pollonium blocks are not something that would follow the Geneva Convention rules. But we will need it anyways." Hannah looked a bit worried. "That's the worst of the batch, I'm afraid. The rest are simply not past the point of development, so I would appreciate it if you would not mention certain details to your superiors until after we return, and perhaps until after the product is fully revealed."

Hannah begrudgingly understood this, he could see. So with a nod she went back to her datapad. Jack went to his Omni-tool, and did what he hadn't done since college: cram every piece of relative knowledge about a subject into his mind as fast as possible. Headache aside, he would not be the one holding up the trip. The rest of the shuttle ride was rather quiet, except for the puffing of cigarette smoke, the occasional drink of water, and the tapping sounds of information flowing. James contributed heavily to this, as he had to learn how to pilot a frigate with experimental technology. He also had to navigate all of this information in addition to his piloting, which Jack hoped would give him enough time to master all of this.

"Sir, we are on final approach to Ashland-Hislopp. They have cleared the priority landing pad for us." James' voice came over the audio.

"Thank you James. Get whatever you need and don't forget anything you care about." Jack said. Though he had to think about James for a moment. "What callsign do you go by, James, as I am sure Hansen doesn't handle very well."

"James Hansen. Callsign 'Rook'. You guessed I was in the military.?"

"No, I just don't hire pilots from anywhere else." Jack replied casually. He keyed the door to open the shuttle, and the rain and wind came flying in. Jack grimaced. This suit wasn't meant for rain. Oh well, nothing for it if he wanted to go now. Thankfully, he saw the landing pad being rushed by a number of staff. A couple of engineers, three suits and one armed guard. Two of the suits moved forward while the last remained by the door. One was Todd, his graying hair more a preference than a problem. It was just too perfectly gray tinted to be anything but his preference. The other was a no name, at least to Jack, and he was moving forward with an umbrella.

Behind him, he could see Hannah holding up a hand to the spray of water and wind. He motioned for the staff member to cover the lady with the umbrella. He did so, Hannah giving him a look as they stepped off the plane. Ego he might have, but he also had to keep Hannah in his pocket until she could understand why he was doing what he was doing. With the stunt he pulled today it would be decades before she forgot about this. Her superiors wouldn't forget at all.

He moved forward, uncaring about the water getting everywhere. "Todd!" He called. "Good to see you."

"Indeed, Jack. Your bird is as ready as I can get her, and your flight path is logged. Though I don't quite share your rush to go into unexplored space, I can understand your desire to just fly."

"Let's just say I have a place to be. Circumstances change too quickly to stick with a single plan, as you know. How is the _Talon_? Test flights within parameters?"

"She ran three flights in the last week. Only within the parameters. Though that drive core is a bit heavy, it felt like I was driving a vehicle with a slight load." Todd said with a grin, his teeth showing signs of tea stains.

"You flew her yourself?" Jack asked.

"Oh yes. Couldn't trust anyone else to do it. She is absolute rubbish in atmosphere, but once you clear the stratosphere, don't be afraid of really giving her all you got. She is a real joy to fly, though. The paint job got finished just a few hours ago, before you called. Getting that orange you wanted was rather difficult, but not impossible on short notice."

Todd walked with them inside the headquarters, out of the rain, and shook his suit out. Jack definitely owed him. Though to fund another one of these craft wouldn't be impossible, he would need some time to refund the stock he had in different hedge funds to pay for it. Most of his fluid cash would probably have to go to paying back Senator Scott. Their walk was only a few hundred feet before Todd brought them before a large blast door. By this time most of the raindrops that had gotten onto them were gone or had just been absorbed by their clothes.

"Todd, you outdo yourself. Every time." Jack complimented. Personally testing the craft, everything. "Call on me anytime. I'll do whatever it takes." Jack offered. Todd Hislopp held onto favors for years. But when he called this one in, it would be big.

"Just wait until you see her, Jack." Todd said, punching in a key code into the doors. Without any noise they slid back, revealing the hangar. "Fifty meters, Palladium plating on the airlocks and hard points, with heat resistant plating elsewhere." Behind the door was the _Talon_. Fifty meters, just as he said. More importantly, its profile was that of a bird with its wings extended, with the wing nacelles adjustable for flight control. Each was rated for any turn angle that the G-forces would allow, and had the speed to be able to outrun any of the picket forces that the Alliance had around Shanxi. Their best were in other places right now, but that might be only true for now.

He also made the craft look like a smaller _Normandy_. The _Talon_ didn't have its armor, Tantalus core, or AI, but it had one thing that made it better. It was purely civilian, so every seat had real leather, real granite counters, and looked like it belonged on the front of a magazine. The paint job was of course, his favorite. Cerberus colors. There was no negative connotations for this color combination yet, or perhaps not at all if he just changed that. Though he was rather fond of the colors.

"The Spitfire 2200's we put on there are technically the same models that the military will be buying for their new frigates, but their drive cores will be larger. So they will have a little bit more speed in the long run, but you will have more acceleration and a smaller tank." Todd said, pointing at the engines as they came up to the airlock. There was no Orange and black 'C' to greet him on the doors, but he could care less. This craft made him smile.

"Did you test their top speed?" Jack asked.

"Of course. I'm just a gentleman enough to let you figure it out yourself. She is your baby, after all. When these hit the market, I can imagine that there will be a lineup."

Jack gave him an equal grin. "I'll send you the information on our flight. We will be going through some relay travel at some point. What is the name of the engineer you sent me?"

Todd's grin slipped slightly. Perhaps he was just trying to get rid of the engineer. "Amandeep Kale. Graduated from India's top starship training facility, and was the chief engineer for the _Talon_ project. He knows your ship the best out of all of my technicians."

"How is his English?" Jack asked. Todd grimaced slightly more. That must have been it. Todd was one of those types of men that prided himself on his English.

"Tolerable. But when he gets into the jargon he just speaks too fast for anyone to understand him. Perhaps you can knock some sense into him."

Jack nodded. "Only if i need to. Hopefully this will be a short trip." He made sure to shake Todd's hand as he opened the airlock. "James, get the chair warmed up. Get Kale to spin up the drive and get us in the air." James moved past him, shaking off his awe and wonder at the craft. He would know if much more intimately before this was all over. "Allison, if you would, it is time to leave." He motioned to her. Todd probably believed that Hannah was here to be his female companionship. To be fair, Jack never lacked such. He had crafted that image for himself. It made people underestimate him, especially women. At least until they joined him later.

"Remember, Todd. Anytime." Jack said, ambling towards the airlock as he watched the engines start getting warmer. As they closed he took a deep breath of the air onboard, and looked around. There were two levels of the craft, one lower and one upper. The lower contained the engines and engineering section in the back half of the craft. The front half of the lower level was a lounge and pilot's area. Staff rooms were kept along the sides of the ship on the lower floor. The upper floor had a bar and kitchen, along with two staterooms. Just in case he wanted to take Henry with him. Or whomever may be invited. Two other smaller guestrooms existed, as well as an office space. That space was being used for the arms and armor that Todd had placed on the ship for him. Thankfully he didn't ask about that. Though he was sure it was on his mind. Jack had one bedroom reserved for himself, in the front of the ship on top of the pilot's lounge. The window was reminiscent of his view when he had Minuteman Station.

Next time he wouldn't have that. That station was a blatant waste of resources that he could have placed elsewhere. When he stepped onto the lush carpet, he breathed a sigh of relief. Next to him, Hannah grinned.

"Wow, you really are committed to this. Taking something this nice into a combat zone is just unheard of." Hannah's heels clicked as she walked around, examining the fine surfaces and took an extra long stop at the bar. Solid granite from New Zealand. It had brown speckling amongst the gray stone that just made any drink look more appetizing.

"Only the best. Though for this, the _Talon's_ speed is what we need. The comfort is simply a plus. I had this craft fully outfitted and stocked before we got here. If you have any sort of craving for a drink, feel free to find it behind the bar. The computer will grab it from the storage racks." Many of the bottles he had put in stock were placed on the wall, but he would be a fool to not use the storage space behind the wall for the rest of what he needed in stock. Henry would be able to drink through most of his liquor that was exposed over a week. "James, are we in the air?"

"Yes, sir. Did you notice?"

He hadn't. Paying attention, he could barely feel any gravity force on him. But there was a subtle pull on him that spoke of acceleration. "I can barely feel it. How fast are we going?"

"As fast as ground control will let me break atmosphere. Sir, this craft is amazing. Other than the weight in back, this feels almost like the racing circuit."

"That must have been what got you on my list of pilots. Consider this your permanent posting, James. I get the feeling that this might be better than being my chauffeur." Perhaps lacking in a few amenities and varieties of bedroom partners, but the comfort levels were the same. "As long as you perform up to speed, of course. Make for the relay at best speed. Open her up and get us underway. I'll have a list of alternate courses to take once we clear the relay sent forward to you." He checked his chronometer. He had to blink. "Also, very nice time in flight, Rook." He had still made the timetable, even after being forced on an alternate course.

"Thank you, sir." James replied.

Jack then turned to find Hannah prying a cork off of a bottle of Irish whiskey. Well, that was surprising. "I did owe you a better brand from a few hours ago."

She gave him a grin. "Consider this part of my bribe."

"So does that mean you are in?"

"Unless you do something that would convince me to shoot you before we get to Shanxi, then yes." Jack had to consider his words. He might actually commit treason if he mentioned too much. She must have found the look on his face amusing, as she slid a glass over towards the next seat on the bar. "You have good taste, Jack. I haven't seen this stuff since I left …" she trailed off, but shook her head and didn't mention anything further. He refrained from commenting.

"Cheers." He offered, ending the awkward moment. After the glasses clinked, Jack took a sip and had to grit his teeth against the burn. She picked the very hard liquor. He was used to women picking the lighter stuff. He gave it a moment to get down his throat. "You'll find that my taste is preferential in everything. You can use the bedroom on the right upstairs, and the room across from it has all of the weapons and armor that you hopefully had enough time to familiarize yourself with. We will be at Shanxi within fifteen hours. You have until then to catch up on any sleep, get the guns loaded with the correct ammunition, and have the armor ready for yourself, me, and possibly two other people to be exfiltrated." At her questioning look, he addressed her obvious concern. "We might be able to have some support on the ground. I have a few contacts on Shanxi that might be able to help."

"Who would be able to help? All of the hired muscle in the Alliance is probably on that planet." Hannah noted.

"Only the ones with loose morals and greedy pockets." Jack retorted. That _was_ what he had been trying to hire, after all. "The rest of Humanity's mercenary groups are probably still on earth in Africa or other hotspots. The headquarters that the Reds are operating out of are highly sophisticated, and require a large staff to operate. The leader of that staff and woman in charge of keeping things running is named Eva Core. She might have a few people still loyal to her."

"Can you trust her?" Hannah asked, refilling her whiskey. Jack was still nursing his. He made a mental note to see if she could out drink him later.

"I can trust that she wants her building and lifestyle back. The Reds most likely don't do any of the terraforming and construction that kept the company afloat and paid for. In fact, once all of this comes out, Terryl Construction will most likely go bankrupt. Whoever buys them out will have to be considerate of much of the Shanxi situation, or they might just pull out entirely." He paused, considering being the man to buy it out. Perhaps, but not worth the headache and effort to personally involve himself. "I can trust that Eva will want the Reds gone. So prepare two of the hardsuits for females and two for males. Eva is very short, so you might want to have that be a smaller size."

Hannah smirked. "Haven't done this since basic. You demand a lot out of your people."

"Only the best." Jack grimaced at the burn of the whiskey, deciding to finish the last of his drink and head towards the pilot's chamber. "I'll check with you in ten hours. Until then, comm me if you are having trouble." He didn't get a reply, Hannah heading for the ornamental and decorative stairs. He had modeled them after stairs he had seen in the London Opera house, spiraling monstrosities. They were not actually the marble that the stairs were, but were simply shaped like them. Though the ever present carpet was there as well. He did give Hannah a long glance as she walked away, her body profile one of slight exhaustion. She was beautiful, for certain. Whether he would actually get to see anything or enjoy anything would depend on tomorrow. Jack was patient, though. There was always another woman. _But_ , he reminded himself, there was only one Shepard that was a key component in his plans.

Walking forward to the pilot's room, he had made this improved as well. There was a small kitchenette off to one side of the room, along with a small bunking chamber and bathroom. Two beds were in here, and the front part of the chamber was a wide window with all of the controls for the ship. The pilot's seat, real leather with full comfort options, had James sitting comfortably in it while drinking a bottle of water. Jack had the fridge here stocked with everything that a pilot could want, as well as alcohol. James could drink that if he felt comfortable enough, but he went with water.

"Not finding a drink you like, Rook?" Jack asked, making him jump as he came closer. The doors were silent in the ship, after all.

"Ah, no, I just prefer water, sir." James offered, watching as Jack came forward and sat in the other hot seat. Jack called up the navigation information, finding it a bit more intuitive than the program that he had to learn from on his Omni-tool. Considering the tool, he synced it up with the security systems onboard, and saw that Hannah hadn't tried to check up with her superiors.

"Fair enough. But if you have any preference, I can have it shipped here and supplied for you." Jack offered. He queued up the pathways for the ship to be able to travel once they hit the other side of the Arcturus Relay. He received a warning, since the pathways hadn't been mapped exactly, so he had to override them. That took a while. "Any food allergies or preferences, James?" Jack asked, while waiting for the program to compile all of the data he had just entered.

"Some, but easily avoided. I am not a very nice drunk, nor does it take much to get me there, or so I have been told." He said.

"Don't remember?"

"Happened once, and I had already been skipping sleep for days on end. Woke up later with a black eye and a couple regrets. But, if you are offering, sir." He considered his words. "Ginger beer is never in stock anywhere I go. That would be my only request. Other than that I am rather ambivalent about food." James offered, glancing at the navigation program. The speed that he had gotten the _Talon_ up to was excellent. It was getting attention, but that was unavoidable. Thankfully none of the Alliance patrol craft were calling to investigate. There weren't rules on how fast you could travel in the Sol system yet. Though with this performance that might come sooner than expected. Jack didn't remember all of the details on that. His memories didn't focus on that.

"Ginger beer it is. This program should take a bit to compile, but once it finishes let me know. I am going to speak to Kale." Jack said, getting up and brushing off his suit. James gave him a nod. Once the door opened Jack made sure to add ginger beer to his shopping list. He also noticed a message from Hannah.

_Jack,_

_Did you buy clothes for me? This is all rather too unbelievable to be just coincidence._

Jack laughed a little bit. Stocking the ship with everything meant that he had _everything_ prepared. He had one of the state rooms prepared with enough clothing to destroy a year's salary of a New York CEO. Not hard, especially when he had the best tastes being fulfilled. Hannah might find this either offensive or a compliment.

_Allison_

_I told you my ship was stocked. Take anything you need, I can always have it replaced. Consider it part of the amenities I offer. I apologise if anything is not to your tastes, that room is normally reserved for guests of a different nature._

Jack grinned. Hannah might actually be offended at some of the items in that closet, but he didn't care. It wasn't her ship. He didn't get a reply immediately, so he figured that she had moved on or decided it wasn't worth replying to. Jack walked behind the stairs, pulling on one of the lamps that had been built into the wall. There were four lamps along the back wall, and each opened up a door. Two lead to the engineering space. As soon as the door opened, he could hear a barrage of music coming from the area.

Urdu spoken music. He had found Kale. Coming around the bend, he could see the six foot long drive core that powered the _Talon_ was spinning nicely, gearing up for the mass relay jump. Despite the music, the engineering chamber was not cluttered with tools as he thought it would be. Everything was in perfect order, which was rare in an environment like this one. There were two display consoles, and a short Indian gentleman was busy working at one of them. The music was loud, but not overbearing. Amandeep was a brown that his race was known for. He was bald, and wore a rather clean set of clothes. A few spots of oil were on a rag that was hanging from a rack near one of the display consoles. Jack couldn't find any other signs of dirt of oil here.

"Pilut Ruk, deh kor is spinning and ready. She is within acceptable limits." The accent was thick. But his fingers flew across the display with practice.

"Copy." James' voice replied. "Attention all aboard, we are making for the relay and will jump in five minutes, barring any attempt to stop us." James laughed at his own joke, though Amandeep also gave a chuckle. Jack let himself smile a bit. "Please prepare yourselves and brace yourself in the nearest seat. This will be the first time that the _Talon_ will hit a Mass Relay, so I don't know how badly she will shake." Jack knew that he had designed the craft to glide through everything. It shouldn't have too much trouble with the mass relay transition, but that wasn't a guarantee.

Jack decided that it might be better to to not risk anything. Amandeep looked very professional and in charge of himself. He slipped back the way he came, the door sliding closed silently. He walked back to the bar, and set the bottle of whiskey back in its slot. The two cups he slid into their own slots, which made a satisfying click as they slid into place. He could see nothing else that was loose, and so decided to get comfortable. The couch seemed like a perfect place for this.

Not a minute after he got settled, the _Talon_ gave a tiny jolt of movement, and he was shifted slightly on his seat. "Rook? Was that the transition?" Jack asked.

"Yes. Uh, Sir. This was hardly any trouble. She didn't even rattle anything."

"How much did she drift?" Jack asked.

"Over sixty thousand kilometers. I would say pretty good. Can't do much better even with military vessels." At least for now. Later on the technology would be improved enough to be much more accurate. But for now, that was exceptional.

"Very good Rook. Based on where the Alliance patrols are, you have your directions. I would prefer if you could just go to full burn and get us to the next relay as soon as possible."

"Mr. Harper, the next relay is seven hours out. I'll let you know when we hit it."

"Thank you, James. If you can, take a break when you can."

Jack went back to the bar and set the cups that had been used into the cleaning system. The bottle was safely sealed again, and hadn't been disturbed by the relay transition. With a nod to his good decisions, he made his way upstairs. HIs bedroom was prepared as he had wanted it to be. Simple, yet elegant. Black sheets. Cupboards and closet hidden inside a wall, and a bathroom worthy of any penthouse. Jack just grinned and set his alarm for six hours. A few hours of sleep now was going to be important.

Closing his eyes, he slept. But for some reason, he didn't find himself feeling anxious. That usually had him staying up late trying to plan around contingencies. This time, there was no further planning. There was one shot at this. Greg Smith was either on Shanxi or dead. No matter what, Jack was going to find him.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll have a new chapter every day until I'm caught up here like I am at the other posting sites. So, feel free to leave your thoughts, kudos, and comments. Every day will bring new posts and more content until it goes back to the normal posting schedule.


	3. Fugue: Opening Moves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, all, I mis-posted the second chapter again. Chapter 3 is now in its full glory. Thanks to Rotou.

Chapter 3

Shanxi was a distance from the nearest connecting relay. That meant that the FTL drive was put into use. It was the only thing that caused any sort of disturbance in the ship's movement. Accelerating to FTL had caused Jack to wake up from his nap, for a moment. He woke up a lot more when they came out of FTL, when the ship shook as it decelerated. Jack was dressed and ready within a couple of minutes. This time he skipped the suit jacket. He didn't need the technological advantages that were built into the inner jacket.

The stairs he took two at a time, and the rug gave him plenty of traction. He walked quickly, but not with any level of anxiety, his beating heart telling him otherwise. Hannah was still upstairs, most likely preparing the armor. He had forwarded his sizes to her for the hardsuit. It took hours to properly get them sized to each person, with Humanity's current level of technology. Hannah was probably going to be busy with that until they got closer.

Stepping past the bar, he could see that the bottle of whiskey had been turned. Hannah must have come and gotten another glass at some point. She had put everything back, at least. The pilot's lounge had barely any change, other than one of the beds being slightly shifted. James had hopefully gotten some rest. Jack came over the navigation console.

"How is the system looking, James?" He asked.

James must have heard him come in. "Very active. We have ten Alliance craft and a dozen or more civilian craft around." He motioned to the displays. "Most of them are around Shanxi but there is a lot of things I can't see. The sun is giving off a lot of flares, but according to the files that is normal. It means I can't see much on the far side of the system. Shanxi I don't have clear readings of, but I can see a lot of activity."

There were a lot of ship signatures that hadn't been seen on the first look. It looked like there were medical vessels, trade ships, and the ever present military vessels all over the system. More importantly he saw the thing he was looking for. There was a meteor shower heading inwards to the inner ring of planets. Jack grinned. Solar flares were common from Shanxi's sun. The meteor showers were also something he could take advantage of.

"Take us towards this heading. Try to save our kinetic barriers for later. It will get a little hot moving past the sun at this vector, but I want us to be outside their sensor range."

"That heading leads us towards the gas giant on the other side of the system. Are we going to discharge our drive core there?" James asked.

"No. I want that heading to be where they think we are going. The Helium refineries in system will be a fine excuse for a civilian craft to go towards it. In reality, I want you to break off here," He motioned using the navigation console, "and take us into that batch of meteorites. Just skirting the edge, mind you. We will get torn apart if we come too close. From inside those, we will have some sensor cover to make it to the far side of Shanxi."

James nodded, and started towards that heading. As they got closer to Shanxi's star, their sensors could no longer see Shanxi or that side of the system. James was keeping to his heading, and Amandeep reported that the drive core was experiencing no trouble. He had a few flaws in their fuel usage. Apparently the engine was not as efficient as advertised to him by Todd. But, for the speed and acceleration it gave, it was alright.

James frowned as they cleared the sun and had a view of the meteorites. He then broke off from the planned heading and started moving towards the gas giant again. Jack gave him a glance.

"We aren't the only people on that heading." He said, eyes glued to his console. "I'm seeing a few possible signatures that are near the meteorites that would be exactly where you would want us to be. Did you invite anyone else?"

Jack narrowed his eyebrows. "No." There were only a few possibilities if someone was already there. He didn't like any of them. This entire situation was not something he could just go into his past memories and test against them. He had engineered this little rebellion, and nothing in his past would help. "James, I need to know if there are ships in there. Do a flyby."

"They'll know we are there, though."

"Right now, stealth was our best bet. If someone is already in my flight path, then we have to reconsider our plans. We are on too tight of a timetable to avoid any heading that takes us away from Shanxi." He glanced at the local timer. It was just past three in the morning on Shanxi. Greg did not have much time before he was going to be killed, if what his contacts had mentioned was spot on. He didn't trust them as much as he wished he could, since most of his more loyal minions had been nuked with Zaeed. "Take us right past them. See if you can run some ID numbers. Make, model, whatever. We don't have time to go to the gas giant and come around without arousing suspicion."

"What should I do if they fire on us, then?" James asked carefully.

"Use it to our advantage. Complain, be loud about it. Raise some sort of alarm and I'll find a reason for us to get on the ground. If they don't, make for this location here." He made a point on the map of Shanxi.

James looked more worried about that. "They are going to be able to see us if we land right there."

"If I didn't have meteorites to hide behind, then I wouldn't have that problem. Thankfully I know that they don't have patrols on that side of the mountains. But there are tunnels that connect that area to the main colony." Jack told him. He couldn't appear uncertain in front of his pilot. Thankfully he had the practice of schooling his features. "We will have enough time to land and hopefully get out of there before they can get around to us. Perhaps some Alliance air support if we can act suspiciously enough."

"I hope that they don't have guns, then. Sir." He added at the last, reminding himself. James started taking them in, their course heading straight towards Shanxi, right past the meteorite group. Their yacht was able to get up to a much more impressive speed than the meteorites, and they could both distinguish separate objects among the group that were too rectangular to be space rock.

"Take us in closer. Those rocks are throwing off the gear." Civilian level technology. Not acceptable.

"Those look like those new Kowloon freighters. Could have anything on them." James muttered. The objects were quite square and rectangular, and the vessels were all painted black to mix in with the surrounding space. They also didn't have their running lights on.

"That means they are capable of landing anywhere. Kowloon frigates have a modular airlock, which allows them to dock in locations that aren't usually meant for spacecraft." Jack said. That was the one reason Cerberus had used them, back in the day. "Those ships won't need to land at the spaceport."

"Any bets on where they are heading?" James asked, looking like he was trying to guess. Jack didn't have to.

"Unmarked modular freighters travelling in a sensor shadow that we ourselves would have picked. Three, possibly another hidden past them on the other side of the meteor. No attempts to hail or contact anyone from our approach. There is no question as to their intention. As they are obviously illegal in their intentions, they must be associated with the Reds. So, by association, they are headed to the same party that we are."

James took a moment to consider that. "How fast do I need to go?"

Jack gave him a look. "Punch it. If the Alliance sends ships to check us out, that may throw off their plans. I do not want the Reds getting any more support if I can afford it." Indeed. He couldn't.

"Then should we send a hail to the one Alliance cruiser that might be able to make our heading?"

"No. That would be inviting trouble." Jack said. He watched as the ships stayed in the meteorite cloud and didn't even try to break away or address the  _Talon_. They accelerated, moving towards Shanxi with all haste. It was almost an hour away. "James, I am going to go get my armor on. I trust that you'll ignore any hails."

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"It will create a reaction from the Alliance. Where one ship ignores a hail, it creates a dangerous sequence of events. More reasons for them to interrupt those freighters." James only nodded at this.

"I guess I should turn off our IDs, then, sir. It would only make us more suspicious." James snarked. Jack gave him a small smirk in response.

"Initiative is usually considered a marketable quality. Don't let it become something more dangerous." Jack reminded. James nodded, humbled a bit but still feeling rather good about himself. Jack's feet took him up the stairs and into the bedroom. From here he retrieved his Omni-tool and his pistol. Once he had these, he carried them over to the office. He found his hardsuit laid out along the table, and the display that was supposed to be on the table had been dropped in the far corner of the room.

Hannah was fully suited in armor, and had a satchel in one hand and most of the points on her armor were filled with weapons. There were two of each weapon hanging from her armor, and a few more were laid out under the table, where he could see the armor he was to wear also placed.

In this life he hadn't become a mercenary, hadn't gone through military training. But the old memories contained all that he needed. The hardsuit came on easily, and was well fitted. Everything was. The armor he had delivered was of the medium variety, compared to what his memories told him. It was the best Humanity had at the time, though. Hannah's armor and his were nearly formless. The archaic variety of armor was not following the contours of their bodies like the future versions would.

Still, Hannah made it look decent. He supposed that he did a rather dapper job of filling out his own armor. He had an exercise regimen. It kept his figure in top shape. Looking down at the armor, he had to make sure to act suitably unfamiliar with it all. He took extra special care to drop the shotgun he had picked. Predictably, Hannah reacted. She snorted at this.

"You sure that you should be carrying any of that?" She mocked. "Or have you ever shot a gun before?"

Jack snapped his wrist, causing the hold-out pistol to snap into his hand. "Only when necessary. Even then only when threatened." He returned the pistol to its position on the inside of his elbow. Her eyes were ready for it, but still showed some intrigue. "Pistols are where I am best, but I believe it is said that anyone can use a shotgun. Not to mention my pistol is meant more for the targets that aren't aware of your presence. This pistol happens to make very little noise when shot. So it has its uses."

"Fair enough." She said, holstering her own shotgun and rifle. "You will carry the extra gear then, since I will be on point. I don't trust your ability to be quiet yet. But I did add something to help with that."

Jack shrugged. As long as she was serious about helping him, that was fine. "We should head downstairs. We might be flagged as dangerous by an Alliance Cruiser in the next couple of minutes." That got her moving, and they got down into the cockpit just in time to see the planet of Shanxi starting to fill the view. It was a bit intimidating, to be honest with himself. But Hannah had her mouth open too, so it must have been nice to see. He took the time to enjoy that view as they got closer, and didn't disrupt James.

The Talon came within the outer edges of the stratosphere of Shanxi without raising much alarm from the Alliance cruiser in orbit above its North Pole. They were not making much noise on communications or from their movements, but as soon as they hit the atmosphere they would make a lot more ruckus. When a ship entered atmosphere it wasn't in a very clean way. A lot of heat got to the craft, and it would light up on any thermal detectors hidden across the hemisphere. Jack had strapped himself in, and looked over at James.

"Take us in and take an oblong heading until our heat dissipates. Then change course for Tyrrel Headquarters." Jack had a number of things to so once they got there.

James nodded, taking the Talon directly into the atmosphere. The cruiser saw this soon enough, and started coming about towards them. "It'll be too late when they get here. We have some of the best thermal exhaust that exists. Shanxi is cold enough in the upper atmosphere that I can get rid of all of the heat long before they can get any satellites in the area."

Jack nodded. "We are almost there. The barriers are keeping out the worst of it." They had better. Jack paid good money for them to be able to do that much. Could they take a shot from that cruiser? Not a chance in hell.

James started leveling them out around the level of Shanxi's cloud layer. "I've got cloud cover. If you think I can get away with it, I can change heading now."

Jack considered this for only a moment. The cruiser was still coming around, but hadn't deployed any fighters or taken much of any offensive actions. Hopefully that meant they would be in position to deny those freighters entrance to the atmosphere.

"Do it. The cruiser hasn't sent fighters after us yet."

"Maybe they can't afford to pay their pilots?"

"The rebels didn't bring enough fighters down to scare them enough nor did the Alliance cut any funding to their hotshot pilot program." Jack gave James a look. "How was it that you lost your position in the Alliance, as I know that their pilots get at least a steady pension?"

James grimaced. "My parents did me right in how they raised me, but I never did like staying completely within the rules. So the racing circuit sort of appealed to me. The Alliance doesn't have enough ships for all of the pilots to serve at the same time, so we are serving in six month stints. Some of us decided to race during the off season, as we called it."

"What was it that brought you into it?"

"The adrenaline. That, along with some decent cash prizes for the winners, made it worth it. We had enough money to live through the off season, so most of us did it for the sport. Others did it to live better. But eventually it all came crashing down. We all lost our commissions, had to straighten up our lives." James had very little emotion in his voice as he said this. He probably resolved all this long ago, but it was good to know about these sort of things. In his past life Jack would have micromanaged his labor force to a degree that he would have known all this already, but this time around he gave the recruiters a mediocum of trust.

"So there went your pension. I assume you ended up here, or did you have some other insufferable trait I should know about?"

"I don't love spicy food and shouldn't fly if I haven't slept in four days." James said, their path through the clouds turning around towards the colony. "Looks like we are on our new heading now sir. Thermal venting complete. Alliance air patrols are out, but shouldn't take great interest in us. They seem to have found the freighters."

Jack smirked. That was excellent news. "There are some pipes that lead from a reservoir into the back of the base. I want you to balance the Talon on the two of them. I and Hannah will approach the base from there."

"How much of a gap is there between the pipes? Surface area?"

Jack grimaced. "The pipes are six feet apart and ten wide. They won't hold your weight, but the field above should be clear enough to set down."

"That's miles from any location I can pick you up at." James muttered, looking at the location Jack had selected with the console. "That's barely eighty meters of clear ground."

"No one else would use it. Try not to scratch the paint."

"Where do I pick you up then?"

"If things go according to plan then you will pick us up back on the pipes. If things go sour, we may as well try the roof."

"That sounds suicidal. We will be in the open, and the sun will be up." James said, bringing the craft towards the mountain range.

"Be that as it may, we would be out of options by that point. You'll be flying near the northwest anti air tower, so if they get that online you should hide behind the headquarters. There is a terrace that juts out there, but is a much harder location. The winds will be pushing you into the building, and the ship is not exactly built for stealth."

James didn't like those options, but relayed the coordinates anyway. "Ten minutes from the pipes. You best be ready to jump."

"Are we jumping from the main airlock?" Hannah's voice came from behind them. Jack snapped his head up, noticing her with all oh her weapons. She had a grin on her face as she caught him by surprise."Don't we have an engineering entrance?"

"It isn't meant for armored figures. Amandeep has to bend over to walk through it. We can't jump from there. There isn't enough surface area." Jack replied, seemingly unfazed by her presence when in reality he had been caught completely unprepared. Hannah was not someone he had been adequately prepared for, in every occasion. "This isn't a military craft. But you know that. Have you been standing there long enough to hear our discussion?"

She shook her head. "I came in when you mentioned the roof. Sounds like you are engaging in your usual impulsive planning." Hannah was still smirking as she said this. Probably some jape at her method of recruitment.

"In your expert opinion, then, what would you recommend?" Jack derided her attempts to make him uncomfortable.

"That you tell us the real reason you have come to Shanxi." She said. "A single genetic implant can be collected from a corpse easily enough. A man of your wealth never risks himself unless there is something threatening him directly." She didn't even have her hand near her weapon. But the threat was an open one.

"You are aware of the newest wave of budget cuts affecting the military?" He knew she was, but had to remind her of the topic to get her opinion pointed in the right direction. "These cuts will remove our ability to deploy those kilometer long dreadnaughts we have been developing for years. Billions of credits are riding on the contracts involved. Ashland-Hislopp has been making a shipyard for them, and if those contracts fall through they lose their billion credit investments."

"Your Talon was made by Hislopp. Is this another favor?" Hannah noted.

"If only. I own as much of that company as Todd allows me to. Nearly thirty percent. Any company associated with the military has my investments in it. Before you ask, that's not a collective fund. My own personal wealth has been invested into the future of Humanity, and others like me do the same. These budget cuts remove our ability to defend ourselves. More importantly, there is a small collective of individuals that feel that Humanity should not be threatened like this." Jack very much wanted a cigarette right now. "These individuals have decided to fund a small group of mercenary freedom fighters. You know them as the Reds."

"Why would anyone fund them?" Hannah said. "Total madness."

"To watch their much vaunted Alliance Military crush them in a narrow victory. To prove the worth of their armor and weapons developed for the Alliance. The close win would prove to the Senate that the Alliance Navy needs an overhaul. One such man is Germaine Bissel, of Bissel Airspace. But the flaw in the armor lost him his fortunes and his life. He committed suicide not long after, I am sure. But he funded the Reds with the intent of marketing his armors over his competitors. He wasn't the only contributor, and many were anonymous. I wasn't."

Hannah was waiting for enough information to arrest him. He wasn't planning on giving it to her. James was the one to speak up, though.

"We here to fix up the mess, then?"

"I would need mercenaries loyal to me. All of those that existed were blown up by their fellows. The only ones with respect and sense were in my pocket, and for that twenty million credits of eezo was detonated on top of them. The plan was to surrender after the scum had been broken through and crushed at the space port. My men died in the hours before the attack. The survivors would have been exposed to enough eezo to give them tumors and days to live. We are not here to fix up anything, unless the opportunity presents itself."

"So what are you here for if not to fix your mess?" James asked. "Sir," he added, a bit late.

"I need to do a little digging and retrieve a certain marine. I wasn't lying about the genetic implant. The servers should still accept my authorization, and I can find what we need. Evidence for Hannah to charge Bissel with the attack, as well as vindicate them for the sabotaged armor. Either way it quiets down the populace and the situation. You get your villain, I get my peaceful colony and contracts back, and the Reds die or disappear within the month without resupply. Either way, any of my own intentions in this have been removed."

Hannah had folded her arms. "Exactly what were those intentions?"

"Something the Alliance could break their teeth on. Give them a fight without a war. Something that could be the first in a string of strategic actions that would overturn the legislation and create a strong trust in the Navy. My fellows, anonymous or not, must have had a different opinion. I hope to find out their intention or identity and offer the Alliance some sort of target for all of this, or else some innocents out there will pay for it."

Hannah scoffed. Jack ignored this and continued. "You'll find that many of the Admirals would have supported the original plan. We even had their approval for some things. You should at least be thankful. After today you might as well be able to demand a promotion."

"I get the feeling that my superiors might gain a greater understanding if you were brought in for questioning. You seem to have all of the answers." He couldn't do that. He couldn't stop the Reapers if he was rotting in some jail. He shook his head.

"I can do more for Humanity from my office then from a cell. Even if I have answers right now," She could only wish that she had his perspective on things, "I only got them from searching and digging through reports. I won't be able to supply you with answers in the future if you lock me up."

"That's only if you choose to supply me or anyone else with answers. Perhaps I only want names." Hannah declared. She must not like him yet. To be fair, Jack wasn't the most welcoming man in the world, unless libido was involved.

"You can have them. Though your superiors won't let you arrest anyone without proof. Proof you are going to help me get right now." The console showed them nearing the lake that fed the headquarters. Jack stood up, holding a sack with weapons and the spare armors. Hannah had given him the honor of carrying the extra gear, if she were going to be in charge of shooting. He walked to the airlock, Hannah close behind. She wasn't using a helmet, and her red hair was tied up behind her head. Jack had one, but that was more for the interface. Helmets muffled noise and made it hard to hear things. Like people walking or loading their gun with phasic rounds.

The pipes emerged from the lake, yellow colored and half buried by dirt. The Talon slowed and finally stopped over the pipes most exposed point, the airlock nearly fifteen feet from the ground. He couldn't land any closer, otherwise the vents would suck up grass and dirt, and the wings would clip the trees. There was a rope just for this, though. Hannah slid down first, and hit the ground without much trouble. Jack dropped the bag down the rope to her, then slid down himself. He did not feign anything this time, and landed as lightly as she had. They were both right next to the pipes, and the large yellow things provided cover and support. Their armor was heavy, and sank through the loose dirt on the hill. All of this was a landslide potential area, which made the pipes a vital walkway.

He moved down the pipes first. James had taken the Talon away from them and over by the meadow he would hide the Talon at. It barely fit, and Jack was already imagining long black scratch marks all over the white and orange highlights. Ignoring that, he could see the end of the pipeline, entering into the mountainside and mounting into a wide metal wall housing, complete with door and terminal. Hannah and Jack found no one waiting for them, and the terminal was deactivated.

That wasn't hard to fix. Once on, it requested a username and pass code. He started entering the code belonging to his colleague at Tyrrel, Dr. Eva Core. She was a short woman of French descent that had a brilliant mind for designing colonial infrastructure. As he typed in the username Hannah laughed. "You don't look like a woman. How did you steal this code?"

"I traded the obvious for it. She shared it with me in exchange for my secrets."

"What secret held that kind of value, pray tell?"

"The kind you would have to sleep with me for, as she did."

Hannah must have been giving him a look. She didn't reply for a moment. "Sounds expensive. Did she get her money's worth?"

Jack couldn't be too flirtatious with her. But he also couldn't help himself. "Three times. You could claim she didn't get her money's worth, but today we are going to rescue her for certain. So I would say that her investment" Hannah let out a small scoff at his wording, "is being returned in full." With this kind of reaction it was unlikely that Hannah would sleep with him. He would have to avoid mentioning this to Henry.

The console let out a chirp to let him know that the login was complete. He brought up the functions of the console, limited to the water control valve and the doors, as well as basic access to to the systems. His Omni-tool wasn't powerful enough to override the interface, so he had to type out his commands on its more primitive interface. First things first, he wrote a small note in the administrator message system. He timed it for five minutes from then, and then added a subroutine to have the door open as part of the sent message.

_Administrator required. Systems failure at junction 149-B. Water monitoring server down._

That would get Eva's attention. She was not someone you would kill during an occupation. She was critical to the future of the colony, and nobody wanted the colony completely destroyed. At least nobody that Jack was aware of. If someone had that in mind hopefully they left something behind for him to find.

"In five minutes that door will open as part of a subroutine that will get Eva's attention. If she comes to fix it immediately then we will have to deal with her escort, if she has one. If she doesn't i will be able to tell where she is based on where the message is sent to display."

"So we are going to trigger an alarm to begin with? Won't they notice someone missing?"

"Communications this far out are a bit garbled. Especially when the helmet reports a failure. They won't check until the next shift change, which gives us two hours at the most."

Hannah nodded, and settled at one end of the platform with her rifle lowered. Jack acted like the civilian he was supposed to be. He lounged by the door and wished he could take out a cigarette. This late in the game his nerves were not so friendly to him. When five minutes had passed, he jerked towards the door. It made some racket as it skidded open, the sub standard door banging open. The hallway was empty, though. Only a bag of old tools remained to mark the presence of humanity here. A good sign, thankfully. Some dust was left over from the concrete and ferrocrete walling.

Jack lead the way to the server room, the exterior door shutting behind them. He didn't say anything, just following the map he had on his Omni-tool. Hannah was right behind him, her steps muffled. Looking back, he could see bits of his rug on the soles of the boots she had. His own steps were muffled as well. Hopefully that carpet section wasn't too difficult to replace. He wasn't going to tell her not to innovate, as that was something to be rewarded. When they got to the server room, they started having trouble. The server there had been completely removed. Someone had changed the layout of the server network. The physical hardware wasn't in the room, but the shape of it in the dust of the floor was obvious. A console had been ripped out too.

"This isn't good." Jack told Hannah, who appeared oblivious. "I can't do anything from here. They pulled out everything."

Hannah grinned. "Not quite. Consoles have built in cables to connect them to the rest of the system. Let's try hooking your armor into that." A decent idea, but Jack would need to create a few interfaces for direct system control that wouldn't show his identity and location to the rest of the users. Before that could happen, though, Hannah tapped his shoulder.

He looked up, and could faintly hear tapping that corresponded with footsteps. He pulled out his pistol, while Hannah hefted the shotgun of hers. The footsteps came closer, and Jack couldn't tell how many there were. He motioned to Hannah to step into a closet space off to one side. He slipped into another such space that normally held servers. They didn't have to wait long.

Walking into the room wearing her usual high heels and business attire was Eva. She hadn't slept in a good while and her clothes showed signs of dirt and grit. Walking behind her were two brutes. One carried a decent weapon and the other carried a large crate. It looked like a mobile server. Neither of the henchmen were wearing helmets. Jack motioned to the one holding the box. Hannah could take him down. He would handle the armed one. Raising his pistol, he let off two shots in quick succession. The man dropped with holes in his forehead and cheek. His partner dropped the server, and rushed to get his rifle up. His barriers activated, too.

Hannah rolled forward, her knife plunging into the unprotected flesh of the mans neck. Barrier or not, that was going through. Her hands slammed his wrist, forcing his gun to fire into one of the other alcoves. One benefit of mass effect technology was that you rarely missed. You also hit so hard that you never could ricochet your shots like with the old ammunition. The last henchmen died as Hannah took his feet out from under him and kicked his gun away. He gurgled and went quiet soon after. Jack's hit had long since stopped moving.

Eva, on her part, hadn't screamed or freaked out, she had just run for cover in an alcove. When the shooting stopped, she carefully dipped her head out.

"Are you guys trying to blow up the base too?"

"Absolutely not, Eva. You gave me those passwords a while back. Consider this my thanks." Jack said, taking off his helmet. He gave her a winning smile as he did so, his hair in complete disarray from the helmet. She gave a massive sigh of relief once she saw his face.

"Jack!" She yelled, grabbing onto him. "You've got to get me out of here! They have all of us as hostages, just like the rest of the colony."

He grinned and pulled the sack of weapons over. "I've got an armor here with your name on it if you help us find out who is responsible for all this. Then we can get out of here." Jack offered, pulled out the armor. Eva gave the armor a long look.

"Jack, it's been a very long time since I've worn such. But why do you have this armor? It is the same as their commander's armor."

Jack narrowed his eyes. Was Todd involved? He wasn't the only one with access to the new armor system, for certain. "How long has he had it? It was only released from development two weeks ago."

"Since he arrived, right before they sealed off the spaceport. Six days ago. They shot the rest of the command staff, and blew up the communications tower." Eva had kicked off her shoes, and Jack looked at Hannah and motioned towards the door. She went, but had a smirk on her face as she looked at Eva. Hopefully nothing damaging in her line of thinking, but Jack could guess. Women compared themselves to each other as a form of social hierarchy. Though with Hannah it could easily be some intention to question her for information later, even though she was easily more beautiful than Eva. As proven when Eva took off mostly everything else to get into her hard suit. Jack didn't often deviate from his usual model bedmate, but for Eva it had been for a good reason. She offered her secrets, and in return he gave the police enough dirt on her boss to get him fired and her promoted. The man in question had since been arrested multiple times for sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior.

Eva had slid the hard suit over herself with a little trouble. Her size had changed slightly with the rough treatment at the hands of the Reds, but not enough to make things impossible. In his last life, before being sent to this Reaper memoryscape, he and Eva had both been mercenaries for hire when Shanxi had been invaded. This time around Eva had been the mercenary, and Jack, knowing the possibilities of the future, had gone into investment capital firms instead.

"Looks like what I remember about you still holds true." He remarked, once she had the armor pieces on. Eva moved quickly, and was faster than Jack at getting everything in place. She had a lot less distance to reach, to be fair, and had help. Though he would not have been adverse to Hannah helping him, she was still being a prickly pear of a personality. "How are they still getting messages out if they blew up the tower?"

Eva pointed at the missing server. "They built a new one out of hardware from all over the base. They turned the top floor of the headquarters into a communications center with servers connected to the rest of the colony's sensors and defenses. They even removed the gear left over at the spaceport for fixing the tower there."

"Is it reinforced?" Jack asked.

"They put some private security system on it that I haven't been able to touch yet. It handles all of the comm traffic but you need to be at a physical port to access it. They have four men at the door."

"Are they keeping you and the other hostages together?"

"A few of us. I know there are a lot more that are being kept in the store rooms in the lower levels. Those of us with jobs to continue doing are kept on the main floor."

"I have someone that needs to be rescued from the lower levels. Perhaps more than one person, if we can get away with it."

"We won't have much time yet, they will notice when they don't report in."

Jack nodded. "The only way we can get away with all of this is from the communications room. It's in the highest office, or is it in the penthouse?"

"Highest office. The penthouse is being used by that bastard Santiago." Jack stiffened. Vido Santiago was here. Jack would love to remove that bastards head. He had caused him enough grief.

"Let's take the private elevator up to the penthouse. Mr. Stone had it installed on the original blueprints and connected it to the vehicle hangar. They aren't using that, are they?"

"They locked it up. The vehicles are mostly just transportation and heavy lifters. Any of the all terrain vehicles are being used by them. We can get there through the back tunnels easily enough. There is one that directly connects to the hangar." Eva pointed out, doing a check qui on her weapons. She was rusty at it, he could tell. She hefted the rifle with purpose though. He could count on her, though. She was the designated marksmen in their squad.

Jack stepped outside, finding Hannah in the hallway putting her knife back into her wrist sheathe. It no longer had any blood on it, so she must have cleaned it off. She gave him a neutral look, but didn't say anything. She could hear everything they said, and needed no urging or explanation.

"Eva, this is Allison, one of my dear friends in the Alliance. Allison, Dr. Eva Core." Their introductions to each other were clipped, respectful but not showing any thanks for the rescue or otherwise. Eva must think that Hannah was his current bedmate. Hannah knew enough about Eva to suggest a colored opinion. He wasn't going to correct either one, as he might take a romantic tumble before this trip was over.

The bag of weapons was much more manageable. With more than a third of the weight on Eva, he could move a bit faster. Not to mention he didn't look like a cheap laborer sweating for his hourly credits. Always a plus.

Jack found the hangar empty and dark, the vehicles scattered from where panicking workers had abandoned them. Piles of dead or destroyed equipment littered the area near the doors, thrown in the empty and large hangar. Some of these were from the removed hardware he had witnessed earlier. Others had come from the outside, and had marks from weapons fire. Not everything had been taken over without resistance. Jack moved past it, his Omni-tool glowing. The blueprint that he had acquired from his seemingly dubious sources directed him to one of the offices. It was along the back wall, and the door needed a bit of cajoling to open. The butt of his pistol was quite convincing in its argument.

The office was dusty, and there was no console or any decoration on the desk. There had been at one time, but was long gone. Jack moved past the desk, looking around the back wall. "The elevator is hidden here on this wall, but I have no information as to how to access it."

Two extra pairs of eyes found something quickly. A small code pad was underneath the desk's leg. Hannah found it, and just had a giant smirk on her face as she overturned the desk and presented it to Jack. "Got a code?"

Jack's turn to grin. "Don't need one. This system was cheaply installed, and more trouble went to hiding the system. A short-circuit of the system will reset it, giving us access. Jack easily went through the cheap security measures and reset the pass code. "5555." He said. "Just in case this goes sour."

After entering the code and closing the office door, the back wall opened from both sides to reveal the elevator. It was in good repair, but hadn't seen any use for a while. Possibly since it was installed. It only had one button. Jack pulled out his rifle, but had his pistol in hand as well. Hannah had her shotgun, while Eva knelt with a rifle.

"Where does this open to?" Hannah asked.

"The penthouse closet. Which is on the same filtration system as the new communications chamber. Allison, if you could clear the bedroom, I will cover the door."

"Can I trust you to do that?" She quipped, taking her knife out.

"You would be more dependable to not shoot a hostage in the bedroom. I would like the door, which offers less chance to commit random murders." He said, pressing the button for the elevator. "I don't have clearance to kill anyone."

"You have the mindset to, though. I'll take the bedroom but try not to do anything else too inept." She replied, rather suspicious of where all of his hidden skills were coming from. He could tell that it bothered her on some level.

Jack watched the elevator open to the inside of a well stocked closet, with decent suits and a few robes and designer shirts out in the open. Hannah moved through all of this, her feet moving silently towards the bedroom. Jack had to ignore a nice Italian sweater he might have been interested in to cover the door, while Eva had his back. Hannah was standing in the middle of a pile of rubbish by the time he had shifted his vision, her hands digging through the remains of the bed. A body was still in it, the suit and tie burned up with the bed. She moved past it, coming to a pile of blankets by the window. Cleaning solution and a spare ammo block, this one made from some depleted radioactive element, sat ready for use. They had found the bed where presumably Vido was sleeping, but he wasn't here. He should have been. Hannah was holding up one of the blankets to her face, feeling it. She shook her head, which Jack took to meaning that he hadn't been here tonight. There was only another hour until dawn, though.

He wasn't going to get to kill Vido tonight then. The hallway was clear, but they all checked the rest of the penthouse to be sure. No other signs of use were there. Hannah made sure the door was sealed, and came back over to them. "Blankets are cold. He hasn't been here."

Eva had found a working terminal with root access in the penthouse. She was typing away at it, and her interface was glowing with data.

Jack toed the blankets and grabbed the ammo block. "I'm guessing this is expensive. Too bad we can't return his hospitality. Eva, what are we looking at?"

She didn't take her eyes off the screen. "The comm channels are all talking about some cruiser that got destroyed. Though I finally have access to the entire system again, they have taken it apart so weirdly. Lots of pieces and functionality are missing."

"Cruiser? Where?" Jack asked. That didn't bode well for anybody.

"Some ships are inbound, Jack. You'll be able to see them in the courtyard in a couple minutes. Someone in the comm center is trying to turn on the colonial defenses!"

Eva brought up an image of the next room over. It had eight men in it, all at different workstations. What really worried Jack was a small pedestal off to one side, which contained a small prothean looking sculpture. He knew its real nature, that of a device meant to solely poison the mind of those nearby. Indoctrination, Reaper technology. He had seen this in his past experiences, responsible for the undermining of an entire mining operation, convincing them that the artifacts their surveys had detected were worth far more than the mineral deposit they had been sent for. Thirty six husks later, Shepard had to come clean house.

"Why are they turning on the defenses?" Jack asked, coming out of his musing.

"Something about Alliance fighters. I don't have access to sensors."

"What do you have access to?"

"The internal sensors, some of the alarms on this level, and the doors." Eva said, checking her readings.

"Can you check on the other hostages? One of them is also a VIP."

"The others are being kept in the warehouse, after some sort of escape attempt." She typed in commands to view the related files. "The Alliance marines they had here tried to escape. They didn't get far, though. They had one of the heavy guns placed at the end of the hallway. So the rest of the survivors and other hostages are being held in the main warehouse now, under the guard of that heavy gun."

Jack scrolled through the images and camera footage. He grimaced immediately as he saw Greg leading the charge into the hallway. Of course the one person he needed to save was leading the charge. No armor, stolen Lancer rifle, and a dead man's stare that could convince every other marine in sight to follow him into the depths of hell. The very fire he needed in Shepard was what created problems. He paused the footage at the point where the marines surrendered. They had charged under weight of bodies, making the heavy gun overheat and give them a chance to win. The mercenaries cut them down as they ran, but they still came. When the carnage was over, only two marines still stood, and the other dozens of bodies lied still. Greg was not a survivor. Jack was sure that if he had survived that, he would be still trying to wrestle control of that heavy gun and turn it on the mercenaries.

"He didn't make it." Jack said. Priorities, priorities. They wouldn't have a morgue here, but the mercenaries would have to keep their own dead from rotting as well. The most likely end for that would be a fridge or meat freezer. Which meant that it would keep until at least when this revolution had ended. The remaining priorities were twofold. Find Hannah her evidence and escape. "Eva, you can create false alarms, can't you?"

"Yes, Jack. What did you have in mind?"

"Create an integrity degradation failure on the floor below us, with a command to seal all of the doors on that level when someone opens the door to the underlying chamber. Quarantine protocols. Then unlock all of the doors on this level and declare an aerosol emission threat. All of the air will cycle and the sprinklers will go off. At that point, Hannah, you will destroy the power coupling for the floor while I handle the guards in the communications chamber."

Eva had the commands queued and typed up within a minute. Jack waited at the window, watching as the courtyard for Tyrrel Construction headquarters became filled with mercenaries. He felt the window rattle a bit as three Kowloon class freighters came over the mountain, dipping towards the courtyard. He recognized them immediately, from their approach. These were the unmarked ships hiding in the meteorites. They were heading for the courtyard, which would not be good. Each of those freighters had enough space on it to supply, arm, and ship over two hundred men. Another six hundred men would not be appreciated. A fourth ship came over the mountain, this one a bit more trouble. It was still a Kowloon, but had it's forward sections replaced with Guardian Laser emitters and a Disruptor Torpedo launcher. The skeleton of the original modular frame still sat around the weapons placements, possibly ejected off by design. This must have been how the Alliance lost a cruiser. Surprise and Stealth. Another hundred men and arms for them, at least, could still fit on board what was left of the freighter. The Reds were being supported heavily.

"It's ready!" Eva said, but she yelped as something appeared on her screen. Jack immediately walked over to it, seeing a message in the system.

_Jack Harper, I never thought you would do something like this. I had you figured for a Progressive pencil pusher. When I saw you fall off the grid, I thought it was for some new flame. Then I saw your handiwork here. You are looking for someone special, I think. One of the marines some protégée of yours? Or is it simply a child you fathered and promised yourself that you would look after him?_

The message was posted in the temporary file folder, and posted using some old notepad text editor. No way of tracing any input due to how old it was. Two could play at that game, though. He used his Omni-tool to post text through the console to the same program. That way none of his systems could find him as easily.

_To my anonymous admirer,_

_You seem quite informed as to my dealings, as I go to great lengths to keep off the grid as much as possible. By design that must make you a colleague. The Reds are your work, then. You are resupplying them, but to what end will that be? This colony is not designed to be self supportive in any way. Even with steady shipments, it won't be able to last three months before the blockade here starves you. Once winter comes in your mercenaries won't be able to hold onto the territory._

While Jack waited for the reply, he pulled out the bag and strapped the battery for the spare armor to a block of plastic explosives. Greg wouldn't be needing it now. Hannah gave him a glare when she saw him handling explosives. At her glare he strapped the complete set of plastic explosives onto the makeshift bomb. "I've heard it said that the only way to use these is to overdo it."

"That much and anything within thirty feet is compromised."

"Eva, if I take out the communication uplink, will the defenses fire on anything that moves?"

"No, that system is manual activation only. But computer assisted targeting is there too."

"Good. Let's assume our friend knows we are here. Execute the program and let's follow the plan. Let the guards check out the alarm, while we then cut the power and go in guns blazing. Hannah, you and I will clear the room. Eva, you lock down the elevators and get as much attention as possible on the main floor. With most of their men outside, we should be able to get back to the exterior pipes unmolested."

"What about your investment?" Hannah asked.

Jack would have replied, but the console showed a new message.

_Shanxi is a stepping stone, Jack. The alliance cannot maintain its power as it currently stands. A full fledged revolution will create mistrust in the Alliance's ability to manage its colonies outside the Sol system. The Reds are just one such group that is unhappy with the government. There will be many more. You believe in The Alliance. You call it the future of Humanity. I, along with many others, disagree. Humanity does not need a coddling oligarchy afraid of true progress. It must welcome change, along with the few who must dirty their hands for the sake of progress. But I really must thank you. None of this would have been possible without your initial footsteps. With over a thousand of my people on this supply run, Shanxi now has enough troops to hold off against any assault. Long enough to see a second revolution spark. When my men find you I think I'll have you kept in a tiny cell, where you'll keep until we can have a more personal discussion._

Jack just sent one reply.

 _When we have a more personal discussion it might look a bit more like this._ And with that he executed the program. The console flashed, and the sound of six pairs of feet running for the stairs came past the door. He nodded to Hannah, and rushed forward with his rifle out. All four of the men guarding the outside door were gone, allowing him and Eva to move up to the door. It was still locked, as that subroutine wouldn't activate for a second. Hannah moved up to the wall, pulling the panel off. Behind were the wires, pipes and associated workings present in any building. Hannah busted the entire thing with her shotgun, the shot from the weapon tearing through everything. It also would be noticed. The lights and doors all flickered, ultimately the doors unlocking and popping open and the lights went into the emergency red coloration.

That was the signal they all needed. Hannah lead the way into the room, her weapon firing twice more. Jack was right behind her, pouring fire into a man thrashing underneath the high powered jets of the fire extinguishers. He went down, and Jack moved past his twitching corpse to aim at the man still trying to execute commands on the consoles. With the invention of haptic interfaces, water no longer stopped input. Before he could get his gun locked on the man, a shot ripped through him, courtesy of Eva back at the door. Jack let his weapon go toward the only standing man he could see, who as also bringing up his gun. Shots hit both kinetic barriers but Jack had a helmet and this man didn't. Water got into his eyes and clouded his accuracy. He fell before Jack lost all barriers, and he could hear Hannah's shotgun cry out one last time.

Jack did a once over of the room, finding nothing moving. Hannah had killed three of them. Eva and Jack split the others. He took the seat of the man Eva had shot, and had full control of the system. The idiot who had been typing was still logged into the system. Colony defense and infrastructure systems were all available. He started typing, highlighting the armed freighter as the main target for the defensive towers. The freighter reacted immediately, landing hard on the courtyard and sliding behind an outlying building. He grinned.

"Rook, you are needed at position Bravo, copy?" He transmitted in the open. The Talon did not have any military grade point to point communication systems. It was the fastest way to notify his pilot that all was not well, and that he was needed. With the only things that could hurt his ship either pinned down or under his control, Jack got up and grabbed the explosives. These he wrapped very liberally around the small statue that he knew to be Reaper technology.

"Rook copies," came back as he clipped the bomb in place.

"Alright, time to evacuate. Let's move for the side courtyard. Rook will be here any minute, and I didn't have much choices on the detonator. I picked the sensor method. The next person to send out a transmission, which is to say anything from this console, the blast is triggered. We shouldn't be near it when that happens."

"Would that also include incoming transmissions?"

Jack had to consider. It was hard to guess how sensitive it was. "We might assume so. Let's leave before Rook asks where we are."

No one needed any more urging. They ran for the side of the building where the courtyard was, and could hear guards emptying shots into the locked door. Jack and his compatriots hopped down into the courtyard, using the garden boxes up against the window. He helped Eva down from the boxes, and at least offered the same to Hannah. She gave him a smile and took the offered hand as well. His bets were on her doing the opposite.

The obnoxious sound of his high quality new engines came over the din go the base below. The Talon emerged from its cover, some scrape marks marring his new paint job along the nose and wings.

"I'm h-" anything further that Rook may have said was swallowed up by the explosion that ripped through the upper floor of the building. The force of it knocked over all of them, Hannah got struck by a piece of glass, while Jack got hit with one of the spars. Thankfully it hit him perpendicularly, instead of spearing him. That did not mean it didn't hurt. Kinetic barriers only slowed the object, which had his whole back jarred. He pushed at the heavy metal beam, but it didn't budge. His back was screaming pain to every single one do its receptors. He tried to ignore it, but that didn't happen. Eva was the first person he saw up, her face swimming into his field of vision. She was struggling to pull debris off of him, her face scrunched up in effort. Soon after, Hannah's face also swam into view. She was bleeding from some part of her face. The glass poked through her cheek and nose, but she appeared to be ignoring it in favor of helping him. The light darkened for a moment.

When the light cleared, his helmet was being removed from his head and a flashlight was going into his eyes."Gah!"

"Do not fall asleep! You have a concussion and sprained back!," Eva told him. Her face was above his, and Jack tried to will his eyes to zoom in on her. For some reason the implants didn't respond. Then he came back to himself. He no longer had those cybernetic eyes. He had real ones, that didn't lie to him. She was still wearing her armor, and Jack was still wearing his.

He tried to mumble an answer, as his helmet wasn't on anymore. All that came out was unintelligent moaning. Eva patted his cheek. Jack didn't like that one bit. "Just rest for now. The beam that hit you was one of the big support beams, somewhere around six tons. The Talon had to push it off of you. Don't move, though. Your back is sprained at the very least. Broken ribs for sure." It certainly hurt enough for that. He could barely bend sideways. "I've injected you with caffeine. I'll get some tea and coffee up later. Hannah has been poisoned by some element zero that was on the glass. Not much but enough to make her quite sick.

Jack found a long list of reasons to curse and grind his teeth. Medi-gel hadn't been invented yet. Eva left him for a while, but came back later with coffee and the best pain medications the ship had. Those were, of course, the best. Fast acting and quickly making him more comfortable, Jack settled in for a long wait. Moving his arms moved his ribs, the painkillers not enough to blind him from that pain. So no using the Omni-tool. His one hand was able to reach the vid screen controls, though. The news was bland. So thankfully bland. Nothing had been reported about Shanxi. The supposedly destroyed cruiser was not being reported. Hopefully it was still doing alright. Settling down, Jack prepared himself for the long recovery.

* * *

Author's Note

For those of you keeping track of this story, things are about to get more interesting. We just left Shanxi, and the Alliance is finally gaining ground on some of the more peaceful elements within the Senate. I modeled the government of the Alliance off of the US and UK forms. So there are two houses, one for countries and one for appointments. So the Assembly(Made up of members of each country that represent funding and manpower that is donated to the Alliance) is made up of two representatives from each country/colony and have the power to appoint officials for the Alliance Senate. Some countries just hold free elections for their Senators, and some just go with appointments.

The Assembly controls where money is spent, and how much can be spent from the amount each country offers to the Alliance. The Senate controls how the money can be spent, as well as limits on that spending. From the body of the Senate, the President of the Alliance is elected by its members states. The Alliance Navy is made up of manpower offered from each of the member states, and is slowly becoming more of a racial moniker rather than the rich nation's way of controlling the weaker ones.

From the office of President, power to limit or control foreign and domestic policy is extended. They cannot influence any decision made by the Senate, or the Assembly directly. But power is an addictive drug in some cases. Anyways, I'll add more to my universe as seen by Jack Harper as time goes on. Thanks for the reviews. Or single review. My beta has notified me that my original description sucks balls. It will be rewritten.


	4. Fugue: Nipping Shepard in the Bud

Chapter 4

Jack was a man with very specific tastes. He had extremely specific tastes in women. When he designed the guest room in the Talon, it was catered to those tastes. So for Hannah, it could be suited to her near six feet in height. For Eva, the things he had onboard hung like a tent. Her 5'4" frame wasn't suited for much of anything he had. So when she walked in wearing a nurse outfit, Jack had to blink. What was positively indecent on a six foot tall model was actually perfectly decent on Eva.

"He doesn't need you traipsing around like that." He could hear Hannah say, from behind her. She herself had some sweat pants and a long robe. Both of which came from his closet. She also had stolen his prized Ugg slippers from there. Very unfortunate. Those were the insulated ones rated for negative temperature climates. Which also had their own temperature control system. Her face had long bandages wrapped over her cheek and nose, covering her injuries.

"He is about to have his ribs bound up. I'll call this compensation." She said, holding up some tape. "I didn't want to wear a robe all the way back to Earth, either." Eva probably still wanted to sleep with him. Hannah hadn't shown her opinion quite yet, but Jack was certain that she had at least considered it.

"You two better get used to this." He wheezed. "We have a few weeks ahead of us. Hannah needs my information network to get her evidence and report back to her superiors that she was not at Shanxi, and you, Eva, need a new identity entirely. That will take at least until my ribs recover."

Hannah grimaced. "You are keeping me for six weeks now?"

"Yes. I'm keeping you for six weeks at my artificial island." Jack said. Artificial islands had existed since the early 2080's, and could be found all over the pacific. His was expensive, to be sure, but he used it as an incentive for his employees to work better. The top performers were sent to his island on paid vacation every year. The competition was fierce. "While I find the data you need, your only job is to look like I kidnapped you for reasons otherwise."

"What if I don't want to keep quiet about Shanxi?" Hannah asked.

Jack grinned. He could at least still do that. "You wouldn't get promoted to Colonel in the next year." She snapped her eyes onto his, looking for any signs of deceit. She very much wanted that. "I will be feeding you lines of information, making you one of the top performing agents and the one most suited to dealing with the revolutions that are surely going to crop up following Shanxi's."

Eva had started pulling off armor pieces from his arms, but couldn't get his chest piece off without help. "Allison, help me out with this." She said. Eva didn't have a future unless Jack helped her out now. Any past related to Shanxi was going to be trouble. She wouldn't be hired for a real job again without his help. As they carefully removed the chest piece, his back got pulled by the sliding straps. His world shrank to tiny pinpoints of pain, and even the view of the tight shirt Hannah had on was not enough to focus past it. Soon, though, the pain went away, his groaning in relief that it was over enough to have Eva feel better. She started wrapping his ribs with Hannah's help, which didn't feel good but would be much appreciated later.

"Where is your island at?" Eva asked.

He waited for a particularly painful moment to end before replying. "Fifty miles from Tahiti, in the Roslin formation. I am not supposed to be injured this badly. While I recover it needs to appear as if I picked up you two for my own entertainment on my island. It fits my profile, and right now we need an alibi in case our anonymous friend decides to tip off anyone about me." The Roslin formation was a group of the private islands, all floating near each other but not connected. You could see neighboring islands, but only if you looked carefully.

"For your entertainment?" Hannah asked. He couldn't see what emotion she was feeling due to her binding a rib, but it probably was annoyance. She was a highly independent person, after all.

"Often I will invite models or playmates to join me for part of the summer months. Or just when I get bored. All of my contacts know that I rarely am without some sort of companionship. You both will have to serve as that kind of distraction until my wounds heal, at which time I will grow bored of you, and you both are slipped back into your own lives. Eva will most likely be placed somewhere suiting her skills, and have a new identity. Allison will return to her superiors, apologizing that she was taken for six weeks. Then she will share the secrets she supposedly slept with me for, becoming more important and most likely promoted."

Hannah chuckled. "So all I need is a tan to show for all of this." She certainly liked the idea enough. He wasn't going to mention all of the trouble that this would give her. Her superiors might send her back for more. Though perhaps that time he might actually demand it.

"Inform Rook of our new heading, please." He asked when they had finished. Eva nodded, walking out of the room and heading for the stairs. As soon as the door closed, Hannah turned to Jack.

"She is certainly willing."

"She has to be." He corrected her. "Her entire life depends on me. Photographers and satellites are always watching the Roslin formation, so technically you will have to at least appear the willing type."

"You know what this will do to my reputation."

"Six weeks of reputation. I know what this will do. Other agents will try to do the same thing, to supplant you. We both know how this game is played." He wished he had a cigarette, just to blow for his dramatic needs.

"They will send me to others. Others like you."

"I am an inexhaustible supply of information." He jested. "Perhaps in a permanent posting."

She laughed at that. "Only in your dreams. Those agents don't get promoted." She took a longer look at him. "Did your soldier die down there?"

Jack nodded. "His name was Greg Smith." Hannah tightened her face at that, but her features schooled themselves back together. "He lead a charge with just rocks, knives, and a couple rifles on that heavy gun they had. We didn't have time to find pieces of him. Standard procedure is to ice bodies to keep them from falling apart, but would have compromised our ability to escape." Jack paused. "Did you know him?"

"Once. Though that does sound like him. We hit it off well, but we split before too long." Hannah said, not comfortable talking about her past. Jack could feel the same way. But he wasn't head of Cerberus for nothing.

"What was it that caused you to break up? You were in different divisions of the Alliance Navy." That was normally the trouble for couples in the military, the inability to marry someone in the same branch. But if she was in Intelligence she could have been able to do it no problem.

"Oh no, he just wanted kids." She laughed. "He found out I can't have children." Jack felt his heart stop beating. Hannah Shepard couldn't have children. The hero of Humanity was dead before he could even do anything. His plan now had a serious problem.

"Some accident?" Jack tried to ask casually. His wheezing was real.

"You could say that. My parents were killed in that attack on the Prothean archive about seven years back. Some of the loose fire swept through me, mangling my hip and most of the organs in there. We were poor, and my parents had been out of work before coming to Mars. They had just transferred to there when the attack came. So they fixed up my hip, but just cleaned up everything else." Organ replacement was costly, and reproductive organs one if the most expensive.

"Reports about the attack listed all the casualties, and I don't remember seeing your name." Jack noted. He organized that attack. He needed to remove the Crucible from the archive. It was just a waste of resources and another Reaper trap. He was responsible for this. But he should have known. He investigated every scrap of detail he could about it. But the facts were clear. He had killed Shepard. Before her time, yes, but he had killed her.

"That's when I was recruited for Alliance Intelligence. Though I suppose I'm not to mention any of this, I can trust you to keep a secret." Hannah joked. He was pretty sure she was serious. It was the only way to explain why her name disappeared from all of the records. Henry had supplied it, which meant he had to have some contacts that direction.

"They recruit you but won't pay for the full surgery. Very efficient of them."

Hannah wasn't shocked or emotional about it. "Agents that can't have children won't get compromised on missions like this one, if my reputation is to be kept." He had to stop himself from flinching. He was responsible, that didn't mean he was going to flinch any time it was mentioned.

"You share your secret, I'll share one of mine. What do you want to know?" Jack offered. In either one of his lives, rare was the time when Jack would disclose anything.

"Why did you set the explosives on the statue and not the main console?"

She was sharp, he gave her that. "The million dollar question. In the Prothean Archive there is almost no information about their disappearance. I found data that corresponds to this, when comparing to the archive. Cave drawings and ancient pagan rituals, mostly. Statues like that one have been found on a few worlds out there, and even amongst the Prothean Archive. That one was destroyed during the attack, along with almost all of the artifacts found there." One of the chief goals of the attack, just to remove the possibility of Indoctrination among Humanity. "Those statues are not made from the same material that the archive is made from. More importantly, the metal used for the relays isn't on our charts yet. The Protheans in their archive don't mention anything about making them either. So it stands to reason that they weren't the only things out there. The only things I can find are these statues, and the relays. Did you know that these small statues are made out if the same metal that makes up the mass relay?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "They are from the same source, and I don't think the Protheans died peacefully. I destroyed that statue to remove it from the hands of those who might do the wrong thing. No sense in getting the attention of the things that killed the Protheans, if my theory is true."

"You are going to have to explain yourself on that. I haven't heard anyone mention anything like this before." Hannah said, not keeping up. He had been trying to keep things simple.

"Either share another secret worth my time and interest or return my Uggs and sweatpants. You have your own closet." She laughed at that.

"You are so touchy about your clothes. All of the ones in that closet resemble those playmates you keep going on about."

"A ruse you'll also keep. No one else will be bothering you on the island, but there are eyes and ears everywhere that isn't secure." Jack said. "But taking my favorite slippers is nearly a crime on my ship."

She kicked them off. "How much are those?"

"15,000 credits." He said. Her mouth dropped. "The temperature systems are the same as the ones found on my ship. It's also waterproof and rated for traction even on near frictionless surfaces." One of the most frivolous things he could ever buy, but he had grown used to them in his memories, and as soon as Ugg had developed these he had bought two pairs. One for travel and one for his house. Perhaps Hannah could be bribed with a pair. But something that expensive would only make the ruse seem real. "On second thought, you can borrow the slippers. But don't steal anything further from my closet." It wouldn't do for her to find the military grade kinetic barriers in his suit jacket.

She had them back on instantly. "You are very kind to recognize a woman's desire for shoes." She said, and a moment later the doors to his room opened again. Eva came waltzing back in, grinning.

"We are five hours out from Earth. He said that as soon as you came back onboard he had the ship aimed for Earth."

"How did we avoid notice from the Alliance?"

"Something about using some meteors for cover. I never read much into all of that. Geology and planetary terraforming were more interesting." Eva shrugged. Hannah gave Jack a nod, and stepped out of the room. Once she did, Eva gave a long smile to Jack and sat down on one side of the bed. There was still plenty of room. "So, where am I going to be working? You had me slated for something the moment you mentioned a false identity."

Jack nodded. "There is a company just rising up from the Startup stage called ExoGeni. They have a division just starting that is focusing on colonial development. I want you to be in charge of it."

"How will you pull that off, if I don't exist yet?"

"I'm one of the investors in that company. It was my idea to make this division." Only because they would have it in the future, so it would do no harm to have them create it a bit early. "Details are still being thrown around. But within six weeks anything is possible." Jack motioned to one side of the bed, where a pull out haptic interface rested. "In that time I may need you to type for me. This back pain makes that infinitely more difficult. I also cannot break form, and I am well known for working odd hours and always being available. Consider this payment for the new identity." Jack reached over with one hand and typed on the screen awkwardly, queuing up a catalog. "Buy anything you need. Stay in this catalog, though. This is where my past purchases for companionship come from."

She moved his hands out of the way and started searching. Immediately going into previous purchases. "I was expecting more wild and crazy."

"Most of them used this for buying essential supplies. Order things now and you won't have to wait for more than a day. Or have to continue to test the limits with Allison."

"I thought you'd like this." She motioned to the outfit.

"I do, in fact I found it rather charming that you did that." Actually he found it a sign of desperation, and of insecurities. Eva couldn't process the Shanxi revolution very well. Hannah seemed to be able to compartmentalize, but Eva wasn't taking this violent shift in her life very well. "But try not to cause Allison any undue trouble. If I have two women at my island paradise with me, then that would be because they were good enough friends that they could tolerate one another. Try to cultivate that."

Eva nodded, processing that. He gave her an hour to order things before starting to send messages. To Rook, directions and security codes for the island. To Amandeep, a message to repair any scrapes and to order the paint through Todd, to be dropped off by private shuttle. The shuttle would be flown by Rook, to keep secrecy. To his gym, to send out a personal trainer for Hannah and Eva. Preferably one of the ones with a history in close combat training. Hannah might like that.

To Henry, a notice of where Jack had been the past three days, namely on his island and showing off his new yacht. Also a promise to cover for him with Dierdre Scott. He wouldn't be able to make it to New York by the next week. He also included a small note about her possibly candidacy for the presidential elections. Henry had issues with the laws regulating genetic modification. To him they were too restrictive. Supporting a politician like Scott might get some changes on that, but knowing her it was unlikely. She would use Henry before allowing his money and favors to change her opinion. But if Henry sent her money it would be a start on the favor he owed Scott.

To Todd, a reiteration of the owed favor, and a large thank you expressed in five thousand free visits to Starbucks. The man loved the coffee from there. Then he had to answer three days of emails. They weren't done by the time they hit atmosphere. Jack had one of the forward facing windows installed in his bedroom, which gave him and Eva a view of their entry into Earth. The massive ring of debris from old satellites and space stations was easily navigated enough, but older craft still had to be very careful moving around it. The Talon swept through it, her barriers absorbing the dust particles.

The pacific loomed, it's islands both natural and artificial glittering. Jack had the combined experiences of two lives. To the economist, that was downright criminal. With a mind able to scheme and see patterns in any form of data, it was child's play to gain whatever cash he needed. Some men might go back in time and take greater advantage of this. Become president of the Alliance or something droll like that. Richest man in the world, marry someone in particular. Jack did not want any of that. He lived within the means he had set for himself last time, perhaps with a few more company perks available. Every intention he had was for the progress of Humanity. He supported certain individuals, made certain of the downfall of others. One such person was Donnel Udina. That waste of air ruined many chances for progress with the other council races. Others great and small he changed the lives of, hopefully for the better. He used the information he had from the past memories carefully, as with every change this memoryscape became more different from his past memory.

Eva died last time. During the Turian invasion, he recalled. This time she hadn't had the same hardships. She hadn't been the victim of a sexual predator and become a mercenary. He blinked, coming out of his memories as he felt his back spasm painfully.

"Sorry Jack!" Eva said. "You spaced out for a bit."

"I'm considering my retirement." He joked. He never intended to retire. Not this time. "Rook, that reentry hardly shook. My back thanks you greatly."

"My father threw out his back a few years ago, sir. I remembered how to drive with him like that. Took a while longer, but we are on course for your island at low speed. Turbulence is expected as we clear the cloud layer."

"Thanks in advance, James." Jack said, Eva taking her hands off the interface.

She immediately reported on all of the things coming into the console's message program. "You have replies from Henry and your gym, and a receipt and delivery time for the things I ordered." She said, bringing things up. He pressed on the interface hard, bringing up the order. Eva had spent a cool 12,000 credits from his account. All in all quite cheap for his normal companions, who were used to massive amounts of money being spent on them. He nodded at the order, scheduled to be delivered the next morning. Henry had said he would go see Scott, though if Jack wanted him to donate anything it might be easier to buy him a nice new biological study center. He even sent Jack his preferences. All of those were expensive and all weren't selling currently. That might be trouble. Henry sent one last jibe about enjoying the Alliance agent to the fullest. Jack scoffed at this, and Eva found it funny. The short message from his gym detailed the trainer, a young man from Taiwan. Hopefully someone who could perform a bit of physical therapy for his back as well.

His tracks were covered, as best as they could be. Hannah was satisfied by the promise of further information, and Eva owed him her life. She was being entirely too eager in paying him back, though. Hannah avoided him even more due to this.

Six weeks later, the Talon left his island paradise. He flew back to his home in the mountains in northern Spain. During the troubles of the 2000's, much of the world got torn up in wars and civil riots. Few places were the same after that. Spain was one of the untouched places, and it was where he kept a home. Eva was going on a shuttle to go to ExoGeni headquarters in Miami. She was sad to leave. Jack wasn't sad to see her go. She had been dropped off to meet her shuttle in Mexico City. Hannah was still on board when they got to Barcelona, the nearest port he could park the Talon at. It was the first time he hadn't been in the presence of Eva or his personal trainer in days.

Hannah walked into his room, where he was recovering from the brutality of physical therapy. He had a board meeting he had to be physically present at next week, and he would not be deterred by his back. The ribs had healed nicely, though.

"Allison." He greeted her. She was back in the dress he had picked her up in, though the tan she had picked up in the mean time made it not so much her color. "I trust you got word to your superiors?"

"I did. They aren't exactly pleased to find out that the mercenaries killed Tyrrel. But they are somewhat appeased by the bank accounts you provided. I assume they won't bring you in for questioning any time soon?"

Jack took a moment to consider the possibility. But anything tying Tyrrel to his front companies would have been wiped out in the explosion that consumed the communications room. Even if they did pull that information, it would only prove that Jack was one of a few investors. The others he didn't know about, at least not yet. With communications on Shanxi being completely down, the only information getting out now was being filtered through the military's channels. It carried nothing concrete. Rumors of an Alliance offensive starting from the other settlements on the planet could be confirmed. But there was nothing about combat with the Reds or taking of territory. One report listed an order for tanks of some kind or heavy weapons needed at the offensive.

"No. Anything I did has long since been made irrelevant. If anything is found it will only frame Tyrrel further. The others involved have similarly disappeared."

"You're sure you can find them?"

"It will only be a matter of time and effort on their part. Few people have the ability to figure me out. They think like I do, which makes them rather troubling."

"Can't handle your peers?"

"I have dedicated myself to the progress of our race. Those people out there might be dedicated to something much more dangerous. Especially if they have anywhere near as much resources as I do."

"How hard will it be to find them?"

"If they are still operating on Earth, likely difficult but not impossible. If they have already broken the cordon and set up somewhere like Tyrrel had, a few more years of work. But I'll find them. Perhaps in time to stop the next Revolution attempt."

Hannah took that all in and looked a bit relieved to hear it. But she did give him a glance, almost curious. "Jack, about that Prothean theory, where did you hear about it?"  _Your daughter_ , he thought.  _Your daughter who was supposed to be born in 2153. Five years from now_.

"A conspiracy theorist on the Informer. Even though half of what they publish is completely false, some leads turn up there. I followed that one. Finding a piece of metal from the relay to test and compare was a bit harder. But if I remember correctly you didn't return my sweatpants."

"You own ten pairs. I saw. One for each of the colleges you support."

"To be honest, the offer was more for the entertainment value at the time." She rolled her eyes at his statement. "If you want the answer to that question, I'll want a bit of information. Namely, the files in the Alliance Intelligence database regarding the attack on the Prothean Archive, the Reds, and anything they found on Tyrrel that I did not."

"What are you hoping to find there?"

"Your promotion. Or a future for Humanity that doesn't lead to a civil war." Jack motioned to her purse. "That seems a bit small for everything you're taking." He then offered her the Uggs that had been worn the entire six weeks. "Take these and a bottle of the best from the bar."

"Trying so hard to bribe me, are you?" Hannah quipped, taking the slippers.

"Call it a symbol of our partnership. I'll get you to a position where you can do the most good, while I get information when I need it."

"That seems remarkably illegal. I'll have to consider it."

Jack handed her a card. It had his personal contact information. Only a few people had this, and it was a measure of trust that this communication line wouldn't end up being monitored from this. "Memorize this and burn it. This will connect you to my Omni-tool at any time."

"I can't promise I'll ever contact you again though." She said, "My-"

"They'll break. Unless they want another Shanxi to happen."

Hannah didn't seem to trust that. "Then I guess we will see each other again."

"I'll try to interrupt when you aren't on assignment, next time."

Hannah smirked. "Goodbye, Jack." Then she walked through his door and off the ship. Waiting on the dock were two uniformed Alliance soldiers, who led Hannah towards a shuttle, already ready to fly away. Probably in for a very long debriefing. At least she had a bottle of his whiskey to tide her over afterwards.

It was two months later that Hannah replied. A dead drop was arranged, and one of his interns did the pickup. He believed he was just picking up something for his department manager, the kind of thing that got you noticed in a company. He never saw the final destination, as Amandeep picked up the package from outside the managers office. He then mailed it to a post office box that Jack used. Two days of waiting to get his hands on the data disks she had sent.

They were encrypted, but not terribly. The first file was the Intelligence Report of the attack on the Prothean Archive. The second detailed dossiers on some list of Progressives, possibly the label that he and Henry were under. The final data disc was the known list of Shanxi Reds and a video file. He started with that one.

She had been at home, evidently. A rather modest affair in somewhere rainy. Her bathrobe was tied up to the neck and the nearly empty bottle of whiskey sat in view. "I hope you know how I feel about all of this. It is certain that you'll act on this, and I recommend you don't. You are being observed closely. But even so, I am trusting you with this. I can't see much of a connection in the data you sent us. My superiors claim otherwise but I know better. They just want to steal any credit from me that they can."

She shifted in her seat. "I loathe the idea of you getting this information. I know you'll take advantage of it. But we can't afford to wait. The Reds are on the move again, and we can't risk the fall of another colony while the fighting at Shanxi continues. The Alliance doesn't have the ships or manpower to handle two of these things." She glared at the screen. "I need you to find out where they are going, Jack. Before this happens again. When you have something, find a way to contact me that won't create too much attention. I promise ill respond through the proper channels."

The video cut off. Jack knew he was under surveillance. There had been scrutiny into his finances that hadn't been welcome lately. Companies with no business in his own were making approaches, looking for inconvenient partnerships. Jack did not enjoy being a known piece on the board, not one bit. It wouldn't be long before he started seeing husks at this rate.

The data listed the identities of many of the people who had supposedly been on those unmarked freighters. They had been commissioned by an alias, as the Greek dictator Yusef was well known to be Earth centric. The four ships had been bought by him, and then disappeared to the massive Chinese port of Hong Kong. A half working security camera caught the ships boarding and lifting off from an old school from the 2030's, which had become a haven for some of the gangs locally. What was interesting were some of the people who had gotten on board. All of them were poor, and only half of them were local Han Chinese. The other half seemed to be a mixture of brutes from all over. The Chinese half were mostly artisans and craftsmen. Not the sort of people you brought to Shanxi.

He brought up a list of previous jobs they had worked. Textiles, construction materials, shipyards, and drug stores. All connected to the local gangs, so their supposed jobs could be cover for some other deeds.

Researching their gangs provided little more information. Everything from drugs to weapons rolled out of Hong Kong's factories, being barely policed and never investigated thoroughly. With three hundred skilled laborers, the Reds could build whatever they wanted as long as the colony could supply their needs. None of the people boarding were connected to Yusef, even to the fourth degree. The dictator's financial records showed nothing related to ship expenses.

So, the Reds had quite the financial backing, and a force of men that had adequate support and labor. Looking more closely at the list of people, Jack brought up the footage from Shanxi. His helmet recorded everything. It was difficult to have its information double checked, as he wasn't supposed to be there. But he did confirm a few faces. They matched one of the local factory owners in Hong Kong. He was responsible for making some factory equipment and turbines. But the steel and aluminum that went into the factory could cover more than that. Possibly enough to modify a Kowloon class freighter without much trouble.

Still, that was on Shanxi. That wouldn't help the Reds plan their next attack. Jack had seen some trouble brewing all over. Riots had started in the more densely packed slums on Earth, from people trying to get transit passes to different colonies. That was on hold, while the Alliance verified the safety of their colonies, but left a desperate group of angry civilians. Jack had to play the game of where he would go next, to destabilize the Alliance. Indirectly, Jack would destroy their funding and investors, removing their ability to fund a military before the budgets came due.

He had planned for that. Funding for the Alliance was being brought in from all over, as angry and affronted countries realized that Shanxi might slip from their grasp. Fund raisers and support dinners all thrown for Dierdre Scott, as well as for others, had created a positive return there. Member nations were contributing more, and the talks on the budget allocation were at least moving towards military spending being doubled.

Going directly at the Alliance would be hard. It would have to be in Arcturus or Sol systems, as transit elsewhere was being heavily curtailed. That left only a couple locations, but Jack put his money on Arcturus. There was a helium mining colony that had been the first colony established outside the Sol system. Rarely visited and unusually stable in its economy, it had become a boring spacer outlet. One mall to support all of the 30,000 citizens, and the entire station critical to supplying ships with fuel that were traveling to outlying colonies.

Jack put a query in, for all movement to the station in the last two years. Jack had spent a year planning his little rebellion, and the signs were there. Someone else had the same idea, but didn't have a location in mind. Jack provided that. So there should be signs of who came and went from the station out there. Thankfully the station was rather diligent in keeping up with who had visited. If anyone had edited the information, Jack would have a harder time noticing. They had a lead on him, and he was starting on cold hints.

It would be a little while before he heard anything back. But he felt certain that the Reds would target the helium fueling stations next. Without them, ships travelled less and felt more unsafe. During the Reaper war this had created feelings of extreme desperation. Considering that, he put in queries to the res of the helium stations nearby and as far out as Shanxi. It would be suspicious, but he could write it off. His firm had just accepted a deal with Exxon, making a basic query easy to hide behind a more in depth search for profit values.

He was operating out of the  _Talon_  right now. The Intelligence people had gotten to his house in Spain, and he couldn't be sure he found all of the bugs. The  _Talon_  was a haven, and he had no shortage of visitors trying to get his attention. They had tried infiltrating his firm, and had for sure turned his partner Reid into an asset. But he worked in civilian capital investment. He couldn't just fire someone because they liked being bribed. If it wasn't the Alliance, it would be some other firm looking to take him down. Such was business. Jack could deal with that.

Hannah would be harder to contact. She might need to be led into a trap of some kind. Or at least into something Jack would be known to do for anonymity. He had made his partners in his Cerberus days go through large hoops to get to him. This time around Jack hadn't needed to do much of anything like that. But he did have a pen chance for drama. While the queries went out, he walked over to the guest room, forming a plan. If Hannah were being watched, as he was, then the Alliance would notice if he sent anything to her. Glancing at the closet, he did a quick tally of what he might be able to send her. He walked back to his desk, and bought a ticket in first class for Hannah to get to Marseilles. Jack had nothing there, but the Talon could park there. The trick would be getting her followers and tracking devices lost.

The ticket he had printed. It was set for a flight five days from now, and he wrote in pen on the back. He also taped a locker key to the ticket, which would lead her to further instructions after these.

_Allison_

_Please join me in Marseilles. Pack light and don't bring the slippers I bought you._

_Jack_

Hannah wouldn't be able to say no. Not when her orders were clear. But with five days Jack would be able to find out what she wanted and prepare it in such a way that she could understand it. He sent the letter inside a postcard from Marseilles. It would reach her in five days. So she would predictably have hours to make the flight. All the movements of a man with an ego, demanding the presence of his mistress. It was in keeping with their ruse. He grinned, walking back to the guest room to prepare the rest of it.

Allison H. Shepard had not been sleeping well. Her superiors were breathing down her neck for information leading to stopping the Reds, or their supporters. Her own leads kept turning up falsely filed permits and officials that had no memory of signing certain documents. She couldn't prove anything, as video footage required a permit to get, which you needed to file for. By the time her superiors would sign off on it, the files would no longer be available, or listed as classified.

Being blocked by her own people was just frustrating. Being given a random set of data points from Jack that could possibly be a clue was even more frustrating. Often times the possible connections were too outlandish for her, yet Jack claimed most of his data from traces of cargo shipped correctly, freight lifters reporting crates over a certain weight, and her personal favorite, improperly filed cargo shipments. She hated trying to sift through his work. She knew he had more direct lines of information, but it would probably expose him. The bastard. She glanced at the last few ounces of hard whiskey he had sent her off with. The damn rich bastard.

She sat down at her desk, bringing up shipping records for Hong Kong and it's fourteen different ports. This was going to be a long day, she just knew it. Illegal happenings occurred there all of the time. Finding which ones were actually worth getting approval to investigate and then getting the permits to do so would be the next hard part. She had barely sat down when her bell rang.

"What is it, Evan?" Her landlord never bothered her without reason.

"You got some fancy mail. Didn't want to leave it out in the rain, as you don't get any very often. It's got some pretty French on it, too." Allison opened her door far enough to yank the mail out of his hands and shut the door quickly. Her landlord was a nosy type. The kind of man you could lose hours of your life talking to and when trying to recall exactly what you talked about, nothing would come to mind. He was either an agent of amazing ability to be a social butterfly, or he was just idiotic. She was betting the former.

"Thank you Evan!" She called through the door.

"Of course, Allison! You know you can come by anytime!" Oh, she did. It was just completely unlikely to happen. Ever.

Her mail came in waves. A few Christmas cards in the beginning of December, and again in late January, offers for vacations in May, and offers for coupons divided throughout. This didn't fit any of the normal mail. A scented French envelope rested thickly on her desk. She brought out her tools for detecting poison, and didn't find anything on it. Though the scent appeared to be some sort of cologne. After testing it, she opened it up. Inside was a post card of beautiful Marseilles, France. Puzzled, she opened it.

A ticket stub fell out, for her local shuttle port and going straight to Marseilles, first class. The note on the back took a moment to digest.

_Allison,_

_Please join me in Marseilles. Pack light and don't bring the slippers I bought you._

_Jack_

That smug-faced egotist was getting on her nerves. But he was smart, and he did get her the information she needed. A small key was taped to the ticket, for some locker number 56. It must be in Marseilles. She glanced at the ticket, curious. The shuttle left in an hour and a half.

"Mother-"

He must have planned that. She had barely been able to throw anything together into a travel bag and run for the port. But heaving and breathing laboriously, she had made it on board the shuttle. Dignity was no longer intact but everything else was fine. The shuttle was only an hour long, and soon enough she had her travel bag and was in Marseilles' massive port. It was a little while before she found the lockers. 56 was one of the oldest ones, in a blind spot from the cameras. Jack was being his usual paranoid self. This part of the port wasn't even meant for normal civilian travelers. It was for freight, mostly, as the newer sections were much nicer.

She rolled her travel bag over to locker 56, and the old key slid into the old locker with some difficulty. But inside lay a nice little briefcase. It was one of those real leather ones. She pulled it out, and popped the hinges. Inside it was surprisingly empty, but for another note. This was written on some little street painting, unsigned and done in oils. It could have come from anywhere.

_Allison._

_You can't meet me until you've lost your scent. Use the second stall in the bathroom next to you. I apologize for all the trouble, but you are going to find what you are looking for is worth all of the trouble._

She grimaced, but walking into the old bathroom anyways. It looked seldom used. With Jack's leather briefcase and her travel bag, she pushed her way into the middle stall. It had a small business card for a restaurant, nothing on it. It had been shoved into the hinge of the door.

Suddenly the bathroom door banged open. A pair of feet maneuvered to the stall to the left, and sat down. A small black purse was placed down on the floor, and then pushed into her stall. The woman spoke, a thick French accent coming through.

"Your sweet man, he say to tell you to take off all you things and give to me. He say you smell like a rat." Her voice was nasally, but quiet. Damn his idiotic paranoia. Jack would of course make everything impossible like this.

"No thanks." She replied.

She laughed. "He say you would say no. Wrote on card." A hand reached under, holding another business card to the same restaurant. Allison, everything up to your hair tie could have an Alliance bug in it. You wanted to meet with me, remember?

She muttered a curse. She hoped she would see her things again. "What will you do with my things?" She asked as she removed everything.

"Take money. Bring bag to man in taxi at West Bridge." The woman said, sliding a pair of black stilettos under the barrier. They looked complicated. By this time she had taken off everything, they even looked foreboding. The woman immediately grabbed her things, taking both bags and leaving Allison with some scary shoes and a small purse.

"Hey!" She yelled. The woman didn't come back. Or reply. Nor did she want to risk getting too much attention on herself. She didn't yell twice. The purse was maybe the size of her fist. Opening it, she could see some silk inside. Predictably, Jack had sent her lingerie. Probably some little ego trip. She didn't have much choice, though. The rest of the purse was stuffed with a thin silk dress, and enough cash to pay for a taxi.

She slipped it on, immediately wanting to shoot Jack Harper. The little cocktail dress barely covered anything. Light and made of some expensive silk, it didn't even have a tag. It fluttered easily. Lacing her feet into the stilettos made this even more daring. When she stepped out of the stall, her hair was loose and she looked like a prostitute. But she looked nothing like Allison Shepard. With a nod to her new reflection, she started walking outside the port. Women glared at her for being so daring. Men stole looks at her, but never quite looked at her face. There was no hiding this. One man even followed her for a while, and in these shoes she wasn't able to run away.

Jack's idea was terrible. This was not a good idea for cover. She got to the exit without much trouble, but scowled all the while. Right now she had to depend on Jack to get her things back. Knowing him, this was all for some sort of entertainment. The taxis lined up to be able to take her, though. A short skirt will do that. She gave the unmarked restaurant business card to the driver, who immediately took her there. He didn't try speaking to her, but grinned lewdly when she arrived. She didn't have enough cash left to go anywhere else, though.

The restaurant was garishly painted, and had a figure of a woman lounging on one side of the building. She found the entrance easily enough, and walked up to the front reception desk. The main part of the restaurant was behind some drapes, suspiciously hiding the inside from view. The host was giving her a curious look. Not in a potential customer kind of way either.

"I'm here to join a friend for dinner?" She offered. The man didn't say anything, but looked down at his interface.

"You are ze Alley Cat, yes?" His English was terrible. Ever since the panic of 2000's the French had become even more hateful of the English speaking world. They made it a point of speaking other languages when possible.

"My name is Allison."

"He say he waiting for his woman. Alley Cat." The man said. Allison grimaced.

"Yes. Alley cat. Yes." Damn Jack Harper. He was going to get shot one day and it was going to feel amazing. Even if it wasn't her doing the shooting.

The host nodded, opening the curtain and taking her inside. It was surprisingly a security station, checking for unwanted items. With so little her check took seconds. Then it was into a main room. Dinner tables were arranged around a stage, built like a fancy gentleman's club. Most of the people here were men, understandably. The women were present, carrying all of the food and wine. The most curious thing of all was the uniform. Black cocktail dresses that didn't hide much, and gigantic black stilettos. Allison realized she was wearing that uniform.

The host led her past drunken groups of men and into a small alcove off to the left of the stage. Inside was Jack. He was on his Omni-tool, typing some message to someone important. He didn't even glance up. Her host motioned to the table. He then spoke perfect English. Damn French. Damn Jack. Damn dress.

"Sorry for the wait, Mr. Gunn. She is ready now."

Jack's voice replied in clear French. The host nodded, and backed off. Then he finally looked up. Allison probably looked and felt completely out of her element. "Get up on the table, look like you are giving me a show."

Each alcove had drapes. She clumsily got up onto the table, kneeling on it across from the largest ego in existence. "I am going to kill you for this." She whispered, moving as if she had something to show. Jack just pulled the drapes. Shapes were still discernible through it, but the noise quieted.

"If anyone asks I invited one of the local call girls into my alcove. Currently the real redhead call girl is taking taxis around the city and leading your followers on a merry little chase." He said. "The real Allycat is taking care of your shadows and hiding our intentions. She knows nothing of our arrangement other than the fact that I needed her to let another girl take her place tonight. For what I paid her, she won't mention this. She has a drug addiction that will be fulfilled enough by this bonus that she might forget all about this."

Jack leaned back, his silhouette one of enjoyment.

"The next attack is coming on New Java." He said. "Drugs, weapons, and explosives have been moved there in rising quantities all of last year, but no one has noticed a change in local economy or new holes in the station's hull."

"Damnit Jack." She said, trying not to fall over. "Can't you just tell me this normally? I have a comm line for a reason."

"Move closer. Don't act so distant." He said. "That's not the real problem. Their plan is to destroy the Alliance flotilla. They will have to split their attention on Shanxi and Arcturus sector. When they do, they will refuel at New Java. If they succeed, the Reds might take over Alliance ships. Either that or destroy them. Either way there are enough armed men on that station to take it over easily. There are twenty five marines total onboard. Most haven't shot a gun before in aggression." Jack placed his hands on her legs.

"Don't touch me. You've done enough to my reputation."

"The only way out of this club is with me. They think you are the real Allycat, drug addict and in debt to the owner for thousands of credits. Right now, I arranged us to meet here because of your dear friends in Alliance Intelligence. They got the alcove right across from me." Hannah nearly froze. "You realize how this happened. When I came out with information they put me on a watch. So, the only way to get anything to you is to do something a bit underhanded like this."

"I'm not sorry." She said, ignoring the churning in her gut at the thought of her superiors realizing what she was doing. "You are in possession of a lot of information."

"Information mostly provided by you for my current endeavor." He noted, "But it gave me the clues necessary. Tomorrow morning I'll pick you up from your chattel for breakfast. The filtered data will be handed over at that point, but with none of the evidence gathered. I'm giving you the directions now. With my ever present new friends you'll find that I have had to take my security a bit more seriously."

"You couldn't have decided on a less risqué location?"

"These men don't speak French. I've been dealing with them for two months now. They can speak Spanish, though. The host here only respects those who speak better French than he does. Turns out he happens to be Swiss. So he gave them the ugliest thing he could dredge up. While they suffer through terrible French acting, and I have my own private show, they can do nothing. They are very adept at tailing me in most other locations. Even when I take out the  _Talon_. They have a high speed shuttle for following me."

"We don't train idiots for field work." She said proudly enough.

"You came along willingly enough." He quipped, moving his hands to appear as if they were being more intimate. "So, ready to get your life back?"

"Yes, please." Perhaps she might wait to shoot him, until he gave her every slip of data that she needed to move up in her job.

Jack gently opened the alcove, pulling Allison down to the ground and pulling her towards the doors. His new friends followed closely. Though they might have offended half the staff in their haste to keep up. Jack calmly greeted the host, and probably told him of his intentions with 'Allycat' in French. Their followers got slowed down when the host demanded they pay in cash. By the time they were outside, a nicer taxi had picked them up. It was one of the flying models. There wasn't another on the street. Jack escaped his handlers with a wild grin.

"You remember what I said about New Java?"

"Yes." Of course she did. Just like how she would remember this and mention it to no one for the rest of her life.

"Good. The clues are in last year's shipping records. A slow progression of extra items that tailed off twelve months ago. Also of note are the hints of corruption in the harbor master. He owns a house on Earth. Somewhere in California. I've included his information and where to find him."

"I really don't want to thank you for all this." Allison muttered. "But you are probably saving my job."

"Let's aim for more than just that." He said, reaching past the seat and pulling out the bags she had lost in the airport. Allycat had dug through them, taking all of the money. "Here are your things. The briefcase now contains the arrangements for your bed and breakfast, and a few wine tours we will be on tomorrow. All in perfect cover."

"Jack, this better be worth the trouble. You owe me some answers." Allison warned.

He just grinned that egotistical grin. "It will be. Get some clothes over that. You can keep it, of course. Allycat will be here any minute."

Allison exited the taxi right as a nearly identical woman to herself, plus signs of drug use, took her place in the car. Just down the street was her chattel, and in moments Jack left her there. Her feet ached and she still had on everything underneath some pants and a long jacket. That bastard. She hated him, but could respect him sometimes. He did do some good work.

"I can keep the dress. Bah! Who does he think he is?" The nerve.

The next morning, during the wine tours, he slipped her the data discs necessary. All of it damn fine work. All of it just in time to save New Java. Her superiors could claim nothing of her work. She had done the hours, dealt with Jack Harper, and presented her evidence. For that, she saw her first promotion in three years.

Jack had picked up his followers again somewhere near the docks. Allycat looked like she was in the middle of a daze, barely blinking. She had probably already spent all of the money she found. He dropped her back off at the club, some two hours later. Her drug habit was destructive, true, but she was the closest person to resemble Hannah that he had found. Useful, but only for so long. One or two more times here and his followers might realize Hannah was the one he was going for.

But he had done it. She had her information, his followers weren't any wiser about it, and Jack had no fingerprints on it. She would pull the evidence herself, and with everything she had, it was time to make her superiors look terrible. Terrible by inviting their agent out wine tasting and gallivanting through the French countryside. She was openly nice and courteous the entire trip. But their followers were close enough to breathe down their necks at times. Business talk, or talk in general, was extremely restrained. After three days of wine tasting, whiskey drinking, and nights in the chattel, he sent her off with a datapad that only hinted at the data contained in the two other data pads. It would be the one that her superiors would immediately find, while the real things were hidden in that purse she had been given and mailed to her new post office box, courtesy of Jack. Her other mail was most certainly under observation.

He had made quite the reputation for Hannah already. Dependable, with extremely high level contacts. She presented the findings on New Java within days, getting the attention of her higher ranked officers, who were able to reroute the Alliance patrols scheduled for New Java. Instead a horde of customs agents that were most likely staffed with intelligence officers as well descended on the station, and found enough evidence to send marines in. A few spots of combat occurred, but they had gotten there before anyone could apply any explosives to critical locations.

Hannah was rewarded with a promotion. Jack was rewarded by making a few toasts in her honor. He went on the lookout for the next possible attack, as the Reds would need to keep up their momentum from Shanxi or become outright terrorists to survive. He knew the feeling. Cerberus had been that way. Speaking of paramilitary groups, gun control laws were becoming steadily tighter, and the Alliance Senate had voted to arm militias with actual weapons grade armor and weapons that were rated for real combat situations.

A real victory in his book. The shipyards run by Ashland-Hislopp were already running 24 hours a day, as the Navy quietly got their ships up to speed. Recruitment was up, but they lacked the ships to get the new manpower anywhere. There was real progress in Humanity.

Then the unthinkable happened.

"Jack," Henry said during a business call a month later,"I am getting married and I need a best man." Jack actually coughed into his drink as his body tried to process what his mind could not for a moment. The eternally single Henry Lawson was getting married. He noticed Jack coughing and laughed uproariously. "Is that a yes, then?"

"Of course Henry. I wouldn't miss it. Who is the lovely lady?" In his memories Henry had become more distant with humanity in general as he grew older. He avoided companionship, too, after a while. It's what made him a perfect person to manufacture the Cerberus troopers. Something must have changed. But this made his plans have to change even further.

"Her name is Janet. I met her thanks to your little donation push."

"Did she want it get married? Or is it just you?" Jack asked, honestly curious.

"Jack, we both did. She is about as near to physically perfect that I have been able to find, and leads a firm that doesn't compete with my work in any way. Unlike the rest of those vultures at those dinners. Wretched lot, all of them." Henry had an obsession with perfection that bordered on compulsive in his later years. Jack would never have considered the man capable of not falling back into that obsession.

"Some are necessary, though." Jack said.

"Complete rubbish, Jack. This government can't handle anything right." Henry hadn't ever talked like that, either. He had believed the Alliance to be a good system, not restrictive enough to stop his research or progress. "When elections come around again you'll see. I may have donated a bit to Scott, but I will be pushing for a real candidate this time. One who will make certain that my research won't be blocked by some bloke who thinks I'm testing my products on every member of society."

"I'd be interested in meeting this real candidate. I have quite the vested interest in your research." More so now that Henry was the best chance at real genetic modifications that didn't lead to someone getting indoctrinated. Jack wasn't the only one to have found cybernetic enhancement technology or developed it. Others would find it. That was a fact. Humanity needed a safe alternative.

"I'll invite him to the wedding. You can meet him then."

"Speaking of which, what exactly am I supposed to be arranging for you?"

"Just a good run of golf, and a few hours at the sports bar sometime during the week. The wedding is already arranged for in Melbourne."

Jack didn't have to do much for that. But at Melbourne he could park the  _Talon_. "I have someone I'd like to invite. Can you send me the invitation?"

"Hopefully not Dierdre Scott? I'd like my wallet to stay attached to me on my wedding day, at least."

"Oh no," Jack said, smiling. "I have someone else in mind. You introduced me to her, after all. I should at least express some thanks."

"That Alliance Agent? Jack, you aren't still sleeping with her?"

"Of course I am. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement. We trade information as well."

No matter how true or untrue it was, Jack had created the ruse. Henry would see that Jack was still with Hannah, and Jack had to keep her close. Especially since it was his fault that she had been wounded while working on Mars.

The data file she had given him listed five extra casualties. Both of her parents, as well as herself, were listed with their injuries and cause of death. Two others were also listed, a Grace Constantine, and some form of Muhammad based Arabic name. Grace had died from the hostile team of gunmen, at her station in the Prothean Archive. She had refused to leave it. The Arab was covered up to remove the chance of religious responses to the attack. The Middle East was still a very disputed area. Oil was still used for energy and material production, and they had the best reserves of it. Grace was the interesting one. Removed due to personal concerns. No other data had been listed, and Jack still hadn't found any sign or lead on who she was or if she even existed. No coroner report either on her.

"It's dangerous to play around with a thorny rose, Jack. You should just let her go, before she finds anything too incriminating." Henry said, finishing some long speech that Jack had filtered.

"I might have traded for that already," he joked. "You might be curious as to what they think of you. As well as their thoughts on your research and foundation."

"You traded for their files? Oh Jack, she must be terrible in the business if she is letting that through."

They were talking on a secure line, and Henry was a good friend. "I had to agree to help investigate Shanxi. But whenever you are interested, I'll be open to share what your dear friends in the Alliance think of the 'fascist of DNA'."

"Terrible business, that. That deal is complete rubbish. You're worth more than a pretty face and some files you could just pay for otherwise. I am interested, Jack. During the bachelor party we should slip off for a moment and deal with this. What will this one cost me, then?"

Jack gave him a wolffish grin. "Gene mod 12. You said it failed in most cases?"

"Jack, that never left development and I never should have mentioned it to you. That thing was so blatant that i never could have gotten it through regulations."

"But it was conceived a few years ago, then. Haven't your gene mods become more stable, now? Stable enough to implant number 12?"

"I don't know. That might not be an option, Jack. Do you really need a gene mod that invasive? That could destroy your throat and mouth."

"It's not for me. It's going to be for Shepard."

Henry sputtered. "There is nothing so impulsive and dangerous as giving an Intelligence agent the very technologies they are looking to convict us for developing!"

"I need to do this as cover for something else, Henry. At least consider my proposal. You know I would never make any plan without considering every risk."

Henry gave him a look of distaste. "It would take a great deal of consideration to convince me to remove that from the vault. I would rather you pick a mod that isn't so inflammatory."

"If I can't have the number 12 in development, I would be interested in the mods for night vision or thermal vision, as well as the improved lung capacity." Jack offered.

"One of those never went past the drawing board. But I'll be more happy to give one of those than number twelve." Henry seemed greatly relieved. He already got enough bad press for his normal work.

"I can look forward to that. I'll have to reserve some club nearby Melbourne for us. But first, let me completely ruin Hannah Shepard's day." Jack said, forwarding the invitation to her mail address. It would be there in digital form in moments. Hardly anyone printed invitations for weddings or parties anymore. It just wasn't done anymore, and mail services hated delivering letters. Some locations were just listed as undeliverable now.

This would totally rile her up. He left his own addition to the invitation, a time two days beforehand, with a nice little quip about her actually needing to dress up for this one. Sure fire and perfect way to rile up Hannah and convince her to go. But she might be useful to have around. Jack didn't have the same connections that Henry maintained. Henry had inherited a great deal of wealth from his parents, and had a lot of business and family connections to the old money. Much of the guests would be from that group. He would need an extra set of eyes on these people.

* * *

Author's Note

So, effectively I am keeping a couple chapter ahead as I write this. That way me and my beta can catch anything that is about to slip through. Things are looking up for this story, as I have written everything leading up to the first contact war. It will be released once a week, no matter how far I get ahead on the actual writing. Before the summer is over we will be in the actual Mass Effect 1 storyline, where things will be changed drastically.

To all the reviews, I know that not much is happening, but I do feel thankful for your comments. I grew up in San Francisco, and my family worked as Investment bankers and businessmen. I understand that much of how the world works comes down to how much money is invested in the onset of a company, or startup. A lot of startups are just there to develop the technology and then sell it off, to one of the larger and more established corporations. Others are out to make a name for themselves or some unique product.

For much of what Jack Harper is doing, it is focused around investing in the rising startups that will define Humanity and its industry on the galactic scale. With knowledge of the future, he could have all the money he ever wanted, but that would suit no useful purpose to him. Money is only of worth when it is in motion, or being used to propagate ideas and effort. For him, making human products into something unique and amazing is his entire focus with his companies. Profit is natural, but more will come for the rest of humanity once the proper industries are in place. So, thanks for reading, and I hope that my little rant here makes sense.

Aberron


	5. Fugue: Guns and Wedding Bells

Chapter 5

There is nothing so blatant as a thirty foot long shuttle being used to pick up someone from their house. The noise and wind kicked up from it were immense, and had neighbors up in arms about it. But Jack wanted to do this. Hannah needed to be strongly independent, and Jack was trying it encourage her to view him as a resource and not as a friend. At least for now, until he could get rid of his ever present Alliance tenders. He had even gone out to lunch with them, and learned their names. Both claimed a fake last name for certain, but Jarvis was a rare enough first name that it just felt right. His partner went by Bill.

They rarely offered him conversation, but he had been able to get them to eat with him a few times. Once he had pinned them down at their table during a crowded dinner rush. They were affronted that he would even approach them. When he offered them tickets to the opera so they could go with him and observe, they accepted. Bill genuinely liked it. Jarvis did not, or was just focused on the job at hand. Every step was meant to make them more comfortable with Jack's increasingly complicated schedule. Or at least cost the Alliance a bit less money in monitoring him. His expensive tastes required more than a few expensive checks to be written.

He had tried to go the spending money route. But it appeared that they had gotten around that with the new budget expansions. He couldn't just make it too expensive for them to maintain it, so his new route was by befriending the agents who had been assigned to him. They had tried to get onto the  _Talon_  many times. Perhaps they were exploring the friendship for the chance to place bugs all over his ship. Either way, it made for more interesting lunch conversation while he researched where the Reds would go next.

Whoever had control over them also had a deal of hacking skills. Jack had some brute force methods learned, but left scripting and programming malware and spyware to the trained professionals. He had no one like that on his staff, and hiring any of the ones on the market would only scream his presence to the world. So, Jack could not deal with this complication easily. He could recognize the marks left in data sources where entire opinions or written reports had been left out.

It didn't help him very much. Missing data was missing data. Each was a mystery and due to the unknown contents, each one could be worth hunting down but most likely wasn't. It may have just been removed to leave a false trail to follow. They were worth following to someone, just not to him. His time was too important to risk on these or on projects like Shanxi. It's fate was sealed. The news from the front was that Alliance marines had the Tyrrel headquarters building under siege. Casualties were extraordinarily high. No mention was made of the four Kowloon class freighters.

Jack thought it extremely unlikely that they would have escaped. But if they did, they would have had to get fuel somewhere. Somewhere like New Java or Yan Xia, the gas giant near Shanxi. It always had Alliance personnel on board, but could have been used. Jack didn't want to try to get that information yet. With the scrutiny he was under it would only raise eyebrows.

When Hannah walked out of her house in something blandly casual, Jack wondered if it was just preference or if she purposely made him wait twenty minutes. Most likely her vindictive streak still ran high. She had three bags and a pistol tucked into her lower back. He slid open the door to the shuttle, and under the watchful eyes of her curious neighbors she took his hand and got onboard.

"Your neighbors are probably wondering why you made me wait for so long, considering I gave you a few weeks' notice."

Hannah had a smile that only widened. "You invited me to an event that my superiors have been trying to get someone into since it was announced. It was suspicious enough that my boss showed up to brief me personally."

"I find it hardly suspicious to invite you to an event that requires a partner of some kind. It's also courteous to invite someone capable of intelligent conversation." He told her, motioning to Rook to drive off. Pulling out his Omni-tool, he started writing a message. Hannah sat next to him, taking a look at the message.

"Who are Jarvis and Bill?"

"My minders. I've taken to sending them messages with my schedule so they don't have to work as hard. Otherwise they spend quite a bit of time and money belonging to the Alliance." He let them know that he had Hannah and had payed for their parking spot in Melbourne, and had filed their flight plan. They never replied, but had never refused his help, either. Hopefully they were enjoying the help.

"You wouldn't want to weaken the Alliance, now would you." She mocked. "But I have something for you. Or rather us."

"I'm listening." Jack faced her, putting away his Omni-tool.

"The Alliance has a target for you to mingle with. He showed up on our radar a few months ago. His name is Donovan Hock. South African, one of the few surviving white South Africans. He owns the entire diamond mining operation in the country. Recently, he won a seat in the Alliance Assembly. When he ran for the Senatorial seat, his competition got scarce." Hannah said, her face scrunching in concentration as she recalled details. No data pads came forth, meaning that her superiors must have only released this by word of mouth. Probably the reason why she was late. "He is running for a committee in the Senate. The Naval committee. My boss wants you to investigate him, before he makes that vote."

"You mean before he might end up in control of the funding for the Navy, which is a threat to them." Jack said. Donovan Hock had only been on Jack's radar when Shepard and Kasumi Goto wanted to steal from him. He had been in possession of human and alien artifacts at the time, as well as the head of the American Statue of Liberty. That artifact was currently missing, and purported pieces were all over the black markets of Earth. He was the scoundrel type, but one that had lots of deals with mercenaries. All of that was after Humanity had entered the larger galactic community. He couldn't remember if Hock had any history before then. "This will cost a price, you understand. I risk a lot by approaching him directly. It's suspicious to do that without being introduced or invited first."

"I don't think you have the ability to ever agree to a straight deal. That's what I understand. A better question is what are your demands."

"As much as I love being watched, I don't really find it helpful for business. Less active surveillance would be my first requirement."

"I might prefer your methods of meeting with me. That one I can promise to some degree." Hannah nodded.

"My friend Henry is under a lot of pressure in his gene mod development. If that pressure were relieved, he would be able to finish his next bit of work directed towards our military." If she was willing to break the rules a little bit, he could always go for the bigger fish.

"That's politics. Can't promise what we don't control." She shook her head.

"Then perhaps a more helpful demand. I have an idea for a business your superiors will like. I want it to pass through every bit of red tape and get staffed by your officers."

"What is this business for?"

Jack brought up his Omni-tool. Highlighting the file he wanted to show her, he tried to keep his grin under control.

"The Cerberus Foundation? What good will this do, then?"

"All the good I have the capacity in me to give." Her snort of derision followed that statement. "A Foundation dedicated to creating a better human. Using Henry's gene mods and the weapons and armor of Ashland-Hislopp, as well as a new corporation that just got the permits to develop heavy weapons. Markov Heavy Industries will create the next generation of weapons for our soldiers. Cerberus is the three-headed dog that defended the gates of hell in times past. The foundation I plan to establish will provide armor, weapons, and better technology specifically tailored to the special operations arm of the Alliance."

"Jack, you don't have much of a history of doing any of this. I can understand you have tendencies towards supporting the Alliance, but doesn't this seem a bit too out of your element? I mean, you are an entrepreneur specialist, not a career soldier."

"Humor me. I want your people on this. The foundation will be staffed by those agents and the members of companies I own prevalent stock in. It will hopefully create a new generation of soldiers that can quickly and efficiently deal with problems like New Java and Shanxi."

"I guess I can present the idea. It won't go through, I am sure."

"Oh, it will. When I present it with you. But before that, we have a wedding to enjoy. I hope you packed something expensive."

Rook had brought them back to the  _Talon_  by that time, requiring a short walk between shuttle and ship. Hannah's bags were carried by James, and she held a purse. "I brought the best." Hannah said. "Though I would imagine you already bought me something."

"If you don't have something there are ten different Dior and Leracchi dresses in your room. I assumed you would be bland or middle class in your choices." At that Hannah rolled her eyes.

She waited until they were inside the ship before saying anything. "I've been looking for your Prothean theory. I haven't seen any of what you told me about. Nor have I seen anyone research the metal on the relays in any depth to prove your statue theory. So, was all of that just lies to hide some other incriminating data?"

Jack gave her a level look. "Do you want every detail? The full truth? I can tell you where to find it, where to dig into the details, and where I found my opinion. But the price is steep."

"Jack, last time you offered this to me for a pair of sweatpants and slippers. Humor me."

Hannah was not liking his evasion on this. Jack walked over to one of his consoles and accessed his core server. He then pulled up his galaxy map, which was understandably mostly undiscovered. He put it on the large haptic display in his bar, the map extending six feet out. Next, he called from memory the exact location of The Citadel. The coordinates were entered, and the location glowed.

"My theory may sound outlandish, yes, but it's more than just a theory. You very well know the Prothean Archive was damaged some years back. One of the missing files mentioned this point as being the place their people were destroyed. I hope to find out why when the Alliance opens the relay past Shanxi. Though I can understand if they want to reinforce Shanxi first."

"Jack, I don't want more misinformation. The mere fact that you claim to those missing files is incriminating, but you still have not told me the full details."

"Last time I told you that I gave you the other option out of entertainment value."

"I suppose this is all a farce to get me to sleep with you, then."

"If you want to believe that. I could have gotten companionship from you or anyone else for far less."

"I would like to see that proven." Hannah was very skeptical.

"I wager that you will prove it yourself." He said, sending the galaxy map back into the bar. "When my theory is proven, and something is there, you will come and prove it."

"If nothing is there, then you will be buying me one of these ships and supplying it."

"I see the price of your body is quite high." But there was nothing like betting with a stacked deck. "But I can agree to this. A billion credit ship investment against you sleeping with me. Seems a bit unfair and one sided to me, though."

Hannah looked smug. "Most women would claim its a fair price."

"Most men are desperate enough to agree." Jack said. "But I am not most men. As such, I would say that a single night isn't quite fair in this agreement. To which I offer the following compromise: if you win, I will pay for your ship and it's expenses for a year. By the same alternative, I would claim a similar length of time." Jack poured a couple of glasses of whiskey and set them down. "Would you agree?"

Hannah probably assumed false bravado. "As long as this doesn't include indentured servitude, of course."

"I'm sure." Jack said, passing her the glass. "I look forward to seeing you in my bed."

She clinked glasses. "I think I'll name it the Handsome Jack."

Jack made a show of grimacing. "I think that we probably should find more appropriate table talk going into a wedding. Especially when I am going to be risking my neck for you." He really did have to grimace at the harsh whiskey going down his throat. But he had gotten a bit more accustomed to the harder liquor.

Hannah snorted into her drink at that.

Two days later, and after one rather tame bachelor party, for Henry and Jack's standards, the wedding ceremony was held in a little private chapel outside of the city. Henry had positively beamed at what his file said from the Alliance Intelligence. Turns out he was well liked by them. He used real auditors and respected the government, even when the same force restricted him. So they actually had a lot of curiosity and general interest in his products. But they also had him under semi active surveillance. Hannah was actually assigned to him when he took her to Shanxi. They both shared a laugh at that, though Henry still didn't know about the trip to that planet.

Being the best man, Jack had to observe many formalities. Such as the toasts, starting the first dance, and his personal favorite, the embarrassing moments of photo and video evidence of their lives up until they met. He had the projector display some of Henry's best and worst moments. His first company, first car(that one was a brand new car, but Henry looked so pleased with himself Jack had to put it in), first time in jail, and every single ticket he had gotten for poor driving. There were a few of those. By the time the first dance started, the photos had finished and everyone was enjoying a good time.

The guests were all very high class and had the best. Armani and Dior were common sights. Hannah had ended up taking one of the dresses he bought her, and complimented his outfit nicely. He had met most of the guests just by accompanying Henry, though still hadn't met their target. Hock did not make the ceremony. So when an express shuttle arrived halfway into the dinner, Henry and Jack had to go see who it was.

A security guard got off the shuttle first, followed by Hock himself. He had a small beard, very closely cut. He was young, or younger than Jack was used to seeing. He sometimes had a hard time picking out faces, as some of his memories were from forty years in the future. Hock looked to be in his twenties. A very dangerous man if he accomplished so much at that age.

"Jack, I'd like you to meet my favorite rising politician. He just might very well go far in the Assembly. Even better, he is running against that human rights filth." Henry reached out to shake Donovan's hand. As they shook, Hock and Jack took in one another. "Donovan, this is my good friend and best man, Jack Harper. He has his hands in almost every major company you could name. Jack, this is Donovan Hock, Senator from the South African Republics."

"Pleased to meet you." Jack intoned, but was more searching in his glances. Hock was dressed better than Jack was. But Jack had to fit his kinetic barrier into the jacket of his tuxedo, and limited his options. Hock didn't have a gun, but his hands were calluses around the knuckles. That was only achieved from many years of work. Old calluses, he could feel, but Hock still had that grip.

"I've been looking forward to meeting you, Mr. Harper. Henry tells me you are an active member in politics and in business."

"As active as anyone else may be if they cared so much." Jack said, "But if you are interested in a debate, I would welcome the educated opinion. Few others at this table seem to have an edge to theirs."

"Jack, if I may call you? I'd like to go on first name basis with those of us with real power. We are an elite group, and we have a responsibility to ensure the safety of the rest of humanity."

"I trust you would extend that responsible outlook to your job, then." Jack said, Henry leading the way back into the dinner party. Hock's seat was right across from Jack at the table. Hannah looked positively mundane next to many of these women, but she had qualities that they did not. Like the ability to shoot any target in the room without missing. When they made it to the table, introductions were made again, but Hock introduced himself with the title of Senator.

He ate and addressed a few interested parties, but after a while he and Jack returned to the conversation. "Jack, what is your opinion regarding the recent expansion in the Alliance military budget?"

"My investors and companies profit from it. Some of the poorer countries and states hope this gives them an opportunity to escape rampant inflation and debt, but I have my doubts. My most recent investment that you might be interested in is the Ashland-Hislopp shipyards. We can finally start making those dreadnaughts that the technicians have been developing."

"Those are a complete waste, in my opinion. We should instead be focusing on the lighter frigates and cruisers. There is nothing that is threatening enough for a kilometer long starship to be necessary. If I get onto the board, I hope to focus the naval spending on what is needed, and not what is intimidating."

They needed those dreadnaughts for the Turians. There was no way that they could resist them successfully without the heavy hitters. Cruisers would not be enough. They already had a massive technological advantage over humanity, as well as a numbers advantage. Humanity needed a punch that could kill the Turian cruisers that would be in their invasion fleet. "I'm not worried about the threat of a few pirates." Jack said. "I'm worried about a possible threat from elsewhere in our galaxy."

"We have time to worry about that kind of threat, Jack. The only proof we have of that are inactive relays and the Archive." Hock replied.

"I think we need to consider the threat. When we uncovered the Prothean Archive, we found berths for eight ships to be able to land there. From its files, we know that this was fringe space for them. But to have berths for eight ships in a fringe world. That suggests a patrol group size of at least fifteen ships, some of which were longer than a kilometer. Following that expectation, anything of a patrol size that comes through the relay might be able to challenge the main battle fleet in its entirety."

Hock carefully considered the information. "Are you that concerned about outside threats? Or is this a profiteering on such a scale the rest of the world will suffer for it?" He had a smile on his face as he said this, however. He might have found it curious.

"This is all speculation, but if it turns out to be correct, I don't want the only answer to conventional warfare to be guerrilla actions and raiding parties. As it stands whatever comes through any of our inactive relays will find us easy to defeat. Our militias are weak, marine contingents rare to find on the ground, and our troops are too few in number outside of Earth. If we were attacked, we would die."

"I didn't have you figured for a war hawk. Henry I assumed, but you I thought would be open to a few more radical ideas." Donovan said as the rest of the table politely quieted for their talk. "Ideas like changing government policies instead of ramping up ones that do us little good."

"We just had a short revolution and you claim that changing policy will do more good?" Jack said, smiling at the inner joke. Knowing the future was such a burden. "The Navy has taken some casualties in this revolution, and from that we can tell that their commission was too weak. No policy change can be enforced until the Navy can back it up."

"Unless the policy is more domestic. Perhaps workers rights? I hear the palladium miners are demanding higher wages. Only half of them are going to make it to old age without complications. Or maybe, Jack, you would prefer something like a Freedom of Information Act. Make the Alliance more accountable to its citizens." The act mentioned would require the Alliance to declare intentions with local law enforcement, and weaken its ability to be a universal policing force. Not only that, but it would force the government to full disclosure of all activities within two days. It was a piece of garbage legislation.

"The government would sacrifice its ability to deal with threats like the Reds if it had to ask for permission from local authorities whenever it wanted to do something. There might be riots and otherwise if it came out about the losses at Shanxi."

"Every government must make sacrifices for the sake of progress." Hock stated. Jack knew that statement. It churned, turning over and over in his head on where he had seen it before. Hock had told Shepard about mercenary work using the same statement. More recently, he had seen that statement on the console in Shanxi. Very suspicious. He couldn't take any actions on this, of course. But it all merited investigation.

His Omni-tool glowed. Jack wasn't about to check it at the table, and got up. "Give me a moment to answer this." Hock nodded, and Hannah got up due to boredom, most likely. The talk among the women was all about the rising problems on Shanxi and how each of them were donating to charity foundations, dedicated to some cause or another. Hannah's donations had all included a blood price. As they walked to the nearest door, Jack opened the Omni-tool.

_All accounts and messaging rights are suspended. Please contact your provider to reinstate your privileges._

Jack grimaced. He didn't have any plan with any provider. He was the owner of the providing company, and piggy backed along their signal. If he was being denied service, something had to be jamming the area. Tapping on his interface, he noticed that even the news feed was frozen. Wide enough jamming for this was expensive.

He stepped into the hallway, finding two waiters pushing a trolley full of confections. They were reaching under the trolley, their hands both pulling at something heavy when everyone looked at each other. He was about to ask them if they had a phone handy when he noticed them both tense up. Normal staff would not tense up. When one of them started pulling out a pistol, Jack saw that he was too far away to interfere. So he did the only logical thing.

He pulled on his lapels of his jacket, and watched the stunned man's face as his shots stopped cold.

Jack punched the man right after that, before any more shots could be fired. The kinetic barrier in his jacket was probably depleted from just the three shots against it. His partner was met by Hannah. Six weeks of training with an Asian specializing in personal therapy and hand to hand combat created brutal results. She crumpled her wine glass into the partner's throat. Jack didn't see much of anything after that, as he had to deal with a thick necked man of European descent. He kept trying to bring the pistol around, but jack kept barreling on his right.

The shots would be noticed, but more worrying was the fact that the men had tensed in response to seeing Jack. They were looking for him. As he fought over the pistol hand with the madman, as only an idiot would try to kill him, he kept his trigger finger off of it. Jack had a hold on his wrist. They tumbled, the cart full of confections hitting the ground and spilling out an assault rifle. He couldn't survive any of the bursts from that.

Jack was being targeted by someone. This was a widely publicized event that he could not have used his normal methods of concealment. Anyone could have called this in. But he had been careful in his steps. He had to assume that it was someone smart. So as he strangled the gunman, he tried to see if any of this added up. Donovan Hock might be connected, but that was unfounded. A difference of opinion during the first meeting could be expected. Henry had plenty of guests here that could be willing to kill off a few members of their direct competition. One of the problems with having so many investments and connections was the threat lying at the end of the ever expanding circle.

"For a business man, you certainly know how to kill people," he could hear Hannah say as his man went quiet. She had finished off hers during the ensuing trouble.

"We are being jammed. Someone here is being targeted." He avoided her unanswered question.

"I count three different members of the Alliance Assembly and your egotistical ass." She replied. "Any of you might be the target."

"The Senator and two members of the Chamber of Representatives. My bets are on me and Hock, unless he organized it." He pulled the fire alarm with the strangled mans hand, and even here he could hear the roars of frustration as everyone and their twenty thousand credit outfit got soaked. The screeches from some of the women were especially painful to hear. Jack was a man of very few desires. Wine, women, and saving the human race from destruction were the orders of his usual day. Hearing the scream of a women in twenty thousand credit dresses getting soaked meant that there usually was no follow up from a party like this one.

Hannah, to her credit, must have found something about this funny. Her cackling laugh could be more suited to a dingy bar, and then there was the accompanying snort. Not Jack's finest date moment. Jack noticed that he was still dry. His jacket's barrier system was still functioning, keeping him dry. That would be suspicious to see, If comfortable and helpful to keep his suit undamaged.

"Let's get out of here while those crazy bats are crying. What exit did you leave Bill and Jarvis at?" She saw his state of ignoring the spray of water and gave a glare. She looked like a drenched cat herself.

Jack started leisurely walking, trying not to splash water into his suit. "Kitchen doors. Most direct way back to the landing pad for the public shuttle."

"Why the public one?" Hannah said, tearing the dress open so she could run. "Your shuttle is better!"

"Mine is most likely a smoking wreck. Hiding on public transportation will give us more protection in the short term."

James Hansen had never had as much ginger beer as today. Jack told him to take it easy today, as the party would take all day. So, he had some expensive French food he couldn't pronounce, and enough ginger beer that his belly was near to bursting. So, naturally, he had to go to take a leak. He had parked on the private landing pads, right next to some Senator and Assemblymen. So there was a nice hill there, but not a single bathroom within a quarter mile.

Most of these shuttles had them installed. Jack didn't have one on his, preferring the extra leg room. His shuttle was also much smaller, but had a top speed of extraordinary. Jack demanded the fastest method of travel possible. So, James slipped over behind the hill for his break. When he started back, he brought out his phone. Waiting for Jack Harper was like watching a bomb about to go off. He enjoyed taking his sweet time for leisure, but when business came calling he moved with all the speed he could muster. The shuttle had to be ready to fly at any time, and had to be kept ready during almost any function or party.

James had a rough first few weeks on the job. Jack Harper slept during the hours of two in the morning and six in the morning, standard eastern time when the global exchange opened. James was expected to maintain the  _Talon_  and acquire shuttles in each of their stops. He would drive the shuttle in each city, suitably ignoring any traffic warning against speeding. He had yet to have any speeding infractions that forced him to show up in a district court. Apparently Jack paid for all nine of them. James had been told to maintain his speed.

Once back on board James would then be piloting the  _Talon_  to go to his next port of call, or his next meeting. Sometimes when he had a day or two free he would want to have the  _Talon_  orbit Saturn or Venus. All of this meant that James had to live by Jack's schedule and sleep or slow down when he did. Which was when he would die, apparently. The food was nice, the bed was a bit firm, and the drinks could flow like a river. Jack Harper wined and dined with multiple guests each night he was in a town. He had five companies to directly run, and what seemed like dozens of companies he simply was a board member. He also had a hair stylist willing to be flown anywhere in Alliance Space every seventeen days, to keep his hair perfect.

This also included a launderer, a personal trainer, a second personal trainer that was also a physical therapist, a dentist, and a team of skin care professionals that showed up apparently every six months. He hadn't added any staff to the  _Talon_ , instead leaving its care to Amandeep and James. The rest of the support staff were only on site when needed. But they held together. At the cost of sleep and vacation days. But James was compensated a few thousand credits for every day he skipped. He wasn't that close to his family anyways. Amandeep went on vacation, though. The week that happened, he and Jack had the  _Talon_  just rest in port.

Coming back up the hill, he mused on all of this. When he was hired by the company to be a pilot, he thought the pay was great. Then they had him fly for their largest stock holder. Jack had him fly to Shanxi. After that, his contract was bought out and Jack no longer wasted his time arranging flights everywhere. The money was amazing. Six figure income, full benefits, and cash and stock rewards for overtime. Jack paid his extra sixty hours a week in stock to different ship companies. During down time he liked to trade them. His salary was enough to support his extended family and pay off student debt from when he tried to make it at the university. If he ever talked to his family he might be more open to supporting them.

As it stood whenever Jack finally died James would be out of work but very well off. Stepping around the last shuttle in between him and their current shuttle, he came to a stop. Someone was right under the port thruster, fiddling with something. Their uniform was that of a maintenance worker, but those guys didn't carry pistols in the seat of their pants. James got behind the current shuttle and pulled out his wallet. James half written down a small card of things relevant to his job.

_Jack's Reaction Guide_

_-People have been trying to kill me for years. Always assume the worst._

_-Don't sacrifice yourself. Try not to get shot at._

_-During an emergency, hide on public transportation until you can procure your own._

_-Always plan for the worst._

_-Jack Harper must never lose his mobility._

Jack, after he had sprained his back, was irritable. Unable to move and unable to go to business meetings, he had become a grouch. The only person willing to deal with him was Eva. His trainer had gone into the room every so often, and he and Allison had often turned to games of pool or otherwise to kill time. They had both been in the military, so they had enough to talk about for a few weeks. Eventually they had to invite Amandeep in just to have conversation topics. Eva hadn't joined. So James made sure to always have everything ready to be mobile at any time.

His card was a reference guide of dealing with his boss. It was also the thing he kept right next to his phone. Bringing it out, he got ready to call the office here. He hadn't asked for maintenance, nor had he allowed any of the workers here near the shuttle. To his surprise, his phone had no service. That had never happened before. Jack told him that there were enough redundant parts of the comm network that it took a significant amount of effort to deny service to a large area. That meant that someone was denying service. Even in the shadow of Venus he had a consistent connection.

With his phone down and his shuttle being meddled with, James had to assume this was an attempt to kill Jack. He had only seen one such attempt, when someone was hired to take a shot at Jack. Jack calmly told James to park somewhere the police wouldn't have to interfere next time. This might be another attempt.

So, with the shuttle being fiddled with, James turned around and walked for the other parking lot. Shuttles were great, but the nice thing about shuttles was that you could always replace them. Getting another vehicle was easy. Getting another pilot? More effort. Jack hated doing things twice. So James just walked up to one of the private transportation companies and paid three times what the thing was worth. New shuttle, no hassle. Jack always let his money be an active force for good.

Now he had to guess where Jack would be. Headed for the easiest place to avoid notice and escape, if James had it guess. Jack liked to mention public areas as being safer than private ones you already owned. Jack never went to any of his houses anymore, living on the  _Talon_. When asked about this, Jack only mentioned that everything else was compromised. He didn't explain further.

So, James went for the side of the building that was nearest to the public parking lot. He was honestly surprised to see Jack coming out of the building on that side, with Allison and the two government suited guards that Jack always had following him. With practiced ease, James landed the shuttle in front of Jack and set it down as the doors slid open. This model had a few nice touches, but it was not up to their usual standards.

"Mr. Harper, did you need a ride?"

"James? What happened to the shuttle?" Jack asked, a slight grin adorning his features. Everyone except for Jack was soaking wet. His shoes were, but the rest of him was dry, while everyone else looked cold.

"Saw someone rigging something on it, so I went to the main lot and got another one. Figured you would need a ride if communications went down."

Jack helped Allison on board and gave the two suits a look. "Well, you've been quiet enough company in the months so far. You're welcome to come with us, As long as you don't try to put any unnecessary bugs anywhere."

Bill and Jarvis both nodded, and got on in the back seat behind Allison and Jack. "Where to, sir?" James asked.

"If they had the balls to shoot up Henry's reception they will be perfectly willing to shoot up my houses, too. Instead, I think we need to talk to your boss. Allison, where does he live?"

She sputtered, squeezing water from her hair.

"I have no idea, why don't we just go to the office of Intelligence?"

Jack shrugged. "Because that is always being observed. Our connection would become plainly obvious, and I would lose good business when my clients believe I am actually some lackey. We need a neutral location."

"So you want to go to his house? How neutral is that?"

Jack lit a cigarette, and the door of the shuttle closed. "He seems to like invading my privacy, so I thought it fitting. Get us out of the jamming, for sure. From there I'm sure we can find a place to meet."

"What about the  _Talon_?"

"Tomorrow's problem. Right now getting us to safety is much more important. She is either compromised or surrounded, if they were after me."

James lifted off, and immediately after leaving the surrounding ten miles was contacted. "Attention vehicle. We need you to pull over immediately." A vehicle declaring its ownership by the Melbourne Police Department told him.

"Sir, I don't like this." He told Jack.

"If we land it will be less suspicious!" Allison said.

"Don't land. This area isn't known as a speed trap." Jack replied. James was going to follow that. His problem was that this shuttle couldn't outrun anything, nor could it maneuver. "We are still inside the area being jammed. The point to point radio is all we or they have." The glow of his Omni-tool lit up the back of the mirror.

"Copy that cruiser, we were just trying to clear up the radio. You know what is going on?" James said into the comm. Then he turned to Jack. "I can't outrun them and they are armed. If they are here to kill us they would have already started firing. With the jamming up these might just be paranoid cops." He started heading down. The cruiser followed, keeping pace with them.

"No idea. Radio and everything else is quiet. We are going to take this as a disaster situation and land everyone." A good idea for dealing with civilian problems. The things following them were a little bit more dangerous. "Looks like we will have to just direct you to land. We've got another two coming up behind you." James received coordinates to some ancient gas station along a ground road. As he flew into it, he turned the shuttle to face the oncoming craft.

He had a horrible moment where he thought he saw a weapon come out from the lead car, but it just turned out to be landing gear as two more cars were directed to land. He must be just seeing things. "Sir, I think we are safe."

"Just run the radio and let's hope the jamming blackout ends. I hope my assailants know how much I despise seats that don't have built in heaters. Or being surrounded by the perpetually silent." Jack griped, probably a form of coping.

"Keep the heat up, James. Not all of us have kinetic barrier systems in our formal clothes." Hannah griped back. She was still soaking wet, and the two silent observers in the back seat just remained quiet. Though they did drape their coats on the seat to dry off easier. James had the time to be able to notice one of them shiver a bit. They hid it well.

"Not all of us had to hire someone to invent a suit jacket kinetic barrier. It adds weight to the suit. It is also far more expensive than any other gift I've given you." Jack replied, his fingers flying on the interface. Hannah shivered in reply.

"Have you ever been apologetic about your actions, Jack?"

"Only if someone is suing me. Though if I accidentally get you injured I will apologize for the trauma. I will never apologize for the reasoning." His boss was complicated. That was for sure.

They were kept for hours at the quarantine checkpoint. When all was said and done, Jack decided to completely purge the items, rugs, and walls in the  _Talon_ , leading to James getting two weeks off while Jack went to some intelligence safe location for a briefing. James had only one issue. With an advance pay of his entire first years salary with his first contract, and two months of pay from Jack, with his bonuses and massive overtime. All in all, James had enough money to buy a shuttle or four.

So, when he landed in the California coastline area, he didn't go straight to his family. The first thing he did was head to a real estate group's office. James wanted a nice house. His parents had shoved four kids into a three bedroom house. It wasn't very fun. So the first thing he wanted was his own space. What it would be filled with he didn't know, but it would be good.

By the time James landed in California, Jack Harper was in the middle of some serious trouble. As his ship was being fixed and debugged, as some fiddling had occurred, he had to spend his time somewhere. Hannah offered the services of the Alliance, as he had apparently been saving them thousands of credits by paying for his minders at all of his events. They were ordered not to talk to him, but he somehow got their comm numbers, and kept them updated. So their review had been a glowing one.

Hannah's reports had one more colored. That had a bit to do with the fact that she was still in a ripped Dior dress that had water damage issues. But since Jack had made himself a target, and her house he had so elegantly called attention to, she wasn't safe anywhere. Her things from the  _Talon_  were still en route to them. He polluted the room with his still dry cigarettes, and did his best to appear comfortable and at ease. Bill even brought him some very nice red wine from somewhere.

"We never did have a more convenient person to keep active tabs on. This one's on me, Mr. Harper." Bill said. It was the first time Jack had heard him speak. The southern drawl was a surprise, but Jack smiled in return.

"Your hospitality made it worthwhile. I do so hate spending good tax dollars on myself." He said to Bill. "When is your boss going to show up, then?" He was supposed to have been waiting for him when he arrived. Instead they had been waiting three hours. Jack did not like waiting. He could tolerate being waited on, but anyone making him wait more than thirty minutes deserved to be ignored while Jack did business with those more available.

On queue, the doors from the secure area opened. In walked a few more suited guards and two people that stood out. Runja Ross was the leader of Intelligence that he could publicly find, as she had presented findings to the Alliance Assembly before. She was the very vision of intimidating. Jack was glad she had passed away before he started Cerberus last time. She was part black, and in her mid sixties. Before treatments were invented, she was hit hard by a case of Lupus that destroyed her skin's pigmentation. When treatments were invented, it was too late for her to recover. So she had scale like growths on certain areas of her skin, including her face. It made her hard to look at. She had a permanent glare attached to her face, and seeing her smile could probably rot fruit.

Jack wouldn't touch her if he could avoid it. She was the public leader. Behind her was a small shrew of a man that had an Omni-tool. They were more distributed since their big reveal a few months ago, but it was rare to see them in use. Jack was doing his best to change that. Seeing another meant that he had some connections. The shrew-ish man was typing fast, but made mistakes every so often. Jack could tell when his hand would tense up slightly, pausing to deselect the word misspelled and replace it.

"Jack Harper." Runja said in her voice, ruined by the Lupus. It sounded like a Turian trying to hum.

"Mrs. Ross." He immediately returned.

"Don't get too comfortable. I've just come from six different suspects who have all named you as an accomplice."

"I beg your pardon?" Jack stated, letting his eyebrows rise up. "I don't work with anyone on an accomplice level outside of the bedroom." He didn't glance at Hannah, but judging by how the chair next to him jumped and tensed up, she must have been giving him a look. He didn't meet it.

"I've got the only surviving officers in the Reds that surrendered on Shanxi. All of them got a comm message about prisoners on the second day of the Alliance counter attack. Two of them were paid by a bank account owned by your non existent extreme relative, who only seems to exist on paper. So, Mr. Harper, please tell me why I shouldn't have you in the interrogation room next?"

Well.  _Damn_.

That is what being impulsive lead you to. "You are probably aware of a certain group of financial and political elite within the Alliance that cater to certain causes. Some believe that the Alliance is not strong enough or militarily capable enough to deal with domestic problems. I happen to be one of those. I believe in an Alliance whose Navy and marine corps can stand against pirates and other undesirable elements. Our problem was that those elements had not yet left Earth to threaten our colonies." Ross and everyone else were quiet, listening. The man with the Omni-tool was recording his speech. "This is not something that can be quoted in a court of law, as I have my rights. I haven't seen my lawyer yet."

"I don't care about your rights. Currently you are implicated in the Shanxi rebellion. The mess there is so bad and so morally questionable that it's presence alone in the media is sacking the current administration. We can't even send any footage from the ground back here without causing riots. And technically, my mission statement is clear. Find, interrogate, and kill any person associated with this. So, you think real long and hard about what you say, because if I don't like it I will shoot you right now, and I won't regret it. Your friends are all dead. They just don't know it yet." Ross motioned to one of her men. He had a large shotgun, which was handed to Ross. She leveled it at him, prompting Hannah to look a bit worried.

Jack acted suitably cowed. But inside he was doing the numbers and probabilities that he could still get out of here without trouble. The numbers came back low. "Our problem was that the Alliance needed something to bite its teeth on. We considered funding a pirate group, but decided that there was not enough black market infrastructure in space yet to attempt it. So, the next best thing was submitted to the group. Stage a hostile takeover of a high value target. One recommended the as yet unfinished Arcturus station or New Java station. I recommended a target that wouldn't set back the Alliance for years. A planet, possibly thinly colonized. Less risk to colonists and would get the larger colonies prepared for the possibility of more of the same."

Ross still hadn't shot him. So he drank more of his drink and finished his cigarette as he explained further. "Our group operates through public enquiry today and other newspaper programs, as well as other encrypted communication protocols through Alliance space. Tracking it is difficult, and trying to figure out who posted anything specifically is nearly impossible. I say nearly because you must analyze speech patterns and writing styles to compare with. Sometimes it's easier to identify, other times it isn't. I don't try to with the shorter messages. But the longer ones I can usually attribute to one person or another. My own contribution was simple."

He leaned back in his chair, finding no drink or cigarette left to tide him over as he stared down the muzzle of a shotgun. "I posted twice. Once to let the group know that I had found a possible loyal moralistic type of mercenary to lead a possible attack, and that he could be trusted to get the job done. The second posting was that I had armed the mercenaries with supposedly defective armor. I had tried to plan for an Alliance victory. Bissel and Tyrrel were not looking for that, I noticed. They seemed to disagree with the general plan. Tyrrel had them brought into Shanxi, and Bissel or someone else altered the armor being sent in. So the mercenaries were from a varied group, some from the African and South American continents. Others were from France and the Russian states. I only contributed perhaps fifty people to this, expecting a hostage situation. Imagine my surprise when Shanxi was falling. I immediately acted on this, working with Allison to find out what had gone wrong from my end."

"Her reports are rather thin on details of how that was accomplished. Or why you felt the need to use her for six weeks to do what should only have required one at the most."

Jack didn't take the bait. "Personal preference. I hadn't had my redhead quota filled for quite some time. The details were rather spotty and hard to come by after the first week as well, since something destroyed Shanxi's communications network."

"Yet our agent somehow found enough evidence to point to two dead men, and not a single shred of data pertaining to your own involvement." Ross said, pointedly. "Why ask about Alliance prisoners?"

They must not be too deep down that rabbit hole if he was being asked this. A slightly comforting thought. "I have much more invested into the Alliance military machine than most people realize. Your shipyards are my endeavor, I own more than thirty percent of them. Your armors that were deployed, I also had shares in. My dear friend, Henry Lawson, who just got married, has a few gene mods that were being tested by the military. These are the future of humanity's ability to project it's strength into the galaxy, and I was querying if one of his subjects was on Shanxi. My intention was to try to get them back. That obviously didn't happen."

"Mr. Harper, I think you are going to be spending some time with us. Something about you just makes my stomach churn."

"So you are holding me against my rights when all I have done is try to make the Alliance stronger?" Jack asked incredulously.

Ross just gave him a long look. "Your rights see suspended until we perform an audit and search everything you own. Agent, you come with me for your own debriefing. The rest of you take Mr. Harper to room two. There shouldn't be any blood in it."

Jack had slipped Hannah his OSD from his Omni-tool, before they arrived. The disc in it currently was generic, the one he used to monitor the stock he publicly owned and traded. So she was unlikely to find anything. "I have clothes onboard my shuttle craft and on board my ship that Allison will be able to pick up. Perhaps you can have some sent to wherever you'll have me kept."

Ross just watched him as he was taken away, Allison not betraying anything to Jack or to Ross. She was not looking forward to this. Ross never talked to individual agents unless you were in deep trouble. She had a habit of making agents retire due to stress related experiences. Ross handed the shotgun back to the security officer, and then glanced at Allison.

"Shepard. Let's talk in my office." Ross led the way to a section of the wall that opened as she approached. Another security team was just behind it, ready to come in and subdue Jack in case he was able to stop the four men who were around Ross already. A two minute walk took them to another featureless door that appeared to be an airlock. Upon opening it, she saw that the airlock was a fake actually opening to an interior office. It had no furniture other than a couple of metal chairs and a simplistic desk chair and console decorating the desk.

"He's lying."

"It's Jack Harper. Of course some of that was a lie."

"Some? I don't think anything that he fed me was anything truthful at all. Bissel has been investigated, and nothing came from that. Nothing in his system went towards the Reds. Tyrrel we haven't found anything newer than last year. Shanxi was too damaged by the time we took the headquarters. Everything he said and did in that conversation was blatantly lying. Normally when people lie, there is a tell, something that shows their natural guilt. Jack didn't have any other than his eyes. They slightly dilated when I mentioned his message we interpreted. Now I investigate your life, agent Shepard. You have an extra three hundred thousand credits in your bank account that appeared while you were in the pacific. You have been showered with expensive gifts and disappeared from under our observation for extended periods of time, all related to Jack Harper. Let me stress that the only reason you are still alive is your work in investigating the Reds and for preventing the New Java attack."

"Thank you ma'am." She said, not sure where this would end. Jack had ruined her life and future, most likely. What was more likely was that he had staged this to appear as if they were working together. She hadn't known about the money. She hardly spent anything these days anyway. Money came in, and some day she would retire and enjoy it more.

"This isn't a compliment. You are under as much scrutiny as he is. Mr. Harper we can only hold onto for so long before his lawyer demands his release. I doubt that we will be able to get anything else useful from him in that time. Your superior has glowing words to say about you. In looking over your mission files, though, we saw some discrepancies. I want them sorted out."

Allison Hannah Shepard cursed inwardly. Her life was dependent on these people. "What discrepancies would you like sorted out?" Perhaps she had a better chance if she knew what Ross wanted.

"When you disappeared into his ship, we lost track of you for two days. Your next report came in as the  _Talon_  re-entered the atmosphere over the pacific. Where did he take you?"

"Shanxi." Allison told her, already knowing that this day would be unpleasant enough. Jack had the freedom of lying and knowing he would only be held here for a day or two. Allison had the rest of her life ahead of her.

Ross hardened her face. Without the pigmentation in her skin she looked like she was almost angry. "That seems incriminating. How did he convince you to leave that out of the reports?"

"He was injured while we tried to extract his marine with gene mods. He had set up an explosive in the server room," she wasn't going to mention his weird statue theory he fed her. "Which caused him to be struck by some support beams. His back was sprained, taking six weeks to heal. That was why we were in the pacific. We managed to extract a doctor or specialist working in Tyrrel headquarters while we were there, however. Her name is Eva Core, but Jack managed to get her a new identity and hide her within the company known as ExoGeni. I haven't been able to trace her since. Multiple people in that company look like her and have been hired recently."

"So he covered his tracks on Shanxi. We will find this Eva. Don't worry about her. You have compromised this investigation enough already. That answers where the  _Talon_  was. During your investigation that lead to the New Java operation, you lost your following operative in the airport in Marseilles. Hours later you showed up at your hotel."

"Jack had me meet him at a restaurant, under cover. We exchanged details and information that lead to my report on New Java. I had asked him to help in my investigation."

Ross looked livid. "That is the most damning thing I have heard today! Letting a civilian, especially one who benefits from prolonged contact with you, do your investigation for you? You must have given him access to our files somehow. Should I be investigating data leaks now?"

"He only asked for three sets of files. Data relating to the Prothean Archive attack, our data on the Reds, and his own dossier." She said, wishing she didn't look like she was completely in Jack's pocket right now. But the Dior dress and expensive purse said otherwise. "In exchange, he gave me the information on New Java."

"Jack Harper is trying to capitalize on a war between rebelling groups that exist in society and our military. He and the rest of these industrialist Progressives are looking to make the Alliance weak, dependent upon them and their work to function. His allies will not suffer for his disappearance. They'll capitalize on it. Their kind have no compassion for anything other than their own interests. So, while I have one of them in custody, I think I will be able to arrange a deal with him."

"He will get the better end of the deal." He just did, and it annoyed her greatly.

"I'm planning on it. You, on the other hand, are a disgrace. A useful disgrace, but a disgrace to our standards nonetheless. I'm going to take you off the active rosters. You want to just let Jack Harper do your job for you? Fine. He will be your only assignment. Until he dies or you fail even harder at your job, this will be your only concern."

Allison just sat in her chair. Dreams of promotions and moving up in the world evaporated. She was being turned into an asset. A permanent observer. Her entire future was gone. Jack Harper had stolen it, questioned her reputation, and ruined her. She wouldn't let herself fall apart here. There would be plenty of time for that later. She raised her chin and looked up at Ross. "Yes, ma'am. I understand."

"Good. Now, let's go talk to Harper. Leave your phone and any other evidence here." Allison Shepard dumped out her purse, letting her phone and a couple of ear pieces fall onto the desk. Observation equipment and a few pieces of wet tissue fell onto the desk. She considered the OSD that Jack had slipped her. It was in the pocket of her dress. She didn't take it out. Jack Harper was the only path the future might allow her to get her reputation back. To do that, he would need to trust her. She hated herself for doing this. But she hated the idea of being tossed aside when she knew she could help more. That made her hold back the OSD. Standing up and holding back a wave of emotion, she wished she had never met Jack Harper.

Jack wished he had never been so impulsive as to pick up Hannah. The chair in the interrogation room was uncomfortable. It kept his hands locked behind him, while the interrogator asked him questions. Jack didn't answer any further than he had answered Ross. He only had to wait thirty minutes before Ross came back. She came in with a box and a couple members of her security team.

"Did my lawyer call yet?" Jack asked. "Or am I getting threatened again?"

Ross gave him a smile. "You have been proven to have connections with the Reds, supplying them and arming their agents. Not only that, but you have interfered with an Alliance investigation, abducted an agent, and entered restricted space illegally. We suspected that your craft had been sighted near Shanxi, but now we can confirm it. So, I will be giving you two options." She held up her hand, as if to stop him from speaking. Right now he was inclined to agree. He had spent most of his previous life avoiding this, so perhaps this time he would entertain their less than logical ideas. "You can cooperate, and provide us with all of the information you doubtlessly held back, or I can kill you."

She popped open the case in front of her. It was a small sub machine gun, with a long muzzle and a short clip. "This is a fabrication that is illegal in every law system the Alliance has. A Kassa brand. The company only had the chance to make a single batch of these before we put them out of business. This is a Locust, as they call it. One of the attackers used one of these but was never caught. He left it behind, however, giving me a perfect alibi. This gun already killed both Assembly men, along with their bodyguards. Another body won't surprise the press." She slid the weapon's grip into place onto her wrist. "So, do I add a body to the roster or do I have an answer?" Her voice didn't shift at all during the conversation. She didn't shake or show any other signs of nervousness. So, there was a significant chance that she meant it.

"The people you are looking for take time to find. Time and resources I won't have in your custody."

"Is that a yes?"

"It would seem the only logical path, considering. The entire question is phrased in order to force me to accept your judgement."

She shot him, three shots tearing through the arm of his suit and going into his shoulder. Her face showed no change as she did so. Jack tried to keep the pain of this out of his voice, but the inferno rounds burned the inside of his skin. One was stuck inside his shoulder. He groaned, in a way that would normally be considered unacceptable. He had to wait to speak, the pain becoming a constant throb. Two of the shots had passed right through, hitting the chair or the wall. The last remained.

"Mr. Harper, your lawyer is coming to get you. I expect that you will remember this for quite some time. So, this is how our arrangement will follow. You are restricted from handling any form of console or technology that allows access to secure systems. You will be provided an agent to do that for you, and to handle all forms of communication you will use. They will report to us your progress in hunting down the other members of your little group, who will also become puppets. I don't care about your business or political affiliations. I only care about the threats to the Alliance, especially your friends who dared think they would get away with this." She had packed away the Locust while she said this, and Jack had to focus on her voice. The pain was intense. "Now, you are going to be discharged to a hospital of your choice. Our agent will be attached to you on a permanent basis and she will report all of your activities. If you attempt to lose her, you will be killed, and posthumously convicted of the crimes specified. Do you understand?" He gave a short nod, not trusting his voice to betray his weakness.

Pain was weakness. Or at least to admit it or use it as a crutch to get what you wanted. Pity was a tool used by the desperate. Once used, it was forever an option easily turned to. Jack didn't use pity in either of his lives. He had a moment to consider as she picked up the gun case. If they were assigning him a permanent agent, he would need to plan everything around her. His impulsiveness had cost him the mobility that he needed to keep ahead of his competition. He might have to go ahead and go paramilitary this time around as well.

"Patch him up and get a shuttle to take him somewhere. I don't want to see him again until someone has a funeral." Ross said. She left the room as one of the men started bandaging his arm and shoulder. It might have been Jarvis, but it was hard to tell. His eyes wouldn't focus. He tried to make it easier for them, but it was hard to move. Some painkillers hit his system, and he didn't even notice the medicine going in. Without the pain to keep him conscious, he blacked out.

When he awoke, it was to the face of Henry Lawson, wearing medical scrubs and digging into his shoulder. He groaned, and tried to stay still. He was on an operating table somewhere. His lawyer had records and plans in place to send Jack to the nearest hospital owned by Henry Lawson in the event of him being too injured to direct otherwise. So that explained that. He felt groggy.

"Don't move, old chap, this is not something lightly fixed. The shot got lodged in your shoulder blade, and burned itself out right there. Just sit tight while I get rid of it."

Henry spoke all of this as he brought over a large metal device. He flipped it on, and Jack felt something tear out of his shoulder to clink into the device. Probably some form of magnet.

His reply was to gasp in pain as the shot came back out of him.

"Ah, a bit of bleeding but most of the internal tissue is burnt. You are going to be just fine. We have just the thing to deal with this, Jack. Just sit still so I can get the artificial tissue in place." Henry said, poking around inside the wound. He was thankful that his friend was such a good doctor, and willing to do the right treatments, even if some or most of his technology was experimental or in the testing phases.

Looking past his friend, he saw a few people watching the operation. The person nearest to the window was surprisingly his lawyer, who was observing and talking on his phone with a bit of emotion on his face. He must be trying to get some sort of suit on someone to stick. His lawyer was one of the best. He had to be, with hundreds of suits brought against Jack every year. Jack filed back just as many, usually. At the business level he was at, this was fairly normal. Considering how many companies he owned and supported, this only compounded everything.

Behind him was an intern of some kind or other. He had an entire console with him, and was bringing up information for his lawyer as needed. To the right were two women. One was the newly married Mrs. Lawson, who looked like she was still wearing her dress from the wedding day. Henry must have just felt it his responsibility to take care of all of the wounded from the party. Next to her, wearing her wrinkled Dior, was Hannah. Jack wasn't sure what to think of that.

She had a neutral look on her face, and was in some sort of conversation with Mrs. Lawson. Both women were paying more attention to the operation. Jack had his attention directed back to the operating table quite forcefully, as he felt Henry taking hold of his injured shoulder blade. His groan, he wouldn't call it a scream, got his attention.

"Yes, yes, terrible bedside manner. I should probably sedate you while I reset the bones and put synthetic muscle in there."

Jack groaned back at him in response.

His lawyer came up to the glass and held up his electronic tablet. His eyes were only seeing a blur but it looked suspiciously like 'Malpractice?' He mustered the strength to shake his head. Henry just had a poorly timed sense of humor. It was why he was more into research than actually practicing medicine. His social graces were extremely limited, but for his best man he probably felt responsible for fixing him.

He saw something enter the IV. "You have some resistance to my better medications. So you'll have a double dose. Don't worry, I'll have you put back together before you know it. Just take a short nap while I place some pins."

Jack obliged him. That was perhaps the nicest way that he had been asked anything by Henry.

When he woke up, he was in a hospital bed with every modern convenience that Henry could get his hands on. He was wearing some unflattering hospital suit, and his arm was locked into some sort of ceramic setting that kept his shoulder in place. His right arm couldn't move enough even to type. That would be a major setback. His arm no longer held an Omni-tool, but it did have a small monitor on that hand.

Looking around, he could see a few flowers on the nightstand, courtesy of Senator Dierdre Scott. Her card had some form of get well soon message written on it. He couldn't grab it, but it was probably just out of courtesy. The card next to it was attached to a small bottle of wine, from Donovan Hock. Very curious. He absolutely had an ulterior motive. Jack knew what might happen to him in the future. If he was still that person, then Hock was a sociopath. He saw other people as tools. Or would see. He already seemed quite close to those tendencies already.

Turning his head the other direction, he saw Hannah Shepard, asleep in a chair and holding some sort of box of chocolates. She was dozing lightly, and was wearing a flannel shirt (his) and some sort of pants. Her continued presence made him consider a few possibilities. She could be an observer of some sort, temporary or permanent, assigned by Ross to make sure he didn't escape to some unknown part of Alliance space. He had a theory about that, but it was a desperate one. If he was directly threatened too much, he could always take a ship and colonize Eden Prime early. Or skip it entirely and make contact for humanity at the citadel. Both options changed the game too much.

Hannah might just be here to interrogate him further. That possibility meant that he was still under close surveillance. That would inhibit him further. The  _Talon_  needed to be purged of any bugs or tracking devices that the Alliance or other groups may have placed on her. He also needed to purge his houses. He maintained a penthouse in New York, as well as an estate in the old wine valleys of California, and his house in the northern part of Catalonia, Spain. He had apartments in his name elsewhere, but only maintained them for the use of his employees as they needed them. Perhaps he should just drop all of those. If he did, the California estate might have to go as well. He never really used it. Not after his artificial island was done.

Looking back at her, he noticed that she looked a bit rumpled still. She hadn't taken the time to clean up or shower for some reason. That created a new possibility, one of desperation. Alliance Intelligence frowned on agents failing in their duties. The fact that they confirmed he was at Shanxi meant that Hannah had told them. How much she had mentioned remained to be seen but that also had to be taken into account when planning in the future. She had more loyalty to the Alliance than she ever would for him, that was for sure.

Sighing, he considered his options while he had the peace and quiet to do so. If Hannah was the agent that would be assigned to him, she would be under just as much scrutiny as he was. Her reports would be torn apart looking for any signs of omission. Still, he could not afford to just give up his intention of saving the Alliance and preparing them for fighting the Reapers. He would just need to take some desperate measures to get rid of the Intelligence attachment. Hannah slumped slightly, obviously sleeping lightly. He decided that it was time to figure out what was going on.

"Shepard." Her head jerked up, her training taking over as she shot up, evaluating the room for threats. The box of chocolates was slid off of a pistol, which was leveled on the doorway. Very curious. He must be under painkillers to not have any rise in adrenaline or heightened response to the gun coming out. "Did you eat all of my chocolates?" All of the other gifts and cards in the room were for him, so this was a safe assumption.

Her eyes checked over the window, and then once satisfied the room was safe she slid the pistol back into the box. "They're in the drawer." She said quietly, worry apparent on her face.

"Good. Real food would be appreciated. I'm slightly allergic to certain nuts."

"Henry sent them to you. They're all the same flavor." She seemed afraid of something. Perhaps it was him. More likely it was her superiors. He gave her a moment to dig out the chocolate, and place it in his functioning left hand.

"Are you the agent that they have assigned to handle me?" With his painkillers and arm in a sling, it was probably her superiors she was afraid of.

"Yes. Until something changes or I die." Ah. That helped narrow it down. Her superiors were a little mad that she withheld information. Denying her mobility or a promotion was insulting.

"Convenient. So you are the one who I have to pass off as my secretary for a while. That is going to take some effort." Especially if she was going to report his movements. "Where is my Omni-tool?"

She held it up, and he noticed that it was lacking its memory core. Intelligence must have taken it. It would take them a long time to break through his encryption key, but they would only find his business message history. His real damning evidence was on the OSD he gave her. It had a few of his bank account information statements that they could trace back to the Reds. Hannah curiously held up the OSD as well, and put them on the table.

"I kept it for you, and cleaned it."

"Is that a copy of my OSD?" He asked. It had to be, if Hannah was willing to collaborate with them and reveal his presence on Shanxi. They had taken all of his other data sources, and he had left his pistol under the seat of the aircar bench. James was carrying his phone, which coincidentally had an extra SD drive slot, but Jack didnt have the chance to get the OSD into it before James was sent away. He was as innocent as they came, so it didn't matter if they questioned him or not. He might mention that Jack liked to go to Venus to stare at the planet sometimes, or that he liked taking the Talon out whenever he had the chance. Or he might mention Shanxi if they really pressured him. He had never tested his real resolve under pressure. He could trust him, as the man was quite loyal. The most he had done with his massive income so far had been a few extranet purchases. Hopefully he would be the kind of person that didn't take bribes. That would get very expensive for his competition.

"No." She said. He didn't quite believe her. Ross had known too much for that to be the case. "I kept it."

"I doubt that. But there is an easy way to test it. On most OSD's the manufacturer places a small sticker on the disc that marks it as their product. Is it still present on the disc?" Hannah leaned over, taking a closer look at it and nodding. "Look for a small bulge on one side, almost as if it had been rubbed slightly from being moved or displaced. That bulge should be on top of a raised section of the disc, barely noticeable." It took a moment to confirm this, but her fingers were sensitive enough to find the tiny raised nub under the sticker.

"Is this normal to find on this brand?" She asked curiously.

"Not likely. I placed a listening device on the OSD to record myself and any meetings i attend. For privacy and legal matters, of course. But I doubt that it would have been found without an Omni-tool specialist carefully going over the OSD. For our concerns at this moment, we have proof and evidence that I was interrogated by Alliance personnel, and entered their location uninjured. But you were in possession of it for a short time as well. Is there any information that would be considered a war crime to share? Or is this something I can use when I press legal charges?"

Hannah wasn't surprised at this. She had met his lawyer, obviously. HIs overpaid and overworked lawyer with a voracious appetite for new cases. He worked some indecent amount of hours every week launching and defending lawsuits. Jack hated him personally, but paid him enough that it didn't matter what he felt. He could afford to do anything he wanted, when he finally got time off during the christmas season. "I had a meeting with Ross and a debriefing. It, uh, might not be something you want heard in a court room. Or anywhere that you want evidence that can convict you."

"Damn." He stated. "I guess I'll just have to go with scandal and a quiet retirement for Ross. It will take a while to get that to happen. Then we can work on getting you back into the good graces of the Office of Alliance Intelligence."

She looked annoyed at his comment. "Don't you get it? I am not going to get positive attention again. My career is dead. Everything I have done is going to be looked at with the deepest of scrutiny. If it ever gets reported, I will be discredited unless a superior sponsors my information and makes it their own. Even then, you are too important," She spat that word, "of an asset to go without an agent to watch over you. So I will be stuck here while everything you do is going to be monitored and evaluated for a possible threat."

"Yet you kept the OSD. Why keep that when your career was on the line?"

Hannah gave him a hard look. "Because I hope to God you know what you are doing. If I am going to have to be stuck to you for the near future-"

"Extended, please."

"Yes,  _extended_  future, I decided it was of greater worth to show you I cared. Plus, in going over the disc its contents were rather benign." She said, her emotions causing her to shake a bit. "So I kept it. I told Ross about Shanxi. I did not mention some of the other things you have done."

"My name has been muddled enough. What hasn't already been mentioned is only going to be suspected. Anything I do is going to be viewed with complete disdain, even if it is the best intel that they will receive. And I will provide them intelligence still, as the Alliance is the best option we have." Hannah had gone out of her way to try to save something of his, which actually might give him a powerful set of evidence if he ever wanted to present a case of military negligence to Ross. "Since you have been somewhat trusting of me, I feel that I can offer you something. If you want to get back out into the field as a trusted Alliance agent, I can do that for you. But it will take time and a great measure of sacrifice."

"What, more financial favors? Or is it a house this time?" Hannah scoffed.

"No, I was considering something that would make you the Alliance's most feared asset to date. All it would take is an experimental process that hasn't been tested due to humanitarian concerns."

"Your gene modifications?"

"It is a project that was covered by the gene modification hardware, but one that we are more careful about mentioning. Henry, whom you've met, has developed a method of implanting a new skin layer into a subject, gives the subject certain abilities. These dermal implants that Henry has engineered can remove your scent and if you dont have an allergic reaction to the process, we might be able to give you the ability to cloak."

"Like turn invisible?" She asked carefully.

"Exactly. You would be invisible to human sight and smell for a short amount of time. Devices might still be able to sense you, but you should be invisible to most forms of detection."

"What does that take?"

"A possibly deadly process where Henry places dermal implants under your skin, and you become Humanity's most dangerous asset. They would have to take you back into the ranks, and you would be given the tasks that they would consider too dangerous or too difficult to accomplish."

"Why would you do this for me? Wouldn't you just be better off without more scrutiny?"

"Economically, yes. Probably happier in general. But I hate the idea of denying Humanity an asset of your caliber. This is also one of the things I will be trying to offer with my foundation. We need new technology and new soldiers to combat the threats that the rest of our race is creating. Neither of us can truly stop them until we can get you to become an asset again. My plan to simply funnel you information and give you analysis of what the Reds are doing so that you could rise to become head of a department, or the department in charge of dealing with them, backfired. Ross got too suspicious and the Shanxi situation boiled out of control. I became too impulsive, and made decisions that did not benefit you or your position. For that, I apologize."

She grunted something. But she met his look. "But you aren't apologizing for why you did it, I am sure."

Jack gave her a winning smile, thankful that the splint on his shoulder and arm did not prohibit that. "Of course. Mission accomplished, we weakened the Red's ability to hide and found evidence of their actions. Greg Smith is no longer viable for what I needed him for, but we managed to get in and find out what we needed to do." Greg Smith might still have some frozen remains in the colony of Shanxi, but Jack had no kinds of resources that could access that at the moment. Hannah had been the best bet, but he overextended her when she pulled the data files. That probably created a flag in their system when she did that, or she may have been less than perfectly stealthy when she moved them.

Either way, at the moment they were under scrutiny, Jack was recovering from being shot, and Hannah was close to accepting anything he told her. With a grain of mistrust, as anyone should have when speaking. The only people who were genuinely honest were the people who didn't have secrets to keep. He leaned back in the bed, glaring at his injured and securely held right hand. "I wish I had a cigarette right now."

"Henry said he kept some here for you, but you might want to take it easy. Most of your shoulder is new."

"I will have to create an identity for you. My secretaries are always something of an odd bunch. The best in the business, as you might guess. You have until my arm can type again to pick up what you need. I have tutors and other resources on call if you need them. Also, as I am not allowed to wear it or communicate, you will use my Omni-tool for the time being. I'll need your arm for everything, since Ross took mine out of commission. At least until you go through the surgery to give you dermal implants."

"What if I don't think I want to?"

"We both know that you don't want to become marginalized. Or if they decide to replace you suddenly, you will quietly disappear until no one remembers who you were. You are a compromised agent, which makes you dangerous to keep around. Ross probably considered shooting you along with me. That is, if this wasn't some attempt to remove my ability to work for a while."

"Fine. So I get the implants. What then?"

"Then the gene mods, for thermal enhanced vision and faster reflexes. Those have tested well and safely. Once we are finished, you will be one of the most dangerous members the Alliance can call on. They will have no choice but to promote you to a field agent again, and will request I do the same for others from your department. At the cool cost of my surveillance disappearing from my life."

Hannah smiled a little bit. "Sometimes, I am glad you are such a paranoid bastard. Got any other backup plans?"

"Hoping that Henry has something that can fix my arm faster. Other than that, any plan I make will depend on the fallout from whoever claims responsibility for the attack on Henry's wedding. I owe them some trouble."

Hannah turned on the news feeds and Omni-tool without even being prompted. Jack just grinned. "What was that about a new identity?"

"Don't worry about it. Your previous one has too many holes to exploit or investigate. I simply am going to be building you one that will stand up to the kind of scrutiny that I receive on a weekly basis. Oh, and I am calling you Hannah."

"Like Hell!"

* * *

Author's Note

Things are getting more interesting by the minute. I decided that since my beta is being a bit slow on catching up, I would post the next chapter. I am still ahead by a large margin, so posting twice a week might be more feasible. As time goes on we will be seeing more trouble from different sources.

Compared to most stories you will be reading in Mass Effect, this one will have a 'limited' perspective. Jack doesn't know about everything that's happening, and as more characters are introduced, the story will expand. More will be seen of the way the galaxy is changing and working. But so far it's sort of exciting to write all of this.

Egotistical Bastard-Vision is copyrighted by someone that isn't Jack Harper, but he would probably buy the rights from them. It might just be worth it. Let me know if you guys think I should add something or someone to the perspective tree. I don't care how minor the character sounds in the outset.


	6. Fugue: Doctor-Patient Confidentiality

Chapter 6

Port Hudson, North American States, 2151

The Hudson River was an impressive sight, at one time. Now it was mostly a controlled trickle. Flooding was considered too dangerous for the crops, and the source of fresh water was too important to the arcologies that existed and housed the greatest amount of people. So the once great and mighty Hudson River was now just a trickle. Seafaring boats had to go to other ports to be launched. But people who owned those were mostly sportsman or fisherman. Even though the regulations were very thick on them, the industry still held on.

The area was also well developed and had a strong energy grid to handle experimental technology. So it was a perfect place for Henry's newest firm buyout. Jack had bought him a new firm on the old waterfront of the Hudson, in between the historical government district and the new slums that had taken up residence where the river had retreated. So, it was a nice place to hide something that was technically illegal.

"Hannah, have you finalized the schedule?" He asked, watching the employees of the firm taking the last of their things from the building. They were on their way to Australia, to work in Henry's larger conglomerate company, and were generally looking at a much better paycheck. But their work would be extremely valuable. Some members of the company were relocating and refusing to join the Lawson funding, instead making their own company, Sirta. Jack was very interested in them, but since he was directly responsible for their relocation he doubted that they would do any further business with him.

Sirta Foundation would be directly responsible for creating medi-gel. The miracle liquid agent that could fix most small wounds was critical to humanity's advancement into the galactic sphere. Jack would guarantee that they received the funding and capital to get there, or else he would be in serious trouble. They needed that to be able to avoid getting sucked under the galactic economy, or be taken over by outside investors. The Asari had hundreds of years to accrue wealth, and they used it like a cudgel when new races joined the Council. Volus investors, Asari magnates, and surprisingly Elcor capital firms invested heavily in humanity when they reached the galactic economy. The Hanar and Turians didn't necessarily care about them economically, for different reasons.

Most of the reason that they survived was because Synthetic Insights, Sirta, and Ashland-Hislopp had made such a good showing of Human ingenuity and economic power. He needed to make sure that they were strong enough to be that power when the Turians were forced into a truce.

Hannah had changed a lot over the past 15 months. Her confidence and sharp wit had come back full force, and as they prepared for the surgery that would be happening today, she had gone through all of the preparatory diet and IV therapy. Her body had to be ready to lose large pieces of skin and have a couple of ribs get lined with static collection panels. So the invasive procedure would be done while she was unconscious. Then she was looking at five weeks of recovery, all planned out and settled with his company.

He planned on taking a vacation to his island again, while Hannah got her skin back up to speed. Of course, that was as long as there weren't any complications. There were significant risks involved with this. She might not take the implants, and then her skin would be scarred horrifically. The gene mods just took time to used to, and the effort of printing out the DNA structures to be bonded. So Hannah would be in traction anyways. She had started out her stint as his secretary rather timidly, unsure of who was supposed to be able to see him and who was not.

"You are perfectly clear. Some messages and fires have cropped up, but it is nothing that Reid and the others can't handle." She remarked, the version 2 Omni-tool in her hands chirping merrily as she typed. She had become a force of nature now, someone that wielded as much power as Jack himself. He had taken a more background position, letting her deal with some of the day to day running of his company while he engaged himself in a new investigation. Before the Reds had struck on Shanxi, the number of people that he thought could start a revolution had numbered in the range of maybe twenty people.

But with every step he took in investigation, it appeared that those people he originally suspected were all of the type that preferred profit over progress. He was surprised to learn that it was not a singular entity that was involved, but more of a small group of powerful individuals pooling their wealth. From what he could guess, their wealth didn't even have to be in the major threat range. That expanded the list out to the thousands range. At least those he could investigate. Secret bank accounts and front companies were not his weapon alone to use. It was just hard to dig through all of the information or chase down the wrong path too many times, before you got too much attention and they began to look for you.

"Good. With everyone out of the way this shouldn't take long." Hannah had been on supplements for a while, to be prepared. It was understandable that she would be irritable and nearly ready to kill anything that got in her way. As far as he knew she hadn't killed anyone since Shanxi. She had been busy, keeping up with his schedule. "Henry should already be in there, with everything he needs." He watched as Hannah locked the front doors and placed the key into her purse. Due to the ever adapting mass effect technology, she happened to have a Hammer mk. 2 shotgun in the purse. It's ability to fold up so small made it very handy. She hadn't needed to fire it yet, as Jack had become deeply paranoid of attacks against his person.

"Let's go do this. I am tired of being stabbed by needles."

"The anesthetic will be from a facemask, yes. When you wake up things will be much different." Jack said, walking slowly towards the room Henry had prepared. Henry had restored the operating theatre in the building, and due to the security room being disconnected the only recording devices that they would have were the ones they brought. Jack would record this, since he didn't remember enough about the first gene mods and implants that were this complete. He did remember how much of a controversy was started from it all, but hopefully this time he would not be identified as having created the first improved human. He would have enough controversy in his future, and that was unavoidable.

Coming into the chamber, Henry had two nurses and himself prepared, along with as advanced a medical suite as he could smuggle in here during the move. That turned out to be quite the device. He was his usual cordial self, but was smoking a cigar at the operating table.

"You both look chipper." He muttered. He still didn't like the idea of giving an Alliance Intelligence agent the most powerful implants he had come up with. But Jack made a convincing argument.

"We are doing fine, yes." Hannah had taken off her coat and stepped behind a medical curtain.

"About time, yes!" Hannah said loudly from behind the curtain. "Let's be done with it all! This  _is_  going to work, and nothing more needs to be said." She came out from the curtain, wearing an operating robe and looking impatient. Jack just settled for a seat in the operating theatre, and got ready for a long wait. He could type up some financial requests and litigation reviews while he waited. She hopped up on the table with enthusiasm, and just glared at the nurse holding the facemask. "Gods, yes, please."

She went under quickly, the nurse giving her an extra dose. A small nicety. Jack had an unfortunate habit of waking up during invasive surgeries himself. It was something that he considered the mark of a nicer doctor. Henry was a terrible doctor in that regard. He was a perfectionist, which did not require any form of social niceties. But his hands were always perfectly stable, and he was one of the best in the business for his methods and training. Henry would accept no less for himself.

Henry got quiet, immediately setting into his appointed task of operating on Hannah. "Henry, while you are in there I would appreciate it if you could do one more thing for me."

Henry didn't quite turn his head away from Hannah's arm, where he was setting in the IV. "Jack, we have been discussing this surgery for months. You don't surprise the doctor on the day of the surgery with a new demand." He was less than thrilled to hear Jack say anything like this.

"Hannah is incapable of having children. Her cervix was damaged by a bullet wound a while back. I would like you to pull out a few hundred of her eggs for my next big project."

Henry turned and glared at him. "Jack, we did not secure her opinion. As a doctor, I must have her acceptance before I do anything other than what I agreed to. I will not go through with this!" Hippocratic Oath. Jack never thought he would see the day that Henry actually followed it.

He gave Henry an equal glare in return. "A few years ago, you undertook a project that combined the DNA of yourself, and a host of different women that you envisioned as perfect. These were all combined together to create a child, biotic, brilliant, and beautiful, to perhaps be a possible heir or inheritor for your empire."

Henry went pale. "That project wasn't ever recorded! How the hell did you find out about it?!"

Jack kept his strict glare. "With great effort." Mostly cheating, considering that he was using his memories and description that Miranda Lawson had shown him of her father and his projects. "Either way, I require the same project for my own purposes."

Henry just started sputtering. His nurses didn't even say anything, not wanting to raise attention on themselves. "Jack!" He came over to the glass, so that they were staring face to face. "There is no way that I would help you create an artificial human."

"I need a daughter, Henry. Two of them. And I need them to be very special, and the people who were supposed to breed them went and got shot. So I started looking for the next best thing. Cloning was too faulty, but with every piece I looked for I found your hand in it. A few small acquisitions in the same field that I was investigating made me suspicious. So, you are the only one in the business."

"You're too late then." Henry told him. He wasn't grinning. "My project failed. I couldn't get the gene sequences to bond correctly. I won't help you with this madness, Jack. Whatever scheme you have cooked up in that mind of yours is not worth it."

Jack felt like someone had punched him in the gut. Henry was the best there was in the business. There was no other person good enough to do what Jack needed. If he couldn't get Hannah Shepard to breed with Greg Smith, then he would just have to  _create_  the hero of Humanity himself. No matter the cost, Julia Shepard had to be born, had to lead them to a victory over the Reapers. She was  _critical_. "Did you have an assistant? Anyone who helped you?"

Henry slammed a fist on the glass. "Don't you get it Jack? It didn't work! I don't care what Constantine told you, my project will never work!" His face was getting red, his anger rising. But that name, Constantine, that made Jack curious. He must have had help, of some form.

"Henry, I still want them. She won't be able to physically have children until the Alliance passes laws that allow you to clone sexual organs." By that time, they would have to conform to Council Law regarding that, and there was no way that Julia would reach adulthood by the time that the Reapers would be arriving. "Do this for her sake, if not mine."

"Jack, I swear, if you ask me for anything else, I will refuse, even if it stands to benefit me." He said, glaring at him. "Nurse! Let's get started."

Henry understood obsession. He understood necessity. He could see it in Jack's eyes, he was sure. So, while Henry performed a four hour surgery, Jack linked into the comm systems using Hannah's username, and started looking for Constantine. He or she could be an alias, a codename, or even a first name. But it was a rare name. He found only one Constantine that was of any importance. Or at least to him.

Quincy Constantine was a medical researcher, specializing in collecting genetic tissue. He had no physical or economic connections to Henry Lawson that Jack could see, meaning that Henry must have worked very hard to keep any connection secret. Quincy had a wife that had passed away, suspected suicide, and a daughter who had passed away some time before then. Cause of death for the daugher was not listed.

But her name was Grace Constantine. He recalled perfectly the report on the attack on the Prothean Archive, that one of the technicians had refused to leave her post and was shot for it. Her name was kept from the public record but it was also Grace Constantine. He would need to return to the  _Talon_  to verify if the data matched, but it was suspicious enough to be considered. The dates of death were different by a few weeks, but that was not a problem. The physical descriptions didn't match.

Dr. Quincy Constantine lived in Norfolk, Virginia, and worked at a small research firm that was owned by a larger conglomerate. Jack smirked. He did not have secure systems, but some of his devices listed were not connected to the extranet. They would require someone to be physically at the location to access. It was child's play to measure the amount of power being used by his house and see how many machines and storage servers he had running. His house had nearly blown out the fuses a few times in the past, the city records noted.

Suspicious but not outside of the normal actions of those nearby. Others on his city block had done the same, so it could be considered normal for the area. But Jack planned on finding out. He knew that his Omni-tool was still not being observed, as Hannah didn't send reports about this one. She had one that she sent reports about, but kept this one for when he wanted to investigate the Reds or other such groups. First, he sent a message to a private investigator to look into Quincy's affairs. Then he lhired a professional hacker to bring him all of the files on the computers not networked. That would be accomplished easily enough when he was at work. He didn't want to wait, paying for a rush job. James would have to do a drop off with some credit chits, so he gave him the excuse of going out to buy some takeout for everyone. James was very reliable, and a random drop off of credits at a strange location was not the weirdest thing he had been required to do.

That would probably be the time where Jack had asked James to go pick up one of the erstwhile partners of his without Hannah noticing. That had been a very carefully planned event, as Hannah had still avoided his bed. So, as he had his own habits and necessities, he had slipped different partners past her and into his bed. All the while telling them that she was normally the one who shared it. So, he dealt with his needs while maintaining his public persona. Hannah was simply not a good enough actor to maintain that facade without rumors to help. So he made sure to propagate them.

James sent a reply within fifteen minutes that he had delivered the credits and heard back on when the information would be in his hands. The agent was going to send it soon, as they were able to get the information he wanted very easily. Apparently Constantine was not a very good electronic security specialist.

Jack only had to observe as Hannah received the static electricity storage batteries along her ribs. These would collect the buildup of static electricity, which she now would generate quite a bit of. From that she would be able to power the initial jump of energy required to engage the cloaking system. It, due to the static involvement, would also extend the cloak to her clothes. Armors that could be able to do this would develop on their own. Hopefully through the efforts of his Cerberus Foundation.

Her cloaking system could plug into other sources of power as well, for greater supplies of power and a much faster recharge. With just static it would be almost a half-hour between uses. The cloak might last twenty seconds. Bumping into any objects or people would destabilize the energy, turning off the system. But this was  _new_  for the Alliance. Later this would be seen as an archaic system to use, possibly inhumane. But right now, if it worked, the Alliance would have no choice but to put her to good use. With a battery from an armor's shield generator, Hannah could stay cloaked for almost ten minutes. After that the battery would burn out, needing its own recharge.

Henry had to be promised much for this all to occur. Firstly, Jack had to buyout this company and research firm. Secondly, Jack had to invest yet more money into lobbyists that could push for the laws that would make this process and other questionable things Henry was developing legal and publicly acceptable. All of this work to save humanity was killing his wallet. But any losses he accrued with this was offset by a knowledge of the future. He was much more wealthy than in his memories. Most of what he earned or received from investments was in turn invested back into the companies and infrastructure that would set humanity apart as a major economic powerhouse.

He smirked. The other races wouldn't know what hit them. They would only want the products that they produced, and some races would only see them as another source of income, selling their own products to the new race. Some of those Jack looked forward to, like the weapons technology. Computing technology, due to long indoctrination by the Reapers, was actually better in human controlled space. They were close to making their own AI technology, and Jack had a mixed opinion about using that. It was a strategic unknown, exposing another possible weakness that the Reapers could exploit.

Other technologies Jack was looking at all had the same problem. Ever since the discovery of the Prothean Archive, all technology and development had gone the route that cost the least amount of money. The Archive held already completed and detailed technologies to reverse engineer, and made any other course of research too costly. Henry was one of the few who was making something different. Most firms were investing themselves into the damned technology that the rest of the galaxy.

The only other notable firm researching new technology was Markov Heavy Industries. They were making the heavy weapons platforms that would define the Alliance military machine. The other races had stopped developing land based heavy weapons, preferring the space based platforms and weaponry. The Asari only cared about biotic power and small commando teams. Their population was too wide spread and peaceful to become a great military power. Their individual soldiers were perhaps the best, but the lack of support materials and dependency on weapons produced by the other races made them weak.

The Salarians avoided open conflict as much as possible. They couldn't support any kind of extended military action. But their special forces were notably skilled and very well informed of anything going on in Council space. Much of the actions of the Alliance were focused on keeping an eye on their assets so that the STG couldn't take them. Jack had proven in his memories that some of the Salarians had tried to steal any technology that they had developed and steal any other assets. Cerberus spent a lot of time and effort keeping human technology safe from them.

The minor races rarely fielded more than a few specialized support teams. Volus engineers, support craft, and a few biotics. The Elcor were great at heavy support craft and terraforming. Their technology had to be rated for extreme gravity pressure, after all. The Drell were not contributors of any sort, and didn't have the population to be. Their skill sets were their racial photographic memory and few biotics and specialized combatants. The Hanar were generally useless, outside of aquatic and air purification technology. They had a lack of mobility and could not understand the military mindset.

The Batarians were probably going to end up indoctrinated again. They had found the corpse of a Reaper last time, and had left the Citadel soon after. The Leviathan of Dis, if he remembered correctly. But they had ground troops and a solid fleet. Competition with the other races had made them strong, and as much as Jack hated the idea, they would make good allies. Strong and capable allies. He didn't like that line of thought.

The Turians were going to be prickly. They had good space and ground technology, but rarely developed it further. They cared more for maintaining their power and the Council's territory. They took a lot of casualties from that. What wasn't often published was the number of pirates that had their origin in the Turian people. They knew where the patrols were and used their military knowledge very effectively. Much of their problems came from a military doctrine that didn't allow change and hadn't changed in a thousand years.

They would need the Krogan. Jack planned on hiring a few to train the Alliance military on the new weapons and technology that would come rushing in. They had proven themselves in the last fight against the Reapers, and they had some hidden treasures of a culture. With a few careful investments, Jack felt like he could change their outlook on things. Their homeworld would be an excellent place to test Humanity's heavy weapons. Thresher maws would be perfect for testing some of the weapons they wanted to use.

A few other races had made a small name for themselves, like the Rachni and Vorcha. The quarians had become valued, but their ships and combat teams were old, and their doctrine was based around fighting the Geth. Only the Geth. So any non synthetic enemy had given them trouble. If they settled down too early, they would only become a liability to the Reaper invasion rather than a resource. Shepard had saved their race and given back their home world to them. With no help from their Council allies, of course.

The Geth were a scary enemy to consider. Jack didn't have an answer to them. He had tried to come up with one, through Dr. David Archer, but that had failed. Human ingenuity might not have a good option to fighting the Geth, as sad as that might sound.

He had used an approach that avoided moral reason and legality, and it had resulted in complete failure. This time around he might just hire quarians and quietly funnel them ship parts and technology to use. He might just have to depend on the method Shepard had used. Whatever the method may have been, as he never quite found out. Previously he had written off the quarians as not enough of power to be worthy of investment. Whatever Shepard did brought out the race in its entirety. Engineers and researchers were of high value, but then the disaster that was the Crucible project happened. All of that potential was wasted. This time he didn't know how he would use the quarians, but they wouldn't be forgotten.

He sighed. He just missed Hannah being turned over for the installation of the dermal implants in her shoulders. So he had just missed a good look at the scars that covered her left hip and stomach. He had been curious, and hadn't gotten a good look at them yet. Not just for his own curiosity, but for the sake of his rumors. He needed to have intimate knowledge of her in order to maintain a careful illusion. Not to say that he felt a thrill whenever he managed to slip a woman past her, but he needed to keep up with it all. Her back lacked the scarring that he had been expecting to find. Only a bit of skin discoloration along her neck existed, which was apparently a birth mark.

When Jack Harper glanced back up, he could see James coming into the operating theatre with a bag of take out food. It was a well known fact that Jack Harper had a weakness for Hispanic food, as calling it the old adage of 'Mexican' food was now considered racially incorrect. So, it was a good cover for James to go and take care of things, sending him after his favorite food craving. He opened up the bag, finding that it held the expected Super Grande Burrito, with a side of some sort. Underneath the tinfoil was a slightly larger bulge. That, he reasoned, was the dropoff. Quick work for someone who had to get on site and off rather quickly.

He gently took apart the burrito and consumed it. Though while he did so he kept his eyes off of the operation. It would not do to make that association between his food and the work being done on Hannah. Henry could eat his way through any dinner topic except for music. He was highly sensitive to it. Opera moved him to tears, and modern music moved him to bouts of angry yelling. He had never asked him, but rumor was that Henry had spent 23 hours on one operation once, and supposedly ate and drank while suturing the patient's wounds closed. He didn't believe that but would be very surprised if he did, as Henry was a bit of a perfectionist about his work.

The data pad that had been slid inside the aluminum foil was small, and Jack didn't bother hooking it up to his Omni-tool. It had only a couple of data files on it. Two were data files pertaining to what was on the non-networked machines, and one was a picture. The data files he opened first, curious. They detailed a human medical care suite, apparently taking care of a small child. They must have been very weak or disabled to require this level of care, as Jack didn't expect to find equipment like this outside of an ICU or specially prepared location. Lastly, he opened the picture.

He leaned forward immediately, trying to confirm what he was seeing. As fast as his fingers could, he connected the Omni-tool to the data pad. The picture file took so long to download. Poor first generation technology. The data files he set to download after the picture, which he then set to the display function. One nice thing about Omni-tools developed by humans was their desire to use visual displays for everything. Flash screens were all over the Arcologies in New York and Los Angeles, screaming out their wares. When humanity developed their version, they made it able to display pictures and presentational material onto glass and other reflective materials.

Reflective materials like the glass of the operating theatre. He set the Omni-tool to maximum length for the display function. This was still meagre and small compared to the tools that would come out later. So the four foot wide picture displayed onto the glass, and was mostly visible as to its details. The interior of the glass lit up, causing Henry to glance up from where he was digging into Hannah's arm.

"Jack, I am a bit busy for more of your demands right now." He muttered as he brought back the machine that created suction on the skin, allowing him to stitch it back together without damaging the material underneath. Very new technology, very useful for doctors trying not to damage the skin or sensitive organs underneath it while they stitched up a wound.

"I just found out why Constantine sabotaged your attempt, Henry. I would think you might be interested." Henry almost dropped his tool, giving Jack a hard glance. He did keep to his professionalism, finishing the arm bandaging and wrapping before coming over to the glass. The picture that had been on the datapad had been one of a small tube, with a child of less than a year old inside, being taken care of by the highly expensive medical suite. "He must have had his own reasons for ruining your own experiments."

"T-that…" Henry was red in the face. "Jack, I don't know how you…" He wasn't even finishing coherent thoughts at this stage. He must have been holding this for years. Jack hadn't been sure how early Miranda Lawson had been developed by Henry in his memories, but here in the memoryscape she would have already been born.

"Henry. We will get him. I think the most effective form of revenge is to take away what he has worked so hard to gain, don't you think? Perhaps he might even have all of the information needed to fix what your project failed in." Jack could almost promise that. Constantine was going to regret crossing his best friend. Though without Miranda to focus on, he could understand how Henry looked for a more natural path to creating an heir. All of that stress must have pressured him towards that.

"Jack, I can't think straight right now, but by god that bugger is going to get it!" Henry said. He placed one hand on his forehead, and took a deep breath. "I'm going to get what you asked for, Jack. You obviously care enough about it. Then that bastard Constantine gets it."

Jack gave him a nod, meeting his eyes. Henry was back on board. The man went back to work on Hannah with a will, his hands flying across the tools and her skin as the dermal implants were applied without any complications or problems. Henry was a master at this, even though he was a terrible doctor to talk to about your problems. Jack noticed that at some time during the process, two small vials of something was removed from Hannah and placed off to the side in a frozen compartment in the medical suite. Henry only gave him a small nod at his guess as to what that was.

Unnoticed by anyone in the room, Jack let himself grin. Humanity had a chance. The Reapers could shake in fear, once he was done. He had to stop himself from grinning, but he did make a large note to get Hannah some hard liquor for her contribution. She might not be able to bear children in time to support the timeline, but she had given what they needed. He debated telling her that her efforts would reward her with a child or two, but decided that she wouldn't be able to stop from claiming custody.

No, she would not be the influence that was needed in their lives. Miranda Lawson had lacked a mother's love in her life, and as such became a cold ice queen of an agent, but that was unsuitable to the hero of the galaxy. Shepard had been cruel when it counted, nice when forced, and kind when among friends. His hero would have to be able to wield love like a hammer, cruelty like a knife, and her smile would be a grenade in high tension situations. That was what Shepard had been able to do.

Now, all Jack had to do was duplicate the Hero of Humanity and make sure that the Reapers didn't counter him on the chessboard. He gave a smirk about it, his teeth showing. With that all in mind, he set to the rest of his Hispanic food.

* * *

Two months later, December 2151

Allison cursed as her wrists spasmed again. The metallic strips under her skin sometimes caused the weirdest of itching feelings. So sometimes she would just randomly twitch or spasm in response to stimuli from her new equipment. The spasms had been going down lately, and she had finally been given permission to run again. Her therapy for all of the new hardware under her skin was painful, to say the least. She had to get used to a couple of new stretching tendons that didn't feel as tight as they did before. Though she had the coolest ability ever. She could turn invisible. It could make her giggle.

Since she had lost her parents, she hadn't done that. Everything had been about work, about finding the ones who had killed her parents. That had become her job, work for the Alliance Intelligence office's counter-terrorism division. Stop anything from hurting others like she had been hurt. Lose herself in the Alliance military machine. She had been rushed through training, due to her looks. She hadn't preferred the kind of mission that had her wearing some slinky dress observing different rich bastards. But then again, that is how she ended up here.

She grinned, walking up to one of the wall ports and placing her hand on it. She had a pair of gloves given to her that could act like a power jack if applied to a wall or car port for power. With that, she could remain in place and invisible for as long as she was holding it. It was amazing! She loved the feeling of her hairs on her skin rising up as she shifted into invisibility. It made a small *pop* noise when it happened. Jack called it 'generation 1' issues. He acted like this would be just one of a series of installments. This was unique. It was like she was some sort of superpowered human. One that required a power source to stay invisible for more than ten seconds.

So not that super human but it sure made her feel better. After the debacle that was Jack's interview her life had been pretty terrible. She couldn't access any of the Intelligence database or agent group, and had to dead drop her reports. She didn't hear anything from them, and Jack quickly got her life filled back up. She was now one of the most feared business secretaries that could be found, and was quite surprised at the number of people calling with job offers for her. Apparently just surviving more than a week of Jack Harper was a badge of honor among the business world. She was getting six figure income offers on a weekly basis. With every denial she sent in reply, the numbers got bigger and the players got more important. Jack had only laughed at her plight when she got the first few, and now she was a pro.

Jack had other partners in most of his companies, and hardly did any on site work. When he came into the office it was for the big meetings only. Usually he just called in or sent her. She hadn't gone over this kind of thing in boot camp. She did learn how to focus herself and gather and present data in a way that really showed her best side. She was an excellent data analyst. She could react quite well to data in real time, as well. Jack joked that she should have Navy instead of Intelligence with her skill set, but she liked to give him the middle finger whenever he said that.

Jack found her to be tolerable she supposed. There were times where he had to correct her on the runnings of his companies, and his phone calls. He received many, many, many calls demanding his attention. She got very good at dealing with the idiots who thought they could just call and get a hold of Jack Harper as if he was a common business mogul.

Her budget from Jack was a simple infinity sign. He had told her that she could spend as much as she wanted or needed, and that anything that she felt was important probably was. He reviewed her spending and finances every so often and had only found her lack of spending anything quite funny. She was a permanent presence for all of his meetings. As required of his agreement with Ross, she supposed. But that meant that she was the wall between Jack and the rest of the world. He wasn't allowed to communicate or call someone without her say so or her handling the connection.

He had tried to get around that many times. Perhaps he did, but she was very good at keeping track of him. He had made a lot of attempts to call his old lovers, random women, and a lot of calls went to different political groups and lobbyists. She did manage to keep up with him on those. The women she could care less about. She made a lot of noise about it just to keep him on his toes, but she could relate a bit. She hadn't been able to take a day off since getting the surgery. Jack didn't believe in weekends.

So, neither did she. When Jack gave her the two million credit salary for her first year, plus bonuses, she didn't quite know what to do with it. She had never had very much to begin with. Her parents died in debt, and her extended family didn't know she existed. But with one aunt that never married and one poor uncle that she had never met, it wasn't important.

Still, she had three million credits in a bank account that she had no idea what to do with. Jack recommended she invest them, but she didn't trust Jack to leave him with her hard earned money. It was hard earned, for sure. Jack Harper worked sixteen to twenty hours a day, and thankfully worked from the Talon most of the time. His favorite place to work from was the near side of Venus from the Sun. He liked the view of the burning atmosphere, apparently.

She willed the invisibility function off, letting go of the wall just before she did so. That way she could turn invisible with a full charge again soon. If she didn't, it would take her moving and generating static electricity for fifteen minutes or a half hour to get a full charge again. So just walking around charged her system for a twenty second cloak. Grabbing batteries and other sources of power would make it last longer, but they made a lot of noise when she used those to start the cloak.

Still, this was fun. She had snuck into the pilot's lounge one day, and had been invisible for a couple hours while she watched James go about his daily routine. That hadn't been too exciting, but she had tried to stay invisible for as long as possible. The Cloak made her feel a bit itchy after a while, like her skin crawled in the places where the implants were set. But she had observed James in his element, and gotten out while he was in the bathroom, all while he was unaware of her.

Jack had a sixth sense about where she was when she was under her cloak. He might have been able to see it, she could swear sometimes. Figures he would have some way to keep track of her like this. He never had to check his electronics or anything else, though. Bastard.

"Hannah," She had gotten used to him using her middle name for everything. Her Alias was apparently that name, so to get her money she needed to use it. When his voice came over the Omni-tool that had become a permanent attachment to her wrist, she was ready. In a separate display window she brought up his calendar and list of expected callers. It was strangely empty for the day. That didn't happen very often.

"Yes, Jack. You have no appointments today."

"Yes, I cancelled them. Today we are going to go and visit Henry for a checkup."

"Fine. Though I feel like everything is working fine."

"Experimental technology is always a bit buggy. Pack lightly and please bring something casual." Jack never wanted casual. Something was up. She sent a small text to James. Where are we actually going?

Maryland, apparently. I'll have a shuttle coming around in a few.

She brought up a list of related firms and investments in Maryland. Henry was involved in none of them. Suspicious. Henry had been rather busy lately, though. He had skipped out of a few of their meetings and dinners recently. She suspected that his wife wanted to spend time with him. He had even cancelled one of their checkups on her implants.

Jack only had one investment in Maryland, and it was only a small firm that did work for a lobbyist. Political action group or something. Not what she was expecting to find. She grabbed some jeans and a long jacket, and some light gloves. December in Maryland is apparently very cold, so she packed a few extra layers and slipped one of the Hammer shotguns into the small of her back. It was tiny, and the winter jacket covered it. Jack liked his pistols, but she loved shotguns. Nothing was quite as shocking as a shotgun from someone invisible. She hadn't done anything really interesting with her cloak yet, to be honest.

I'll get Jack and meet you at the landing pad. She sent to James. It was easier to type than talk to someone, even though the technology of the day could probably make communication more efficient. But they still used text based messaging and calling technology. She had always dreamed of a day where you could just yell thoughts at things and it would work, but that hadn't been invented yet. Three million credits wouldn't do that, either.

She walked in her very precious and very dear Ugg slippers to Jack's room in the penthouse they were staying at. She didn't bother going into his room. He always had motion sensors placed at all of the doors of the rooms he was living in. Paranoid, but it made him almost always ready to greet anyone. He even made her carry deployable motion sensor in her purse, which was a wonder of technology in itself. It had some element zero in it, hardly any really, but enough to make it weigh less than it actually did. It could make sixty pounds feel like ten. She loved it. It was one of those things that she bought with her first real big bonus of money.

That and another pair of Ugg PressureCooker slippers. Those things were amazing. Though they also came out with a wearable boot model. She owned one of those, too. They would be in use today, since they could cloak with her and made only a small amount of noise. She also had in her purse extra datapads, a spare Omni-tool OSD, and two large batteries that could charge the Omni-tool or her cloak. There was also a spot for her shotgun in there, but she never really got to use it.

She had it with her, and knocked on Jack's door. He opened it briskly, wearing the most odd set of clothing she had ever seen. He was wearing some long haired wig, and a hoodie sweatshirt. His pants were just a normal pair of jeans. It was most decidedly odd. He gave her a wry grin.

"I bet you are confused."

"Hell yes." Jack never was anything but perfectly composed. She had never seen him wear anything other than designer clothes or suits. His shoes were rediculous, and a shoe shine specialist came in every four months to clean his shoes, of which he had enough to wear one a day for three months and not have to worry too much. "Are we meeting someone less than reputable?"

"In a matter of speaking." Jack never spoke directly when he didn't want someone knowing everything about something. Which was often. She just rolled with it these days, since convincing him to give you the full truth was extremely difficult and time consuming. Nothing was more bothersome than getting the full truth out of him, and it was hard to confirm the truth of what he was saying because much of what he said he used conjecture and data analysis and expected growth to prove.

"Well, I have my shotgun and I am sure you have your pistol somewhere on you."

"To tell you the truth Hannah, I have a few options about today but they all depend on you. If you report anything that happens today, it will be very inconvenient for me. This is the first time I will be doing anything like what happened at Shanxi last year."

"So, you are saying that you are going to be committing some sort of crime," She held up her hands, "for the greater good?"

"Of course." He said in that way that made all people with money want to believe him. "I think that after we verify all the testing of your implants we can show you off to your superiors. Then, you can get your job back and we can fully start the Cerberus Foundation."

"What are you doing today, then, other than reminding me of favors unfulfilled?" She asked, in her no nonsense voice.

"Is that your curiosity about what we are doing? Or does that mean you don't want to know and won't mention it?"

"Jack, I haven't seen you wear anything this bad ever. You probably haven't looked this bad since college…"

He scoffed. "I didn't go to college. But the disguise is necessary. As much as I may despise this, my first job was working for a pizza delivery company. So I dug out the old uniform and plan on slipping out the side entrance while you can cover my back. Unless, of course, you want to be in on this."

She couldn't help it. She laughed, and laughed hard. She was snorting, something she usually tried to cover up but she didn't bother this time. She may have leaned into the wall to support herself as she laughed, and with abandon. She couldn't laugh like this in public, but here she felt fine about it. "You didn't go to college?" She snickered more, his face obviously showing distaste. "I went to more school than you did?"

Jack waited for her laughing fit to end before answering. "After my stepfather died, all support that I once had was cut off. So, with no money and no real experience other than working as a pizza deliverer, I set off into the world to make my fortunes. By the time I could afford college, it was just better if I kept going. I started my first company was I was 17. By the time I was twenty, I could claim enough money to afford college and more. But I didn't want to slow down, or stop the economic options from coming in. So I threw myself into my work, and ten years later I was on the top. I received an honorary degree from a university, and after heavy donations to other universities received other more helpful gifts. All of the universities that I support are direct sources of employees. Their fortunes will be able to rise with mine."

He shrugged at her. "I don't expect you to understand my childhood. But I do expect that someone of your maturity understands revenge. Henry and I are going to be cleaning up a little problem that has screwed with us in the past. If we don't deal with him, then you and any other experiments that Henry uses to improve us will be discredited."

"So you are telling me that someone who hasn't done anything yet to you is going to suffer?"

"No. He has killed a couple of the test subjects that Henry was using. More importantly he sabotaged his research, leading to a backfire on a lot of expensive projects for his own gain. So, we are coming after him. Before he does this to some other firms. Before he does even more damage with it." Jack said, pulling out a standard pistol and placing it in the small of his back. With snow gear it would hardly be visible. Jack was very accurate with his pistol, but hardly anything else.

"So, you don't want me to report this."

"No, and if you don't feel like reporting that, you are welcome to come with us and help." Jack said, glancing at her clothes. "Feel up to that?"

Her superiors hadn't felt kind to her or spoken to her in fifteen months. Observers and surveillance still showed up from time to time, but not as invasive as they once were. Even still, all of her questions were rebuffed, and requests for information or updates were never answered. They didn't care. For all she knew, they had just stopped even reading her reports. Jack hadn't bothered to investigate the Reds to her view, or if he did she hadn't gotten to hear much about it. They were being quiet too, only a few scattered bombings and one seizing of a starship that had been reported. All of this made Allison very much not care what her superiors thought of her at this very moment. Even if she wasn't going to be an Intelligence agent she might be able to find out who killed her parents.

"You know what?" She said, giving him a small smirk. "Sure. I'll help you out." She shifted from visible to invisible, and back again. This time holding her favorite knife. "I owe Henry a favor anyways."

Five minutes later, a couple of waiters had boarded the shuttle and were going around on a normal schedule. James would keep the surveillance team off their back while they went downstairs. Henry, as they had found out, didn't have heavy surveillance on him. So when they went downstairs, he was waiting there with a car. A very terrible car.

"Ah, good, we have at least something nice to look at today. Come on in, dear. I hope you have some idea of what we are doing." Henry congenially said as she approached the car. He was wearing the ugliest looking hat and coat she had seen in a while. "Oh, stop staring and get in. Finding something wretched enough took a while."

She smirked as they got into the car. Henry was a much better driver than Jack. Or herself, for that matter. She had never owned a vehicle, and hadn't been planning on it. Computer technology was expensive enough to keep up on. Though with Jack paying for the top of the line models every four months, she couldn't complain.

The drive took maybe twenty minutes in the old aircar, which at one point started overheating. Jack didn't help Henry figure it out, telling him that it was 'his fault for buying something less than acceptable.' Henry just poured some water into the cooling system and that seemed to help. He wouldn't tell them where he bought the vehicle either. But when they finally got there, all Allison could see was a small neighborhood with suburban style housing. Large yards and probably sizable basements in all of the three story homes. Henry and Jack were silent as they landed.

"He lives in the third to last house on the left." Jack said. She couldn't see their expressions from the back seat, but assumed it was a tense one. "If you are in on this completely, then we would like your input. I've got a pizza in the back of the car that might be of use to gain entrance, but if you are here, we might have a better chance."

"You mean abuse my newfound ability and use it to illegally gain entrance into his house to let you in?" She grinned. "Sounds like fun." It also would make it easier to not report this to her superiors. If they even cared. Even if they did, she could retire and be perfectly happy with her wealth at that very moment. The thought was galling.

She gave a grin to both Henry and Jack, and slipped out of the car. She took her purse, and reached into it for anything she might need. Her small makeup kit, along with a few small tools hidden in its edges, that was tucked into a side pocket. As was a large magnet that she liked to use, perfect for ruining security systems. A relatively brute force method, to be sure, but one that worked most of the time. The only other thing she took was one of the batteries, grasping it and sliding it along her belt.

In the December weather, footprints would be noticed in the slush that surrounded the suburban houses. So she made sure to only walk where others had. But she immediately noticed that her nice Uggs did a great job of leaving perfect imprints in the snow. She grimaced at that. It would be a major indicator as to who had come here if the Ugg boots showed up near the house. So she marched back up to the aircar and sat back down in the seat.

"Whichever of you has smaller feet, I need your boots. I can't leave a trail." She told them, pulling her precious precious Uggs off. Jack forwarded his own pair of terrible boots, not too sad to part with them. Allison immediately took a dislike to them. They were ratty, worn down, and were unrecognizable. Perfect for the job but the nice comfortable heat her feet were used to would be gone.

This time when she exited the aircar, it was a bit better. Her tracks were featureless in the slush and mud as she moved to the sidewalk. The feeling of her feet feeling cold was almost alien. Other than meetings where she had to dress up with some nice shoes, she had always been able to work from her desk, where callers would only see her upper body. That meant that sometimes, she would be working and look great, except for the sweatpants and the Ugg slippers. But it was nice to be able to work in comfort.

Some of the mud squelched through one of the holes of the boot. She repressed a shudder and kept walking. She had gone through basic training, where worse than this was expected. She still had nightmares about some of what she had to learn in training to be an agent for the Intelligence office. Her cloak had trouble effecting materials that couldn't hold an electrical charge, so anything with rubber or such was just impossible to work with. So if she tried to cloak right now, she would not be able to maintain it due to the rubber lining in the jacket.

She saw the house she was supposed to get into on the left. It was a standard three story affair, with a small yard in front and a yard in back. The garage dominated much of the space, and the rest of the house was a bit large for just one person. It looked to have around four bedrooms and was rather thin for a house. Signs existed of at least a basement floor, as the foundation was not showing on the bottom floor. No aircars or signs of a vehicle in the area in front of the house, and the front yard looked untouched.

He probably just used his garage to go in and out of his house, then. She shrugged. Not that hard to overcome, for most people. The garage doors were most likely keyed to the alarm system, as were the doors. Windows as well. But the problem with windows was that to install a security detection device along a window, the sensor had to be placed on a location that could detect the glass being broken or the window being opened. Sometimes the system was only programmed to see one or the other.

Her magnet was a perfect use for this. Though it did mess with her cloaking system a little bit if she aimed it awkwardly. She invoked her cloaking system after making sure that she could take cover behind a parked aircar. That meant that she had to leave her coat there, but if things went well she wouldn't be cold for long. Whoever would park their vehicle on a muddy street like this was probably an idiot. But they also made it possible for her to cloak out of sight. From there she was very careful in how she walked through the mud and dirt, leaving only the edge of her boots and tip toe marks where she had to.

She could see the older house's window clearly. At least he kept the windows clean. Or at least hired help to do that. It allowed her to easily notice the small system receiver on the inside of the window. With her magnet, she held it up to the receiver and waited for any reaction from the alarm system. After thirty seconds, there was none. She grinned, bringing out her toolkit and wedging the window open. The window was a bit jammed, having never been opened. But she got it open halfway. That was enough for her to pull herself into the window, and she abandoned her crappy shoes as she climbed through the window. She could get them later, but right now it was more important to not leave any signs of her presence.

The garage was what you might expect of a person who only sees it as a convenient storage space. It wasn't very clean, except for the floors. The walls were cluttered with old tools and equipment, and the space that an aircar would fill was clearly left out in the middle. Boxes filled the rest of the space, filled with objects that she didn't bother trying to notice. No weapons were placed in obvious places, and the door to the rest of the house had a calendar on it. It still said November, so it must not have been looked at too often.

Coming up to the door, she noticed that it was locked. Paranoid, then. The garage door was annoying to get through, but to have the door to the house locked suggested slightly more paranoia than most civilians had merit to feel. Still, that didn't really stop her. Using her magnet on the door sensor and the lockpick set she had on hand, the door easily came open. She then rushed to the hallway, finding the alarm system. She couldn't risk the alarm system going off from some other security feature she didn't know about. So, she came over and attached the Omni-Tool to the alarm system. A flashlight from her pack illuminated the marks of finger oil on the keypad, giving her the four numbers that were the keycode.

The scrambler from the Omni-tool had the code within a few seconds, disabling the alarm system and the detection. Apparently all of the windows, doors, and even certain walls of the house were under the close watch of the system. Half of those walls were on the basement level, which was very curious. But then again, it was hard to stop a determined Alliance trained agent from getting into a location.

With a smirk and a light snort, she unlocked the front door and tapped the communications protocol on her Omni-tool. Deliver the pizza please. Henry and Jack were prompt, coming through the front door. During this time in the day, it was unlikely that anyone other than housewives were at home. So when Henry and Jack came in, bearing the large pizza box, she was waiting for them. Henry was grinning, and gently poked Jack in the arm.

"Good show! We had a bet going for how long it would take you! Hah!" Henry obviously won. It must have been more for sport than anything else, as Jack was grinning. That usually meant that it was for a few hundred credits. Child's play money to them, but for the sake of a bet they were willing to do such.

"So, what are we after?"

Henry glanced at Jack, who immediately spoke up. "What he stole from Henry is in the basement. We have to take it back, and then leave him a nice little case of arson. When he comes home, I want to make sure he doesn't leave. The firefighters will handle the rest. Your part in this is very much fulfilled, Hannah." He refused to call her anything else, but she got over it. He and her parents were the few people to call her by that, and it wasn't worth the argument to make him stop.

Henry gave both of them a look before going for the basement. He gave a bit of a loud roar and a "Bugger!" as he found out that door was locked. Allison grinned as she walked over and undid the lock expertly within a few moments. She gave both of them a grin.

"I think you owe me part of that bet, then. Unless you have any other options for locked doors in the future?"

Both men gave her unimpressed looks. "You want to call this contract work? Rather mercenary of you."

"I get paid enough to joke about that, Jack. Though I don't think this should be included in the duties my salary already requires. Living near you and taking care of all of your admirers already takes all of my attention." She could probably spare a bit of time away from her personal fitness time, but that would just be torture. Jack worked out for fifty five minutes a day. She made certain that her time was matching, and got everything she could get into that. Every few days she got some time at the gun range, as well. But only when they were at a home with the proper equipment.

"Fair enough. I would imagine that he knows that his house is being invaded due to some sort of hidden sensor or detection system. The only way that we could have kept him from knowing would be to cut the physical connections and fiber cabling that runs beneath all of this area." Jack said, digging through some of the hallway cabinets that contained a few bottles of wine. "Ah, he does have some taste. Looks like we are going to be doing a standard robbery and assault. Hannah, be a dear and start grabbing anything that looks to be of some worth and fill up a basket of some sort. We need liability while Henry and I deal with the computer systems."

With that, Jack left her in the kitchen and went downstairs. Henry tipped his hat to her and followed, grabbing another bottle of wine before going downstairs. Hannah then went on her own little crazy spree. Credit chits and watches, phones, and small computers all got pushed into a backpack she had found and emptied. The previous contents were just some sort of scientific gear, nothing of great interest to her. Nor would a robber take the time to care. She grabbed a few bits of food from the kitchen, creating signs of desperation.

Some things from the fridge, a few of the luxury goods from the pantry, and the expensive coffee maker got thrown into the bag. Then a few signs of desperation around the bathroom, taking the soap and the basic living supplies. Not unreasonable for the desperate. She then went upstairs to the truly disgusting bedroom, and tore that apart. There was a few hundred more credit chits hidden under the bed, and she didn't dare touch the rest of the upstairs. One of the rooms had a lock on it, which intrigued her.

It was old, and came off with a bit of pressure when she hammered it. Rusty locks were not always worth picking. When she opened the door, she was a bit confused. The room looked like a teenage girl's. It had purple faded walls, and the bed was still made. But the thick layer of dust showed that no one had opened this door in a very long time. She carefully entered, finding that the pictures had all been turned face down, and the closet was undisturbed. She lifted one of the pictures, finding a picture of a young girl, maybe ten or eleven. Behind her were her parents, one of whom was a man with a set of scrubs on.

Interesting and curious. A completely untouched room that was locked up from the outside. She didn't quite understand that. She shut the door, feeling somewhat uncomfortable there. The other rooms upstairs were just storage and had mostly old boxes with dust on them and old computer gear. She didn't bother searching those. This was a bachelor pad of serious proportions. Pictures didn't decorate the walls, and the nails that once held them had been pulled out. The holes left by the nails still existed, but for some reason the art or photos that once decorated this hallway were gone.

When she got back downstairs, she could see Jack and Henry sitting at couches drinking some of the wine they had pilfered. They both glanced up at her, Henry giving her a thumbs up. "Now what?" She asked them.

"We wait. He will come home soon, at which point we ask a few questions and we take what we need. Did you find anything suspicious as you were going around?"

She shrugged in response. "A few thousand credits in loose chits and some gear that might be worth pawning off. No guns, no signs of serious crime that I could see." She had been looking for signs of whatever crime he had committed, but so far she hadn't seen anything. The basement was the only place she hadn't checked. "What did he do to you?"

Henry had a cold look on his face. "He destroyed millions of credits of research, all so that he could steal the process for himself. The victims from that never reached adulthood."

"What is this program?" Hannah asked. Probably illegal in some ways.

Henry looked at Jack for a long moment. Jack had a neutral look on his face. "This was a project to create artificially produced humans. Not clones but people crafted from the DNA and eggs of real humans. So the proper term would have been beta-human or modified human. The main purpose of the project was to create a pool of biotic humans to perform tests on, to produce technology to help them express their natural talents." Henry glanced at the table. Biotics and their abilities were something highly speculated at this point. Everything associated with them was risky. So far humanity only recognized that the abilities displayed were mutations that could be useful if properly controlled.

"So you wanted test subjects for the biotic research?" She asked carefully.

"The ability to create artificial human life is one that we don't approach lightly. We just wanted to study and develop technology to help biotics use their abilities. The Prothean Archives detail something that translates as a biotic amplifier. Their designs don't make much sense to us yet, or we just simply lack the engineering tools to make things the way they did. So, we need our own amplifiers, and with this project the tests could be accomplished without risking the lives of many of our biotics that we do have. So, when Constantine stole this and sabotaged the main lab, we couldn't raise any trouble about it. Everything was so very illegal at that time that I couldn't find out if he was the one that made the project fail, or if it legitimately fell apart."

Constantine. That name reminded her of something. But that could wait until later. "So, you found out that he screwed you over. Because everything is still illegal, are you going to restart the project?" She asked.

"Yes. Since he made it work, we have no choice." Henry said. "He cloned his own daughter, someone who died a long time ago. He succeeded, at least in cloning her, but the problem remains that he stole from my company to do so."

A flash of memory hit her, from a long time ago. She had been with her parents, when they first arrived at the Mars facility. They had been greeted by one of the research team members, whose name was Grace. Grace… Constantine! "Is his name Quincy?" She asked. She knew exactly who had died in that attack. She knew who their families were and how they were related. Call it an obsession, but she was known as the Intelligence Office's best expert on that attack. Grace Constantine's father was named Quincy. He had protested to his daughter being named in the attack, and had paid a fortune to have her death removed from the official records. She had never known why, but he was a respected name in the field of Prothean studies.

She glanced at the two men, who both nodded. "Then that explains a few things I know about. His daughter, Grace, died in the Prothean Archive attack. What most people don't know about her is that she had administrator access to the facility. Ostensibly it was so that she could work for her father while he was away from the site, but in reality it saved the lives of everyone in the station. When the attack happened, she sealed the civilians and those already injured into separate compartments, and used her administrator privileges to lock the system. The attackers couldn't take hostages and turn the situation into something worse, and demanded that she unlock the system and allow them to escape." She paused for dramatic effect, as Jack had trained her to. "She refused, and then started activating the oxygen systems to drain the air from the chamber they all were in. She killed the attackers, but not before they killed her. So, her name was removed from the official deaths by request. She was the only daughter of Quincy, who wielded a lot of clout at the time."

Jack was listening very closely, and Henry just shook his head. "Well, he has the equivalent of a year old child downstairs. We need to stop him before he gets the idea in his head that he can just create undocumented and illegal humans that can run around uncontrolled." Henry said, sadly. "He ruined what could have been saving all of the lives on Shanxi that are being affected by the element zero explosion that occurred during the revolution. He doesn't care about progressing anything other than his own ends."

Jack intervened. "He needs to die. He knows enough to be a threat to anything we make, and he doesn't care if people die to reflect that. He can just clone them a replacement when he feels fulfilled." He said, smoking a cigarette that he must have lit at some point during their conversation. "Even if we just took all of his research or imprisoned him, it would only be a matter of time before he sold this to someone else more destructive. Can't let the Reds have this or we will have all kinds of trouble in a few years."

She could understand that. She believed that those people didn't deserve to have resources like this. The ability to clone organs and people was a bit too much to be allowed to fall into the hands of anyone, and she might just prefer Henry to have it rather than Constantine. "What about Grace?"

"The clone?" Henry asked. She nodded. "I'll find a home for her. She deserves that much. Being raised as a copy of her sister would be a travesty, considering that we still don't know if the process creates a stable DNA structure." Henry sipped his drink. "All that remains in this is to kill him and be done."

Jack grinned. "Arson or suicide?"

Henry laughed in return. A cold laugh if anything. "He has enough pent up trauma. Suicide seems like a natural reaction to the trouble in his life."

Jack didn't laugh but didn't smile completely either. "Hannah, if you want to go back to the car and wait, I can take this from here. You won't have to report what you didn't see." She only had to think for a second before taking that offer, slipping into invisibility and heading for the door. She didn't care about Constantine, but Grace had been a friend. She had been a hero in the Archive attack, and no one was allowed to know. Perhaps after the death of Quincy, that knowledge could be shared.

She grabbed her coat and the crappy boots and got back to the car. She shoved herself into her Uggs as soon as she got back into the car. Precious precious warmth flooded through her body as soon as she had those on. Waiting for them to finish in the house was a lot less trouble when she was warm.

A half hour passed before Constantine got home. Hannah felt a small bit of guilt step into her mind, but ignored it. She wouldn't report it, but wouldn't say anything about it in a briefing either. Constantine's car went into his garage, and she saw no more of him. There was a flash in one of the upstairs windows, and then things got quiet. Jack and Henry came out of the house sometime later, leaving with the bag of stolen goods and a larger bag that they both carried between them.

The bag should have been on a trolley, as both men were struggling to move it. That gave her a bit of a laugh. Jack Harper, doing menial labor. She almost took a picture of the occasion, as Jack Harper rarely dirtied his hands. She snorted as she saw Henry starting to shake with the effort of holding up the bag on his end. She did open the door of the car for them, at least. No sense getting mud on her precious Uggs. Or at least that was the reasoning to keep her liability on this down.

They slid the heavy bag into the back seat, very carefully. "If she starts getting warnings about her health, just let me know." Henry told her, going back to the driver's seat. She glanced at the bag again. It looked like it was full of electronic equipment. Taking a closer look, she zipped it open. Inside was a tube with an infant inside of it. Her jaw may have dropped a little when she saw this.

"I am glad you got married. Parenting skills this bad are considered criminal in most areas." Jack gave a small chuckle at this, for some reason. Henry at least took the humor in stride.

Henry was getting the aircar out of the neighborhood at a normal speed. It wouldn't do to act suspiciously. "You do realize I am trying to smuggle the child not coddle it!"

"Oh, I do. How are you going to explain this one to your wife? It is not like it was an affair or something." She snarked back at him.

"Bah, the prenuptials allow us some leeway on having an affair. If she wants to have a moment of weakness, I won't hold it against her." Henry said, stoutly holding himself up as someone reliable. Truth be told the man could use a scalpel. But sometimes he just became obsessive in the way he talked or acted.

"I assume that was more for your own freedom, then. Men like you and Jack are all the same. You think with what is in your pants more often than not."

Henry nodded. "The same goes for me, yes. But as to that rubbish you spout about us, I must disagree. Jack and I are quite refined, you see."

She glanced around her. "Refined enough to stage a suicide, abduct a child, and sleep with any women you set eyes on and throw money at?" Jack did not want their little rumor spoiled. So she kept to it, even though there were signs that Jack might not of. But she hadn't been able to prove anything yet. Even if she could have, it wasn't worth it.

Jack made allusions often to her being in his bed. She refused on principle, but the man was pushy. Not pushy enough to convince her, after he had taught her what she needed to know to handle his dealings. Though he never tried to force himself into her bed, curiously. Something to respect him for on some level, she supposed.

"Refined living is all about how you benefit those around you. Create jobs, keep the daily life running. If we just cared about our own tastes, nothing would get done." Henry sounded convinced of his argument, and she had no intention of debating him or Jack on it. Jack could understand her argument, of course. He had started out without any money, so he probably thought he could empathize with the common people. If it wasn't for his ego, she might have considered him a generous man.

"Whatever you want to call it." She said, letting the matter drop. Their argument had some merit, as Jack had turned around the industry that was responsible for building the Navy's ships. It had been a dying industry with the politicians tearing it apart. Now, with the first Dreadnaughts and more updated frigates and cruisers starting to come out of the shipyards, it had become a massively growing market. Jobs were plentiful and a lot of the industry was creating new companies.

Either way, life was looking pretty good. She knew where her place was, and knew what her future would be. If the Alliance didn't take her back, and they would be fools not to, she could always just get involved with financing some military industry. She felt her feet coming back to her normal temperatures as the aircar started driving off. Life was good.

* * *

Author's Note

So, with this update I get past the 60k mark. None of my stories have ever gotten this far, but then again, I didn't care as much about them. Sadly my Naruto fandom died a little bit when I decided to stop reading the Manga and just watch the show. Voice actors. All I gotta say about that.

As for what has happened so far: Right now the Alliance is not the same Alliance that existed in the canon series. Due to budget concerns and cuts, the military spending is much less than in canon. Shanxi has shaken up a few things, but only brought racial tensions and colonial fears to the forefront. A good comparison would be the 1500's, when the Europeans were flooding the world with their products. They were the dominant power, and it showed.

If you haven't figured it out by now, most of my college experience has been in History and Political Science. Combine that with an intimate knowledge of how investment banking works, and I feel lik this is how I want to describe the Mass Effect Universe. Either way, if you have any specific person that you felt didn't get enough screen time in the actual game series, let me know and I'll try to get more about them in.

Thanks for reading!


	7. Fugue: Back to Chinatown

Chapter 7

2152, October, Lawson Labs, Melbourne

Four small tubes were set up in a lab that had as little ornamentation as possible. In each of the tubes were small fetal forms that had wires and other medical technology attached to them. Only three people had access to this room, and none of them were Hannah Shepard. Jack, Henry, and his aide were the only ones allowed in here. Each of the tubes was without a label and without anything to personalize it.

"Why daughters, Jack?" Henry asked. He was sitting behind him, on the one chair in the room, going over the data at the non networked console.

"Women can earn the same respect that men can. But they can also use tools and threats that we cannot use in civil company. They also earn a sense of weakness when people view them. With men, anything that they do that is aggressive or forward can be easily construed, and no quarter is given. They are assumed to be aggressive. Women get in more doors and can go further than men can on most occasions."

"You want your heirs to be aggressive?" Henry said without much surprise. "No one would expect Jack Harper's to be aggressive and demanding." He said sarcastically.

"Not heirs. I don't expect to have much to pass on at that point."

"So, you have me develop two of the most powerful biotic humans and a copy of them as a spare, and you don't want them as heirs." Henry gave him a look. "What is your drive for this, then?"

Jack came over to the tubes and pulled out a marking pen. On the first he wrote clearly.  _Julia Constantine Harper_. "Julia is to be all of my dreams realized. Everything that Hannah has been given, she will receive fully. Vision enhancements, reflexes, and the cloaking system. She will need it for what I have in mind." He walked to the tube containing the copy of Julia and wrote on it as well.  _J. Harper Spare_. "Disable higher brain functions on the spares. I only need them for when the girls will need new organ transplants. They might need blood as well, and it makes sense to have all of that on hand for when we need it." Then he walked over to the other pair of tubes.  _Miranda Persephone Harper_. "Miranda is to be my heir, if a definition for what she will be could be made. She will need the better biotic control, as well as the hardened body structure. Bone weaves, reflexes, and higher g-force resistance when you can develop and install the mods. They will both need the biotics, but where Julia only needs them as a support, Miranda will need them as her main focus. Only the best for either of them." He wrote  _M. Harper Spare_  on the other tube.

Henry nodded, already writing down all of the information. Jack had been obsessional about this for most of this year. Ever since Hannah had gotten her cloaking system installed, and Jack had gotten his needed ingredients, his focus had been on making the twins. Both would have dark hair, from him of course. Their other physical features came mostly from Hannah and the other donors. He didn't want Miranda to lack the beauty that she had in his memories. She had used it like a surgical knife, opening doors and recruiting some of the best to Cerberus. There was no sense in denying her that. So when the fetuses were being developed, Henry and Jack had added some DNA components from different supermodels and others that they had experienced and seen.

Julia might be a lot nicer to look at then Shepard was, but if he had his way, that wouldn't limit her. Another weapon in the arsenal of Humanity's Hero would only be a good thing. In this memoryscape, he had accidentally killed any chances of Shepard being naturally born. So it had been his personal mission in life to fix that problem. There would be a Shepard. She just wasn't going to be exactly the same.

The Reapers probably knew this and would react unfavorably. Well, he hoped that they would. He was one man. If he could prove to them that Humanity could take them on, they would have to adapt. If they didn't, then they would probably suffer more setbacks like the death of Sovreign. In reality it had only bought them another two years or so. It had only been a setback but it had cost them so much to achieve it. Jack had a few ideas for avoiding that this time around.

The future had taught them how to kill the Reapers. They only had one weak point on the gigantic dreadnaughts, and that was the focus for the main weapon. Even then, it had smaller secondary weapon emplacements that would tear apart anything that was within range. Most of their weapons were outranged and outgunned by the secondary weapons, much less the primaries. The only location to have a clear shot at the focus for the primary weapon was right down the center. Preferably as close as possible to the Reaper. Their design resulted in a lot of casualties.

The smaller Reaper craft were mostly transports, and had the secondary weapons of the larger Reapers. Still very dangerous, and had the same weakpoint, but more avenues of attack. Attacking the Reapers from straight above or below their lateral axis was the only way to approach without being shot at. As such, they were the most heavily armored. The design was near perfect. Except for the focus on the weapons pointing forward, if the Reapers ever got into a scuffle with something that was as fast or as armed as they were, they might be outmatched.

Too bad his whole 'control them' plan had failed. Even though it was only a product of his indoctrinated mind, it would have been nice. He didn't let his mind linger on that. He had to avoid thinking in any way that might lead him back into the threat of indoctrination. That was a real threat to everything Humanity had going for them. He had at least kept some of the worst of the artifacts that would cause trouble later out of the hands of the weak and easily susceptible.

"Well, I hope everything took correctly. If not you'll have two little bundles of trouble on your hands." Henry said, grinning. "Metabolism is high, biotic potential is extreme, bordering on the excessive. As long as the ratio you gave me is correct, they should be fine. Thankfully, the other tests that we ran with the other fetal subjects had given us a good starting expectation for what we could reasonably do." He was inputting information, Jack assumed something for the care of the twins. He was the only person who could do something like this at this point. No one else that Jack was aware of could have attempted this.

Binary Helix and Synthetic Insights had both experimented in this vein at some point in the future, according to what he remembered, but had not gotten very far. Of course, they were looking for profit. It was hard to make genetic engineering profitable. Genetic modification was easier, but only because it could be easily transmitted. If the body didn't take to the treatment, some very expensive antibiotics were administered that would stop the process.

That would never be quite inexpensive enough to satisfy the general population, but it was affordable enough to get most of the special operations units taken care of. Jack couldn't see a good way of doing that, but perhaps he could improve the longevity of the infantry sent into combat situations. Better armor, better weapons, and much better combat tactics for when the Geth and the Reaper troops would emerge. Jack hoped to provide that. A better Alliance through a paramilitary organization was not the most efficient or helpful of directions he could go.

No, remaining legitimate gave him a lot more options. People felt that they could actually  _trust_  Jack Harper. That hadn't happened in a long time. His memories were filled with betrayal and constant mistrust of others. It was for certain reciprocated. This time around he had a nice system of political favors and connections with the rich and powerful. It was quite nice.

"Henry, I will come pick them up when they are ready. But don't hesitate to invite me over for lunch any time. I'll not forget a nice gift for Grace when I come again." Grace Constantine was now Lawson, adopted and placed under Henry's care. With no guarantee that her genetic structure was unstable, or had problems somewhere, Henry was the best possible location to have her. As his daughter, she received a lot of care and devotion. As did his wife, who Henry was trying very hard to get pregnant. As he reminded Jack often when they were together.

"Good. She does cry when you forget, Jack." Henry joked. "I think I'll go and see how she and Helen are doing, then. Where is Hannah today?"

"Oh," Jack said, dismissing her presence as if it wasn't absolutely necessary to have her know everything about his life. "She is handling a meeting for me."

Hannah was meeting with his firm and discussing company profits to his investors. His presence wasn't strictly necessary and so he went 'golfing' with Henry. His Omni-tool chirped.  _Hound. This is Watchdog. The Senate has approved the project. They are opening the Relay at Shanxi._  His eyes widened. This was too early. Six years too early. The Turians were going to destroy them. "Henry, I am going to have to go get back to the Talon immediately. Something just went wrong."

"Go put out a fire, then. Just tell me later if you manage to muck it up." Henry said, congenially not noticing Jack in the middle of a panic attack. Jack nodded to him and started walking out of the facility. Every nerve in his body was telling him to run, but he kept the anxiety down. He did walk quite fast, coming out of the medical facility. True to form, James had the shuttle hot and ready to go. Jack didn't care about extra fuel costs or such. Being able to leave immediately was more important.

He leapt up into the seat of the shuttle, the calm winter only hitting him with a few raindrops. "Rook, I need to get to the  _Talon_ , immediately. Hannah is to be picked up, as well as the package I was expecting from Markov."

"You got it, boss. Markov's package was delivered to the testing site four days ago, and has been test fired a couple of times. According to the report, it is too large for any infantry to carry alone, or even with one squadmate. Reports say it's too heavy to do anything but mount it on a vehicle." He didn't ask what they were doing with it. Jack had asked him to do harder things in the past. Thankfully, unlike Hannah, his pilot spent his salary. He was building some wondrous house in the California area. Jac could surmise that it was going to be some sort of ultra secure bachelor pad. It even had an underground hangar in place. Very classy. All very efficient, too.

James had them in the air and over international airspace within a few minutes. The  _Talon_  was parked with Hannah, over in Mexico. The country was a source of the greatest investors to his firm, so he held his investor's board meeting there more often than not. Being able to speak French and three other languages was useful in that regard. Of course, he hadn't spoken the Asari and Turian that he had learned in many years. It was hard to practice considering that they hadn't come into their perspective yet.

But this time he might actually use them for some better uses than to translate and decode transmissions. It hadn't been all that useful last time around. Of course, he hadn't been one to look at other races as a source of allies in his memories. It was this new mindset that gave him the idea to ally with the Batarians if things went south. They would agree only to the steepest of costs, but they would be a strong power to keep the Turians back if the Council did not intervene like they had in his memories.

The Turians were not going to take this lying down. Someone opening a relay would get their attention, very quickly. It would not be long before something terrifying would come through the Relay and strike at Shanxi. Even the Batarians were terrified of opening new relays, as the threat of something like the Rachni had them a bit terrified. Humanity was on the verge of being destroyed, and Jack couldn't see any way out of this that lead to something reasonable or good.

"Sir, Hannah has left the meeting and is heading to the  _Talon_ , as requested. She can meet us midway, if you wish."

He blinked. "She can pilot?"

"Well, I might have shown her how to a few times when we were in orbit of Venus. She can fly in a straight line but I don't know about her parking the  _Talon._ "

"It's better. Tell her to come to my island. The coordinates are in the computer and it is a forgiving enough place to set her down. The water can't do too much to the paint, anyways." He had a few other things at his island that would be very useful. Shanxi had less than a month at best before the Turians would notice them. Their relay was at the edge of the system, and they had plenty of stellar objects in between them and it.

Jack had a small cache of weapons and armor on his island that he had kept around. Some of the best on the market, still, but he had to be a bit more discreet with these purchases. James couldn't get them, and so Jack had to go through Henry for some of these, and had to go to the black market for others. It was worrying that much of the black market was empty these days. Weapons dealers were very quiet, or had found someone to sell their wares to. There had been a large crackdown on illegally traded goods, and so much of the market went back to Hong Kong, Java, and Bangladesh. These areas were corrupt enough and troubled enough that the black markets could survive. Alliance Agents could only observe in those areas.

James had them at the island before Hannah would have the  _Talon_  there. She was only a half hour behind them though. "James, I'll need your help with some equipment. We are going back to Shanxi."

James almost tripped. "What? I thought we weren't supposed-"

"Not relevant. They just did something exceptionally stupid. Thankfully they finished the defense station in system." Jack started walking towards his personal storage units, where the material he needed would be. Inside were just a few unopened crates, with a few signs of tampering. Agents had made it here, or they had paid off an employee who had visited. But thankfully, Jack was better than that. The crates only held replacement marble slabs and some sealed Anvil Corporation crates. The crates were empty and everything weighed a rediculous amount. All to cover the actual storage unit. All of the crates had been bolted onto a sliding section of the floor.

James watched as he entered the code into one of his Anvil cases to move the section. He never questioned Jack, though. He was paranoid, and for good reason. Underneath the crates and in the exposed space was a few bags and one eight foot long case. It was sealed with a metal casing that had wheels.

"I'll need your help with the bags. They are mostly weapons and armor."

"Alright. What about the case?" James asked, already grabbing the first bags.

"That would be the first indiscriminate anti armor weapon developed by Markov Heavy Industries." The case did contain that, to be sure. It also contained a small device developed by the Americans back in 2020. Before the development of nuclear weapons was considered completely illegal, a last few bombs had been made by the United States as handheld weapons of last resort, should the Middle East become a world power. Perhaps the Korean states. Either way, the backpack-sized nuclear bomb that rested in the bottom third of the case was very expensive and very difficult to come by.

He had been in possession of this for at least a decade. It was something he had come across in his travels and had to very carefully acquire it. Originally it had been something that he considered using to destroy any Reaper artifacts that resisted normal explosives. He hadn't found anything of that nature yet. So he had kept it in secure storage. But, there was nothing in the rules about these being used to harm non human life forms. For the Turians, a good scare might be useful. The right bomb in the right place might just do that.

Or create such a poor reaction that Humanity might fall anyways. It was a risk, but one he might have to take. Plus, the bonus of possibly nuking a Turian while it was legal he could live with. Certain Turians might need more than that, in his opinion, but that was just his opinion. What was best for Humanity was a different concern. Sometimes his opinion differed from what was needed, but to his view that was a rare occurrence.

Jack put on some work gloves and shook the dust off of them. It had been a while since he had done anything like this. Between him and James, who was admittedly in better shape than Jack, they were able to lift the Markov crate and get it up to the landing dock. The shuttle had to be moved to the service dock, and they finished with enough time to get a drink from the bar. The bartender had been ready with their order long before they even walked up, as a ginger beer came to rest in James' hands, and Jack had a glass of wine. Something a bit more alcoholic with some nice taste.

So, he at least got a few moments to rest on the beach before Hannah made a spectacular landing approach. She parked the  _Talon_  like she had practice doing so. Jack gave James a raised eyebrow. "I have a suspicion that you have been the victim of an invisible observer."

"No one else has touched her, I swear!" James tried to excuse himself. But there was also the slight chance that Hannah had been trained to fly frigates or any other kind of vehicle during her time in training with the Alliance. Highly doubtful, but possible. More than likely she just abused her cloaking system and observed what James did very closely. Landing the  _Talon_  wasn't hard, but you had to be very careful as you landed, otherwise you might damage something. When nothing on the ship was inexpensive, that usually led to trouble.

They both waited for the ship to hit something, which it surprisingly did not. It did, however, park slightly too far for the landing bridge to reach the dock. That had James jumping the gap and going in to fix that problem, and Hannah coming out of the craft to give him one of those looks she gave investors right before they were going to cave in to her demands.

"Well? What part of Humanity is in jeopardy today?" She asked casually, looking almost eager. A good sign for his purposes.

"Shanxi. They opened the relay there, which could lead to some trouble. The Reds are going to notice that. Considering that most of Shanxi's population is revolutionary or hardly respectful of authority, I believe it is time for you to show your hand." Jack passed her a glass of whiskey. "How badly do you want your prestige back?"

Hannah was almost confused for a moment. But then her eyes hardened. "Oh yes. You might need to go into the market for a new secretary." She said with a grin.

"After this, there might not be a market to come back to." Jack told her. "If the Reds can make their move, we will lose a lot more than just Shanxi." The Reds had been quiet. If anything, they were carefully planning their next move. They had made a small motion towards blowing up a heavy metal cargo hauler somewhere near Mars, but that had been foiled thanks to a few direct pointers from Jack sent through Hannah. Another few operations of theirs had been meddled with or ruined by other groups, while some may have succeeded. The best kind of terrorist operation is the one that people don't find out about until decades later. So there may have been successes, ones that Jack would only become aware of in a few years. Probably too late for him to notice. The signs of successful operations would be there, though. New weapons, ships, and goods being used or being moved around. Hard to trace and harder to go after unless you had a large paramilitary force that could take down military grade defensive positions.

Jack didn't have those. Unfortunately, he might not get the chance to get them this time around. He had made too much of a name for himself. Alliance Intelligence was paying close enough attention to him that he would be under scrutiny for years. Not much he could do to change that.

"Can't lose Shanxi a second time. What's the plan?" Hannah asked, grabbing some of the bags on the ground and opening them. "Oh! Yes! I just saw ads for this shotgun!" She pulled out the bag that he had prepared for her. She ignored the other bags of generic gear, most of which wouldn't be useful against the Turians. They would have grenades, weapons, and armor that would make human gear worthless in comparison at this point. He had a few sets of armor, one of which was much heavier than the others. It might hold up during an extended firefight. His weapons wouldn't. Hannah was the only thing in the human arsenal that might stand a chance at ruining their plans. Jack just had to get her in the right place.

"I think you'll need to make a very interesting report to your superiors. But before you send in the report that will bring their attention focused on Shanxi, we need to verify what I think is happening." If he could bring in the cavalry, then the Alliance would be a lot more prepared for the possibility of invasion. The more attention that it received, the better. He grinned at some of the possibilities.

"Does this mean I can cancel a few days of meetings?"

"Cancel everything for the next week. Label it as a vacation. List our location as here, and list both of us as unreachable. In our absence, have Reid cover the board meetings and reschedule the meeting with Ashland-Hislopp for two weeks from now at the earliest." That might cost him some trust from Todd, but Shanxi was more critical. He finished a cigarette as the supplies were loaded, and then helped James move the Markov case onboard. He didn't want that to be opened by anyone other than himself. So the code was simple. He just was not about to check on things where she could possibly be.

She was in sight, at the bar, already digging into her favorite whiskey. "Vacation! It's about bloody time!" She shouted, James ignoring her pointedly while Jack just rolled his eyes. His secretaries didn't work that hard. Plus, he knew when she was invisible. He no longer had his cybernetic eyes, but the slight ripple in the air that was left by cloaking systems was noticeable, especially to eyes trained to notice the distortions. She didn't enjoy the fact that even with her invisibility, it was extremely hard to sneak up to him. Jack was just paranoid, of course. The last person to sneak up to him had to be killed. Or at least that was how he reacted in his memories.

"A working vacation." Jack said, placing his hand on the Omni-tool she had on her wrist. "I'll need to set up a few meetings of interest for when we get to Shanxi." She let him take the Omni-tool, the one that was enabled for communications. Now that they were onboard the  _Talon_ , none of her observers or satellites would be able to monitor him as he made a few calls. His signals were of course being payed attention to. The details of those messages would be combed over for any clues as to illegal or unauthorized dealings.

But nothing would be suspicious about an invitation to go out to eat, or for an informal meeting. He had five or so arranged for their first day in Shanxi. With a grin, and a glass of wine, he had his clearance to visit the straggling planet.

"James, please fly the normal route to Shanxi this time. They know we are coming."

"Got it, Sir. How fast do we need to be there?"

"Take your time. Unlike most visits to interesting places, this one won't be too interesting for a few days. But I am sure that we can fix that once we get there."

Allison let the trigger finger get loose. She could clearly see her target, the balding man sitting in a command vehicle at the front of the building. His medals gleamed on his dress uniform as he met with another man in a dress uniform. She was holding the longest rifle she had ever used, which her cloaking system couldn't cover. It could only cover the skin and items that fit into pockets. It also didn't work on armor, so for this she was completely unarmored and could be killed easily.

"I have a sight on the target. Confirm a hit?"

"Go ahead. Distractions are going to start in twenty five seconds." Jack's voice came over her headset. She was sweating a little bit. He had convinced her of why this was needed, but it didn't make her feel any better about it. She leveled her gun on the shoulder of the General, who by now was in the middle of some sort of military function. Jack claimed that this would 'stir up the hornets nest'. Taking a shot at a general over a planetary garrison would do that.

Thankfully, she noticed the slight distortion over the facility from a kinetic barrier. Her shot wouldn't pierce the barrier, which made her feel slightly better. So, she took a deep breath and took the shot. The round hit the barrier, and then seemed to partly pass through it, She had never heard of a round doing anything like that! She had to sit there a second and bring her eye into the scope, checking. The General had marines already covering him. He was moving though, which was good.

Good, yes, the weapons aimed in her direction that were probably at his orders. She picked up the rifle, the weapon shrinking down to a more manageable size. She slid it into place on her back, and then pulled her small woolen jacket over it. It did nothing to hide the shape or barrel of the rifle that still poked upwards. It did, however, carry enough static current to let the cloaking system cover the rifle and her. It was more unstable the more surfaces it had to cloak, so she had to be extra careful that she didn't bump into anything.

The ladder from the top of the building disrupted her cloak a small bit. She had to grab onto the battery in her pocket to restart the cloak. She could hear a gunship in the distance. It might be able to kick up enough dust to disrupt her cloaking device. That was something she needed to avoid. She slid down the ladder and landed on the soles of her Uggs, which had been rebuilt so that the very signature bottom of the boots did not match anything like them. Ugg boots were distinctive. Hers were even more so.

As she walked quickly, she kept down the urge to call Jack on the comms. Right now the locals were probably looking for any sign of suspicious communications. She wasn't going to give them anything to follow. A few loose boot prints that appeared at the bottom of the ladder, combined with a little bit of scuffling marks towards the street, and then she grabbed hold of the zip line. Jack had told her to get out of this in whatever way she preferred, and she liked leaving a few false trails. The zip line was simply to the top of another building, but one down at the other end of the block.

She kept her heartrate down, even as the zip line came to an end. The end of the zip line she started from was located underneath some shingles of a roof. It could extend itself and connect easily. The zip line itself was magnetic, and could take anyone either direction, even with one side being vertical. Such was the beauty of next generation technology. Zip lines that you could ride back up. Element zero wasn't even involved on these, though for sure it could help in the next iteration. The market for them was small though, and to own one would be highly suspicious. Still, the thought did occur that she wanted one.

Another nice feature was that the cable could fold up and retract really quickly. As soon as she got to the roof, she engaged the retract function. This was where the zip line wasn't so stealthy. It made a few noises as it retracted across a couple hundred feet. Since it was already mostly taut, the line shot like a bullet at first, but caught on a few things as gravity dragged the bolt end down. On the far side, the hook had already retracted back under the shingle, hiding the location she just vacated. With a click of her tool, the other end was clipped onto her belt and she started walking into the crowds on Main Street. The magnetics of the zip line had disrupted her cloak, and using the system in a crowd of people was not a good idea. There were too many places that it could be disrupted by a spray of liquid, air, or a bit of dust kicked up from their feet. The road was already a bit dusty, but if a vehicle came through it would be worse.

So, she walked with her coat covering most of the gun. On Shanxi, lots of people carried guns. It was a known fact that it had one of the highest murder rates in colonized space. Yet that did not discourage the two hundred thousand new colonists from settling there. It was within the range of comfort for most colonists to not freeze during the winter or burn during the warmer months. It was almost as nice to settle on as Terra Nova, another large colony that was experiencing large waves of colonization. Most of the buildings were made of silicon and prefab shelters. Concrete broke down very fast on some of the new worlds, and so a few harder compounds had been invented to fill in for it.

Shanxi had a lot of these. The roads were solid, and other than the ever-present dust everywhere, it all looked like a somewhat dry area of Asia. A very nicely developed and planned part of Asia to be sure. Most of the people leaving earth were from Asia, Africa, and South America. The other continents had experienced a population boom after the trouble in the 2000's and didn't quite have the numbers to throw around as heavily. Still, you could find a few white and black persons among the thousands of Asian heritage on Main Street. Certainly not many with red hair, though. It was one of her defining traits. Most of the time she dyed her hair with a temporary hair color.

Today, it was black. A little bit of coloring in the cheeks and some coloring to make it seem as if she had Asian ancestry, and she was unnoticed in the crowd. A few with weapons in the same caliber noticed her. One man even tried to take her picture. From the lewd grin she assumed it wasn't benign. She just pushed him into a larger fellow and watched the fireworks go off. Men were easy to predict, in her opinion. Rile them up and they will attack the nearest target. Men like Jack Harper, though. They liked to play the game where civility was only a cover for their actions.

She was able to walk back into the area by the space port without any trouble. None of the news networks reported anything about the General being dead. After all, it wouldn't do to kill the famous General Williams. He had been through the founding of the Human Systems Alliance as one of their top performers. He had led the troops into the contested areas of Africa when combat first broke out there, after the genocide that had been inflicted onto the white population of South Africa. The population had required a bit more effort to control, but with the new wave of technology, it had been easy. General Williams was one of the more respected members of the military, and shooting at him was not the easiest of decisions she had ever made.

So when she came inside the dingy bar that Jack had taken over, she slammed her hands onto the table for a bit of a kick. Her enforced calm had lasted only for so long. "You said they would have barriers up!"

Jack seemed unconcerned. "So the experimental phasic rounds worked? Good."

"I could have killed him! The General could have died!"

"But he didn't. Current phasic rounds only transfer a hair of a percentage of the force of the shot past the shields. I was just testing the possibility of them working. At the same time, it shows that the Reds have experimental technology meant to get past the shields employed by the military. All in all, a good thing."

She gave him a glare. "Explain why this is all a good thing."

"Simple." Jack said around his cigarette. In this dive of a bar, it kept the smell of mold away. "The Reds were preparing to attack and have already bought this same technology. This disarms the surprise that may have come with their snipers using this later. More importantly, this might be cause for General Williams to reinforce the base and star system with a few more troops and vessels. If that is done, they might be able to stop a full revolution from happening. More importantly, this might be enough to keep the fighting down. The Reds are still here, after all. The amount of colonists from Shanghai and Hong Kong have never been fully documented. We both know that they are smuggling more than just people. It is only a matter of time until they can strike without chance of the Alliance taking back Shanxi again."

She knew it was right. She had double checked all of the sources he had during the flight to Shanxi. Some of it only made sense if you were looking for it. Military vehicle grade Palladium, ostensibly for construction vehicles that had never been confirmed on delivery. Nor were the amount of palladium mentioned. Small details that had been forgotten in the massive wave of construction that was occurring on Shanxi. But it was all within normal levels. Even on earth, these numbers would be considered normal, except for maybe the levels of metals and people that had gone missing. Even with the heightened security that Taurus Station has brought, a lot had been slipping past it.

Taurus station was an asteroid body that had been towed to the orbit of Shanxi to provide a planetary station to manage the new influx of traffic. Not only that but it hosted a large number of fleet tenders and a drydock. It was a strong military installation that would be able to be used in the event of a revolution. Hopefully they wouldn't need it.

"So, if the General doesn't reinforce his position?"

"Then his base, as it is next to the spaceport, will fall. Shanxi will be retaken by the Reds within 48 hours. The mountain that once housed Tyrrel Headquarters will be the last stand location." Jack seemed completely calm as he said this. But he was smoking and had a large glass of wine. That was a good sign that he was at least worried about all of this. There was no way of knowing if it was his first, as any spare cups had been removed. The table was also in terrible condition, so the watermarks were not a good way of checking either.

"So, contact my superiors?" She asked with an air of annoyance. She just shot at General Williams. That was never going to go down in her record if she could avoid it. "On the note of trouble, how much would it be to coat a gun in polymers that can conduct static electricity for my cloak?"

Jack gave her a grin. "A lot. I have been trying to have it developed without the public being aware of it, or of the company being aware that I am trying to have it be developed. No guarantees of it becoming standard, but it might be ready in a few years." She slumped a bit. No weapons she could take into her cloak with her yet. Jack kept talking though. "Yes, we should probably contact your superiors. Would you prefer your normal method or should we just comm Ross directly?"

She just gaped. "We can't just  _call_  Ross! She would kill you!" Really, she would. Then Allison would really be out of a job. She already shot him once. Ross would probably be overjoyed to shoot him.

"Oh yes we can. After the debacle where I got shot I found her contact number and kept a hold on it. Ross would probably notice you calling her a lot faster than reading her reports from inactive assets." He stressed the word inactive. He was just saying that to get her riled, and they both knew it.

"I'll send a report first. How shall we claim that the Reds are going to imminent attack?"

Jack smirked. "I think the news reports will be enough. Sending a sample of the newly developed Phasic rounds might impress them a bit further. So, for your purposes I acquired two samples. One for the attempt and one to send back. Understandably you'll be sending the unused one."

"Do you have any idea how many of these mods have been sold to anyone here?" She asked, typing all of this up. She also had to arrange a dead drop.

"At least three more from the dealer I went to. Assuming he is getting more of these, we could be looking at a few dozen of these mods out there. Enough that the snipers the Reds can field will be able to go through most shields to hit their targets." He said, trusting in her to make a report.

She made a point of explaining the expected numbers on these. The ammo block had no signs of identification, or any way of telling how many in the series there were. Definitely illegal to produce, and definitely something that the Alliance would want to see. She had the report mostly ready, and then put a note at the end.

_Jack Harper believes that an attack by the Reds in Shanxi will occur within the next 48 hours. Action should be taken to reinforce the garrison as well as Taurus Station. This agent recommends that anti sniper teams and urban combat specialists also be sent. The ammunition block that was bought from the black market will be sent via dead drop. Research and Development might find it interesting, as the vendor claims that portions of the force are sent through any kinetic barrier that is set up. The possibility exists that dozens of these mods are in the hands of or being produced by the Reds._

With that, she sent off the message with her standard level of encryption. She and Jack waited a few minutes to see if anyone replied. Of course, as usual, there was no reply. She slumped by the bar, getting something alcoholic for the stress of waiting for a reply that wouldn't come. She hadn't had to pay for her own drink in years, thankfully. Jack had a drinking budget that exceeded five figures. She was included on it, and she never really went too hard on the drink. He preferred wine, and preferred to sip it. She liked hard liquor, and she liked to drink. Sometimes she would binge. Losing her position in the Intelligence community had been hard to take. She didn't binge as much after realizing her salary could keep her going for years.

"Sent. No reply. No sign that they will take any action." She muttered.

"They have to verify all of it. Then after it is verified, take it to their supervisor and have them check it out, at which point Ross sees it. Then she decides if they take action on this. That is how I assume this is going to go. Ross will most likely try to keep us out of it, more to keep me from meddling than to keep you from restoring your trust." He correctly guessed her worries, but that was obvious.

"Well, then, when are we leaving?" She asked, assuming that now that they had started all of this mess that they would just leave and watch it happen from the safety of the  _Talon_.

"We aren't. Not this time. Not while we have the chance to showcase your mods and get you back into Ross' favor." Her heart leapt a tiny bit. She tried to keep her emotional response down, as she had been trained, but that was not possible.

"How?!"

He didn't smirk, which right now would near about get him slapped. He did take a moment to drink and put his cigarette down. "What if you very publicly removed one of the leaders of the Reds, inside their base and inside of their defenses, as well as escape unharmed. You would become somewhat of a sensation, I would imagine. Enough that Ross would have no choice but to reinstate you."

She gave him a shark-like grin in return. "Point me at them." Oh yes, she was getting her job back. She just had to go and knife someone. Not too hard.

Charles Pressley was a night shift bridge crew members. He did his level best, but was honestly in over his head most of the time. He had only gone into the Navy six months ago, and they had been throwing guys like him into positions all over the place. Young guys like him were in positions that had previously been for men with years of experience on ships. But the rush of construction and Naval recruitment had brought on a need for younger and younger men to quickly get sent through flight school. He was one of those people, having been run through school as fast as he could clear the requirements. Since it was peace time for Earth and her colonies, it was not so bad to have a rush of recruitment.

Still, that meant that things that should have been finished in previous shifts were not being done. So that left his shift with the unfortunate task of finishing the work from the last shift and their own. Since he was on the  _Kursk_ , that meant a lot of headaches as he corrected and fixed up the problems that the inept daytime shift couldn't handle. He was surprised that they lacked even the basic decency to apologize or explain their problems. Still, he would do his best.

Then, the next station over gave a large alert. The operative perked right up, taking a look at what was going on. Pressley realized that the captain was asleep and the Lieutenant was the only officer on the bridge. He of course wanted to know what was going on.

"What have we got?"

The other airman quickly answered. "We have a few sensor ghosts, far side of the system. The  _El Paso_  and the  _Cannae_  are further from the relay, but they should have noticed this earlier." He stared at his screen for a moment longer. "That's odd. The readings just disappeared."

The Lieutenant was not an officer for nothing. "Have the  _Cannae_  go check it out. Tell the science ships to get to the other side of the relay and have the  _Paso_  cover them. Bring us up to Red Alert. If those were ships we might have a First Contact today." He was breathing quite quickly. The man was known to have panic attacks, but he was also one of only two Lieutenants onboard. Again, the Alliance Navy had a lack of strong officer material. The other officer onboard had issues with claustrophobia. Poor devil.

"What in the blazes is going on?!" Captain Rogers bellowed as soon as the bridge doors cleared. Frigates were small. The captain's quarters were just down the hall, which allowed him to get here as soon as the alert went out. Thankfully, Pressley was still on shift for this. The other guy had pulled a 12 hour shift and was therefore not allowed to be on the bridge for a Red Alert. He would have to double in with the engineering crew.

"Sensor ghosts at the edge of the system, Sir." The Lieutenant said, coughing. He was breathing too fast as it was. "Could be ships."

"Get outa my chair!" He replied. "Good work, Lieutenant. Perhaps it is nothing, but if it isn't, then you'll get something. Perhaps a discharge. Heh." The captain was easily amused. "Tell  _Cannae_ that she needs to slow down and stay in our envelope. We need to be careful here."

The  _Cannae_  was supposed to go through a few planetary bodies before coming back to the relay, but that might disrupt or hide the ship from their sensors. The  _Kursk_  had the better sensor equipment in the patrol, but that was necessary. Lead ships were given that. Pressley was just a Navigator. Captain Rogers and the rest of the bridge crew watched as the  _Cannae_  flew towards the central part of the cluster, keeping in sight. But it wasn't long before she came back towards them as fast as she could go.

"What is going on, Sanders?" Rogers growled at the communications console.

"Nine ships, sir! Coming in fast! They have jamming that keeps their signals hidden!"

"How far behind are they?" Rogers was looking at the navigation panel now. Pressley shriveled into his seat a little more knowing that the Captain was staring him down.

"They will be on us in less than four hours! Their craft have a higher top speed than ours. We count six frigates and three cruisers."

Rogers was quiet. Outnumbered three to one, with a technological disadvantage. That was difficult to overcome. "Sanders. I'm about to ask you a tough one."

"Sir?"

"Before they get here, we are going to go through the relay back to Shanxi. You aim yourself towards the relay that the scientists just opened." Everyone gave Rogers a look. He was asking Captain Sanders to sacrifice his ship. "Once you get through, get to ground and wait for them to clear off. Then, get back to us when the way is clear. Do you understand, Captain?"

"Yes Sir. I hope we give you enough time." Sanders replied quietly.

Pressley was in a little bit of shock. He could see the reasoning, sure, but this was unheard of. Captain Rogers was going to sacrifice a ship. But from what he could tell, the other ships would be able to catch up to the  _Cannae_  enough to see what relay she was heading for. Protocol was clear. Protect the civilians.

"Nav! Get us home." There was a pause. "Nav!" Oh! That was him! Pressley quickly started the processes for getting them through the relay. They needed to get out of here, and fast.

"Yes Sir!" Pressley near-shouted as the patrol of two frigates and two science craft shot towards the relay home.

Jack calmly waited. The Turians were coming. They had come on fast and hard last time, and this time they would be no different. Thankfully, Taurus Station was a bit different this time. Tyrrel Headquarters, too. This time a few locations on planet were immune to kinetic strikes. That would give General Williams a nice fallback point. With the Reds, and their natural tendencies towards guerilla war, they would make fine distractions. Against the Turians thats all that they would be good for. But they would find that the 'civilians' would have a lot more weapons than expected. Taurus Station would be a very solid piece of work, holding off their attack craft for a long time.

Tensions were high on planet. That shot that Jack had taken on General Williams had been the tinder. Now the Reds were getting shifty, and might actually attack. The General had gotten an entire battalion of men shipped in last night, all very hush hush. Jack of course knew about it, as would the Reds. They had observers everywhere. Or informants. All he had to do now was wait for the fireworks to start. Either the Reds would start their attack and possibly throw things into a full revolution, getting the attention of the Alliance, or the Turians would show up and create a feared enemy to confront.

Yes, all was well.

"Why the hell are we offloading all of the liquor?" Hannah yelled.

"Because the  _Talon_  is going to be bait. James is going to take it somewhere else. While we hole ourselves up in this restaurant and get ready." He had been drinking a lot in the past couple of days. Enough to wake up slightly uncomfortable. "We will need the alcohol for the following time period. It will be a more effective usefulness as a chemical solution. That, combined with the truly massive amount of firepower on this planet, and I think we might have a good chance."

Hannah just sat down and slumped. "So you want all of the things you can use instead of currency when things go down? Why even stay when you know its coming?"

"Because leaving won't do me any good. Different world leaders are going to be coming here in the next few days, and we need to entertain them and calm their fears. In addition this also might get attention of the Reds and General Williams. I will be at the center of this no matter what."

"Because you invested in Shanxi?" She was aware of most of his finances. "This planet has more invested in it by you than any of the other colonies. You invested almost a tenth of your personal budget into this area. The colony is payed for, bought, and basically in your name. You can get the money back. Hell, you destroyed the colony once!" He gave her a glare in response to that. That was not something he caused. He had never wanted to destroy the colony.

This was one of those topics that was never crossed between them. It had come up in the past and Jack had never addressed it. There was just too much of a chance that she would find out more about what he did, and possibly connect it to the attack that took her parents. If she found out that it was him, as she still investigated that on the side, Jack was dead. She had a slight obsession about this.

"Because I can. I helped ruin this place once, yes. Does that mean I am not allowed to pay them back?" He had honestly been trying, but the Reds were just so hard to please. "I am trying to get this place back to where it is supposed to be. When I saw that the Reds were about to take it down again, I decided to act. Now, I am here, and I am going to be here so that we can save it."

"You are one man. One man who does more from behind a desk than he ever could with a gun!"

"Deskwork? People moving? Investment?" He sneered. "With one bullet I can change our world much faster." He had in the past. Cerberus had removed many threats to humanity over the years. A single shot could sometimes prevent pirate raids. Sometimes even more than that. "Don't ever think I wouldn't pull the trigger if I had to."

She glared at him. He sneered back. It almost made him think about the last time this had happened to him, right before the redhead had lifted up her gun to fire at him. Shepard! The Citadel! The images came back full force, the only difference being very slight. Hannah was sitting there, harping about the same things that Shepard always did. He blinked, coming back. Hannah wasn't about to shoot him. She seemed to notice his lapse. "Jack, are you alright?" That was real concern in her voice. She wasn't giving him a glare anymore.

He felt his hands shake a small bit, so he let them drop from the table. He could feel his blood flow increasing, and an almost pulsating itching pain in his front temple. It was right where he had been shot. His vision darkened slightly, and he lost some of his balance. Before he fell to the floor though, Hannah had taken hold of his arm and kept him upright. When he tried to focus his eyes, nothing happened. Everything remained out of focus, and almost every nerve ending in his body felt numb. But his mind stopped being impaired. He could recognize the signs.

This was every sign of trauma. He must have been getting some sort of trauma experience from the death he had experienced. He hadn't had the ability to feel anything at that time, nor did he have the ability to feel emotions in response to external stimuli. Apparently that didn't mean that the memory couldn't carry what the Reapers had taken from him at the time. He tried to create the calm that he always had been able to focus on, but nothing came. The shakes didn't stop.

The blasted images of Shepard shooting him kept rolling in, with the feeling of blood coming out of the wound, and the minutes of time he spent bleeding off. Before any of this continued, he felt his face rock with real pain. Soon after that, he felt the table meet his cheek.

"God! I've wanted to do that for years!" He heard her say. The images faded from his mind, replaced by the stinging pain on his cheek. She had  _slapped_  him. "But for different reasons. You were losing it." She seemed to be justifying it. But on the other hand, he was not about to thank her for drawing him out of PTSD induced mania.

Picking himself up from the table, he gave her a level look. "Well, now I know who is going to be on top." It seemed like the best retort he could come up with. Her indignant squawk was her response. But she recovered. She had gotten used to his brand of humor, but at rare times he could get quite the response from her. He would sleep with her one way or another, but as his secretary and his way of getting his future back on track, he couldn't afford to mess up their relationship. Once she had moved back into the Intelligence Office's active agent numbers again, there would be less risk of breaking anything by sleeping with her. Though the wait was becoming slightly intolerable.

"Well, next time you lose yourself to PTSD, I won't help you." Hannah told him with some indignation. "Is your method of coping to just mock the nearest helpful person?" She still steadied him, though. It was enough to prove she was at least an effective secretary.

"No, I simply reply to acts of kindness with offers of the kindest thing I know how to give." He felt his vision coming back and his blood rushing back to his extremities. "Not to mention I react to high stress situations with innuendo and offers to come to my bedroom." She didn't say anything in response to that.

"Well, you seem to be yourself again." She replied after a moment, taking the time to watch as his hands stopped shaking. "What triggered the memory?"  _Your daughter, shooting me in the face,_  he wanted to say, but didn't. If he did then he would be certifiably crazy. But he had to tell her something.

"You never have memories about losing your parents?" He asked, causing her eyes to darken slightly. Revenge wouldn't be a problem for her, he could tell. But he wouldn't be telling her that the object for her revenge was right in front of her. More ironic when she actually slept with him. "My mother didn't have anyone to protect her or support her. So when I got a job, I wasn't able to be around as much. Once I left the arcology, I never saw my mother again. Sometimes," He put some artificial emotion in his voice. He knew that she had been trained to recognize PTSD, and she had to be sold on the story. Even if it wasn't exactly true. He had left to work, yes, but leaving his alcoholic mother was planned. "Sometimes I have trouble with that."

Hannah didn't want to dig too deeply into it, he could tell. Sharing secrets like this made her feel uncomfortable. Probably because she was used to a purely professional working relationship between them. She was one of the least emotionally-blinded people he had ever worked with. It was what he wanted in his Hero. Going behind her back and cloning modified daughters of her eggs was probably not the most ethical of options, but it offered the greatest chance of success within his timeframe. He was betting all of his hopes on two cloned versions of Hannah Shepard, himself, and a few of humanity's best and most intellectually and physically gifted.

If he had to wait for medical technology to be able to replace her damaged reproductive organs, it would be years. Not to mention the likelihood that Shepard would have other problems. He did remember that cloned tissues in those area often did not do as well as the originals. He couldn't take that risk and have Shepard come out with some crippling disease or lack of what was needed. No, he had to do it this way. She would never have agreed with him on this, but it was the only way to accomplish his needs within the time frame available.

"Well, at least you didn't see her die." Hannah muttered. "What about your father?"

Jack didn't let any emotion show. "I met him once. When I was recovering from a bad injury to my eye, I decided to investigate who my father was. I was quite disappointed in what I found. Considering that I had always associated most of my inherited bad habits with my mother, it surprised me to find out that my father was an even sorrier piece of humanity. I have never introduced myself to him since." That had been in his memories, though. This time around he had no intention of introducing himself to a career garbage cleanup worker. Even one who had a high IQ and a photographic memory, all of the tools he needed to succeed. He had just never tried.

"Didn't he recognize you?"

"No." Jack said. "I took my mother's name. It had been twenty years, and he had never been the most driven member of society. Gifted, certainly, but he had never had the drive to follow through on his goals." He drank in response to this. Sharing his origins and secrets had not been an option in the memory-life. In this new memoryscape that he was still certain the Reapers had locked him in, it did not carry the same consequences to share secrets. Everyone knew that he had made a name for himself from nothing. He had become the man he wanted to be. He could sleep with nearly any women he wanted to, and go into any location in Alliance Space and be respected.

"Was this all triggered because I thought we should leave and run?" Hannah asked, nursing her own drink.

"Possibly. PTSD symptoms are rarely as direct as what I expect them to be. NOr are they predictable." He clarified. "But I was more going to stay and stop the Reds directly."

She didn't scoff or snort at this. Because for Jack Harper, this was standard fare. The impossible is only improbable for those with the power to change the world. "What do you need?" She asked.

"A few things delivered. Then I will need some sort of pastries and an actual dinner plan." He gave her a look. "Most of these deliveries will be sent to areas where you will get shot for delivering or even being there. I am bringing all of the local leaders that I can to the table." He tapped out a list of people and locations into her Omni-tool and handed it back to her. "You have two days to find them and get the message delivered. Make our own envelopes or something like that, no electronic record of what we do can be left. While that happens, James and I will be hiding the  _Talon_  somewhere decent and preparing for a long stay. Amandeep will stay with the craft until we need to get out of here."

Hannah gave him a smile. "You know, you have the weirdest way of doing good for the public. It would do wonders for your image if you published a biography about all this." She all but sauntered out of the dingy bar, fading into invisibility. He just smiled, drinking the last of his drink.

Five days later, the dingy bar was as clean as it was going to get. It was well stocked with everything he would need, and already the regulars had recognized that something was going down here tonight. They all scrambled to leave. This left the observers that the different factions within the Reds had placed in the bar, and a few toughs already in place. He had chosen not to hire local muscle, as the different factions would bring their own. If anything went down, he was most likely not going to be hit. That had everything to do with the fact that he was wearing kinetic barriers inside of his jacket and had one battery for a recharge in his pocket.

Hannah was invisible, behind the bar counter. She had a few grenades and a rifle. She also had her shotgun and pistol, both of which were small enough to be concealed in pockets or her shirt as she cloaked. Since she didn't get to wear armor for all that, she had a kinetic barrier system as well and a few batteries for it. She might have to move to maintain her cloak in a new location that didn't have a power jack. Or there might be a loss of power, he didn't know. But he did trust that his only defensive option was going to be well armed and very capable.

He had made a semi-circle of tables around a single one, where he would be sitting. The five different major factions of the Reds he had contacted would be coming, so he prepared seats for three members of each faction. There were going to be complications, as many of them would only send lieutenants and such. But he did have a bottle of his best at his table, and some local news stories to read through. There was a lot of movement going on, and a lot of it he could only see hints of. He turned off the datapad he was working on and focused on new arrivals.

The doors had banged open with a screech, as he didn't want to have the doors oiled and cleaned with everything else. They were nice to have as a warning system. The first leader to walk in was in charge of the dock worker's union. He controlled much of the shipping industry through that union, and supposedly had people in Taurus Station. Following him was a few lieutenants, of three other factions. One was the faction in charge of local industry, shopping, and produce. Food was important, and they did control it. The other two factions controlled fuel in system and guns. Guns were easy to own on Shanxi. It was considered a good idea to buy one for each member of the family. Guns were an open secret on Shanxi, that ownership was expected, but owning a gun that was an equivalent of a military grade rifle was considered slightly taboo. Enough that some had them and just kept the weapon off their person.

The fifth faction, the one in charge of the housing and drug trade, didn't come. That was troubling. They were the biggest threat and the biggest ally that Jack wanted in the weeks to come. They were the most likely to be able to prolong a complete victory by the Turians. More importantly, they had tunnels buried all over the colony that would survive a kinetic bombardment. Or at least could provide a better chance of surviving. Last time Humanity had tried to fight on Shanxi, it had been a very peaceful colony. There were no areas of fortification, or areas that could withstand a kinetic bombardment.

This time, Shanxi was a fortress. The second most heavily invested in colony that they had, with Tyrrel Headquarters built right into the mountain. It would take a lot of effort to pound it into the ground. Unfortunately, it was now part of the military base, and included rudimentary kinetic barriers. Those wouldn't last long against the Turians, but it would buy them time to survive the initial bombardment. Underground rails, tunnels, and housing provided the Reds with what they needed to be able to get to, and smuggle their needed equipment. Terra Nova was hardly worked on compared to Shanxi.

"You all should have figured out why I called you here tonight." If his bets were right, they hadn't. Hannah didn't know and she knew his methodical mindset the best. But even she didn't know about the possible future. Then again, he would consider that cheating. "I invited you here to stop what is about to happen."

"Convince me that we shouldn't kill you right now." Said one of the lieutenants. No one challenged him, at least not yet. "You know too much to leave here alive."

Jack leaned back in his seat, letting the first wave of alcohol get to the visitors. "I know enough. As much as anyone who funds you knows." That got some stares. "You work for a conglomerate of individuals. Knowing every single one of them is difficult to do, as some of us must maintain some anonymity to be able to support your actions." Jack lit a cigarette for his own amusement, smoking it once before letting it rest in the holder. "As such, I called all of you here today to ask a few simple questions." They all were glowering at him. Glares and intentions to kill him were clear. "First, who was the damn idiot that took a shot at the General?"

All of them looked angry at that. He saw some glares move from him to the faction in charge of running guns into the colony. Spreading the possibility of doubt was the first step in taking control of these men. "We didn't do it! None of our men took the shot!" Said the lieutenant angrily. "We didn't even see the shooter! Our surveillance network saw nothing!"

"The shooter used a new type of ammunition, that can't be traced as of yet." Jack said, getting the attention of everyone at the table yet again. "Prototype shield-piercing ammunition mod. The black market sells them here, as I was able to buy one earlier this week for quite the price." He dropped the brick on the table, and looked back up impassively. "It has been dubbed 'phasic' and has stirred up the military and the Navy all over. You can imagine the idea of this being able to get past their defenses rather terrifying. That is why an entire battalion landed last night, and two more are on their way." A good amount to fight back against the Turians with.

The reactions of those at the table were of scorn. They didn't want to believe it. But Jack was someone that had come out of no where, dragged them out into the open, and had presented information that benefitted them. "We are aware of the extra soldiers. You undoubtedly want to warn us of the extra patrol of ships, too?" The gun providing faction offered. He seemed unamused. Jack decided to blow his mind.

"The entire Second Fleet has mobilized." It wasn't technically a lie. The Turians required the entire Fleet to be extricated. "Thirty-five ships of the line have left their berths and are on their way here. If you go through with any plans to start a revolution in the next thirty six hours, you will be promptly crushed." Jack took a drink while they processed that. "As such, I only ask that you hold off a while longer. I have an inkling that the conglomerate has invested deeply into another endeavor, which will soon take the pressure off of you."

"We have not been made aware of such." One of them replied. "Nor do we plan to take you on your word."

Jack shrugged. "I don't expect you to. But here is a promise I can extend. My name doesn't matter. What does matter is that I control the price of all merchandise that leaves this planet. I own more than thirty percent of this rock in one way or another, more than any other single individual." He finally allowed an expression to show on his face. "Let me be clear. If you so much as take a single step over the line, I will end all economic benefits on Shanxi. I will destroy the market you all have so carefully created with my capital investments. If even one of you decides to start something with the military or Alliance, I will cut everyone off."

Some of them believed him. Others did not. He did notice that they all were evaluating him. "Fine words to throw around, but I don't feel like you are here for our benefit in the slightest." The gun supplying faction was of course distrustful of him.

"My benefit is continued profits from your trade. My benefit comes from that trade not stopping. So if you go off on your little revolution at the wrong time, where we cannot establish Shanxi quickly enough, then I get nothing for it all. So, you screw with what I built, I'll screw with what you built." Jack sneered at him, and held up a datapad. One of the bartenders quickly appeared to bring it to the offended man of Asian descent.

The only leader to not send a lieutenant looked up to glare at him. Trafficking guns was tricky business, and it wasn't possible without a lot of dealers along the chain. All of whom had to be connected to be able to keep the supply chain going. "How did you get this?"

Jack gave him a glare. "The same way I got your locations. Care, precision, patience. I can, with a single mail message, eliminate every single dealer along your chain of suppliers. You will then last a week before running out of supplies to sell, ammunition prices will skyrocket, and you will eventually be driven into the dredges of society. Your fellows at this table will only profit from your own demise, if you refuse to follow my lead."

Jack pulled out three more datapads. More threatening material. More blackmail. It was easy. Methodically, he could just look for the right weaknesses in every organization, until he found the weak links in the chain. He didn't have to follow any ethics when dealing with these people. They understood the game. The remaining three factions backed down pretty quickly. The faction that refused to attend worried him, though. They were the ones he had to truly convince to back down. They supposedly were the ones in charge of the others. Since they weren't here, he would have to wait.

"As a token of my trust in you, take any bottle of wine you wish before you go. If any of you happen to run in Jing Wu, let her know that I am willing to meet her here any time." There were some twitches, very slight, but the change in posture occurred. Chiyu Wu was supposed to be on earth, as a very senior member of the Reds. She was also a business partner, owning almost all communications hardware in the Asian area on Earth. But she had also made a quiet step back for so called vacation time a month ago. Jack could trace her habits, though. Shanxi showed signs of her being here, investing exactly where he would.

She was also closely related to much of the drug market on Earth, both legal and not so legal. She probably had close ties to the drug markets on Earth's colonies, as well. If she was here, he might have a challenge. Or she was here to stop anything from going out of control. At the table now, he could tell that their distaste for him had only gotten thicker. Then again, he was coming into their space and demanding things of them that they didn't want to give. However, none of them wanted to share any information at this point. Jack was probably considered dangerous, and sharing things with their rivals and partly allies was risky.

It didn't take long for the bar to empty. The open invitation would be fulfilled, he knew. At least one of the leaders that didn't come were going to come back, just to verify what he said, or see what side he was on. He grinned to himself as soon as the bar was mostly empty. Wu would have to meet with him to see what he was up to, and all of the different factions would be at each other's throat soon enough. Jack could handle a little chaos and rumor-mongering. The facts were already there, they just had to be presented in the right light. With any piece of information, how it was presented could turn it into a piece of evidence, or the inspiration for doubt.

He didn't return to his room that night. Instead, he stayed up all through the night, paying attention to the news feeds. He wasn't going to miss is this time. Last time the Turians had invaded Shanxi, the news feeds had been going on nonstop about an alien invasion. The Alliance was in the middle of peacetime and had to mobilize for war with territory already lost to the enemy. This time, Jack was sure that they were going to be a bit better off.

As he thought about that, around four in the morning, he noticed the communications satellite that he was connected to lose signal. He switched to the next one, and that, too, went dark within twenty minutes. Nothing new on the news came as one by one, the communications relays went dark. Jack got a very uncomfortable feeling in his gut as he watched the news feeds die down, until nothing but local channels could connect. Even these started to lose reception, until the low orbit satellites got quiet too.

Jack did not like that one bit. "Hannah!" he shouted. She could be heard in the back room, waking up and getting her gun, Omni-tool, and knife. She never went anywhere without that thing. "All of the comms are down across the colony. Go sneak into the command center and figure out what is going on while I get the rest of our gear somewhere safe."

They were out of time. The Turians were here. Long range missiles and kinetic strikes could take out the communications satellites easily. It was the fact that no one had noticed that troubled him the most. He went outside and immediately got a taxi to head to the space port. The  _Talon_  was in its berth, gleaming and perfectly nice looking. Still, there were no alarms that went off. He was sure that the military noticed, or even turned off the communications network themselves.

"James!" He yelled, getting to the berth. In one of the alcoves, James and Amandeep had been using one of the storage rooms. Amandeep was locking one of the storage room doors with a section of wall that could duplicate the walls around it. He had a bit of a tired look on his face.

"Sir, we've got the package you wanted locked away. Why did you want us to hide the storage room? Won't the port authority notice that?"

Jack shook his head. "Not important. The communications satellites just went down. I need you to get the  _Talon_  out of here. Get back through the system and stay alive."

"Um, alright." James said, rubbing his eyes from lack of sleep. "Just get on board and we will be on our way, Sir." He would be able to go without sleep if he needed to.

"Sorry, James, but this time I won't be leaving. There are things that need to be done." Jack told him. "I know that I've always told you otherwise, but today, I need you to stay alive. What is about to happen I can survive. You are a bit more vulnerable."

James nodded, a bit worried. Jack retrieved only a couple of things before the  _Talon_  left the ground. One was a point to point transmitter. The other was a spare shielded suit. His armor and such was already in the hideout he and Hannah were inhabiting. Another travel bag had some food and water, and other forms of survival gear. Considering that there was a possible revolution going on, it would be excusable to have a few weeks of food stashed away. After the  _Talon_  left its berth, Jack placed the transmitter's receiver on the newly covered wall. There was going to be no way to detect it, as there were no outgoing signals. The transmitter could only point to the location, which would require some very delicate climbing to get up the mountain and angle the signal. But, as it was old technology, it was very reliable.

He had to get James and Amandeep out of here. They knew about a few things that Hannah did not, but were unaware of his larger plans like Hannah was. Even though she was probably thinking he was here for more noble reasons. No, there was very little that was noble about this. Sure, in his mind he could tell himself that, but Shanxi was a bloodbath the first time. The second time it would be both worse and better. The defenses would stand up to kinetic bombardment, which means that the Turians would have to invade.

Now,  _that_  was going to be bloody. The Turians were efficient, dangerous, and heavily armed and armored. More importantly, they didn't feel bad about calling in kinetic strikes on civilian buildings just because they heard guns from inside it. They kept their 'honor', though. They paid for the rebuilding of Shanxi after everything was said and done. This time Jack aimed to have a little bit more to be proud about.

Getting into a taxi, he messaged Hannah.  _Send a report about the Reds and their expected numbers to the Alliance. Mention that all evidence points to them going after the old Tyrrel Headquarters building again. It will need to be reinforced before their tunnels connect to it. They are digging into it, that is for certain. They have the numbers and cunning to avoid all of the reinforced positions on the surface, so they will need at least a battalion stationed inside the building._  He finished typing that, and grinned. That should set at least some of the pieces on the board to survive the initial bombardment. Better yet, keeping everyone in a combat ready state will at least give the Turians a harder time.

But there were too many other players in the game on Shanxi right now. Wu was at the top of his list to contact. He had heard nothing from her, and she was not incredibly forthcoming about her legal businesses either. Hannah might be able to get a signal out while she was in the military base, as their communications were a bit more open to use. As an Alliance agent she would be able to access all of that.

* * *

Charles Pressley watched as the relay became active again. The  _Kursk_  had regrouped with the local garrison of Shanxi and their five more ships. With seven ships all together, they hoped that they would at least be able to drive off the craft that had been seen. Their weapons were hot, and every single gun in the fleet was aimed at the general few thousand kilometers in front of the relay. Thankfully, Pressley's hot bunk mate had been recognized for disorderly conduct and had been filed up, leaving his shift open. Pressley now got the daytime shift, so it was much nicer for him.

Since he was now the navigation technician, he had a bit more freedom in how he could spend his rack time. Normally during the night shift his rack time would be during the day, so he would have to stay out of the way of the day crew doing their jobs. He didn't have to do much right now, but he had four different courses planned out for the  _Kursk_  if things indeed got hairy. Captain Rogers was in his chair, right next to the rest of the bridge crew. Space was a premium on a frigate, and legroom even more so. Pressley was tall enough to hate every doorway in the ship, and to hate how much his seat seemed to just cut off blood circulation.

"Activity at the relay! Something's coming through!" the Lieutenant on duty yelled. "It's the  _Cannae_!"

Sure enough, the other frigate they had left behind came through the relay without a scratch. It maintained its speed, though. Rogers wasn't in command of the fleet here, now that they had returned to Shanxi.

" _Cannae, report!_ " Came the voice of Commander Madison, the officer in charge of Taurus Station.

" _Sir! The other ships, we can confirm that they have even greater numbers than before! Five more ships joined the other nine on the other side of the relay, and one of them is much larger than the rest. It could be a dreadnaught or carrier, sir._ " Thankfully these were emergency conditions, and lines of communication not controlled by the military were being turned off. This might spook the Reds on Shanxi, but it might be more important to keep talk of actual aliens down. That would cause more panic needlessly.

" _Cannae, get into formation with the rest of the patrol. If they come through, we are going to have to hold them off of Shanxi until support arrives. Fleets are being mobilized, but we don't have a timeframe for support within the next twenty hours. So keep everyone ready and remember your training. If things go south we need to keep those craft away from Taurus Station and Shanxi."_

Pressley took a deep breath as Captain Rogers looked down at him. "Do we have an attack vector, Ensign?"

"Yes, sir. I have three prepared and one vector prepared to go back to the fallback point at the Helium refinery." Frigates were not about staying at a distance and slugging things out. They were about getting up into knife-fight range and doing some damage, and then moving on. Frigates didn't survive if they weren't in motion.

Rogers gave him a level look. "Prepare an escape vector for the other relay in system, just in case they completely overwhelm us. We might be facing something too powerful to consider us a threat."

Pressley nodded, calling up the subroutines to plan another route. The rest of the flotilla was breaking up into three squadrons, two groups of frigates and the main pack of cruisers. The voice of the Commander came back over the communications.

" _To all ships. We can expect possible incursion within ten hours. The 43rd Patrol has bought us some time, so let's use it. We can't stop them from coming through the relay, but we will stop them from going anywhere near the other relay in this system as well as Shanxi. The Second Fleet stationed at Arcturus system will be en route once they can pick up their crews."_ He paused for a moment, getting everyone to turn towards the comm receiver. " _For all of you who haven't been in a combat situation before, just remember to look to those around you. You have trained for this._ "

Charles noticed that a lot of the people were looking at Captain Rogers, who was the only veteran on the ship. He didn't even respond to their looks. Everyone here was new to the Navy. Even those with a few years experience hadn't been in a combat situation yet. All that they had to go on was a few drills and what they were sent through training with.

They had a few moments to think about that when the relay became active again. "Alright all of you. Do your jobs and we will all go home alive." Captain Rogers growled. "Hopefully they will figure out our attempts to contact them and figure themselves out. But once shots are fired, I expect all of you to give them Hell!" Captain Rogers was put on a frigate for a good reason. He was one of the more warlike members of the Navy. But right now, Charles was quite glad he was serving under him. Others were serving under Captains with no experience of combat.

Pressley gulped as he started planning out more escape vectors. Whoever these people were, they were coming in with a weight advantage. And a numbers advantage. As well as a carrier or dreadnaught. They didn't stand a chance of being able to fight that many ships. But if they could just buy enough time, maybe they could just keep everyone from going home in body bags.

"Activity on the Relay!"  
"Turn off the combat alarm, already! Everyone knows what could happen." Roger's voice carried. "Bring us up to full momentum, have the patrol keep speed. If they come out we need to keep them off those cruisers."

Pressley had never gripped something as hard in his life as the aliens surged through the relay. With a push of a button, he highlighted the first attack vector. It would be the best if they were so heavily outnumbered. He ignored the feeling of something trying to come back up his throat and just focused on his job.

Everyone could see the flash as the relay released whatever these people were.

* * *

Jack noticed his problems before the news feeds could warn him. He could see it in the clear sky above Shanxi. Fire in the sky, streaks of light as the orbital defenses fell. Taurus Station was going to be able to hold on for a few hours, but as it got hammered it made a pretty light show. Most of the locals thought it was some staged action of some kind. The Reds had been quiet, as he had cautioned them. But before the Turians had made it, another battalion of troops had landed and quartered at Tyrrel Headquarters. Another may have been in transit, and would be good as reinforcements.

Still, the spaceport had been full before the fighting got to Shanxi. None of the ships besides the  _Talon_  and a couple of freighters had left before it was too late. Soon the few remaining would have to brave the blockade before trying to escape to the relay or to FTL. He certainly wouldn't be following. The Turians were fast. Their ships emphasized a focus on speed and efficiency, with survivability as a close second. The Asari and Salarians focused more on aesthetic and functional values, leaving the Turians with the front line postings.

He was still holed up in that bar with Hannah. Dingy as it was, no one had come to visit him directly since Some of their agents had come to spy on him or take a look at what he was doing, but that was it. Hannah hadn't come back yet from the military base, which had him a bit worried. It had been almost thirty hours since she went in. Now that the Turians were here, they could start bombarding the planet at any time. Their first target would be that base. He had been drinking a few more cups than normal, and certainly smoking much more heavily. Say what you will, they calmed him down. Lungs could be replaced. He had a good team of doctors for when these lungs gave out or just decided to stop being effective.

The news feeds were still down, and local point to point transmissions could only guess at what might be happening. Attempts to contact the military for information had been met with cold refusals. Jack had been paying close attention to those, and with locals all gabbering about the unnatural lights in the sky, there was nothing being said about the Reds. He could only assume that they were still doing nothing, judging by the ever present spies and observers that frequented his bar. He had to buy it out for his purposes on Shanxi. The original owner had been justly paid for it. Perhaps overpaid, but Jack didn't mind so much.

When he finally saw a shimmer slip through the doorway, Jack made an excuse to move back into the supply room. He left the door open to the upstairs and the main room as well, and watched as the shimmer in the air that was Hannah moved past him and upstairs. He followed, coming up to their insulated walled room and setting up a white noise projector. It disrupted any of the detection equipment that the Reds may have set up.

As soon as it was up, Hannah decloaked. She looked terrible. Wet, her sleeves torn, and some signs of fatigue. But her skin was pale, and she looked like she was in need of some food. Jack immediately threw a blanket over her, and went downstairs to grab some food. Along with her special brand of whiskey. When he got back, Hannah had curled up on the chair, and was sitting at the table. The food was consumed and the brandy was pulled towards her. No cup was needed, as she just took it straight from the bottle.

He waited a few minutes for her to pull herself together, as he already knew what she was going to tell him. "What happened? You were in there for more than a day."

"Exit strategy was lost. Had to wait until the morning shift to get out of the room I was in, and had to escape out the storm drains. It was very cold, thank you for asking." She gave him a small smile. "While I was there, I was able to look at the military communications network. You're not going to believe this, Jack!" She said excitedly. He was of a different opinion. "The ships up there, that are pounding Taurus Station, they are  _Alien_." She waved her hands around. "As in real live aliens, here to invade us!"

Jack gave her a serious look, which was actually easier considering how he felt about the Turians. "That sounds preposterous."

"I'm telling you! What group out there has the numbers and firepower to completely drive off the Alliance fleet from Shanxi, and field fourteen ships?" She gave him a grin as the warmth from the blanket(One of the ones with built-in warming pads) spread to her shoulders. "They came from the other side of that new relay and have a top speed 40% better than the best that we can field."

That was enough to convince Jack Harper last time. But he needed methodical evidence. He was a paranoid person, and just accepting this wasn't in his built up style. "So, fourteen ships, did you record their details and images? Or were you not able to access their systems?"

Hannah held up an OSD. "Figured you would demand proof. I have it all, including their communications with us. If you could call whatever that was communications. Sounds more like chirping mixed with New Era Rock." She slid it across the table to him, where he opened up a datapad and immediately began reading. The Turians were unfortunately very reliable in their fleet patrols and who commanded them. In this instance, it was reliable enough that even with them being discovered six years early, the patrol commander was still the same Turian admiral. He still had a dreadnaught. He could take out Tyrrel Headquarters with that ship alone. The rest of the Turian fleet was there as well, but there were only twelve ships. Looks like the Alliance had managed to destroy a couple. Looking closer, he could see a couple more ships showing signs of damage control teams being active on them.

It was the only time that the Turians turned on the exterior lights. They had excellent vision, but once in space suits their vision was limited. Their eyes were more like those of a bird, and didn't deal with lenses or glass very well. Exterior lights were run so that the damage control teams could see what they were doing on the surface of their craft.

There were hundreds of photos here, taken by the military. "Does anyone know you have this?"

Hannah shrugged. "The security was poor on that part of the base. If anyone figures things out from the logs, it will implicate the ensign who was working that station and accidentally left himself logged in." He gave a grin. Hannah probably just logged back in as him after he left. She still hadn't found some of his stashes of information, as he was paranoid beyond belief that she could possibly find out his passwords. She was smart, after all.

"I can't discount that these  _might_  be alien in origin. The language printing on the sides, the shape and general focus of their design, it is similar enough that they could have been produced in some military shipyard we don't know about. If it wasn't for their technical specs being so much higher than what I am aware of the Alliance being able to produce, I would discount this as some group trying to cause trouble." He glanced up at her. "Do we know what they look like?"

"Not really, no." She said. "I was able to monitor their communications, but the fact is that they are shooting at us, and the military have been quiet about all of this. They set up the block on all communications as soon as their ships came back from sighting the ships." Thirty six hours. The Turians had been in town for thirty six hours and they had already gotten to Shanxi. Last time, the Alliance had been able to hold them off for a few weeks. Six years early made all the difference.

"So right now, they are going after Taurus Station." He said. The light show had intensified in the last hour, as he could see out the window.

"Yes. It is holding, and is staying in orbit, but they don't see any way of saving the people onboard if things continue. When things get bad, they are going to try to send people in escape pods down to the surface." The total population onboard the station was six thousand people. Mostly military or related. Getting them into escape pods would be difficult. There were maybe enough pods for a thousand people if they squeezed in.

"Did these aliens show any interest in our ships? How many of our ships survived?" Human technology had better computer systems, after all. The Turians only got ahead last time when they deciphered the human operating systems.

"We were fine, and our seven ships held off sorties through the relay that lasted a few hours. Sorties went back and forth as vessels on both sides let off heat. But then they brought some bigger ship through." Hannah said, as if from memory. The dreadnaught must have been called up, and from there it wouldn't be long for any human ship to be able to hold up against it. "After that we lost the two cruisers, but the frigates escaped. So the five of those ships got through the relay leading to Arcturus, and from there we started losing communication buoys. The cruiser pieces were bypassed so far as I was able to see. They just came after the buoys and Taurus."

Jack gave a show of thinking, taking the opportunity to refill his glass and take a drink out of comfort rather than worry. Hannah had scared him a little bit. Her being out of contact for so long had been a terrible sign. "So, if they are going after all of the defenses in system, then the next objective would be this planet, then." He made a motion to Hannah. "Then we can't wait here while they get into position."

She saw him gathering their three duffel bags together. "Where do you plan on going?"

He gave her a small smile. "The same place I planned on retreating to if the Reds were going to rise up. The only place on this planet that can withstand orbital bombardment." He came over to the table and made sure she had gotten enough to eat. "I designed it that way in the first place, but now it seems that my original investment won't be necessary."

"What did you think you would need it for?" She asked, slightly more curious about that.

"I planned the revolution here. I planned for a possible end where the military would retreat there from possible ship bombardment from Red ships.

He disengaged the white noise projector at that point. Hannah, now warm and ready to leave, got up and came downstairs with him. When he got to the bar, it had filled up with a few more people. Almost all of which noticed him coming into the room with Hannah. Some even turned towards him.

"Harper." A clear voice came from one of the tables. His eyes narrowed, going through the table until he found the speaker. He could see the people at the table were all of Asian descent, but all of them were hulking brutes. Sitting among them was what could be the only female in the room, excluding Hannah. She was a bit more haggard than Jack normally expected her to be, but the conditions were like that.

"Wu. Glad to see you finally showed up." He dismissed her. He didn't bring any toughs or guns. Hannah was what he had, and she was dangerous, but she couldn't take five men with shotguns.

"Harper, I know you moved your ship out of the spaceport before they locked it down."

She said, from within her circle of protective guards. "You plan on getting out of here at some point."

"And you want a ride." He finished for her. Wu either hadn't gotten the support she needed from the Reds or didn't want to expose any of their hidden ships. If they even had any left at this point. "I don't have any plans to leave for a while yet. Considering that my ship is currently in Arcturus picking up supplies, and there appears to be some sort of space battle above us, I doubt that it will be able to return."

"Who is fighting up there?" Asked one of the other observers. Hannah almost was boring holes into him. She did not want him revealing secrets that she had risked her life for to some lowlives in a dingy bar.  _His_  dingy bar, to be fair.

"The Reds as far as I am aware of do not possess a fleet capable of beating off an Alliance patrol, so the fleet up there pounding Taurus Station is anything but friendly to the Alliance. There are no pirates in our section of the galaxy that can content with the same problem, leaving a lot of questions. Unless you have some friends up there, of course." He said. He did not want to mention alien invaders to half of Shanxi's active factions.

Chiyu Wu gave him a look of extreme distaste. "You and I both know that the Reds are not prepared for such an action. Nor would they use such a fleet blatantly." She made a distinction that separated her from the Reds. Very peculiar. "How much would it cost to have your ship get us out?"

Jack just let out a belly laugh. He had to offend her or get her out of here. Chiyu had a significant market value that shouldn't be lost, even if everyone knew she was a dirty businesswoman. Proving it was hard, as much of China was controlled by their business conglomerates as much as their vaunted Communist party. She was in both. "I have no idea who is up there. I won't bring my yacht, which has no reliable ability to avoid Alliance patrols," not to mention he knew that the Alliance had placed a tracking device on her somewhere. "and risk losing it as well as the millions of credits of investment that you represent as well when we try to escape the blockade."

Chiyu did not like his answer. "Of all the people here, you are the only one who has the ability to escape this planet. You must have some sort of a plan."

Jack took out a pistol, and held out his hand to Hannah. She reached into her purse, and his Lancer I assault rifle unfolded into his hand. That got the attention of everyone in the bar. But it was his bar, and it was his rules. No one shot anyone else as a reply. He just laid out both extended weapons on the table. "My plan is simple. I came prepared to stage a revolution of some kind. Whether I have to help or not. I removed anything I felt uncomfortable losing. As such, I don't have an escape plan. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to go figure out exactly what is going on. I'll return to this bar when I have more information."

The weapons were returned to their previous locations, earning a new respect for Hannah, whose usual secretary persona was ignored as a general rule. Grabbing his duffel bags, he gave a nod the Chiyu and went out of the door. He didn't have long before the Turians would take Taurus Station, and begin their assault. He hailed a taxi and told them to drive to Tyrrel Headquarters. It had only just been repaired from the damage done 18 months ago. Now, it had been reinforced and turned into a fortress.

So as to not cause unnecessary trouble, it was now simply labeled as a military base. Tyrrel was still what everybody called it, even if the company had gone under all those months ago. The new blueprints Jack had not been able to get his hands on. That would have been suspicious. Especially if he sold it to the Reds or something like that. Jack simply wanted leverage. Hannah did poke him in the shoulder to draw him out of his musings.

"You really came to stage a revolution?"

He snorted. "No, nothing of that nature. I got much more out of that conversation than she did. Chiyu is not being endorsed by the Reds, which is why she was looking for a quick extraction. We didn't see any response from the Red's strongest faction, which is worrisome but now with different conditions, is no longer is relevant. What these aliens are here for is up for debate. Extermination, Exploitation, Expansion. For all we know it might be some sort of race based on enslavement of others." She gave him a bit of a terrified look.

"So, what can you do with aliens on your doorstep and the Alliance Fleet in retreat, with the threat of invasion hanging over you?" She asked carefully.

"Give out some advice, inform the military of the exact position of the underground tunnels, as well as who they need to get in contact with in the Reds to start fighting back. The way I see it, any invasion would have trouble overcoming a determined military and paramilitary response. So, right now I am going to go and offer to be a liaison between the military, under General Williams,"

"Who you just had shot at," She snarked.

"and the Reds, as well as the independent faction that is related to Chiyu." He finished, ignoring her comment.

"Well, what are we waiting for? You can offend a few more people today." She said, as the taxi stopped in front of the mountainside fortress. What was once gentle contours and clean lines had been completely transformed. The Alliance had lost hundreds of marines taking this building, and once they turned it into their own, it was even more fortified. Every contour had been turned into fortified walkways, layered plating that could resist even the hardiest ground based weapons.

The gatehouse, for example, had been a relatively simple precaution for Tyrrel. Now it was a double checkpoint pillbox, with a modern, at least for 2151, heavy tank. It's large bore cannon was intimidating, but he didn't mind it. It would probably be destroyed by kinetic bombardment before it would ever get used. But for now it was comforting to see such a fine display of the military might of the Alliance here.

As they walked forward, they were stopped by a full squad of marines. Their weapons were up, and one of them had a metal detector as well as some other sensor equipment. "Halt! This is a restricted area!"

Jack put down his duffel bag and motioned for Hannah to do the same. The detector lit up with reports of the armor and weapons inside the bag. That of course got the soldier's attention. "I am here to speak with General Williams."

"Denied. No civilians are allowed past this point." The soldier didn't seem to care, but the presence of weapons in the bag did make him at least willing to listen.

"My name is Jack Harper. You can tell him that I am the one who financed half of this building. Technically, this is my property, but was seized due to the problems with Tyrrel." The soldier was quite unmoved. "What I am here to offer is the information on all of the underground tunnels that the Shanxi Reds have dug, as well as their numbers and strength. Considering that we appear to be in the middle of something of a crisis, I offer these services in exchange for my protection."

The officer had to think very carefully on that. "Give me a minute to check with my superior. Don't move." He stepped back to communicate with whoever was going to be Jack's next target of disdain. The rest of his squad kept their weapons up and mostly focused on Hannah. One man had his sights on Jack, while the other three were focused on Hannah. He just relaxed. There was only one way that this would end, and that was with him meeting the General over some of the expensive brandy he had in his bag.

He only had to wait five minutes. The officer came back, looking about the same level of grumpy. "My superior wants to talk to you. But you have to leave your secretary and bags here."

Jack held up one hand as arrogantly as he could. Which created an intense look of distaste. "I brought all of my personal arms and armor, as well as hers. Included in those bags are things bought from the Black Market to assist in my evidence and presentation of the information you'll need. My secretary is actually an Alliance Intelligence Agent that is attached to me to secure my protection." He said, with no emotion displayed. They of course didn't believe him, prompting an even greater response.

They wanted to search their bags, and Jack refused. They were still on civilian property and had their rights. So Jack was grinning heartily when finally their superior had to come out and take a look at things. He was not the kind of person Jack expected. Coming out in full blue dress uniform, and without a scar covering most of his face, was the General. Thick, corded neck muscles on top of wide shoulders made the General stand out from the rest of his soldiers.

The array of medals did as well. Jack was familiar with him from the post-war pictures. Dejected, broken, and scarred. That was the General he was familiar with. The unsullied man before him was unnerving to say the least. Without the shame of his defeat, the man certainly maintained a presence.

"Jack Harper. I was expecting you days ago." He grunted. "I received notification about your ship landing here and thought you would be right over." He did not appear amused to be talking to him. "But as long as you were just here for whatever business you are involved in, I was unconcerned. Now, I have to be. What brings you here?"

Jack was able to recover his resolve as he spoke. "I have everything you need to solve your problems, and then some."

"My problems? Solved by a businessman?" Williams laughed about that. "I doubt you have any solutions that would benefit the Alliance more than your pocket."

Jack let him laugh. He just grinned in the most predatory way possible. "Hannah, please show him the next generation of Alliance Special Forces."

Hannah gave him a long look, which he only nodded at. She placed her purse on the ground, and gave the surrounding soldiers a small glance. Then she cloaked. For most of humanity, this was not an unexpected development. Invisibility had been one of their most important goals in experimentation. Actually being confronted with someone who could do such was another thing entirely.

The soldiers immediately brought their guns to bear, looking for any sign of Hannah. When she showed back up, with her trusty knife at the neck of the officer who first confronted them, all of the soldiers were surprised. They hadn't heard or seen the shimmer move. General Williams was looking at Hannah with an almost appreciative look. "Alright, Mr. Harper. You have my attention." He slowly said, considering Hannah.

She let go of the marine, patting him on the shoulder as her knife disappeared into a hidden sheathe somewhere. She walked back to where her purse and duffel bag were, and gently picked them both back up. Jack picked up his bags. "I would prefer to speak of this in a more private setting, then." He motioned to the surrounding soldiers. "Too many loose mouths here. To the earlier display I must remind all of you that knowledge of this new program is to be kept secret. No one will believe you and the Intelligence Office will find ways of convincing you to remain quiet if you think otherwise."

Williams didn't comment on anything until they had entered the bottom floor of the base and stepped into a lift. "So, this is why I received a warning about you the moment you entered the system."

Jack didn't care what Ross was telling people. "Technically not. The system is a prototype, that was only successfully developed within the last few months. Hannah hasn't presented it to her superiors yet." He did take the time to light a cigarette, which made the VI of the base send a small warning to the elevator. Williams declined to comment, so Jack offered him one. It was taken without any trouble, other than Hannah rolling her eyes. "The reason you got a warning is because Ross believes I am associated with the Reds."

"Are you associated with them?"

"Until this week, not directly, no. But I did come to Shanxi to stop them from starting a revolution." Williams raised an eyebrow. "Did Ross not include my history in the report? How careless of her. Now I have to explain more that you'll have to confirm before you extend any trust towards me."

"I can verify if you trust my word," Hannah said. "I am his attache, from Intelligence."

"More like my observer and tracker." Jack said. The elevator opened and released them onto a small set of hallways. General Williams led them to a small conference room that had no windows or technology to interface with. Probably a safe room for more friendly interrogations.

"Jack Harper, suspected of investing into the insurgent group known as the Reds. Suspected of illegally supplying political funding, suspected of embezzling millions of credits from his own companies. Has an extremely good team of lawyers." Williams said, reading off of a datapad. "Now you are offering advice that proves at least one of these correct."

Jack glanced at the pad. "Partially true, Prove to me that it wasn't legal at the time, My partners are jealous, and one hundred percent true." He replied to the accusing document, probably written by Ross and influenced by Reid's greed. "I have contacts within the Reds that have done business with me in the past, who I was here contacting and dragging to the bargaining table. I have no interest in letting Shanxi fall, not after I personally invested so much in it. So, General, I hear that you have a bit of an invasion problem."

He grunted. "Figures that you would go to the Reds to use their equipment to find out what is going on."

"Well, I don't know about you, but the chirping/snarling sounds I'm hearing don't sound fabricated." He claimed. Hannah looked calm, considering that she was the one who stole all of this information. "Nor do the reports of the local Alliance fleet falling back, and I can see Taurus Station getting hammered with my own eyes." He wasn't going to tell them that he was fluent in Turian. There were some months yet that he could accomplish that. Asari he would have to 'learn' again later. It was easier, but the Turian was more important at the time, as they had been at war. "It sounds like you have an alien problem."

"Which begs the question as to why you are here, then."

"I happen to know all of the different people in charge of the Reds in the city. If we are about to be invaded, they deserve to know. Plus, who would know the city better, or be able to fight off an invading force better?" Jack brought up a datapad, sliding it over to Williams. "They have tunnels, deep enough to be safe from kinetic strikes. You can move people and weapons through these easily, as long as you meet them at the bargaining table."

"We don't bargain with terrorists." Williams offered, though he did honestly consider it. "Even in the face of alien invasion."

"Even if the terrorists planted an old hydrogen bomb in the space port?" He said, watching as Hannah and the General gave him looks of incredulity. "Which will be the first place that the alien invaders will land. If you want the Reds to react to their invasion with nuclear fire, then you can do nothing." Jack motioned to the bags he brought with him. "But, if you bring them to the table, they can be convinced to not do that. They might even compromise on their revolution. In the face of the alien threat, you could come together and prove that Humanity can hold out against them."

"Where did they get a nuke?" He asked, blinking. "Surely they couldn't be that desperate."

Hannah was surprised at that revelation, too. She should be. The man who sold him this was long dead. Jack had bought this almost nine years before, from some unreputable chap from Saudi Arabia. He hadn't survived the day. Jack had made sure of it, as ownership of nuclear weapons was still looked down upon. The few owned by the Alliance were going to be used on probes sent to scout Turian space. Jack had gotten ahold of one last time using Cerberus connections. He hadn't needed to use it, but having it was a nice ace in the hole. Not having to spend money on large explosives was an even nicer benefit.

"Same place most people get them. Black markets, other locations where illegal goods can be found. Like this one." He slid the now-infamous phasic ammo block to General Williams. "One of the Reds decided to test their ammunition on you. This can get past shields." Jack saw his eyes narrow on the block. "A certain percentage of the shot is sacrificed to allow some of it to get through. A second shield in the path of the bullet causes an exponential drain upon the power of the shot. As you are still here, I see that you didn't get picked off by some amatuer."

General Williams picked up the ammo block, looking it over carefully for identification signs and such. Not finding any, he just put it off to one side. "So, Mr. Harper, anything else you want to bring up? Secret tunnels, a nuke, all useful things right now. If these aliens are as bad as I think they will be, I might not mind someone nuking them."

"You've watched the vids, general. What we imagine to be aliens are usually not capable of strategic calculations. These seem a bit more like us, judging by their ship and fleet configurations. Would it be safe to assume that their ground forces could follow the same logic?" Jack offered.

"We have already come to that conclusion. Their ships, built along the lines that they are, assume that these creatures are bipedal. Or they are using Prothean designs. It appears that our own design structure, reverse engineered from them, determined the shape of our ships. Theirs follow the same forms that we ourselves reverse engineered. They are obviously further along in the engineering process, so we can expect reasonably the same tactics and technology."

"But, you have no idea how far along they will be in that technology, or how powerful their infantry based kinetic barriers will be." Jack noted. "Or if the race has a physical structure that makes them extremely hard to physically put down. As such, I offer the best that the Alliance has." Jack turned to Hannah, who looked a bit surprised. "She has the ability to cloak, and can carry a weapon with her. She cannot use kinetic barriers or armor while doing so, but she is very effective with that knife of hers. When the aliens land, I only ask that you send her where you need help the most."

Hannah was honestly surprised. She wasn't a frontline soldier in any sense of the word. Her only defensive ability was to cloak, and to have that she gave up kinetic barriers and armor. Well, she could engage barriers but it would for certain disrupt her cloak. Or make it impossible to engage until the barrier had been disabled.

"Harper, are you telling me that you want this secretary on the front lines?" He then turned to Hannah. "No offence, ma'am."

"None taken." She replied. "I don't see myself as a soldier in that sense, either."

Jack kept his smirk up, even though inside he wished that Hannah had a spine. That was what Greg was supposed to give Shepard. Hannah didn't quite have the same fire in her heart that he did. Their child had both the fire and the logic from Hannah. Jack had to somehow create that fire in Julia if there was to be any hope for the Human race. Miranda would be a secondary choice. She was going to be the biotic that Subject Zero had never been. Considering that he had all of the information and research that Cerberus had bled for in his memories, creating the perfect biotic would be easy.

He gave both Hannah and Williams a large grin. "Well, as much as you might disagree, Hannah, you are the best we have. Our soldiers are all carrying Aramax armors, They are shoddy at best, as you well know, General. We can safely say that our soldiers will need at least two to one odds to get past the deficiencies in their armor. Not to mention whatever problems we may have with the weapons the troops have." Williams was glowering. "So, General. Hannah has the ability to avoid their notice, and get behind enemy lines. She has all of the training to get through unfamiliar data systems. If they are truly based of of the Protheans, then she will have a chance to get you intel on the enemy."

Hannah didn't show any emotional response to this. She could think logically. She knew where this was going, and more importantly, would know what was next.

"I get that she is an asset. But i can't trust you on just that, Harper. Not when you have obvious ties to the Reds." Williams noted.

"Then let her prove herself. Send her to do something that your soldiers never could." Jack offered, inside knowing all along that he would win this little bet. Hannah might not have enough spine for his tastes, but she had logic and intelligence in spades. "She is the best that Humanity can offer to your cause. Currently she is the only one who can cloak, but after this I believe that you'll be finding a few more willing to undergo the process."

"Is that what you want? For the Alliance to use you for that?" Williams asked, and Hannah looked almost ready to agree with him.

"No. What I want is for the Alliance to become the power it is meant to be. If anything, I will most likely lose most of my position in the economy over backlash I will receive from your superiors as well as the Reds. My profits will not skyrocket from the development of better special forces agents. The technology to create them and improve them will be my focus. Hannah has also received gene mods for extended stamina, strengthened muscle tissues, and greater night vision. She will be able to puncture a set of armor with her knife, all while remaining invisible. So long as her skin doesn't come in contact with a kinetic barrier or something that can disrupt her cloak, she should be able to sneak right up to the enemy."

"Assuming they don't have some sort of echolocation or heightened senses that could find me." Hannah noted.

"Just get some scent removal spray-" Jack started saying, when the base rumbled. All of them looked around at the walls, the old familiar terror coming back. He had survived the Turians in his memories, and he would survive them this time as well. Williams got up and ran for the door, bellowing orders and moving. Jack stayed where he was. That was a strike nearby, but not direct. The lights weren't even shaking. Hannah had wide eyes, though.

"Jack, I never wanted this." She said.

"You want your old position back? This was supposed to be simpler. You go and kill each of the Red's leaders and stop the revolution before it could begin, thereby saving the Alliance singlehandedly. You then become the most desired agent that they can field, and they will have no choice but to use you. I never planned on you being a soldier, but right now this is the best chance we have to get you back into their good graces."

"You were going to have me assassinate those people?" Hannah seemed to be alright with that, more so than being in a battlefield.

"Along with Chiyu Wu. Removal of their leaders would throw their plans into ruin, and create rifts and power vacuums at the time where their revolution would have begun. Disorganization would have led to their complete defeat. Now, though, we have to take advantage of the situation. You will need to take advantage of the situation." Not to mention her training and his modifications made her the perfect agent to fight the Turians. He just had never told her that. Her skills would determine much of what he would be able to do in the future. But as of now, she was technically expendable.

He thought about that. In his memories, everything was expendable as long as the mission was completed. Now though, he didn't have a gigantic paramilitary organization. Every single person he had working for him was worth more than any mission or goal he could send them on. With that in mind, he amended that thought. Hannah was not and never could be expendable, even if that goal was worth it to the rest of Humanity.

She herself was quiet, probably preparing herself mentally for what she would have to do. "What do you think they'll send me after?"

"Technology. Weapons. Explosives. Anything that they can analyze and engineer an answer to quickly and efficiently. They will be looking for anything that can help with the war effort. Biological samples, information, anything that might tell us about how to kill them."

She nodded. That at least made sense. They didn't have to wait long. Williams sent a marine down to their conference room. He came to the door and saluted Hannah, and nodded at Jack. Civilian and special agent both stood up. "The General has requested your presence on the command bridge."

Jack straightened his always-impeccable suit and moved to follow. Hannah could be easily heard behind them, though that wouldn't apply for long. She would be getting into her stealth gear before long, which generated plenty of static electricity for her recharge speed. He also had a large batch of batteries in her bag just for this invasion. It did create an interesting history when someone is buying bags of helium-3 batteries and nothing for them to go ito. Jack had a large pile of compatible technology to cover these purchases.

As they got to the bridge, which was at the very bottom of the base, Jack could see that they had converted one of the vehicle bays into it. Large haptic interfaces covered the surface of a real-time colony hologram. Dots marked enemy and allied forces. There were very few red dots on the ground as of yet, but there were a lot of Green and yellow dots. From experience he knew that yellow meant wounded or down on the field. Already there were more than a few yellow dots around the spaceport.

General Williams was sitting next to the haptic interface that directed the anti-air batteries. There were more than a few getting taken out by the Turian's bombardment. The General already was losing a lot of his defenses and they hadn't even been fighting an hour yet. When Jack walked in, the General waved him over to the command table.

"I need the comm number for your allies. Before they take out the com towers groundside." He told Jack. Jack just grinned. They needed all the help that they could get. The Reds wouldn't hold back in the face of invasion.

"Of course. I suppose that they'll need some sort of liaison to communicate with you. As such, I nominate myself."

For those who didn't know Jack, that came off as arrogant and self-centered. The reason behind that was very clear. People react to offensive self-sustaining statements in three ways. They assume that you are joking, they take it poorly, or they ignore you. Due to the professionalism of the Alliance military, none of them seemed to care except the officers, who were allowed to have an opinion about how things were run. Williams didn't seem to take offense to it, probably guessing that Jack would be a better assist if he were doing something constructive. Or at least that is what Jack wanted to believe when he didn't contest it.

"Ms. Shepard. Or Agent, if you prefer." He said, ignoring Jack. "I need you to go and get something for me. We need a working computer or data source from them. My frontlines describe them as bipedal, with large conical heads. Or at least what they can see. They also describe them as wearing long helmets, equipped with strong rifles and some heavier weapons so far. What we need are some details about them. Something more than what we might get from their corpses."

Hannah gave him a short look. "Just point me in the right direction, then. I'll bring back something." Williams grinned. He apparently could trust her. Jack was of course, not trusted at all. But that was normal. It was comfortable, at least.

* * *

Two Hours Later

Allison Hannah Shepard hadn't been in a live fire exercise since basic training. Her heart rate was up, and she could safely say that she was terrified. She didn't have any armor. One stray shot would be enough to kill her. There were plenty of those. The spaceport had been completely overrun by some sort of aliens with similar bone structure to humans. They had legs that functioned like a human's but had some sort of spikes or bone structure that came off the calf and angled upwards. She couldn't count on their knees to be a target, as the armor was thicker there.

Their arms were humanoid, but only had three fingers. Their shoulders were wide, and a large bone structure went around the back of their necks. That meant that it would be difficult to get a good hold. Or perhaps it would give her an easy hold. Testing that would be risky. At least their necks and faces were open enough. Their helmets were set up as if they had two or four eyes, and meant that they would have a narrow field of vision. Perhaps if their helmets were set up correctly, they might have one hundred and eighty degree vision. Or more, if cameras were involved. Among humans their eyes were just not suited to handle more than that in terms of vision.

So, that left her combat options to shooting at them, or getting into knife range. Neither was preferred. So she moved from piece of cover to piece of cover, avoiding any signs of battle. She saw some corpses of their side, being looked over by these aliens. There were no signs of casualties on their side, or at least none that she could see still here. They had shuttles coming down and leaving every few seconds. They hadn't landed anything larger, and they didn't have any vehicles on the ground yet. The wrecked hulks of a few tanks from their side were around, but they looked like they had been destroyed by air strikes rather than troops carrying heavy weapons.

The spaceport was heavily damaged. The parked ships had all been damaged or destroyed. Probably sabotaged or hacked already. She momentarily considered taking off with one of them and making for the relay, but shook it off. She would never make it. None of these were as fast as the  _Talon_ , and Jack had mentioned in passing that its top speed was not even close to what the alien ships could do.

That gave her an idea, though. The Alliance needed all of the intelligence they could get. If she could steal one of their ships, that would be a treasure trove of technology and usable intelligence. There was no way of any human masquerading as any of these people, though. Any ships she could steal alone were in the small shuttle class. Fighters, too short range and not enough technological value. A shuttle, though, it might have information on it. Shuttles could use the relays, and had large enough spaces that they could carry some decent amount of equipment.

Some shuttles were marked in different colors. Different ships, perhaps? Vivid greens and reds were marked on the shuttles. One shuttle had blue marks on it, and the others moved out of the way of it. Seemed important. She didn't want an important shuttle. She preferred one of the slower moving ones. Between the green and red colors, she decided on the red. Those shuttles moved much slower than the green ones. Or at least she thought that. It was hard to tell. She gripped one of the batteries that she had been given for the trip. Gripping it tightly, she started moving carefully towards their designated landing zones. The shuttles would touch the ground for a few seconds, drop off troops or supplies, and take off.

She picked on of the supply shuttles. They landed further back, and weren't as observed. She was able to get close using the old drain system for the ever present rain and snow that came down on Shanxi. She noted that happened a lot lately. Getting out of the military base sucked. Sliding her way out a storm drain and cutting her way through one of the security hatches(it wasn't the first time it had been used for such) had been horrible. Especially when only hours later she and Jack had come in through the front door.

Jack wasn't at the top of her list right now. He had requested that she risk her life spying on the military, only to turn around and send her out after the aliens! All without more than a few hours of sleep. Even that was more of an accident than anything else. She had just taken a few minutes to sit down and it had turned into a few hours. She decided not to mention that to him, anyways.

So now she was crawling through another storm drain. She had never considered herself vain, but there was a certain level of satisfaction to having a clean pair of clothes and not a single bit of dirt under your nails. Thankfully, as long as she kept the mud off of her pants it wouldn't disrupt her cloak too badly. If she didn't trudge through standing water that would help too. So, much of the next few minutes, she had to tiptoe her way down the pipes. The aliens didn't have anyone patrolling yet, as the lines of combat were still being established.

She abused that privilege, and made it to where the supply shuttles were landing without having to cloak every ten seconds. Still, she had to wait for a shuttle to come down, with the mud and snow being sprayed up every time one of the shuttles touched down. That would disrupt the cloaking system. So, she had to be very specific on the timing. When one of the longer red shuttles landed, she waited for its engines to turn off. The back door of the shuttle opened, and inside she could see lines of boxes. All were marked in some different script, almost like it was scratch marks. Really formal and well formed scratch marks, but it looked like they dragged their fingers over the ship. Or claws, whatever they were.

One of the aliens came from inside the shuttle and walked down to the back, snarling something to the other two that were on the landing pad. What was interesting was that he was not wearing a helmet. Instead, the alien was wearing some sort of visor. Their faces were scaled, and they had some sort of color on them. Natural or artificial she didn't know, and the mouth structure was mostly human, minus some sort of large prongs or facial spikes coming off the cheeks. They only had two eyes, set deep into their face like a bird. They had to rotate their head to see more than one hundred and twenty degrees, so that was a plus. Humans had better range of vision.

She ignored any further checking of the alien's face, as the two at the landing pad started unloading the boxes. Hannah held onto her battery, looking at the charge meter to guess how much time she had. A few minutes at best. She moved forward quickly, stepping lightly behind the two aliens moving one of the longer crates. The alien without a helmet was moving back towards the cockpit of the shuttle, which only had one seat. He was sitting down in it already, pulling out the control sticks to guide it. They looked like something easy enough. Pulling up on the stick would send the craft down, and the opposite. She could tell because of the way that the alien pilot's arm was tensed on the control arm. He was ready to take off at any moment.

A pity for him that it wouldn't happen. She brought out one of her favorite devices. An automatic zip-tie. It was simple, deceptively so. Once you get it around something, it tightens until it cannot tighten any more. Since this alien wasn't wearing a helmet, she decided that he would learn about how they worked personally. With a nasty snap, she let the zip-tie come around his scaly neck and choke him out. She pulled him off to the side, noting that their hips and weird bone structure created a need for deep bucket seats. She decidedly didn't like them.

What happened next she was not particularly proud of. She had to put the choking alien on the ground, and then proceeded to take off. All of the unsecured boxes started flying around in the rear compartment, causing the shuttle to nearly tip over as she tried to clear the nearby houses. She didn't, taking the shuttle down the main road and dragging the back end, creating sparks and all kinds of terrible noise as the shuttle moved. Anytime she tried to move higher, though, she felt the shuttle unbalance. She didn't know how to close the back doors, nor did she know how to control the throttle other than by guessing. The big green handle in the middle did the trick, though. Her first attempt at turning destroyed the local Nordstrom. Not that bad of a strike, but it showed that the shuttle was durable.

One of the dresser racks that she got hooked on stayed attached after she leveled out on Main street, driving towards the Tyrrel Headquarters. Small arms fire began pelting her newly stolen shuttle immediately. Thankfully none of the air defense towers responded. Her horrible driving showed she was no alien. Speaking of which, she had to reach out and grab the sliding unconscious alien before he died. If he slid out the back, well that would be annoying after the trouble she had gone through to get him.

The gatehouse of the military base was long gone, taken out by kinetic strikes. She landed with all the grace of a rock in the main assembly area. The shuttle slid almost a hundred feet before  _crunching_  against the walls of the base. She was roughly thrown from the seat, getting crushed against the dashboard. She blamed the lack of armor for her coming bruises.

It took her a minute to get up, but by that time Alliance Marines had already boarded the craft and were ready to shoot anything that moved.

"Hey!" She yelled from the cockpit. "I brought back a live one!"

The stunned looks of the soldiers made her annoyed. They were supposed to have some level of professionalism. On the other hand, stealing a shuttle from the enemy and then riding it home was sort of epic. No one had done that before, she supposed. The soldiers were still staring at the beaten up shuttle and the weird script. As well as the large bloodstain on the wall. Huh. That wasn't there when she took off. One of those loaders must have gotten crushed by one of the crates when it came loose.

She reached underneath the dashboard and dragged out the alien she had caught. He was bleeding from his forehead, and his visor had cracked. Too bad, it looked quite useful. "Ma'am, are you Agent Shepard?" One of the officers asked, apparently in communication with the central command structure.

"Yes. I was tasked with fetching some technology. Now let's get this inside before they find out that we stole one of their shuttles." She started dragging the downed alien forward when she noticed that he had a small wristband. It was extremely similar to the one she herself was wearing, her Omni-tool. So, she slipped it off the alien's wrist and put it into her pocket. She understood those things better than anyone else on this planet at this point. Other than maybe Jack, who knew enough to manipulate their code somewhat. He was tricky with that sort of thing, or at least he knew enough to be considered some sort of secretive programmer.

She let the soldiers carry the alien off, as she watched a cargo lifter come over to the shuttle to drag it away. She just found reason to grin at all of this. Though some of the soldiers were giving her weird looks. Not the kind of looks she had been normally getting, from those across the business table, but the kind of look that was jealousy. That was  _awesome_. Soldiers were jealous of her.

She gave all of them a smirk that could piss off Jack Harper, and then engaged her cloak. Word had definitely got around the base about her already, judging by the looks people were giving. So she just took her sweet time and followed the soldiers carrying the alien. The shuttle was, well, ruined. It wouldn't fly again. The right wing section was crumpled, and the back was scraped.

She shrugged. Not her problem if they made seats and controls that didn't work with human hands too well. She just followed one of the officers into the command bridge, where she walked up to the table. Jack was off to one side, arguing with someone over the communication lines.

"No, dammit! I am telling you, either act now or watch as you all become slaves or worse of some alien!" Jack seemed to listen for a moment to whatever they were saying. "I know you don't have enough armor. The military won't have enough bodies to fill theirs soon enough!" Apparently diplomacy with the Reds wasn't going well.

General Williams was still at the table, eyeing the battle closely. Red parts of the city echoed where their soldiers had been forced to pull back. There were a lot more dots that showed casualties than when she was here earlier. Not wanting to throw him off too much, she decided to move back to the door and decloak there. He was a highly decorated military man, and might just appreciate the respect.

The guards at the door were skittish, of course. They reacted poorly. They drew guns on her, which she ignored. Jack of course noticed her. He was good at noticing her. Williams just grinned.

"Ah! You brought me a gift, I see."

"He shouldn't be too messed up. Though he did lose oxygen for a little bit." She said. "Though he also had an Omni-tool," She held it up for emphasis, "which I would love to dig into with Jack's help. He also had some sort of visor technology and there were still two crates in the shuttle when I stole it. Hopefully that helps."

Williams smiled. "First bit of good news I've heard all day. The next bit won't be so hard. I have reports of an alien attack force that is out of position. I want you to go and start-"

A loud alert went through the base, making him stop talking. "What the hell was that?"

"Was that the bomb?" Was William's reaction. He was busy looking at the battle map, which had stopped updating.

Jack came up to the table, adjusting his lapels. "That was the bomb. A modified hydrogen bomb created by the old superpowers of the 2020's."

Hannah just felt weak. The Reds decided to  _nuke_  the aliens. That was just stupid. General Williams was faster on the uptake, though. "Get runners out to the front, tell them to push hard on the aliens, and to take advantage of the EMP. Our scanners and cameras are shot. We are going visual confirmation from now on. Harper, what can you tell me about the kiloton range of that bomb? How much of Shanxi just got wiped?"

Jack was absolutely professional as he came back to the table. Rare, for him. "The part of the bomb that was supposed to be nuclear fire was exchanged for an EMP. Right now, if things are right," He motioned to the spaceport, which was now in the alien's hands. "This entire area is no longer going to have working computers until they reboot. If they are an invading army, then they don't have much equipment to do that on the ground yet. The Reds will be starting their assault within moments, as you might imagine. They'll need backup."

Williams glanced at her. "What can you tell us about them, Agent?" Looks like he was going to the person he trusted more than Jack. Which was to say, everyone in the room.

"They had eyes set into their heads, like an airborne predator. Skin has scaled, but are thinner and weaker around the neck. Their shoulders are wide, and may block direct strikes on their neck from behind. To engage them in close combat, you'll have to go for the waist or neck, as the armpits, nose, and knees are all armored. They will most likely have less dexterity, as they only have three fingers. They will operate interfaces more slowly. Other than that, they are very disciplined, and work together well. Definitely a trained military force, and their ships are color coded for when they land. Blue shuttles are priority, and usually carry casualties. Other shuttles are red or green, and carry troops and supplies. Shoot those with impunity."

Williams nodded. "Do you think we have a chance of taking back the spaceport?"

"If we do, we deny them the only location that they can land armored vehicles at within one hundred miles. The mountains can protect us from normal land approaches. It will be just like what happened when the Alliance had to take this back in the first place. This time, we will have all of the advantage. As long as we can just get them out of the spaceport, they will have to relocate."

"Or just keep shelling us from orbit." Jack noted, intruding on the conversation again. "These aliens are perfectly willing to shoot down at any coordinated assault that we put forward. The Reds aren't going to be mounting any kind of assault on the spaceport. They will be setting explosives on the most likely path of the next attack. The EMP that just went off is going to take their armor, shields, and any shuttles on the ground offline. We have a short window before more troops come down or they have their technicians reboot everything. More importantly, that EMP just disabled all of the consoles that would have given them intelligence on the location of earth or our other colonies."

This was greeted with at least some healthy smiles. Jack was boldly drinking some sort of alcohol, and had poured one glass for her and for the General. She refused, though she really wanted to drink it. General Williams poured his out into a garbage. Then he threw the cup in with it. "Glad they did something right. Get a runner out there to get flares to our troops. That way we can report on their locations. Focus on killing as many of the enemy as we can."

Williams then turned to his communications officers. "You're useless until cameras and sensors are back online, which I doubt we will get the chance to do. Go round up some of the alien's bodies. We can't just keep losing soldiers like this. Harper! Tell your friends to evacuate what civilians they can, as soon as possible. Agent Shepard, I want your help with their snipers. If we are going to survive this, we need to keep our men alive. The last one was reportedly in this sector…" Williams trailed off, pointing at a section of the city.

She really wanted a nap right now. Or at least a bit of food. Perhaps she could slip out and grab something while he was rambling. But that wouldn't be respectful. Damnit. At least he was bossing Jack around. That made him good in her book.

* * *

Author's Note

Welcome to Shanxi. This time it will run a bit differently than in canon, since it is out of sync with the timeline and the preparations that Jack has put into Shanxi. Things will progress much faster now that everything is mostly introduced.


	8. Fugue: Secretary Soldier Seductress Spy

Chapter 8

Shanxi, 2152

Shanxi had been pounded. The city was a crater at this point, due to repeated kinetic strikes to destabilize the tunnels that ran all over the city. The mountain was collapsed, the base underneath it having been completely wiped out. Hannah watched all of this from across the valley, where some of the surviving militia had camped out. These aliens had utterly destroyed their military. Perhaps if they had a few more battalions, it would have been different, but these scale-faced bastards had ruined everything.

She had been given something to replace her old set of sleuthing gear by Jack. He had given her some sort of tunic with a layer of wool that rubbed against the outer layers in it. The static it gave off shocked people whenever she touched them. More importantly, it gave her a recharge on her cloak after only a few minutes. It had saved her life a few times.

"Are you ready?" She asked the few people with her. None of them were wearing armor, and most were women. They had to be, to slip into the civilian camps. These aliens had set up internment camps for their prisoners. They shot anyone who escaped, but freely let people come in. After everything was said and done, they still hadn't conquered all of Shanxi. Two weeks of effort had landed them in a terrible supply situation. General Williams and some leader of the Reds that she wasn't allowed to know the name of yet had gotten together and made things very hard for the aliens.

They were forced to level every single building, and overturn every single rock. Land Mines were apparently one of the specialties of the Reds, and they preferred plaster castings that didn't have any metal in them as the shape. The explosive agent could then be covered in ash or rock dust, and left on the road where any of them could trigger it. The alien's forward motion came to a halt, and for three days the city was shelled until they figured no one was left standing.

Then the main assault on the mountain came. Thanks to General Williams keeping a few tanks inside, they managed to hold off the endless assaults. The few remaining soldiers then escaped through tunnels into the back of the mountain range, where they scattered to different smaller towns. Most were long gone or abandoned, leaving the only army units capable of mounting an assault too far away to be of any use. The aliens had effectively won, but not before realizing the different between the civilians and the military.

Now, it was down to the Reds. Hannah had joined up with them because there was no one else left. They didn't take it well. But she was given a chance to prove herself. They had no choice but to take her help. She could get into anywhere. She was much better at flying shuttles now. She had stolen at least a dozen more before they got smart. Now the landing areas were well patrolled and the pilots always had a backup on board.

Better soldiers and a few more ships had shown up. The aliens now had their own light vehicles on the ground, and the Reds had exhausted much of their explosives. Now they lived in wandering camps, going from town to town looking for resources. Some, though, gave up and surrendered. The aliens didn't stop anyone from coming in, they just kept everyone from leaving. Standard practice for internment camps. At least the ones in human history.

She had with her five people. The few that had gained her trust in the Reds. "You know the drill. We come for food, but stick to the plan. You'll know when things get rough. Extraction might not occur. But for all we know it might do us more good to work from within. If you see a better position to work from, take it." She gave each of them a look. "No heroics. After this we will need people that can be trusted for what is coming after this."

They walked their way through the foothills, and started walking through what was once the suburbs. Very little remained standing. After their first failure to take Tyrrel Headquarters, the aliens had bombarded every standing building with enough firepower to level it, twice. Just to make sure all of the tunnels collapsed. A lot of people died down there. Some managed to escape, but hundreds were still trapped down there. There was no way to get them out.

She walked along, saving her cloak even though it was at full charge. She hadn't spent much time visible lately. But she was nearly out of batteries to charge off of, and the only source of power or batteries was inside the camps. Without power, she was looking at a thirty second cloak and then ten minutes of jogging to get a full charge back. Not exactly efficient. She could, of course, risk cloaking with only a half charge of energy but that had never ended well. There was a chance of the cloak not completely stabilizing. Or just shocking her like it did when she was just figuring out how to turn on the cloaking system.

Now she knew instinctively when she had a charge. Her two lowest ribs would tingle slightly when they had it. When that first happened it was like some creature was tickling her mercilessly inside of her ribcage. Now she was quite used to it. When they finally encountered an alien patrol, they had to try not to gag. The aliens were gathering bodies from a street, and dumping them on a fire. The smell was horrible. They didn't have to deal with that, since they were wearing helmets. Hannah and the rest of her team tried to avoid it, walking towards the camp. As the sky turned to twilight, only a few sources of light remained. Traversing the broken territory was hard, as the roads were gone. All that was left was rubble. Fires burned in the distance, but she kept them from approaching those. They were probably more bodies, or worse. The aliens had dropped a few prefabricated buildings on the ground where the spaceport had stood. They had leveled that, too, when they discovered it was the source of the EMP.

Talking to the Reds showed that none of them had been expecting the EMP to go off. Not a single one had gotten a warning about it. It was suspicious, but they did admit that there were a lot of different factions among their number. One or two may have had alternate plans. But to Hannah, something here was off. Jack claimed to know about it, but few if any of the Reds had ever met him or heard of him. She would like to have said that she was in direct control of who he contacted and when, but she couldn't guarantee that. Jack was just that kind of guy who could throw things off. He was sneaky and could plan ahead towards an opportunity that would only emerge months down the road.

It was actually unnerving how sly he was. After fifteen months as his sidekick-slash-secretary, she noticed things like that. He had a hair trigger for his anger, but could always think under pressure. At times he almost didn't have any pressure on a situation, even when billions of credits were on the line. Right now, though, she needed to get him back.

He and a few others had still been inside the Tyrrel Headquarters building when the aliens finally broke through. Civilians and soldiers alike were captured and brought to the internment camp. She assumed that Jack had survived. He was needed to answer some questions.

They were noticed by the alien patrols once they got closer. They didn't stop them, but did point them in the right direction. Some of their basic abilities at communication had come through, evidently. None of them spoke to them, but with the helmets on it was unlikely that anything they said was projected externally. But she knew how they sounded by now. They had a snarling, whistling, language that was highly expressive. They could communicate easily and clearly in the mix of battle, even when the noise was extreme. She would probably be having nightmares about that language for years.

It took them hours to reach the camp, and by that time she was hungry. The Reds had turned into a nomadic, hungry, desperate army. They didn't have much fight left in them. But that was to be expected when firing a hand weapon at an alien resulted in orbital artillery strikes upon the threatening position. They were brutal and ruthless. So naturally, the only place she could fight back against them was from within the internment camp.

Spray paint marked the edge of it, in some bright garish red, that glowed at night. She saw it and walked across the line, the alien guards watching silently as the new group of refugees entered. They were immediately set upon by other desperate people, who were after their items, clothes, or whatever else they could get their hands on. Hannah slipped away in the confusion, walking towards the middle of the camp. There were tents, and small structures set up from the rubble. The people huddled around a few piles of larger pieces, trying to stay out of the rain and snow. Mud was a constant.

Only one actual building stood, and it was manned by the aliens. They were supplying food, probably looted or carried in by them. The food was very carefully guarded, and a full squad of the enemy surrounded the boxes. More of their strange lettering was on it, but the language appeared slightly different. Some sort of other dialect, perhaps. The new script appeared to be all blocky, square and precise. The claw marks that made up the alien scripts she had been familiar with were very different. The marks were allowed to stray outside the lines that normal english would follow, where this new script was written awkwardly. The script was written downwards, and some of the shapes of each of the symbols looked almost like old binary code on computers.

She got some weird looks for staring at the food so long. She backed off, looking around for the end of the line to get food. When she got there, one of her team had already saved her a spot in line.

"I found him." was her only statement. She motioned her head to Hannah's left. "I'll save a spot for you while you go talk to him. He looks pretty beat up."

She nodded. Stepping off to the side, she saw one more of her team taking care of Jack Harper, whose face was a bit torn up from some sort of beating. For some reason none of the survivors ever had any signs of claw marks on their skin. Even though the aliens had clawed hands, they didn't use them. Probably some sort of humane thing to do. Though that term might be changed soon enough.

"Jack!" she said. "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not. Neither is Humanity." He said. Always with his obsessions.

"What happened?"

"One of the aliens took my Omni-tool. They found the OSD I had been hiding. It's only a matter of time before they can translate all of the information on it. I created a translation for their language, but with that program they can get to everything I was keeping on my OSD, or any other consoles they come across." Jack looked manic. But he was always paranoid. "You need to kill the one who interrogated me and get it back."

Jack's Omni-tool was sort of like a Holy Grail. It had economic and political information all over it. Worse, it also had a galaxy map so that he could plot courses for the  _Talon_  when he needed to. She needed to get that back. "Describe this alien." She was familiar enough now to know about different clan markings or whatever they were on their faces. She had seen three or four different types so far.

"They call themselves Turians." Jack said. "They are a race that is dextro-based. All it takes to kill them is to get biological material from us into their body. They will go into shock within minutes. The one you need to go after has pale scales, a slightly longer fringe, and no facial markings. Last I saw he was wearing Black armor, with blue highlights along the arms."

No facial markings, that would make her job easier. Longer fringe, easy enough to do. But to get out of here and find him, that would take some doing. She returned to the food line, where her team converged. They all were hungry, and when the aliens handed them some featureless mush, she shrugged. It was food, and it tasted better than roasted rats. The Reds were not very sanitary to begin with, and rats became a common food as the food storage buildings got leveled.

So, she ate. Then, she got to planning. She had five people and Jack. Jack was delirious and needed a real hospital eventually. He had at least been getting intelligence on the enemy. Or at least if he had any brains at all he would have been paying attention to where he got interrogated.

"Get me patrol routes, times, and prepare a distraction. I'll find a way past the motion sensors and whatever else is inside their base." She had been there before. More importantly, she had stashed things inside the base. Her original plan was to blow it sky high, but the alien bastards had made it right next to the internment camp. If she blew it the base would kill a lot of people who didn't deserve it.

When she got back to Jack with some water, he looked a little better. "What part of the base did he interrogate you?"

"Long room, a few tables. Green lights on the walls."  _Vehicle Bay_. "He had a few scars on his face. Blue eyes. His right arm was different. Walked with more force on his left foot." Jack seemed to be recalled things. "He had some sort of authority. Didn't have the same markings on his armor."

She had some batteries inside the base. As well has a few energy bars and her favorite shotgun. She had 'borrowed' one of the enemy shotguns once, but had to give it to one of the soldiers. She didn't get to fire it more than once as it was. She mostly had to use her knife. Snipers, aliens who went off all alone, she would follow them and bring them down. Often times their squad would notice and come to the aid of their comrade, leaving her little choice but to shoot them in the head and be done with it.

Her team got a hold of her soon after. "Their patrols are near-constant. Airborne shuttles cover the back approaches. There is a few pieces of cover between you and the base. We can guess that they are landing more and more personnel by the hour."

That would mean that the alien, or rather  _Turian_ , could have left already. Every shuttle that took off was a chance that she was missing them. She didn't have a choice about that. "I need a distraction then. Get them away from the food line, or at least give me cover."

She had one good batch of juice left on her wrist. She could drain the battery of her Omni-tool, but that wouldn't last. That also denied her the use of it, if she had to hack anything. Not that she had been able to so far, but it was a resource. She grunted, using an exceptionally tall man of asian descent as cover before she was going to turn invisible. She loved her cloak. It had saved her life a few times in the last few days. Jack did promise he would research a way to make it more efficient, but she wasn't holding her breath. He was the one who got captured and forced her to have to go make sure he was ok.

She had her chance to run five minutes later. She quickly cloaked, hoping that not too many people noticed. Her feet left marks in the mud as she sprinted towards the prefabricated buildings that the Turians had put down. Her feet thundered on the entryway, but the mud had gotten all over the inside from their own troops already. Once she made it inside their base, the security level started dropping. Guards were less prevalent. She got to one of their bathrooms, which was usually pretty quiet. There was only one unfortunate soul in there at the time, and a lot of mud tracks. But under one of the sinks was her stash. Her shotgun, sadly, was in one of the vents. But she had a battery and an energy bar here. Enough to get to the vehicle bay where they must have brought Jack.

She went past the Turian's food dispenser, or crappy cafeteria. Some of the Reds had tried eating food taken from the aliens. They had started foaming at the mouth and dying right after eating it. No one else tried to do that again. Some sort of poison agent or something that kept humans from eating it. She moved past that, keeping to the muddy areas of the hallway. Some of the aliens she just had to dodge or move around without disturbing anything. That was hard in their small doorways. More than once she had to step into small alcoves quickly to avoid being run over by moving soldiers.

But when she got to the vehicle bay, the sight that greeted her was not normal. A few beaten Alliance marines were chained up to a wall, where consoles and some interfaces were placed. They were apparently being forced to use them or explain them. One of the Turians was clearly speaking English.

"You want to live! Open the console! Or else you'll end up like your friend there!" A corpse lay against the wall, shot through the head. The marines had been stripped of their armor, and some were sporting injuries. Others were showing signs of torture. But what was interesting was the one that was speaking. He was not wearing a helmet, and he didn't have any sort of markings on his face. She had found someone that looked like her guy. Or at least someone that looked like the alien described by Jack.

She kept her distance and moved to the wall behind the alien, where a couple of guards were standing. They looked like they were just keeping watch over the prisoners. Their guns were held tightly, nonetheless. Humans must be dangerous even when unarmed to them. Then again, they had to bombard the most heavily populated city on the planet into dust before the fighting died down. More due to running out of places to shoot from than anything else, though.

The Turian that she was observing didn't have the thick Omni-tool that humanity produced. Theirs were slim, and had a metallic edge to them that made them far more durable than human-made ones. She was totally going to sell that technology to human corporations when she got back to Earth. Human made ones were large, ungainly, and looked like a studded belt from the 2020's. The haptic screen that emerged from it was small and ungainly. The Turian version wrapped over their entire arm, and had a separate area for the screen and the keyboard.

He might have it somewhere else. She found an electrical port and rested her wrist on it. The battery she had been draining she slipped into her belt, careful not to let the cloak be disrupted. Thankfully this was one of those things that she practiced. Unfortunately the aliens didn't have the most amazing of power plants. They would notice the power draw eventually. Their lights didn't flicker like they had on some of the prefabricated buildings, though.

She had to wait a long time for something to change, as the human prisoners were tortured. Some looked like they were honestly trying to brute force hack their way into the consoles, probably taken from the Military base or from other settlements. She didn't want to get close to find out. Their exposed cabling meant that it could expose her easily. Bumping into the wrong person could disrupt her field.

When another Turian walked in, she almost didn't notice him. But he was wearing black armor with blue highlights. He walked a bit heavier than the normal guards, who saluted him when he walked in. The only one who didn't salute him was the other alien without any markings.

The alien in charge of the torture grunted towards the other alien. "Saren." He said. "This rabble doesn't seem to be giving me the results I need." He still had his translation program running.  _Saren_. Was that some sort of greeting? She didn't know. But the way he pronounced it was more like a deep baritone snarl, drawn out over multiple syllables. The translation program made it nicer. Not that an alien could show signs of being nice, but it was nice to be able to understand them.

"Then kill another. There will always be more of these primitives." The Turian in black armor said. "I need to find one of them that has a better understanding of their programs. One of these things had an Omni-tool. Something Prothean is around here somewhere."

The marines were accustomed to keeping straight faces. But the word Prothean made a couple look beyond their consoles they were strapped to. She had found her target. Some sort of Turian Saren. If that was their word for officer. If that even translated.

"So take the one you took it from. They might be convinced to help you understand it."

"I damaged him already. He wouldn't survive a second time." The  _Saren_  said. He wanted to drag Jack in again. That wasn't good.

"Like you said, there is always more of them. They have more worlds out there. They are expendable." At that, the speaking Turian approached the line of marines and brought out his pistol. She narrowed her eyes. They didn't even treat them like real threats. Well, showed what they knew. Humanity was going to wreck them. As soon as the fleet could mobilize and figure itself out. There wouldn't be much of Shanxi to save, but there were a lot of people still here.

"I guess I could ask him the questions wherever he has ended up. I'll be back down with the gear soon." The Saren alien started walking off, getting saluted again by the guards but not by the other unmarked alien. Interesting. Facial markings could determine ranking system, or caste. Lack of them might be an indicator as well. She would have to write all this down when she could get away with it.

At least the translators were working. Hannah quickly moved to follow this Saren. She barely managed to keep him in sight as he went to the landing pad. He went in one of the garish green marked shuttles, the smaller ones. Thankfully it had a few pieces of cargo to hide behind. The Turian went up to the cockpit, and she held one of the crates tightly. When the ship took off less than ten seconds later, her cloak was disrupted. The straps that held the crates down stretched across her skin, and she had to hold on as the shuttle went vertical.

She used her feet to keep herself on the back of the crate, getting a bit of mud on the landing door to keep from sliding all over the compartment. The flight eventually went to the upper parts of the atmosphere, but the gravity remained nearly the same. Soon she was able to just brace against the floor again. The flight was a bit terrifying. She knew they had gone into space because of how cold the shuttle got. Her clothes did few things for surviving in cold environments, but she prepared herself anyways. Battery in hand, she was ready for when the shuttle landed.

She had done this to James and Jack a few times. Hide in the back of the shuttle and wait for them to leave. This time it was a bit more dangerous. There was no question that she was in dangerous territory now. She would be onboard their ships. She didn't know anything about them or how they worked. Hand sensors, or rather claw sensors, might be a problem for her. Any sensors, really. She didn't have much time.

There was a grinding sound as the shuttle came into some sort of hangar. She waited until the grinding sound extended to the door before engaging her cloak. It wasn't hard to see where she was when the shuttle doors opened. Hangar bays were generic, and anything designed after prothean technology was near about the same. Comforting on some level, at least. The aliens inside the bays were a mix of armor bearing soldiers and a technicians. the colors were even more garish than what was painted on their ships. She had wondered if they saw color on a different spectrum, as neon green was not something that made anyone look good. Unless you were an alien, apparently.

The Saren Turian walked out from the shuttle, and the soldiers made way for him. She only had to follow behind him, and avoid any of the wet spots on the hangar deck. Many attempts were being made to clean mud off of the deck. But with every shuttle some of Shanxi's dirt got up here. She followed him to a set of stairs next to the hangar, very wide and meant to move some of their larger equipment up and down. He paused at the bottom, and she almost ran into him.

She could hear him breathing, and she was afraid to even move. She didn't breath for the longest time, and it felt like eternity before the Turian started walking again. She did have her training to fall back on, to recover her breath without sounding like a gaping fish. The aliens didn't make much noise as the breathed, she guessed because their mouths were constructed differently.

The Turian walked carefully down into a small hallway, where rooms were. She glanced into the first one as she entered the hallway, seeing a small hutch and an insert in the floor. The Alliance used pod-like sleeping chambers. Whatever these aliens used, well, it looked less comfortable. Small bits of netting around a depression in the floor made up the location where they slept, and it looked like hot bunking applied here as well. Multiple lockers and a bench were also in the room. She saw no hygiene practice areas or items. They must have a bathroom further on the level.

Up ahead, the Turian she was following entered one of the chambers. She followed, seeing the same layout as the rest of the ship. But instead of a bench, there was a table. Officer's quarters, she was guessing. He was bending over the bench, wrestling with a dismantled Omni-tool. Human designs were meant for small fingers, and even more delicate tools, after all. These creature's Omni-tools were large, robust, and had screws large enough that a fingernail might be able to get to them. Sort of a design flaw if she thought about it long enough.

"I didn't know that the STG were so curious about me." Came the voice of the Turian, being translated by his Omni-tool. The growl present in his undertone was terrifying. But there was no one else in the room. She looked around at the rest of the hallway. It was empty outside of her and one tired looking technician. "Come in, and shut the door. We don't want to disturb the rest of the men here with your business."

She gulped. He knew she was there. Jack was like that too, always noticing her. It was disturbing for an alien to recognize a cloaking field, as that meant that there were aliens out there with the same. She would need to survive if she was going to get that information back to Earth, but the chances of that were getting less and less each minute. She didn't like any of her options. She didn't have a solid exit strategy. She decided to come into the room, finding the function to shut the door rather simplistic. Thankfully, she made that look natural rather than unnatural.

The moment she would decloak, the Turian would see her. He had a pistol at his hip, extremely large. It was half the size of her shotgun, and she already could tell that it would leave most of her upper body a pulpy mess if he shot at her. She would need to incapacitate or kill him. At least she knew how to do that. Knife and zip-tie were out. The way he was sitting and the fact he knew she was there would make any approach to him worthless. She would have to use her backup.

She held up an envelope, that had been sealed shut. It was made from a mail office inside the military base before it had been completely surrounded. So, she held it up, and popped it, spraying out its contents all over the startled Turian. He just looked surprised as she decloaked, one hand holding the envelope, and the other holding her trusty knife. The door was closed, and none of the other aliens should have heard that. Their hearing was less than human capable, thankfully.

He didn't notice the fine spray that was now coating him as he charged forward, a knife in his hand as well. His first strike came in at her throat, forcing her to roll forward to avoid it. The Turian's hips were not built for rolling. So he had to pivot, while she came up into a ready stance.

"You! I didn't know your race was capable of such things. Impressive, that you would be able to confront me here." He started reaching for his pistol. She didn't have a choice now. She had to get close. She charged forward, making the Turian have to use his hand to knock her swipe off balance before he could reach for his gun. In this small of a space, there was no room to really maneuver. He had the home field advantage. But one thing he didn't have was time.

The first cough came right as he dragged his knife over her arm. The blade was serrated, and was made up of multiple pieces of metal. Not a single cut, but five individual cuts were left as the blade tore up her arm. One of her tendons popped like a spring, and after that her left arm was numb. She had to duck as he tried to slide his blade right where her heart would be.

Well, that proved that this alien was already quite used to killing humans. She had to jump back as he swung wide, the multiple serrated edges of the blade almost vibrating to her eyes. Either that or there was some sort of motor in the blade, to give it the strength to pierce armor. It was also nearly a foot long, which meant that whatever that knife was designed for, there was a lot of bone to cut through.

He coughed again, his breath already coming short. "Smart little pyjak." He grunted. She had no idea what a pyjak was. Probably some form of derogatory term. "What did you hit me with?"

She grinned. It had reached his lungs by now. "I powdered aluminum and glass shards along with human fecal matter. Soaked in it, really. Your kind don't have an answer to allergic reactions inside the lungs. Once this hits your bloodstream, your body reacts poorly to it, sending you into shock." He fell down on his knees, still gripping his knife. Some sort of foam was gathering in the sides of his mouth. "Sorry you had to be one of the test subjects."

She really wasn't sorry. But perceived pity created shame reactions in targets. They felt more comfortable, or got angry. This Saren got angry.

"Your kind will be crushed, Human! The Turian Hierarchy has already taken one of your homeworlds, and all of the others will soon fall!" He started sliding into the sleeping depression in the floor. He was also flickering blue, for some reason. But when he tried to raise his arm, the flickering stopped. "F-For the Impe-" The rest descended into blood-soaked coughs. Trying to breath when powdered aluminum and glass were in your lungs, during an asphyxiation, was impossible. It was also a terrible way to die. But they were trying to kill them back, so it was slightly justified.

Hannah glanced at her left arm, which looked like an animal had gored her. The main tendons for the inner part of the arm were cut, as well as a large artery. Human blood was all over her shirt already, so she had to act fast. She made a tourniquet from a scrap of cloth and tied it around her upper arm. Not much she could do otherwise to stop the bleeding. Now with one arm, she picked up the Turian's weapon. The heavy pistol was large, but extremely advanced. It looked mean. His knife was slipped into her belt, as it had her blood on it. She kept any signs of herself from the room, before grabbing the Omni-tools that were on the table. There were two, both of human make. Three OSDs were next to them, which she pocketed. Their batteries she didn't pop back in, as she might need the charge. She could reconstruct an Omni-tool no problem once she was back on Shanxi.

But first she had to get there. If anyone opened the door, they would see this Saren dead on the ground, with foam on his mouth. Looking closer at him, he seemed to be young. His scales were flat, and not rubbed off like on some of the Turians she had seen. It was going to be obvious that a human killed him. Materials that were poisonous to them all found on Shanxi, combined with human blood? There was no way to hide that. But that was what she was trained for. As much as she didn't like it, Alliance Intelligence Agents were meant to remove threats to the Alliance before it could become a more serious threat. This Turian was just a trumped up soldier. He was prepared for armed enemies on a battlefield.

She rolled him over, so that he wasn't facing the door. That would give her a bit more time to slip away onto a shuttle. She tried to arrange him to look more 'natural' but it just didn't work out. He was still wearing his armor. She took a look around the rest of the room, noticing that his locker was open. She grinned. There was nothing like free stuff in the face of an alien invasion. Inside there was another set of armor, which she sadly couldn't carry. There was also a few datapads, which she found the OSDs, as well as  _Oh! Hello!_

At the bottom of the locker was a long, curved shotgun. Unlike most of the alien weapons that she had seen so far, this one looked like it was designed to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Most of the Turian weapons were all sharp edges, and very lightly embellished. This shotgun looked like it was almost a proportionally perfect weapon. It had a large chamber on the back, and the only edge she could find was where the barrel pointed forward. She slid that into her lower back, and decided it was time to leave. She pulled the battery out of Saren's armor, and turned on her cloak.

The hallway was deserted. With a full battery, she could make it to the shuttle bay before she would start feeling the blood loss too heavily. She could feel the wetness of her arm getting into her clothes. Too much and it would disrupt her cloak. She could feel pain radiating from her wound, now that the adrenaline was draining away. The shuttle bay was only up a few stairs, and from there, well after that she was stumped. The constant rush of vehicles coming and going was organized chaos.

One of the shuttle berths was being loaded with soldiers, while the other two were unloading some sort of light crates from green colored shuttles. She ducked around into a corner, trying not to get run over by all of the moving aliens. The adrenaline was being replaced by numbness as she sat there, unmoving. She had hours before her arm would need to be amputated rather than simply stitched up. She couldn't look down at her Omni-tool to even check the time. Using that would be asking to get shot.

So she had no way of keeping track of how long her arm had been bound up in a tourniquet. She decided that she couldn't wait too long, and made for one of the shuttles that was being loaded with heavy crates. After knowing that one of these Turians noticed her in her cloak, she was being extra paranoid. She took cover behind one of the moving crates, using it and the men lugging it to hide as she moved towards the shuttle. She slipped on board only at the last moment, when the doors were closing.

The pilot took off, immediately going as fast as possible. Her cloak was disrupted as she had to hold on to the tied down crates. She checked on the battery she had stolen, the symbols blinking blue. Blue was normally a bad color in their technology. Their blood was blue, and their medical shuttles had that color as well. She assumed that meant that the battery was low. She held up the batteries for the Omni-tools she had recovered. They would have to do.

* * *

January, 2153, Arcturus Sector

The entire Alliance Second Fleet had gathered. Over fifty ships were prepared to jump through the relay and go after Shanxi. One of them was the newly completed and very hastily rushed  _SSV Everest_. The Dreadnaught was the first of its kind, and was supposed to take another nine months to finish. Due to the massive threat posed by an alien invasion, its construction was rushed. It didn't have much other than engines and weapons, along with the heaviest kinetic barriers the fleet had to offer, but it was the strongest punch that they had.

Charles Pressley had suffered through hundreds of hours of briefings and debriefings. As he was one of the few navigation technicians to survive contact with the enemy, he therefore had to educated the rest of the Alliance Navy on plotting courses during combat to avoid the enemy's superior speed and firepower. Pressley would normally try to avoid all of the praise that came with that, but right now it was near about the only compensation he got. Combat bonuses were few, considering that the entire combat period against the enemy was less than forty five minutes. Damn politicians. They could afford to eat steak every day but guys like him had to suffer with A-Rations. Alliance rations were considered a delicacy nowhere.

He hadn't gotten a raise or anything for surviving. No appreciation was given to anyone who survived the battle. Both of the cruisers went down before the frigates got out of the area. The three frigates that survived were busy after that. Each member of the crew had to brief their opposites on other ships. Auditoriums had been filled to brief damage control crews and the engineers. Conference rooms were needed for the different technician groups. Thankfully Pressley had only needed to brief a few dozen technicians and flight officers. But since it was on a more personal level, those very same people would feel comfortable asking questions. So while the pilots and the officers got to finish their briefings to a few hundred people, the engineers and technicians had to suffer through hours of questions.

So then Pressley would start his shifts on board the  _Kursk_ , performing draining hours of wargames where the  _Kursk_  would simulate an alien flotilla. the other ships would have their engines and performance capabilities turned down by 40% while they would try to replicate what the enemy did. That part was at least fun, but all of this lead to him getting no sleep and no signs of a promotion.

Finally, though, some admiral had said it was time for them to go after the aliens. The new recruits like him were suitably prepared, and everyone had been run ragged in preparation for the coming battle. The  _Everest_  was done, if only enough to fire her main gun. But the folks on earth were mad about having the aliens take their territory. A lot of the news was about the speculation on what the aliens were doing to Shanxi while the Alliance prepared for battle. A few of the alien patrols had tried to sortie through one of the connecting relays from Shanxi, but had been beaten back without too much effort. Only a few frigate hunting packs had been noticed by either side. Most exchanged a few shots and then got out of there before any backup from either side arrived. The Alliance was keeping the  _Everest_  and their other specialized ships back. The aliens were looking for anything that would tell them about the Alliance's numbers. They were shuffling crews through on the three cruisers and four frigates that the aliens had already seen.

Those four included the  _Kursk_. So in addition to war games, they were on patrol at the relay as well, to keep the aliens thinking that they only had a few ships. Today, though, they were going to finally go on the offensive. So, he had plotted over ten different flight plans. All with the assumption that the  _Kursk_  would be at the front of the pack. That was what all of their briefings and mission reports were telling them.

So, they and the rest of the known flotilla of ships came through the relay into Shanxi's area of space. The three cruisers and other three frigates came out in an organized bunch, around eighty thousand kilometers off from where they wanted to be. Not all that bad in the grand scheme of things, but it was further out than they needed to be. It was the pilot's job to move the craft along the plotted paths, and compensate for that. It was his job to account for stellar objects and other trouble spots.

Right now, his sensors were telling him a couple of things. The first being that the alien flotilla that normally was defending the relay wasn't there. They were fast on their way to form up with another pack from their fleet. Their main body was hovering above Shanxi, as they had been every time they had come through the relay.

"Get us to the other relay. Proceed with our mission." Captain Rogers said. Pressley quickly forwarded the modified flight paths to the pilot, and started calculating in his head where the aliens would be able to intercept them.

"Enemy could come into contact with us in under fifteen minutes." He said to the Captain, as a reminder. The Captains had to depend on their sensor and navigation technicians a lot in these battles. As the enemy were so fast, they could outflanked at any given time.

"Their combat doctrine isn't prepared for us. Keep at full speed towards the other relay. Once they close distance, prepare to break towards them." The aliens were bringing in their flotilla. Things were quiet as their ships oriented towards the near side of the system, where the other connecting relay was. The aliens could clearly see that, and brought five frigates and two cruisers to engage them. That was not a good ratio for an engagement that they could win. But they would need to draw them in for this plan to work. When the enemy were five minutes from contact, the Commander in charge of the cruisers gave the order to form the battle line.

The frigates fanned out along the sides, their weapons aimed at the enemy. "Keep them engaged, we can't let them break off. Start going after their fighter compliment before they can hit us with those torpedoes." Rogers stood right behind the weapons officer. "I don't want anything getting through."

Two minutes out from engagement, the cruisers opened fire. They could reload in time, but it forced the alien fighters to break up a little bit. Otherwise they would be able to hide their launched torpedoes in their sensor shadows. Forcing them to break off revealed the torpedoes, which were easy meat for the concentrated Guardian lasers. Last time this strategy had destroyed one of their cruisers. This time they didn't let that happen. The fighters had to break off for a couple minutes while the lasers strafed them.

That bought them another minute while the aliens adjusted to their adapted strategy. But it was enough. The relay flashed into activity, and the largest ship that the humans had came through. The  _SSV Socrates_  came through the relay, its exposed bays stuff to the brim with every single fighter that they could convince to fly with them. In addition to the ones assigned to the  _Socrates_ , they had asked for volunteers to come with them into battle. Some had to be strapped onto the mostly complete superstructure of the  _Everest_  so that they could be taken through the relay. Everyone knew that a lot of those fighters weren't coming back today. But the entire core of the Alliance strategy was focused around these fighters.

Their flotilla had engaged the aliens, but as soon as the  _Everest_  and its escorts had cleared the relay, the aliens tried to book it back to Shanxi. Their flotilla had lost one of the frigates in the two or three minutes of exchange, and others were damaged. One of the cruisers took a torpedo to the main barrel, and was out of the fight. But the alien bastards were going to have to split up their fleet if they wanted to secure their relay. Pressley grinned as they were able to see the alien flotilla they had engaged divert towards the relay. The main alien fleet would have to go on without their frigates.

While the other forty or so human ships of the Second Fleet formed up against the inner part of the solar system. Their flotilla was joined by a few more frigates and another cruiser to replace the one they lost. Their new job was to take on the aliens securing the other relay. Pressley was carefully observing the main battle, since that would start before their flotilla would get to the other relay. The solar system's gravity well made FTL travel difficult, if not outright impossible. Shanxi was in the middle of the system, and it looked like the entire enemy fleet of twenty five ships had lined up against them. They had another six heading towards the relay, so that meant that the human fleet had almost two to one odds.

In the end, nothing really happened. Some shots were fired from long distance, and the frigates on both sides shot at each other a few times. The main alien fleet picked up everything they could get their hands on and left. Which meant that their flotilla was staring down the barrel of a dreadnaught that could move faster than human cruisers. They had no choice but to give up contending for the relay.

Their flotilla wasn't engaged, but before the aliens drove them off with few problems. Pressley just spent this entire battle waiting, unlike the last week. The adrenaline was running high in everyone. As the alien dreadnaught came to the edge of the relay, a message was played across all channels. It came across in disturbing english, with some sort of snarling undertone. It didn't sound like anything that a human throat could produce.

 _"You have broken Council Law, primitives. We are the Turian Hierarchy, and we will return to fully punish you for your crimes."_ The voice had two octaves to it, surprisingly.  _"Your defense of this world has been honorable, but in the end it will not save you. Prepare yourselves as you see fit."_

Pressley had  _no_  idea what that meant. Perhaps someone else did. Probably above his paygrade. "Set a route to secure that relay, Ensign!" Life had a way of making things easier for guys like him. Just wait for the orders to come down the grapevine.

* * *

Earth, New York Arcology, 2152

Runya Ross had the most scalding glare reserved for Jack Harper. He could tell. She despised the fact that he had survived the hell that was Shanxi. He was in traction for a some bruised ribs. She didn't care if he was hurt or not. She did seem offended that he had survived. To his right was Hannah, with a wrapped arm and a suitcase full of what she had termed 'loot' taken from onboard the alien ship.

Past her were two officers that had survived. Sergeant Collins of the Taurus Station marines, who had escaped via escape pod and had survived after landing on Shanxi. He was the only superior officer to have survived the space battle over the station. He looked medically stable, but his eyes never stayed in focus for too long. Loud noises made him jerk uncontrollably, taking cover from some supposed kinetic strike. He was here as icing on the cake.

Last in the row of people to speak was General Williams. He looked like he had been underfed for weeks. His cheeks were gaunt and pale, and even the ten hours it took for them to get to earth hadn't helped much. Jack was happy to eat real food again, even though the Turians did manage to feed them. Some Volus technology, or supplier, had been keeping the internment camps fed. Jack hadn't had that kind of food before, but it tasted like nutrient paste. Asari or Salarian nutrient paste. He was looking forward to some of his comforts of home.

They were the only people that the Alliance had been able to find, of note at least, as they retook the planet. So far as he had heard, General Williams had mentioned them by name, but all of them had been told to wait until the debriefing so they only had to explain once.

They did have an audience. Roughly three hundred people were sitting amongst the auditorium, with Admirals and Ross sitting at a table facing them. Media were not allowed in here, for certain.

"General Williams, we are prepared to hear your report. Introduce your witnesses and please explain how you lost an entire colony." Well,  _that_  Admiral certainly didn't like him. Points for Jack. He was sure to hate him too just due to association.

Williams was used to their blustering. "To my left is Sergeant Collins, who was the only survivor of the Turian assault on Taurus Station. He experienced their squad tactics for boarding orbital stations and airlocks. By his words, before he was declared mentally unfit for duty, they use some sort of tech mines that work like EMP, draining kinetic barriers and damaging electrical equipment that normally kept the doors under control. They had heavier weapons for breaching our orbital defenses than our ground defenses at first. Those eventually made it to the ground, but one of the weapons described was some sort of harpoon gun with explosive tips. Apparently mounted on a sniper rifle chassis, it could go through any of the pieces of deployable cover that our soldiers had in position. This weapon alone made our defenses worthless.

"Collins and most of the men that could still walk abandoned Taurus Station to the enemy after losing to their overwhelming firepower. They were very experienced at hitting orbital targets. Collins then landed and continued fighting from the ground." Williams explained, looking over at Collins to see if he responded. "When the Turians began their bombardment, Collins no longer responded to outside stimuli. Collins is here because he is a good example of what kind of survivors we will be having among the civilian population. They will be used to the sounds of combat. They will probably have PTSD and other mental deficiencies as a result of losing six out of every ten people on Shanxi." Williams was summing up a lot of hurt and damage. But the members of the audience were eating it up.

"The other two individuals here are of rivalling importance. Jack Harper is the man who bought out all of the Tyrrel Corporation's assets after they folded. He was attempting to prevent more panic in his corporate allies at the threat of another Red's uprising. This lead to him getting stuck on the planet when the aliens started their invasion. He was also aware of the revolutionary elements on planet, which was of use later. After the aliens invaded, the terrorist group known as the Reds coordinated the defense of the planet with the military." There were a few murmurs within the audience. They didn't like know that the Reds were planning a revolution, and the thought of the Reds actually helping them was another uncomfortable thought entirely.

"We have been made aware of Jack Harper and his suspicious background. Continue." Came the lead admiral. He didn't seem flustered at all from any of this.

"Jack Harper also brought to our attention his secretary, who turned out to be an Alliance Intelligence agent."

"She is not an active agent, or is she anything more than an asset. Shepard is a disgraced agent and anything she does or says cannot be valued." Ross said from her seat. She seemed to be using every ounce of her intimidation and directing it at Jack.

"She is the reason we know anything about the aliens in the first place. If she is an inactive agent, I would like to see how your active ones compare." Williams said. Jack just grinned. Ross couldn't hold him back anymore after this. Once Hannah was shown to the rest of the Alliance as the agent she truly was, Ross would have no choice but to use her.

"What did Jack Harper tell you?" Ross declared. "That she was capable of hacking anything with his help?"

Williams glared back at her. A good sign in anyone's book. "Miss Shepard, could you please demonstrate your abilities, with Jack as your target." Jack didn't flinch as she disappeared from view, the rest of the audience making plenty of noise and reaction. It wasn't everyday that someone turned invisible. It was less than two seconds later that he had the blade of her knife at his neck, with one hand, and another glowing, vibrating blade that was poised above his eye. He hadn't seen  _that_  knife before. Even in his memories.

There were more gasps and noise from the audience. Hannah had two daggers out, and a shotgun on display. She had pulled back her coat to reveal the shoulder holster for a shotgun that she had refused to let go of. It was silver, curved, and utterly alien. It was an Asari shotgun, one of their close range models. It could be charged up, and it fired a larger amount of mass than normal through two barrels. It had a mod on its ammunition block, some sort of nasty Batarian Irradiated rounds. If they got through the armor layer, or to the bloodstream, it would cause damage that medigel would never be able to fix.

She absolutely loved it. Replicating it would be impossible, of course, as it was completely illegal to have any sort of irradiated ammunition of any type. The Batarians didn't really care, but that was their style.

"Agent Shepard singlehandedly stole all of the examples of Turian technology that were intact. She managed to kill over fifty of the enemy singlehandedly, and recover their weapons and armor-bound computers. She is the only reason that we have reliable intelligence on the interior of their ships, as well as their social behavior." General Williams said. "Stand down, please, Agent Shepard."

"Of course, sir." She said, sheathing both knives and letting her coat fall back over the shotgun. When she sat down in her seat it was in the perfectly crafted image of a secretary. Jack was quite pleased with this, as Ross had no choice now but to reinstate her. She was their only agent with experience fighting the enemy, as well as the ability to get close and view them in a way that no other human can.

"Agent Shepard did not impress me at first either. But while she was able to steal Turian technology, none of our technicians could make sense of it. That was where Mister Harper comes in." Williams turned to him with a look of tolerance. But deep down they both knew that was all they felt for each other. "Mister Harper, please describe to them exactly what you did to the Turian technology."

Jack decided that sitting was not the way to present this. Even though he was technically cheating and already knew the Turian language, he had to show that he translated it somehow. So he stood up, and went over to one of the displays. He had ten hours on the way here, and spent it accordingly. He was one of the best economists in the world. From memory(past and present) he could pull details that could back up his claims. Of course, that would do nothing if they didn't prepare for the machinations of the Reapers. The First Contact War would be just the opening act of the entire fall.

The Turians would need something to make them think outside the box. Most of the Council races had fallen into apathy and lapsed into frail mockeries of what their empires could have been. The rachni and Krogan rebellions had brought out a little bit of that fire and drive to succeed, but as soon as the conflict was over the apathy remained. The rise of humanity would be that force that would make the Turians think outside the box.

So, to present all of the information in a way that would make them think that the Turians were the greatest evil possible, he had highlighted the most damning evidence. With a click he remotely accessed Hannah's Omni-tool display function, and routed his information to the display that the witness table now supported. Sixteen feet of screen length popped up, a feature that he was technically supposed to be ignorant of. But he was the one with memories of a horrific future, and they weren't.

"The alien technology, as soon as we saw their ships, was assuredly based upon the same source of technology we depend on: Prothean. Therefore, their computing systems must have the same base designs. Our computer systems have adapted and become based on the Prothean designed ones, even though we pride ourselves on computer innovation. These Turians didn't have that same innovation with their computers. As such, as soon as I got a hold of their technology, I was able to find indicators of Prothean-based algorithms. Unfortunately, I am not a math enthusiast. It took me ten days even with that clue to create translation software.

"Hannah continually supplied me with details and data about their organization. Their anatomy and social behavior didn't matter as much to me as it did translating this file," He pressed a button, making the galaxy map appear. This had most military minds leaning forward, as well as General Williams. He had to stand up and view the map from the front side as well, like the rest of the audience. "This is their map of influence. But what was more interesting was not the map of influence but the names of some of these areas. My translation software marks certain areas as being under disputed control." He motioned to the area where earth was. "Our local area is called the Attican Traverse. Or at least that is how it translates. It is a contested territory for these Turians, along with five other groups. As such, we are very much not alone out here anymore. The terms that labeled these other groups translated as affiliated or client races. Whatever these Turians are, they aren't going to be fighting alone."

The admirals were paying attention to the map much more closely than Ross.  _She_  was seething that Jack had found a way to become needed or helpful. Her loss that she hadn't gone to him for help. "Does this map include the locations of the relays that they use?" One of the admirals asked. Jack pressed another button, bringing up the paths of all the known relay systems. Red lines connected star clusters to star clusters. He also highlighted the place where all of the lines converged.

"They call this the Widow system. As far as I can tell, it is the location from which our enemies came from. Either that or this location." He brought up Palaven. The Turian homeworld only had one way in or out of the system. There were no connecting relays from there. "Which appears to be their homeworld. Most of the other information was useless, though I did come across this in one of their Omni-tools. Which most of them seem to be able to afford or it is a generally useful item that everyone owns." He brought up something that he had found on Saren's Omni-tool. Everyone in the audience was treated to the view of a digital magazine, labeled  _Badass Weekly_. On the front cover was a Turian, holding a flamethrower and cooking a bunch of Varren while wearing civilian clothing. "Translating this revealed a few things of interest, as well as statistics for the newest and most amazing weapons on the market." This prompted the weapons to be brought up on the screen, with many of the Senators now leaning forward.

Shotguns and pistols were the theme of this month, and the shotgun that Hannah was wearing dominated the second page. She grinned at that, as she saw that her shotgun was called a Queenmaker. Or at least that was how it translated between two or three languages. Apparently this  _Badass Weekly_  went on about the best of the best, and talked about Spectres as well as Batarian Warlords.

"The Turians that I managed to get computers from all talked about some sort of central government, here." He motioned to the Widow system again. "We also have some information about ship numbers and fleet configurations that I was able to get from all of the data we received. I will forward all of that to wherever is needed. Most importantly, stealth and cloaking technology was not unfamiliar to these Turians. Either they or their allies might have it, and our security is not up to standard for detecting such things.

"More importantly, we must prepare more agents like Hannah Shepard for use in the future. Our race is at war, and all of our assets must be brought to bear." Jack said. "As such, I fully pledge to move any and all of my financial assets to wartime production. As much as you might trust me to do so. I was the one who financed and allowed Agent Shepard to receive her augmentations. I would like to offer the same augmentations to any others that come forward, to be provided the training and equipment necessary to give us the edge. I offered this before to the Alliance Intelligence office, but was denied."

"We are not here to discuss such things, Mr. Harper. Is there anything else that you managed to do while on Shanxi that this body needs to hear about?" The admiral with some sort of hatred for everyone asked.

Williams answered. "He does not. My report on troop movements, casualties, and damages has been provided to all of you. We are now willing to hear any questions from the board about our actions."

"Why did you not surrender to these aliens when the attack began? Didn't you realize that we would lose a battle where the enemy controlled the space around a planet?"

Williams picked up his small duffel bag and brought out a set of skulls. They were Turian, and had been cleaned and buffed recently. "With no forms of communication that were understood, and no way to know that the Alliance would take two weeks to mobilize enough forces to drive them out, I made the decision to resist. We held on for eleven days against an onslaught that casually leveled city blocks if guns were fired from within the buildings. The enemy did not differentiate between civilian and soldier until after we had been completely defeated. Our few remaining soldiers hunkered down in old locations from the Red Offensive two years ago. We didn't surrender because we believed we had a chance."

Before the admiral could insult him again, another stood up. "General, we did not want you to feel as though we hold you accountable for those deaths. For those eleven days, the Turian fleet could not continue forward and move towards Arcturus, being tied up with your forces. You bought the Alliance eleven days of time to mobilize and stop any attempts at taking more of our territory."

"Admiral Dreschen herself recommended your name for the Alliance Medal of Honor, after we became aware of the reason behind the Turian fleet remaining at Shanxi. This board did ratify that medal. We were unable to nominate any other soldiers, however, due to their civilian status." A small glance was extended towards Ross. Hannah might have gotten that medal after all.

General Williams grunted. "Agent Shepard was unable to wear armor and use her abilities, risking her life to recover these pieces of intelligence. She couldn't even use a kinetic barrier, instead relying on her cloak. If you deny her that medal when she risked her life so many times, I will respectfully refuse mine." He offered, staring at Ross.

Behind the table again, Jack just grinned. Mission accomplished. Hannah was going to be reinstated. Being the only provider of augmentations, the Alliance would come to him for their needs. Cerberus would live again, through this. He had to withhold himself from laughing, his mood was so good. Ross had played into his hand, Hannah was going to have her position back, and once she did, his surveillance would be removed. Freedom was assured. His name would be labeled forever as a warmonger, but all of his money was tied up in war economics anyways.

* * *

Author's Note

Shanxi, as described in the normal canon, wasn't a very fortified world. No real defensive structures, and the orbital defenses were not very extensive. In terms of Mass Effect warfare, the control of space determines the victor. Williams was forced to capitulate when he couldn't even use basic combat doctrines to hold territory. The Turians don't discriminate in their shots, considering all members of a hostile society to be active combatants. Since that is their own doctrine, they extend this line of thinking to their conquests. Williams in canon was forced to give up, or risk more civilian casualties.

Jack had to engineer a civil revolt to create a heavily fortified colony. It was the easiest method to use when trying to keep the government in the dark about a security threat. He didn't plan on the Turians coming early, but the fortifications were in place. My beta asked why the station didn't last very long. That is much easier to explain. As the combat doctrine is to take orbital targets first, the Turians sent their best teams there. The more basic troops were sent to the surface, where the resistance was not expected to be as heavy, and they could call on orbital support. In canon that was what broke the Alliance.

Jack prepared a few things to slow down the Turians further, which leads to Williams not surrendering. This will change a few things for future characters, as well as make the old General rather interesting to talk to. The timeline for this AU is going to change rather rapidly. Anyways, thanks for all of the reading and the time you spend here, even if you don't throw down a review.

Have fun, and enjoy life. Or if you are Jack-Bastard-Harper, enjoy life because you deserve it.


	9. Fugue: Hair of the Three Headed Dog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, I mis-posted chapter 3. Please go back and read it, if you missed out on it. My apologies and thanks to Rotou for pointing it out.

Chapter 9

June 2156, Cerberus Foundation, Luna

The new Cerberus was much more grand than the last time it was founded. Last time it had been in a warehouse on Terra Nova, with less than fifty individuals, and a couple of shuttles for the cause. This time, an entire geodome and underground base on Luna was the starting point. They had a shuttle bay, living quarters, and a training area that rivaled the one on Mars for soldiers. He was touring all of it, as he was the one funding it. The Alliance would pay his people for labor and him for the parts. All at an extremely discounted price that he had no intention of changing. Once they went to peacetime, the shadow war between them and the rest of the council races would start, and they needed something for the Salarians.

That something needed to be developed before the war ended. So, in an emergency session of the Naval Committee, Jack Harper was granted a geodome and personnel to develop technology and agents to combat the alien threat. So, he was being given grants and special rights to ignore certain conventions in favor of creating a special forces branch that could go toe to toe with the alien ones.

In order to do all of this, he had to showcase the one person who did have all of the augmentations. Walking with him towards the main lab chambers was Hannah, who had been in briefings and debriefings for the last week. During that time he had managed to catch up with three of his past partners, including Dierdre, and gotten caught up on his business. It turned out that Reid, noticing that he had gone dark on Shanxi, had actually made a statement about how much Jack was valued by the company, and that his loss would wound them deeply.

Imagine his surprise when Jack came back alive and mostly well. A few bruised ribs and some marks on his face from his beating made his support of the war a very easy choice for the company. When he made a single statement to all of the companies that he had a controlling share in, somewhere around fifteen of the world's more important wartime industries, he made the claim that he had watched Shanxi be turned into a nightmare, and no single building was still standing. With the marks on his face and a crutch in his hand, he played to the emotionally compromised among his stockholders. Pity and shame that their industry might have been able to have a hand in stopping this rose, causing votes to be given slanted towards the warlike stance.

As such, all of his carefully nurtured industries were now fully supported, and were hiring as many people as they could get their hands on. Sales were easy, and the money was flowing. Jack had done his usual ninety hour work week, and for a lot of the people in his companies, the hours worked were rising. The alien threat had come to the economy, and it was booming. Luxury goods were going to be in shorter supply, but Jack could live with half-decent wine for a while. It wasn't like he had been stocking up on it. In fact, one of his houses was just for storing his wine.

"Well, is it everything you've hoped for?" Hannah asked him, clearly enjoying her freedom from constant meetings in the Intelligence offices.

"It is. In fact, our first product is rolling off the line today, and you might be interested."

"Is that your way of saying you made something for me?" She asked with a smirk.

"Considering that you would be the only active agent created by Cerberus, yes. We finally developed a way of getting you some armor and kinetic barriers that don't disrupt your cloak." That got a grin from Hannah.

"Jack! It's about time!"

He nodded. In fact, he had it in the works for before Shanxi, but the Turians showed up far too early to be preferable. If he had the next six years like he was supposed to, then Hannah would have had an Omni-tool with mini-fabricators and grenade creating capacity. Along with armor that worked and the proper tools, Hannah would have been ten times more dangerous. "The first working model of our line of stealth friendly suits. Capable of allowing you to remain cloaked for hours, batteries of the latest line, and magnetic clamps for weapons to be mounted. Along with that, it will also be the first attempt at making something that can be airtight for space-bound troubles. A few minutes of air so that we can rescue you if things get troublesome."

Hannah gave a grin. "Where is it?"

Jack motioned to the wall of lockers. "You are the only one so far. I expect the first batch of recruits tomorrow. Or at least the recruits that are willing to get the first layer of augmentations. Rooms for equipping and gearing up are behind the lockers." He just let her find her way to the locker and gear chamber for female agents.

He didn't have to wait long for her to respond. "Hey Jack!" Came a grunt from her side of the locker room. "Is this for the recruitment posters, or is this just another joke?" When Hannah came walking out of the locker room, it was with her new cloaking suit. Jack might have leaned on the designer to make it a certain way.

They had taken the ceramic compound plating for the arms, legs, and torso. The back was extra reinforced, as it also carried a battery pack that could support long cloaking runs. All of this was mounted on a Vinyl based catsuit, to minimize the amount of energy expended to maintain the cloak. The catsuit was as close to the skin as possible, to achieve this efficiency. All of this lead to Jack being able to see as much of Hannah as he could get away with. She had the decency to look a little uncomfortable.

"No, that seems perfect. Fits you well, and for every bit of it that is skintight, the implants have to do less work to maintain your cloak. The vinyl has a layer to it that creates a charged bond with your skin, and unlike other synthetic fibers that can be shaped as tightly, can hold a static charge. More importantly, the vinyl can be able to extend your field over the armor pieces, which are minimal to preserve freedom of movement."

"Freedom of movement my ass! This thing looks like an exotic dancer's outfit!"

"Your ass does look fine in that. And for the record, exotic dancers wear much less and are cheaper than the cost of producing that. As it hasn't been tested, please cloak and verify that the charge and stealth field can extend through the armor." He did design it correctly. The contours of her twenty-eight year old body were perfectly presented. It just reminded him of his very present bet with her.

She gave him a middle finger and activated her cloak. The field engaged, and rather than the jerky flash that normally accompanied her field activating, it was like watching a zipper move up her body. Finally, the field could function efficiently enough for that to happen. The last thing to be hidden by her cloak was her middle finger, which was supposed to happen. He gave a small clap.

"Alright, good to know that half a million credits of research weren't wasted. What is your opinion?"

She didn't answer for a moment, but he noticed the shimmer of her cloaking field moving about the room, jumping, twisting, and leaping around. She figured out the magnetic boots as well, but couldn't quite conceal the sound. Just to bother her he had added a slight heel to the built in boots. She didn't comment on it, instead jumping off of the wall and tucking and rolling once she hit the floor. The crunch of the armored pieces along her back hitting the floor was loud, and it did disrupt her cloak as she came into a mid lunge. Unlike when she had her previous basic efficiency, the cloaking field didn't make as much noise when it was disrupted.

It also presented a fine view of Hannah from behind. "As much as I hate to say it, it works really well, Jack. Surprisingly capable of everything that you wouldn't expect. The magnetics were a surprise, and the improved motorized joints are very helpful. A lot more power in my legs and it was a bit surprising. I'll have to get used to that and figure out how to roll in this. Hell, it's not even that heavy." Hannah said, flexing her arms.

"So, think you can take this into a battlefield?" Jack asked. "You are going to be on the front lines for when the aliens come back. Think that it will hold up?"

"I'll want something for the temperature of colder places. This thing doesn't seem to hold heat in very well."

Jack nodded. "We are working on that. When you engage the airtight mode, it keeps you a bit warmer for a short time, but the air supply is quite limited. You'll have maybe a minute of air. Not much time to get anything done, but enough to survive. Later versions might have a better filtration system for you to go with, but for now that is all we can fit."

Hannah nodded, and walked back into the locker room. "Well, that's nice. I don't think I'll be using it in public until I find a good trench coat for it, though." She leaned around to corner to wink at him. "Can't let you get too good a look at me, then."

"You do know that our bet still stands." He reminded her. "Whatever is in that 'Widow' system might be the answer to my Prothean theory. The fact that the aliens live there might compound my studies, but I am sure that we will be able to access the place someday. Either that or find out if there are any signs of the Protheans still standing. Fifty thousand years can do some damage to records and buildings."

"When we do find out that you're wrong, how soon will I be getting my ship?" She snarked, her voice echoing from the locker room. "Because I think I might be able to afford it now. You pay very well, you know that Jack?"

"I'll always hire you if you ever need the job back, Hannah." She wouldn't but it was always nice to offer someone a seven digit income. "Though I feel as though you'll be very busy for a long time."

"Probably. I've been asked if I can do more at home for the time being." That meant she had been assigned some intelligence missions related to the Reds back home. With Chiyu Wu being exposed as a supporter, all of her holdings had to be investigated. She employed half a million people in factories and transportation all across Asia. That required a lot of manpower and effort to investigate. Hannah as of course the most desired agent to be sent on any mission they had, as she had the training and the cloaking field.

"When I'm not here, I'll be on the  _Talon_  or at the office. You know how to get in contact with me." Jack said, as she came back out of the locker room dressed in her normal clothes. "Don't forget about our bet."

She gave him a winning smile. "Of course I won't. Don't put me up on any of the recruitment posters, then." Of course he would. Cerberus was much nicer and legal this time around. Not to mention he had to showcase his success so far. She showcased it very nicely, as an added bonus. Last time he had a motto to live by. This time he was certain for his new motto for Cerberus. No declaration of terrorist intent, or that sort of thing.

He had debated going with,  _Because Humanity deserves the best_ , but that didn't fit right. He couldn't go with the xenophobic  _Humans are superior to all other races_  this time around, since they had to play a bit nicer. If they wanted anyone to win the Reaper War, everyone would have to be on the same side. The Turians would have to feel like they could trust the Humans, the Salarians would have to overcome the desire to keep the status quo, and the Asari would have to actually share for the first time in centuries. All of that would be hard.

But this was very exciting. Finally something that wasn't dependent upon his memories. This was all new to him, and for once that was exactly what he was looking for. With that in mind, he took out a permanent marker. One thing that had been lost in the many generations since digital technology had been introduced was handwriting skills. His were sadly no better, but were able to translate what he wanted to say easily enough.

_Cerberus_

_Safeguarding the Future of Humanity_

It took him a while to fill in all of the extra large lettering that he had drawn, but then again these walls were twelve feet high. The section he wanted to have the symbol was mostly filled by the lettering by the time he was done. It must have taken more than an hour, and when he finally finished, he could hear one person clapping. There were in fact fifteen people behind him, along with Henry in the crowd. Some of them looked like they didn't want to be there, so they must have been coerced into waiting for him to finish coloring in letters like a small child.

"Henry, you didn't have to make these people have to wait here for me to finish." He reprimanded, coming to that conclusion.

"Bah, they work for you anyways. Or they will. Or won't, if the look that one is giving you remains too long." Henry said, making the offending technician quickly change his outlook. "Cerberus, eh?" He said, giving a look at it. "Give me the pen."

Henry took a little bit to draw something out. Jack watched, but let the workers that wanted to leave go off to their respective jobs. Henry took the area of the wall Jack did not, drawing out a large three headed wolf. Art must have been a hobby at one point. But by the end, it appeared as if a three headed dog was guarding the entrance to the room. Henry even had enough skill to make it feel as if the dog were regal, or protective. That made Jack feel at least a little emotion as Henry stood up.

The three workers that remained clapped, and Jack decided to participate. "I didn't know that you were that great at art." He remarked.

"My hands never shook. Mother told me that I could be anything I wanted. Dad told me he wouldn't pay for a liberal arts degree." Henry grinned. "I went with the option that gave me free college. I don't regret it. It comes in handy sometimes." He brushed his hands off. "Now why did you drag me all the way up here?"

"The Cerberus Foundation has no constraints on the research and development it does, for the sake of Humanity. Which means that any and all of the technologies we develop will be ignoring limitations and rules. I thought you might be interested in helping me create a group of special forces units. They might be interested in paying for the full cloaking and vision package. Since you are the only person I could possibly think of with a hold on that market, I thought you would be interested."

"Interested?!" He blustered. "Hell, I would move in if Helen weren't against that sort of thing! I'll have my boys set up an operating theatre and get equipment sent up. Count me in, Jack. You have been paying me back with interest lately, and I hope this trend continues." He motioned to the three men that were still standing there, and started sectioning out the area of the base that would be for him. "Jack, what do you call this place, anyways?"

"Oh, lets be realistic. There is always only one name for Cerberus's first location. This will be Tartarus Station. Can't have our three headed dog living outside of Hell, now, can we." Jack joked. "Before you leave to grab your mobile lab platform, I think you should attend the welcoming ceremonies. You'll be very interested in what I have to say."

Henry nodded, and continued sectioning out the parts of the base he thought he would need. Jack would give him a lot of space, but he would need some for himself as well. A lot of experimental weapons and armor were going to be coming out of here. Since the rule on him being able to avoid certain laws only applied to this station, they would need a very good machine shop and weapons factory. A very small one, but it would be needed. Perhaps some irradiated ammunition blocks, along with some other things. The Turians needed to fear what Humanity could field, as they were outmatched in space too easily. He tallied all of that, and then looked out at where the dome sat above their workspace. It would be a tight fit for everything after it was all said and done.

He sent a notification to the base's PA system via his Omni-tool. It felt good to be able to wear that freely again. Having his communications monitored but not directly controlled by someone else was also nice. Not seeing Hannah on a daily basis would be sad, but he needed her to go her own way. Julia and Miranda were nearly to the point that they could be raised outside of their life support units. She didn't need to know about her biological daughters yet, or perhaps at all. It would be better if they didn't have that kind of influence in their lives.

Not to say that they wouldn't benefit from having a mother, but they would only receive the wrong kind of message from Hannah. She was a bit of a blunt instrument, to be wielded by those in control of higher power. Her profile and mental state in his memories was one of stability and independent thinking. She was eventually a flag officer, someone who could handle the responsibility of leading thousands of troops into battle. This time she didn't have that. Her parents didn't die of natural causes, and she didn't settle down and raise a family with Greg. She went into Intelligence instead of the Navy, who treated her like a pawn. As such, her mental state was unsuitable for raising children. Rather terrible, but for the sake of Humanity certain things had to be done.

The PA system screeched from the walls.  _"All personnel, please report to briefing room one, All personnel, report to briefing room one."_  Jack walked down the hallway to the briefing room, as the three hundred people on base all filed in. The room could seat maybe a thousand, but more likely just six hundred. It was halfway filled by the time everyone showed up, and Jack walked towards the podium. All eyes were on him, and he reveled in it.

He took a string, and put a beaded cord through one side, and wrapped it gently around his neck. The beaded cord rested on top of his adam's apple, and strained his vocal cords lightly. It was necessary for what he was about to say. From the podium, he raised the microphone, and brought it up close to his face.

Then, in perfect Turian, he snarled and growled his message.  _"Greetings to all pyjaks."_  In the audience, some people were confused, thinking this some kind of joke. Anyone who had heard the alien's communications couldn't understand him, but knew exactly where that came from. He refrained from saying more, as it might be a little suspicious if he was perfectly fluent in Turian months after first contact. He undid the cord on his neck, setting it down on the podium.

"Welcome to what is now the Cerberus Foundation. My name is Jack Harper, and I will be your supplier, director, and personally responsible for all of what we do here. What I just spoke was Turian, heavily accented due to the fact that they have two sets of vocal cords. No human can speak truly as they do without some pressure being applied directly to those cords, and even then our vocabulary will always be limited. Part of what you will learn here, if you decide to stay with us, will be the Turian language and computing language. Their binary is based off of a sixteen base digit code. It is long, complicated, and detailed. Strangely enough, their technology for computers is only a few years ahead of us. For an alien race this is nearly a crime, but for us this is our greatest advantage."

He paced away from the podium, not enjoying just standing there. "Their sector of space is heavily fortified, with only two relays leading to their colonies and homeworld. To be able to assault either of those two locations will take the entire might of the Second Fleet. Our offensive options are limited. In terms of numbers and population, we can threaten them. But in terms of fleet and weapon technology, they will have the advantage. They apparently will always have the advantage if they can raid us like they did on Shanxi." There were some hard stares after that statement. "Shanxi, to them, was just a raid. They can do that over and over again until we break, and they did so with no major losses of ships and personnel. They lost a cruiser, four frigates, and a few hundred soldiers. We lost twice that many ships, and somewhere over one hundred and fifty thousand people."

He brought up the image of a naked Turian. "That cannot be how this conflict emerges. They can simply raid us and break us down piece by piece. As such, from this facility we will develop counter-intrusion programs. We will develop the newest and strongest weapons that Humanity can make. We will make the armor that our troops go into combat with. Lastly, we will create and train the special forces agents that will do what no one else can. That is the function of Cerberus."

He pointed at the Turian image on screen. It had been taken after General Williams had beheaded one of the Turians, and their body had been stripped and a full autopsy had been done. Williams had kept the head of the two Turians he had beheaded, with some old fashioned sword no less. Other bodies had been brought in by Hannah. This was one of those bodies. The stab wound to the side of the neck revealed its cause of death. "This is the enemy we are facing. Their skin has two major layers, one of which provides some protection against radiation and works like the scale of a reptile. Their sweat glands do not function as efficiently as human ones, meaning that any rapid changes in temperature they have a hard time adapting to. Their armor is rated for deep space as well as intense heat, so this won't be of much use unless we are fighting them on the ground. Their armor plating is on average half an inch thick, or rather for those of you with metric systems their armor is roughly between 1.5 and 2 centimeters thick. It is constructed with thick layers of ceramically formed Palladium and synthetic fibers. The motors inside the joints are not exposed, like they are in our armors currently. Cerberus has some of the few armors recovered from the battlefield of Shanxi, and we have a responsibility to create something from that."

He pushed a button on his Omni-tool, shifting the slide to a symbol that many people recognized. "This Foundation would like to thank those of you for coming. We have recruited all of the members of the once infamous Kassa Fabrications corporation. As we need the most dangerous weapons for our troops, we have brought the best. Between Kassa Fabrications, who have been nearly convicted of war crimes and breaking the modified Geneva Conventions, as well as Markov Heavy Industries, we have the ability to supply the best. I don't want weapons that follow normal conventions. I don't want mods that are expected to be humane."

"We are going to make weapons and anything else that will give us an edge in this. They didn't give us any quarter on Shanxi, and we sure as hell won't receive any when they come back. So, make the nastiest and most lethal things you can. I didn't hire the worst and most criminal weapons producers on Earth just to watch as we lost colonies. As for pay, don't worry about that. Request any and all materials you need and they will get here. The special forces will be perfectly willing to test and use anything that you come up with."

He then brought up the picture of the ruined planet of Shanxi. "Some of you will be working on construction and building materials that can stand up to their small arms fire. Most of their weapons had enough punch to go right through our defensive plating onboard Taurus Station. Our teams were unable to cause sufficient casualties or stop any of the boarding parties that took the station. So, for our defensive orbital stations, we will need better defensive plating. We will need better turrets and defenses. They enemy has shown a willingness to board and take our orbital defenses rather than take losses to them. We need to make this our first line of defense, and so some of you will be working on making that a reality."

He brought up a last slide. This was of Hannah. It had been taken using his Omni-tool as she had been testing the suit from earlier. The slide was the first frame of a small video clip showcasing her movements. The clip was only of the portions that were visible, and as such, ended with her giving him the middle finger and telling him that he couldn't use this for recruitment. The rest of the audio he muted. They didn't need to know that. Lip readers might take advantage of this, but oh well. He froze the slide on that, of her striking a pose and giving a middle finger to the camera.

"This is our only fully augmented agent. She is capable of night vision, augmented reflexes, and has a cloaking field. As you can see, she is showcasing our newest developed armor. It assists with the cloaking field and can extend it over larger weapons, unlike if she was just doing so herself. Many of the agents that we create will be this model, labeled Infiltrator. Other models of augmentations will be introduced as time goes on. The enemy soldiers have their own classifications, which will be covered in your meetings as necessary. As of right now, welcome to Cerberus." He said this to them in Turian as well, to prove a point. "We are going to do whatever we can to protect Humanity, and if you aren't here to do that, I expect your letter of resignation on my desk tomorrow morning. If you have questions please email them to this public forum in the local server. Someone will answer you, and my time is not to be wasted by the trivial or unimportant questions. If you have a legitimate question, for example, 'Are we allowed to use biological agents?' that would be a worthwhile question. The answer is yes, and I have already forwarded the materials that would be most effective to team leads. I expect you to be professional and prompt in your work. Fifty hour weeks are expected, with full benefits. Our head of security is Lt. Anthony, who will now brief us on the security procedures and rules."

Jack replaced the microphone and let the mountain of a man that was Anthony go through the security associated with Tartarus. He just walked out of the auditorium, motioning to Henry as he did so. The man gleefully left the room, as his time was important too. His technicians he left in the hands of Anthony, as he went through the security briefing.

"How long did it take to learn all that?" Henry asked. "You were always good with languages, but that must have been difficult."

"I made myself hoarse just getting the vowels down. General Williams asked me what I was doing in the bathroom one day, and I told him that I was trying to learn something helpful. We were in the middle of a siege at the time, and a lot of people were doing things to maintain their sanity. Snarling and growling at the bathroom mirror must have seemed tame." Henry was having a good laugh about it.

"Oh, they are going to love the language lessons you are going to give them." He said, still laughing. "Do you have some time? Helen wanted to invite you over for dinner." He didn't often invite someone to his house for dinner.

"I can make time for friends as good as you two. How is Grace?" Grace Constantine was their adopted daughter, and the first cloned or created human from the process invented by Henry. She was finally catching up to the maturity level of how old she was. At least as far as Jack knew.

"She is crawling, by God. She sleeps rather nicely, thanks to spending so much time with her parents." Jack smirked. Creating a joke that her tube was the only responsible parent that she had was not very tasteful, but it had stuck. "She is loud, a good set of lungs on her. Turns out that her namesake happened to be quite the singer, so I think we will cultivate that."

Jack smiled at that. Kids were wonderful. He had no idea how to raise them, but they always looked cute enough. "Sounds nice enough. James has the shuttle ready for us if you feel like riding." Jack had keywords for different situations James should be prepared for. He had it hotkeyed in his Omni-tool for that reason.

"Perfect. I'll just leave mine for the technicians. Plus, I can always appreciate James and his manners. If he wasn't one of those American types I would say he was a proper Brit." James was easy to like. Optimistic, logical, and had a streak of ambition in him that made him fly as fast as legally and illegally possible. Jack liked that. It was worth the tickets and citations that piled up.

Henry had his Omni-tool out, now that he had finally gotten one. He was typing out his response to the pilot of whatever shuttle he brought. "Think I can have seating for the operating theatre?"

"No, of course not. We need all the area we can get for the other requirements. What kind of audience were you expecting? Just send it via camera."

"Damn." Henry said. "Just seeing how much space I could get. I get the feeling I'll be up here quite a bit. You can't blame me for being at least a little greedy."

"Of course I can." Jack said, both of them giving each other a look. "But we both owe the other a few favors. If you want to have some seats you can have them put in, but try not to disrupt anything else going on. The firing range will be right next door to you."

"Ah, so I'll have to worry about getting shot at in addition to all the trouble these muscle heads are going to give me."

James had the doors open by the time they got to the hangar, and the entire craft was ready to go. Jack hopped in first, enjoying the full sized leather seats with the wine glasses already topped off. Henry sat down in his own seat, to clink his own glass against Jack's. "I happen to have a very interesting business venture to recommend to you. Have you ever heard of the Sirta group? They just started collecting investors a few weeks ago. I think you should go in with me on it."

Henry drank some of the wine before answering. "Well, Jack, if you are getting involved, the money is sure to come. Anything you seem to touch goes someplace. How much are we talking?"

"I was thinking all of my liquid investments. So somewhere around two hundred million." Henry did stop drinking at that.

"Jack, I don't have that kind of money to play with. That is serious. For you too, even!"

"Sirta can develop something that might mitigate the possibility of coagulation and death during your augmentation process. If you partnered with them, your augmentations can become safe enough for general doctors to install. Operational risks go down enough for legality. So, still think its too much?"

"Quite the risk taker, Jack." Henry put the wine glass down. "I'll have to dig up some money for this. But considering your history, you've never done me wrong before. Helen will want to know about this before I make a decision. But keep your hopes up. This Sirta better deliver."

Oh, it would. Earlier than it was supposed to, but Medi-gel was too useful to ignore the need for it. It had changed Humanity's place in the Galaxy with just its presence alone. Saving the lives of soldiers on the battlefield that would normally not make it back to a doctor. It would be the turning point for them now, as the Turians had such a strong advantage currently. Sirta would need to be there when Humanity went to the rest of the Galaxy. The Asari couldn't dominate their medical and biotic market with its presence alone. The Turians would feel threatened by their ingenuity, and the Salarians would try to replicate it on their side as fast as they could. Sirta was the key. He would personally make sure it survived contact with the galactic market.

"James, take us down to Melbourne. We've been invited to dinner." James didn't reply, as he was probably clearing their departure with the dock master.

"What about your girl Hannah?" Henry asked.

"She has more important problems to deal with. If we see her, it will be on the recruitment posters." That reminded him, he had to send those pictures in to the Alliance Intelligence Office. He sent the one with her in her skintight armor and giving the camera a middle finger. He would let them caption it. He would probably hear about this later, but right now he didn't care. Hannah was going to be a shining example of the new Cerberus. Now if only he could have gotten that wonderful symbol back. The rest of the Foundation liked the three headed dog better. Oh well. Nothing was always perfect. Democracy could backfire on you sometimes.

* * *

August, 2156, Tartarus Station

Armistice. Ceasefire. Terrible words to most of his investors, who were gearing up for a big war, but not for him. The First Contact War was finally over. The Turians were forced to back down when the Council realized that this new race had some teeth. The Second Fleet had been ravaged by the Turian offensive, but managed to blunt it enough that when the Turians got to Arcturus, human numbers and a second dreadnaught drove them off. They even killed one of the enemy's dreadnaughts and its entire support fleet. Unfortunately, that just got the Turians excited. They hadn't had a real enemy to crush and defeat in centuries. For Turians, this was exciting.

They had been handed a defeat, yes. But that had woken them up. Now the Turians were gearing up for war, when Earth had already geared up. Once the Turian war machine was awakened, it couldn't be completely turned off. Thankfully, some Asari had gotten involved and calmed down both sides. Humanity's special forces were very effective, and only had two operations for the duration of the war.

One was a boarding action on a downed Turian cruiser. Some nasty business, but they managed to take it with five to one casualties. Even then, it had been bad. The experimental weapons and armor had performed adequately or miserably. Hannah wasn't assigned to that, thankfully.

Not many of their weapons came back from that. Turian ships had turrets installed in all the boarding docks that were armored, and took tanks or equivalently heavy weapons to damage. That was where the most casualties were lost. All of those turrets were destroyed, but they managed to get some information on them anyways. The Turians fought hard for any piece of rock they managed to get ahold of, even planetoids. They were forced to destroy the entire Alliance infrastructure within the Shanxi system, to deny them the ability to refuel there. A few more years of backpedaling for the investments there. Jack lost millions to it all. Either companies disagreeing with his warlike tendencies, or just simply products failing, Jack lost three of his largest contracted companies.

The other action that their special operations team got to be involved in was retaking Taurus Station. That was bloodier. Hannah was involved that time, and managed to make it out with her first and second purple heart medals. She was sent back to the doctors on the first day of the action, and recovered, coming back again to the doctor on the fourth day. She was shot in the shoulder and through the lung. Jack and Henry were ready to fly there to help the doctors operate, and ostensibly to show off Cerberus for Jack. They weren't sent for, nor were they alerted of the second injury to her shoulder.

She spent the rest of the war in casts. She was still around, but Jack nor Henry saw her. She did leave Jack a note in his office, somehow getting past all of his security forces. The note just reminded him that she was alright, and that he was thanked for asking. He replied using her supposedly private account that he was glad she was alright, and that he looked forward to sleeping with her. As always.

The best part of the recent news was that the Alliance sacked Ross. She disappeared one night, after a rather pointed debate in the justice hearings. The Senate didn't sack her, but someone did. She was replaced by some generic suit and tie that was more focused on the war than domestic affairs. Data had been released soon after her sacking that she had wasted millions of credits searching for members of the Reds during the war, instead of focusing her efforts on the Turians. That might have been staged information, but Jack had done his level best to manipulate the information towards that. The Reds were going to be quiet for a while. With aliens and a whole new galaxy to play in, they might not even try for earth anymore. There were plenty of places they could escape to. In fact, he might just point some of them towards a few locations. If the Reds were between the Alliance and the Batarians, that might curb losses and generate sympathy for the Alliance to aid them.

Or it might just create a gigantic human paramilitary movement that wipes out the citadel and ruins his plans. He knew that it sounded too familiar to be comfortable. Cerberus tried that, but it never got off the ground. More like it was too late. Jack had gotten Indoctrinated by that point, and the goals shifted ever so subtly away from stopping the Batarians towards shooting humanity in the proverbial foot. No, the Reds would not be allowed to go out on their own. Or perhaps he might have to send the Skyllian Blitz early. But he didn't want Julia to have to go through that unless absolutely necessary.

She would be one of those people who had to be at the right spot at the right time. He didn't think he could predict where that would be. But for certain she would be well prepared for it. His musings were interrupted by a loud hiccup.

"Am I doing this wrong?" He asked the assistant on hand. "Or is that normal?"

In his arms was Julia. She was tiny, and made unpredictable squealing sounds. Her sister was going to be the next out of the tube, but for now it was just Julia. She had bright blue eyes, the same piercing color as his own. Her hair was a mess of reddish brown fuzz at this point, but it was there. Humanity had a future again. That brought a sense of completion to him.

There was a wetnurse here, hired to take care of both of the babies. She had no real notice of this, and was hired only hours before. She was well paid, and had no previous warning that this would happen. But she did sign the non disclosure agreement, supposedly because of the nature of his work. It did cover things about the children as well.

"Mister Harper, she doesn't have a normal anything at this point! She was just born!" He had told her that the mother didn't want the children. Technically true, but only due to misinformation. Hannah would probably enjoy children, but the life he had fixed for her did not allow for the time to raise them. "You just hold her and get comfortable. You've got some time ahead of you."

"Well, then. Last time around I didn't care about any children, so this time I think I'll give it my best shot. It's nice to meet you Julia, I'm your dad." Julia didn't really respond, just blinking at the moment. The world was a very big place, and she was very small. But she was very nice to hold, and he could feel some sort of emotional reaction to her. it was very odd, to say the least.

This was a very new feeling. His whole being felt like it was vibrating a little bit, down to the tips of his fingers. Looking closely, he couldn't see any sort of motion of that nature happening. Very odd.

He could hear the nurse cooing at Miranda as she was brought out of her bed. "Come on, your dad has two arms. He wants to hold you, too." The nanny brought over Miranda, who he cradled in his left arm. Now that feeling just kept going, and it felt rather surreal. Then it all ended when there was a small flash of light and the nurse took a picture of him.

"Aww, you are such a dear!" He was less than amused with the nurse at the moment. "You're going to be a fine father!" That much was true, but Jack was probably going to hire a different nurse along the way. This one was just too comfortable in getting into his personal life. But he was holding the hope of the human race in his arms.

"Julia Constantine Harper. That's your name, and you'll never shy away from it. You'll be the best hero that I can make you into. As for your sister, you'll have to protect her. She won't be quite the same hero as you, but she will get the things that you can't be seen doing done."Julia didn't respond, but then again she wasn't truly coherent. Miranda gurgled quite loudly in his other arm. "Miranda Persephone Harper, you will be your sister's sword. To protect her where she cannot predict. I'll give you every tool to do just that."

Nothing responded for a long moment. Then the nurse raised her voice. "That sounds awful dreary for baby talk, Mister Harper."

"Who referred you?" He asked calmly.

"Oh! Mister Smythe referred me to your care." Mr. Smythe was a butler, and apparently didn't understand the meaning of  _get me a respectable nurse_.

"Wonderful. You're both fired." There. Now he felt much better. Much more like his normal self. All of this fatherhood was confusing him. Now he needed a new butler and a new nurse.  _That_  was a problem he could realistically deal with. He had no idea how to raise children, and the books about them were all so boring and droll that he didn't particularly care about that. Besides, he could always get some assistance from the millions of parenting books that had been published in the last hundred years. He might have one of the interns summarize them up for him.

* * *

Author's Note

A little shorter this week, but I assure you that things are going to move faster now that the galaxy feels a little bigger. Humanity is being fleshed out rather well, and the next on our list of groups to investigate is the rest of the galaxy. Though to those of you who guessed, yes there was a Daddy-Jack. But he wasn't going to do it normally, because when has Jack Harper ever done anything normal? If given the choice between food he wouldn't like at a five star restaurant or a greasy burrito barn that he is actually craving, Jack will take the five star restaurant every time. Just to keep his image. For people in the sensitive location of being very rich and somewhat transparent about their activities, they have to keep their image.

Billionaires and Millionaires have to go through this to some degree. I don't imagine that changing as the digital world becomes even more transparent in the intervening century and a half to Mass Effect. So Jack always has to worry about that level of transparency, since his companies and owned assets are all in very highly media focus companies. Hannah doesn't have that problem, and can afford to be more impulsive. Any bets on how the kids will turn out?


	10. Fugue: The Devil you Know

Chapter 10

April, 2164, Tartarus Station

Jack Harper was a much different man than he was five years ago. He had changed a little bit. By a little bit that meant he tried to be nicer when his girls were around. That was a lot more often, ever since the first attempt on their life. Someone decided to mail him some sort of mail bomb. It was either an attempt on his life or on theirs, and as far as his staff knew the mail parcel had been unmarked.

He knew there would be attempts. But having small children really made that felt more deeply. So now his office and living chamber in Tartarus had an extension for the girls. Tutors were cheap. But having two nine year old girls with genius level IQ's made their education very important. Miranda was smarter than Julia by far, and was being sent onto her third language. She had Human basic(English) as well as Asari basic. She was now learning the troublesome language that was Chinese. Julia was having trouble learning Asari, and had tried Turian. Humans couldn't quite get their tones right until puberty had completed, as their vocal cords were too limited.

Julia did have her father's eyes, as well as a red-brown head of hair. Miranda had the raven hair and blue eyes that he was so proud to have himself. Both of them were as they were designed. Perfect examples of what a hero should be. A nine year old hero with dreams of being the next Admiral Dreschen. Miranda didn't have as much hero worship problems, but then again she had a strong desire for any and all books. She devoured them, but strangely didn't like reading from the datapad as much as from paper books.

The walls of his girl's room were filled with books, where they didn't have a stash of weapons hidden. No one really entered there, so Jack used those walls to hide his own personal weapons that were declared illegal after the Council accepted Humanity into their midst. That went much different this time around. Rather than approaching Humanity and offering them safety from the rampaging Turian warmachine, they offered to mediate their troubles. He could still remember the words of the Turian Primarch.

_"In this Humanity we can see a worthy foe, one that has not acted dishonorably towards us. We aggressively tried to enforce Citadel Law, and for our attack we were justly repulsed. We do not hold Humanity accountable for the losses we incurred, nor do we hold them to blame for any of the damages we experienced. They only sought to defend themselves, and their region of space. Any and all damages caused by the assault upon their planet will be reimbursed to them, and we look forward to a long and continued peace with them."_

Lying bastard. With one hand they offered peace, and with the other they reinforced their borders so that Alliance teams couldn't enter their area of space. The reparations and reimbursed costs were all at the galactic standard, as determined by the Volus Protectorate. Of course that favored the Turians, as casualties were not factored into the damages. When they complained, they were told rather gruffly by the banking representative that they were lucky the Council had called them off.

The Volus saw a profit somewhere, and through them they only got enough money to replace the cost of materials and labor to install the new colony buildings. Of course based on galactic standard. Cheap labor and even cheaper materials. So just like the first time Humanity had been screwed by that. Shanxi was now a colony in slow growth stages. The best land and territory was so riddled with craters and debris that it was unusable for farming or implementation for a long time yet.

Which brought him to today. He had the most interesting vidmail waiting for him.  _The Alliance needs five volunteers to be posted indefinitely to the Citadel. We have an ambassador that will be going there to sign a treaty and nothing can afford to injure them. This vidmail details the needs and requirements of those who may volunteer._  The Vidmail would logically go through the list of things they didn't want their agents involved in. Hannah was right off the list, as she had weapons and a history of killing Turians.

He grinned. This wasn't that hard. But he knew from his memories that this was going to be Humanity's first major signing of the Treaty of Firaxen. They would agree to Citadel conventions, and become an associate race. The thousands of doors that would open in the next months were going to be a perfect opportunity. Humanity, even though it got attacked by the Turians six years early, still were only prepared to follow Citadel conventions in 2164. That mostly had to do with disarming weapons of mass destruction that had been created in light of the war with the Turians, as well as their economy needing the time to prepare for a scale of foreign investment that no one could prepare for adequately.

It hadn't been pretty last time, and Jack had viewed it as just another STG attempt to control something in lieu of the Council. Asari investments, Salarian cheap technology, and Turian weapons were about to flood their market. Drugs from Omega and Illium had already been in motion towards Earth and her colonies. That had been fun to identify, yes indeed.

Part of disarmament had been to put away all of the truly terrible biological weapons that they had developed to kill Turians. The only other race that would be affected as strongly were the Quarians, but they were easy to kill already. Creating biological agents for a group of people that already had a weak immune system was useless. Plus, their numbers were too low to be a threat to anyone. Even the Geth would win in an open war against them. But knowing that the Reapers would be using the easily-corrupted Geth made contact with the Quarians a necessary evil.

They would be the only people who developed disruptor ammo. A few other groups had it, yes, but the Quarians were the best at it. Humanity needed those for the Geth. He had discreetly purchased a few to try them out, and against organics they were just weak. Turrets and automated defenses were torn apart, though, which made the use of the ammo perhaps useful. Not enough to become a generally produced mod for their weapons, but it was a start.

He had until 2183. That was when Sovereign would become truly active. Right now it was just out there, hiding. Perhaps it was already active at this point, but as far as Cerberus had found in his memories, Saren had been under the control of the Reapers for a long while. Whether it was from the Reaper directly or not was unknown. His body and records were lost in the battle of the Citadel. As far as Jack could remember, Saren Arterius was actively prepared to use the Geth and Sovereign long before Eden Prime.

He had been looking for him, though. Cerberus had considered him a serious threat at that time. Right now though, with Hannah having killed him, he didn't know who the Reapers would use as a chief agent. He knew that Sovereign would, though. Harbinger worked the same way, multiple times. He could personally attest to this.

He had seen Saren on Shanxi. He had seen his brother too, who had been involved in some terrible things in his memories. But with the Alliance holding on for eleven days instead of less than three, the Turians never held the area long enough to reinforce anything. Once he saw Saren Arterius on the battlefield, he got his attention. That had been easy. No matter what race you were, when someone throws a rock at your head, it gets your attention.

He had clipped the side of Saren's helmet. That had been a terrible idea in hindsight. Saren was a brutal combatant with an anger problem. Jack needed some medical help after Saren beat him within an inch of his life. But he knew that Hannah was coming to save him. She had said so before the communications ran out. So, he planted himself in the path of Saren. He staged Saren finding his Omni-tool, and then taking it. Once he had it, Hannah wouldn't even look the other way in her haste to stop Humanity's secrets from falling into the hands of the enemy.

She had done perfectly. Saren was a front line combatant, a Spectre candidate. He didn't prepare himself for all of the completely dishonorable things that humans would do to survive. Most spectres did the assassinations themselves, and weren't the kind to expect house calls. So, at the cost of one brutal beating, he had spared Humanity from the actions of Saren. He would kill as many of them as he could over the next twenty years, and jack had no intention of letting him continue like this.

Hannah had no idea what she had removed from the galaxy. The youngest and most promising spectre in the history of their service was dead and gone before he could become a threat. Jack drank quite heavily to that. After he had recovered from the injuries. Strangely enough, in his memories he remembered getting injured a lot less. It was a curious occurrence, as this time he hadn't gone through his time in the military.

Over the last few years, he had been tied down to mostly Cerberus and his family. His daughters were important, and deserved every minute of his time that he could give. His work suffered due to that, yes, but it was much more rewarding knowing that every minute reading  _Real Men Hug Aliens_  and  _Starship Troopers 13_  returned later. All of the girl's reading was directed towards convincing them that aliens were completely friendly, but had their own interests that might not match your own.

Or at least he tried. Trying to predict children and their interests was hard. They were his offspring, so of course they were stubborn. They were too smart for their own good, too. Their tutors had to be very sharp to catch them at it. Thankfully the tutors were all members of Cerberus. They all were supposed to be smarter than children. Even the most gifted children he could possibly create, but that might be stacking the odds against them. To be fair he egged them on to try to trick their tutors, to surprise them, and most importantly to learn what their tutors held back from saying. For them and their goals in life, what people avoided saying would be more important than what they actually said.

They attended Cerberus classes on language, surveillance, and body language of aliens. No one in those classes realized, as the girls could just use the cameras. That way he could filter what the girls saw and heard. It wouldn't do for them to hear about the most efficient ways to kill aliens yet. Once they got into the armed services they could focus on that. Right now they needed to see them as people, so that when diplomacy was necessary they could use it.

His girls were the best that he could make them. Other than some unhealthy attraction towards some of the men on base, he was comfortable with them being able to do what they wanted. They even had some kids their own age on base, now that Cerberus employees could bring their families up here. Adding more to the base had been necessary when the Alliance requested that all of their special forces go through here for armament and class training. Every infiltrator in the Alliance came through here, as well as the new class that would be coming through soon.

"Sir, they're here." Came a notice from his secretary. That woman was one of the more daring people he had met up here. She had washed out of training but wanted to keep her access in Alliance systems. So she had become a secretary. She had control over who could and couldn't get into the offices of the people who lead the Cerberus Foundation. Her name was Jean Louis. Not the kindest sort of woman, and very much a married woman. He had no intention of treating her like some of his other secretaries. Most importantly because she was the genetic parent of one of the most powerful biotics in history.

Little Jennifer wasn't dragged off to Pragia and her death concealed from her parents this time. Jennifer Louis would never be subject zero in this life. She was quite the little terror, however. Julia liked her well enough. This time, Jack swore to never have to share his name with someone who labeled herself as the 'Psychotic Biotic'. Plus, all of the reports on Jennifer so far showed that she had all of the same performance indicators. None of the mental trauma and biotic conditioning, but all of the social needs were met. Tartarus Station just had a way of bringing the real world out more clearly.

Jennifer was going to be a strong biotic, just like everyone else he had earmarked. This time, though, there would be no Biotic Acclimation and Training camp. Humanity didn't deserve to suffer under a bigoted Turian teacher. More importantly, Tartarus Station had just finished its newest addition. They had just finished the Solaris wing of the base, dedicated to the growing biotic population of Humanity. With basic human nervous systems being clone-capable, Henry Lawson had generated a way of testing biotic amps on patients without breaking too many laws. It just took three years and a few million credits per clone to make them. Three years to grow them and then they would last perhaps two years. Not long enough to warrant any brain activity, and so much of their life span was testing biotic impulses.

Jack had come up with this expensive plan, and after being exposed to the rest of the galaxy, the Alliance decided to fund it. No human test subjects were needed. Not to mention he kept leaving oddly placed clues and hints as to where the research should go. Doing so anonymously took time and effort, as well as a lot of fake bank accounts, but it worked well enough. No one had called him on his sleuthing around Alliance personnel yet. Perhaps they approved. Or they approved of what little they could see of it.

Who knew. Going in to find out would only raise concern for what he was doing, so it was safer and more profitable to just go forward. If he got notified about it, well at that point he would act. Until then, it wasn't worth raising trouble.

"Send them in. I think they've waited long enough to get here." Jack paged to his secretary, after removing any signs of his daughters on his desk or in his office. Sometimes they liked to cause him trouble with that. He grinned at the thought of what he was about to do.

Coming into his office were three Asari. Blue skinned, comfortable with their physical forms, and curious about Humanity. Perfect. Or at least it would be if they went along with his plan.

"Jack Harper. We are pleased to meet you." Said the lead Asari, who was wearing a nice looking dress with black highlights on the shoulders. "When we received your invitation, we were quite pleased to come. You asked for someone competent in biotics?"

"Of course. I do thank you for coming here. I expected to see one of your commandoes or representatives, instead of actually seeing a Matriarch come. As such, I can offer what seems to be pleasant." Jack pulled out a bottle of his best wine. He knew from his memories that this worked equally well on Salarians, Humans, Elcor, and Asari. Drunk Elcor were entertaining to see try to walk. This wine, however, he knew would be to their tastes. "This is from a vineyard with over a thousand years of heritage. For our race, there are few older brands that exist. This bottle is as old as I am, and has aged properly." He pulled off the cork, which came as a surprise to the Asari. Their wines were contained in different containers. Corks and other such necessities had been mostly done away with in their culture.

He poured four glasses. One for himself and one for each of his three visitors. "Matriarch T'Soni, welcome to Earth." Behind him, his office was angled so that the window was always facing his homeworld. He was prideful and vain about it, sure. Living on a dome on the moon could do that for you.

"It is a nice little paradise." She said, remarking on the planet in the window. She did try the wine, as did her escorts. Judging by the looks on their faces, they were pleasantly surprised. "I was pleased that your race managed to hold back the Turian offensives."

"Not for a lack of effort. They are just as stubborn as we are when they decide to do something. While we did hold them off, we did manage to have one of our main producing colonies leveled."

Benezia T'soni nodded. Jack Harper had never met her. Not in this life or his memories. But Shepard had made mention in her reports that Benezia went to Saren with the intent of saving him. So she was knowledgeable, inquisitive, and very understanding. To see what the Council didn't must have taken some close connections. Too bad the rogue spectre was dead. "I have lived through much of the problems that have plagued my race. Especially the ones related to the newer races." She finally sat in the offered chair, which meant that Jack could sit down. "Which begs the question of why you asked me for this."

"I needed someone trusted that I could ask. We are about to be training the very first human biotics. Rather than ask the Turians for help, which might be politically helpful, I decided to ask the Asari. Your race is naturally biotic, and after looking in some of the old files, I saw that you were involved with teaching the Quarians how to use biotics when they first came into the galactic envelope. That made you very qualified."

Benezia outright laughed. It was a deep laugh, but not unsettling. "You must have traded the Shadow Broker for information about my maiden years." Either that or he had knowledge from the future. "You want me to come and teach your children? You would trust the Asari that much?"

"I am willing to pay an Asari to train our first generation of biotics. That does not mean they would be trusted. As you were allied with the Turians, I know that if Humanity had gone on the offensive, you would have been dragged into the conflict."

She gave him a neutral look. "I voted that we mobilize along with the Turians. Alas, we were voted down. So, do you trust me enough to hire our services?" Jack didn't know that. But now that he was aware it made sense. She was one of the few impulsive Matriarchs that were willing to go against the normal principles. She was one of the more outspoken Matriarchs.

"You are one of the more liberal thinking Matriarchs. Just because you wanted to mobilize doesn't mean that you were going to attack us. The Batarians are just as deserving a target for your fleets." Jack didn't see any change of emotion for any of them. His guess must have been off, then. The Asari didn't have many direct threats, however. If they thought the Turians needed help, then they might have been in for a land grab on some of the areas of Alliance Space. That seemed more likely.

"You assume much, Mr. Harper. The Asari Republics did not feel as though mobilization was needed. Too many voted against direct interaction. But to come to me means that you don't seek more traditional instruction for your biotic learners."

"Traditional isn't what Humans want. If anything, we enjoy shaking up the general market. We like to be unique. That is the kind of teaching style we are looking for. You were at the top of our lists for possible teaching sources, and if not you there were a few other Asari groups we wished to approach. If all of you refused, we will approach the Turians and get their support. It might not be the best solution, but we have the first wave of biotics coming here in less than eight weeks."

"You want to hire Asari from my organization?"

"I want to hire Asari with commando training and experience fighting Batarians, really." Jack said offhandedly. Let them interpret that as they will. He just wanted the most effective training that he could get the initiates. The Batarians were just the most dishonorable fighters that civilized people could get experience fighting. Only the best and most efficient tactics could win when the enemy didn't care for casualties or collateral damage. That was the kind of training he wanted human biotics to have.

"So, you thought that the commandos from my organization would be most suitable? Our actions are mostly religious in nature."

Jack smiled. There was an obvious trap to step into. Her Siari based religion that she ascribed to was growing very quickly, and some elements of the Asari government did not enjoy the threat to their precious Athame. Since it was mostly a colonial religion, a pirate raid was staged on one of their main planets. Nothing like a Batarian Pirate raid to prove a religion wrong. Benezia caught wind of it and sent her commandos in to end the threat.

Her commandos did have that kind of experience. She just wasn't about to outright claim it when supposed 'mercenary organizations' had fought off the invaders. It was all still a very touchy subject for the Asari government. Siari was still touchy, as it had only risen up in the last thousand years or so. Benezia was one of the few members of the older generation that supported the growing religion.

So instead of walking into that trap, he chose a different direction. "I only ask for three of your commandos to come and teach a few dozen human children. If what I hope for succeeds, I will happily donate time and materials to your own organization. If that is what you want in exchange for the time and personnel, I am perfectly happy about that."

"What I want, Mr. Harper, is access to your Prothean Archive. When you can secure that for me, then you'll have your trainers."

Well. Damn.

To get her a pass to the Mars Archive, which would be a required thing to share once they became a Council race, was difficult. It was one of the most secure facilities that their race had. It was the first to receive the newest and most capable sensors. Salarian STG had been sighted in some of their systems, and they had been sleuthing around. None had been sighted directly at Earth, but Jack could see the signs of their actions. Sirta Foundation had been probed and audited heavily, the Council trying to put pressure on the company that was keeping Humanity's emerging economy afloat. Other companies had received the same abrupt and unwelcome attention.

Some of the governments on Earth had been bribed and affected by the new foreign powers, and would see some political movement. Which lead him to his current meeting. He was going to meet with the Naval Committee to ask for a nonhuman pass to the Prothean Archive. That was always a bit expensive. Just arranging a meeting with all of them officially was difficult to get, going through the proper channels.

It was much easier to get the more important and willing members together for a nice dinner. So that was how Dierdre Scott, Donovan Hock, Toshiro Toyoda, and Gustav Chekorivic sat at a table together with Jack Harper. Dierdre was simple to bring in, as this would be fine for publicity on her end. Donovan was somewhat of a peacenik, wanting a greadual standing down of certain forces and an escalation of the local forces not directly controlled by the Alliance. He was most certainly corrupt at some level, but as to why or who was paying him Jack didn't know. South Africa, where he hailed from, was not very forthcoming with information about him. He was a lot like the corrupt dictators that usually came out of the African states. They all deleted their past so deep behind misinformation that it became impossible to find where the truth began.

Jack didn't know even in his memories. Donovan was older than him by a longshot, and had survived the genocide committed against the white population. How that was accomplished was still unknown. Toshiro Toyoda was part of the manufacturing giant Toyota, which had jumped to space travel faster than the other car companies. Their vehicles were dependable, and could be found in every colony in Alliance space. Japan and its components in Asia, as they had expanded following the 2020's, contributed heavily to the Alliance electronics sector.

Toyoda was a large contributor and the man appointed by their government to watch over where their most advanced gear was distributed. He was also a bigoted bastard, and saw Humanity as the top of the food chain. He also saw how to get there, and his products reflected that. Gustav was from the Eastern European Federation. He was part Ukrainian and part Russian, hated by most people and tolerated by his government. But he was also a warmonger, and no one was able to stay in political positions like them. He was absolutely corrupt. But more importantly he was the chair of the committee. Gustav could veto anything that Jack put forward unless he was appeased.

Donovan he had promised to allow on a tour of some of the more secretive parts of Cerberus, namely the biotic research lab. He was expressing an unhealthy interest in it. But if that was the price of getting biotic training from some of the best Asari he could get, so be it. Toyoda wanted Jack to buy out one of the businesses that was competing against Toyota directly for alloy production. Of course, they weren't selling, so Jack would need to do some sort of corporate move to take them down. That would be months of work. Even weakening them would be enough. But the Taiwan-based company was one of the more independent corporations that operated within China and its territories. The Reds didn't have as much influence on Taiwan. So removing that company would only strengthen the Reds. Or at least give the more corrupt and destructive forces more reason to grow.

Fulfilling Toyoda's demands would be difficult. Each choice had its consequences. Gustav though, that took the cake. He wanted something that Jack could actually give, but did not want to. Gustav wanted to be a major shareholder in Markov Heavy Industries. It was a private company, so the shares were not being actively sold. Which meant that he wanted Jack's personal shares in the company. Those had been hard to come by in the first place, and Gustav wanted them as a favor to maintain his acceptance of the nonhuman access. So, that lead him to this dinner party. All of the people here knew what the score was.

So, Jack invited Hannah. He hadn't seen her in years. But Dierdre would most certainly keep her hands to herself if he invited another female companion along. They had a business relationship that was well cultivated. Ever since his twin girls had been born, their more personal relationship had been strained. Not as though Jack was refusing her advances, but he got busier. Arranging to sneak her up to Tartarus Station was exponentially more difficult than sneaking her into one of his penthouses. So he had gone after the more accessible and younger crowd of prospective agents and workers in Tartarus and Polaris.

The lunch was as one would expect. None of them mentioned any of the topics that were dangerous. Strangely enough, most of their conversation revolved around the rising corruption rate in the nations of Greece, Germany, and Turkey. This was a problem for much of the Alliance, as Turkey was one of the electronic production giants. Greece had always been poor, ever since the waterlanes of trade were mostly abandoned. Once petroleum had fallen from the top fuel source, Greek shipping companies had dried up. Now they were little better than the third world countries that depended on tourism to maintain themselves.

Germany, though. That country had been a serious power in terms of economic investing power. The German economic superpower had become weaker in the growing shadow of Asia, but had made a comeback by investing heavily into the Alliance war machine. BMW was now the main producer of the fighters the Alliance fielded. As such, Germany was targeted by Asari investors. The Volus had gone after Turkey, as they always needed better electronics. Buying out the human companies seemed like a fine idea.

There was no law that said that you couldn't sell to an alien. With the Alliance being inducted as an Associate race soon, the investors and capitalists from both the Volus and the Asari were hunting for easy pickings. With the credit being stronger than the Alliance standard currency, they could buy out companies for less than what they would be in a few months. The desperate companies would sell quickly, and without any of the legal protections that the Alliance would gain from a treaty, the companies that sold out early would be under the complete control of the outside races.

Their workers couldn't unionize or work outside of the rules established by the ownership. As the Council had no control present yet, these greedy aliens were going to come in and just steal everything they could for the lower prices. Especially technology. Thankfully, Sirta and Markov were safe. He had adequately provided for their costs of preparing for the larger galactic market. Henry hadn't seen a penny come back yet, and reminded him incessantly about it.

But medigel was going to hit the galactic market in four months. After that, Humanity was assured its place. With a fleet that could challenge the Batarian menace, and an economy whose core was protected from wrongful alien investments, they would have a much better chance. The last time that Humanity had emerged into the galactic community, Sirta had nearly gone out of business just getting more infrastructure. Only later did they realize that much of their problems were caused by some STG wetwork teams that had found the company breaking Council policy. Sirta had used illegal policies that the Alliance was trying to avoid getting into when creating medigel in the first place. Test subjects had originally been provided by the government. Thankfully this time Jack had a seat on their board and directed them to use penal colonies. Much more secure and the Alliance could just use those on death row for the testing. Nothing was more glorious than using someone whose life was already forfeit to save the lives of millions of others.

Among the members of the Naval Committee, the threat of aliens was real. Donovan may have been the most peaceful one of them, but even he agreed that something needed to be done about the threat. That was when Jack came to a solid conclusion.

"Gustav," He asked, getting the larger man's attention. "How many of your retired navy men are causing trouble in your country?"

"I would say no more than a thousand. Outside the penal camps, we have a few hundred in rehabilitation. Perhaps more that we aren't aware of." He gave him a loose look. "Why?"

"During the late 1600's, the French did not enjoy the foreign market being so heavily controlled by the Portuguese and British. Their answer was a group of Corsairs, loyal to their country as loosely aligned citizens, but armed with some of the best ships and weapons they could afford. Consider them an ancient group of terrorists that were allowed to engage in piracy by their government. If, and I don't mean that we should allow this to leave closed doors, we enact the same strategy for our borders. The Batarians have never been too threatened by their own piracy. Our youth as a race allows us certain leeway."

"So you think we should create a group of Corsairs for our own use?"

"I think it's a fine idea." Toyoda mentioned. "We can sell the oldest frigates and cruisers in the fleet, without having to create trouble increasing our numbers as a whole. We can make profit for the Alliance directly, while allowing private citizens the right to protect their homes."

Hock wasn't pleased at all with this. "This is not going to encourage anyone to be peaceful with the Batarians. They are trading partners that offer a substantial opportunity for investment."

"The Reds seem to profit from it. But they are paying in flesh and blood rather than credits." Dierdre remarked. "I wouldn't mind if human trafficking stayed in our systems. But even if we arm the basic citizen who wants to help, we can always deny their existence."

"So, perhaps a better question is who we will send to staff those ships." Jack remarked. "Deniable assets. Able to go into the Terminus systems and hit the Batarian slaving worlds and trade lanes. Perhaps they might enjoy a bit of their own medicine." Pirate raids had already been reported in some of their less protected systems.

Gustav grinned. "I have plenty of extremely combative and poorly rehabilitated soldiers. Combine that with whatever the Reds buy, and these Corsairs will be able to take as many as there are ships to fit them."

"Assuming the Navy allows this, which they won't, who can implement this?"

"Gustav has immunity as his country no longer considers his actions crimes. Dierdre, you would be too close to the weapons market for them to be comfortable with you doing this. Toyoda can't afford to get his hands dirty, and I am already knuckles deep in Cerberus. Hock and you both own nothing in the weapons and ship market. As you both aren't connected, you would be the perfect people to work this. There would be no connection as long as the people we sent are properly vetted. So, either you or Hock should handle this."

Hock looked very displeased. Gustav more so. If he had to keep his hands out of the military, then he would have to pick something he wanted other than a piece of Markov Heavy Industries. Hock would never agree to this. Even though at some point in the future he might fall prey to corruption more deeply, and hire his own mercenary army, right now he was a sitting Senator. Anything Jack wanted to investigate about him was going to have to wait until he got voted out. There was no question that Hock was working behind the scenes. Everyone was while the government and economy went through this shift.

"I am not going to involve myself in this." Hock said, making his displeasure at the idea known.

"We can always simply delegate this." Gustav noted.

Jack saw an opening and took it. "But it has to start here, otherwise it won't have any sort of legitimacy. You happen to be the more liberal members of the committee, and from you this has to start. You have the political power to authenticate the sales of the old frigates. You also have the power to legalize piracy in the Terminus systems, as the Batarians have. Of course, that wouldn't be the kind of thing that Donovan Hock would recommend, with his history of peace and compromise. Gustav, you have a history of trying to stir up trouble at home and abroad. Lastly, it was your vote that decided the launch and completion of the  _Everest_  just in time for the Turians to be forced to retreat."

"Perhaps, we can appear to sell the ships. Calm down our Turian allies," He said that word the same way someone talks about an annoying neighbor. "and give ourselves some breathing room. If the Reds buy them, who cares. Our own ships can have the clearance to shoot any of these resold ships if they appear to be practicing piracy in our sectors of space."

"There is another option for the old ships, as well." Dierdre noted. Jack kept his grin to himself. Gustav would have to be careful in how he phrased things from now on. "We could sell our frigates to a few other groups that would strengthen local resistance to the Batarians."

Hock scoffed. "Allow precious Alliance hardware to be used by Terminus scum? Preposterous."

"The Turians sell all of their older ships at Omega." Gustav sneered. "I don't see why we can't do the same. So long as we hold some back for our privateers."

"I meant that we should sell to groups like the Quarians." Dierdre said. "They have a need for ships, and arming them means that they will be an even bigger threat to the Batarians. As they are out in the Terminus systems mostly, this only benefits us."

Curious. Jack hadn't considered that before. "Why would we want them invited to interfere with our precarious economy?" Toshiro said. "They do not trade in credits, but in trade contracts and materials. Worse, they trade as a singular entity."

"Much like guilds of our near history. Collective bargaining can work in our favor as well." Jack clarified. "But the Quarians have things that other races don't have. Their synthetic technology and specialized weapons against such enemies might be of worth to investigate."

"Or they can provide labor." Dierdre said. "They have some of the best technicians in the galaxy, and ours are behind. I say we hire quarians to upgrade and update our older colonies and some parts of the unfinished Arcturus station. Nothing that breaks security or protocols. Without any ties to any of the other Council races, they don't represent the same level of threat."

"I don't like the idea of aliens working with our technology any more than Toshiro does. But I can see some of the benefit of taking the pressure off of our technicians. Maintenance needs are being forgotten in the wave of construction the Alliance is going through currently. If we hire Quarians we can take a temporary labor rise to keep the pressure off. Not to mention perhaps earning some of their trust."

"You just want their weapons technology, Harper." Hock said. "The rest of us have more altruistic concerns."

"Either way. Corsairs or strengthening the Quarians and other mercenaries, this weakens the Batarians. Acting indirectly is still safe while we are in this probationary state. But Mr. Harper brings up a good point. The Quarians have no borders or colonies for us to fight over, nor do they offer any sort of credits to buy out our companies. A guarantee of temporary labor." Jack replied without any venom. Hock was just defending his position.

"Jack, are you willing to let the fleet shrink? How much of your investments rely on the maintenance that is being redirected?" Dierdre asked, concerned.

It was true that he would be sacrificing the drydocks that had been in the works to repair and maintain the growing fleet if they sold off all of the old frigates. But to be perfectly honest those ships were not worth the material that built them anymore. Losing a few million credits of investment meant that a mobile drydock would be sold off. Perhaps that would be something that the Quarians would buy. But any of the other races would spend more than enough on it to keep it out of the Quarian hands. Jack blamed indoctrination about that. But if he considered the Quarians and their natural skills a threat, he would do his level best to keep them weak and confined too.

"If that means i get biotic teachers that aren't Turian, it might be. Not in terms of profit but in terms of personnel it will be. We have more potential than the Turians do, and they have been fiddling around with this for twelve hundred years. Their Matriarch won't tell me what she wants access to, so we will have to review the logs of what she accesses. If you are willing to take that in trade."

Gustav grunted, not giving him anything to work with. Both of his parent peoples were known for stoicism. They did start the trouble in the 2020's, to be fair to their efforts. Toshiro thanked him for the wine and dining, as his customs required. Hock shook his hand, thanked him, and left. Dierdre gave him a very close hug, whispering some sweet nothing in his ear.

"It should pass. You were right to mention the pity card." She had come up with that to nickname the Quarians in any kind of diplomatic capacity. He found it hilarious. Thought he did not plan on mentioning it in anything official. "Good luck, Jack." she said, leaving.

If he got Benezia inside the Mars Archive, he felt like she would take a look at some uncomfortable things. She was one of the few people in her society that knew about their own Prothean Archive. She had been a priestess of Athame before converting to Siari, possibly in reaction to what she found out in their own archive. His worst fears would be if she noticed what he had done. If she was looking for the Catalyst, then he was going to have to act. Benezia was enough of a firebrand that she might just reveal the existence of the Asari's beacon, though that was highly unlikely. The Asari had not been very disgruntled with the death of their Matriarch in his memories, perhaps due to this knowledge.

Jack took a last look around the room, noticing that their reserved part of the restaurant had none of the telltale signs of cloaking fields. That worried him. He had invited Hannah to this, and he knew that she had received the message. But she wasn't here. He had been hoping that she would be here. He did  _miss_  her to a slight degree, but really he wanted her to investigate Hock.


	11. Fugue: Applied Physics for Children

Chapter 11

Upper Hong Kong, Earth, 2164

Hannah had avoided the message from Jack. As much as she wanted to, she had been on someone's ceiling at the time and needed her hands. That had been five hours ago. She was still on that ceiling, waiting for the opportunity. If her target would just be cordial and give her the opportunity she needed to escape, that would be fine. But the paranoid git never went anywhere without someone watching over this terminal. So it looked like she would have to break cover just to leave. She only had another hour before her cloak would start diminishing. Her batteries needed a good charge and she would love to not be stuck to a ceiling.

No one ever looked up. People never expected trouble from that direction. Apparently that was also true in Upper Hong Kong, which rested on top of the old city. Long driven supports had been placed in the old city, and skyscrapers had been built on top of skyscrapers. Sky bridges and platforms straight out of the movies had been built here. That made it both harder and easier to move around. Security systems and other devices modern and simple had been used for security here. One of the doors in this place still used the old piece of tape method.

Others used heat sensors and other nasty bits of wetware. But she was the best at this for a reason. Today she had to cover for someone less skilled than her, who had screwed up and died on their mission. His medical data from his autopsy was on this console, and wasn't networked to anything else. What she wanted to do was just log in and take the information. With guards posted on the console all the time, she had to go to a backup plan.

Her boots were built to absorb the noise of her landing. More importantly, the stealthsuit she wore kept her cloak from being disrupted. The field wavered when she hit the ground, but stayed together. Her batteries were running low, and it would take most of what she had left to make it to the nearest safe house. So, she took her time. She was right next to the guard, and had to ever so slowly place her hand on the console. The cloaking field almost sparked. But now that she was there, the field contained itself.

Once she was in contact with the computer, she could slide in the small disc drive she had with her. She wasn't much of a programmer, but she had been assured that this would introduce a virus onto the computer that would remove all of the information and extract the relevant data they needed. She didn't plan on the console beeping loudly at the intrusion. The guard looked over at the console, surprised.

The knife she had gotten back at Shanxi was too much of a signature blade to use. It was some sort of Batarian knife, as far as she was able to find out. The five layered blades were all connected to a small piston for the main blade, acting like an old fashioned switch blade once the tip had gone through. It was just a switch blade that had five serrated edges that extended three inches and could apparently go through an inch of bone. The only races that had that thick of bone structures were Krogan. So she had somehow acquired an illegal knife even for their culture, meant for someone to go hand to hand with a Krogan. She had only met one, and that had been reason enough to avoid going hand to hand with them.

Their species were bred for warfare. Redundant nervous systems, resistant to most forms of poison and radiation, regenerative abilities. The list carried on, but still, watching one bench press a Light Assault Vehicle had been impressive. So, with that in mind, she brought out her regular knife. It had been a style in use since the late 20th century, The guard was leaning over the console when the blade entered his chin. It was the only angle available to her, and he dropped quickly once the blade reached his brain.

Once he did, she checked his wrist. He hadn't triggered an alarm on the Omni-tool. But there was a life sensor application going in the bottom right corner of the screen. With him bleeding out, the program was lighting up. She didn't have an answer for that one. Killing the Omni-tool signal would only make things more suspicious. She noticed the darkening of the console as the virus finished its work, the data having been collected. She pulled out the OSD from the console, finding that it was feeling hotter than normal.

She leaned over, looking at the back of the console. She could see a line of some sort of liquid agent contained along the back of the console. It was connected to some sort of wiring that lead to the ports on the back of the console. It was also blinking…

"Sh-"

She started running. Bomb squads could deal with that. Plus, once that went off, there was no hiding her presence. Since that was a foregone conclusion, she activated her Omni-tool. A pre-typed message went out.

_The latest Transformers was just as lame as the last one._

That was a signal that her cover was blown. Plus, millions of messages that were tearing into the latest in the long line of movies that had been reimaged in 2130, one more wouldn't be noticed. But that was being sent to her backup. That was a nice feeling, to know that you weren't alone in your mission.

She activated her cloaking field again. She just ran right through the next room, heedless of the noise. Speed was more important, at this point. Alarms were already going off in the distance, from the dead guard. Before she made it to the security doors, they slammed shut. She slid to a stop, taking cover in one of the wall booths. This was a gambling den, and some of the clientele looked rather displeased by the alarms. Their bodyguards and the guards of the house were scoping each other out. Her mission wasn't to kill anyone, but she was allowed to if there were no other options.

Right now there were civilians in the room along with the people who would readily kill her. She wasn't wearing the high class clothes that she normally would if she were normally trying to infiltrate high security targets like this one. Damn Jack, but he had really made a very efficient stealthsuit. She refused to call it a catsuit. He would, though. Some men among the intelligence group had gotten to calling it that. The other Infiltrators had been issued the same thing, and so far the public and Reds were only aware of female infiltrators. Almost all of the Infiltrators were women. Higher pain tolerance, smaller bone structure, generally can fit in smaller spaces and usually had smaller and more dextrous fingers.

But the public also knew that it was possible for men to become Infiltrators. The process was much safer now, after Sirta Foundation had invented the medi-gel that had been saving lives lately. A few men and women had died or been crippled by the process. Others were crippled in the research for the other groups of special operations agents created at Cerberus. Jack's foundation had done a lot of good work, for which she would thank the man. Indirectly, of course. No need to feed his ego.

Thanks to that gigantic ego, two other classes had been created amongst the armed forces of Humanity. Soldiers, gene modded brutes that were exactly as suggested, were the new face of Special Forces squads. Faster reflexes, stronger muscles, some modifications to their bone structure, and the heaviest armor and weapons that could be carried. The last modified class had just left the Cerberus think tank, and she had been given discretion to use use the active one for this mission.

When the door opened, it was to the sound of gunfire. Security guards were retreating into the room, and some sort of glowing object chased them in. The small pistols they unloaded on it hit some sort of kinetic barrier. At the center of the glowing ball seemed to be a drone, a small floating version. Except that instead of the normal camera mounting, this drone had a Havoc shotgun inside. It was steaming, having already killed a couple of men.

She knew that a drone like this was deployable for only short amounts of time. Once the security team was distracted by the drone, she ran through the door. A couple of interior explosions reminded her of the console, and she hoped that didn't just get the attention of people in other buildings. Unlikely, but that meant that local air support would be coming soon.

In the hallway, there was a small man standing in the midst of five dead guards. He was on one knee, and had a large rifle. It barked, taking off the head of another guard that had tried to come the opposite direction down the corridor. She moved behind him, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Recall the drone! Let's go!"

He nodded. The drone deactivated its attack protocols, and flew back to his hand. They backed up one of the walls, where a hole had been blown through it. The man with the drone reached down and placed a motion sensor bomb underneath one of the tipped over plants. It would go off on anyone following them out to the outside of the building. After that, he made for the hole. His movements were jerky, his implants and mods not completely comfortable yet. She knew that kind of feeling. Phantom pains and scrunches of nerves that didn't know what the hell you just did to your body.

Outside of the hole, he grabbed onto some sort of hook. A large harness was set up there. It had a large jet pack located on it. Wings had folded on it and were nearly eight feet out on either side when fully deployed. Other races had Engineers of their own, but Humanity needed something a bit more effective. The Turians had a group of soldiers that were armed and trained for space combat, the Armiger Legion. They were equipped with suits meant for controlled bursts of motion. Jack had investigated that and created flight harnesses for Engineers and special forces, and had incorporated the jets onto the Engineer's suits. This, combined with strength mods, drones, and hacking ability created a soldier that could fulfill specialized functions anywhere.

Sergeant Wyatt was the first of these Engineers. Capable and trained for zero gravity combat, he clipped her magnetic hard points to the inside of his harness. Once he was certain that she was attached, he jumped. This is where she decided she would omit her screaming from the mission report. The magnetic harness nearly undid itself when it went through some sort of barrier system. Hong Kong maintained kinetic barriers for many of its different buildings, fearing shots would be fired at them. More likely it was to dissuade from shots being fired by rogue ships. The Alliance might be within those definitions.

"Wyatt! You said I was secure!" Thankfully she could be shrill over the earpiece she wore. He had a helmet to protect him from the wind.

"Didn't think about the barrier, Sir!"

"Anything else we should be worried about?"

"You rated for more than normal G forces?" One of the largest gene mods that had been invented for these Engineers was a mod to protect the body against gravity forces. Asking that to an Infiltrator, her, of all people, was an insult.

"No!"

"Ok. I won't test the afterburner system. But hold on to your harness." Wyatt was going down in her books of people who should be shot. Right after he got them out of this mess. He decided that the best way to do that was to dive into the lower city. When he took the harness on a nose dive, she passed out. Only later did she realize that the bastard had taken her to more than four negative G's.

* * *

So, a few hours later she was finally on her way with the OSD. Sergeant Wyatt received an official reprimand for risking her life more than necessary, and for using a method of escape that pointed at the Alliance. Things were already under stress with the Reds and their parent countries, as the racial breakdown in the newest colonies was heavily Latin American and Asian. European races had the fewest, except for the Russians. Their country had encountered a massive population rise as they rushed to fill the void. They were the country with the most fuel rights in the Alliance, as they had the most before they left the Sol system. Their largest rivals in that were the Chinese. Though India had made a small comeback with their claims of supplying Arcturus Station, leading to a partial monopoly there.

So the Alliance Parliament was reluctant to pass any laws restricting colonization rates for travelers. Part of the basic Alliance charter was that race and economic power would cease to be factors in citizenship. China abused it, while the other member nations avoided mentioning it. So as a result, most colonies were mixed descent of Asians and Latinos. Caucasians were rare, and as a result, so was the freak gene that was red hair. Anytime she came into a room, her hair got attention before the rest of her did. Of course, she could safely say that the rest of her was quite nice to see, but to be fair she would always be considered an exotic taste.

Her direct supervisor was now some pencil pusher that was too old for active duty but had too many contacts to retire so soon. Crotchety, by the book, and not entirely trusting of the new class structure in the corps. Smythe was a British officer that had been with their services from before the formation of the Alliance. Apparently his parents had been, and their parents before him. So the man was a career intelligence officer, and didn't care about results so much as personnel. When every member of the Infiltrators was important, he was the man to keep it all together. What made things worse was that the man was a general physician, trained with "Sports Medicine" as his focus.

So he controlled your medical and physical status to be able to go out on missions. Standing in front of him, she was actually a little afraid. That last mission had been bad, and she had been compromised. The Reds were getting much better at discovering their agents, but that would be natural for them to adapt to changing conditions.

"Agent Shepard. Glad to see that you didn't die from Wyatt's driving. But this brought something to my attention."

"Sir?" Smythe was looking stoic, as usual. Reading any kind of body language from him was impossible.

"You haven't taken any time off for healing those wounds you received on Terra Nova. Or for the time on Elysium two years back. Most importantly, you haven't taken any time off going all the way back to Shanxi, during the First Contact War. I understand that there was a need, but right now we have a surplus of agents who are capable of going places. As such, until you have been declared healthy you are on administrative leave. Report to Tartarus Station for medical examination and evaluation. Until they pass you, don't show back up here."  
"Sir, respectfully, I am feeling fine."

"Respectfully, I must disagree. Wyatt was within reasonable negative G's for your body to stand. He was not out of place and I have redacted my reprimand. Upon further investigation we discovered that your existing injuries might be reducing your combat capability." His accent was thicker than others. "As such, report to Tartarus. Get some sleep, take some time off. You've got more money in your account than the rest of us combined. Go spend it." With that, he gave her a look of distaste. "Dismissed."

Well, maybe that strained back thing wasn't completely fine after all. Or perhaps that ankle injury she had to treat with medigel after digging that piece of shrapnel out. Well, after all the visits she had with Henry, she was ruined for Doctors forever. The other Doctors at Tartarus Station apparently had just as bad bedside manner. Or a lack of one at all.

The shuttle from the Intelligence Offices to Tartarus was not long, as the Station was only a few kilometers downspin on Luna. She just had her duffel bag and her stealthsuit. Over that was a long coat to discourage viewers. The Intelligence Office had plenty of their jackets around. So when she finally touched down in the dock for Tartarus Station, and had to go through the customary scans and detection protocols. It felt like she was singled out every time just because she could cloak. Though to be fair she was one of the few people rated to be able to break into someplace like Tartarus.

The snort that came in response to that thought made the guard scanning her bag check it over a second time, more closely. Oh well, she was technically on vacation. She had the time for a few extra scans. When they finally released her through the security stations and into Tartarus Station proper, she saw that the place had changed a lot since she had last been here. The operating theatre was gone, replaced by some sort of lab structure. It had two layers of airlocks. It also had guards actively defending it. She didn't go anywhere near it. Everyone here was doing something important. Making them feel paranoid or suspicious would only make them more inefficient.

So, she walked along in a direct route, ignoring the people around her. That way no one would question where she was going or submit her to further security checks. As she was walking along, she saw the most curious sight, mostly due to other people blatantly staring. Further down the corridor, there were three Asari in a debate with one of the senior technicians in Cerberus.

"Your subdermal implants need to be completely redesigned, if you think they are going to be compatible with your biotic program. If you keep them plugged into those same nerves, the act of creating a mass effect field might be the same as activating their Omni-tool."

"We aren't redesigning our entire line of implants just because a tiny percentage of the population can't use them effectively."

"I expected full compliance with our needs."

"We are already developing some of the most advanced implants that we can, we cannot change all of our products just because less than one percent of the population would have it interfere with another biological function." The technician replied. "My company will not support the biotic program."

"They will need those implants if you want their bodies able to handle the gravitic forces biotics submit themselves to!" The Asari looked almost exactly like a human. Their hips were thin, their waists were thin, and they seemed to have pigmented skin. Turians and Salarians had scales of some sort, on top of an epidermal layer that kept them warm. That layer was especially weak to cold and freezing temperatures. With the Asari, they might be more suited to human limitations. But their shoulders were not quite the same, as if their arms were longer.

"Convince my company board members, not me, and you might get your chance, Miss." The technician said, stepping away from the growing crowd of people. Once he pushed through, the crowd started moving off, the alien an unwelcome presence among them. Hannah didn't want to be noticed, and scattered with the group. She was intrigued at the presence of an Asari inside of the Cerberus Foundation, as it was dedicated to the survival of the human race.

She gave the rest of them walking away a glare, and then the alien walked back inside the lab she and the technician had emerged from. She had to blink at that. Hannah hadn't been tasked to go after any targets other than human and Turian ones. Asari she had only seen in vids, though she had seen a few dead Salarians.

She ignored the alien for now. Getting close was liable to get her killed, anyways. That was what her previous experience had taught her. Walking past her, Hannah stepped up the main stairway leading to the upper offices. This area hadn't changed, a couple of guards and a secretary in front of the main offices. The secretary was not the same one she remembered, this one being a man of African descent. He saw her, and didn't betray any emotion.

"Agent Shepard. We have received notification that you have been placed on administrative leave. As such, what we can do for you is limited. How can I assist you?" He said, being cordial while being somewhat brunt with her.

"Just trying to talk to Jack. Nothing else or untoward." She said. "Is he free?"

The man did look down at his console. "He is currently out of the office, at the first of the biotic classes in the Solaris Branch of the base. You do not currently have the clearance to be there. With that in mind, er, wait," His console lit up with some sort of message. "Ah, it appears your security grade has risen. Strange that it happened, it was approved by," He hummed aloud about whoever it was approved by, but she already knew it was Jack. He knew about everything that happened around him.

"How to do I get to the Solaris Branch, then? Jack seems to be glad to hear that I am inside the base." The secretary seemed to be very suspicious, so she decided to just download a public copy of the base map. From her Omni-tool, she was directed to one of the lifts at the near side of the base. It appeared that the lift took off towards another dome, but at a downwards angle. So further inside the moon was this Solaris Branch.

When she got to the lift, there was only one other woman inside of it, who was wearing some sort of hooded cloak. It was cold up on the moon, even with the station being warmer than most. Still, she took the front area of the lift so that the other person would not feel so crowded. These were only meant for four to five people anyways. The freight elevators could take up to fifty, and they were from the dock to the main section of the base.

When Hannah had stepped inside the lift, it activated.

"Finally. Your blasted technology still won't recognize that I am actually on these things." The person said, a strange lilting tone in her voice. When the woman turned around, Hannah saw the face of the same Asari that had been arguing with the technician earlier.

"Sorry." Hannah offered, not really apologizing for anything she had done. There were plenty of xenophobic people in the security booths of the station, and they might have just set up her security permissions like that. "Not many people are used to the idea of associating with aliens yet. You might have a better reception here, than someplace on earth."

"Well, than your race is more welcoming than most. Turians just want to see us dance, or want us to just sit back and be civilians about everything. Elcor culture and entertainment industry has echoed and reflected our own, just twenty times more slowly. The Krogan and Batarians have a very low view, so the fact that you treat us like a real threat is always a good sign."

"Well, consider us a bit more artistic and creative Turians. We share the most tendencies with them, with a bit more of a stubborn streak." Hannah said. She had come to that conclusion after all of the time she had spent studying them. They had a lot more of an singular focus in their culture. It was a bit of a weakness, actually. You could break down their culture if that single focus can be broken up, leading to a loss of morale across the entire spectrum.

"A fair assessment. Though you Humans have a much more creative culture. I am especially interested in your plays and theatres." She paused, considering something. It was hard to tell when the alien didn't have any eyebrows to follow. "My name is Nyra Sabuora. It's a pleasure to meet a human that actually listens."

"Hannah Shepard. I haven't had the pleasure of talking to any Asari before."

"You can expect a few more Asari to be visiting Earth before too long. Your arts and jewelry may attract some, while your food may attract others. I prefer your desserts myself."

"We already had some sort of Elcor delegation visit England. They had the only libraries built strong enough to support their weight." Big lumbering creatures. The vids she had seen of them made her think of some sort of elephant.

"They love any sort of entertainment that they can copy or learn from. Expect some really long winded ripoffs of your best classics within the decade. It happened back when I was a Maiden, when the Elcor joined the Citadel. Their race normally communicates through pheromones that are dumped into the air, but when they communicate to other races it comes out in a monotone. Apparently thats how they interpret what we say."

"I had to learn Turian at one point." Hannah mentioned. "My voice was croaky for a month afterwards."

That made the Asari laugh. "If you learned Turian, Asari should be easy. No snarling and undertone to replicate. Just lacking most of these consonants your language uses."

The lift made a loud beep as it arrived at the Solaris Branch. Inside was a large area dedicated to lab work, research labs appearing off to the left side. On the right was a long hallway with wide windows, and smaller human figures behind them. Hannah did notice that these windows were weapons grade plexiglass, meant to stop bomb-shattering force. Many of the people working here didn't have the uniforms or technician's outfits that were normally part of Tartarus Station.

"Do you have any idea where to go in here?" Hannah asked Nyra. "I have only been in the other part of the complex."

"I can't really lead you around. I'm supposed to be teaching some beginner biotics class." Nyra said, looking at least partially apologetic.

"Wait! That's where I am supposed to go." Hannah supplied, trying not to somehow offend the alien's cultural expectations. All of the Intelligence reports showed that the Asari had some sort of deep cultural focus on peaceful resolution.

"Wonderful." Nyra said. "I'll have at least one friendly face when I tell all of these kids that they need to try to harness gravity through their nervous system."

The two women of different races walked to the far end of the hallway where an auditorium had been setup. A slight depression in the metal of the area had created a semicircle of seating, and most of that was packed full of children and parents. Family resemblance was present everywhere. What made her blink was the presence of Jack in his signature Italian suit, next to two young girls. One had hair that was as black as his own, and the other had hair that was an auburn shade. It was  _red._  Her mind immediately assumed that he had went and knocked up some other redhead. But to knock up some other redhead with exposure to Element Zero, that was another thing entirely.

He saw her come in, and waved her towards one of the benches for seating near him. She obliged, walking past rows of worried parents and hyperactive children to sit next to some Indian couple with a daughter, one row behind Jack. Nyra walked around to the other side, heading for the front of this entire area.

"Jack, I didn't know you went and adopted some children." She started out with, knowing that the usual meet and greet was lost on the man. He invited her to be here, for some reason. He would have a few ulterior motives. She did miss that message from him a few hours ago, as well as any kind of event he had thought about inviting her to over the last eight years. It wasn't her fault. She was busy, and certain people needed to be watched or even killed. It wasn't like she was doing something frivolous.

"I never adopted. Their mother passed away in childbirth, and I was notified of my parentage after the fact. I've done my best to raise them ever since." He told her, and she could see the two children turn and glare at her. Their eyes were the same piercing blue as their father, at least proving to be his parentage.

"Dad, is this one of those women?" The word  _women_  was said as if addressing an awkward problem. But the raven haired young girl who asked the question seemed unafraid of offending anyone.

"No, Miranda, this is not one of my mistresses." Only Jack could get away with explaining away a mistress in an auditorium full of parents. "This is actually more of a family relation than anything else. You can address her as Aunt Hannah."

"But Uncle James said that we don't have any Aunts." The redhead said.

"You do now. Your Aunt Hannah is the very first Cerberus trained agent. We have known each other for the last decade at least." He pointed to the stage. "Now pay attention. Your teacher is speaking."

Nyra had come up to the podium, and had uplinked her Omni-tool to the auditorium's speaker systems. Since it would be translating her flutey-sounding language anyways, it was easy to just link the systems into her translation tool. "Hello and greetings. My name is Nyra Sabuora. I am an Asari, a native of the planet Thessia. I am here to teach all of you how to use your newfound abilities with biotics. For most new races learning how to use these abilities, many of you will find it hard and unnatural."

She started glowing, very clearly putting out some sort of field. Parents and children alike leaned forward, eager to see more. Jack even loosened his shoulders to lean forward. The glow extended from her and into the podium, which promptly lifted off of the floor and into the air roughly six feet or so. From there, it slowly rotated so that the top was tilted towards the bottom, the box of tissues dumping onto the ground.

"This is only the basics of what you will be able to do, as this is only changing the force that is being exerted by gravity upon this object. By controlling how much this is being effected by gravity," As she said this, she made the podium start floating towards the ceiling. A lot of children were giggling or in awe at the sight of gravity being blatantly ignored. This all changed to yelps of surprise as the podium collapsed in onto itself, as all of the sides and top of it all were forced inward by some sort of force. "With that control you can also destroy the object." She let the podium fall to the ground, its many pieces scattering all over the floor. Many of the parents were a bit scared.

Jack was just interested. He gave her a glance as the demonstration ended, a large smirk on his face. "The Senate said we should hire a Turian. I like this better."

She looked again at the Asari, justifying her to be at least as large a threat as a Turian. But Jack had something to do with this Asari being here. "Nyra is a nice person. Or at least someone who can respect frankness."

"Don't get too close, Hannah. Asari reproduce through physical contact." He joked. His kids didn't get it, but she didn't humor him either.

"No thank you, Jack. To your next offer, of course." She told him, knowing him well enough to expect the offer to join him in his bed. "But I am interested in how you got these little girls."

"That would be easy enough to remember. During your sojourn as my secretary, we both attended the congratulatory dinner for Senator Dierdre Scott. I met up with a previous partner in the bathroom there, and due to your overbearing presence we were not able to properly plan for children. So, nine months later I received a notification that I was the father of two girls, fraternal twins. Their mother died due to complications with Element Zero, and I had to rapidly adapt my lifestyle around them." He did seem comfortable with children. Who knew that such a bastard would be a decent father. Though the lack of a mother figure was clear.

"Don't try to pin the blame on me for trying to keep track of you. The fact that you even got out from under my thumb for long enough to do that much makes me worry about what else you may have done." She made the point. It was her job at the time.

"Oh, I don't blame you. I don't think I would have fathered any children if I went through my usual livelihood. If anything, I can actually hold you responsible." He gave her a small grin. "Not in any parental way, but I can safely label you an Aunt."

"What about their mother's family?"

"Shanxi and a very distant relative on earth she hadn't made contact with even with how things had gone. That and I was not about to let something I had obviously helped create disappear."

"You wouldn't. The chance that someone else would control something of yours bothers you more than anything else about this." She said, knowing him well enough. Even after eight years, his ego hadn't changed a bit. After 2 children and creating the Cerberus Foundation, he still had an ego to rival the highest of politicians.

"Daddy, are you coming to our first class?" Both of them looked down at the redheaded girl, who was trying to get their attention. The children and parents were all filing into different classrooms off to the sides. They must have been distracted from any announcements by Nyra about classes.

"Your Aunt and I will certainly be there. They did have you being taught by one of the Asari, yes?" Jack looked at both of his daughters, who nodded. "Good. You are both going to be in the advanced classes, so try to pay attention." He knelt down and got on their level, something she remembered her mother doing to her when she was worried. "After this I'll take you both any restaurant that you want to go into." That got smiles from both of the girls, who quickly ran into the classroom. "Let's go see some history being made. The first human Biotics are about to figure things out."

Hannah shrugged. Biotics were not something she was used to seeing. Batarian ones were hinted about, and Turian ones hadn't been deployed at Shanxi. Only one biotic had been killed during the war, killed by hers truly. He was some sort of super soldier of theirs, a candidate for the Spectre Program. Alliance Intelligence had so far only seen one of them, and could confirm less than two hundred working for the Council. All that they had heard about them made them a very threatening group. They had no limits on their actions or choices. There was a constant worry after finding out about these Spectres that they would have a Turian one come in and kill a number of Humans.

Thankfully that didn't happen. Jack lead her off to a side room, where a pane of one-way glass sat in between them and the room full of students. Some parents were also in the room, the more clingy and overly supportive types being in front. Jack seemed to be the type to let his children be independent. But he also was paranoid, and kept a viewing room off to the side reserved for his own uses.

He clicked a button on the console located in the room, which turned on the sensors for the room. Audio and thermal detection systems came online easily. With her gene mods, her eyes could focus in a little better in the light or the dark, and she could see that the console was also tracking medical scans of many of the children. That was rather odd.

"Is this going to be dangerous?" she asked.

"Human exposure to Element Zero has only caused tumors and abnormal growths in the past. From what we have learned with the Turians and Batarians, the first generation of those exposed would be mostly dead or dying. It was the generation that would be coming from those who survived that would have the naturally occurring Element Zero forming along their nervous systems. From that they gain the ability to manipulate gravity and mass. The strength and range of those abilities is dependent upon how much of the nervous system is compromised by Element Zero. The more the extent, the higher the risk of health problems. So with these children we need medical technicians on hand."

"Are you risking their lives?" She asked carefully.

"No. The original plan for all of these kids included separating them from their parents, sending them to a space station that they could be isolated on, and using them as an experiment. Effectively turning the second generation of Element Zero infected humans to be wasted. Worse, they wanted it jointly run with some Turians, to cool them off after the war. I offered a different idea, one that only cost a secure pass for one Asari Matriarch to access the Prothean Archive."

"You arranged for the Asari? Was that just business or did you just do this for your kids?"

He just raised an eyebrow. "Of course I did it for my girls. I've become rather attached to them, and the idea of losing them to some underfunded and poorly run Alliance program just didn't sit well. So I decided to expand Tartarus a bit, make room for the Solaris Program. As many parents as I could get jobs for up here have been provided for."

"Feeling more Humanitarian lately?" she joked.

"Of a sort. Benezia, the Asari Matriarch, mentioned that children develop their biotics easier when they have a parent to fall back on. Unfortunately, most of these children have lost their biological mothers for the obvious reasons. A few have stepmothers, but very few will have any form of functioning families. In effect, the perfect recruits for the Cerberus programs. Partly selfish, but more dedicated towards the future. All of the other races have their biotic programs, and ours must be brought up to speed if we are ever going to compete with them."

"The Asari have that covered, I thought. Aren't they supposed to be our allies?"

"Alliance is only one way of keeping us under control. You have been kept away from alien ops since you killed a Spectre candidate of note, but you should have some idea of how much they have tried to infiltrate our networks. You are aware of Sirta Foundation, yes?"

"Isn't that some super-drug company?"

"The Salarians just tried to disenfranchise it. For the second time. It technically breaks Citadel Law, but holds the patents on medigel. It represents the single most powerful Human company in the galactic market. I have kept it safe so far, but the other races still see us as a massive threat. If we allied with the Batarians and the Terminus systems, we could challenge them, given time. They want us somewhere lower in the status quo, just like the Turians wanted to conquer us and use us as a client race, like the Volus."

"So, biotics are necessary to combat Asari?"

"Absolutely." Jack said. "Now, it looks like Nyra is about to get started. I brought some of your favorite whiskey, of course."

It wouldn't be Jack Harper without some sort of luxury somewhere. Even on Shanxi in the internment camp he somehow acquired alcohol. It just was alien to consider Jack Harper to be lacking in it. So, with little reluctance, she took the entire bottle and started pouring.

* * *

Julia took a seat right at the front of the class. Miri took the seat next to her, taking a look around. They were some of the youngest here, but Daddy had assured them that everyone was starting out new. None of them had managed to get their biotics to work yet. At least that was what he said. Miri had become all glowy blue once, when she got really mad. Nothing had happened at the time, but it was still scary.

The blue lady with the weird head was in the class with them, taking a seat in the front. Rather than sit at the teacher's desk, she sat down in the depression in the floor in front of the teacher's desk. All of the other teachers liked the desk, though. It was confusing. Miri looked confused, too.

"All of you today are going to use your biotics. I will tutor and show you how to use it. Though since you all haven't tried before, we are going to use a very simple technique. A technique is something that you can use your biotics for." Nyra brought out a small bag that made some of the kids excited. Julia wouldn't deny that she also was excited. Nyra had popcorn. That got all of their attention. Perhaps it was a reward for if they used their biotics.

"This is a bag of popcorn." She said, her voice coming to her ears weird. Her lips were moving differently for every other word except popcorn. Nyra then opened the bag, which was bad. The popcorn only popped if you kept it in the bag and put it in the microwave. Julia stayed quiet, but Miri looked ready to pout. She really liked popcorn. "These small corn pieces need heat and pressure to pop." She said, explaining it. No kids should need to have  _popcorn_  explained. It was something that every kid should know. "What a biotic can do is create enough pressure to make up for the heat."

Nyra then held up a kernel of popcorn. Then she started glowing blue like she did in the other room. She held up the piece of corn, letting it just float in midair. It was also glowing blue, and Julia focused on it. The blue glow got thicker, all of the sudden. Then the kernel popped like a balloon expanding. It was looking exactly like normal popcorn, just glowing blue. Nyra put it down in the middle of the table where everyone could see it.

"Cool!" "I wanna do that!" "Whoa!" The other kids were easily impressed.

"Before you try, you all need to know how to control your own Element Zero in your body. I will show you how it feels, they way that I was taught." She got up and walked over towards Julia. "Who would like to try?"

Julia and Miri threw their hands into the air. Nyra had nearly every kid to choose from. "You, with the red fur." She said. Julia couldn't figure out why her mouth made some noises but she heard others. But she saw Nyra pointing at her.

Standing up, she moved forward. Daddy wasn't here, but she was still going to do her best. She was the best, at everything she tried. She was the fastest runner, and the tallest sister. She was the best student. Biotics would be no different. Nyra started glowing again as Julia approached, but she wasn't going to back away. It was scary. But she was Julia Harper. She was the best.

Nyra's glowing blue hands reached out towards hers. Daddy said she was the best. She had to be an example. She reached out her hands and everything went black.

* * *

Jack was in motion before Nyra was launched back into the desks. He recognized what this was. Sometimes among Human biotics, the Element Zero couldn't be directed very effectively. It would get explosive, reacting to outside forces poorly. The Element Zero nodules reacted based upon skin contact, in a rare disorder. He didn't know if this was normal or if it was a one time event. Right behind him, he could hear Hannah moving as well.

He hadn't keyed the button for the medical teams. He already knew what was happening to Julia. She needed to just be away from other biotics and not come in contact with them under any circumstances. It might trigger the event again. He hit the door running, which he was not used to doing in public. Usually he had to maintain a certain composure. Right now, though, his daughter was having a seizure.

The doors opened to the classroom as he ran up to it, but not quite fast enough. His shoulder got jarred from the section of the door he ran into, almost making him fall over. He recovered using the shoulder of one of the fathers in the room, making him give a shout of alarm. It didn't matter.

Julia was on the floor, her body glowing with biotic power and oscillating. She couldn't control it. He slid down the last stair, grabbing Julia and using the momentum to stand back up. He could feel something in his back twinge as he did so, as he hadn't done any heavy workouts in years. Just cardio to keep his shape.

Julia came up in his arms, and he turned around to the door. Hannah was holding it open for him, and had a hand flashing over her Omni-tool. "Move it, Harper!"

Jack started running, and heard footsteps behind him. Miranda was following him. She was a bit short but could run. Not fast enough for how fast they needed to move, but that could be remedied. "Have your aunt carry you!" Miranda nodded. He could appreciate that his girls could function so well without a mother figure. Or at least a permanent one. Different nannies and sitters throughout the years had imparted some feminine wisdom. As Miranda got to the door, she leapt up into Hannah's hands. Hannah seemed to be fine with the weight as they ran towards the doors across the way.

The Hospital facility had its own connections, and was technically in both the Tartarus and Solaris facilities. It was another way of accessing them both, but one that wasn't widely shared. But this part of the hospital was dedicated to Element Zero exposure patients and the newly found biotic generation. They were prepared for moments like these, but their medical teams might be needed elsewhere. Jack couldn't trust them to get to Julia in time. He was already there, and had the experience. Unfortunately he couldn't prove it by opening up a biotic and fitting in Reaper tech anymore, so he had to sit on the sidelines.

Hannah ran ahead of him, in better shape and carrying the lighter Miranda. She triggered the door to the hospital as they ran in, and the motion sensor alerted the front desk of the hospital to the incoming patient. As this hospital was notified of the chance of biotic accidents, they had a gurney prepared for them by the time Jack came through the doors.

Julia was still glowing, and he could feel the weight in his arms changing slightly. Ignoring that, he carefully transferred her to the mobile bed, the doctors carting her away in the gurney. Thankfully it was one of the newest versions they bought from the Salarians. It didn't touch the ground, using Element Zero to keep the patient from feeling any joslting or pain when being moved. Expensive but worth it to him so much more as of right now.

"Julia!" Miranda yelled. When no reply came, she turned to her nexxt source of reliable information. "Daddy, what happened?"

"Julia's biotics went out of control. It happens sometimes. Don't worry about it, she will be alright in a few hours." He lied smoothly, hoping that Julia would actually be alright. Biotics were temperamental. Even with his knowledge that came from his other memories, he knew that this alteration to the human body was dangerous.

On that note, he sent a note to Nyra, telling her that she should continue with her class, even with the interruption. He also notified a doctor here that they needed to do a small exam on Hannah. She was off to the side, letting him have his parental moment.

"Hannah Shepard?" One of the receptionists called. Hannah blinked, looking up from the moment between Jack and his kids, and walked over. Jack observed as she talked with the receptionist, and then gave him a middle finger. He chuckled at that.

"Just rushing along the healing process, Hannah. Let me know when you are done over there." He said. "Afterwards, I would love to get your help with a little project I have. Something for your time off."

Hannah nodded, going off with the doctors. This was one of two places in Alliance space that she could receive medical care, the other being Henry Lawson himself. The man was rather focused on making his gene mods as effective as possible. Obsessive about it, really. But it was better than obsessing about finding perfection in the chaos that was their race. That kind of thing lead to easy Indoctrination.

Which was exactly what he needed Hannah for. With her on vacation, he could use her help for a small project that might save some lives later. While pissing off every single faction in space at the same time, but that was to be expected. So when she finally got out of the doctor's appointment, he was ready for her. No matter what medical condition she was in, she would be able to help him. But he had to change the fate of a few unfortunate souls.

"James, please prepare the Talon for a flight. We are going into Citadel Space." He said over the Omni-tool. Traceable messages were easy to predict. Jack Harper deciding to go into Citadel Space was not unknown. He was going to go under the pretense that he was visiting some of their Asari allies. That was an easily created excuse, when in fact he had somewhere else to be. He had sent Miranda back to class, once he had reassured her that Julia would be alright. When she woke up, he would explain everything. But he was on a timetable, and only had so long before things got interesting. Right now, Hannah was back, and that mattered. With her he could finally move forward on one of his plans.

 _Talon is prepped, wine shipment just came in, and maintenance is complete. Though the techs report that some of the wings are going to need new panels soon. This prototype yacht is sort of hard to manage._ James replied. The Talon was getting to be an older craft now. It was starting to bother him when every single military vessel could blow past him. Some civilian craft could do the same now. For a mogul like him, it was expected that he have the best of anything. Perhaps he would sell his ship, but he really would need a new one. Perhaps he might go for an Asari ship this time around. Expensive, gaudy, and an expression of wealth. But that would mean all of those millions of credits going to a non-human entity.

That was unacceptable. He would have to buy from Todd again. Perhaps this time he would just pay him rather than pick up another favor. Walking to the ship, he got a text from the doctor treating Hannah with a diagnosis. Tension i most of her ligaments, broken arm that was never fully reset, and one of her discs looked like it was going to need surgery to fix. Prognosis: she needed six to thirteen weeks to overcome malnutrition, lack of sleep, and a minor surgery for her hyperextended ligament in her left arm. Probably related to the time that Saren had cut up her arm and she had just never treated it. Her stealth technology needed to be updated, as another generation of tech had come out since she was first experimented on.

_Hannah,_

_Since you are considered a non combatant for the next few weeks, I would like to invite you on a short vacation through Citadel Space. If you are interested, you'll have to move quickly to the docking bay after you are discharged. I am going to be leaving my girls in the care of their nanny, and would like to get out of the base without them catching up. I already have everything you could possibly need onboard outside of a spare catsuit. Those are something you'll have to pay for when the newest version comes out in a few weeks._

_Handsome Jack_

After sending the message, he lit up a cigarette in the crowded docking bay, where the smoke alarms were few in number. The only places in base that he could smoke were here and his private elevator. Any of the other smoking facilities were used by the regular workers, and Jack could not ruin his reputation by smoking there. Here, he knew he could get away with at least some puffs. Alcohol could come later, when he was at his ship. The  _Talon_  took up space here, and the docking bay was a secure area, so he had to notify James hours in advance when he wanted to leave. It was actually the most notification he was required to give for anything regarding his ship. All of the other ports he wanted to go to he could get away with only an hour or two of notice. Ironic that a place of his own design hindered him so much.

The  _Talon_  was in one of the docking slips, and he could see Amandeep on one of the back wings, fixing something. He walked up to the airlock, walking onboard immediately. The butt of his cigarette was dumped into one of his trash cans. Nothing flammable was inside, and they would be dumped into space anyways. So much safer than dumping it in the public trash cans in the dockyards. Who knew what was in those that might be flammable.

He called to the cockpit. "James, wait for Hannah to get on board but don't be afraid to have the engines ready in the next five minutes. She will be joining us for this run."

"What is the purpose of this run, Sir?" James asked. "I might need to start planning a few things. You mentioned the Citadel?"

"I did. It will be our first stop. Though I am curious, James, are you rated for any spacecraft of the mega-hauler class?"

"Currently no, that was a month or two long program that I didn't have enough time off to complete. Though I did get rated for those new ships the Salarians have started selling us." He paused. "Does this mean you own a mega-hauler?"

"Technically not yet, since we haven't stolen it yet."

"Jack Harper, what are you planning on stealing?" Hannah chose that moment to arrive, huffing and out of breath. He had miscalculated how fast she would be able to escape the hospital. Turning around, he acted completely at ease, although her timing was perfect for disruption.

"We are going to steal a mega-hauler, and then steal something very large from the Batarians. Once we have that, then we are going to bring back something back here, hopefully with technology that we can apply to our own ships."

"I am perfectly accepting of ruining the Batarian's day, but why don't you just buy them out on whatever asteroid you plan on stealing?" That reminded him, he should really get rid of that Batarian action in Terra Nova's asteroid belt. Hannah's comment at least meant she was considering helping him.

"They found what appears to be a mostly intact Prothean Dreadnought. I plan on stealing it from them. The technology from that will send them ahead of us by leaps and bounds. They were able to develop space technology from a few crashed prothean ships on one of their moons. We had an entire archive of knowledge, and they had a few broken computers and element zero cores. I don't want them getting their hands on whatever weapons the Protheans mounted on their dreadnoughts."

"How are we supposed to steal an object more than a kilometer in length from the Batarians?" She said, hesitant. "Even for you, this plan seems a bit outrageous."

"Simple. You are going to sabotage it, while they do all the hard work of dragging it to the mass relay. Then we use the mega-hauler that we are going to borrow to take what is rightfully Humanity's."

"Because we are truthfully the only heirs to the Protheans." Hannah mocked him. "Under the new citadel laws we will have to reveal all of our Prothean technology that we have obtained. The Batarians are under the same oaths, so why would you want cause that kind of shitstorm. Do you want to risk our agreements with the Citadel?"

"The Batarians wouldn't share it with the Citadel, as they have never been truly held accountable for their actiions. Their caste system and pride would never let them share what could be their best advantage against their rivals. Considering that we are their chief rivals, that means that we are looking at these weapons pointed right back at us. The STG we have been paying attention to mentioned their find to the other council races, who assume that the Batarians will share this technology. That isn't true in the slightest, as they would rather just let them have it and cool their jets. They have been angry that their colonization rights have been impeded by our very presence."

Hannah hadn't been sent away from Earth for a while. For good reason, as the Turians would love to convict her of war crimes, peace treaty or not. Killing Turians was dirty business, and after that a number of new pirate organizations sprung up in the area around the Attican Traverse. The Alliance responded with the Corsair program, selling off their archaic frigates and cruisers to less than reputable sources, in exchange for their promise not to raid anything human for the time being. So, Turian raiders, Human raiders, and Batarian raiders all plundered the trade routes in the Attican Traverse in a politically correct method, targeting each other as well as possible trading competition. The Batarians were the best funded, and as a result the most numerous. In a few years the Alliance Corsairs wouldn't be able to keep up any longer.

"So, who are you borrowing this hauler from?"

"A Human. Whom I will apologize to afterwards."

"A nice thought but what if its in use?" The catsuit she was wearing underneath her coat was slightly distracting. The knowledge that it cost as much as it took to service the Talon each year to make was just as distracting. "We can't be ruining their livelihood."

"The ship is a mega-hauler currently in the hands of some members of the Corsair program. They use it to haul stolen spacecraft into their shipyard to reuse and redeploy them. We will borrow it or buy it, considering that much of the Corsair program is funded by the Reds.. They listen to money. If they don't, there are another two haulers we can possibly get our hands on, but one is a Volus ship and the other belongs to a mercenary company in the Terminus Systems." Jack really did not want the Volus to be aware of Prothean technology, nor the Terminus Systems. That would get the attention of the Collectors too early. They would die eventually, and he would make sure of it.

"So, anything else we need to be aware of?"

"James, tell Amandeep it's time to leave. If my daughters catch up to me this whole plan will fall apart."

"More afraid of your children than your government?"

"I can't bribe my children as easily as I can the government." Jack clarified, heading for the bar. The feeling of his ship preparing for takeoff felt wonderful. Through long experience he knew that the localized gravity onboard made it nearly impossible to spill his drink. So he poured some of his favorite wine, and brought out a nice bottle for Hannah. She didn't take it. That was strange.

"Can't have fluids for a couple hours. Doctors used some sort of spinal medicine on me. Though I do thank you, your ship is never out of stock of what I need. Finding that elsewhere is hard." She gave it a long look before sliding it back into its slot in the wall. She settled into her chair to wait for them to break through the gravity well of the earth, completely comfortable in what could be the most expensive uniform in human space. A very wonderful uniform.

"I should thank you for your help with Miranda and Julia. That was not the best of moments for either of them." He offered, being civil.

"I did notice that they were rather well behaved. Though Julia has quite the hair color. Did you have to sleep with a lookalike, Jack? You could have just asked if you were interested." She remarked. She wasn't meeting his gaze, though. So she didn't have any threats behind it. Most people who threatened you looked for a reaction. She was expecting one.

"Would you have said yes? I was under the impression that you wanted a purely professional relationship!" He said mockingly. "Unheard of, to think that I would sleep with another redhead?" He gave her a mock glare. "You weren't giving me much to work with. So I went with another redhead to fulfill my quota."

"You have a quota?"

"Do you want to see my journal of conquests? It's not small. It also has pictures for perusal." He joked. It might exist somewhere. He didn't remember making one, but during one of his more inebriated moments he could probably claim to have made it.

"No thanks, Jack. As much as you may enjoy me reacting to whatever you've cooked up, I don't quite feel like it. Though our bet is still going, and I am looking forward to my ship. If i remember correctly, your files pointed to the Widow system?" She said, grinning. " Did they point to the Citadel?"

Jack drank some more of his wine. "The citadel, even though it is a space station, never moves. Its component arms spin, but it stays angled the same direction, as well as in the same stellar orbit. But without a star near by, the orbit is static. For some reason it remains in the same exact location, which is very odd. The fact that it was found and not known how it was made only makes it more curious. So, yes, the Citadel is there. Right where the archive said it would be. Or at least something of note to them."

"You think its a threat."

"I think that whoever put that in the archive was convinced that it killed their Empire. If they, being so much more powerful than us, couldn't win, what exactly was it that killed them?"

"Perhaps some other race had control of the Citadel and defeated them." Hannah offered. It was a logical conclusion. It was the only logical conclusion that didn't sound farfetched. Or perhaps he was just used to the idea that giant tentacled horrors were going to come out of deep space to kill them all.

"Or some sort of civil war started here. I hope to find out more in the Citadel's archives. If the other races haven't moved those to a more secure location. It appears that the Protheans honestly tried to leave behind a mark. I bet that we will have a hard time finding the ones that would have been left behind on the Citadel. Considering how long the Asari have been there, my bet is that they locked all of them up long before the Salarians got on the scene. It's what I would have done."

"I don't know. Asari seem pretty open minded about sharing with everyone." Hannah said. "The one I met wasn't that bad."

"Don't let the one I personally hired to be nice and help raise biotic children color your judgement. Asari are the leaders of the galaxy, and they will do anything as a race to maintain that position. If they felt that we were a threat, we would wish that the Turians had won the war. The Asari have a strong belief in a religion and racial superiority over all others. Their economy is the strongest, and the most controlling in the galaxy. The only economy that they don't have direct control over are the Quarians and our own. But that will change. It is a foregone conclusion that their claws will be holding onto our stock markets before too long."

"So, you are going to steal a Prothean Dreadnought because you believe the Asari are trying to control us?"

Jack nodded. "In a matter of speaking. First, the dreadnought, then the Asari. They can only control what they can convince to give them power. Money will be a strong motivator. When they get control of our lobbyists, then things will become more troublesome. Our military will need some sort of advantage before that happens. Fear of what we can do is our only defense until we can secure something stronger than that. Namely, whatever the Batarians just found."

Hannah nodded. "That makes a lot of sense. So where do you plan on hiding this dreadnought?"

Jack smiled. "There is only one place I could possibly hide it. Right out in the open. But we will need something to tow it. James, please set a course for Terra Nova. From there we will need to meet with some agents, and then we will meet with the final dealer on Elysium or head to Omega to buy out the Eclipse Mercenaries. I do not want to go to Omega, but that is what might happen."

"Well, Sir, just make sure that you don't have her pilot either ship. I know that she has piloted the  _Talon_  in the past, but she hasn't flown anything in eight years. She isn't even rated for anything."

"Remind me to hire an extra pilot." He muttered. Hannah quipped a smile and noted it on her Omni-tool in shorthand.


	12. Fugue: Grand Theft Reaper

Chapter 12

May 2164, Elysium Skybridge Cafe

"So, have you verified my identity yet?" Jack asked the african man across the table. "I don't have much time for your paranoia, Mr. White." Ironic in the extreme, that such a man with dark skin was named white. His country of origin was West Ghana, yet the last name of White was something only found in Black populations from the northern states of America. Jack knew he was being lied to on some level, but members of the Corsairs had good reason to keep their real names and identities hidden.

"I cannot say that we are comfortable with your business, Mr. Harper." White replied. "You represent a branch of the government that we don't feel comfortable speaking with. As much as your identity checks out,"

"As does my bank account." Jack noted quickly.

"..." He paused. "We did verify that you were as rich as you claimed. But even with that, you are responsible for the same branch of special forces agents that are responsible for capturing us."

"The agents of the Council are under the same rules to bring in the Batarian 'extremists' and Turian 'pirates' as well. We have some small actions that we do just to fulfill our obligations, but we have no intention of shutting down our best bet in defending against the Batarian menace. In fact, in a certain way I can offer you a deal that might calm down your bosses some."

"We are not in the habit of conversing with anyone without complete verification. There is still a few days until all of our checks are complete." White claimed.

Jack grinned. "Formality at best, and in reality it is just buying time for your leaders to decide if they want to risk association with me. I'll offer them a deal. I'll pay for the cost of the mega-hauler, as well as for an assumed fully loaded cargo hold of Helium-3 containers. That should cover the cost of the ship, assuming that you did indeed buy it," He joked, "As well as any costs of operating the ships you used to acquire it. It should also be enough to keep you in the fight."

"We don't," He started, but Jack kept on talking.

"You are taking losses every time you go into a fight against the Turians or the Batarians. More than you can sustain. Here I am offering you the money you'll need to go and buy some better frigates and cruisers from the Terminus, and I am doing everything in my power to help you. In fact, I had to bribe the Naval Committee into looking the other way when you were created."

White looked at him, his brown eyes gauging his words. "If that is true, then we need to verify exactly what you just said. We can't take any chances."

"The Naval Committee won't come out and officially have records of voting on your little program. They don't work like that. Deniability was built into your little charter. And I am simply buying a ship. That money can disappear wherever it is you want it to. I'll even pay you in credits." Jack offered. "But if you want me to do this for you, as I assume your higher-ups do, I need to make this transfer happen. I am on a short timetable, and I would prefer to get that ship within the day."

"Well, we couldn't give you the ship even if we tried. Not within that kind of timeframe." White said. "It isn't here. It was supposed to get here yesterday, but it has been running late. When it gets here, we did plan on selling it to you. It just hasn't arrived yet."

"Where did you lose contact with it?" Jack asked carefully.

"Hades Gamma. Routine pick up."

"You should have told me that earlier. If I find it, I'll pay you for it anyways. You and your group need all the help you can get." He stood up from the table and held out his hand. "Good Luck, Mr. White."

"Taylor. My name is Taylor." He offered.

"My name is Jack, for any future dealings. I and my lovely companion are going to be leaving. If we get lucky, you'll be receiving a payment in your accounts, Mr. Taylor." Jack sent a note that the tab at the bar for both them and their followers was paid for. He could at least be cordial. "Good luck out there. The Alliance doesn't know it, but you are the best defense we have right now. For as long as we can, we will support you. But when things burn out, bring this to my offices." Jack left his personal business card, a style that was mostly forgotten in this digital era. "Give that to my secretary, and you will get any job you feel capable of doing."

Jacob Taylor blinked. "Thank you." He meant it.

"Don't thank me yet. My employees are some of the hardest working in Alliance Space. I expect that after the Corsair program, you'll want to do some good." Jack grinned. "Bring as many friends and allies as you can. I'll have a use for you." A use that would not include sleeping with or being recruited by his daughter Miranda.

He left Jacob sitting in the dingy bar and Hannah joined him soon after. She was still carrying her bottle of whiskey. "You do know that I have better onboard." He said. "Why did you keep the mid-rate stuff?"

"Because I didn't pay for this. One of the other guys did. I at least want to be respectful. Isn't that your little idealism?"

"Usually just for being a gentleman, when someone pays for your drink you are at least cordial. If you are a woman that looks as good as you do, you can get away with refusing a few drinks. Better ones come to those who have at least some self-control."

"I get it." Hannah said, giving him a smile. "You're jealous."

"Hardly. I pay for your drinks and living expenses anyways. I don't have to be jealous of some miner who thinks he can pay half his weekly wage for the chance to have you look at him." He ran and operated Tartarus Station, at the cost of having the government pay for all of the upgrades to their agents. A monopoly on a good thing was still a good thing. A monopoly on Hannah Shepard's time was very much a good thing. Jealousy simply didn't factor in.

An aircar took them back to the  _Talon_. James already had enough notification to get the docking authorities dealt with and the engines warmed up. Jack just tipped the driver with enough to pay for his entire week, and then walked over to his ship.

"Where are we headed to now, Sir?" James' curt voice called.

"Hades Gamma System. We are looking for the," He paused, looking at his Omni-tool. " _Big Bertha_."

"I bet that you're going to rename that." Hannah muttered.

"No bet." Amandeep, James, and Jack all replied. Amandeep was working on one of the electric panels next to the bar, and his thick Urdu accent got everyone's attention. He noticed this, seeing everyone looking at him. "Mistah Har'pa has good taste. No one wan' a ship named Bertah."

"He speaks the truth." Jack said. "But I am sure it is going to be in some bad shape if the Corsairs acquired it. It will require some work to get back to capable conditions. Though don't try too hard. I fully expect to consign it over to the Corsairs after we pay for some repairs. They'll need it to cart stolen materials back to Alliance Space. Or repurposed, if we want to call it that. But I think that we are not the only people who needed a mega-hauler. James, when we get to Hades Gamma, look for the  _Bertha_. If it isn't showing up, I have a feeling that I know where it will be."

The trip from Elysium to its Relay, and from there to Hades Gamma was spent in relative peace. Jack played with some stock, one of his hobbies when he was bored, and got some sleep. Hannah slept for the entire fourteen hour trip. James had to be convinced to let the ship go on autopilot for the trip from Elysium to its relay, as he hadn't slept in a bit. Jack even had enough time to order a few items online for what they would need. Or at least if things worked out.

Eventually everyone showed up when smells of Indian food dragged them downstairs. Amandeep had warmed up some food bought on Elysium, where a very large number of Indians had settled. He of course picked his favorites, which Jack had trouble pronouncing but loved nonetheless. The Indians had some of the best food, considering that Elysium had a large continent in the same form and style of India itself, and was very popular for them. More importantly, their crops could grow there. So the fresh ingredients were a matter of respect.

This led to high quality food that they didn't need to go to Earth for. Everyone was much happier after that. Then Jack went and got up to his console as they entered the Hades Gamma system. With a flash of light, the mass relay dumped them in the disc that was the Hades Gamma main system. There were a few others, of course mapped by the other races. Since humans were so demanding of respect, they took all of the names that the Aliens and other races had named the galaxy and renamed them yet again in their computers. Because they were so self-centered, these names had to be then cross referenced with the alien names and made sure that they didn't accidentally match.

So, coming into the Anteius System, they were immediately scanned by one of the comm buoys and connected to the local networks. "James, lets fuel up and discharge our drive core, and prepare for a bit of a trip. I have some idea of what may have happened to the ship." He commed. After that, he dove into the message buoy, finding out what ships were in system. Many were labeled as anonymous, as you could easily trick the public message buoys. But what was harder to mask was the size of the craft. The buoys did measure the mass of an object, which meant it was easy to look through that method.

What he found worried him. There had been two ships that had passed through this area recently that had the tonnage to be listed as the right class of ship. One was 915 meters long, and the other was 650, making their identifications rather easy. Jack knew exactly what those ships were, even if the system had them labeled as Anonymous. One was  _Big Bertha_ , for certain. The other was the  _Eye of K'hesh_ , the largest ship in the Batarian fleet. Which meant that Jack not only had to deal with normal difficulties, but a Batarian dreadnought was in the area. Hopefully it was not in the middle of things, but knowing his luck, it would be at the most inconvenient place possible.

"James, keep an eye out for pirates of any type. We look rather tasty."

"Maybe next time we should bring something with guns out this far. What do you think, Sir?"

"Civilians technically shouldn't own military craft. But when that law is lifted, I promise you'll have the best you can get. A frigate or cruiser with real leather seats."

"Glad to know you'll have your same standards of excellence. I would hate to use the bathrooms in the military ships. Always so small."

"So should I have real beds instead of sleeper pods?"

James groaned happily over the comm channel. "Sir, I am sold. I'll even help you recruit the rest of the crew."

"I have found out that  _Bertha_  discharged her drive core and went to FTL somewhere in system. The Alliance has very little in the way of assets in any of these systems yet, but the Batarians have assets in two of the systems. They have an active survey team going in the Dis system, as well as some sort of mining operation going on here. Which one do you think they will want a mega-hauler for?"

"The mining operation is for Aluminum and Tin, and doesn't produce enough resources to justify a ship of that tonnage." Hannah added into the comm channel.

"That's cheating, Hannah. Now James doesn't get to guess."

"No its not, you are looking at the same data I am. If the  _Bertha_  is still here, it is most likely in the Dis system. The Batarian survey is supposedly investigating some tiny little rock named Jartar. James, fuel up and get us there. On the edge of the system, kill the engines and let us drift inwards. Jartar is the fourth planet, and shouldn't have too much heat to reflect off of our panels and light us up." He figured that the  _Talon_  might be able to hide more of its presence if they didn't give off a lot of heat. They would still give off a slight amount of heat, but hopefully not enough for sensors to see them.

The FTL trip to Dis took long enough. The system was empty. Only a few things were moving. Most of that was asteroids and rogue planetoids, but there was clearly some sort of activity by Jartar. Jack walked down to the cockpit. He had turned off anything that gave off a signal, including the onboard internal comms. So he walked past Hannah, who was in the hall in her stealthsuit. He did take one long appreciative glance as she leaned against the wall. Just to make sure she knew she still made things look good at the age of 32. The rising medical technology certainly helped with that. It certainly helped the body maintain its youth. A couple of centuries back the new saying had been that '30 is the new 20,' which wasn't actually true.

Only now that they had been exposed to the Salarian technologies was that possible, or even true. The short-lived race had an era of their development where they had been obsessed with extending their lifespan. That technology could be applied to all species, technically, and much of that technology helped them develop the genophage. Humanity loved it. Extending the amount of time that a person can be fertile, young, and happy led to a nicer outlook for Humanity as they entered the galactic economy.

"James, any trouble?" He asked, walking into the cockpit. Hannah was obviously behind him, but he didn't hear her walking. A point of pride, probably. Along with years of practice. Jack still treated everything he did as if he were under active surveillance still. His operations and what he was working on was too risky to involve the Alliance in at this point, and until he had evidence that the Reapers existed, and were a real threat, they wouldn't believe him.

"Yeah. They got a frigate up there that'll see us coming from a mile away." He pointed at the navigation console. "I have a few more sensor shadows in other places, so it might be safe to assume that they have fighters or gunships out here too. But compared to the usual amount of defense around a dreadnought, we might have a chance."

"Hannah. Are you rated for space combat?" He asked, knowing she was there.

She decloaked, looking slightly annoyed. "Not exactly?" She said, looking slightly uncomfortable. "I did train in that, but that was before we made First Contact. So, I might be a little out of practice."

Jack shrugged. "Alright, then I am driving. I was going to send James, but I think he would get worried. He hasn't gotten rated for one of these yet." Jack pointed to a large box that was stuck in one of the maintenance hallways. "I believe that we can ride that into the  _Bertha._  Or at least get close enough for you to stealth in."

Hannah groaned. "Oh, not one of those death traps! One of these almost killed me the other day!"

* * *

Julia groaned. "Daddy has been gone forever!"

Miri didn't look up from her tablet. "He left us homework and vid messages."

"It's not the same!" Julia said, pacing. "Without him here he can't teach me anything. The vids don't let me ask questions…"

"If you were better at typing maybe you could just message him when you have questions." Miri said without any emotional tone. She didn't want to leave her book that she was reading, Julia could tell.

"Let's go play!" Julia said, immediately coming up with a fun idea. She could hear the vacuum drone outside the door. She turned on her Omni-tool, bringing up the program that Daddy had shown her last time she had tutoring with him. "I know how to hack Drones now!"

Miri looked up from her tablet. "Ok. I wanna see you hack a drone." Miri got off the chair and walked towards the door.

"You be my lookout, ok?"

Miri nodded. Ten minutes later, they found out why vacuum drones have a governor installed on them. Releasing that means that a vacuum drone can go around fifteen miles an hour, and for a four foot long drone with a vacuum attachment, that is quite impressive. For the girls, moving at such a speed was the first time in their life that they had ever moved that fast that they could perceive.

"We're gonna die!" The vacuum drone plowed through one of the sliding doors, the rubber lining of the door and the metal siding of the drone squealing as they scratched against one another. Julia was instantly regretting this idea, but Miri was loving it. She was as far forward on the drone as she could get, eyes wide open and screaming at the top of her lungs. Julia was at the back, trying to steer the drone using its large vacuum appendage. That wasn't working very well.

"Stairs!" Both girls yelled, one in fear and the other in anticipation. The thundering that followed jarred both of them, and Miranda started laughing. Julia bit her tongue. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, a few people had started jumping out of the way. But one person at the middle of the walkway was not paying complete attention. They both recognized her easily, with her blue skin and head-scalies.

"Miss Nyra!"

The Asari woman turned around and started glowing blue. One of her hands lashed out, a blue ball getting bigger and bigger on the floor as they and their hacked drone neared it. When they ran over it, the drone and them were both covered in the same blue glow, and left the ground completely. Julia tried swimming but all it did was make her float further away from the ground. Miri ended up started to spin, while the drone and its vacuum attachment went spiralling off towards the geodome. The feeling of being weightless was better than the feeling of being near about to crash.

Then Julia felt an arm grab her left leg. With a yelp she was dragging downwards to have her face by at eye level with Nyra's. Miri was right there with her. "What do you two think you are doing?"

"Flying?" Miri offered.

"Getting in trouble is more like it. Both of you are coming with me to explain this to your  _siara_."

"Our what?"

"First generation translation software. Figures the important titles hadn't been worked out yet." Nyra sighed. "Let's go see Harper about this. You both could have hurt someone."

Miranda and Julia didn't say anything, knowing that anything they said could be held against them. Daddy always told them to only say what was needed, and nothing more. They did wince when the vacuum drone crashed into one of the geodome supports with a loud noise, the vacuum attachment still trying suck at any sources of dust around. Nyra gave it a glance, and let go of Julia for a moment to do something else with her biotics. Julia floated uselessly around her, watching as Nyra drew her right hand back, another burst of bluish energy jumping towards the vacuum drone. It was gently yanked towards the ground, where it landed on its back and its wheel spun uselessly.

"Whoa." They both said, and they could hear the echoes of whispering and giggling from around the corner. Two of the older kids from their biotic classes were over there, snickering at them. Julia tried to give them some rude hand motion, but only succeeded in sending herself into a spin.

Nyra made sure the drone was under control before looking over at the snickering boys. "You two want to see what it feels like to be inside of a Singularity?" She asked, but with her second voice Julia couldn't tell if she was being serious or not. "Well, Charles? Kaiden? Do you want to?"

They both shook their heads, and ran off. Miranda and Julia were eight, but they were at least five or six years older than them. They were much bigger. "Can you really lift them up too?" Miranda asked. Julia was nabbed by Nyra's other hand, and she was carefully guided back to the floor. When her feet touched the ground, she could feel gravity suddenly return. Miranda barely recovered. She was still not quite touching the floor.

"I have lifted  _Krogan_." Nyra said answering Miri.

"What's a Krogan?" Julia asked, sounding out the word. She thought she had heard the word before, but wasn't sure. It wasn't something familiar.

Nyra gave them a smile. "It's a big creature, maybe seven feet tall and around," the rest of her words descended into some sort of flutey noises. Julia realized that must have been her actual language. "So they're big. Where is your  _siara_?"

Miranda answered, since Julia was not as willing. "Daddy is doing business somewhere. He will be back in a week." She said, since that was what his Omni-tool message had said. He didn't always get back exactly when he said he would, but he was always there for important things. Once, for their birthday, he was late to the theatre he had promised to take them to. Daddy had flown in on his shuttle and parked it illegally so he wasn't late. She still giggled at how the policeman tried to arrest him.

"Who is watching you, then?" Nyra asked.

"Nanny." They both said. This one wasn't a pushover. She was hard to slip past, but Miranda was very creative at getting past her. Julia preferred the more subtle ways.

"Well. Let's go find her. You two are in trouble for causing this mess. You should be thankful you are human. Asari would be in so much more trouble." Julia looked up at her with big eyes, curious but a little bit terrified. "When Asari children get in trouble, we make them walk between the Temples of Athame on Thessia." Nyra let that sink in. "That is eight of your miles, and mostly stairways."

Julia did not like that idea. "Can we not do that?"

"If I have anything to say about that, No. I'll leave your  _siara_  to be the one to choose that." She started pushing them forward. "Alright, lead the way to your nanny."

One of the adults that came to clean up the vacuum drone, pulling out his Omni-tool and bringing up a diagnostic. But their gaze lingered on Nyra and the children as they walked away. " _Sapphire is go. Nest is clear."_

* * *

Jack Harper was technically not rated for this. But since he was the closest to it, he was the one chosen to drive. Since space was so easy to knock off your direction, whoever had to ride with him had to position themselves in such a way as not to throw off their course. She was straddling his body very closely, that in any other situation might be considered indecent.

Unfortunately they were under radio silence, as they had to pass by the Batarian frigate. The  _Talon_ had come out of its cold start and rushed off to the outer edge of the system, immediately jumping to FTL. The frigate and a couple of fighters came out of the asteroid belt, and went after the ship. Jack regretted that, but had to use his own ship as bait to get that frigate away from Jartar.

The small planet had around a tenth of earth's gravity, and only 8% of the mass. A heavy little dirtball. Mostly sand, with a few mining deposits. But the great gravity well of the small planet promised that at least something in it was worth mining. It was probably what brought the Batarian survey team. But what Jack was here for was very different. Mining rights were all well and good, but if the Batarians succeeded here, their entire empire would fall.

There was hardly any atmosphere to plow through or get burnt in. The flight harness designed for the specialist Engineer class was usable by anyone. Jack was not the best at flying it. But once on the planet, they could hide in the clouds of gases that dotted the surface. The entire planet was made with silicates, and the dust that blew up from that covered much of the planet. So Jack just had a nice cruise towards the location where both a dreadnought and a mega-hauler were. They were both at opposite edges of a large crater in the planet's crust.

Buried in that crater was a Reaper, killed a very long time ago. His memories were not very clear, but this was a certified dead Reaper. But it was also a source of all kinds of troublesome technologies. Plasma weapons, FTL jump drives, and of course, Indoctrination. This Reaper was one of the larger sizes, but its Element Zero core was gone. He could tell that since it was never awakened in the millions of years it had sat here. That didn't stop it from being a threat to his plans, though.

From their view, they couldn't see what the Batarian dreadnought was doing. It could come into atmosphere, since the force of gravity was tiny. The large ship appeared to be on one side of the crater, while the mega-hauler was on the other. The hauler wasn't moving much, and had long cables going down into the crater. A massive storm of silicate particles were being thrown up from the crater, from something the dreadnought was doing. Jack grinned. Wind wasn't much of a factor with the harness, and if it wasn't for the bulky space suit that Hannah had to wear over her stealthsuit he would find this situation much more to his liking.

Either way, as he brought the harness in, he angled for the top of the hauler. It was a very crappy ship, by modern standards. Even by his memories' standards. The potholes and scorch marks from bad re-entries had never been cleaned, and the soot and dirt from countless landings were a near biological hazard to any planet it landed on. Probably the reason that it was stolen. But the nice thing about it being such a craggy ship was the easy landing areas. Jack brought the harness down on top of the ship, he and Hannah engaged their magnetic boots.

They screeched a little bit when the harness caught up to them. Being in one tenth of Earth's gravity made any action an overestimation of how much force was needed. It took inordinately longer to get the harness off, and strapped down to the side of the ship. Then they had to find an access hatch that hadn't been welded shut or bent too far to open. Hannah was the first to find one, and they got into an old airlock on the top of the hauler. That was actually difficult, requiring his full strength. He had to try very hard to not have Hannah find any reason to not view him as a weaker man. He would definitely have a bit of soreness in his back, but he got the hatch open.

Inside the rust and decay in the ship became more evident. The dust from the storm outside started flying in, carpeting the somewhat untouched floor. Hannah jumped down without a sound, only disturbing the ground where she landed. Jack tried to jump, but the lack of gravity threw him off. He landed in a heap and bounced back upwards, managing to right himself before landing again.

She didn't say anything, but he could tell she thought it was funny. He had to hold back a comment, considering the radio silence. She looked at him, and pointed at the faded sign on the wall. Where to, from here. He wasn't intimately familiar with the schematics of these craft, but he knew that they had a large interior section, with the outer sections being for storing gases and liquids. Jack figured that this one had been modified some, as they were somewhat modular. At this point, he figured that the smaller the number, the more likely it was to lead to the bridge. He pointed to the left, where the Batarian numbers went downwards.

They walked for a few hundred feet before coming into the main bay. It was laid out along the entire ship, wider in some places and smaller in others. The area they were on allowed them to walk across the main bay on the catwalks above. Down on the ground level, they could only see a couple of figures moving. It was completely empty down here. Nothing was in the cargo bay, but a shuttle in the near end by the control room. That must have been their ride in. The shuttle looked new, while most of the ladders and other things were worn down or rusted.

He pointed at the shuttle and held up six fingers. Only six Batarians could fit in that model of shuttle. He then pointed at the two on the floor and motioned that they were two of the enemies. Hannah nodded, and dropped her heavy armor. The breather suit she needed for just getting to the  _Bertha_. Now that she was in the air-cycled chambers, she ditched the breather suit and shimmied it off of her body. They stashed it off to one of the entrance corridors to the main hangar, and then she moved for the ladder that seemed to be in the best condition. He gave her a thumbs up as she went, receiving a nod in return.

He didn't have to wait long. The two guards dropped, one with enough blood pouring out that Hannah must have taken half his windpipe with the knife when she withdrew it. The second guard was almost jokingly removed, Hannah not even turning on her cloak to remove him. Jack started down the ladder at that point. When he got to the bottom, Hannah had piled the guards behind the shuttle and was near the door. She was ready to cloak again at any time. Jack calmly walked towards the door, even taking the time to light a cigarette. With one hundred meters from the ladder to the door, he was perfectly within his rights to take a smoke break.

"You done taking your time over there, Jack?" Hannah asked when he finally got to the door.

"I'll need my breath for the fight, of course. So thank you for being so worried about my well being." He motioned to his belt. "Smoke and flashbangs ready to go. I'll only start shooting if they try to contact anyone. These ships are a bit touchy, so let's assume they are in the middle of pulling that Prothean Dreadnought out."

Hannah shrugged. "Why don't we just wait until they finish up and do all the work for us. We can kill them and take control of the ship after they do the hard work." Jack shrugged, considering it to be an alright idea. He walked over to the Batarian shuttle, and synched himself into their comm networks. It was mostly jabbering, and he was not that great at Batarian. They had versions of every word that changed based on the caste using it and the caste the comment was being directed to. The language didn't have a clear run of things, since to stop speaking you give the right to speak to someone else. Batarians had more nose strength and the ability to breathe while speaking, making talking over them hard. No one was talking about the hauler, which was good. Though it could have been a number of things, considering the Batarian language.

"You can understand that garbage?" Hannah asked, seeing him listening.

"Learned it after I learned Asari. We don't have the lung capacity or capability of speaking Salarian, or the natural forms of communication that elcor and hanar use. Drell can speak anything else easy enough, and Volus trade language is mostly numerical. I learned what I thought I could."

"You are a gifted man, Jack. How come we haven't seen a general translator or dictionary yet?"

"I did publish one, through a front company. Hybrid Graphics Solutions released them."

"You mean those super expensive versions that only a few people can afford? You ass." Hannah said.

"It wasn't easy. I deserve at least a little payback for learning those languages." Jack said. He wouldn't have been able to do any of that if it weren't for the fact that he was cheating and using his old memories to go by. He technically already had known Turian and Asari for decades. He just needed the legal right and the right timing to make a large amount off of the translation program he sold. He couldn't just give it away for free, but two hundred credits seemed fair for a single translation program. If he gave it away for free and his business partners found out, they would begin to doubt his resolve.

Jack Harper was well known as a ruthless businessman. Shrewd, calculating, dangerous, words that all could be used to describe him. He did not want anyone thinking he was weak in any sense of the word. He was one of those people that could count on being targeted for his support of the Alliance as well as with Tartarus Station. So he couldn't give away the translation software for free. But he could set the price, so that when alien translation software hit the market, that they would have to accept his much lower price. He had set a standard that made a piece of software that would soon become integral cheaper than what it originally was. It was a roundabout way of making the economy stronger.

"They are the perfect price to respect a need for profit and a need to provide something to the people. It also comes with a lifetime warranty and daily updates for each of Earth's main spoken languages. It even includes French."

She gave him a level stare. "I still haven't gotten an apology for what you did to me in France."

"I am not apologizing for managing to sneak you in while under active surveillance. More importantly, you requested that we meet. I still haven't gotten a thank you card for France." He offered, looking at her expectantly. The red of her face heating up was all the answer he needed. "I wonder if you've ever had a situation that needed such an interesting cover in the last eight years…"

"Jack! Just… find out when they are going to be done pulling out the ship." Hannah said, not wanting to talk about it. Though it was obvious that she had been in some interesting situations, she was also theoretically not supposed to mention it. He did laugh about the look on her face, though.

He was listening to the chatter, and from what he could understand, the Batarian dreadnought was kicking up all of the silicate so that the body of the craft could be pulled out of the crater. The mega-hauler was supposed to pull it out of orbit and be protected by the other ships as they took this corpse back to Khar'Sharn. So, they were right where they needed to be. It would only be an hour or two before the mega-hauler had to break orbit.

"Hannah, go look in the surrounding corridors. The docking collars are all on this level. There are no cameras or lifesign sensors anywhere. If we can remove the others onboard, we won't have to watch our backs as closely. So go look in the surrounding compartments, and get back to me in about an hour. You'll know when we get to FTL. A ship this big will shake quite a bit getting there, especially with a heavy load."

"So what do we do if we aren't stealing it before it gets to FTL?"

Jack smiled. "It will be a seven or eight hour trip through FTL back to Anteius. We have that as a window where we can steal the ship, come out of FTL, and then go take it somewhere else in this nebula for our own purposes. This is a Prothean Dreadnought that they are stealing, and we are going to steal it from them and then keep it to ourselves. Trying to escape to the relay with this is just going to be impossible. They'll be watching it like a hawk, since the Kite's Nest is right there. With their homeworld one relay jump away, they will have their eyes and ears all over this cluster."

"So, where do you expect to hide something of this magnitude?"

"I am thinking somewhere in dark space, where they won't think of jumping too quickly. Some nice background radiation and all sorts of nasty things to keep its signature protected." And by extension killing the Reaper's components without having the potential catastrophe of throwing it into a sun and the blowback from that. Enough people would see the flare from throwing a Reaper into a sun. Just letting it rot in dark space would be fine.

"I'll go look for more of them. Crew quarters are on the two levels on top of the control center. You should check those out while I go see the docking collars." Hannah said, getting up and walking into the hallway. Jack took the time to lift up one of the floor panels and dump the bodies into it. There were thousands of nooks and crannies in this ship, and he had no intention of looking in all of them. At an almost leisurely pace, he walked back to the doorway and set a motion tracking device on it. That way if any of the Batarians came out of the control center he would receive notification on his Omni-tool. With all of the rust and grime it was easy to conceal.

Then he walked up the stairs to the crew compartment, seeing no signs of life. Some blood marks on the walls showed who had occupied it previously, and were probably here and in the control center when the ship got boarded. He looked for any kind of last wills, testaments, and keepsakes. He found a few and a couple of nice weapon mods tucked away in places. Small change for him, but nice enough to use if he needed it. It didn't compare with what his pistol had equipped, some keepsakes from the First Contact War. Only slightly illegal, but right now they were in an area that no one would be able to arrest him over it. There were no laws that were recognized this far out.

He fought the urge to whistle a tune, a habit he had picked up in the last couple of years. Watching childrens shows sometimes left the tunes stuck in your head for hours afterwards, with the only outlet that seemed sane being to hum them as you walked places. That evolved to whistling. So he just walked carefully, keeping quiet, and made it back to the main hold. He set himself up on one of the upper walkways, maybe thirty feet above the doorway to the control center.

One anti personnel mine later, and the stairs up to him were secure. Hannah still hadn't returned, meaning that she was stalking something. Or someone. They still needed to secure the engine room, which was near the back of the ship. No point in going there unless they had to. But, with the way things were going, it wasn't worth taking much time. It would be a long while before Hannah got back, and the chance of anyone finding the guards was low.

He walked to the side hallways, and started making his way down towards the engine room. It was a long walk, and he didn't expect to find anyone out there. When he got near the churning noise that was the engine working, he started moving more carefully. He couldn't hear anything but the heavily churning engine, and didn't have anything for military grade armor. His suit was nice enough, and meant for extra vehicular space endeavors, but the Batarians might have better equipment at this stage of human development.

So, a silenced pistol was all he had. In this riot of noise it wouldn't matter, so he just held it out. He leaned his head towards the side of the door, barely letting his face stick around the corner. With his eye at the furthest angle, he could see two Batarians inside. Both were wearing their helmets, which meant they had their barriers up. Killing them would be difficult for his little pistol. So, he decided to engage them later. Hannah would be better at killing them and getting out without trouble. Also, killing the people maintaining this engine was probably a bad idea.

So, he walked back to the control room, finding a familiar hourglass-shaped blur sitting on the front of the shuttle. He just sat down behind it, so that the door to the control room was on the other side. He would at least have some cover if someone opened the door. Hannah stayed cloaked, obviously enjoying the many ports for power injection in this part of the ship.

"Find anyone?" He asked quietly.

"Found an airlock that had another shuttle. It was welded on, though, and someone shot out the cockpit. Terminus made, not sure whose it was." So no obvious blood marks or items to suggest anyone owning it.

"I checked out the engine room. Two of them are in there, handling the trouble that this ship is sure to be putting out. If we go by how many can fit in the shuttle, that leaves two others in the control room. All of them have helmets and armor, which means that I would prefer you went in and killed them."

"You can't handle doing the dirty work?" She asked, coming out of cloak. "Or just prefer micromanaging?"

"Both, of course. Though the scenery is much better when you do it. Not to mention you are the one trained to kill and remove them silently. So, once we actually break atmosphere we will kill the ones in the control room, and then go after the guys in the back. I can do a decent impersonation of a pissed off Batarian, and the one speaking is a minor noble. He can safely insult the rest of his crew with no chance of being yelled back at himself. So I can impersonate him rather well." He said, listening to the chatter. Since the shortwave was mostly talking about how the ship's remains were almost clear of the crater, Jack figured that he had some time.

Twenty minutes later, the chatter exploded as the Reaper corpse must have cleared the crater. It was tied to the mega-hauler, and the Batarian Dreadnought was doing the hard work of getting all of the extra mass out of the gravity well, while the hauler did its job and pulled. The mega-hauler had eight strong tow lines with over thirty kilometers of extra line in rolls inside the outer edges of the ship. When all eight of those were engaged, it could create enough force to tow anything. The Dreadnought was just needed to get the dangling bits out of the crater.

He wasn't sure if the Batarians did it this way the first time, but the STG were in the area too. He would have to plan on avoiding them as well. But no one could predict that a mega-hauler would be boarded and taken over. Unless you were Jack Harper. So he might have left some extra motion sensors at obvious insertion points. Not enough, of course. Hannah had gone on the right side of the ship, and he hadn't had quite enough for sensors to be placed over that side of the ship. He did place one sensor over the doorway that Hannah had walked through. Strangely, the sensor hadn't gone off on that door.

"Did you disable my sensor on the side door?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Air vents. Found a stash of credits there and followed the trail to a small console hidden inside. Wiped clean of any Alliance related files now."

He nodded. "Alright. Just in case we aren't the only ones with this plan, I placed a few sensors on a couple of places. No betting against the STG, I think. None of those sensors have gone dark, so I am reasonably sure that we are secure and the only people onboard this craft ready to steal it. This time around, at least."

"Are you going to keep the name? It doesn't seem your style."

"Of course I'll keep the name. It has some history. We also haven't seen if the cockpit has the required leather seats.  _Bertha_  has all kinds of connotations."

She grinned. "The original name was lost, but apparently it was some Quarian ship when it was last stolen by the Batarians. They called it the  _Hoch_. The Batarians renamed it, something i can't pronounce, and then Corsairs got it. So  _Bertha_  here has a long history indeed." She said, reading some file off her Omni-tool. "This was all on the console i found."

Well, that protected the Alliance from any actual blowback for all of this. His ownership hadn't been confirmed on the craft yet, so it couldn't be shown that he was involved. If the ship disappeared, then only the Batarians would be held accountable. Perhaps the Salarians would prove that they were aware of the Reaper and attract some of the trouble. Either way, someone was going to attract political trouble over this and it would not be him.

"Perfect work. We should be leaving soon. Once we clear Jartar, we will take control of the bridge. I'll tell the engine room crew to make sure things are running alright. Then you can get rid of them as well."  
"Because you'll presumably be busy?" She mocked.

"I was the one who became certified in navigation, while you got better at just killing other people." He noticed that the ship was shaking a bit more than it was earlier. "That's our queue. They must be dragging the Prothean Dreadnought by now." He lit a cigarette. "Well, go take over the bridge. The air filtration system is the same as the crew quarters, and should be able to be accessed easily enough."

Hannah rolled her eyes and walked off, slipping off into some area of the ship. He got into action himself, coming over near the bridge door and preparing his shotgun. If things got ugly, he was going in there. More importantly, he put a sensor module on the door to the crew quarters, which gave him some idea of when Hannah was going in. Thankfully it beeped. But so did the sensor for the engine room. That meant the Batarians in the engine room were on the move. By the sensor's report, both of them had gone past. They were going to be moving along the main hangar bay, and it would be clear what happened as soon as they didn't see the guards.

He pulled out his rifle, his worst weapon. Then he opened one of the deck plates and slid himself into the piped compartment, with only his rifle sticking out. He had armor that was on par with the Batarian armor, as well as weapons that would at least put one of them down. He didn't want to be in an open position like the upper walkway, but there were no pieces of cover in the hangar bay besides the shuttle. They might need that later.

When the Batarians didn't walk in the hangar bay, he knew something was wrong. They must be using one of the side hallways. There were eight hallways that could access the area, and ran the length of the ship. Trying to guess which one was going to be hard. He put his ear towards the comm device on his Omni-tool so that he could hear better.

" _Grazz. Get your hide to those bay doors and get them open! Banz-Jal wants to get the other shuttle onboard right now! Grazz! Report in!_ "

He got out of his sniper nest quickly and ran for the door controls for the main hangar bay.  _That_  little piece of machinery he placed an explosive on, for tampering. Then he went to the door to the control room. That he walked quietly up to, and got his shotgun out. The room behind this door he was at should be no longer than twenty feet long, and then a small window to see out the front of the craft. He didn't bother waiting, and just charged in. What he saw when he got inside were four Batarians. Two were already dead and the other two had their guns pointed at one of their fellows. Jack did them a favor and shot the one furthest from the corpse, making the other take cover.

A shower of sparks from an overload took them back out of cover, Hannah leaping over the console and going hand to hand with the one closer to her. Jack did her a favor and shot the remaining alien, letting his helmet fill his entire scope as he took the shot. Why someone put a scope on a shotgun he would never figure out, but it certainly made him feel a lot better. Hannah took a moment to finish off the other Batarian, the blood from her knife spraying across the console.

Jack didn't check to see if any of the Batarians survived. He first disabled outgoing signals from the ship. Then he tried to access the ship channels, but couldn't find any signs of the two roaming Batarians in the craft.

"Make sure these are dead and start looking for the last two. They'll be trying to-" A loud explosion rocked the ship. "That might be them dying. Go check the main door controls."

Hannah nodded, leaving one knife in the neck of a soldier and walking off. The one Jack shot, apparently. Kill stealing him, when all he had tried to do was help her out. Ungrateful woman. He could see no hull breach warnings or loss of grip on any of the tow cables holding the Reaper. The navigation console was already highlighted for an FTL jump to the relay leading to the Kite's Nest, where Kar'Sharn was located. That wasn't going to happen.

He reoriented the coordinates for dark space, located somewhere near a halfway point to the relay. He started typing, making sure that the coordinates were accepted by the old computer system. He had to at least pick a route that was on the same direction as the relay, otherwise the Batarians might notice.

Hannah came back a moment later. "Shuttle is gone. They accidentally blew it up with some sort of explosive that took out the door controls as well. Lost some of the floor, but there are multiple layers. I think we got them all."

"Good, my bomb actually killed someone. I would hate to just do nothing this time around." He said sarcastically as he finished the navigation calculations.

" _We are jumping._ " Jack said in clear Batarian, minor to superior caste, over the open channel.

" _We heard something wrong with your sensors. Report."_  Came a clear voice, upper caste to minor caste.

Jack calmly replied. " _One of the rusted bulkheads bent when we broke atmosphere. No damage to any of the cables. We are still rated to jump._ " He turned off the communications console and turned to Hannah. "A little rusty, but I think it will be enough."

A reply came.  _"You are clear to jump. If the artifact is even barely scratched further, pray to the Gods that you are found innocent. I won't find you as such."_  Jack shrugged. He jumped to FTL immediately, and then started working to disable the IFF system. that would have to be done by hand, but could be easily done while they were in FTL. Hannah dumped the bodies outside after looting them of anything of value. He was glad that he had some armor on, because this rusted piece of work had its IFF in a small crawlspace under the main console. Bolted on, actually.

When he had that off, he then started pulling them out of FTL. Contrary to some writers of the earlier centuries, dropping out of faster than light speeds took a considerable amount of fuel and effort. The tow cables had to hold onto the Reaper as they decelerated, so it took nearly half an hour to decelerate. Even then the groaning of the hull was felt more than heard.

Then, and only once they had come to a drifting stop, did he unblock communications again. "James, when you get this, go to the coordinates I wrote on the mirror at the bar. They should be accurate, and from there I will need your help. I can't drive this very easily."

Then he went through the process of turning the ship a different direction and sending it into faster than light speeds again. This time without a team of Batarian engineers to manage it. One of the tow cables snapped. Seven held on, but with only Hannah there was no way he could reconnect it. They were strained when he came back out of FTL again five hours later, in dark space near the relay in the Anteius system. They were between clusters and slightly below the galactic plane. With only a couple frigates and a dreadnought, the Batarians didn't have much chance of finding them. Nor would they assume anything was wrong for at least another two hours, when the hauler was supposed to show up in the system.

Waiting for them at the sketchy coordinates in dark space was his little pearl of a ship, and he had to use the auxiliary manual controls to open the main hangar doors. The  _Talon_  slipped right inside, parking with room to spare on the back half of the ship. Amandeep and James walked off the ramp that extended from the front of the yacht and looked around. James whistled to hear the echo, and Amandeep spat on the rusty deck plates.

"Sah, you do no pay enough for me to fix this." Amandeep said.

"This thing is going to fly like a brick. Where are we taking that old ship?"

"That old ship is going to raise hell anywhere we try to ship it. It is assumed to be a Prothean Dreadnought. So, using this cargo hauler, we are going to only take a single piece of the old ship with us. I would prefer that we take its main cannon. Weapons technology that would put us ahead of the Turians is my first goal. Propulsion and energy solutions follow. Though I do ask that we not board that ship until we are perfectly aware of what is onboard. Mechs only at first."

"We don't have any mechs. What is so dangerous about a dead ship?"

"That ship was on a low gravity world and wasn't recovered or investigated following its crushing defeat. I assume its booby trapped or worse. I don't want anyone boarding it until we are sure its safe." Jack gave each of them a look. "None of you are expendable. That's what mechs are for. James, get over here and get this ship uncabled without it spinning off into oblivion." He looked over at Amandeep, who was looking at one of the consoles with a look of distaste. "Amandeep, see what the maximum amount of force is that the hangar bay doors can exert. We need to clip off a part of the old ship. We will use the doors to close over the object and keep it safe from prying eyes."

"So where is this piece of technology headed?"

"The Ark Facility." He said simply. "It is a secret deep space research facility run by the Alliance that is the source of some of our more notorious technology."

"I thought that didn't exist." James said.

"You've made deliveries there before, James. They are right next door to my favorite viewing spot." Mercury and Venus made good planets to hide facilities on, since they had moons that could support domes, as well as being in the center of the solar system and easily protected. "The entrance is that little stop and go restaurant next to Venus. They have a mining facility down on the planet that conceals the rest. If that isn't clear enough all of you have signed non-disclosure agreements detailing your involvement in my business. That includes not mentioning that."

"So, you are going to take a suspicious Batarian owned mega-hauler into the heart of alliance space?" Hannah asked. "How is that going to get through customs? Patrols?"

Jack's Omni-tool pinged. "My purchase has just been confirmed. Hannah, apply the new tags.  _Big Bertha_ , owned by me, but owned directly by the Gunderson Brothers LLC. The tags are in your junk email folder, most likely. James, get us unlatched, and ready to snap shut on the main cannon from that ship. Amandeep ignore the obvious problems this ship has and just work on the hangar door servos."

Jack himself worked on the  _Talon_ , getting the money transferred and alerting the corsairs as to when they could pick up his new generous donation to their cause.  _Bertha_  was going to be theirs again, after being fueled up and loaded with some better weapons and armor that the corsairs would need for boarding enemy ships. Coordinating when and where to exchange the ship took an hour or so, and when he was done he saw an incoming call on his encrypted office line. The girls must have figured out that he was going to be late coming home.

He keyed the connection, bringing it up on the main screen. The image that formed was of Julia, Miranda, and Nyra, their teacher. Nyra had an angry look on her face, and Julia and Miranda looked somewhat sheepish.

 _"Mr. Harper. I found your children testing the speed limits of a vacuum drone a short while ago. They nearly ran over all of the people on the main concourse. Thankfully I was able to prevent disaster."_ She looked at him disapprovingly.  _"As their siara I expected better of you."_

Jack shrugged. "If they successfully hacked a vacuum and cleaning drone and reprogrammed it, then that is a great accomplishment. If they injured someone, tell them to call their lawyer. My daughters have a very strong litigation lawyer already, and he would welcome the work."

 _"Mr. Harper, someone could have been injured from this! Are you congratulating your daughters for risking other people's lives?"_ She looked back at the grinning daughters of his.  _"You both are in trouble, you know."_

"Nyra, with the summer vacation starting in a few hours I don't think they will be in much trouble. Perhaps some added time to your lessons, perhaps. What were your plans for the break?"

She blinked, the marks on her face scrunching slightly. " _I was not prepared for any of this vacating that you humans are fond of. I suppose I will spend some time familiarizing myself with your language. My translator lacks some of the finer parts of your language."_

"Perhaps can I offer you a short reprieve? My girls usually go to my private island for a week or so in the start of the summer vacation, and I won't be back on Earth for another week at the earliest." That got dejected looks from his girls. "Would you be averse to spending the week with them, and giving them some extra lessons?"

This would keep the Asari from digging into anything unnecessary in the Solaris part of the station. A bored three hundred year old alien with commando training was not something he wanted prowling the station. Better directed towards his very intelligent and wayward children. Nyra looked back at him.

_"My job is teach all of the human biotics, not watch your children. I am not working directly for you, Mr. Harper."_

"On the contrary, you happen to be working for the Cerberus Foundation, of which the majority of the company is owned and run by myself. I can change the parameters of what it means to teach the biotic children of humanity at any time to suit the purposes of the Alliance. As such, you are working for me, Nyra. If you don't want to take care of the best and brightest biotic children, as Matriarch Benezia told me to send you to, then I can always have you switch places with one of your sisters. They would love to teach the Adept children rather than the Sentinels."

_"Mr. Harper, I was hired to teach children."_

"You will. But if you want to keep teaching, most of them are getting off of the base for the week anyways. Going with my children means that you'll have a free pass to go see Earth. The others are restricted from going down there, and on the island you can try any and all food that you are interested in. So long as my girls are getting some time off station and some biotic training, consider it a nice break for yourself." Jack offered. "I have already prepared everything for anyone who comes to visit." She looked to be about the right size. If not, she was an Asari. They were mono-gendered, and their culture was extremely accepting of diversity. This actually was partially contributing to a rise in hatred against their pure blood relatives.

 _"Mr. Harper, if you need me to go that badly, then I will. But I will try to make sure that this doesn't give your daughters an unfair advantage."_  Nyra said, looking back at them and then returning to looking at Jack.  _"When do you arrive at Earth?"_

"As soon as I can transfer ownership of a ship to another party. Once it goes through and we drop that off, then I will return. Though if there is trouble feel free to call on my encrypted line. My daughters know the code. They also will do their best to mind what you say and listen to you. As their chaperone you have the right to tell them what to do, but please listen to them, in return. They will keep you from making any serious mistakes in the crowded cultural icon that is Earth." Jack looked down at his Omni-tool, which was beeping. Amandeep and James were trying to get a hold of him. "You girls have fun. I have to go deal with a few things, but I will call you tonight." He waited for his daughters to say their goodbyes, noting that Miranda looked excited. Then he ended the call.

He found James in the control room with Amandeep, discussing the angle they would need to approach the Reaper to take its main leg. It was slightly bent, and damaged from whatever had brought it down in the first place. Hopefully not enough to compromise the technology, but Jack was pretty sure that it would be workable. Reaper technology was very hardy, and meant to be strengthened beyond normal means through the use of nanites. Some Reaper artifacts had been found that had been on planets long enough to be inside of rock formations, suggesting that the nanites survived through near about anything. Shepard proved that explosives worked. Jack always had some of sufficient strength somewhere nearby.

"Is something not working?" He asked. James didn't react when he walked in, slowly moving the ship towards the main arm.

"No, just trying to get things to work. That main weapon is massive, sir. Too massive to try to cut it off at the connection point. Even if we could get it all inside of here, the mega-hauler is fifty meters too short to reach the point where we can cut off that arm."

"Could we just cover it with a tarp and hang it out the back?" Hannah asked. "The tow cables could hold it inside easily enough."

Reapers were interesting spacecraft/creatures. In their arms they had troop deployment pods in the upper sections and in the lower sections of the arm were their weapons platforms. Technically all they needed to take was the frontal portion of the arm, but the hull of the Reaper would need to be damaged already for the hangar bay doors to apply enough pressure to tear it off.

"We don't want to make it seem as if we are smuggling an entire cruiser back here. That would get searches, questions, and scrutiny that even my system of favors couldn't avoid. We need to rip it off somehow."

Amandeep started doing some calculations on his console. "We can tear it off Sah! If we wrap the to' cables through this upper section, we can make the arm bend until it snaps. It will take us a very long time, if the information here is correct. The Prothean hull is strong." One way to put it.

Amandeep had a great plan. It took Hannah and Jack in the  _Talon_  and James and Amandeep on the tow cables to attach all eight of them to the Reaper. Two of the cables were wrapped around the main arm by the  _Talon_ , while  _Bertha_  attached the other six to other secure points on the Reaper, to hold it still while they used the other two cables to tear off the arm. The cables were wrapped around the arm, and then crossed over the Reaper's body to use the long humped back as a counterweight. This took nearly eight hours to do, just with the four of them. It was agreed to take four hours to sleep and eat, and then get back to this.

Amandeep was sweating as he tried to pry off a Reaper's arm. Jack was unconcerned, since this was only one of many Reapers. Getting their technology wasn't the hard part. It was disabling the nanites that caused Indoctrination that he needed to deal with. Reapers were infested with the things, which he found rather annoying. He had lost a lot of teams to that while he was misleading Cerberus.

When the tow cables started pulling, Jack thought it would be only a few minutes before they would have a Reaper main weapon in their hands. Eighteen hours later, they had to add the  _Talon_  to the operation, to get enough torque to tear off the Reaper's arm. It was honestly one of his worst days ever. Nothing to do but watch as the cables didn't move, and the only meaningful things he picked up were a detailed understanding of how to cuss out a machine in Urdu. Amandeep was a highly expressive man, apparently. Hopefully his girls were enjoying their summer vacation.

* * *

Julia grinned as Nyra came back out of the beach house. She had originally came with them in an entire suit of armor, and half a dozen weapons that she wouldn't let her touch. Daddy taught them about gun safety when they were six years old, when Miranda found a pistol under their floor. They knew not to touch guns, at least not without permission. Nyra didn't understand how beaches and beach houses worked.

You could sleep in hammocks, order any drink that you wanted, and be out in the shade or sun for as long as you wanted. Daddy had a tidal pool attached to his island that they could swim in, even though it was in the middle of the ocean. If they wanted to go snorkeling, they could. He even had a movie theatre built into his island, and they could watch anything they wanted. It was what they lived for.

It took some convincing to get Nyra to calm down and get comfortable. Though when they asked her to go swimming with them, she thought that meant that clothes weren't necessary. Explaining how things worked on Earth took more time, leading to their current situation.

"I fail to see how this cloth does anything worthwhile or change anything." Nyra said. Miranda had found her a swimsuit, of course from the room Daddy reserved for his women. Though Auntie Hannah didn't seem like the other women. She was pretty, yes, but not as pretty as the women that Daddy met with all of the time. Daddy had a stock of things for those kinds of women here. Miranda had given her something red to match her purplish skin tone.

"We are on Earth. People have to wear clothes." Julia explained. Asari must be different in how they do things.

"I find things rather odd here." Nyra said. "As well the fact that there are only two staff members here." Nyra had a pistol slipped into her waistline, a really big one. She wouldn't budge on that. She would go armed. If not armored, at least.

"Usually there are a few more people here." Julia said. "Daddy has at least one man always in the security room. Then there is always the guy who gets you drinks! He is nice."

Nyra looked at the pristine beach. "Let's go see this security room, I am rather curious." Julia nodded, leading Nyra up the patio to the upper decks. The upper decks had the shuttle pad, security station, and gym. Julia and Miranda never really had any reason to go up there, but Daddy had showed them every room on the island. She confidently showed Nyra where the door to the security room was.

Nyra reached for the handle, and was surprised to find it locked. "Is this normal?"

"No." Julia said, bringing out out her Omni-tool. She punched in her security code, waiting for the door to unlock. It didn't. "My code is supposed to get me into any door anywhere!"

Nyra nodded. She started glowing blue, and her arm threw out towards the wall next to the door. Gravity and force crumpled the wall, and the steel layers underneath were revealed. She grunted. "Your father has some obsession over this. Think the roof might be easier?"

Julia shook her head. "No. You have to go down the stairs behind that door. Daddy said that our codes worked."

Nyra took a long look at the wall she had warped. "Let's go find Miranda. She might know something." Then she drew her pistol and checked the heat sink. That was a bit worrying. Nyra walked over to the railing, and leaned slightly forward. "Julia, I want you to hide. Right now." She started glowing again. "I promise to teach you both how to do this later."

Then Nyra  _moved_. Her body leaned forward and shifted into a bluish burst, and Julia had to run over to the railing to see her alien form streak like a missile into one of the attendants on the beach. Julia was about to cry out when she saw a big shotgun or rifle fall from the man's hands. The attendants here weren't supposed to be armed. She looked further up the beach, where Miranda was playing in the sand. One of the other attendants was approaching her, with a pistol in hand. Nyra shot that one, before he could get his gun up. Miranda saw this and started screaming, backing away from the bleeding man.

Behind her, she heard the security door open, and three men started running out of it. They all had armor and rifles. That was when she realized she was supposed to hide. She jumped over the railing, hopping onto the awning that reached over the juice bar. She held her hands over her mouth.

"Nyra, three more bad men over here!" She yelled, getting the Asari's attention. She turned slowly, and took Miranda by the hand. She was still glowing blue as she led Miranda behind one of the walls near the beach, and when Julia saw Nyra stand back up, it was without her sister.

The armored men all took aim at Nyra from the railing, but their shots only hit some sort of blue wall that was between Nyra's skin and the bullets. It looked like some sort of biotic power, but it was protecting her. Nyra gave a smart looking grin and did another huge leap, her body crashing into the leftmost man. He flew back and hit something really hard, making the awning shake. The other two tried to target Nyra, but she got in close and started glowing brighter as she started punching the armored men. It looked like it wouldn't do much, until Julia saw her hand go right through one of the armors. Wow.

Biotics were awesome! If Nyra was going to teach them stuff like this, Julia wasn't going to ever try to accidentally run her over ever again! She climbed up the awning back towards the railing, one to see the last of the armored men getting shot. Daddy had showed them movies and pictures where people had been shot, but the bits of red that came off of him were something she hadn't seen before.

Nyra just stood up from the men, and then moved towards the security door. "Stay there. Tell Miranda to get up here."

Miranda was already in motion, running up the stairs from the beach. She wasn't looking at Julia, though. She was looking for Nyra.

"Did you see that?" Miri said excitedly. "She flew!"

"I know! She did it twice!" Julia said, climbing over the railing. Miri was jumping around the upper deck, until she saw the men on the ground. Then she started screaming. There was a lot of blood. Miranda was not a fan of some of the scary movies that Julia loved. Julia laughed at her for that, freaking out over a little blood. She had seen more in the vids.

"Both of you get away from them!" Nyra said, coming out of the security room. Her right arm was covered in red blood, and she looked unhurt. "They took the shuttle. Is there anything else that we can use to get out of here?"

Julia didn't know and she shrugged. Looking at Miri, she obviously didn't know either. "Daddy never said anything about this."

Nyra sighed heavily. "Well, they are here to capture the two of you. Which means that they are trying to hurt your father." She took them by the hand and started moving towards the part of the island that had the bedrooms. When she got there, she stopped the both of them with one of her hands. "Wait here. I think they took my things."

She glowed again, and a bubble formed around them. Then, she threw out her arm and a ball of energy flew into the door, knocking it inwards. A spark came from inside the room, and Julia closed her eyes as that expanded into a much brighter light. When she opened her eyes, she could see everything on fire. It was also spreading to the walls. Nyra started pushing them back, heading outside.

Miranda was being quiet, when Julia expected her to start screaming. But she didn't instead staring at the glowing blue bubble keeping the heat and fire back from them. They didn't need to be told to back away this time. The fire caught easily on the wood panelled walls, and Nyra ran with them back towards the upper deck.

"We need another way off this island!" Nyra said, looking around for the shuttle. It was gone, taken by whoever flew off earlier. Julia shuddered. They were stuck here.

"We need to call Daddy!" She yelled, looking at all of the roofs catching fire. Nyra nodded, moving them to the beach.

"There isn't much to burn on this island. As long as we stay in the water, we can wait it out. Your Omni-tools are on the porch. Let's get them and get in the water."

Nyra grabbed one of the rifles from the dead men and moved with them to the porch, where they had ditched their Omni-tools and backpacks. They were still there. Nyra grabbed them, keeping her guns out. Once they had them in hand, they got out onto the artificial beach. The water was cool, and a welcome feeling after being close to the fire. Smoke was pouring from the center of their island, and the buildings were on fire.

Miranda was just staying behind Nyra, and Julia was just staring.

Her Omni-tool had never dialed a number so fast in her life. Daddy's connection wasn't strong, but he got the message.

"Julia, what is it? I told you I wouldn't be home for a few more days." His connection wasn't clear enough to see what he was standing behind, but she could see some sort of big hangar bay.

"Daddy! People tried to take us!" She felt a hand on her shoulder, seeing Nyra leaning over her.

"Mr. Harper, I'll give it to you simple. Your island is on fire, the shuttle is gone, and we are out in the open if they choose to send more people. Your daughters were targeted by humans who had military grade weapons and armor. I killed them, but they took the shuttle and destroyed my armor and weapons."

Jack Harper's face on screen visibly grimaced. "Normally I would make a snide comment that your current look suits you. Today I am going to explain very carefully what you will do. Underneath the second layer of the island, there is a secondary control room. You'll need to uncover the access hatch, underneath the large anchor in the middle of the beach. It weighs one and a half tons, in human measurement. So around half a  _Tso_." Nyra nodded at this. "That control room can control the island's secondary controls, and allow it to dive. It will take a submarine to get to you then, and those are few in number that have boarding attachments. That will protect you until I get back to Earth. I will be there in nineteen hours. Survive that long, and I'll be there."

Nyra gave him a long look. "You don't strike me as capable of destroying anyone, Mr. Harper. How will you be able to save us when we get back?"

"Girls, your Auntie Hannah and I are coming. Listen to Nyra, and stay safe and warm. It's a little cold in the under sections of the island. Nyra, there are automated turrets that can be activated from the main server down there. Please be gentle on that equipment. Don't worry about me, I'm coming." He cut the connection, and Julia felt a lot better. Daddy said he was coming. He parked a shuttle illegally at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in London for them. He would come.

Nyra started glowing again, and the large metal hook thing on the beach got pulled into the ocean. Miri giggled. Julia didn't know what to think.

"Yes, Miranda, I can at least teach you how to do that." Nyra stated, predicting what she was thinking. "Now, both of you into the tunnel here. We have a long time before your father gets here."

Meet Nyra, Asari Commando and in the service to the T'Soni family. She will be the biotic teacher for the kids in the Adept classes. Speaking of the Human Biotics, I have a few things to say. In canon, the first generation of biotics were those first exposed to Element Zero and injured by it. The females passed it on to their children, and the males developed tumors or cancerous growths and had a shorter lifespan in most cases.

The second generation of biotics in canon were those sent to Biotic Acclimation and Training, or BAaT(Brain Camp). Cerberus was involved with that. But only because they saw Vyrrnus and the other teachers as a threat to society. The third generation of biotics in canon were the L3's and L5's, where Miranda and Subject Zero(Jack) came from. That generation is still considered to be current in 2183.

For Jack Harper and his new Cerberus, he decided to make sure that the disastrous L2 Generation of biotics were treated better and received better training. Thus, the Solaris Program. I hope that makes sense to you all. But realistically, Humanity won't be able to have their own teachers until the L2's are old enough to teach. That is near around ten years, and so for that ten years, these biotics will need someone to teach them. A single decade isn't much in the lifetime of an Asari. Hiring three is much more sensible than hiring a Turian for political happiness. But don't think that Jack is getting off scot free. All of his actions are gaining coverage and attention, and making him a target. More on that as time goes on.


	13. Fugue: Losing Ground

Chapter 13

May 2164, Hades Gamma System,

Jack Harper ended the call on his Omni-tool, and took a deep breath. Everything that he had done, everyone that he had changed their previous fate, all of that was so that Julia could save them from the Reapers. If she was taken now, that would all be for naught.

"James. If I and Hannah left, could you still do the operation?"

"No. Normally, I would say that we couldn't do this without at least a team of fifty people. Six on each rappel line, but we could do it with four. The Operating system on this is in Batarian, so that takes some getting used to. Then we need a team just to keep an eye on what we are pulling in here, so, No, Sir. This isn't going to work. I've been trying to line this up for hours, but I can't compensate for everything that the rest of a crew would do for me."

Jack sighed. Stealing a Reaper wasn't going to be easy. "I appreciate your honesty. We can come back and get this later, with a few more people that we can trust. In the meantime, let's wrap up the operation. Tie this dreadnought back onto the hauler, and set it into a hard rotation. Until the command is given from one of us, keep this rotating too hard for anyone to board it. That might mean we have to transport some more fuel out here, but that is alright so long as it remains unharmed. If something touches this, I want the emergency coordinates to be set for the sun of Anteius. If we can't have it, then nobody will. Since this is still technically registered to the Batarians, they will feel the heat from losing a Prothean Dreadnought."

"So, I remotely got the  _Talon_  warmed up. Pre flight will be done before all of our gear is loaded. Back to your island, I assume?"

Jack shook his head. "No. Tartarus. The Reds have wanted to secure their own biotics for years. Julia and Miranda are well protected enough two hundred feet under water. The other children are all on vacation, and the Reds will be trying to take a few for their own biotic programs." Most likely with bastardized Batarian technology. For such a barbaric society their lobotomy technology is rather good. Apparently that helps with installing biotic amps. The Reds would be willing enough to trade people for that technology, meaning that Jack had to act quickly if he wanted Tartarus, Solaris, and Cerberus to be spared. Typical that all of this would happen when he is away dealing with a much larger threat.

"They would openly attack Cerberus?" Hannah asked, a bit confused.

"No, they would have a coordinated strike against many of the biotic children. Kill the parents, cause accidents, send the kids into state programs where they can disappear easily. We are looking at someone who is somewhere in the government, at the very least. They had to have people on the inside to pull an attack like this off. Not to mention taking over my island without any of my sensors or warnings going off."

"You said yourself a while back that you are a rather enviable target. If anyone was going to attack you, would it really be the Reds?"

"Could be a number of people. A couple of members of the Naval board would love to knock me down, the Reds would enjoy biotics, and for certain the mercenaries and possibly the Collectors might be on the list as well. Not as the people who actually attacked, but the ones who get the kids in the end. Human biotics are rare, and we could be looking at a possible extinction event for our program if too many disappear." He would still fund it, as Miranda and Julia needed to have the backing of the Alliance when the time came.

As he explained this, they were getting back to the  _Talon_. He was in a near fast walk, knowing it would not help to have a few extra seconds but it felt alright. His daughters were being targeted. He was probably on the list. There was also a significant chance that the  _Talon_  might come under fire. If they were prepared for that eventuality, of course.

Amandeep opened the doors for them, the starfield already spinning at a rapid rate. The thrusters would only get worse over the next ten minutes. HE strapped himself into the co-pilot's harness, Amandeep running for the engineering room, and Hannah settling on the couch in the back.

"Sir, we will be back at earth in nineteen hours, barring any trouble." James said, queuing in the FTL jump back to Anteius. That would only be an hour or so, as they had stopped the hauler near the system. Jack was on pins and needles, trying to plan out where the Reds would strike. They were out of range of most of the comm buoys that he could use safely, so he had to content himself with looking through the news feeds. Tracking over four hundred children was going to be impossible at this rate, but he would have some idea if a gruesome murder showed up somewhere. But that would only happen if someone screwed up somewhere.

He typed madly, looking up any news anywhere with the keywords of 'family', 'missing', and 'tragedy'. Most news these days didn't care about who was looking at their feeds so long as their feeds received looks and clicks. That was how the money was made in the small news business. Larger networks could do advertising fees and such, depend on longstanding followers, share political perspectives. Obviously corrupt on the higher levels, connected with their government entities.

Nothing much was coming up that involved the list of four hundred that he had to keep track of. That meant that the had to go by name. "Hannah, I have a search protocol already installed, but I need you to direct it." He sent it along with the list of families, associates, and biotic children. "The bottom half of that list of eight thousand names is yours. We need to find out everything about them and where they might have been travelling to or from."

She rolled her eyes, a pair of slippers on her bare feet as she propped them up on the sofa. "On it. Why is Henry on the list?"

"Because if there is anyone in the operation that has to be removed, it's Henry. Without him Cerberus won't be able to function. He is too careful to leave everything on the table in his dealings with us. Respectable, but right now it's a liability when he was working on something regarding medigel."

"Have you tried just calling him?" She asked, already plugging away at the list. "He might even pick up for you. You are his friend, after all."

"When he isn't spending money on Donovan Hock, yes." Jack said. Their political choices had differed more and more in recent years. Donovan Hock had filled Henry with thoughts of peace and pacifism. Absolutely worthless, considering that Hock had some sort of mercenary or criminal connection. South Africa had been in a period of supposed peace since he had stayed as their representative, but Jack only found signs of blood money. Nothing he could prove to anyone of note, and Hock was in a nearly untouchable position. His own country would never remove him, and without local support the only way was to find him convictable of crimes of an inhumane nature against sapient races.

"Hock is the peacenik, right?" Hannah asked, her fingers easily keeping up with him.

"If you consider a peacenik that can't be fully audited or blamed for some eezo exposure, sure. Hock is a wonderful person who encourages peace and privatization of our economy and security. At the same time, I can find out that the Reds have issues with his own personal security forces, which have been contracted out to numerous mines and colonies all over Alliance Space. So he is warlike on the side, and is using his stance of peace to improve his wealth. His end goals with that being unknown."

"You say the Reds don't like him?"

"He likes keeping the law. Avoids the drug trade, trafficking, the darker parts of the criminal side of things. I can respect that much, at least."

"Since you approve of revolutions when they suit your purposes." She said.

"If the shoe fits." He replied. There had been no easier way to get Shanxi fortified. If his plans had worked, Shanxi would have possibly held out against the Turians. The orbital defense satellites hadn't even been started, and the sensor buoy network wasn't complete. He wasn't going to apologize for that. Neither for the attack that killed her parents. That he would never admit, because he still had one more copy of the Catalyst to destroy. To do that, he needed to hit Thessia.

Not just any part of Thessia, mind you, but their High Temple of Athame, with three massive structures containing different Prothean and cultural artifacts, and he had to find out if any of those were Reaper artifacts as well. Guarded by a fleet that held five dreadnoughts and their support groups, it wasn't feasible with any military in the galaxy. The last time he was forced to go in unprepared, sending Kai Leng along with a Reaper invasion force. That was just unfortunate, since he could only target the beacon. All of the other Reaper artifacts that he had hoped to get his hands on were missed. So with little to no information on them, he would have to go in again somehow. The only Asari he was friends with was not allowed near the Athame Temples, being one of the leaders of the Siari movement. The Asari were not a warlike people, but this was one of the things that got them alarmed.

Which made him feel worried at the thought of her getting access to the Prothean Archive on Mars. She had made basic inquiries to certain documents and folders they had already translated and retrieved, but had looked for herself in some of the directories. Jack wasn't fluent enough in Prothean to understand it. Not that he had been in the last life either. Indoctrinated individuals were rarely allowed access. Protheans could at least detect it. They never did find a way to beat it, though.

Good thing Jack found a way. Or at least a theory of a way to undo Indoctrination. It would be a new level of difficult to be able to accomplish, but he felt it was within his reach. He just needed a few more capable people, perhaps a few more people from Cerberus. Henry he wanted to trust, but as long as Hock was around anything that he did with Henry or his support would get the notice of that outright criminal.

"Revolution was perhaps too harsh a word to describe what I was trying to do with Shanxi." Jack said. "Social reconstruction would have been better."

"With guns? That is sort of revolutionary."

"I wasn't the one who wanted to nuke the competition." Jack pointed out. "All of the men I hired, who coincidentally got blown to bits for their loyalty, wanted to do things the right way."

"Jack, we've got one student who was attacked. Jennifer Grosling." He shuddered. Biotic potential and a father with a history of disorderly conduct created a child that could only be dangerous. Subject Zero. Not someone he enjoyed sharing a name with in his memories.

"What happened?" He asked.

"She jumped into the Rhine river, hasn't turned up yet. They might have gotten her already." Hannah said, her fingers typing rapidly. "Working on it, but we won't get anywhere near her in time. Germany has one of the poorest police forces on Earth."

A child jumping into a river in Germany in the middle of winter was probably a bad idea. She might not survive to be rescued or captured if she jumped into the Rhine. At the age of eight or nine she would have to be fished out somehow before her body froze. Hopefully her kidnappers were more on top of this and Jack could simply stage a rescue mission later. That would be easier than trying to fix her up from hypothermia and resultant damages to the body.

He looked down at his own tool, where he found one sign of trouble. Charles Archer, along with Kaiden Alenko, both the best of the Sentinel class already, had gotten into a bit of trouble. Apparently they both disappeared somewhere in Disneyworld. Charles Archer and Kaiden Alenko both had their fathers left, but Charles' had a terminal cancer that would kill him eventually. Medical technology would only keep him going so long. Charles was fourteen, and when his father died he would be sucked into government ownership. His relatives didn't like association with biotics and element zero, which had taken Charles' mother and had given his father the tumors and cancer that ate away at his body.

Alenko, on the other hand, had a father in top physical condition. A military man that had gone on to play Soccer for some of the European Leagues. A sportsman of a father meant that Alenko had some fine genes and strong physical condition already before starting the Solaris program. One of the more promising boys in the bunch. He was sharp, one of the better people to become a Sentinel. Being an adept was more about instinct and emotional reactions than it was about applying your brain cells towards something. Vanguards had to take a bit more into consideration, but there were so few of the Adepts who had the capacity and control to become Vanguards.

Miranda was going to be one, for certain. He had designed the Phantom series of cybernetics and enhancements for lithe, dextrous skirmishers. Get in, get out, cause as much damage as possible. Line infantry were what the rest of Cerberus used, and there were so few biotics with enough potential to become adepts and were the right body type to do this. Effectively, the line would start with her. Subject Zero, Jennifer Gosling, might have had the same potential if her family wasn't known for blind rage. It had been recorded for a few of their generations, leaving him with the expectation that she would at least have violent tendencies, but possibly not the same level of psychotic rage. While it improved the strength of her biotics, it did so at the cost of her sanity and resistance to mental contamination.

Reduced sanity and psychotic tendencies made for cheap Indoctrination targets. He was sure that it took years of having his eye upgrades before the Indoctrination set in. Enough to risk possibly boarding a Reaper for its IFF. He knew what code combinations to execute and ask for, and the right place to go. It would just involve fighting through husks of dead races and goodness knows what would be at the center of the Reaper he was going after. Theoretically he could take it from this one, but it might have lost enough components that it would be impossible. He would need to get some mechs to go in first.

"We're coming up on Anteius!" James said, taking Jack out of his reverie. He was still multitasking with his list, and there was simply too much information that was unknown. Too many of the children were vacationing or not talking on social media, too many may have already been taken. "Sir, we've got a bit of a problem."

"What is it?" Jack actually looked up from his console feed. Just ahead of them, squatting in front of the relay, was the frigate that had seen the  _Talon_  in the Dis system. It noticed them immediately.

"That's the  _Yrth'ak_. Or something. It is scanning us for sure. Or at least trying to figure out where we jumped from."

"Please tell me they won't find my new source of technology?" Jack stated.

"I adjusted our course a few times before hitting the edge of the system. If they look for us they might run into the other systems first. If not, they might run into that singularity outside Dis. Either way, do you think they'll possibly attack us?"

Jack shook his head. "Threaten, maybe, but I don't think we can ever come back here in the  _Talon_  again. It will be followed or tracked the moment we go anywhere. So, once we get back I'll have to start shopping for a new ship. This one we can sell to someone else. If I come back, I'll need to bring something armed. Or perhaps hire the Corsairs as escorts. Reds be damned, but I might need to just hire them to protect my investment."

"How much of the Corsairs are Reds?" Hannah asked.

"Can't confirm that. They might be recruiting from the program. So no clues there. Can't judge based on race, thanks to the confirmation that Jaime Algerlo is a Red, and might lead Brazil into that mess."

Hannah scoffed. "An interesting guess. Something like that normally goes into the news." Her eyebrow was not twitching or moving, one of her usual tells if she was lying. So she didn't know about him being a Red. Interesting that the Intelligence office would keep their agent in the dark.

"I don't want it released when he funds my Element Zero needs. The Solaris program is very important to everyone, even if half of my researchers are ready to sell the data out to multiple parties. Including the Shadow Broker." Hannah could understand that, as she nodded and went back to her console.

"Sir, the frigate is coming up closer and matching our speed. I'm a bit worried." James said, moving the  _Talon_  on a course that didn't match the frigate. It matched them again. Being faster and better armed, it was going to catch up soon if they didn't do something.

"Turn about and make for the fuel depot. We can get there without much trouble and I know that there are Corsairs on that station." Jack could at least count on the Batarians to try not to board them on the station. But out in the traverse it was open to interpretation which laws were followed at what time. Their ship flew towards the fuel depot, but the frigate stayed out in the upper orbit of the gas giant. Jack made sure that their drive was discharged and the fuel depot was aware of them. The Batarian frigate wasn't going anywhere.

"We don't own the buoys out here, I can't trace their communications." He told Hannah. "They are probably calling in some friends."

"Everyone knows Batarians don't have friends. Friends are allowed to speak their mind." She replied. "Assume they are bringing friends. What is the worst they could do?"

A lot. "At least five hundred soldiers, all slave legion trained and not afraid of dying or being exposed to vacuum. That is what I can expect on their dreadnought, if they bring it in. More likely than not they will send in a cruiser or troop ship, possibly special forces. If they have any in system, that is. The Kite's Nest is only a few hours away, and Kar'Sharn is another eight beyond that. Realistically, if they Batarians sent some of their Special Investigations units, it would only be five or six hours away. That only if they anticipated a real threat."

"What kind of options do we have for getting us past this?"

Jack shrugged. "Avoid notice and try another run at the relay when Alliance ships come through, which is unlikely. Corsairs try to avoid major trade lanes, so we can't count on them. Turian ships will be armed but not looking for a fight. James, find out what ships are refueling here and tell me if any of them are Volus or Asari owned. The Batarian frigate will most likely try to avoid them. Volus are protected by the Turians, and they will answer to that kind of threat if the Volus are attacked."

James nodded, heading for the airlock. Then he looked at Hannah. "Batarian forces are already on station. Otherwise they would have dropped some off. Scrub the ship for any data that we need to keep, and I will handle the rest. I have a lot here that needs to be shipped and stored before we completely abandon ship."

"Always so practical. Don't forget my bag. I hate buying new clothes. Never have much time between missions for them." Hannah said, sitting at the consoles and typing fast. "Are you going to let Nyra know that you'll be late?"

Jack did turn at that. "No. I'll just have to call in a favor with someone I very much don't like." With that, he started walking upstairs to his closet. Clothes with kinetic barriers that were up to date were expensive. Spare Omni-tools, hacking probes, and his guns were another large source of weight.

_Amandeep,_

_We are going to have to abandon the Talon right now. James is going to find us a ride, and we are going to leave the station as passengers. Pack whatever tools are critical and important, and a gun. Being armed in the Traverse is expected. Get something suitably terrifying, such as the Harpoon rifle and the Wasp SMG. We have a few minutes before we have to leave._

With that message sent, he grabbed his bag and filled it with all of the things he needed. Getting it through security would be a serious pain. He had guns that were obviously designed to kill Turians, guns designed to just kill Batarians, and so on. None of them conformed to Council Law, since he needed something that could kill in one shot, no questions asked. He wasn't a soldier, he was somewhat of a gunman. A very refined one, at least. After all of the illegal and questionable things went in, he packed all of his favorite shirts, a few shoes he didn't want to lose, and of course his slippers. He could always buy more comfort clothing, but the real Earth hand-sewn suits he needed to save. His bag bulged with everything in just a few trips. The rest he would just have to ship with the more risky Corsairs.

He slipped back to the room he had Hannah use, since she liked having the largest closet on ship. Her bag was slightly larger than his own, and looked half empty. He opened it, finding only sweats and a few pairs of t shirts, comfort clothing. He scoffed, dumping all of it out. That was easy to replace. This closet here was full of clothing meant to make any model feel jealous. Typically a reason that he managed to keep partners for longer than a night or two. He stuffed her bag full of the most expensive of things that were in the closet, knowing it would probably fit Hannah. Call it selfish, but he was saving thousands of credits in exchange for a few hundred credits worth of sweats and exercise gear. She might be a bit angry, but he had a few things on this ship that were of great worth. He brought out one of the oldest packages near the back of the closet and slipped that in as well. That piece was nearly priceless, an original Hugh Hefner outfit.

Hannah's bag was full, so he just tied her other shoes to the sides. He may have kept her toiletries, at least. Everything else was expensive clothing that he didn't want to have to buy again. Hannah would be wearing her catsuit for the rest of this trip, he assumed. He also slipped her shotgun into the outside holster, where it would be in plain sight. Intimidation was important here.

With bags in hand, he came downstairs to find the ship on full lockdown. All of the consoles were locked, and the language had been changed over to basic Latin for the consoles. Jack smirked. Batarians hated using any human technology or software. Finding anything here would be torture for them.

He walked into the cockpit, finding Hannah finishing something at the console. "Ready here. Set the codes so that only when someone gives administrative codes can the ship be unlocked. The core is on a different system, and I had Amandeep lock it with one of the audio locks for unlocking the engineering console. Unless they flash the system and start over, they'll need 'Hot Urdu Love Song Mix 12' or whatever Amandeep calls his music to unlock that."

Jack smiled. Now that was something nice. It guaranteed the  _Talon_  wouldn't be just picked up and flown away. It could still be towed out of here, and that wasn't an impossibility. When James finally showed up onboard again, Jack had the bags ready and was picking his last wine bottle to go with them.

"The fuel depot here in Anteius has a few ships coming in. Only two are here, a Batarian tradeship, and a Turian courier. Strangely the tradeship is actually being run by an Asari. Or an Asari that bought a Batarian ship. Either way, it didn't translate well."

Jack nodded, and walked over to one of the walls. He keyed a code into the thermostat, making a wall safe appear. Inside were some old looking datapads, contained within clear plastic sealed boxes. "This will convince any Asari to take us anywhere." He said, bringing out the boxes. "Lead the way, James, and bring the bags. Heft that rifle like you actually are accurate with it."

"Are we just leaving her?" He asked, looking around.

"For now. Right now it makes us a target. We need something stealthy and more reliable. If an Asari owns that tradeship, they'll take us anywhere once I tell them about this."

"What does an Asari care for an old datapad?" Hannah asked, walking in front.

"This belonged to one of their first explorers, a Mistress Dil'naga. I was originally going to use it to become the first human to convert to Athame and be allowed inside their high temple, but I can hopefully find more." He remembered where a few more old pieces of writing were, thanks to Shepard hunting down Saren and running into a couple. Easy pickings and easy credits. "Think a copy of the writings of some affiliate of Christ. Christians will throw money at it no matter what. If I had a few more of those datapads I could sleep with any Asari I wanted simply due to their presence."

"Jack! Not important."

"They like women better, you're right." He said, grinning. "James, what was the tradeship called?"

"The awhoolioohah?" James said, reading the name off of his Omni-tool.

"Summer Wind?" Jack said. "Promising." He walked to its berth, using the least travelled hallway. He turned on an ECM generator, throwing off cameras and other sources of detection as they travelled. It caused Amandeep to start cursing, as his Omni-tool was being interfered with. James had one of the best and was keyed to work anywhere, while Hannah's was simply shielded. Hers had to be. The hallways were tight, and laser motion detectors were more efficient than cameras here. His ECM was good enough for that.

The  _Summer Wind_  was a long cargo ship, of Batarian make. Blocky and squat, the ship could haul a lot of materials but was not something fine to look at. Scratched and scorched in a few places, the ship had some character. He walked up to the entrance to the ship and notified the people onboard that he wished to see them. Most sentients didn't like people near their ship to begin with, and seeing Jack would likely send them into fits. Looking back, he could see that Hannah was cloaked over in the corner, and Amandeep and James were over by the door they had come out of.

An Asari came over to the cockpit. He could see her through the glass, but not enough to shoot her out of it. The glass was most likely tough enough to withstand such a strike anyways, and that wasn't Jack's primary plan.

" _What do you want?"_  She carefully asked, the ship activating its barriers. She had a small turret underneath the nose of the ship that activated, turning to face him.

"I would like to commission your ship as a passenger vessel. Get us to the other side of the Anteius relay, and we can pay you fifteen thousand credits for taking the three of us."

" _You sound rather desperate. You sound like trouble. Why should we help you, human?"_

"Because I am willing to pay you for the trouble, and you can make enough from this one trip to supply you for anything."

" _Not interested. Go find a different ship."_

"Perhaps you would be willing to do this for more than just money?"

" _None of your pelvic sorcery will work here, Human. Your reputation for that is as thick as ours."_  Hannah was probably laughing at his expense.

"How about Cultural artifacts? I happen to have just come from a Prothean dig site, and have plenty of wares that I might be willing to part with in exchange."

The Asari stopped looking at him for a moment. She stepped back from the glass. When he next saw motion, the door of the ship opened. He was facing what must have been the largest light machine gun he had seen so far, and a large Krogan standing behind it.

"No joking business!" The Krogan growled, the translation software making his words come out not as clearly as Jack would have preferred. But the message was clear. Don't try anything or else the Krogan will.

"None intended." Jack replied. He could see the Krogan looking rather confused, trying to understand what he had said.

When three Asari walked up behind the Krogan with heavy assault rifles in plain view, Jack raised an eyebrow. Eclipse Mercenaries, all of them. "Where were you trying to get to?" One of them wasn't wearing a helmet, and had a single green triangle on one cheek. She was the one who addressed him.

"Earth, as fast as possible." Jack said. "I can offer money or artifacts in return for paying you."

"Not on our route, Human." The Asari said. "We are headed for Omega after this." Probably a lie. Mercenaries commonly went to Omega but normally only went when necessary.

"What about for one of Matriarch Dil'Naga's datapads?" The Asari didn't react to that. They were used to people making big claims. So he held out the box that held the datapad. One of the backup Asari took it, holding it up.

"Foolish of you to give us your little datapad." She said. "I think I'll just take it and see how much its actually worth."

"Did you know that plastic explosive can be made into the shape of box? Made thin enough to mimic any synthetic material?" Jack asked candidly. "That box you're holding has enough explosive to take out the front half of your ship."

"Well, that sounds rather unhealthy for you to attempt. If you do, our friend here will blow you away before you could ever hit the button." She said, holding the box loosely.

"It's a dead man's switch. It is what we humans call a heart monitor. If my heart rate rises too high or drops too low, then the bomb goes off. If you kill me or try to throw any biotics at me, the bomb goes off. Consider this a gentleman's way of keeping things civil."

Some words might not have translated for the Krogan, but he got the gist when he realized that anything he did caused an explosion. His hands dropped from the gun, no longer gripping the trigger with tautness.

"Daring, if not foolish, then. Suppose we take you to Earth. Will you betray us once we are back in your area of space? Or will you simply walk away without paying us?"

"I could pay you right now, if I could trust you not to kill me and my men." Jack said, "Or I could call Jona Sideris and ask more politely, but time is of the essence."

That got the green-marked one to blanch. "You would have called her first if you had that number."

"I would have called her first if I realized that I was talking to an Eclipse Sister. I happen to be on fair terms with most Asari, unlike my previous experience with Turians." Jack said, letting her get a feel for him. "You get us past Arcturus, I'll give you the writings of Dil'Naga and you can go your merry way. We will take a shuttle the rest of the way."

"How much are you carrying, Human?" She asked carefully.

"These bags and as much alcohol as I can carry." He proudly said. "My last crewmember will be here soon with her things, and it will only be us four travelling. Your services are probably expensive and outrageous, but right now I require them."

"We are Eclipse. Expect the best. Blood Pack  _avars_  can go screw themselves. We take pride in our work." the green marked one said. "My name is Nissa. I'll handle anything you need. I hope you brought your own food and water. It's a premium out here."

"I think we will get along just fine. Hannah, it's time to go." He called, seeing her slip out from behind one of the landing gear. She was holding a shotgun, one of those Asari models she loved. He turned his gaze back to Nissa. "I hope you have a room we can borrow for the trip." He reached into his bag, and held up a bottle of something he grabbed from the bar. It was expensive and had a German label, one of his lighter brands to part with. "This happens to be a rare wine from Earth that most Asari find nice. Consider it payment for a room."

The Asari shrugged. "You better hope it's strong, then. I've tasted Krogan beer and I hope you humans can measure up." She took the bottle, waving to one of her minions to lead them somewhere. The rooms onboard were small, but had enough space for what they needed. Hannah was given a nicer cubicle space, separate from the space they had been given to sleep in.

Hannah discovered his meddling soon enough with her bag, but didn't say anything. She simply didn't address him at all the entire time they spent on the ship. She did keep working on trying to find the children, and they had some promising returns. Most of the children were active on social media, or had trackers in their phones that Jack could access once they got back to Alliance space. He could see a lot of them still active, or some forgotten back on Luna.

Others were all over Alliance space, visiting family and friends. He couldn't confirm this, as there was just too many that were quiet, or enjoying their vacation somewhere quiet and lacking in technology. Many of the surviving parents of the children were men, which meant a larger than normal amount of them wanting to go out on long fishing and camping trips.

Too many unknowns existed for him to assume anyone had been taken. If anything, he was paying close attention to those that were in the Adept classes. If they were only after the most promising, then he would be under threat. He knew they had tried for Jennifer Gosling and his daughters, but any of the others he hadn't heard about. Or they had been taken without any signs of difficulty. That was what he was focusing on, leaving most of the Sentinels for Hannah to find.

The Eclipse made it past Arcturus without any trouble, and were able to park at Luna, where he could finally get to a secure server and check things out. No word had come from Nyra, yet, which was worrisome. His daughters were in his most secure location on Earth, since Tartarus station was on the moon. Even that wasn't actually too secure, due to the amount of people on board that he couldn't police. Theoretically the Reds and other politcal groups with an agenda all had fingers in Cerberus. That was the cost of being a public group instead of a paramilitary separatist organization. Though it paid to actually run something rather than be Indoctrinated by giant machines from beyond the edge of the galaxy.

Nissa came into their compartment after twelve hours. "We are coming up on your system, Harper. It'll be another fifteen thousand credits to pay for us to let you go." She sneered. Dealing with mercenaries was mostly a matter of greed, and anticipating what they wanted.

"Ten thousand, and I'll keep your number for any future jobs that I might need done in the traverse. You'll get plenty for the writings of Matriarch Dil'naga. If you sell to the right people, perhaps more than I would. I am only human, after all."

She held out her hand, which Jack didn't take. Risk of her using Asari bonding abilities to read his mind for information. Since he had never actually bonded with an Asari, he had no idea if they were capable of taking such information. Suffice to say he didn't like the idea of something taking that from him. So he withheld his hand from her, just to keep that from happening.

"I thought shaking hands was something you humans did to agree to something." Nissa said with some degree of hostility.

"Only on the second date, I think. First date I try not to get killed."

Nissa looked at him quizzically. "What is a date?"

Jack just laughed. "Ask a VI. I don't get paid to be a translator." Complete lie. He invented the translator, and was just being selfish about his time.

When they left the ship, they could see a few Alliance marines looking it over warily. Batarian made ships didn't often make it this deep into Alliance space. They looked like they were about to do a very intensive ship search. Jack was nearly off the ramp when a meaty paw landed on his shoulder.

"Human!" The Krogan that had been onboard the ship was right behind him, and nearly bowled him over. The arm had to weigh as much as his torso.

"Yes?" He said, brushing the arm off of his shoulder with most of the strength he could muster.

"My contract fixing this ship is over.  _Krch'l_  told me I wasn't getting any of the cut any more. Since you gave them enough to buy something else, apparently my fixing job wasn't worth keeping. Since you cost me my job, you better hope you can find me a new one!" The Krogan bellowed, apparently angry.

Jack considered this for a few seconds. "I don't need a tough. What are you good at?"

"I am Gatatog  _Grkkitm_." His name sounded like nails had to be chewed to pronounce it right. "I am of the Shipbuilder line of Gatatog, and am the best at what I do." He said proudly. Jack, even though he knew that was quite the statement, had to play as the ignorant human.

"What exactly does that mean? Krogan are not something I have spent much time getting to know."

His chest swelled up, making Hannah reach for her gun. "I can repair any ship you have, no matter how old. I have repaired ships upwards of four hundred years old, and my eyes have seen the wrecks of our days of war, where fear of us held the rest of the Galaxy at bay. I am a shipbuilder. That means that in terms of clans, I am always considered a valuable asset. If I manage to breed, that is." The end made him puff his chest out less, but he seemed very blunt for a mechanic.

"How about trying to help with a Prothean ship?" He asked.

"Sure. Haven't tried to touch anything like that yet. I am familiar with your human ships, Batarian ones, and Quarian ships. Those are a bit tougher. Their wiring systems are in spaces I can't fit my hands in too well. I have a drone for that, though." A Krogan Engineer. Well, it would be unfortunate for their race to lose such a gem of information, and they might need him in the future.

"Sounds fair. I'll take you. I might need you for some help with a few ships that we have reacquired from the Batarian Pirates. In the meantime, though, I have some cleaning house that your services might be helpful to have. Until we go after the old ships, do you mind a little bit of intimidation work? Some possible combat may follow."

The Krogan's shoulders shifted. "Your puny weapons don't get through my armor anyways, so that sounds fine. What's the pay?" He asked, bringing up his Omni-tool. Behind them, the old Batarian cargo ship lifted off and blasted out of the station rather rudely. He might call them if he was desperate. Or just to double cross them and take back those writings.

"I'll pay five hundred credits an hour, whether you are holding a gun or fixing a ship. For now, though, we are going to go back to Earth and investigating a few disappearances. I support a program that trains human biotics. The only one that trains human biotics. Someone is trying to take some of the kids."

"They're children?" The Krogan asked slowly. "You would trust me with children?"

"Children are the most valuable thing in any culture, correct?" He waited for the Gatatog to slowly nod. "Then I hope you understand how serious it is when the first generation of human biotics are being targeted."

" _Krchl."_ He growled. "Consider it done. I'll help you get them back. Just tell me where we are going."

James predictably had a shuttle ready for them. It was meant for speed and comfort. "Hop in," He offered to the Krogan. "and then maybe you can teach me how to actually pronounce your name."

That was returned with a laughing grunt. But in Jack's mind, he was ready to kill this Krogan at any time. He even had a weapon specifically designed to do that. It was using rounds covered with Turian blood and fecal matter, designed to poison and asphyxiate the target. So long as he didn't shoot himself, he would be fine. Hannah was carrying her bag onto the shuttle, and slid it under her seat, getting comfortable.

He sat down across from her, and noticed that her bag had been opened. "Find anything to your liking, Hannah?"

She actually grinned. "Yes, actually. I found something that had a certificate of authenticity, if you'll even believe that." The Krogan didn't have any idea of what they were talking about, and sat down in the back of the shuttle, busying himself with the consoles there. Apparently he found things to his liking, as Jack could hear grunts of approval coming from his mouth.

Jack knew exactly what she was talking about. "Hannah, I was trying to save all of the pieces in that closet that couldn't be easily replaced. The one you are mentioning is an original, more than 200 years old. Priceless, one of eight remaining pieces."

Hannah settled into her seat. "Well, since it was all in my bag, I suppose it belongs to me now."

"I was trying to save the most important things I own. I hope you are not insinuating that you are going to steal something of mine…"

Hannah just reached up to the neck of her catsuit and started pulling on the zipper. She slowly pulled it down, until he could clearly see the top of a signature original bunny suit. She at least made it look good. She left the catsuit unzipped to her cleavage, daring him to do anything about it. "I think I'll be keeping this. You won't be getting this one back, since you so callously dumped out all of my other clothes."

"Oh, you'll return it. When I prove that something on the Citadel killed the Protheans, that's what you'll be wearing when you come to my bed. Plus, you fill it out well." She frowned a bit, but the rest of the ride she didn't raise the zipper up. She openly taunted him the entire trip, to which Jack resisted any urge to comment or possibly make himself vulnerable. Though he did get some great Omni-tool shots, which he forwarded to her email out of spite.

Only when they were about to touch the ground did she close up her catsuit, giving him a smirk the entire time. Walking into Tartarus Station after so long without seeing it was sort of nostalgic. It was also empty, which wasn't so nostalgic or comforting. He halted one of the docking bay technicians and got a look at their console. Nothing seemed out of place or hacked. No signs of attacks or high alerts.

"Can I help you, Sir?" the technician asked, confused.

"No, not at all. Get my pilot here access to your console so that he may find the shuttle i need." The technician wasn't something Jack was worried about. The fact that no one here was panicking or in high alert meant that whoever was after his kids knew enough about the program to be selective in their kidnappings. He could confirm that his children and Jennifor Gosling had been targeted. No one else could be found yet. Walking past the still confused technician, he left James to get them a gunship with transportation room, while he and Hannah went to his office. The loud thumping behind him reminded him of their new accompanying ally, who was getting the attention of the marine contingent on Tartarus Station.

"Gatatog, the soldiers need to feel comfortable and not threatened. Don't draw any weapons unless we are already getting shot at." He heard grumbling, but the Krogan did as asked. "Sergeant Harris, anything troubling going on at home?" He asked the officer as they got into voice range.

"Nothing too serious, sir. Just the ever present construction crews." That was a code word for agents being trained in Tartarus. "Find a new friend we get to scan, Sir?"

"This is Gatatog Grrkl." He totally butchered it. "He is a security advisor from the Krogan. He is also a technical advisor for ships designed by races other than our own. I would prefer if you treated him with the same respect that Matriarch Benezia received."

"You invited a Matriarch here? Quite the feat for a new race. Quarians and Batarians never invited Matriarchs to their planets until they had gotten fully accepted as part of Citadel Space." Grrkl said. "I'll remain perfectly polite while I am under your roof, Human. Especially with what you are paying." It was no secret that working for him meant lots of benefits. James was one of the highest paid and best trained pilots on Earth, and Hannah still got offers to be a rival's secretary. He hadn't hired any personal assistants since.

"Perfect. Harris, If I find anything I need i'll ask you the moment I know of it. Keep up the sharp work." Jack walked on past the security points, waving himself through all of them. He could enjoy that perk, of course. Hannah and Grrkl weren't subjected to anything either, and Amandeep followed along at a reasonable pace.

"There have been five attempts to start the eezo reactor of the  _Talon, Sah._ " Amandeep said. "People are starting to get into the ship."

"Well, there goes all of my college gear. I had better go down to Earth and get some more." Not a complete loss. He did get to see a good hint of Hannah and saved his best suits and a few things from the other closet that he felt were important. Data had been scrubbed, cleaned, and wiped. All of his consoles had been removed as possible vulnerabilities to Cerberus. "VI, bring up Security feed twelve-oh-one." He stated to his console. The VI didn't reply. He tapped the keyboard on the console in his office, and nothing came up. Looking at the LED board, he could see that his console had been hit by an overload of some kind. It was dead. Turning around quickly, he started walking to the full Security Station. "Hannah, secure the Communications Center. Amandeep, go and make sure that James is alright. We can't lose him if we want to recover my daughters. Grrkl, you are with me and I am going to check out the Security Station." They all nodded, the Krogan's hump brushing a wall as he did so. Jack set off for the chamber where Security had its hub in the base. It was closely, as there were four exits from it. All but one could be sealed from inside, and Jack was one of the few aware of the other two entrances besides the main and side does.

He had no intention of sharing that information with a Krogan. Even one he had hired. But this time around, Jack needed to depend on more than just one race. Shepard had driven that into his skull rather pointedly. If he had to be the first human to embrace aliens in a less than threatening way, that was what it would take to save his race of ignorant masses.

When he got to the Security Station, he found the regular guards there. They looked up at him, and knew who he was. They also knew that while Jack was outside of their direct chain of command, he was also the one who funded and designed the place.

"What can we do for you, Sir?" One of the three officers carefully asked.

"My console has been wiped and removed from the network. We had a security breach while I was gone and I received no notifications for it. Find out who did it and when they did it. I will need all of the security feeds for the last week, and anything out of the ordinary for the rest of the station. Bring in my secretary for questioning and interrogation, as well as all of the janitors. New hires within the last six months are to viewed with extreme suspicion. Especially anyone who had any administrator level privileges over the Solaris expansion." He activated his Omni-tool, sending a notification to the main security console. "When you have any signs that point to who did this, I need to know. Send the information in that encryption to that address."

He waved off the incoming replies of assent, and headed out. Just because his office was wiped didn't mean that he was stopped. He walked to the hospital, and came into one of the elevators. The looks he received with a Krogan behind him were worth the trouble of bringing him. Sadly he could understand why hiring a Krogan made any man feel more at ease. He didn't as he couldn't trust the Krogan if he so willingly accepted his money and contract.

Someone so willing to take the next best thing could betray him easily. He would dump him at first convenient opportunity, unless proven otherwise loyal. The constant thumping behind him kept him a bit tense, but he ignored it as best he could. Entering two different floors into the elevator controls, the elevator asked for his id. When he gave it, the elevator stopped in between the fourteenth and fifteenth floors, and opened their doors into a small chamber set off to the side of the elevator shaft.

This chamber had a backdoor admin console installed, and was theoretically used as a safe room in the hospital unit just in case Miranda or Julia needed a place to hide in Tartarus. Right now it had what he needed, access to the military network and administrator privileges.

"Nice safe room. Needs some food though." Grunted his newest Krogan tough.

"It has the console and access I need, though." Jack remarked. "I believe some nutrition bars are in the cabinet on the left." The sound of the door of the cabinet being opened by the gigantic hands followed.

While the Krogan started looking for food, he went through all of the security logs, looking for any discrepancies. He didn't find many, most of them being human error type of problems. No signs or security alarms were triggered, even around his console. Somehow they got into his room, without triggering anything. Troubling to begin with, but not unexpected. Salarian technology, perhaps. But they had a certain style, and Jack didn't see any signs of intrusion from them here.

His console showed no activity, which made him feel more comfortable. If it was just EMP'd to kill all of the data, then most likely the infiltrator was after his girls, and not his data. When the console locked someone out, which occurred if they password was typed incorrectly or in insufficient time. Jack gave himself three seconds to type fifteen characters, which would then be input into the text field backwards to complete the password. All in all an annoying first layer of cyberwarfare defenses. Jack couldn't take any precautions when it came to Julia and Miranda. They were too important for anything to happen to them before the Reapers started their move.

So whoever intruded into his office didn't manage to withdraw any information, they just disabled the console to stop an alarm. Not something he would have expected, but then again he was always after the information that was kept in the consoles, and not the people. People trafficking and kidnapping just seemed so much less effective, now that he looked back on it. Unless of course he was doing it to save someone from a bad living environment, but he didn't find it in himself to care enough about children other than his own.

Fatherhood was an interesting experience. It created some new desires in Jack that he didn't agree with some of the time. Like the desire to grab a gunship and fly down and pick up his daughters, and get them back to safety. That was pure emotion, a stress response. He couldn't go down there so blatantly. He needed to approach this logically. His enemies had tried to kill him before, but this time he wouldn't have guards or anything else to count on. He would need to send more than just a single gunship. Perhaps a few rocket drones. He grinned, already finding that idea to be perfectly fine.

Then his console sent him a message. Namely, one of his spyware programs installed into his companies. Out of sheer paranoia, he had some programmers place some intrusive detection software in unassuming places in some of the companies he owned. This was one of those alerts, notifying him that something had illegally logged into the datacenter for one of his companies. His heart stopped, seeing the name of the company. Active intrusion was occurring right at that moment, in Sirta Foundation.

It was only a silent alarm, one triggered when the server itself was being accessed without the correct codes being entered into the security station at the front of the data center. Someone was after Sirta Foundation, and it reeked of Salarians. If the kidnappings were just cover for this, then the Salarians were more cutthroat than he would normally admit. But getting their hands on human biotics was not too far outside of their normal operational envelope. Their race had a difficult time creating biotics, and a new race on the horizon that is just barely experimenting with their own may be seen as worth kidnapping. Hell, they even studied the Yagh. Those creatures were dangerous through and through, and had the capacity for extreme cunning.

He exited the console, and moved back to the elevator. Grrkl followed, finding whatever he was doing interesting. "Where to now?"

"I think some Salarian STG are trying to inside one of my datacenters. Feel like ruining their day?"

"Sounds pleasant. Won't be the first time I've fought STG. They like to carry small weapons with lots of shots before they overheat. Lots of tech abilities like Incinerate. Hope you brought armor, or something that can survive better than that cloth." Grrkl said, seemingly recalling information. Jack knew all of this, but couldn't come off as having known that from previous experience.

"How long ago did you fight them last?"

"It's been a few cycles. Twenty, thirty? Could have been that far back. Most of my time in the last cycles have been in Omega or other places. Either way, let me go first. Your armor, no matter what brand it is, won't be strong enough to resist their weapons."

Jack nodded. For now that was true, but they were working on it. "Hannah will assist you. She is one of our best Infiltrators, and specializes in stealth."

The Krogan's large shoulders shrugged, nearly brushing the walls. "I can be quiet, but don't mention that to any other Krogan. They wouldn't take it well. Our race prides itself on being able to run through any barrier, object, or sentient. Being able to sneak up to that sentient before they know you're there isn't exactly a common goal."

"Today, that might just be what keeps us all alive." Jack told him. "We need to get to the hangar bay. Get another shuttle, and send one group to fetch my children and another to stop the Salarians. Human gang is after my children and I don't know what the Salarians are equipped with. The Human gang I can assume will have gunships and troop transports, possibly even an armed freighter."

Grrkl nodded. "Salarians don't operate with their own ships very often in hostile space. Unless it's the Terminus. They operate in teams of six, with one as backup or distraction. Usually in shuttles or normal vehicles that can conceal all of their surveillance gear. So you'll be looking for a mid sized vehicle that can fit them and their stuff." Grrkl just moved up on his list.

"You would recognize something like that on sight?"

He shrugged. "Give me a list of vehicles that can haul the gear they would need and I could do a reasonable job. Better than any other Krogan I know of."

Jack sent a notice to one of his secretaries to get him that list. It may have been the middle of the night for them, but they were also discreet. Not to mention they liked the bonuses that flew whenever tasks like this appeared. He sent the next message to James, letting him know about the need for a second shuttle, not armed. He was going to Zurich, in the European States. Sirta had its servers there, inside one of the nicer data centers. It would only be a matter of time before the Salarians got into place. Police would be noticed if he sent them, and any information they retrieved would be stolen for sure if the police had to do their normal routine.

When they got to the hangar, Hannah was there with James in front of a Hades class gunship. Amandeep wasn't anywhere nearby, but that was acceptable. He was not a combat specialist. Though he was indispensable when it came to keeping his ships and gear up to par. Looking between James, Hannah, and Grrkl, he decided that things were rather grim.

"So, the situation has just changed. Some Salarians are trying to get into Sirta Foundation. Hannah, you'll come with me and we are going to stop the Salarians. Grrkl, you take the missile launcher and James will pilot the gunship. I don't know how much you'll be running into out there. So pack heavy. My daughters are underneath the surface of the ocean in an artificial island. The island is using a rotational floating method to maintain its depth. If they arms that are rotating the island are destroyed, then it will sink to the bottom of the ocean. The pressure will increase upon the structure until the content are crushed. If this occurs, there is an escape pod, but that will only make them more vulnerable. Your objective is to rescue my children and their caretaker, and keep them from being killed. In the last hour three gunships and a submarine were rented from nearby ports. The gunships won't have missiles but they will outnumber you. I can't find out the original source of one of the gunships, which might suggest that it might have some illegal firepower."

"What about local law enforcement?" Hannah asked.

"The locals are all billionaires with no interest in being interrupted. Only once shots are fired will Alliance patrols take a look. Don't depend on them. Hannah, there could be up to six Salarians on site. We will deal with them soon enough. James, once you have my daughters, pick a safe location and get them out of there. Send me the location you plan on taking them to, and then take them somewhere else. My communications are being monitored."

Grrkl and James nodded. "We will protect the children. Or may  _Kaalros_  take our souls." James just nodded. The girls knew him well enough. Hopefully they would react to a Krogan in some sort of positive way. At least the fear reaction wouldn't offend him. James was dependable, and he put time in on many of the vehicles and ships that had come out recently. The Hades gunship was a human development, with two large side mounted cannons and some missile pods. It sported a very fine ability to handle turbulence and trouble. The Mantis gunships that would follow in a decade or so would be much more popular, as they had something the Hades lacked. Namely, a backup generator if the engine went down. Gunships were very agile, but not very strong. This one had a military grade kinetic barrier, which was much better than the civilian version, which was mostly meant to just stop collisions from being deadly. They did nothing to cure stupidity.

Jack hopped over to the second shuttle they had, unarmed. Or at least visibly. He had a submachine gun and a large pistol, as well as his Omni-tool. Hannah hopped in, with her shotgun and a pistol. They wouldn't be too far from anyone they were trying to shoot today. The shuttle he chose was a simple driver, which he pointed at the pilot seat for Hannah to drive. He had an image to keep. She shrugged, moving to sit down. The bulge of the cottontail made her catsuit seem like she had a hidden weapon at her very lower back. He still wasn't happy that she had decided to steal that.

He waved to James, who had finished pre-flight and was making sure that Grrkl could stay in the back seats. The Krogan needed the safety harness, which he scoffed at. Right up until James did a rolling exit, making Grrkl almost fall out of the harness, and james using the roll to accelerate into atmosphere. Jack grinned at that. Then his shuttle took off, Hannah flying towards the snowy city of Zurich. There was a light snowstorm that was coming down, which Hannah was easily able to fly through. The data center was in the middle of the new industrial district, rather empty during the christmas season.

The few vehicles on the road were just the remaining workers around for the night time shifts. Few in number but enough to make finding a nondescript vehicle hard. So he made his job easier and logged into the local traffic controller network. He searched for any vehicles that were actively moving and fit the profile description. The local VI was willing to help, and supplied the locations of a large furniture delivery truck, four cargo haulers, and a church bus that were all actively moving. He left nothing to chance, using the cameras to check on each vehicle. The church bus was ruled out, as it was full of sleeping children. It also had the word for orphanage on it. Not likely to contain an alien threat. The furniture truck was headed out of the area, and had three humans crammed into the front compartment. Not likely but he kept that on the list.

The four cargo haulers couldn't be scanned as easily, so he went into the database to find out about their ownership records. They were all owned by legitimate sources, and nothing about them stood out to his experienced eye. But then again, there was no way to verify that the actual owner was also the one driving. Some of these were company vehicles. Others were privately owned or in the process of a lease. Strangely every vehicle had made their payments perfectly. That was more suspicious than anything else.

While he looked into that, Hannah flew them into the local traffic without any problems. Hardly anyone was out here. "Any luck?" She asked. "Or should we just stop them at the datacenter?"

"They're Salarians. We need to hit their upload device. Whatever they are using to hack or cover themselves. If they aren't in any of these vehicles, they might be somewhere nearby. Think you can find out if any of the buildings on the same power grid have expired leases, or are being rented out to any company with low ratings."

She nodded, setting the car to auto-pilot and searching on her Omni-tool for that. He started looking for parked vehicles that matched the list he had made. That came back with a well populated list. He didn't trust anyone with this, so he started going through it himself. There were hundreds of vehicles. The equipment didn't need to be powered, either. So the car or vehicle they were hiding in didn't need to be powered. They just needed a location that could hide their signals. Considering that, he started looking for where all of the shipping containers were brought into the city. The space dock had a nice VI that was easily avoided as he looked up the location of where all of those had been shipped.

Hannah had finished her search and forwarded it to him, and he compared that list with the list of locations that shipping containers had been sent to. "Bingo." He said. "Take us to this address. It's supposedly a cabinet shop, with an attached foundry. Large location, but just came under new management. A few shipping containers were sent in. Some of those were not completely full or have incomplete records for scanning and customs. More importantly and most damning, however, is that they are owned by Fredericksen Shipping. That company is so deeply in debt trying to prepare itself for the full galactic economy. They will take money from any source, as will their underpaid workers."

"So they would take money from Salarians?"

"They would take money from anything, at this point. They just cut wages for the third time." Jack said, bringing up the local network of connections. He found a perfect person for the next part of his work. "They'll also take bribes from other questionable sources. Like me, for example. I just need a couple of things, like the location of their docking bay. Some of them might do it for free if it means that the company looks bad." Surprisingly, he had a response very quickly from one of the more vocal forum goers. A sum of money to justify his betrayal of his company netted Jack codes to the exterior doors, as well as the location of where the docking cradles were.

Jack had the codes to enter any of the doors on the complex, so he decided to do the smart thing. He went right into the front door. The solitary night guard didn't pose a threat. Hannah stopped him with a taser and locked him to one of the air conditioning units, which were somewhere in the range of eight hundred pounds of weight. Once bolted to the wall, there was no way for the guard to escape. Or get the word out to anyone else. So, leisurely Jack walked through the front doors and secure areas of the facility, exactly where someone wouldn't expect to have to defend from. He encountered no one on his way to the loading docks, where he finally saw signs of other people alive at this time of night.

The vending machines were active, which was suspicious. He stayed back from them, considering that they might have their motion sensors active. It would be simple to have those wired to an alarm of some sort. But that was what Omni-tools were for. A short burst of Overload would keep the machines down, as well as needing them to have a restart in the morning.

Hannah walked beside him, watching as he moved through the building. Her methods would probably be cleaner, but she didn't know what to look for. Salarians were one of the best races at emulation. They weren't that innovative, but when presented with new technology they absorbed it into their culture and doctrine quickly. They depended on the Asari to feed them that technology over the years, and as such were just leeches in the galactic economy. They attached themselves to whatever would buoy them up, while barely expanding their territory and limiting their growth. As such, the signs to find the Salarians were that of looking for a well practiced spy or corporate insert.

Fraud and embezzlement signs were good things for the Salarians to hide behind. Dirty and corrupt supervisors were another. But as this was only a few blocks from the datacenter, this would be one of the best locations to bounce the data off of before withdrawing from the area. If they wanted to stop them, they couldn't do so from the datacenter. They had to go after the location of the data point they were bouncing the information to.

The dockyard had four containers in it. One was rusty, while the others were clean enough to be considered newer. He couldn't see anything on the outside that suggested that they were his target, but this would be the place. The containers were thick enough to hide any electronic signatures, as well as keep any of their signatures from leaving. So they would need to have some sort of cable or wire going to the outside of the crate to have a signal to transfer data through.

"Hannah. On top of the containers there should be a small dish or electronic receiver on the container that is our target. I need you to find out which one that is, and then find out where their sentries are. The Salarians perfected the stealth net not long after the Asari did, and we will need to find them soon enough. Even with the snow, expect it to be very difficult to find them. The only good thing that you have going for you is that Salarians don't have thermal regulation occur naturally. Their ability to withstand the cold is fairly limited. With it being near zero outside, they will be needing some form of heat to stay capable. Look for that, and you'll find them."

Hannah nodded, cloaking and disappearing into the night. The loading docks were exposed on one front, and the snow carpeted the area where the cargo ships could land. The shipping containers were all lined up along one wall. Each was around five feet further than the other, and one was still exposed to the outside. The rusted one, of course. It hadn't been moved in a long time, judging by the discoloration on the floor from all of the flakes of rust coming off of it.

The other three containers seemed to be all new, and lined up with their doors perfectly sealed. Jack, though, could see that there was some sort of shimmer by one of the air vents. That was probably one of the Salarians. He had to use his extendable camera on the end of his Omni-tool to be able to see the dockyard area, and even then the picture was grainy in some places. He would have to wait until Hannah came back.

That took nearly ten minutes. When she did come back, she was dragging a garbage bag with three bodies. All of them were small. "Found them. Since they didn't seem to have any identification, I guess they resisted arrest." He could see a bit of blood coming down from her face, as well as her arm. "Their weapons sprayed me a little bit. I think they -" any further words from her were drawn out by the sound of a rifle shot. Hannah went down, the shot going right through her leg. Judging by the echoing  _thoom_  of the weapon, it was a Turian sniper rifle. Bastards wanted any attack to be deniable.

He left the bodies, and dragged Hannah back into the cover of the nearby hallway. She stayed quiet, not squealing or losing focus. She kept a hand on her shoulder, the other one hanging loose. "He shot my knee out!" There was real fear in her eyes as she looked towards the entrance to the hallway, waiting for the Salarians to follow. Their combat doctrine was usually silence and a singular focus on a single objective. They wanted Hannah alive if they only shot her in the knee.

"You better not stain those fishnets. That might be the last one." He told her, making her gawk at him. But by that time he was in motion, having gotten her out of her initial shock. He threw two tech grenades, attaching them to the wall in the area that the Salarians would have to go through to get to Hannah. If they were going to successfully take her, it would be in the next few seconds. So, he took a very deep breath and flapped the lapels on his jacket.

One thing about being the leader of Cerberus was that all of the best toys were at his disposal. One such toy was a cloaking field that would last a few seconds, but need to be plugged in to recharge again. Jack had tried not to use it so far, but right now he needed to. With a flash, the field activated, and he slowly walked forward, making as little noise as possible. Hannah didn't react as much to this as she had his callous comment.

It was only seconds later that two shimmers moved past the corner, their weapons trained on Hannah. Neither of them had a Turian Sniper rifle, though. He couldn't take the chance to wait for their ally with the rifle, just in case they decided to off Hannah. He touched his wrist, triggering the tech grenades that flared next to the Salarians. Then, he broke his cloaking field with an Overload to finish off their shields. With their guns jammed and their shields down, he could safely take a split second to enjoy the look of surprise on their faces as he fired a single shot to each. Their heads popped backwards with the force of the bullets he was using in his very illegal pistol. But hey, when you have explosive rounds, it is worth using them, even when a pistol overheats in two shots.

Meanwhile, Hannah fired with her shotgun sometime during or after when he fired the pistol. The explosive rounds and the shotgun spray caused quite the gory mess, one that wouldn't be cleaned up easily.

"Jack! They can't get to their signal repeater!" Hannah said, realizing like he did that there was at least one more "Second container on the left!" She brought out some medigel, and started applying it to her leg. Jack placed his overheated pistol on the ground, and grabbed Hannah's shotgun. It would cool down quicker and make more mess. His pistol took a full minute to cool with explosive rounds, and he didn't have the skill with a knife that Hannah did.

Instead of running outside like an idiot, he walked over to one of the terminals to the dockyard and logged in with his security codes that he shamelessly bought earlier. Too bad the employee would be implicated now, but there was not much he could do about that. Firstly, he sealed all of the air vents with a contaminant alert. That would keep him from leaving. Then he sealed all of the other entrances with the computer systems, which won't be hard for the Salarians to overcome.

But now the whole area was sealed and locked down, and he took control of the crane controls. He had no need to charge out there and risk his life. Technology was as much his ally as it was theirs. With the crane, he hoisted the container with the Salarian data repeater up off the ground, and lifted the bulky object up towards the ceiling. With it no longer in range of the Salarian operative, Jack waited. Sure enough, another user logged into the system immediately. He sent them a cheerful text message.  _Corporate Espionage not treating you well?_

He didn't get a reply, but the Salarians must have gotten codes from people higher up in the company than him. He was getting locked out from the console. He grinned, though. One thing that the alien didn't know about was the wonderful power of human paranoia. With a press of the button, he triggered the fire alarm. This also triggered every other alarm in the area, as the contaminant alarm also went off.

Jack nearly whistled as he pulled a cart out of a janitor closet and lifted Hannah up on to it. With her shotgun, he shot every single camera in the building on his way out, not caring about the Salarian who was about to have his life become very uncomfortable. Even if he managed to move and dispose of all five of the bodies of his comrades, their blood was all over the walls. There was no way to hide the evidence. Not only that, but the company would come under scrutiny for accepting bribes from alien races.

With the security system in disarray and the cameras gone, he safely wheeled Hannah back out to the shuttle. Emergency vehicles were on their way, and he had no intention of being caught here. It would be suspicious for a shuttle to blast off and away right as the emergency vehicles showed up. So he just got Hannah loaded and into the bench seats in the back of the shuttle, and laid down some plastic sheeting first. She was still bleeding from her arm, but her face had stopped. Or rather the blood had dried. Her knee was another story. It was shattered, and Hannah couldn't put any weight on it. It would need some reconstructive surgery, and she needed to go in for her reconstructive surgery for her back as well.

So he waited, at least until the emergency services vehicles to show up. They rushed into the building, with police and fire department members, as well as contaminant outbreak prevention forces. When they all had arrived or entered the building, Jack finally lifted off. The police were too busy trying to seal the building, and only scanned his shuttle as he lifted off. Driving was something that normally was below him, but right now Hannah couldn't sit still even if she tried. She had enough painkillers in her system that she wouldn't notice everything else happening around her.

She groaned as the shuttle moved upwards, her body tilting on the bench. Seatbelts were the only thing holding her there, which put stress upon her knee. He couldn't see the damage, but there was only one hole through her armor. Blood had bubbled up from that hole, and he was sure that contained the pieces of her kneecap. Her armor was worth a fortune, which was why the shot from the sniper rifle didn't actually pierce the front of the knee joint of the armor. The back, weaker in general, was where the shot had passed through. He grimaced at the thought of how much this was going to take to fix. Possibly months in traction while they rebuilt her knee.

He set the shuttle into auto-pilot for Tartarus, and brought up his Omni-tool.  _Hey Boss, I'm just taking your little princesses back to california. They are ok, if a bit wet. Your new friend is a bit of a party animal, but nothing that can't be predictable. See you in a few hours._

_James_

Jack shrugged. Looks like James had successfully extracted the girls. He was taking them somewhere that wasn't california, in a certified military gunship. He would have to keep an eye out for that. He trusted James. James was one of the few people who saw all parts of Jack's life. He understood how important those girls were. He would take care of them.


	14. Fugue: Getting What You Paid For

Chapter 14

May 2164, Over the Pacific Ocean

James let the gunship fall through the atmosphere, getting a feel for how the craft handled as it fell through the air. Sometimes, that was just the best way to see how it would handle high stress turns. He took a deep breath, getting used to a craft that handled much more admirably than a shuttle. Behind him in the passenger compartment he could hear the rumblings from the Krogan riding with him. Apparently he didn't appreciate the fine art that was a rollback exit from Tartarus station. Or perhaps James wrongly assumed that he was safely strapped in.

Either way, the pilot knew his job, and that was to blow the living hell out of anyone threatening Jack Harper's children and their caretaker. He hadn't shot a gun from any vessel or his hand since Jack had hired him, but he had always stayed busy. In fact, he had become rated for nearly every vehicle that could theoretically be used or bought by Jack Harper. He never thought that he would need to be rated for cruisers or larger ships, since Jack was such a stickler for being on time and having as few people as possible knowing about his personal life.

Sneaking prostitutes and models past Hannah Shepard had been some of the harder things Jack has asked him to do. Other times it was simply the ease of driving. Stopping attacks on his person or items was mostly a practice in precautions. Keep the shuttle from being parked anywhere that wasn't actively patrolled or being monitored. Keep the engine running, and if possible stay up in the air. Jack hates the press, and enjoys his life away from them. Avoid any press van if at all possible.

Always be armed, or threaten those that are unarmed as if you are. Never sleep without checking on all electronic sources, and communications channels that are broadcasting around you. Always check the application that lists the location of all Alliance military personnel and vehicles. If those last two didn't match up, something was going wrong. Lastly, and most importantly, keep the windows up. Kinetic Barriers are no substitute for the armored paneling that the windows contained. That had been handy on more than one occasion.

He started piercing the cloud layer, and the exterior of the gunship was getting warmer. He slowed them down, letting the cooler upper atmosphere calm down the ship's exterior armor. He let the gunship come to a coasting speed, keeping him in the uppermost sections of the atmosphere. But his scanner could see everything below him.

A hundred miles ahead of him and twenty-five thousand feet lower, Jack's island sat submerged in the water. He saw two signatures around it, and a third more than fifty miles out. It didn't look like it was associated with the other two signatures, but he didn't take that chance. He primed his cannons and started heading lower. His signatures on the radar said that one was a shuttlecraft and the other was a passenger shuttle, meant for traversing between planets within the system. That meant is was near thirty or forty meters long, and could be armed without much trouble.

His gunship, though had missiles and the ability to blow away anything else in the sky. As he approached, he could see small scans hitting the gunship. Strangely, the entire spectrum of communication channels went quiet as he came within range. Jamming, then. He opened the onboard communications system.

"Hey, big Krogan fella, they're jamming us. I think they are going to start shooting at us soon."

"Alright, pilot. I trust your skill. May we have many battles together." Looking back, he could see the Krogan loading a large weapon, something that would probably knock him over and break bones if he fired it. "Just make sure to let me have a chance to help out."

"What is that thing?" He asked.

" _Ryrrch_ Magentic Rifle. It shoots polarized chunks of metal, and if I can hit anything important, it sticks. You can lock on with missiles to the chunk, and it'll override the jamming."

James just thought about that for a moment. "I think this is a start to a beautiful friendship." He keyed the button to override the lock on the side door of the gunship. "Buckle yourself in and open the door when you're ready. We will be in combat range in a couple minutes."

He just heard deep baritone laughter emanating on the other side of the divider. He refocused on the incoming craft, seeing the larger vehicle hovering on top of the island, and the smaller shuttle was moving towards them at a fast clip. He noticed that it was at a speed that normal models of shuttle didn't achieve very often. He flipped off the safety, and didn't bother sending any hails. With the jamming, it was obvious that something was illegal or going down. It also explained why Jack hadn't heard anything from Nyra or the girls yet.

The shuttle had some sort of pod attached to the inside, and its doors slid open, letting the pods extend outwards. His eyes widened. Missiles pods, and fully loaded, painted him. He triggered his ECM, letting the first pair of missiles go wide. He had to break off from a direct course on the craft to dodge the missiles. Worse, the shuttle had ECM itself.

So he didn't use the missiles and just activated the turret cannons. Twin barrels spat shots at the other shuttle as it tried to line up on their rear, the turret able to hit any angle that wasn't directly above the cockpit. The other shuttle tried to break off, but took a heavy blow from something else. Whatever the Krogan was shooting, it hit hard. The cannons had stripped the shuttle of its shields, and were starting to carve into its plating. The Magnetic rifle struck the front of the shuttle, causing some sort of sparks to flare. The shuttle started losing altitude, but James didn't let up. Pilots had been known to fake their own deaths for centuries.

He made sure that the engines of the shuttle were scrap before turning to face the passenger transport. The time he had spent killing off the shuttle had been spent wisely, as he could see some sort of turrets poking out of the frame. He doubted that it would have missiles, but he didn't know. He kept over a mile away, not trusting his shots to hit the island below.

They didn't make any moves to change their position. They had the defensive advantage. They didn't have to move, and were probably the source of the jamming. With the island right beneath them, they had no need to move or abandon their position. James huffed in annoyance, as he had every right to blow them out of the sky. But he couldn't risk the island.

His board started bleeping with a missile lock. He rolled, diving towards the water. One nice thing about Element Zero engines and mass drivers was that they weren't weak to intake of water. If they stayed submerged, then the engine would flood, and the output would die. But it was safe enough to dip into water for a moment. He dove towards the water, finding a large swell to target. The missiles were behind his craft a few hundred feet, and he let them come.

The gunship swept towards the water like a hawk diving, and he leveled out right into the largest swell of water he could find. This required him diving under the water with the craft for a moment, getting warnings all over the place. He had sealed the cockpit, but cringed a bit when he remembered that the Krogan might not have been perfectly ready for that. He kicked in the thrusters as he hit the wall of water, boiling any water that tried to flood into the engine ports.

He kicked in enough to break through the water on the other side of the swell, and could hear the clap of the missiles hitting the other side of the swell. At that speed, they would be triggering their warheads on the water, which would be as hard as stone when the missiles were going faster than the speed of sound. The gunship James had taken to a speed slightly below the speed of sound, so that he wouldn't take any damage from the water. When he came out from the swell, he smiled at the sight of a second shuttle armed with missile pods and the passenger ship, now perfectly highlighted in front of his guns. Stray shots wouldn't hit the island.

The gunship rumbled as shots and droplets of water sprayed from it, charging out from the water level and to a few hundred feet in the air. His rounds splashed against the barriers of the passenger craft, and he was surprised that the barriers held. Must have been some black market ones, as these were rated for more than just space debris. He loosed a pair of missiles at it, but they flew past harmlessly, not seeing the target. The jamming must have been coming from on board that ship, as those missiles should have locked on.

He rolled, coming on a new heading that faced the other shuttle. With a bit of relish he got behind it and gave it all of the shot and flak that they could have ever asked for in a birthday present. It didn't have as many shields as its partner had, and went down within a few seconds. With the jamming, he couldn't hear or pay attention to whatever they were saying on the radio, and that was not his usual experience.

With both shuttles, gone, he executed a rather flashy flip roll, reorienting himself on the passenger shuttle. He could see stray fire from whatever turrets they had brought up spraying towards him, being only aimed by human hands. They had no computer assisted targeting systems, so James just smiled.

"Goodbye, and may someone have mercy on you." He said out loud, knowing that they wouldn't be able to reply. His shots started chewing holes in some of the bulkheads of the shuttlecraft, and eventually hit something that sparked and lit on fire. The shuttle lost altitude, and eventually hit the water. James let a deep breath that he was holding out, and leveled the gunship out. He looked back at the rear compartment, he spoke over the wireless. "Well, how was that?"

The Krogan was mid-puking, water and goodness knew what else coming out of him and onto the floor. Every single seat was soaked, and water trailed off the cabin in bursts. Water also flowed out of the Krogan's armor, draining out of the shuttle. His only reply to James' comment was to keep coughing, but he was sure that if the Krogan really was going to express himself it would be with his guns.

James flew towards the island, seeing no signs of any movement around the area. But the jamming was going down, and the regular bands of communication came back suddenly. His volume had been set to high so that he could notice when he had a signal, so that made him jump a little bit.

"Mayday! Mayday! We are going down!" The shuttle was making a wide band frequency call, which is exactly the wrong thing to hear. He activated the encrypted communications settings in his Omni-tool, and sent out a small signal to any other tools in range. If they had the encryption level correct, then they would get the message clearly. If not, it would be viewed as spam.  _Hey you little Hellions. Get up here already and let's get out of here._

He got a reply immediately.  _James!_ Along with a much more calmly typed  _We're Coming, Uncle._  The girls must have clearly gotten his message. But he needed to get out of here fast, since the idiot mercenaries had called out an SOS.

Thankfully, Tartarus was well aware of the situation, and would be able to cover him. He was sure that some Alliance INtelligence Official had his eyes on them through a drone or satellite system. He noticed the water boiling, or so it appeared, as Jack's pleasure island rose out of the ocean. It looked pretty shot up already, with a few areas torn up from the turrets on the passenger shuttle The beach was completely gone, the sand having been lifted off by the ocean current as the island submerged. The grass topped huts were exposed, and the bar was completely shredded. Some sort of burn marks existed on the housing section of the island, and what was left standing was limited to the central building. It had holes throughout it, the indoor pool revealed as well as the kitchen.

He whistled. "Boss is gonna be pissed! His island is trashed."

The Krogan leaned forward out of the window, and made a sound that was between a burp and a snort. He assumed it was only laughter. "Looks like a party. Glad we were here before it ended, look at the flotation rings." He pointed, showing the underwater structure that rotated and kept the island afloat. The small spinning structures had been cut or shot up in many places, and only the air tanks located along some of the rings kept the island afloat. "I don't think it is rated for you to land any longer. Let's get a rope down for them."

James smirked. "You obviously don't trust my flying enough. Let me show you why I am one of the top rated pilots in Human Alliance space!"

Before he could complain to James about the mathematical probability that the island wouldn't support their weight, James flew the gunship into a rolling dive to the island, only having enough room to do one barrel roll. Then he carefully slowed the craft, letting the Krogan get up from where he had been thrown in his harness, and brought it level with the island. The actual beach was raised up, roughly sixty feet above the water level, with a small bay of salt water filtered up through the island. That bay was filled with water from the ocean and debris, and was draining through the holes blown in it. He turned the back of the gunship around, and activated the exterior camera. With it, he could measure the range from the tailfin to the nearest object.

The Krogan was swearing under his breath as the gunship came into range of the water level of the beach, the metal grating that had been containing the sand exposed. He set the autopilot to stay at current altitude, and then angled the ship sideways so that one of the wings was a few inches off the ground. An old fashioned anchor sat a few inches below the wing, and a few inches further would end with the wing getting caught in one of the shredded holes. But James skillfully moved with the island as it adjusted to the large swells. It was actually rather easy. He set the altitude relative to the object directly underneath the gunship, and then just had to control the forward motions.

The sound of squealing alerted him to his next passengers. He saw Jack's two little girls, perfectly fine and looking a bit tired. Behind them came a vision of beauty that James hadn't been prepared for. He was used to flying models and ridiculously beautiful women to anywhere Jack was, and getting completely ignored by them. The Asari he saw was deadly. She obviously had those biotics that had the human race all worried, and was carrying one of those Terminus pistols that were only technically legal in certain parts of the galaxy.

She also didn't have any armor on, which made him notice everything else about her. It seemed as though everything people had been saying about Asari was pretty true. The way she scanned James and the Krogan as threats, though, that was something he was used to feeling when Jack met with mercenaries or toughs. Soldiers from Cerberus would view people like this. Scan you as if they were sizing you up as a threat, see how fast they could kill you. He didn't like that. Thankfully her gaze drifted to the Krogan, who was scanning the water for signs of any of the mercenaries possibly making it to the island.

"Still got your magnetic gun thing?" James asked. The name escaped him. "Can you put that beacon on that hallway? Boss would prefer I sink this place." He turned to the girls. "Ok, you two, climb up on the wing. We have a boat to catch."

"What is a boat?" The Asari said, using some sort of biotics to make her own mass smaller. She wasn't destabilizing the wing at all. She walked across it with confidence, though. James was expecting to have to compensate for all of the weight on the wing, but the Asari managed to make it to the cabin without trouble. Miranda and Julia both piled in, making an effort to both get into the co-pilot seat. They were small enough to both fit.

"I think you managed to get every inch of this gunship wet." The Asari told him. "Impressive."

"Try being the passenger. I think I still have some of the water in my backup lungs." The Krogan grumbled. At that, the girls finally noticed him and went completely quiet. They had never seen something like him before.

The Krogan looked over at them, completely soaked and dripping all over. "What are you lookin' at?"

Miranda looked uncomfortable, but Julia leaned forward. "You look like a turtle."

The Krogan seemed to draw in on himself. Then he started laughing. "Alright, youngling. Is it bad to look like a  _turtle_?" The alien had to slide his large tongue around the word. Obviously it didn't translate.

"You could be a ninja turtle!" She turned to Miranda. "Which one is he?"

Miranda just shook her head, looking terrified. Julia just gave her an expectant look. The Krogan looked up at James. "What is that?"

James grinned. "Girls, he is just like Donatello. His real name is Grundle or something."

"Gatatog  _Grrkl._ " He heard from the back.

"Don!" Julia said. "I'll call you Don!"

The Krogan seemed to smile. "What is this Donatergo famous for?"

"He invented things! Like a shuttle, with guns! And a grappling hook!" Julia was quick to extol one of her favorite TV shows. It was possibly one of the dozens of restarts of the market. Mutant Ninja Turtles were the heroes that made a resurgence every time a new generation of viewers came around.

"Don is the scientist." Miranda said, breaking through her fear of the big alien. "He makes all of the technology work."

At that, the Krogan barked a loud laugh. "I would be honored to be given such a name. Call me Gatatog Don, youngling. I am an Engineer and Shipbuilder among my people. Among humans, I shall take the name of Don!" His loud voice scared Miranda, James could see, but made Julia quite happy.

Nyra, the Asari, just laughed at him. "She just named you after a fictional hero. Not even something with proper anscestry."

"I care not for your prattle, wench. The name of a scientist is a rare thing to have bestowed upon you. As I am in the service of her father, I will gladly take the name of Don upon myself." James just raised an eyebrow. He wasn't paid to worry about this. It was way above his concern to worry about what an alien chose to call himself. He decided that aliens were just weird.

Contenting himself with that, he set the direction of the gunship to the nearby island of Hawaii. He had cash and a direction. The difficulty was just hiding a giant turtle-alien and a half naked blue woman with head tentacles. Oh, and the ability to ignore physics. As soon as he set the destination on the computer, he could see other vehicles inbound. Some were generic emergency vehicles, and others were military ones. He wrote a note to his contact at Tartarus, letting him know that he needed to disappear from the radar and focus of the investigations that would follow.

He ignored any arguments or comments that happened behind him, and just focused on driving fast enough to get out of the area but not fast enough to be noticed. Cloud cover didn't matter unless it was thick enough to block out hundreds of miles of territory. That would be risky to fly through, though. Jack returned his text, rather quickly. James grinned. Jack had no idea where he was going.

Following the rules drilled into him by Jack, he couldn't go to anywhere he had gone before, and he couldn't take the girls and their allies to somewhere they would be noticed. So that left very few places. With two aliens he couldn't hide and two children being targeted by someone, his options were limited. He had a place, though.

"Well, I think we are going to go to one of the safe houses." He said. "Attention passengers," He let over the intercom, "We are going to be experiencing scenic wilderness areas, and not a single person to be found within a hundred miles."

"Where are we going uncle James?" Julia's voice was loud. Typical that she would get her Omni-tool linked up to the gunship systems first.

"We are going to the old Midwestern States. Most people think that it's dangerous to go there after all the ecological damage and wars that happened last century. Your dad doesn't believe that. More importantly, he found a place that we can go hide at. But most people think we are going to go to California, where my house and your dad's house are. I don't want anyone shooting up my house, or your dad's house, so we are going to go and hide in the badlands."

"Where is Daddy, though?"

"Doing the  _really_  important thing." He said. "Stopping people from shooting at you. Your daddy is probably working on that right now." James had the more important job and he knew it. Jack Harper depended on his children being protected. He hated having to lie to them about where they were going, but Jack had told him to trust no one. The Krogan and the Asari might sell them out, and by telling them the location he was going to switch vehicles, that might prove that they couldn't be trusted. He sighed as he input the final destination's coordinates into his Omni-tool. He would upload it to the next vehicle when they got there. Until then, he disabled all communications and sent a short message to the girls explaining that their dad wanted them to hide, so they needed to wait until they were in a safe place before contacting him.

* * *

Jack sat outside the operating theatre, watching as the best doctors in the Alliance Navy went to work on Hannah. Initial scans of her knee revealed a mangled mess. The shot had gone through most of the ligaments and torn into the cartilage, and bounced around a bit when it hit the protective layer on the front of her kneecap. The armor she had been wearing had become more of a liability than a help, keeping the shot in and bouncing the small speck all around her kneecap.

With her nerves shredded, she had a lot longer than a few months to recuperate. She had at least a year of down time, and she wasn't looking forward to it. Or at least she wouldn't be when she woke up. She had been asleep since they got her onboard the station. Anesthetics were hardly required once Jack had given her some painkillers. She also had plenty of damage to her arm and face, and one of her cheekbones was out of alignment. Unfortunately, that was Jack's fault. He didn't secure her head well enough when the shuttle took off, and broke her cheekbone in his haste to get back here.

Her arm wasn't too badly wounded, just shot. Mostly muscle tissue was damaged in that. Her knee still had everything inside of it thanks to her armor, which kept all of the bits from going anywhere. He felt more than a little responsible for this, as the chief doctor tore into him about taking someone on medical leave into a combat situation. The man actually had the balls to write him up.

He couldn't fault the doctor for his choice, in fact if the shoe was on the other foot Jack would be sending lawyers. He loved the look on people's face when a lawyer showed up within minutes of the altercation. Unfortunately, there was no way he could go after this doctor. He was head of the most sophisticated department in the system, perhaps in all of the System Alliance. He actually had enough clout to come after Jack directly. That didn't make him feel any better about it, as the doctor had restricted him from being near Hannah for the near future.

James had mentioned that he was going near California, but the gunship dropped off the map somewhere over the old Utah territory. That was a few hours ago, and he had to stew there quietly. Benezia had asked for a status update about Nyra all of the sudden, suggesting that she had her own system of informants and spies in human space. Or Nyra had just been out of contact for a few days and Benezia had noticed. Her sister commandoes also noticed, and had discreetly asked him where she was. That could explode in his face if this situation wasn't resolved.

He had no agents he could ask for help, and he didn't have the  _Talon_  to move things safely and without being scanned. Amandeep was here on Tartarus, working on tracking the  _Talon_ , which had already been towed into Batarian space. The mobile connection that they had was all that Amandeep had to go on, and he was focusing on that.

So, with nothing but himself, he had to solve this situation. Salarians were somehow involved, and could be associated with the kidnappings of the children. Or they may have been aware of it and just timed their hit at the same time. It was coincidental, and it didn't sit well with him. Hannah was out of combat for more than a year now, thanks to him. James was in hiding in one of his safe houses, which he knew the location of. Jack had shown him all of them, and if he could guess, whoever was looking for his girls would be on the lookout for a couple of aliens and some children.

James knew his stuff, and he knew where all of the safe houses were. He had to trust him to do the job. He looked up, as a heavy boot thudded across the hallway. Henry Lawson was there, with a perplexed look on his face.

"Jack? You bloke! Get up from there and come with me. A man of your stature can't just sit down on the job." Henry grasped his arm, helping him stand up from his seat. "I've figured out why your daughter is having trouble with her biotics."

Jack pointed towards one of the doctor's offices. Confidentiality was important enough that the hospital had its own security system, one run by a civilian rather than a military directive. It was also something he had access to, and could turn off for sensitive reasons. He did so as soon as Henry followed him into the room, and then turned to him.

"Is this a flaw from when we started this process?" He asked carefully.

"Flaw in the genetics, perhaps. You and Hannah both had the same recessive gene, which became stronger in Julia. Miranda doesn't have it as strongly, but Julia has some traits that appear to be related to Autism, but are a bit more telling. Your daughters both have Asperger's a related syndrome."

Jack remembered being tested for that while he still lived with his mother. Not a pleasant memory, either. Asperger's Syndrome was considered a mental condition, a very disputed one. Some claimed that it was a natural path of evolution for the human brain, while others considered it to be a form of autism that had the possibility for normal functionality in life. Asperger's didn't have a cure, or a way around it. He could deal with the social skills part of things, but many people with Asperger's had issues with reading facial expressions or auditory input. That was crippling. But it was too late to try again. He didn't have much availability for a backup plan other than Miranda, who had the same syndrome.

"How does this relate to biotics?" He asked Henry, not seeing the connection. The syndrome did not affect the nerve synapses that controlled biotics, nor did it change the way the nervous system worked.

"Julia will have the same problem that all Asperger's have. A problem of emotions. They pick up on feelings around them and feel them more deeply than other people. Apparently. I have no idea, but that is what the book says. God knows I haven't cared about emotions in years. But to people with this, emotions are like the air they breathe. Apparently if they feel too strongly, they lock up. Sort of like how Julia has always hated the crowds. At first she likes being there, and then soon enough she locks up and doesn't know what to do. Same thing happens with her biotics. She will still be able to learn, but I would recommend private instruction for all biotics from now on."

"Are you trying to say that Julia can't handle peer pressure?" She would face much worse than that before everything was said and done.

"Until she can understand her condition and work past it, she will lock up anytime social situations become too much for her. One on one, she should be fine as long as you don't push her too hard."

"How will this affect her in the long run? Will it stunt her and Miranda's growth? Will it cripple their capabilities?"

Henry shrugged. "It shouldn't compromise her ability to function. Socially she will be considered below average. Her mental capacity though, will be considerably better. Most subjects with Asperger's developed or had photographic memory and amazing retention skills. I would say that Julia has that capacity already. What you aren't going to like is the social problems that occur with this syndrome. If she is going to overcome the social problems, it will have to be her choice."

Jack clenched his fist. He tried to find some connection to the Reapers, Constantine, anything. But logic could not be denied. His own contribution to this had caused this. He had effectively crippled Julia just because he had a gene. Nothing like your own body betraying you to make you feel down. That was when he felt a bottle pressed into his hand. Looking down, he could see it was some sort of brandy.

"Asari stuff. Figured you'd need it. Doctor's orders, drink up."

"I can't." Jack muttered, this being one occasion where he very much wanted to drink. "The others are still missing."

"What, your daughters having a little joy ride?"

"No, Henry. The other children in Solaris are being targeted." Henry slipped the bottle off to the side. It was going to be worth drinking later. "The strongest biotics are being abducted, and my daughters were on the list. Others are being taken, as well. But with Hannah here and James gone, I can't get to them in time."

"Want to call in a favor?" Henry said. "I owe you more than one, so don't mind me."

"What kind of connections do you have with Solaris?" Jack asked. Henry had been mostly hands off about the biotic end of the scientific research.

"Bah! None of those twits. All of those uneducated bastards can keep their theoretical science. I'll call someone who can find those kids for you." With that, Henry got on the line on his own Omni-tool. The face of Donovan Hock appeared roughly thirty seconds after he started the call.

"Don! It's Henry, and I need a bit of a favor."

"Of course! Anything for my friends. Is that Jack Harper behind you? I've been looking forward to seeing him again for years!" Donovan definitely had some powerful software to be able to tap into Henry's Omni-tool from so far away. It was the only way he could have registered Jack being there.

"This favor happens to be for Jack. But consider it one for me. He can explain better than I can what he needs." He hit the mute button on his Omni-tool, looking over at Jack. "Jack, I know you think he is the devil incarnate, but most people say that about you, too. But he has people all over, and connections that we don't." Or at least ones that Henry wasn't aware of. Jack had made plenty of enemies in his quest to dominate the direction of Earth's economy.

"Fine. Put him on, and I'll ask him for help." Jack said, not exactly welcoming the Senator. Henry hit the button, bringing back on the speaker. "Donovan. I have a sensitive problem that Henry tells me you might be able to help me with." Jack restrained any emotion in his voice. Today had been quite trying.

"Perhaps for an equally trying favor in the future, I would be willing to help you with this. I wouldn't demand you change your politics or stance for something minor like this." Donovan had no change of emotion on his face, but Jack was sure that he was gleefully rubbing his hands together over the thought of haggling a favor out of Jack Harper. "What can I help you with?"

"This has been time sensitive, and started less than twenty three hours ago." That was when the first move was executed, which thankfully Nyra was fully capable of dealing with. "Children with high biotic potential are being kidnapped and stolen from their parents and families while the Christmas vacation is going on, and some of the children have already disappeared. My daughters are one of the targeted individuals. At least one more went into the Rhine River to avoid their captors, but we haven't seen any more information. I have a list of children that are currently found, and another list of children that are actively being threatened. What I lack right now is feet on the ground and manpower to stop them."

"Now, Jack, I can call some friends of mine, but I don't condone any kind of violence, even to stop others." A blatant lie. "I will try my best to intervene on the children's behalf, and am prepared to pay any ransoms to get the children back. These biotic children are somewhat important to our future. Or at least you believe so and pay the doctors in your hospital enough to care."

"One of them went missing in South Africa. Surely your own constituents can help us out and find some of these children." Jack said, bringing up one of the children. Due to a lack of advanced technology in the area, it was hard to keep track of anything going on in that country. "We both know that we can call in other favors elsewhere. Places that normally are considered taboo. If you want to gain a favor from me, point me in the direction of who is after these children and why. Finding the children doesn't stop the attacks. If we remove the impetus, then the attacks stop for good."

"I'll find their Mecca, then." Hock said. "As long as you don't care about methods, I can find it."

"Neither of us care about methods. You knew that the moment we met. Just find me what I need and I'll take care of the dirty part." Donovan smiled a little.

"Alright Jack, it's a deal. I'll talk to you soon." Jack nodded to Henry, who turned off his Omni-tool. That Omni-tool was absolutely a threat to him. If Hock could so easily access it, then he could hear about the vulnerability in his daughters. Henry, not even realizing the threat he had just placed upon Jack, was grinning.

"Friends certainly have their place, eh? Come on, I am sure we can beat the bollocks off of that doctor before he files charges on you and restricts you from your own hospital." Henry offered, looking at the door. Jack stretched, his back popping a little as he gently adjusted the straps on his suit.

"Fair enough. Henry, I think I can pay you back for all the help you've given me today. Here is an encryption package for you Omni-tool. It'll keep your interns and other problems from getting places they shouldn't on your systems." As well as keep Hock from data Jack needed to be confidential. If Jack was seen as vulnerable, then his daughters would become higher value targets than he himself would be. Julia had Asperger's. She needed him and she needed a controlled environment where she could succeed.

"Sure, Jack. That sounds like just the thing. I haven't updated my security software on this for a good while, anyways." He nudged Jack. "So, you care about Hannah, eh?"

"I suppose that she has enough grounds to sue me for actively sending her into combat without proper medical care beforehand, or without the proper support." Jack admitted.

"That's practically saying you like the woman!" Henry laughed. "You haven't had a visitor like her or as steady as her in your life."

"Drop, it Henry. You gave up mistresses and that kind of lifestyle."

His only answer was to laugh as Jack felt his world shrinking around him.

* * *

Author's Note

What Jack is experiencing is what most parents who have special needs children feel. Autism is especially felt, as its not something that allows itself to be overcome or recovered from. It will stick with the person for their entire life. Asperger's is a bit different than Autism, but is always closely associated with it. The same genes that determine Autism are closely related to the ones that determine Asperger's.

Asperger's are a curious lot. I have been diagnosed with it, albeit extremely high functioning. Due to the fact that this is genetic, some of you might say that Jack should have caught this in the creation process of Julia and Miranda. It's hard to catch Asperger's. It's a small recessive gene that is normally benign. Jack wouldn't have noticed it as there were more important things to balance.

But Asperger's children have a lot of trouble with social requirements. Some have a hard time speaking, or understanding social nuance. Emotions are a tough thing, so I'll explain the connection between Asperger's and emotions in the succeeding chapters. When I was diagnosed, hardly anything was understood about it. That hasn't changed at all. So I'll explain a bit of how I overcame the social and behavioral weaknesses of this disorder.


	15. Fugue: Lost in Wonderland

Chapter 15

December 2164, Upper Los Angeles, Disneyland Access Tunnels

Kaiden Alenko was not a happy camper. His friend had decided to get off one of the rides, saying that it would be cool to hack the train track, making the ride faster and more fun. Of course, he thought that was a fine idea, right up until Charles had managed to trigger some sort of alarm in the ride and shut it all down.

Charles could see Kaiden huffing as they ran along what seemed like miles of tunnels. Water flowed through the under parts, grates and metal paneling covering the dirty water as it moved back to the water main. All he had been trying to do was make the ride go faster than a snail's pace. He had just hopped off and went looking for a console. How was he supposed to know that the plan would work? The console controlled the basic speed of the ride, and the idiots only set it to 45% of its capability. Didn't they know how awesome it would be if they just pumped up the speed? They could run even more people through this ride if they just made it go faster.

After he set it, just to 60%, the ride went dark and the console started giving off an alarm. Their car they had hopped off of sped away, taking their way out with it. Kaiden glared at him, until he found an alternate way out through the access tunnels. They ducked into it, adrenaline pumping. The tunnel let out behind the ride's ticket counter, and they could see the door open and one of the technicians or employees coming into the tunnel. Kaiden, now terrified of being caught, started running the opposite direction. Charles just followed, ignoring the shouting behind them as they ran off as fast as they could.

He stopped keeping track of all the turns they did, eventually leaving the employee in the dust. He and Kaiden were some of the fastest and strongest in the Solaris School, and they trained hard in the gravity room to keep that up. Kaiden was 15, and already had a physique that rivaled a marine. Or at least that was what they claimed. A real marine from the base right above theirs had shown up in the gravity room one day and had taken them on the hardest workout circuit of their lives.

Charles himself liked his Omni-tool more than he liked running. Ever since he had been brought to the Solaris School, life had been a lot better. His dad's cancer was being controlled, and even though it was all throughout his lungs, he had one artificial lung that helped. That was all thanks to Solaris. He never had to be hungry again, since someone had finally explained to him that being a biotic meant that you got food. Lots of it, and all the time. They had these awesome protein shakes that you could get at any time of the day, and for super cheap too.

The School gave him a paycheck, as they were the world's first biotics. They were  _special_. Kaiden let that go to his head a bit. Maybe more than a bit. But they were the oldest male biotics. They had the responsibility to make a name for themselves. Or at least they were told that. Charles didn't know if he really wanted to be much of a biotic. He liked all the new technology the aliens were bringing more.

One thing the aliens didn't have was video games. They had weird number games, apparently popular with the Salarian bug eyed alien people. The Turians only had simulators for battles. They didn't consider it games. The other races didn't have anything that really compared. So he did his level best to try to convince their Asari teacher to try them out. So far he hadn't had any results. She barely used her Omni-tool, anyways. He got a look at it, once, and found it that it was so basic that his own Omni-tool, paid for and given to him by Solaris, was twice as good.

But right now they couldn't get any signal. The altimeter in his Omni-tool told him that he was at least fifty feet underground, and that he had no signal to the worldwide web of satellites and drones. Kaiden looked a bit worried, as they were both just using the flashlights built into their Omni-tools. It was using a lot of battery power to move around. They hadn't seen any other sources of light around, and the tunnels were starting to get a lot more rusty. Some of the panels and grates over the water below had fallen away in here, and the emergency lighting had burnt out a while ago.

Charles took a closer look at the nearest emergency lighting. This one looked as if the panel for the light had been shot out. The hole leftover from the shot had shattered the glass, making a large spiderweb across the plastic. He brought his flashlight closer, seeing that the light had been drilled into rather than just shot. A power tool had done this, and not one that he could identify. Holding his Omni-tool up higher, he could see a symbol painted onto the wall with some sort of cheap spray paint. It was peeling in the humid atmosphere here, but he could clearly see it saying some sort of Latin phrase.

"Kaid! Check this out. You took Spanish, right?"

Kaiden walked over to the wall. "My mother's side of the family all speak it. Let me see." Kaiden looked at the wall, typing something into his interface. He was sounding out a bunch of the word, trying to understand the weirdly shaped lettering that had been painted. "Charles, this is a gang symbol. I think we went the wrong way."

That sent a chill down his spine. "Gangs on earth are supposed to be dangerous, right?"

"Yeah. Especially ones in the area by Mexico. Some parts of old california aren't even under the Alliance's control, too. This gang I recognize just the name." Kaiden was better with sports and physical activities than he was remembering important facts. "They're called-"

"MS-13." Said a voice. "One of Los Angeles' oldest and most successful gangs." Their flashlights both twisted to face three men, all wearing hard hats and construction gear. "Until we lost our territory in Mexico and had to go into hiding."

Kaiden stood in front of Charles, trying to look tough. "Stay back!"

The three men stayed where they were. "You boys need some directions? It's about a mile and a half to the nearest exit." Their hats had low intensity lights on them, enough to light up a larger cone of light than the Omni-tools did. "We won't hurt you. Hell, we'll even show you the way out. Kids like you die in the tunnels all the time, so let's get you out of here." Their english was perfect. Not even a single hint of spanish, though they had the signs of latino ancestry.

Charles tapped Kaiden, giving him a thumbs up. Kaiden, not really knowing where they were going, just nodded. "Ok. Show us the way out."

The men nodded, walking back towards the way they came, setting their lamps to a wider angle. The rust was more commonplace here. "We keep the water main working, since anywhere past this gets flooded with all the seawater. Not bad work keeping everyone else safe, I think. There is a ladder over here on the left. We need to take that to get up to the surface." The men walked in front of them, keeping their distance. Charles could only see the one who had spoken to them carrying any form of weapon. The other two had toolboxes. The weapon he carried was a long rifle, so old it didn't even collapse. That meant that it was from the first generation of mass effect technology, weapons that wouldn't even scratch the newest kinetic barriers.

"Hombre!" One of the others called, Charles not sure what he was saying. "Mira!" The men all rushed forward, coming to another person wearing construction gear. He was slumped against the wall, and the other men ran over to him. He wasn't moving, and looked like he hadn't been there very long. One of them lifted up the edge of his hardhat, and immediately put it back down. What Charles had originally assumed to be water or sweat was actually blood, dripping down onto his chest. The short moment that the light had shown under the hardhat revealed a ravaged and blown open face, and Charles had to hold back bile from the back of his mouth.

The men broke into some aggressive Spanish, pointing and gesturing to the body. When they did this, Charles looked at Kaiden worriedly.

"Niños." The man said. "Boys. Someone is down here and killed one of my boys. We need to get you to safety. Sometimes we have  _locos_  who come down here, and they won't care if you are or are not one of us. We would like to offer you protection until we can get you to the surface. The safest way we can take you is back through our turf."

Kaiden and Charles looked at each other. Wander through tunnels with some crazy murderer, or go through gang owned turf. "Give us a moment." Kaiden said, moving down the tunnel a few dozen feet. "What do you think, Charles?"

"We take our chances with the gang. That guy died from a really big gun, dude. Half his face was missing. The only one that they are carrying is that old rifle."

"You sure?"

Charles nodded. "More than if they just gave us a map or a direction to go." It could work, but there must be other people in these tunnels if these guys were moving around. "I don't trust whoever killed that guy. I'd rather take our chances with these guys."

Kaiden nodded, agreeing with him. When they walked back to the men, they saw that they had picked up their friend and moved him into a small niche off to the side of the tunnel. One was making some sort of symbol over the body, bringing him fingers above the face, then moving them down to the man's stomach. Then his hand moved to the left shoulder, then slowly moved across his chest to the other shoulder.

He could hear some words being spoken, " _Padres," "Dios", "Maria"_  among other things. Kaiden held up his hand, keeping Charles from coming any closer.

"Wait a moment. They're praying for him." His friend told him, closing his eyes and seemingly focusing on the words. Charles wasn't very religious, but some people were. He supposed that Kaiden might be. He always had a cross around his neck, a gift from his mother before she died. Charles could hardly remember his. Her name was Ellen. His dad always told him she was the nicest person that he had ever met. She died when Charles was four. Complications from Element Zero exposure, they said. His dad had the same complications, with tumors and cancerous cells tearing apart his body. But anytime he asked if he regretted anything, his dad said no.  _"As long as I can give you a future,"_  was what his Dad always harped about. He took jobs anywhere he could find them, and until they heard about Solaris, they had been living in the greater Texas area. His dad had been working as a machine operator for some of the farming combines out there.

Now, though, his dad was the coordinator for the janitor services. He had a hospital ready to take care of his tumors at any time. It would extend his life, they said, but his dad would die someday. Charles ignored the rush of memories of driving their car to the hospital when he was eleven. His dad had fallen down, holding his lungs. They had given him a ticket for driving a vehicle illegally, which wouldn't be the first time that happened. Or the last. But that trip was where his dad had to get a new lung.

Blinking, he could see the prayer or whatever it was finishing up. Kaiden was standing up and facing the men, who stood back from the body. "Let's go, Niños. Up this ladder. We will come back for him. But right now we need to get back to the Montaña." Charles looked over at Kaiden, who seemed just as confused as he was.

The top of the ladder had a hatch, which they pushed open. Light shined into their eyes, which make Charles blink. Above them and all around them, they could see a large ribbed construction, extending around them for hundreds of feet. Old water pipes ran over some of the place, and old rusted pools of rubbish were all over. Some metal sheets had been laid down over some of the area, making a small bridge to the left side of the room, where a few emergency lights still were lit.

"Welcome to Splash Mountain. Or whatever it was called. Back when the old Disneyland got frakked by the war, this place collapsed in on itself. Now it's where we live. But It is a bit of a walk back into Los Angeles."

"Well, that sucks. We just had to run off." Kaiden said. Charles had to admit, it was fun at first, but now things were just not doing well. "How long of a run is it?" He asked curiously.

"About three miles. All of it across frakked ground and then you get to the security stations. But we aren't mean enough to make you walk. We'll give you a ride back to the park, a bit later when I make a beer run. That ok, Niños?" The man with a gun said, leading them over to a hole in the weirdly shaped structure. Through it, and a pair of cloth drapes that were the right color to emulate the wall, they found a small setup in the structure. Huts and actual houses made out of rubbish were all over, and power cables ran along the top of each home, providing lights and heat to each of the locations. A few cars were parked on one side, next to the door, all of which were a bit older and torn up. Discolored metal and paint was everywhere.

"It isn't much, but it's home, eh?" Their guide said. "My name is Emilio."

"Kaid." Kaiden offered.

"CJ." Charles did the same, a name that wasn't quite their own but still something they could go by without revealing everything about them.

"Wonderful. We are all amigos, eh? Come on and i'll see how soon I can take you." He started walking towards the largest of the buildings, where a dirt space had been cleared and some adults and young guys were playing soccer. Kaiden gave a little grin to Charles, as he was one of the best players on Luna.

Kaiden watched the game, his eyes tracking the ball as it went from one side of the dirt yard to the other. Charles just sat by the side.

"You wanna play,  _gringo?_ " Some of the boys on the field taunted. Charles looked up at Kaiden, grinning. He had a bit of an issue with pride.

"Sure, hombres." Kaiden said, his words in their language sounding flat and without the same emotion that they put into it. But he jumped onto the dirt field, with a wild grin on his face. Charles activated the record function on his Omni-tool, fully expecting Kaiden to dominate this. To his complete surprise, Kaiden was stolen from within a minute of play. It didn't discourage him in the slightest. Kaiden came back, showing off the endurance and strength training that he had gotten done in the gravity room.

Kaiden was faster than the locals, and he abused that advantage, moving forward with enough skill and speed to take a shot on the goal. Since the goal was the back half of a rusted out car, it was a bit oddly shaped. Even though he missed, there was some clapping from the team he joined. He gave all of them a smile before switching back on to offense. Charles just recorded this, watching for Emilio to come back.

After fifteen or twenty minutes he did, with a frown on his face. "CJ, who the hell did you boys piss off?" A datapad was thrown at him, which he caught. It was thrown rather hard. Looking down at it, he could see his own face, with an amount of money next to his name. It was all written in Spanish, which he couldn't understand directly. He did activate a function on his Omni-tool to copy over the data from the pad, though. He acted as though he were just accessing his translator, which in fact he also did.

_Charles Archer - 65,000 credits, Citadel Standard Chits_

_Human Biotic. Extremely dangerous, capture and sedate._ The rest descended into names and places that he had been or where he could be found. He blinked, looking up uncomfortably at Emilio.

"How did you piss of the Reds, amigo?" The Reds. The Shanxi Reds were after him. The only reason anyone would want him was for his biotics. He didn't even know how to use them yet, even. He thumbed the datapad, bringing up the page on Kaiden. It had the exact same information, with his relations and who to contact once the target was captured. He shuddered.

"Can I keep this?" He asked Emilio. "Or are you going to sell us?"

"We don't do trafficking. If we bring you niños in, then all of the sudden people will ask us to start taking little girls. That's what we got in trouble with and lost everything over. We already live in a forgotten theme park. No, amigo, I don't want to lose my home. Keep that. I'll take you back to the park now."

He whistled at Kaiden, something his dad taught him. He could get the attention of an entire room, his whistle was so loud. Kaiden was used to it, but the rest of the game players stopped. "Who gave you that datapad, Emilio?"

"A man in a suit. Latino. Not sure of anything else." Emilio said. "Come on, the car is all warmed up." Kaiden jogged over, grinning and waving goodbye to the people playing. Charles held out the datapad to him as they followed Emilio to the car, watching as Kaiden's face fell.

"Why?" He asked. "Why are they after us?"

"Biotics. We will be able to do it someday. Right now we suck with them, so we are easy to go after." Kaiden had actually managed to start glowing once. Then he passed out. Charles hadn't figured it out yet. "So we gotta get back to the cops, somebody soon."

"And our dads." Kaiden reminded him. "They're gonna be so pissed at us."

Charles held up the datapad. "With good reason."

Emilio called out to them from a beat up dingy blue aircar. "Let's go amigos!" He pointed to the back seat. "I need to go get some beer!" Charles and Kaiden quickly got in, and Emilio started flying out of the old collapsed ride. The seats were surprisingly comfortable. With a bit of a scary exit through the girders and ruins, the aircar emerged into the lands that used to be Anaheim, California. The ground was somewhat cratered and had some collapsed sections. Off to the left, the lights of New Los Angeles glittered. In between them and the park were a few sources of light, from some neighborhoods or complexes.

Emilio started flying towards the north, not directly towards New LA. "We gotta go around the 'Raco's territory. They shoot anything that flies at night." He explained, as they moved lower to the ground. Kaiden tapped him on the leg.

 _I don't trust him. New LA is pretty safe._  Kaiden wrote into his Omni-tool. Charles finally got service on his own Omni-tool. Messages from his dad and the police started coming in, letting him know that some sort of alert had been put out on him. Also that his account was locked from browsing anything encrypted. He wrote back to Kaiden, ignoring all of the messages from his dad and police for now.

 _Why?_  He wrote. As Kaiden was responding, he sent a message to his dad, saying that he was going to be coming to the front of Disneyland in a beat up aircar in a few minutes. The reply from both his dad, Kaiden's dad, and the police poured in. As well as one message that jumped in front of all of the others.

_Charles,_

_You are being targeted by an organization trying to abduct human biotics. They are willing to pay off judges, cops, and Alliance officials to get to you. I funded your family, got your father the job he currently has, and have enabled you to continue your education at Solaris. Before you contact or get help from anyone, call me._

_Jack Harper_

_This is my personal phone line. Contact me as soon as you are able and I will bring in Cerberus trained agents to protect you._

He blinked. Jack Harper contacted him personally? "Emilio, do you mind if I make a call?"

"No problem, hombre! We got a bit of time before we get on the grapevine, anyways." Emilio called from the front seat.

He pressed the prompted number, and was immediately immersed in encrypted connections. The satellite connection he had was replaced by something else, labeled  _Tartarus_. His Omni-tool background even changed color to black with orange highlights, and a window opened in front. He could see, in real time and in full high definition, the face of Jack Harper.

 _"Charles. Glad to see that you are alright."_ Underneath the image of Jack's face, text appeared.  _The car you are driving in is heading towards a known location where illegal dropoffs and kidnappings take place. Turn around._ Jack was obviously typing and talking at the same time, but he didn't understand why it would be bad to just say everything. " _Are either of you injured? Feeling sick?"_ Jack asked.

"Um, we're fine. Maybe a bit hungry. Kaiden played some soccer, so I know he's fine." The new interface was doing something in the background of his Omni-tool. He didn't know the Tartarus Interface all that well. It was on some of the security consoles, and some of the larger computers.

 _"You boys are going to be ok. Who is with you?"_ His Omni-tool background was changing, files and items moving around. He could see something labeled 'micro-fabricator' was coming online.  _Your Omni-tool is a non-standard model. I am unlocking your micro-fabrication elements of your tool. As of right now, I cannot get to you for at least eight minutes. You will be at the dropoff in three._

"Emilio is helping us out. He is from some group called MS-13." Kaiden said, as Charles was too busy reading the text to answer.

 _"Sounds like a fine man._ " Jack said. Emilio yelled from in front. "These boys are good hombres. I'll get them home safe and sound."

More text appeared on his screen.  _Welcome to Cerberus, Charles. I am activating your combat-ready Omni-tool. Emilio plans to sell you off just like every other child who has wandered into MS-13's territory. I am going to ask you to do something very wrong, Charles, and I want you to understand that sometimes, the wrong thing is the only thing that saves someone._ Charles looked up at Jack's face, which was deadly serious.

" _Charles, I just spoke with your father. He tells me that you are the kind of son he has always been proud of."_ More text appeared, and Charles' eyes went wide.  _I have unlocked the weapons platform of your Omni-tool. Kill Emilio before he sells you out to mercenaries. But you have only one minute before you are too far away for anyone to save you._

Looking up, he could see Emilio angling the aircar towards an old junkyard. Enough metal from the cars that his signal to the normal network bands was being interrupted or cut out, or some sort of other technology was in place. But the link to Tartarus was clear, for some reason.

 _"Charles, please."_ Jack's voice comes in. Emilio was in the front seat, reaching for something underneath his chair. Kaiden was too busy just looking around, to notice Emilio going for something. Charles brought up the action menu on his Omni-tool, the menu listing two actions. Sabotage and Overload. He knew of these things from the military classes that they had taken. Overload was for kinetic barriers, and for shocking anything that the military felt needed shocking. It worked especially well against mechs. But micro-fabricators were needed to make them work, making the magnetized little chunk of metal that was launched for the effect. That meant his Omni-tool had been completely released.

Sabotage was good for using on weapons. It made them overheat and not work for a short while. His list populated again, and two more items listed themselves. Neural Shock, something he hadn't heard of, as well as Blade Function. He didn't get that either. But looking up, he could see Emilio hefting up a pistol and leveling it at Kaiden.

"Hombres. I apologize. But this is for my familia. Normally I would take you home, but there is a lot of money out there for you two." With the gun leveled at him, Kaiden went pale. Charles held up his hands.

 _"Turn me towards him, I would like to talk to him."_ Charles angled his arm down, so that Jack's face could properly glare at Emilio.  _"Well, Jesus, I didn't think you were still in the business after that mess with Guadalajara. Good to know you are still wanted for all of those murders down there."_

"You don't scare me," Emilio dove into pure spanish at this point, throwing words around and letting his gun point directly at Charles.

_"I know that you'll just take the money and run. Like you did ten years ago. Like you did in Mexico. Elysium. I won't tell any of them where you are if you just turn the aircar around."_

"No deal, man. Not with one hundred g's on the line." Emilio, or Jesus, was just glaring at Jack, and by extension, Charles.

" _I'm sorry to hear that._ " Jack said, right before the words 'Administrator Override' showed up on the screen. Then a burst of red energy shot from the Omni-tool and hit Emilio's arm. His gun sparked, and started venting heat as if it had been overheating. Emilio swore, and went for a knife. " _I'm three minutes away, boys. Live that long and the big guns will be there."_

Charles looked at the knife that Emilio was holding up, a six inch military standard knife. Kaiden was looking in between Emilio and his knife, thinking. That wasn't going to go very well if Kaiden went up against a killer in his own aircar. Charles felt the world coming in close around him.

"They ain't gonna complain about a few cuts, niños." Charles saw the knife approaching. He looked over at his Omni-tool, with the action menu waiting to be used. He slammed his other hand onto the haptic screen, triggering all of the action items. Or at least that's what it felt like. A bit of blue energy reached out from his hand, sending a shock through Emilio. As he was still holding onto the controls for the car, the shock travelled into the lower quality aircar and caused a system crash. The screen on the car went dark, and they started losing altitude.

"Cha-" Kaiden started yelling, but the car hit the ground. Apparently they had been coming in to land anyways. With a long dragging sound, the aircar slammed into the ground. It bounced some, the sight of piles of junk shifting around the car as they impacted the hard turf.

The car was able to hold together, at least. Though it landed awkwardly, it managed to level out on the ground. The pile of junk they crashed into pierced the windshield, spraying glass and metal shards all over Emilio and Kaiden. Charles managed to be thrown back into his seat, where the safety features kicked in appropriately. When the dust cleared, Charles was looking at Kaiden and trying not to cough on all the dust. Kaiden himself had ended up contorted around the passenger seat, and Emilio was all over the steering column.

"Kaid!" He pulled his friend off the chair, pulling him back into the crumpled remains of his seat. For this trouble, he could hear Kaiden just groaning. "Kaid, get up man!"

"You're dead, niño." He heard a raspy voice say. Looking up, he saw Emilio pulling his body around with his one good arm. But that arm had a knife in it. Emilio started dragging his body around his chair, eyes focused on Charles. "One bounty is good enough." Emiio was covered in punctures and blood, trailing down his face.

Charles looked down at his Omni-tool, the action menu flashing as the micro-fabricator was trying to prepare for another action. It flashed refusals to act, as he tried to tap the screen to make anything happen, or go faster. But before it could happen, Emilio was there. He was flashing the knife forward, the blade biting into his forearm with the Omni-tool. He screamed, as Emilio kept coming forward, stabbing towards his face.

"No!" Both of them heard, as Kaiden came back to full consciousness. He started glowing blue, the sign of his biotics working. Bracing against the door, Kaiden launched himself forward, his right arm aiming for Emilio. Emilio couldn't get his wounded arm up in time, and his good arm was jabbing at Charles.

Emilio wasn't wearing any armor. So when Kaiden's fist, biotically amplified, hit resistance, that resistance was reduced to a weight of zero. Emilio's body was like paper to him. Kaiden had propelled himself forward far enough that his arm had no trouble going through Emilio as if he were nothing. Only when Kaiden got to his own shoulder did he stop. Emilio went quiet, his body spasming around Kaiden's arm. He dropped the knife, his limbs losing their tension.

Worst of all were the eyes. They still moved, glancing between them quickly and rationally before his head finally slumped, taking his awful gaze away from them. Kaiden's eyes were wide, seeing Emilio inches from his face. After all of this, and the body slumped onto his arm, Kaiden fainted. Charles just tried to open the aircar door, wanting to get out from all of this.

The door wouldn't budge, the metal stuck in position and the junk keeping the door closed. Charles was not going to be hindered. He managed to get his head out the window before all of the fatigue and feelings washed over him, making him start puking. Emilio was dead. Dead like in the movies. Kaiden did it, too.

It took him a while to stop puking. He couldn't turn around, to face his friend, to face Emilio. Part of him was disgusted by the sight of everything. Another part of him was angry, angry that Kaiden was able to stop him, while Charles couldn't do anything. He couldn't stop Emilio. That thought rankled him, making him want to go back and make sure Emilio was gone. But then his thoughts turned back to what was inside the car, and he lurched, almost throwing up again.

The windows were shot out, so he crawled out completely, just getting a little scraped up. Looking around, he could just see scrap heaps and piles of old junk around, and no lights anywhere. In the great distance, he could see the glow of New LA's arcology towers, as well as the glow of all of the other towers raised in the area.

Then he saw something else, coming from the moon. It was the shape of some sort of shuttlecraft, but he couldn't hear it. It was under a thousand feet above him, but the engines were quiet. Then he saw dots begin to drop from it, coming right towards him.

He held his breath, as one of those dots came in hard. With a slam and a burst of dust, an armored figure in a large harness landed. Within a second, the man in black armor stepped down from the harness and pulled out a rifle. Charles froze, thinking about the people that were after them.

He brought up his Omni-tool, bringing up the action menu. First, he had to disable the enemy's gun. He pressed the Sabotage button, and the soldier jerked as his weapon started venting heat. The man twisted, bearing in on Charles right after. Frantically, he pressed the Overload button, knowing that this was what caused the car to crash. The soldier grunted, his barriers getting shocked. But he shrugged it off and started running for Charles. Behind him was Kaiden, and he wasn't gonna save him this time.

He still had Neural Shock, which sounded really effective. He pressed the button, and a small burst of energy leapt from his Omni-tool to hit the soldier. The man froze, whatever this was causing him to stop moving. His body slid to a stop, right next to Charles. He tried not to freak out as the soldier slid to a stop, from whatever that was. Now, he had to kill him. He had been ready to shoot him, or worse.

Charles drew back his arm, and felt  _something_. It made him feel almost electrified, running all over his body. He carefully tried to focus it, but it just didn't want to move. It was all over, but any time he tried to do anything with that feeling, it didn't move. Kaiden seemed to have no trouble with his, though, so he did the same thing. He threw his fist forward, ready to accept that he would do the same thing as Kaiden.

Until the soldier caught his fist. The arm that caught him buckled, and he could feel the armored fist get pushed back. But then the energy that had been going through him ran out, and he felt hungry, tired, and exhausted at the same time.

"Damn, kid." The soldier said. "Harper said you biotics could hit hard, but I think you sprained my arm." He let go of Charles' hand, red marks on it from where he had held it. "I'm from Cerberus Station, sent here to save you. We saw your car go down, and had to use crash harnesses to get down here."

Charles backed away from him, grabbing a chunk of metal as a weapon. The soldier didn't even follow him, instead going to retrieve his gun from where he had dropped it. "I found him. Kid's got an arm." The soldier said, his gun in his left hand and his right hand holding his Omni-tool. "Yeah. Biotic potential, my ass. These kids are going to be dangerous. Land here, since Kelly and Phelps have the area secure."

Lights fell upon the area where the crash harness had landed, and a large shuttle started dropping. It was only a few dozen feet up, but its engines still were extremely quiet. Charles just tried to breathe. That was all he wanted to do at this point. He didn't have a chance against someone with a gun. Or three someones.

The side of the shuttle opened up, and dust was raised a little bit. Framed in the glow of the interior lights, there was a man in a suit. He walked down from the shuttle as if he wasn't in an actual danger zone.

"Charles. Glad to see you nearly killed our best agent." Came the voice of Jack Harper. He looked up, making sure it was really him. "Are you alright? You're bleeding."

Charles blinked. Looking down at his arm, he could see the cut from Emilio freely bleeding. Strange that he didn't feel it. As if just now realizing it, his body turned on him and decided to remind him that it existed. Burning pain flared from his arm, and he held it, trying to stop it. He just groaned, trying to keep it from spreading.

He looked up, seeing Jack Harper standing over him. "Medigel will fix you up fine. Where is Kaiden Alenko?"

Charles just pointed, back at the car.

"Is he alright?" Charles didn't even look up. "Well, you're injured, so I have to assume he is also injured." Jack moved past him, making Charles feel a bit guilty. He stood up, long enough to see Jack leaning in the window of the aircar. He seemed uncaring that his suit was getting scuffed or banged up from the metal and dust. With a nod of his head, Jack moved towards the other side of the car. "Charles, I could use your help here, if you can lift something for me."

He came around, finding Jack trying to move some sort of rubble blocking Kaiden's door from opening. Charles wouldn't look inside the car, but he helped him move the heavier objects. When the door could open, Jack levered it open, seeing Kaiden's feet flop down. He could hear his friend gasp as he realized that something was happening.

"Cha-" Kaiden started, but Jack was right there.

"Don't. Panic." Jack said, bracing Kaiden's shoulders. "We are going to get you out of here. You went right through his ribcage. Now you just need to pull your arm out." Jack held his shoulders. "Ignore it. Just pull, and then we can all go home." Charles ignored the sounds that followed, trying not to think about what Kaiden must be feeling. "Don't look away." Jack said.

"But-"

"This is your future. This is what you have to learn to control. This is why the Asari are the most powerful, the most dangerous. Don't look away, Alenko. You are one of the first to use your biotics and I want you to think about this moment. Everyone does something despicable at least once in their life. You have the misfortune of having the choice forced upon you. I did not."

Kaiden made a noise that Charles couldn't identify. But Jack just kept on talking. "I grew up in the slums. The bottom floors of the Arcology in West Chicago. My first theft was food, when I was a child. Eventually I stole cars, electronics, whatever it took to get by. Then, when I was sixteen, I was offered a job with one of the local banks in the area. I was hired to steal and recover defaulted loans. That meant I would break into people's homes, garages, and recover the vehicle or object that the bank was offered as collateral. Sometimes that would end poorly. But I liked my job. I did it well, even though every part of what I was doing was illegal. The bank didn't care about how it got the collateral, and any liability was my own. So that lead to some mistakes.

"I am not what anyone would call a Saint. Or even good natured. Most people label me as either a bastard, or worse. It is well known that I have killed people in the past, or that people under my employ have killed people for me. Right now you are probably thinking I am some sort of monster. But consider this. The Alliance military will give you the same orders. They will tell you to attack, and to kill. Most importantly, the only place in our society for biotics is in the military. Even if you try to leave, you will be on the run, and hunters like the one you just killed will try to bring you in for the rest of your natural life.

"You have only a couple years before this will happen again. When you turn eighteen, you will be invited to join the Alliance military, and you will take the option. Not because you want to, but because you have to. There are people out there like Emilio. Like the others who are after you, or who tried to take my daughters. The Alliance will promise to put you in the frontlines, where you can do the most good. So, I tell you right now, don't look away. You pull your arm out, and you don't blink." Jack waited a few seconds. "Now, pull!"

Charles managed to look up in time to see Kaiden pull his arm out of Emilio, pale faced and shaking, but not looking away. Neither of them did. Jack didn't either, and helped the both of them over to the shuttle. Then he got out some sort of medical kit and started getting them taken care of, the dust and blood on his suit not one of his worries.

* * *

James sighed, bored out of his mind. Boss had certainly found a safe location to hide aliens and his daughters. He just did not expect to be so bored. There was literally nothing to do here. They were in Alaska, in some cabin in the middle of nowhere. No Omni service, no people, and the only food was in frozen chunks of ice. But there was beer, water, and food. The forest surrounding them had plenty of animals in it to hunt, which Nyra enjoyed. The Krogan was happier just working with the old generator and some scrap metal. The real problem was that Jack's girls were bored. They were used to cruising the extranet, looking up information, and doing their classes.

Don, apparently the Krogan's name now, was trying to educate James on the way to fix up shuttles that used cheap helium-3 intakes. He claimed he could teach the girls a few things, but they weren't too interested in ship mechanics. Other than some fiddling, he did join them when they decided to watch some vids that James had stored on his Omni-tool. One of which was a remake of the Ninja Turtle series, which highly amused Don. Nyra thought they were rather tasteless and didn't have enough of a plotline. The girls of course loved it.

Which brought him to his current problems. With his coat, he could stay warm for the most part. Don had decided that he needed to learn how to use a staff, like the Donatello in the vid. As Nyra had laughed at him, he had nearly intimidated James into trying to teach him. So, out of boredom, he agreed.

"Where do you think I should hold this?" The Krogan asked, holding a branch of a tree he had ripped off. It wasn't straight, it had knobs everywhere. A hunting knife had been used to crudely remove the smaller branches, leaving an eight foot long curved piece of wood. James held a five foot one, due to a slight mistake in judging how much of the branch to remove.

"In the movie, he held it in the middle, but I doubt that's how people hold them in real life. Try holding the stick and trying to spin it like the turtle did." This idea lead to one of the sorrier sights of the day. A human and a Krogan both trying to figure out how to spin sticks with their hands. The Krogan had differently shaped hands, so he had to compensate for wrists that had twice the amount of bones than that of a human wrist.

Nyra laughed at them the whole time, finding this entirely too entertaining. The girls thought it was funny, but cool when Don figured out how to spin his eight foot stick. James took a while longer, as his crudely misshapen object did not spin very well. But before the sun set, they could spin their sticks really well. They could keep it up for at least a minute.

Of course, with goodness knew how long they would be stuck here, James had no idea how long he was going to be practicing with this. "Don? Boss might take a little while to get to us. Maybe we should cut some better sticks to make ours. These, well, suck." He didn't want to insult the man's work.

"We might need the Asari for that. They have better color definition than we do. With all of this white fluff, I can't tell anything. Don't tell her that, though. Don't want her getting in my face about her superiority any more than required."

He laughed at that. "She doesn't comment about me like that. She might like you, for all you know."

That got a barking laugh from the Krogan, who bellowed a couple times to get himself under control. "She'd rather biotically throw me around than come towards me with any intentions, Human. If she hasn't said anything hurtful or derogatory to you, then perhaps you should be the one worried for your sanity."

"Sanity? Earth women just take your money and your time." James commented. Working for Jack didn't leave much time for that, but every once in a while he would take a week's leave and go back to his house and find some girl to bring over. Though his quality of women had been improved a lot, thanks to everything he learned from Jack. Just watching him had given him a sense of timing and tact. Not to mention more money than he knew what to do with. His house was paid for, now all he had to do was get his own ship. But he was going to do that when he retired. Not anytime soon, with the way that technology was jumping forward every other year.

"Asari mate using their nervous system and linking it up to yours. So yeah, sanity. Some among my people believe that there is a number of Asari who can extract information from you, even kill you with that. But I haven't experienced that. I did get to be with one Asari, but I had to pay a lot for it. Sort of ruined it for me. But hey, you might have better luck." He looked around, trying to see through the thick branches. "Screw getting the Asari to help us. Let's find the right branches."

James nodded, a bit worried. Were Asari some sort of brain vampires or something? He doubted that Nyra was into him, since he had a pretty good vibe that she was just doing her job. Just like he was. Sort of awkwardly, the most beautiful women he had seen in his life had been the ones that he had shuttled to Jack. They were there for him, and treated him in a professional fashion. Even if both of them knew that it wasn't exactly professional. Some had been cordial, others demanding.

Nyra treated him as if she expected a certain quality of service. Just like all of those other women, except that Nyra felt a bit more committed. She also had better abs. He had glanced in the mirror a few times, just to fulfill his male curiosity. She was a looker, no doubt about it. If she had been human, he may have tried to hit on her, but out of courtesy for her protecting the girls, he hadn't. She was spending her days with them, trying to get them started on their biotics.

"Let's not get mind-raped, too."

"I think that translated poorly. Do humans view sex with fear? Or is that just the males? Among Krogan that is somewhat understandable, considering that the females get to decide if you can even come to the camp."

"Why do you live apart? Do you have families?"

"Krogan don't have family units, or structure. Our bloodlines matter, but they are static. You get raised in your clan by the same gender you are born as. You can shoot a gun by the time you're five. You get shot by some other kid or adult pretty soon after for being an annoying  _grrkle_. Then you learn about how you regenerate. To make things simple, human, Krogan don't have any structure. Not anymore. Maybe we had some a couple thousand years ago, but not anymore. First we nuked ourselves, and then the Salarians raised us to fight the Rachni. Then we fought them back, and died. For our 'crimes' we were given some sterility disease that makes only a few of every thousand children survive. So, after that, not many family units remained."

"So, what's your family like?"

The Krogan sighed. "You're lucky that we have nothing else to do here but talk and swing some wood around." James soon realized that all Krogan are required to remember their genetic ancestry back all the way to the progenitors. Their deeds, how long they lived, how many children they had, and from which of those they were descended from. In short, the next six hours were spent just discussing Krogan genetic history and deeds. Lucky that he was bored enough that it was actually interesting. Though, just in case he zoned out, he recorded it.

* * *

Author's Note

The chapters will begin to be updated more frequently now that I have a steady schedule. Also that minecraft no longer is playing friendly with modded servers for profit. I spent a good chunk of time on there, and have been slowly gaming less and less over the last year. I just wanted to put this in here to show what was happening on the side, though as we go on and more characters are introduced we will have other small chapters with their point of view included as well.

Krogan I had a large debate with my friends about, regarding exactly what kind of religion they would have. Ansestor worship only covers so many angles. They and the Salarians have that sort of vibe, and with the Asari it only matters if they are born with the right amount of care and devotion. For that race, there really isn't any sort of direction for breeding or evolution to follow. Their evolution suggests more of an experiment by the Protheans or something rather than a directed force that matched what we would call Darwinism or that sort of mental development.

So, as to this story, I will be bringing up quite a bit of the trouble behind cultural confusion, and how much an Asari dominated culture has broken the other races. They have subverted the Salarians, who are just the kind of people who are short lived and able to copy and emulate other races. Krogan could have become something for themselves, but the Asari were threatened by them, and their longer life spans. So they may or may not have acted in a way to create the Krogan rebellions, and all too happily allowed the Genophage to occur. The blame for the Genophage is never placed upon the Asari, who must have found a genetic plague an acceptable reason to stop the Krogan.

Quarians are an enigma that I will address before too long. Though the Hanar I have absolutely no idea what to do about. Perhaps I might have some Hanar convert to Christianity, or something. PM or review me if you think that would be a terrible idea. Or a great one.

Anyways, thanks for listening to my rambling, and I look forward to more from you guys. I am currently reading through a wonderful story from LogicalPremise, called "Of Sheep and Battle Chicken". Updating, dark, and quite fun to read. I recommend his story if you are looking for another humanity with a darker past and present. Not to mention his Sara Y. Shepard is one of the most developed and well done on the site.


	16. Fugue: Unhealthy Obsessions

Chapter 16

January 4th, 2165, Tartarus Station

Ten days, and he had heard nothing from his girls. All good news in his book. James had orders to break radio silence and get up to Tartarus as soon as possible. During the First Contact War, Jack had bought a heavily armored shuttle, and then had Amandeep install all kinds of new defense systems. Missile pods, ECM, the works. He had Nyra and Gatatog Grrkl there, who should be trustworthy. He sent a message to Nyra giving her the right to kill him if he threatened his girls, before they went out of contact.

He had rescued a couple of kids, most especially Charles Archer and Kaiden Alenko. A few others had watchers placed over them during their vacation, but the final report came in only over the last couple of days. Jennifer Gosling had 'drowned' somewhere along the Rhine River. He was positive that she had been taken by whoever they were, as well as one other young girl. Candide Yakshmi. She had been in Turkey, visiting family, and the local insurgent groups had taken her. For money of course, probably to be wasted in trying to reclaim some homeland from one of the System Alliance member nations.

The ping of a priority call came in, on his private line. He checked over his appearance, correcting one of his sleeves and adjusting his collar, before answering. "This is Harper."

"Jack. So pleased to see you." The face of Donovan Hock came over his private line. Henry must have shared his encryption files. "A few hours ago, I managed to find traces of deals that had gone down over Candide. Some local mercenaries hired a rebel group to capture her, for a paltry sum. But still, the group had a much more direct account to trace."

Jack's fingers flew across the keyboards, checking over his own investigation into where the funds were coming from. The datapad he had retrieved from Kaiden and Charles had some information, but it all dead ended in accounts in the Terminus. The Volus out in the Terminus systems ran quite the system, secure banking that many humans were making use of. Headquartered on Illium, no less.

"So, who is stealing the children?"

"A Batarian company that only exists on paper, and has no official records in Citadel Space. But I don't feel like chasing through the hoops looking for that information, I instead found a ship manifest for them. None of their ships exist, except for one. Are you familiar with Quarians at all, Jack?"  _Not for a decade, at least_ , was his thought.

"Not really."

"I've got a name of at least one who is sensitive to human concerns. You can find him on Omega." A contact packet arrived on his Omni-tool. He didn't open it, as it would have to be scanned and made secure first. Who knew what Hock had on these files. He didn't trust them in the slightest. "This Quarian served on one of the ships that the Batarian company owned. He might be your link to what you need."

Jack nodded. "The kids will be coming back from their break tomorrow, and no other attacks have been reported. Or they are waiting for the chaos of all the mass transit that will be occurring. Once they are back on Tartarus, they will be safer." They wouldn't be safe, not completely, until the threat to them had been made quiet.

"I have a request, in return for all of this." Hock said. Strangely the man seemed distracted while talking to him, glancing over at other consoles in the room he was in.

"Calling the favor in already?" Jack said. "I didn't think you to be the desperate type."

"Normally, not. But I have to fulfill obligations to get information, the same as you. Money won't satisfy this client, and I can acquire the information through you easier than other routes. A few months ago you entertained an Asari Matriarch. Benezia T'Soni, I believe."

"If you are asking if I slept with her, I told her not until the second date." Rumors were more powerful when there was a hint of truth. Benezia had told him that she didn't sleep without becoming friends first. Jack had declined, not wanting to expose his mind and its secrets to an Asari known for her ability to analyze people.

Hock laughed a bit at that. "No, I am sure that you will go after that option eventually. Asari come in a few flavors of delectable. I want to know what she accessed when she went into the Mars Archive. I know that you are one of the few people that are familiar with the structure and how it works. I just need to know what files she was looking at within the Archive."

"The people I would get that data from would need to know who your client is, then. That is one of the most secure file networks in the entire Alliance. I helped them make it that way, as you are probably aware. If your client is willing to be open about their identity, then I can help. But that is one thing that is far beyond my capabilities." That was a near lie. He theoretically could do it, but using the same backdoor that was the exit strategy for the attack on the Prothean Archive was a bad idea. Alliance Intelligence would go to their top expert on the attack, Hannah Shepard, and then she would connect the dots and come to shoot him in the head.

Hannah Shepard was a pawn in the grand scheme of things. At her core, she was still a child that had never quite left the nest. She had never left her parent's home, and moves to new locations shocked her. She was a classic type A personality that had been picked up by the Intelligence Operatives. She relied on praise from her superiors, and in fact didn't function well on her own. The Intelligence Office had made sure that she didn't have the tools to survive long without wanting to return to the nest. When Jack had taken her in, it had been a near seamless transition for her to start taking orders from him, instead of from her Alliance Superiors. As long as she saw life in a clear coating of orders and rules, Hannah Shepard could function well. She knew her legal and physical limits, and was mentally comfortable with any action that the government dictated to her.

Any history with him wouldn't matter if they told her to shoot him. She was loyal, and even though she might feel free and an agent of her own, she was one of the most restricted agents that they had. Other, more trusted agents they would allow on leave. Hannah had been given hours in between assignments. He had checked her file when she had been brought in to the hospital, and the chief doctor had demanded a full file on her wounds. That had included her down time, according to the heart monitor in her Omni-tool.

"My client, they do not wish to be identified." Hock said, bringing Jack out of his reverie. "Perhaps something else, then." Jack was still going to investigate what Benezia accessed, but he had the rights to that information. Sharing it was a bit more troublesome.

"Only if this Quarian contact is as good as his word. Then we can talk business. Though I found a few signs that aliens had been sighted in weird places around Earth lately. If that is your client, you should warn them that any aliens are being brought in for questioning."

"Quite." Was his only response. "Call me when you talk to the Quarian. His name is She'Vrash. His last name is after some ugly ship name, nar Kib-Kib or something." A Quarian that was still on his pilgrimage. Not a bad contact. They were usually desperate, for money, food, or otherwise. As such, an easy contact to work with.

"You'll hear from me one way or another, Hock. Good Evening."

"Evening, Harper."

Jack gently pressed the haptic key to end the call, and then moved all of the transferred files to one of his secure environments. Consoles not connected to anything important could be turned into a secure system, where he could open files and risk them spraying any viruses around. His Omni-tool would have to be scrapped, too. He couldn't take the chance that Hock had any sort of comm bugs. So he placed both on the table, marking the tool for its inevitable destruction and the server to receive the data from his tool. Just the sent packets, but not the data from his own OSD.

The packets opened up, and the system immediately registered some low level intrusive files. Hock wasn't entirely trusting, but he couldn't blame him. Jack would have sent the same thing. These were just small data cycling bits of software, looking for any open information or easily accessible data. Usually they were just flak in the air to hide something far nastier in the file systems.

Jack ignored that, bringing out a notepad and a pen. Expensive, yes, but worth it to preserve any information that was on this. The data packets revealed bank statements leading to a Batarian company, ostensibly government supported. But contacting any government official there would be a waste of time, considering that each had their own designs on companies and groups within their control. Focus being brought on this company from the Batarian government would just make all of the data and targetable resources disappear. So that was not an option.

He wrote down the bank account numbers and statements. Volus secured banking clans on Illium were the keepers of the money. Apparently Haran Galactic Tourism wasn't profitable enough to be noticed by the Batarian Hegemony. Or it didn't exist enough in the Hegemony to be a threat.

More likely than not it was just a legal cover or alias for a group in the Terminus, some sort of front that could transfer their funds legally. He considered this. Money was clearly seen going from Haran to Bahraini Freedom Fighters, in compensation for Candide. Money was transferred from Haran again to the sales branch of a third party buyer on Earth. Notably, a buyer of computers and services for the Wu Coordinate, owned by Chiyu Wu. So the Reds had been contracted for this, at some level. Perhaps not all of them, but certainly the ones with more greed than most.

He looked up Chiyu Wu. Ever since her harrowing experience at Shanxi eight years ago, she had become more of a bigot. Her products were not marketed to the greater galactic community, as well as being somewhat withdrawn from the public eye. Rumors had been spread that she had been disfigured or scarred horribly during the Turian invasion, and went through some surgery to repair the damage.

He couldn't confirm that. He couldn't even confirm that she had survived. But her accounts showed activity, and her companies still showed her as being on the board. Making executive decisions, in fact. She wouldn't want to talk to him about it, but she was someone he could call. He had very little leverage that he could place against her, other than framing her for the possible deaths of thousands of Reds in the tunnels of Shanxi. He hadn't been able to find out whose bright idea it was to send all of the civilians into the deepest tunnels. The escape route had collapsed in the fifth day of bombardment.

The Systems Alliance wouldn't help them at all. The biotics program was some sort of pipe dream to them, one that they didn't want to spend money on or see as a viable way of balancing power between the races. Jack couldn't request any help from them. Their idea was to stick all of them onboard a space station that they could easily destroy or kill if they were too threatening.

He had to take things into his own hands, this time. Most of the time he preferred that, but right now he was trusting his daughters to be safe in whatever safe house James had taken them to. Hannah wasn't actually going to be in traction for months. Instead, she was only going to be down for a short while. The shot had only destroyed cartilage and a couple of nerve endings. The doctors claimed that it would all be fixed up soon. Within weeks, they said. The back issue needed to be addressed so that she could handle full combat environments, as well as getting her health back in order. Someone up high in the command structure decided that she all of the sudden had non transferrable paid leave to be enacted. Twelve years worth, apparently.

* * *

Hannah was looking at almost six months of paid leave, where she could recover and do whatever she wanted. Which lead to Jack's next, more uncomfortable task. He knocked on the thin door, hearing nothing on the other side.

"Come in!"

His steps were measured, carefully calculated to emulate a medical professional, should one of the nurses try to listen in. He was wearing borrowed smocks and a security keycard. With some scrubs and a set of gloves on his hands, he would leave no trace for that bigot of a chief administrator to blame him with. They had told him that he couldn't visit Hannah due to his 'destabilizing influence'. It reeked of Alliance Intelligence orders for her to avoid him. They liked their pet dog being controlled exclusively.

"I was just reviewing your file. Thought I would drop in." He said casually, not holding anything of great importance. But an open Omni-tool was enough to fool the cameras.

"Jack..?" Hannah Shepard carefully asked. She seemed surprised to see him. "They said you had been sent to the Citadel for something."

"Your superiors don't like me much, still. Ross still has her dogs following my trail I left them after Shanxi, probably." He came over to her bed, inspecting the console that displayed her readouts. "They also want to keep you contained. Considering that you are one of their most free agents, and most informed, they want to keep you as close to them as possible."

"What's going on, Jack?" She asked.

"I have a lead, but it is almost certainly a trap meant to kill me. I have no one I can trust and you were just scheduled for six months of paid leave. Curiously, they have already filed to have you spend your leave in one of their training camps. Any time I speak to you, I gain a large following of government observers. Nothing like when I outright abducted you, but something similar."

"What, are you worried that they might suspect you of treason? Again?"

"Well, I do plan on brokering a deal with some Batarians, but that isn't what I was getting at. I thought I was the target this entire time, but I was wrong. You, not me, are the target of their surveillance. You have something that they are obviously worried about. So I came to warn you, that they want to send you off to one of their secure bases for the next six months. Paid leave my pale ass, it sounds like they are just going to make you disappear."

Hannah gave him a long look. "How do you think that?"

"You've always been in a controlled environment. All of your fellow Infiltrators are given the same treatment. They don't want you to leave their 'protective' space. As long as they are controlling you, they don't care. They will stock all of you with enough missions that you'll always be busy or in between them. No time off, no time to think for yourself, and all of you understaffed. They have denied dozens of applicants to the Cerberus Programs over the last year, and I am beginning to see a pattern. One where they don't trust you."

"Jack, I've never had any reason to believe that they aren't doing this for the right purpose." Hannah said, still in the bed. "Not to mention that you only tell half of the truth. Tell me something that I can believe." She folded her arms.

Jack adjusted his Omni-tool's jamming settings to the highest he could safely tune them to. "I am only going to say this once. More importantly, this is the reason that Ross wants me dead. If she knew that I was fully aware of this, I would be dead within hours. Your parents were not killed by terrorists. The attack on the Prothean Archive was a planned action by a deniable liability force that was recruited from within the Alliance Intelligence Services."

"What?" Hannah said quietly. "I saw all of the files! I know more about that attack than anyone else alive!" Her voice got louder with each word. "How do you plan to prove this! Video footage?"

Jack gave her the most serious look he could. "I drove the shuttle to make sure they all got onboard the Mars Archive quietly. They entered through the Garbage compactor, which was scheduled for maintenance that week. That wouldn't be in any records you could find, I guarantee. Part of the files removed in the attack."

"You drove the shuttle? Jack that's the worst lie I've ever heard from your mouth in a long time." Hannah scoffed, but her eyes darted around, unwilling to look him in the eye.

"I still have the shuttle. Perfectly preserved if you ever want to see it." Jack sighed. "But that isn't the important part. The important part of this is that I need to tell you that I'm sorry. If anyone on this planet deserves that to be said, it is you. You know that I treat most other humans like tools in a shed. I don't respect their wishes unless I can profit from them, or I just take advantage of their weakness and ignore their wishes entirely. All of that pales to what I have done to you. So, for the record, I owe you more than just a simple apology. But before I go off to Omega to check this lead, or you go off to disappear, I needed you to know. I'm sorry for the attack. For your parents. For your life being made into the mockery it has been." Jack wasn't interrupted during this. "Ross and the Intelligence service want me dead for my part in the attack on Mars. But you are the only witness to the part of the plan that went wrong, with Grace Constantine not standing down. You are the missing link between all of the pieces. Your records are hidden, your account of the events can never be released, because officially, you don't exist. The Alliance wants you to be quiet, and they feed you information to keep you that way.

"Grace Constantine's death was hidden because she stopped the attack from achieving its real purpose, that being the theft of certain data the Protheans left behind for the lesser races. The same data that Asari and Salarian research teams are after. The data I got my hands on. My part in the attack was to get the men in and out of the Archive. I still have the shuttle and the data, untranslated of course. The only witness that has any proof that their agents were involved that is still alive is you. So, the moment you realize that, or write that down in your investigation file, you're going to die. Or simply disappear on leave somewhere. With no family and no serious contacts outside of your office, your death can be covered up easily. In fact, the only person that would notice you being gone is me. Which is the reason that I am put under close surveillance just talking to you, or getting near you. Wake up Hannah, before you're dead."

He placed a datapad in front of her. It contained the only file he had bothered pulling out of the Prothean Archive and translating. It explained the threat of Indoctrination. Nanotechnology, smaller than the ability to scan, able to influence the bodies and minds of those it came in contact with. It hides in your nerve endings, small enough to create signals but too close to organic tissue to risk scanning in depth. Nerve damage is hard to cure, after all. "Hannah, the Alliance wanted to weaponize this. A Prothean superweapon that may have been responsible for their downfall. Before you say anything, that datapad is only going to be readable for the next hour. Get as far as you wish, but the data will burn out in an hour. Only when you think and consider all of this, don't call me. Don't contact me." She looked confused when he told her that. "If you really feel like the Alliance is worthy of your time and effort, keep doing what you are doing. If it isn't, ask to resign and meet me on the Citadel. I'll find a way to keep you alive for when they send their wetwork teams. But as of right now, I am sorry. You more than anyone else deserves that much."

He placed one other object on the table. It was a small digital tag, a receipt with a copy of a certificate of authenticity. "You also bled through and ruined one of six original bunny suits left over from the 1900's. Please replace it before you come back. Let's call it the price of admission." He left that, and then made it appear that he had finished his orderly duties as a doctor and left the room. Camera angles and files would only see a man with scrubs and a medical mask, talking to a patient. But Jack had just explained to Hannah how he had gotten the men from Alliance Intelligence onboard the Mars Archive. Now she would start connecting the dots, until she would draw the appropriate conclusion, namely that the Intelligence Office was holding her captive. A useful captive, at that. The last witness to the most damning act that the government could have been responsible for in the Council's eyes.

Jack tried not to chuckle at how they would react. They would try to kill Hannah, because she was no longer going to be their smooth little pawn. Nor would she be his, either. He didn't want her to fall back into the cycle of just following orders, because one day he would need her to take over for him. Cerberus would remain a research foundation, but jack had to get other plans off the ground. He would need a director to take control of it in his absence. He didn't trust Hannah to not come after him at some point, but she would at least be able to take care of all of his things if he decided to go paramilitary again.

Walking out of the hospital, Jack shed his disguise in one of his safe rooms on Tartarus and walked over to the docks. He very muched hoped that Hannah had the good sense to know what to do after all of this. He keyed up his Omni-tool, bringing up a connection to Todd Hislopp.

"Todd, I would like to sell my stock in the main company, and buy out everyone else in the Grantham Engineering branch. I have a need for that company. When you get this message, feel free to complain and leave it in a clearly expressed format my lawyer can't stop you with. I apologize for the rush, but I need the leverage in a deal." He clicked the message to end, and queued up a shuttle to take him to Arcturus.

Grantham Engineering was one of his ideas that had finally reached maturity, the newest generation of Ashland-Hislopp's engineering program. They had been building four different mobile shipyards, and Grantham, England, was the location of one of the command modules that was finishing construction. The mobile dockyards would be ready to be sent to any planet, to do on site repairs and replacement of parts. Meant to be the ultimate answer to customer service for the Alliance Navy, Ashland-Hislopp was expecting each of these mobile shipyards to generate plenty of revenue as they toured around Alliance Space.

Jack had invested heavily in the program, as having static shipyards would only make them targets. Moving ones just made so much more sense. More expensive, yes, but making so much more sense. The flight to Arcturus only took an hour and a half, due to the high speed shuttle that he flew out in.

Once there, he walked over to the corporate alley of businesses that supported and upheld the Alliance. Arcturus was the capital of the Systems Alliance, and the support staff included many different companies. Including one that he had personally taken an interest in. The door to Elanus Risk Control Services glowed bright with the figure of an Alliance rifle held defensively. This was the answer to many of the private security problems that plagued the colonies and other areas. Private contacted security forces were just as common as military forces, and were cheaper in some ways.

When he walked inside the small office, an admittedly attractive woman was at the desk. Asian descent, but not exactly his usual interest. She turned to the door, a practiced smile on her face. Her clothes were not exactly perfect, and her posture was a bit slouched. In short, new to the job.

"How can I help you, Sir?"

"I'll need one of your finer security teams, and one of the corvettes that your company uses to transfer supplies and teams. I'm headed to Omega."

"One moment, Sir. My supervisor will be out in a moment to assist you." Her smile never wavered, even with his demand. "But I can verify that we do have the supplies and men on hand to do what you have asked for. Though I regret to inform you, Omega is on our list of planets that we cannot provide insurance policies for."

Professional. He could appreciate that. Perhaps her look was not the product of being a new hire, but simply someone used to the job and putting aside that level of detail. "Would that list also include the Citadel or Illium?"

"Illium, yes, the Citadel, no. We have a new office planned in the Zakera ward of the Citadel that we will be providing close support from. As such, we can verify and guarantee the insurance policy there. Omega has been rated as a class two world, where the general citizens would be happy to kill us and take our gear for their own means. As such, combat fees are paid for beforehand."

"I am not minding that, and in fact I would like the men I take with me to be properly rewarded for going into that place. How much for the corvette and fifteen men?"

A voice came from the side, where a door had opened up. "Eight thousand a day for the corvette. Four thousand, five hundred per day for the men. Double for each day spent on Omega or other environments where combat is expected and likely." The man that emerged from the side office was large and well rounded, seemingly a military type. "Dean Summers." He held out his hand.

Jack shook it, not expecting the gentle handshake. Most military men had a handshake that nearly crushed bones. "Jack Harper, CEO of the Cerberus Foundation. Partner in Earth First Ventures." Jack only listed those two companies due to their previous work with Elanus. Earth First had funded Elanus initially, and Cerberus washouts had ended up in Elanus as well.

"Glad to have you, Mr. Harper. Let me get the datapad on a secure line and we can sign off on this. Though we express our appreciation that one of the members of Earth First can find us useful. We have enjoyed all of our dealings with your company for the past four years." Jack raised an eyebrow. He was only included in the initial public offering, when Elanus had gone into the public market for its stocks. If they continued doing business, then Jack was being kept out of it. Probably one of his more corrupt board members trying for a little bit of extra money. He couldn't fault him. Greed drove most of the people in his business.

"Could you please have the corvette prepped for immediate launch? I have something time sensitive that needs to be done." His Omni-tool beeped, signalling an incoming call. Noticing that it was from his secretary, he sent it to the chat function.

 _Currently in a meeting. Who is at my office?_  The only reason that his secretary would be calling is if there was someone already at his office physically. The man was worthless otherwise, and probably on the payroll of five other sources.

 _Alliance Major Runya Ross. Says that it is urgent._  Jack blinked. That was not something that he was interested in getting near. Ross had been sacked. Officially she was dead to the government, but if she was showing up out of the blue like this, she was probably on a hunt for something or someone. Or there to kill him, but she didn't have enough evidence to do that.

_Send me a live image, please. Runya Ross is an old friend of mine, and I would like to validate her identity._

The secretary complied, and Jack's subsystem administration protocols made sure that he was not being fed a false image. The person in front of his desk was not Ross, at all. It was a taller woman of European ancestry. Blonde, with blue eyes.  She had a legitimate uniform from the Alliance Intelligence Office, but that was easily faked. He would need to risk talking to her to get any more intel than that.

 _Put her in my schedule for next week. This week I am on the Citadel meeting with certain dignitaries._  The secretary would get the snub easily enough. Not to mention have whoever he was feeding information to go to their contacts on the Citadel to look for Jack. But the Intelligence Office would notice if he grabbed too much attention on Omega. Or worse, if he ever got Aria T'loak's attention. Being associated with that crimelord would kill his chances at any future he wanted for further Cerberus support.

Looking back up from his Omni-tool, he could see Summers ready with the secure datapad, but politely waiting for Jack to finish what he was working on. "Here is the contract, Mr. Harper. Just sign and place a data card with the bank account you want this connected to." He looked down at his own Omni-tool, and smiled. "Your corvette is also prepared. Docking bay E21, and your security team is led by Doran Summers. My cousin should be able to get you out of any trouble you run into out there."

"I appreciate that. I assume your cousin is the most competent person you could call upon?" The man's eyes didn't drift or move away from his, betraying no guilt or worry.

"Yes. I can personally vouch for your safety if he is in charge. More importantly, he is used to fighting Krogan and other such groups. On Omega you're going to find Batarians, Turians who have broken their oaths to the Hierarchy, Asari drug dealers, and Salarian tech gangs. My men will be armed for all of that."

Jack shook the man's hand. "Then I hope you won't mind if I bring some of my own weapons on the corvette? Just for safety's sake."

"Not at all. Let me take your bag and we can get you through as soon as your accounts go through." Jack nodded, happy that at least this trumped up mercenary company was of higher quality than Vido's. Rumor had it that the man had somehow survived Shanxi. The walk through the air filtrated corridors of Arcturus was brisk, if a bit cold. The docking rings were still being expanded, to fit the needs of the ever present Human expansion. Their territory was growing, and with every new system came new representatives, and new needs. Which of course required more reserved parking docks. Tartarus had one, ostensibly for any ships they might need in the future.

The corvette that Jack was brought to was squat, ugly, and had the disgusting green color of the company splashed all around the base Alliance gunmetal white. In short, it could be confused as a Quarian or Volus ship. He chose not to comment on the sin of a paint job, seeing that the dock was full of workers in uniform rushing to get supplies loaded. The uniform didn't look any better than the ship did, but at least the armor looked professional. The green trim around the gunmetal grey was actually appealing. Waiting at the dock was a near duplicate of Summers, just shorter with a wider set of shoulders. Jack walked over to him, seeing that his armor was a bit used, with signs of being patched up with Omni-gel or fabricated parts on the torso.

"Owen Summers, glad to have you here, Mr. Harper." The man offered his hand, which Jack took. The grip was more crushing this time, probably due to the powered gloves of the armor. But it was still not excessive. They must focus on making sure that their clients are treated with respect. Either that or they had no military training. He hoped that he was right on his first guess.

"Thank you Mr. Summers. Are you ready to head out to Omega?"

"The corvette,  _Jeannette_ , is ready. Are there any other stops planned?"

"Not at the moment, but Illium might be a required stopping point, possibly the Citadel or Thessia as well." He noticed that none of the men looked uncomfortable at the mention of two dangerous places. Thessia was not one of those places that Humans visited very often, if at all. They claimed to be serene and peaceful, but their planet had so many layers of overlapping security that it was impossible to do any sort of sightseeing. Due to their age and uncaring nature for the hasty humans, you needed to reserve sights and hotels almost two to five years out. Which made any random visitor to Thessia limited to cheap bars, restaurants, and whatever small bits of luck they could get for any activities happening in the streets.

Asari were too long lived to appreciate hitchhiking or other such things that humans liked to do or did often. So Thessia would only be if he was especially desperate. Or stupid. Right now he was putting a lot on the line. "I'm ready to leave now, if you're men are as well. Make for Omega and let me know when we are on approach." He received a notification that he had been given a set of small quarters for the trip. Hardly more than a bed and an extranet console. The room was small enough to make two people standing in it seem cramped.

But it was a small enough place that he could ensure there were no recording devices. Or at least any that survived his use of Omni-tool abilities wouldn't be able to continue functioning. He did have the freedom to finally write something that wouldn't be noticed. He sent a small text file to one of his servers, which would then be bounced in a few hundred different pieces to a few different email servers. But every piece was simply chaff for the real message, which was as simple as he could get it.

 _Stay. Stay. Stay._  James was in one of his safe houses, definitely not the one in El Paso Texas, as that one was Jack's personal one. He hadn't shown James that, but he had shown him the other four. Two were in Africa, as no one expected him to go and hide in an abandoned mosque. Even less would expect him to have a cave network in the Congo. Another was in Alaska, and the last was in Russia, nestled away in the St. Petersburg suburbs.

James would be in one of those, and Jack had no intention of showing the many surveillance cells that watched him where his most secure locations were. He was sure that they knew he had contract the  _Jeanette_ , and had listed Omega as a place he might go. That meant that a search would be put out all over Alliance Space. He grinned thinking about how they would have to scramble to get agents and listeners in place at Thessia. Illium, too, would be an expensive stop for them. But right now it all came down to Hannah. He had only realized a small time ago that she was the one they had to silence. As long as she was a dutiful little assassin of theirs, she was perfectly calm to them. Jack had participated in the Prothean Archive attack, yes, but he had still lied to Hannah.

He wasn't going to admit to making the attack happen. Nor would he admit to leading a group of outlier Intelligence agents into believing that the Protheans had a super weapon used to control large populations mentally. If Hannah knew all of the facts, he would be dead. He still had that shuttle that he had flown, one with pre-element zero engines. It wouldn't be detected in any scanner sweeps, and the infamous Death Valley already had plenty of dessicated hulks of cars and shuttles everywhere. He had it contained, the DNA traces still good. Hannah could use that to track it all back to the Alliance, who would assume that someone was dirty in there somewhere. But the long and the short of it was that everyone above a certain level was dirty. The Intelligence office was full of the corrupt, the greedy, and those with the knowledge and capacity for evil were hired to stop others. Of course it would go the way of the world.

Jack wouldn't have been so successful otherwise. Leaning back in his chair, he wished that he had planned ahead and bought a pack of cigarettes for the trip. He was really starting to miss his daughters. Not that he would say that to anyone. His board of directors would eat him up over this. In fact, if all went well his board would sack him in the next month or two. With thoughts categorizing all of the things that he would need, he let himself get a few hours of sleep.

He woke up to his Omni-tool beeping. He opened the haptic screen, noting that he had slept six hours. The message waiting for him was one that he had been expecting, but had hoped would come in a few days.

_Jack,_

_The board would like an explanation of your actions. You know all too well that the Mansfield Accord prevents any single person from owning an entire shipyard or facility that can produce ships capable of interstellar warfare. Members of the board have already reported your actions, and we require an explanation within one standard week. Preferably in person. We request that you come to the board meeting in four days, at 8 am local standard time. Please call and let me know what is going on, Jack. You owe me that much._

_Todd Hislopp_

He also had another one from his lawyer.

_To my trusted Employer,_

_Your accounts have currently gone beyond balance. In buying out that shipyard, a hold was placed upon your stock and liquid wealth. Until you are no longer in danger of being arrested for breaking the Mansfield Accord, we are required to freeze your accounts. However, we have chosen to allow you a small spending account to allow you all due haste in your actions to fix your worries. Your bank representative has yet to make any specific statement about any spending or financial decisions that you have made in the past, as normally required by the Mansfield Accord. My law office will not be accessible for the next week, as we are on our normally scheduled break._

_Jack, I might need another team just to handle all of the calls and lawsuits coming in at you right now. One might even be a class action lawsuit directed at your investment into Sirta Foundation, and we are taking this week off to give you time. The bank has done all it can, and I've been put under surveillance. Please make your play soon, as you are losing money every day. Currently your account balance is short a few million credits, but any expenditure you make right now is being happily added to that. Every day you don't figure this out, you are being fined ten or twenty million credits, and you can imagine that the bank is not happy to hear that._

_Your daughter's accounts and trust fund is even being targeted. There is just too much being thrown at us right now to assume it is anything other than planned. I'll need your input as to who we are going to go to for enough money to pull us out of this. Please get back to me as soon as possible._

_R. Hyde_

Jack grimaced. He was hoping that his breach of the Mansfield Accord would be noticed later. It appeared that he had somehow kicked some sort of hornet's nest, with all the amount of trouble he was getting into. Either that or his government contacts were failing to protect him. Troubling all around. At least his bank and lawyer trusted him implicitly. Or at least for a week before they would actively begin selling his location and keep their end of the liability down.

He couldn't fault them, but they would love his idea. Once he made it profitable, of course. Profit was what would drive them. He had a history of record breaking deals, and moments that approached this kind of economic trouble. But they had never frozen his assets before. That was a new feeling.

He stretched, and stepped out onto the main section of the corvette. The interior hallway was the only one that traversed the ship, and was heavily armored. It was also where the life support systems were, as well as an armory that looked built into the wall. The corvette was small, a craft that didn't have much room for wasted space. He didn't mind, unlike most people of his lifestyle. He did regret the loss of the  _Talon_ , but with that Batarian frigate waiting outside there was not much he could do. Abandoning his stash of alcohol and clothes had been a good idea, albeit expensive.

Musing to himself, it didn't take long to get to the command room. With the entire corvette being only thirty five meters long, the main hallway ended quickly. He tapped on the door controls, a chime going off. An answering chime followed a few seconds later, and the doors opened. They were thick, at least two inches of metal between him and the bridge. If it could even be called that. It was four seats and a wide viewport. It was thin enough to see where the boarding dock would be, but most of the view was limited to a thin horizontal strip. So the main use of the windows would be for basic comfort. Haptic screens would be the main way of seeing what was going on around them.

Sitting in the pilot's seat was one of the men, in just his hardsuit. He was looking over the haptic screens, and motioned to one of the three spare seats. "Sit down if you're bored of being inside those sardine cans. Company won't shell out the bigger ships unless you have a really big problem."

Jack did so, noting that the fake leather was only a flimsy layer of plastic over the metal of the chairs. He sat in the co-pilot's chair, and brought up the haptic interface. They were still hours out from a secondary relay that connected to the Sahabrik relay. From there, Omega was only an hour or so out from the relay there, and then the trouble would start. He settled in to watch the news, where nothing out of the ordinary was being reported. The Salarians had somehow covered up their tracks from the Sirta attack, though it was said that an illegal tech gang was seen actively trying to steal from Sirta.

Salarians paying off government authorities he was used to seeing. They had their tracks covered, except for the fact that Jack had kept them from their objective. As long as Sirta was protected, Jack's own profits and Humanity itself could have a serious market value. The larger their economy was before April, when the Alliance Senate signed the Citadel Accord, the better off they could be.

But before they signed that, Jack had to enact some plans. Economic restrictions would become Citadel Standard, which meant that their markets would be flooded by Asari investors, Salarians, and even more threatening Batarian firms. Those he was watching out for more closely than most. Elcor didn't have a strong enough economy to be a threat, as theirs focused on the mining of extreme gravity worlds and tough environments that no other races could go into.

Since he had hours, he wrote up a small explanation report to Todd about the shipyard, simply mentioning that he was doing business with another government to get premier rights to their blueprints and technology. He apologized for the financial panic, and told Todd to just trust him. As he had never gone behind his back before without good reason, that he should trust him again this time. Todd did not respond immediately, which was at least promising. Though it was also somewhere around four in the morning his time. To his lawyer, Richard Hyde, he sent only a short terse statement that he expected to be targeted, and that people wanted him gone before the Alliance joined the Citadel officially. No reply came from James, but he did get a note from Matriarch Benezia.

She said in a four page memo that she was concerned that her chief commando sent to Earth had not reported in recently, and that the honor of her house would be at risk if anything happened to her. Jack did not want to answer a Matriarch right now, but that was what his trip to Thessia could be for. Though he did not regret making the Alliance Intelligence Office try to scan anything belonging to the House T'Soni.

He then had to use the extranet for something he would rather have sent his interns after, but since he had the time he did it himself. The quarian market value was almost unknown, and he wanted to know if they did have any sort of market value. After three hours of searching through Volus information and banking clan reports from three hundred years ago, he found something rather curious. There had been an Asari boycott on quarian produced technology and items ever since they had invented the Geth. This boycott eventually spread throughout the rest of Council Space, until the quarians could only sell their goods to the Terminus. Which meant that the Volus withdrew their quarian owned accounts after they were removed from Citadel Space.

Strange that they owned so little even that far back. Now, the only way to track them was by quarian made items that were sold in some parts of the Hades Gamma sector. Hardly a full percent of the market was quarian even in that sector, their strongest economic area. Looking closer, he could see that often they were paid with raw resources and never with any processed goods. Some Volus ships sold them Turian food, but did so at a premium rate. Everything else they got for themselves.

Then there was this contact that Hock had told him about. She'Vrash nar Qwib-Qwib. Hardly any information on him, other than the fact that he was a mercenary for hire, whose services didn't come cheaply. Quarians normally on their pilgrimage worked as hired labor or technicians. He knew that some of them were hired by a human firm on Sidon, as they were ordering Turian food in Alliance Space. That kind of transaction was closely tracked. He knew that they were doing some sort of research on artificial intelligence, but didn't care too much. Any research that they did would only be in the opening phases. Actually creating the things took a lot more time and effort than the single year they had been in operation.

Not his problem at the moment. They might be later, but right now he could focus on more dangerous matters. As he looked up, he noticed that the corvette was on approach to Omega. The cockpit had filled in around him, and the men were respectful enough to not bother him as he had read through the reports.

"Would you prefer to have a co-pilot for the docking sequence?" Jack asked the man across from him.

"I'll be fine. You can stay right there while we land. We have a docking manager who likes humans. They'll give us a docking port and we'll park there. Where are we going on the station?"

Jack looked at his Omni-tool's screen, shifting it over to the profile of Shev'Rash. "Lower Afterlife club. I have a few people I need to meet there."

The pilot did a harder veer than normal, and Jack could see something fly by in the window. It must have been close. "Batarian Bastard. Cutting us off in one of our own ships." Jack looked at the haptic screen in front of him, the vehicle's name coming through in Batarian.  _B'Lam Fre'kros._  It was a Batarian pronoun. As no one here was versed in Batarian cultural history, they wouldn't recognize the name of the Batarian behind their modern government. But Jack did. More importantly, that figure was important to Batarian culture, but was not important to the existing Hegemony. he had believed in some form of partisan government.

For that he had been stricken from the records, but had been attributed to the fall of the previous monarchy. He almost didn't notice the sensor shadow. He knew that shadow. "Bastard." He let out without thinking. "That's my old ship."

Grumbling and groaning in concert echoed behind him. "Want to get it back, Sir?" one of the more enthusiastic men asked.

"No, I'll let them deal with the problems of maintaining an experimental yacht built by a human shipyard. It was hitting the end of it's lifespan for me anyways. The loss of it was simply unexpected. Unfortunate, really. I couldn't offload all of my wine collection before it was taken. I would prefer it if you could find out who is the current owner of the ship, though. I have a suspicion as to who it is, but not any confirmations." Only a few Batarians would be able to plaster the name of a known anti-government man on their ship. Namely, someone in their Special Investigations divisions or their government offices.

Still, it was rankling to see his  _Talon_  covered in Batarian paint and script, flying towards the station ahead. She looked like she had gotten a small overhaul, judging by the slight different shape of the hull. He sighed at the sight. She still cut a nice shape as she flew, even in the hands of someone that wasn't James. Their corvette came into a small docking bay that barely fit them, and the pilot was able to land without much trouble. The ship was in place, and Jack pulled out his completely illegal pistol. Then he put in the anti-levo mods. He was pretty sure that if anyone was coming here and going to try to kill him, it would be either human or non-Turian. Plus, if they did try to kill him, they were in for a rude awakening.

"We are armored and ready to disembark. How many of us do you want in close escort?" Owen Summers asked, his armor looking a bit thicker than the others.

"Just three, please. Assign the others as needed, but I don't want to scare off my contact, nor do I want the attention that heavy numbers brings me. Though I would appreciate it if you could find out the owner of the  _B'Lam Fre'Kros._ " Jack brushed off his suit, and took a look in a mirror to correct any problems with his hair.

"Let's enjoy Omega, but not too much. The last time I had someone here, the bartender tried to poison them. So, as a safety rule, try to avoid any drinks from strange men." That got a few laughs around, and Jack smiled. No laws to impede him here. Perfect for his needs.


	17. Fugue: Shut Up and Take My Money

Chapter 17

January 2165, Omega, Lower Afterlife

Jack breathed in the foul air of dozens of aliens of different races getting blasted drunk. He himself couldn't care less, but strong drink often had the chance of bringing out the worst in people. He found Asari dancing everywhere, except for a couple. Those were just the bartenders, all of them in the older stages of life. Usually it was the Maidens that enjoyed the dancing, considering they had a few hundred years to think about children. Matrons could enjoy children and other pursuits, and Asari culture was all about letting mistakes and experimentation occur in the younger days, as long as they returned home smart and capable.

He approached the bar, aiming to talk to an Asari. His escort followed behind him, acting loose and in control of themselves. He could appreciate that they were very professional about it. Another team of them was outside by the ship, ready to respond if things got too out of control. He doubted that it would, considering that everyone else here was armed and just looking for work or a good time.

"Four Absinthes, and one Turian brandy, sterile if you have it." The Asari nodded, handing him the drinks on a small platter. The Absinthes were for him and the men, and the brandy was simply a nice gift for She'Vrash. He overpaid the price, and then looked the Asari dead in the eye. Unlike humans, who didn't like that, Asari body language was more comfortable when you met their eyes. It was when you spoke to them without looking at them that truly offended them. "I'm looking for a quarian, nar Qwib Qwib."

"He has one of the upper boxes, currently. Box B. Try not to get shot." She told him, walking towards the next customer. Jack shrugged, handing the absinthes to his men.

"Cheers. I'll make sure it's safe." He joked, taking a sip. It burned, and burned all the way down. He maintained his composure, though. "Perfect. All of you are welcome to have me pay your tab while we are here."

Owen looked a bit amused. "Normal protocol is to avoid drinking anything that we didn't bring in ourselves. Especially if we are on escort duty."

Jack shrugged. "Your call. But don't be afraid of keeping the drinks for later." He handed the platter to one of the men, and took the brandy off of it. The boxes were accessible from stairs positioned behind the bar, and Jack made one of the soldiers go up first. They made sure that there was nothing like a drunk Krogan or such in the path, and nodded to him. Box B was up at the middle level, and was marked in the Asari language. B was the third letter in their alphabet, so Jack approached the box third from the end.

Inside there was only one person, calmly reading a datapad. Jack calmly knocked on the door, which was closed.

"One moment." The door slid open, and a visor with a second, thicker layer was visible. Then the door slammed shut. "Nope, never working with humans again. You guys screwed me over bad last time, I ain't gonna help you."

"Was his name Hock?" Jack asked.

"If you have any brains, human, you'll leave before I kill you and leave you all in pieces." The Quarian's voice came through the door rather easily.

"I don't want or need to hire you. I just need some information. You tell me what I need, you make two billion credits, and then we walk out of here."

The Quarian froze. "What kind of  _quenthii_  information is worth that much?"

"You previously worked with Haran Galactic Tourism. I need to know about who actually owns it. As well as any humans that previously hired you. They are most likely fringe elements of human society that are willing to sell our first generation of biotics to God knows what in exchange for money. I want all of that information, and then I am going to expose them."

The door opened, and a large bore shotgun was leveled at him. It didn't fire. "Money first, then the information."

Jack grinned, waving off Owen and his men. "Wait up for me here. Just keep anything from getting curious." Then he brought out the Turian brandy and set it down on the table, walking unafraid past the shotgun. It looked like a heavily modified Batarian one, most likely illegal in every part of Citadel Space. "Jack Harper." He said, greeting the Quarian. He was a younger one, obviously. His suit was a bit worn down in places, but he hadn't seen a Quarian with a reinforced collar of their bodysuits. His bodysuit had extra armor plating and support structure on the arms, knees, and collar. Strange to reinforce those points.

"She'Vrash." He answered simply. "Money first, then the information." For any race, for any person, they had a point where enough money would break down their resolve. Especially when they interpreted it as something simple that they could do.

Jack brought a datapad out of his coat, and laid it out on the table. He keyed in a code to just show the  _Lucky Break_ , the shipyard now in orbit of Earth. Most importantly, the current owner being himself. Along with the percentage of the shipyard that was owned by other members of the board. They were selling any stock left in the venture, seeing it as a sinking ship that the government was going to come down on him for, and then resell it to the same people who owned it previously. Those numbers were dropping in real time, as the stock markets opened around Earth.

He slid it over to She'Vrash. The visor didn't hide the widening of the eyes. "That's a…" He looked back up. "What the Hell is this, Human?"

"It's exactly what it seems. You are just the missing piece of the larger puzzle. I need a connection to the Quarians, and the only way to do that is to give you something that you want. A mobile dockyard and drydock where you can finally fix or repair your ships seems like the kind of gift that earns me the right to bargain with your Admiralty Board and your Conclave. You come home with a shipyard, enough political power to become an Admiral eventually, and I get a business deal that offers your race a chance. As well as the largest profit margin your race has ever had, ever since you met the Council."

She'Vrash just pushed back from the table. "You have no idea who I am, do you. What you humans asked me to do."

"Enlighten me. Considering the first I hear of you is from a man named Hock, and I have no idea what the fringe elements of my society are thinking. Right now all I know about you is that you are a Quarian with some combat skill, who I might be able to work with to make this deal happen."

She'Vrash plugged the Turian brandy into some slot on his suit, and a hose was inserted into the bottle. Jack just drank from the absinthe that he had brought with him. "A few months ago, some of your kind contacted me, contracted me for a job. They had some computer network they wanted my help with, a Quarian one. Claimed it was a solitary network leftover from a Quarian laborer they had hired. It seemed legitimate. So I used my codes to get access, simple deal. That was the dumbest thing I could have done. With my codes, they made an attempt on the Migrant Fleet. It wasn't successful, but they would have known whose codes were used to access the Fleet."

"So you betrayed the Migrant Fleet?"

"To the Conclave, yes. To my future Captain, I represent a crewmember that could ruin their chances or backstab them at any time. I could be denied resources or other privileges. So you can see why I don't trust you in the slightest."

"Fair enough. Most people should be at least a little curious as to how much they can trust someone. Most wouldn't even trust what I say without proof. Now, you've seen what I have on the table. If you don't want it, I can always go to another Quarian on their pilgrimage and they can bring home a shipyard and a trade deal that brings your race out of poverty."

"How much do you gain from that, then?" She'Vrash asked, tapping some sort of math into his Omni-tool.

"Debt for now, but market value in the Terminus later. Not to mention I would gain qualified technicians from your people to come work for us, who would be more qualified than our own race at this time. Most importantly, your people would have a form of banking system again. I don't expect to make back my profits for six years, but after that I will only see profit from any sort of action taken." Jack waited a moment for the young Quarian to wrap his head around that idea. "I don't love your race more than any other, but I do keep my promises. I see opportunity where no one else dares to, and in three months the Systems Alliance signs on as a full member of Citadel Space, aligned to their laws and regulations. One of which regards Quarians. I can only act so freely until that is signed."

"But why choose us? Why not go for some other group?"

"Quarians are an interesting sort. They have very little money, very little wealth, and very little political power. Yet for all that, you are feared at some level of the Citadel government. They fear what you could do if you ever became a real power again. In fact, looking back at your earlier history, you frightened the Council back during your earlier years as well." Jack tapped the datapad, bringing up all of the files he had been perusing earlier. "Your race has never been one to just play nice. You all have to be innovative and terrify the Asari. So, seeing the same pattern about to happen to my race, I must take action. If that means I can uplift yours, as well as keep a profit, then I see no reason to not do it."

"You have a weird way of making money, I think." She'Vrash finally said after reviewing things. "But I can't agree to this. All I want is the credits."

"What if, in exchange, I give you a shot at all of the ones who did this to you?" Jack offered. "I happen to have a lot of connections. Though if you want to just wait here for someone from your Migrant Fleet to come and tell you about your failure, go ahead. Though if you brought back an entire shipyard, it wouldn't matter what you did in the past. You would have done more good than a single breach of passwords. Not to mention it could be something you could apologize for losing. They did trick you, after all."

She'Vrash folded his arms. "I would still prefer to just get my money and walk away from all this. You humans are never straightforward. Always about money, or technology you want to steal rather than take the time to research yourself."

"Unless you tell me who I am looking for. Someone targeted children, and I want to find out who they are before I bring my own kids out of hiding."

"I get the feeling you don't have the credits, eh?" It was impossible to tell what the Quarian was thinking, but Jack could see that his body language was still threatening. He didn't trust Jack to keep his word at all. "But, I'll take pity on you, human." The Quarian started glowing with Element Zero, revealing himself to be a biotic. Most likely a vanguard, judging by the crash harness and fortification around his joints. "I can understand why some people like to kidnap biotics. Taking kids for it rankles me something fierce."

"So, does that mean you'll answer one question, or should I get you to the shipyard?" Jack asked good naturedly.

"Salai, no. I just hate child slavers. Ask your questions, and I might give you answers. But don't ask me to go to to some other planet with you."

Jack smiled, and leaned back. The absinthe was filling him with a nice warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach, and that was rather pleasant. "I am looking into Haran Tourism. The money that was paid to different groups for the children's kidnapping was sent and routed through them. But since it is in Batarian Space, information on the company is limited. My contacts told me that you had worked for them before. I need to know who the actual owners are."

"I can tell you it wasn't Batarian. I got paid with a stub directly from the Volus running it. Certified credit chit, everything checked out. Had to get it cashed at Illium through one of those banks. You know, untraceable or secure and all that crap." He waved his hands to demonstrate the process. "Well, I looked into who had worked for them in the past. I figured out that they only hire on biotics, and some of them don't come back. Obviously there is the ever present threat of death on the job," He motioned to the bar around them. "So, I took a closer look. Some of the minor biotics disappeared. Not just disappeared, but they were just plain gone. The few other people I've asked about this said something about it being the STG. So, last time I was at Illium I payed an old contact of mine to look into your company. Haran is owned and operated by some Salarian Dalatrass."

"So, you are saying that the STG paid for my biotic trainees?"

"Not just that!" The Quarian said, waving his arms. He must be quite young to feel comfortable getting drunk or tipsy around him. "They have been taking biotics from all of the different races. At least, the ones they can get away with taking. Us Quarians only have roughly a couple dozen biotics, and half of those are tumor ridden  _bosh'tets_." He wasn't sure what that word meant, but the meaning could be a number of things.

"So if any of you disappear then everyone notices."

"One of the few perks of being a Quarian of my noble stature, I suppose." He joked. "Those STG agents like to study other race's biotics. They sent me into some base, filled with cameras. Turns out they had a bit of a prison break, or at least something staged. I was sent in with some Batarian to go fix it. They recorded me the entire time, as I found out when i got into the security room. If your path is taking you to Haran, then your people were taken by the STG. Good luck getting them back, though. Salarians have been doing this sort of thing for centuries."

"What about the humans that took your codes. Tell me about them." Jack prompted, feeling like the Quarian might actually answer him. He was more comfortable, now, and rather chatty.

"Some idiots, they were. I've still got their contact information, actually. Flew in a ship that they called Junk, or something." A contact appeared on the datapad, for an Aarav Malik. Hindu name, he noticed. He plugged it into a search engine, coming up with at least ten thousand instances of that name in the first second of searching. Too common of a name to be easily found, so he went by criminal record search. Nothing came up by that name, making him suspect that it was an alias.

"What kind of ship was it?" he asked as the search was routed through his Omni-tool's memory.

"Some ugly human model. A bit old, couldn't tell anything more than that it was a frigate. One of your earlier models. The bulkheads all had those useless armor plates meant for someone to take cover behind, but are only a half an inch thick. Useless." She'Vrash motioned to his shotgun. "Not thick enough to stop anything from boarding the ship. Too thin to be of use."

"They were designed before we came into contact with the other races." Jack said. Though it sounded like it was a Corsair ship. He couldn't exactly go after one of them when he was also underhandedly trying to supply them. As well as steal a Reaper, raise his daughters, and save his biotics. "How would I find out who owns Haran, or an STG contact that I could pressure into giving back our people?"

She'Vrash moved his hands back and forth. "Nope, not happening. The fact that I  _know_  it was them would only make finding jobs harder. Or I would just disappear. And I don't want to be disappearing, even though I might not have much of a future."

Jack settled back in his chair, noticing that the brandy he had bought the man was a quarter empty. Strange to find a Quarian who was used to hard liquor. "So do you want me to find a different Quarian, someone who will look like they got set up by the humans? If what you said is true, then whatever other Quarian I ask to do this is going to be feeling the same scrutiny that you believe they might give, unless you prove to them that humans aren't universally the same."

"Why me, then?"

"You're a biotic, a dangerous mercenary who has an income in his own right. Any ship in your fleet would be proud to take you, even if they didn't trust you. With this, it wouldn't matter what the ship captains thought of you. You would be a captain, and you would have to ask for a crew from them. If you do this, then you skip all of the unpleasant riding up the ranks in the fleet, and can still be your own man. You can say what you want about everything, and there is one other added benefit." Jack started typing on the datapad, and turned it around to face She'Vrash. "I will place a branch of our bank on the shipyard. You can keep your money. You can store new money, and create a future for your people that doesn't involve peddling for what you need."

He sat there for a while, thinking. Not even drinking the brandy, just thinking. "I still don't get why you care so much. Why are you trying to save my race?"

"Profit, for certain. Also, all of the races that are outside of the Council's pocket I am interested in having on our side if things go poorly. The Turians are still angry about us killing their best Spectre candidate in generations. Not to mention the crushing defeat we gave them over Elysium. If the Asari ever feel offended or threatened, we could end up like you or the Krogan in a heartbeat. The STG just tried to take down the most promising company that Humanity can offer to the other races, just as a precaution. No, I want the Quarians to be a galactic power again. More importantly, I want your people to use credits again, and use the secure banks that we have on Earth." Not to mention the only good counter for the damned Geth were their creators. He had no better answer for the Geth, or the threat that they posed. Ten hours later, She'Vrash and Jack were onboard the  _Lucky Break_. When confronted with the fact that his people would grow to hate the humans as a race due to his earlier failure, She'Vrash decided to at least go to see the shipyard. It only took the mention of perpetuating the bigotry and racism that had followed the Quarians, and he caved. The young man didn't have the experience to handle large business transactions, nor did he have the patience to try to see every angle. It was actually what Jack liked about him the most, was his impulsiveness.

So, now they were signing off on the  _Lucky Break_. Jack still had a few more months before The Council had the economic sanctions to try to stop him, and there was nothing that could be done to stop him from selling it privately. The law simply prohibited Jack from owning or operating it as a sole individual. So, showing up and selling it to a no name Quarian for work permits and possible agreements in the future was akin to throwing away his life. The board of Ashland-Hislopp did indeed sack him, so he had lost his position and stock remaining in that company. More stinging was being sacked from his own startup company, EarthFirst Venture Capital. That was one of his main connections to the many companies he had stock in. WIthout that, he couldn't maintain as much. His income had been shot by his so called partners and allies in the corporate world.

Thankfully, he still owned a sizable amount of property and of course, Cerberus. Unlike his memories, this version of Cerberus had no troops to call upon, and had to hire people legitimately. That meant that labor agreements, salaries, and other abominable rules constrained the actions he could take. Like the rule on how many hours someone was allowed to legally work before it was considered criminal.

It reminded him how efficient paramilitary organizations could be. Though there were those pesky regulations about how he could spend his time as well, just to make him cringe. But most importantly, Cerberus would still be the only place to supply gene mods and tech upgrades to special operations units and soldiers in the Alliance. He would have the monopoly, and with the further contact with Batarians and others, Jack wasn't going bankrupt any time soon.

_Richard,_

_Sell my houses in Spain, California, and Paris. Get a fair price out of them, and act as my executor. If necessary, sell the penthouses in San Francisco and New York. That should recoup my losses so far and act as collateral with the bank. Considering that I no longer own the shipyard, I should no longer be hunted by the government. I also understand that I am a few hundred million credits in debt, but that will be solved in a few days._

_In an uncharacteristically unloyal action, my board at EarthFirst sacked me a few hours ago. Please be a dear friend and slam them with charges of negligence. Or whatever else we can get away with. They haven't reimbursed me for the work i have done for the company. That, being criminal on its own, is quite unacceptable. I assume that they are taking bribes from other places. I was sacked from the board of Ashland-Hislopp, but that was a fair call. Send a threatening letter to let them know that I am unhappy about it, but don't take action. Save it for those more deserving._

_Most importantly, do not let anyone touch Sirta. That company must be preserved through all of this chaos. I am going to be smeared, but I don't care. Those with the power to stop me already know that I am trustworthy._

_Enjoy the work,_

_Jack_

He sent the message off, knowing full well that his lawyer was most likely running on stims and coffee more than blood at this rate. His official mail server had been slammed with all kinds of hate mail, and with the current news flash of him selling an entire shipyard to the Quarians, he was being smeared hard. He was being accused of being an  _Alien Lover_. Apologist. Non-Humanist. That one hurt, of course. All that he was doing was for Earth and Humanity, however. He didn't even have a company to launch a press release release from. He had stock in multiple companies, but as he had been sacked, he couldn't even do that.

Oh well. At least Hannah was alright, according to his last check on her hospital room. No one had visited, or at least not yet.

* * *

Hours Later

Hannah found her bed to be rather confining after more than a week. No one other than Jack had visited. The nurses avoided her, and the doctors only came to see her to check on their work from the surgery. Her knee was very new, mostly plastics with some cloned tissue for her knee. The cartilage had to be applied and attached very carefully. Multiple surgeries had at least covered that. It was all provided without any cost, as Jack made sure that all of the agents that were supported by Cerberus could always come back and get operated on, or put back together.

She still fingered the certificate of authenticity that Jack had left her. He would not have brought this up to her if it wasn't for some underhanded purpose. She held up the large chit, the thick piece of metal declaring that the owner had a certified bunny suit. It wasn't something that looked digital or electronic with an interface. But it did have a small slit down the side. She took a closer look, seeing some sort of glint of differently colored metal inside the gap. She put it back down, somewhat curious.

Jack never wasted any time. His last comment had been to bring attention to this. She didn't doubt that he wanted her to replace his lost bunny suit, but leaving her with the certificate was just a way of getting her whatever was inside of it. She couldn't look at it here, where things were so observed. She didn't agree with what Jack said, at all. The Alliance valued her, valued everything she had done for them over the past twelve years. Her entire life was dedicated to them.

She activated her Omni-tool, though. She could disprove him on multiple points, if she just looked hard enough. Jack had given her the research skills necessary to run his little empire, and she would put them to good use. She started with public records in her home member nation of the Systems Alliance. With a grin she found her way into their archive and accessed the record for her own file.

It listed her as  _missing_. Never having shown up after the attack on the Mars Archive, presumed missing. Investigation closed ten years ago. Inconclusive evidence to prove her death or demise. Assumed missing or lost somewhere in the colonies. She blinked, finding that confusing. The investigation was closed upon the retirement of the agent investigating, and she couldn't find him on any records either. She tried looking in the Systems Alliance complete archive that was partially supplied and supported by all of the different member nations, but that didn't even have a complete file.

Her system identity code wasn't even a match. It was for an alias. All of her contracts were in the name of her alias, some boring entity who only graduated primary school. No real future and worked long hours, no friends to speak of. People would remember her if asked, but wouldn't actually know her. Personal details would be few. She opened up a new browser, searching for her next alter-ego, the one created when she was 'assigned' to jack Harper indefinitely. She had gone by Hannah ever since, considering that was how Jack had introduced her. So Hannah showed up in the company records. Her salary was not revealed, but her name was on a few things.

That was the only real imprint she had on society. The imprint Jack had let her make. She laid back in the bed, trying to think of more ways to disprove what he had found. Or what he claimed. Jack did have a habit of never revealing the full truth of anything that he said. He never risked all of his information in a single location, speech, board meeting, or conversation. She had to infer what he had left out most of the time.

She was jerked out of her reverie by a knock on the door. Without her saying anything, the door unlocked and a slim man walked in. He had a visor on his face, and his Omni-tool was hooked into his visor. These were the type that allowed the user to type with their eye motions. As well as their hands, of course. Expensive and hard to learn their use, this man must be smart and very capable.

"Who are you?" Hannah asked, acting uncomfortable at his approach. In reality, she had calculated how to kill him six different ways already, and she had three weapons on hand. Her shotgun was tucked in between her legs, she had a pistol under her pillow, and a rifle was set up to automatically fire from underneath the bed towards the door, to give her time to get to cover. She might have had a few nightmares about people coming into her room uninvited. Being bedridden was not enjoyable for her.

"People call me Tim." He said. She didn't believe him, and the slight pause before he said the name didn't lend any credence either. "I'm here from the Alliance Intelligence Office. The big wigs upstairs want to ask you a few questions. I'm just here to disable any cameras and such." Hannah looked him up and down. No weapons other than what was already on his Omni-tool. That could be a few troublesome things. She was surrounded by plenty of flammable objects, and she didn't have her stealthsuit. One of those bloody ignition tech abilities would kill her before she could get out of here. Her knee was still too new to run on, and she had to get help with a wheelchair VI just to use the bathroom and other necessities.

Behind 'Tim' came another figure, this one bearing the marks of an Alliance major in the AIO. Her wide shoulders and iron facial features showed a figure that had its share of scrapes and fights. But the cybernetics that were under her skin were also there, if you looked hard enough. Her cheeks were simply too solid for her age, and her chin had too much strength to it to be possible for women normally.

She did salute, as best she could. If the AIO came to visit her, they had to have good reason. "A pleasure to receive you, Ma'am." she offered, not knowing exactly why she had come in here.

"You might disagree on that. My name is Colonel Jones. I am the Director of the Investigation Department." Hannah released her hold on the weapons. Colonel Jones was someone she had been familiar with, never by name but by reputation. She was the top agent for investigations when Hannah was just starting out. Eventually she replaced the Director when he went to replace Runya Ross. "I'm here to ask you about Jack Harper, asyou are the agent most familiar with him and his habits."

"Not much of an advantage, I assure you." Hannah replied. "What do you need to know?" Jones had been in the service ten years more than she had. She had a clean record of solved cases and busts.

"Would Jack Harper take any payment from Batarian or Turian interests? I am sure you have heard about his latest actions."

"All that I am aware of is that he sold some of his controlling stock in exchange for total ownership of that new shipyard they were building." She was aware of more than that, due to how much she knew about where his money went. Hell, she handled it as much as he did while she worked for him. "But for him to give up the controlling share in anything means that he was desperate. The only time I saw him do that previously was when he saw the opportunity to make it all up later. All of his ideas had profit margins that were planned out within five or six years." The expression on Jones' face didn't change. "Did he do something stupid?" That wasn't like Jack at all. Jack could be impulsive, but usually it was for a good reason.

"He sold an entire shipyard to a single quarian. The payment was in services rendered and promised. As you are the most experienced agent we have on him, please explain how a Quarian was able to do something to blackmail Jack Harper into doing something this outrageous."

Hannah had to really think about that. She had never even met a Quarian yet. Most of her contact with aliens had been of the deadly variety. "As far as I know, he hates aliens. Or at least despises them ever touching any human owned object or piece of stock. He has gone to extreme lengths in the past to prevent any destruction of human property, and has positioned himself in certain companies that he expects are going to take off once they hit the Citadel markets."

"Which companies? I don't have time to wait for financial to get me a report." Jones spat, before Hannah could describe anything more.

"He focuses a lot of his funding through his venture capital firm, EarthFirst, and branches out from there. Sirta Foundation is one he has a controlling stock and is an Angel Investor, meaning that his company can't even take control of it in his absence. Medigel is sort of unique, making Sirta important to humanity. He at one time had a controlling share along with Todd Hislopp at Todd's company, which gave him the shipyard in the first place."

"He also has large shares among the shipping companies that supply the Corsairs, as well as the shipyards. He has a small obsession with controlling the raw materials going around."

"Why do you think that is?"

"He feels threatened by the Citadel races buying up all of the raw materials, as the Salarians did to the Turians after they became a Council Race. This was one of the factors that lead to their unification wars, as they had to spend much more to get basic resources brought back to Palaven. According to him, they crippled the Turian economy and made them dependent upon the Volus, and he doesn't want the same thing to happen to us."

"Do you know if he would ever take money from them?"

"Even if he did, it wouldn't be for a deal that would be bad for Humanity. At least in his opinion. He is sort of selfish about our markets. Though if he did sell the shipyard, it wouldn't be because of blackmail. He did just take down an STG team just to protect his investments."

"At the cost of your health. You were supposed to be on medical leave."

"I was only getting a back surgery and some skin grafts, nothing too intense." The rest of her injuries had been treated at the base, where a doctor was always on hand to treat the agents coming back. She didn't mention that she had technically not completely recovered from injuries long ago. She had been patched up many times, and she still had twinges in that arm the Turian had sliced so long ago. Apparently the tendons had been cut pretty cleanly. She had reconstructive surgery done, but it was a rushed job, and she had just gone into missions afterwards. So the effort had been partially wasted, as she had gone into high stress environments right afterwards.

"We have decided to reassign you to headquarters for you recovery." Jones said, with a degree of finality. "Jack Harper is making questionable decisions, and we don't want any of our agents near him until we can verify that he is not trying to go rogue."

Hannah got a bad feeling about that. Jack had mentioned that her superiors would try something like this. "I'm slated to receive a hardware upgrade for my cloaking system in the next week. I will be perfectly able to leave after that."

Jones' eye narrowed. She wasn't used to her orders not being taken as law. "We have decided to stop any further funding of Jack Harper's Cerberus Foundation, until his innocence has been proven in any wrongdoing. As such, your medical payments here are no longer provided or covered."

They really wanted her out of here. "What about Simpson? He is still in the ICU."

"His circumstances allow for him to be removed within eighteen hours. A shuttle will be coming to pick both of you up at that time. You will be on that shuttle, and will stay away from anything that could be exposed to the public, namely Harper." Without a word or salute, Jones left. 'Tim' did as well, giving her a jaunty toss of his hands. She didn't like either of them. As the door was closing, she could hear 'Tim' speaking. "Let's go see if he has anything good in his office!"

She didn't have a lot of time. Eighteen hours was not enough for her leg to fully heal or for Henry to come and install the newest generation of cloaking technology in her. She had some health issues developing from having so much metal in her arms and lower back. She waited a few minutes, and then engaged her Omni-tool. Jack Harper was nothing if not predictable in his own base.

She logged in as his administrator account, something she only got the credentials for after many hours being stuck in this bed. She just used a few of his old passwords and username combinations, somewhere around four thousand, before she got the right one. She had a lot of time. But with that, she disabled all observation on her room. Strangely the server that the observation data was being sent to was not even on Luna. It was somewhere in Germany. She made a note of that and disabled the software on her Omni-tool that kept track of her position and data.

Only after all of that was complete did she bring back out the certificate of authenticity, and drag out the metal insert. It was a very small OSD, and unfolded itself to barely fit the insert on her Omni-tool. An automatic scan went through her tool, which flickered and shifted its user interface over to Jack's favorite, the Tartarus OS. His face showed up first, and looked haggard.

_"Hannah, I am recording this as I try to get out of here while I can. Not to confuse you, but I do expect you to reimburse me a bunny suit sometime in the future. The list of existing ones are here, as well as one that I would recommend. It is owned by Theodoros Mitro, a Greek mercenary working out of a Citadel world called Bekenstein. He hires anyone that is human, armed, and dangerous. Assuming you are taking me seriously, I have already prepared an alias for you just in case your superiors are ready to remove you from existence. As removing such a beautiful woman would be a crime, I have taken it upon myself to do all that I can to preserve you._

_Irony not understated, I have one shuttle that was made before Element Zero was originally introduced. It was the shuttle that was used to get the team into the Mars Archive. The extraction team is still in there, if you are looking for any further evidence for your case. Though at this point that might just get you killed faster if you keep digging. I do promise to tell you everything, and for what it is worth I am sorry you got caught up in this mess. It was the partial product of my actions. As such, here are the coordinates to the old shuttle with updated ownership certificates, and an updated ECM suite._

_The new OS installed onto your Omni-tool has scrubbed any following and tracking programs from your system, for your sake. Your weapons and armor are all in a locker on deck 3, and the key to that locker is always in a small closet on deck 2.5, which is accessed by the doctor's express elevator. Just press the buttons for floors 6, 2, and 5 at the same time, followed by pressing 1 three times in quick succession. This will take you to a small nook with everything you need for your alias. Unfortunately, the black hair dye is a must. I do apologize, I do love the red, but where you are going, you will be Allison Gunn, hired mercenary and deadly specialist. No morals, no binding oaths, just in it for the credits. I also took the liberty of placing a few hundred thousand citadel credits and a hundred thousand batarian credits in the pile, just in case._

_A new generation 3 catsuit is there for you as well. As far as I understand it, the armor is now equipped with better plating at the joints, as well as Omni-gel insertion ports. It can be fixed on the run, especially if you get incinerated or such. It also includes a deployable hood, for protection against a vacuum. Keep the old catsuit, of course. It looks better in some ways, as it doesn't have as much utility hardware. Any spare parts you can always ask for through any of my backdoor accounts._

_Soon, there will be at least one human bank out in the Terminus, located onboard a shipyard that I just sold to the Quarian migrant fleet. You can make purchases through that. Deposit your money with a Volus, though. That will protect you more than you know. Especially if you chose to go through Janus Vol banking on Illium. They are rather discreet, or so I have heard._

_I want to make this clear. I don't want to phrase any of this as an order. For most of your life, your decisions have been made for you. I admit to manipulating you to become the first Cerberus agent, but that had benefits for both of us. You would have disappeared much sooner if it wasn't for that. I don't want you to be a mindless soldier or minion. More than anything I would be happier if you were your own entity, be it some information broker or just a warlord in the traverse. As long as you pick your path, that is fine with me. It would be hypocritical to try to tell you to follow any morals or ethics after what I have done._

_If you need anything at all, feel free to ask. Or just pay for it. You have money in lots of places, courtesy of your continuing salary. Though I would love to hire any crew that you put together for a small venture. It will involve combat, certainly. So hire some good people. Guns are cheap in the Terminus. Lives are cheaper. Just do me a favor and stay alive._

The message ended, and then displayed all of the files mentioned. Digital keys to some shuttles if she preferred to use something better or worse. Her new papers, identity, and Citadel papers. Apparently she was from Elysium, and had no claim to any property other than whatever she carried. Though the amount of money in her name was staggering. If she didn't know Jack, she would say that he had been hiding his money with her. But he for some strange reason was just throwing money into her accounts, putting it all in her name. She blinked at the combined numbers, with somewhere around twenty five million credits in her name.

In assets, cash, and weapons, she owned  _twenty five_  million. She has to keep a shudder from running through her body at the thought. She had no idea how to even manage that. Well, maybe she did, though it had been years since she had been handling any money. Not to mention that this was unlike anything she had done in the past. She was used to stocks, investors, and boards of chairmen vying over the funding. Controlling this much independently was just alien to her.

But she didn't feel comfortable with the idea that Jack chose this for her. Preparing her an alias was nice, and giving her money was kind enough. But he did want her to make her own decisions. Her superiors obviously didn't value her opinion. They viewed all of the agents like numbers or tools in their hands. They only mattered if they were crippled or blowing your cover. The agents were something that they didn't want to talk about or address.

She just rested her head for a moment, considering what to do. If Jack's files were correct, then the Alliance were the original people who wanted the files taken out of the archive anyways. But the archive had to publicly list to the Board of Investigation on the Senate what files were accessed or used. It struck her that many of the files that she had been given orders to recover over the years had been on the list of files that jack had listed as the ones they had been searching take from the Mars Archive.

Curious, she opened up one of the file listings in Jack's files.  _Weapon:Crucible_  - These files detail the Prothean Superweapon Crucible. It is abundantly clear that it is meant to be used in conjunction with the Citadel. Removal of these files was labeled as critically important. Files are now gone, lost, or completely removed by a possible third party. She shrugged at this. Superweapons weren't something that she worried about. She pressed another one, bringing up a listing.

 _Organic Repair Gel -_ Gel that causes clotting of blood, repairs damaged biological systems. Contained in some sort of spray bottle or injection tablet. Once translated, this should be capable of healing any wounds.  _Sirta_. Jack's work was presented cleanly right there. Sirta Foundation was made from one of the stolen files. She blinked, wondering how the files were lost in the first place.

The Mars Archive was the most secure facility in Alliance Space. It had defenses that were able to destroy any ship trying to land. Interior defenses were developed around Prothean designs, and didn't offer much in terms of cover but had a lot of utility. She wasn't sure if it was even possible to steal from it, but considering she was the Alliance expert on it, she figured it was possible.

Coming through the garbage compactor tunnels in full armor sounded terrifying. They couldn't have turned off the compactor to allow them to get by it naturally, and therefore had to risk getting crunched into small bits. Not only that but they had to keep their shuttle parked at the exit for the getaway. It was just too unreal to be possible in her mind, even though it fit the details and limits for the operation. Four men in full armor getting through the security stations, airlocks, and soldiers to try to hack the archive. They had been partially successful when Grace decided to step in and lock down the system and get everyone killed.

She sighed. She had no guarantee that Jack was telling any degree of truth, other than hinted possibilities. Though she did have the location of the shuttle. The getaway and insertion shuttle. Something that would have hard evidence, something to prove the entire case right. But at the same time, it would most likely show that Jack Harper was a member of the team, or at least involved on a level that would get him put away for life. Which meant that all of the things he had given her he knew would implicate him.

All of which would lead to her still being worried about her superiors, and if she closed the case then they would have even more reason… to silence her. If she was the only one who knew that the perpetrators of the worst criminal act in history were in fact just greedy members of the government, then some of them might still be around. Jack was, and he hadn't been killed. Though that wasn't very prudent evidence.

She wanted to yell at Jack all over again. None of the things he gave her made sense. Tactically, you don't hand evidence that damns you to the person investigating your case! It just wasn't logical to give her the information she needed to frame him for the entire attack. But she didn't want to bring him in. Jack Harper was a man with goals, but the people behind this obviously had different ones or were in agreement to work with Jack. She would need to get a full confession from him.

Which wouldn't happen if she got killed or put in jail by her superiors for having contact with the man. She sighed, considering exactly how she was going to do this. The only way to get the full confession was to commit treason and walk away from her duties. Or at least the only way to meet with Jack again without being under threat of surveillance or intervention from her superiors. Though it wasn't the first time she had been on her own. When she had been 'assigned' to Jack, that had been some of the busiest time of her life. But at the same time it was some of the happiest. She had gotten job offers from dozens of billionaires, companies, and Jack sent her a mock one to be his prostitute at one point. Work humor, she supposed. It had been funny at the time, though.

She couldn't get the information she needed under the thumb of her superiors, that was for sure. They might even impede her research if they felt personally threatened. Or just make her disappear, if Jack was right about her being under scrutiny.

"That's it." She said, out loud. "Can't do this if they are going to just ship me off to somewhere cold like Canada." That was the worst place to be stationed. Entire sections of that country were still lawless from the troubles in the 2000's, and the Intelligence Office was assigned with making sure the gangs and mercenaries stayed calm and not dependent upon external sources. Not to mention the fact that it was cold. The training for planets rated at more than minus fifty on the kelvin scale was in the northernmost part of the country. Survival was not guaranteed, or likely if you failed to follow orders.

She packed her guns into her shirt. Her armor wasn't here, as Jack had placed that in a locker. So all she had was some medical smock, three guns, and her Omni-tool. She just had to sneak out of the highest rated hospital in the system without causing an alarm. Piece of cake. She set all of the machines to loop the data received from her a few days ago, and the security feeds to do the same. She liked the Tartarus OS. It streamlined all of the programs. Either that or it started in administrator mode. With a small grin, she waited for an opening and activated her cloaking device. It was remarkably easy to find the elevator that Jack had mentioned, and even easier to get to the level that Jack had sectioned off.

She thought for a moment about how her superiors would take this. They had forgave her before, after she worked with Jack. If he was doing things that were completely innocent, a thought that caused her to laugh a little bit, then perhaps they would forgive her again. Hell, if she proved he was innocent, or just continued her work, then they would maybe pay a bit more attention to her. Either way, she wasn't going to figure out everything here.

* * *

February 2165, Omega, Upper Afterlife Bar

Owen Summers could be seen from his private booth easily. He was wearing non descript armor, without the dark green highlights that showed his allegiance to Elanus Risk Control Services. More importantly, he was carrying a very expensive piece of equipment. One of Jack's more useful possessions, a mobile hologram generator, it could display his form with no delays. More importantly, it was on a point to point system, and virtually unhackable as long as you weren't trying to transmit through a solar flare or a solid wall of lead.

Jack was safely in a private booth, with his Omni-tool slaved to the hologram device. It was on it's minimal mode, where only the display would light up, instead of the gigantic orange haptic screen that normally showed up. It was like painting a target on yourself when you had the full luminosity turned up. So in the minimal mode, only the edge of the display screen was active. It didn't light up his entire booth, and with one of his security men across the table from him, it didn't appear random to be talking. The other members of the team were all around the area, in defensive positions. Jack was really cutting it dangerously, today.

With the help of Owen, a few hundred credits, and one bribed waitress, the device was delivered to the proper table. Jack tracked the movement of the device as it moved directly underneath him, down to the booth two floors below his own. Using Owen as a repeater, the signal went between his Omni-tool and the hologram projector without breaking or being diffused. Or being disabled by any wide angle jamming equipment. It was surprising how many different sources of that there were. As long as the music and the vending machines were not jammed or hacked, the management didn't mind.

He could almost guess the reaction to the device as it was brought to the table, with an 'on' button labeled in Batarian. He waited for a good long minute as some sort of debate occurred. Then, with a solid beeping noise, the Omni-tool activated, sending the image of his head to the hologram device.

"Greetings, Balak N'Dorme. You are a very difficult man to get a hold of." Jack said in perfect Batarian.

"I find it curious to be given such courtesy by a member of a lesser race," A Batarian face leered. He was surrounded by heavily armed guards. There was no way that Jack would have been able to meet with him directly. "What are your intentions, cretin?" Batarians were mostly predictable. Unless they were reformists in disguise. Then they couldn't be guessed.

"Humanity just recently started training its first biotics. Predictably, the Asari offered us assistance in creating our first generation of biotic implants. As you were the last race that they assisted, I was hoping to get some reliable information on how well that worked for your race."

"Then you are aware of my position in my government, then. I'll have to kill whoever informed you." Jack grinned. That was more thanks to what his memories of the future told him. Along with many informant's lives lost to get upper echelon names and faces.

"I can offer you quite the deal, in exchange for that information. Our governments are more alike than they seem, in relation to the Citadel. The Council feels that we are both threats to their continued supremacy."

"So you come to your betters for aid? Commendable, for a Human." This was why most people wanted to shoot Batarians on sight. Their entire culture was broken down into who was better than whom, and how to excel and succeed before those betters could find you and take that for their own. The mentality that existed used any debasement of others as the best defense against predation from those sources. To most humans, everyone was considered equal, to have a voice. In effect, Jack was being given a compliment by the Batarian, though a little roundabout.

"Commendable but necessary. I am aware that your first generation was assisted in their creation by the Asari, and yet I can't find any evidence that any of them survived to maturity or became legendary in status among your people, like your current generation of biotics are."

"Any information of such has been sealed by the Hegemon. One such as He cannot be ignored."

"Yet the Asari designs have never been in your biotic amps since. Why is that?"

"Asking the right questions is merit. To you, a lesser race, I would simply say to avoid any contact with their Serrice Company. They won't help you."

Jack grinned, letting his teeth become fully visible. In Batarian society, it was not something that was generally appropriate, as visible teeth were a sign of hostility. Humans smiling never made them very happy, as a result. "So are Batarian amps capable of working on humans? Since one of your sponsored legitimate businesses paid for the kidnapped biotics, I suppose that as the director of the Sprawler program that you would be aware of such."

"I would never dirty my hands with the biotics of lesser races, Human. My hands are for the shaping of children better than anything you could produce. Though I a demand to know which company you would make such a claim of."

Good. He was curious. "Haran Galactic Tourism. They paid for a few of my better biotics to be taken. In the interest of my government, I would be willing to broker a deal with you regarding the creation of biotic amps, if it is truly found that you are innocent in this matter."

"While I would prefer to not dirty my hands in your people, the Hegemon has expressed some interest in you. I can promise our innocence, Human. Whether we are willing to trade such valuable technology to you will have to be decided by my betters."

"Would you prefer that my race becomes another Council sycophant? Another race that sees your people as nothing more than pirates and slavers? The only way that humanity will become less of a sycophant to the Council is through change. Change that you, as the director of the Sprawler Program, can offer. If your betters wish us to continue being at ods with each other time and again, then we will eventually go to war."

"A war that we would relish, and enjoy. We would prove our superiority over you." He said, as if stating fact.

"But after the war, when the Turians come in and sweep us under their feet, after we both are weakened enough that even the Volus will be able to fight us, can you still say it will be a good thing? Every prediction of war between our two peoples ends with us being weaker. My government might not make such a decision if yours is willing to work with us at basic levels. More importantly than anything else, Either one of us can take the Turians to a stand still, but we cannot defeat them. Together is the only way that we could take them on. Consider that, if you would."

"I will,  _Human_." The way he pronounced human this time was as one speaking to someone just barely under their own ranking, and not that of one at the bottom of the lowest caste. "Your name is Harper, yes?"

"Guilty, I suppose. You are Balak M'Dorme, the conservative socialite? You spend every few weeks on Omega, doing important business with Volus and Salarian Element Zero vendors, and after this, most likely to meet with me on a more regular basis, all for the sake of profit, glory, and vengeance for crimes unsettled."

"Of what crimes do you speak of? My government has done nothing to yours." Lies, of course. The fight between them was just being solved with deniable elements so far. Humanity just was the late comer to this game. But as long as the Batarian was thinking about that, Jack would get no where with him.

"Crimes committed by our mutual watchdog, the Turians. Or the Salarian STG, who would be happy to grind our combined cultures under their boot." He shrugged in a way that the Batarian would find pleasing, rather than offensive. "The tension between our two governments is simply the flexing of arms and the rattling of weapons. It will pass, as we find ways to tolerate each other."

Balak waited a long moment. "I will converse with those of worthy nature regarding your ideas. If they are found to be of interest, we shall conduct business. Here, where our governments don't have the threat of certain observers." In other words, where either side could back out if things went awry. Perfectly acceptable to him.

"This sounds like the start of a promising endeavor. Blessings of your ancestors upon you, and your house." Jack said, offering a Batarian upper caste version of thank you, and go away before we kill each other.

"A Human with some respect. Perhaps there is promise in this." Jack closed the link as the Batarian smiled, while showing his teeth. Oh yes, he would use the hologram projector again. With a text message to Owen Summers to have one of the waitresses retrieve the projector and to go hide it somewhere. Due to security concerns, Owen would have to take a civilian transport back to Elysium, where he would meet back up with them later. Jack would wait with his security forces here in the meantime. He had other people to meet with, like for example whoever was flooding the upper areas with Migrant Fleet Marines.

He could see four of them already in the booths, weapons ready and bodies tense. They were staying away from the Krogan in their booth, as would be at least logical if not necessary. Behind the marines came another figure, this one wearing a more stylized suit. He was tall, and carried a long rifle that had an Omni-tool fabricator built into it. That meant that whoever this was, they could launch tech abilities from the front of their weapon rather than from the wrist. Humanity had decided that they needed to focus on what was easy to produce and maintain rather than experimental weapon styles like that one. Quarians weren't so limited, though.

Jack let the booth open, the door revealing him and the single guard he had. The other four were scattered around, and had a booth of their own across the way. As long as no shots were exchanged that could hit any employees, things were going to be alright. Attracting Aria T'loak's attention was just a poor life decision for anyone.

The Quarian walked in with two of his marines, their weapons out and ready to blast him. He didn't particularly care if they had itchy trigger fingers, as he was someone they couldn't afford to piss off. The bluster and intimidation didn't work for the Krogan he met with and hired, and it wouldn't work for a Quarian either. Perhaps for a Batarian who was one of the heads of their Special Investigation Services. That would make him think twice.

"Thank you for coming. I trust you got my message?"

"You risk quite the expense, giving us that ship. I had to come, even if your race has tried to assassinate me before."

"Jack Harper." He said, offering his hand to the Quarian. After a long hesitant second, the three fingered hand met his.

"Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib-Qwib. Why have you invited me here?" The Quarian's body language was at calm or rest, but Jack knew better. As the leader of a race that could hide any facial features they wanted, he expected the Admiral to be able to control his body language to prevent anyone guessing what he was feeling.

Jack had an empty cup of wine in front of him and a smoking cigarette butt resting in a small part of the table for their disposal. "I wanted to apologize for any assumed threats of violence, on our part. Those that tried to access the Qwib-Qwib were after technology, not your life. They feel threatened by the Batarians and Turians, and know that your race is quite capable at dealing with such opponents. I have no intention of asking for that."

"I don't doubt that you humans will ask for such in the future, though. Your race has many things that we would pay good money for, especially trade products. With the  _Lucky Break_ , you will have the fabricators to do such. Your people are naturals with any Prothean-based technology, so I doubt I have to send any technicians to explain anything to you. But what I want to offer is something that your race hasn't had in centuries." Jack brought out his Omni-tool, and activated it, displaying figures onto the table. "Your people haven't been allowed to store any money in any Volus owned or co-opted banking systems. Meaning that stocks, capital, and basic trade rights had been denied to you. I have an offer to possibly change that."

"The Quarian fleet needs no assistance in our trade rights. Nor do we need other races poking into our business." Quarians were also stubborn and fearful of change. Any change that could affect their entire culture was something they feared.

"What about if I told you that there is a bank that can fund your fleet. More than just that, but a company that would pay full wages to any Quarians that came to work for it. I can offer work permits that allow for Quarians to work in any company I have a share with in Human Space. If you want to have Quarians on Pilgrimage find safe work, then I can offer at least that much. Now that you have the  _Lucky Break_ , you'll have need for raw materials, processed goods, and trained labor for those machines. Not to say that you wouldn't have trained engineers, but this might be a faster way of getting your shipyard up and running."

"You want to offer my people legal work permits? Materials? Pay? Or are you just trying to take away our young people?"

Jack laughed at that. "I'm here for profit. Your people represent the largest non aligned trade partner that exists in the Galaxy. If you had a source for raw materials and processed goods, then your fleet wouldn't be so pressed for them. If anything, I want to create an economic link between my companies and your fleet, where I can acquire skilled labor and you can start becoming a presence again. Possibly selling your technical work all across Council Space. Your race has the best technicians, yet the smallest market value. What is on this datapad is a chance to change that, where your people grow an become more powerful, less dependent upon what you can scrounge, and able to fix your ships. In return, I see profit in every deal we would do in Human Space. You find a market for your products, while I facilitate that market. Unfortunately, we can only do this if you have the Admiralty Board sign off on that. I need to establish this before my government signs the accord that allows them to become a full member of the Council Races."

"Before it becomes illegal to do this?"

"Exactly. If the Council knew what I was up to, they would try to stop me. But I can see a pattern developing. The Council are control freaks, they can't possibly let anyone grow more powerful than they themselves are. They stopped your race from doing so, and are in the middle of doing the same to the Batarians. We are about to see a rush of foreign investors overtaking our markets, buying out our stocks, and driving our prices down so that we become dependent upon their goods. I  _need_  a better option. Earth will buy Quarian made Omni-tools in spades. Salarian models simply do not compare. Not to mention, it would feel rather good to find a trade partner that isn't out to take control of my entire race."

Zaal'Koris was quiet at that. "She'Vrash said you were a madman. But I think that he might be incorrect. You are far worse than a madman. But damned if I don't want to throw down something in the Salarian's faces. I still hate you. I can't stand your aggressive expansion and arrogance in claiming anything you can. But I can respect you coming to seek us out. The Admiralty Board will have an answer for you within days. I would recommend buying up Quarian foodstuffs. We prefer to go places where we can find that kind of support."

Jack nodded. Then he offered his hand again, for a handshake. Zaal'Koris gripped him by the wrist, in a surprising move. The man had a lot of strength in those three digits. "Quarians grip at the wrists. It is considered quite daring to offer someone to touch you in my culture. Keep that in mind when my nephew comes to your company. I will try to send some of our more prepared younglings." He held his grip, not letting Jack go. "But if any of them come back with stories of slave labor or contracts like the Asari make people suffer through on Illium, then no more will go. You'll have to get your profit without taking advantage of them."

"Fair. If they aren't making any money, then they aren't spending any. If anything, I am going to set them up with work permits and visas that allow them to make the same that a senior technician makes. Fourteen thousand credits per month. If that doesn't get them spending, I don't know what will."

Zaal'Koris must have had some sort of look on his face, but his body didn't reveal it. "I left on my Pilgrimage with four hundred and sixteen credits. When I came home, I brought with me a small patrol boat from the Turian fleet. If you are going to pay us honest cash like that, then we are going to start seeing some better Pilgrimage gifts."

"I'll invite you to the celebration when the first Quarian millionaire is announced."

"Don't speak too soon. The rest of the Admiralty and the Conclave have to agree to this. Until they do, you'll see no Quarians approaching your Systems Alliance." Jack let go of his arm, giving a friendly smile. He couldn't remember if Quarians found teeth to be threatening or not. So he just kept his smile without bearing any of his teeth.

As the Quarians left, he grinned. His guard just looked over at him with some sort of questioning look. "Go get a bottle of anything, they'll call us before we get back to Earth." The guard nodded, and Jack started walking back to the  _Jeanette_. As he walked back, he made sure to avoid any attention or risk anything following him back. One ratty brown cloak helped with that, as well as the smell that followed. He would need a shower afterwards, but all that people would see was an old drunk leaving the bar. He wasn't bothered on his way back to the docking bays, and was able to wait in one of the regrettably dingy public bathrooms long enough for one of the crew to come with another layer of disguise to get him aboard, namely one of the company armors.

He sent a text mail to Todd, with a copy of the information on the datapad that he had forwarded to the Quarians.  _Dear Todd,_

_I have here a deal that I just marketed and sold to the Quarians. As you might have guessed, I sold the shipyard to them for profit. We have the other three shipyards, and they have no trained technicians. As such, there is only one place they will come to learn their trade. They will be bringing their pilgrims, or their children on the cusp of adulthood. The pilgrim is required to earn a certain amount of money or materials before bringing this back into their fleet. I have forwarded them to Ashland-HIslopp, understandably. Quarians are used to sixteen hour workdays, and are all trained in zero gravity work. All are comfortable with Prothean technology, and can do more with scrap metal than any human technician. Your first wave of new hires are coming to meet with me to discuss being hired for honest wages. Each will be spending all of their credits on raw materials sold by your company, meaning that each new hire won't have a family to pay for or worry about, and represents chances for growth._

_Put me back on the board or else the Quarians will go to Markov Heavy Industries. I am taking a very calculated risk, to the point that we will become the only people trading with the monopoly that is the Quarian market. Their Omni-tools will be cheaper and more effective than anything the Salarians will try to sell us. Using Ashland-Hislopp as a gateway, we will be the source of the next big product. Any losses from selling the shipyard will be made back up seventeen months to twenty two months. My personal losses will take some more time to recover from, but the potential for growth into a new market is real. Most importantly, it would be a monopoly, considering that after April, we will have joined the Citadel Council, and any further economic binding to the Quarians cannot be sanctioned._

_Just tell the board that I have secured an entire market for our goods, and it will be one that only we control. That's what I am offering. No press conference needed, unless of course you would like to apologize in public for lambasting me. I expect that you'll have some form of reply for me as soon as your analysts get back to you on this. I'm on my way back to Earth, and should be free to have lunch or meet with the board in a couple of days._

_Jack_

He finished sending that, and gave a fine grin. He may have smelled like death warmed over, but it appeared that he had secured his future. His Omni-tool gave a ping, as one of the search queries found something. He always had a few running in the background, searching for relevant data or news stories. He clicked on the query, finding that it had pulled up a small news feed. He smiled at the sight, a small story about Haran Galactic Tourism being investigated by the Special Investigations Service. He even laughed a little bit.

That concluded his work. Time to pick up his children. "Summers! I have some coordinates for you to take us to!"

"No problem, Sir." Was the prompt reply, "Send them up to the main computer and we can get started."

"More like getting finished. It's time to go home." He gave them the coordinates for where the gunship that James had taken so long ago had been parked. He wouldn't give them the direct coordinates of his kids, that was for sure. He paid them, certainly, but that did not mean that he trusted them.

One last alert appeared on his feed. It brought a grin to his features as he saw that Hannah was on her way out. She had accessed one of the hidden locker rooms in the hospital, and would soon be leaving. Perfect. He didn't really mind where she went after this, so long as she gathered together a few mercenaries, formed her own company. It would at least get her out of the Alliance's targets. If she was part of a larger mercenary organization, they could at least protect her from some of the Alliance. Her alias would last a short while. If she decided to disappear somewhere on the Citadel or Omega, it would take the Alliance a much longer time to find her, but she would also be stuck in hiding for the foreseeable future. Not viable for her or for him if she just sat on the sidelines.

* * *

Author's Note

To explain in terms most people can understand, Jack Harper has investments in a lot of companies. Some of these investments are just stock ownership, while others are shared liabilities that he gains a certain percentage of the profit that company makes. Either way, with those kinds of investments he can't just turn that into cash instantaneously. They are not very easy to just turn around for profit. You can bargain with stock, but you can't bargain with shared liability.

An Angel Investor is a single individual that contributes money to a capital fund. Or, alternatively, a single investor who funds a company during the startup phase. Jack Harper is an Angel Investor for Sirta Foundation, Markov Heavy Industries, and one of a few investors for Ashland-Hislopp Aerospace. He is entitled to stock from those companies, and cannot simply turn that money around quickly. His Ashland-Hislopp investment has become profitable, considering their need to produce Alliance ships. Markov Heavy Industries won't be profitable until they go to the Citadel market, same as Sirta Foundation.

To compare what kind of difficult Humanity is about to face, going into the Citadel economy, consider this. When the American market had a lack of demand for microchips, that demand was filled by Sun Microsystems. But Sun was located in Japan, and paid tremendous tariffs on their products to ship them to the United States. In order to cut that cost, Sun Microsystems created a new branch of their company and let them move to the American envelope.

That company was effectively a startup, underfunded and underemployed, and entering an already vibrant market. They faced all kinds of threats from companies larger and more powerful than they were, and required local venture capitalists just to set up. Effectively they were trying to get into a saturated market and sell a new product, while their competition saw them as a direct threat, and used their considerable advantage to try to keep them out of it. Sun Microsystems persevered through this, and now is one of the core computer component companies in the United States.

Now think about the Citadel Space market. Salarian and Asari investors, Volus bankers, and Turian cops. All of them have reason to shut down any Human endeavor that looks to knock any of their precious companies off their pedestal. So Human companies have to have a lot of capital to survive, to advertise, and to ship throughout Citadel Space. Laws are in place to protect the long-standing companies owned by the older races, and also to punish new players to the game. The Citadel economy is more than a thousand times larger than the entire Human economy. The amount of money is staggering, and the amount of competition is brutal. You won't see any Omni-tools sold by the Humans on the Citadel unless they have a lot of support from back home to cover for their losses.

Sure, some of the aliens will buy into the Human products. They'll try the food. They'll try the entertainment. But in the end, most won't touch the processed goods that Human companies produce. To try to keep the competition down, Council races will try to buy out raw materials that are on the open market, to drive local prices up and hurt companies at home. They will do anything they can to keep the status quo even.

That is Jack's big hurdle to overcome. There isn't some supervillian to kill. There isn't one person who, if they get assassinated, will clear up the entire process. He has to fight against a market that has one hundred times the value and competition that his companies are used to. So he is doing anything in his power to even the playing field.

Thanks for reading, guys. As always, enjoy life.


	18. Fugue: Run and Gunn

Chapter 18

January 2156, Alaskan Kodiak Territory

Jack hated driving. Controlling anything that involved three directions of movement didn't allow him to multitask very much at all. He was a fine pilot, he just prefered to pay for someone else to do that. His time was much better spent tracking problems and threats. As he had foiled one STG attempt, he expected at least two more upon his companies or entities directly before they got the message. He was sure that he was already one of the more threatening people in the Council's book. He was fine with that. If they didn't like him, it only helped him at this point. The only Humans that they would prefer were going to be more like the Elcor.

Quiet, complacent, and with a low market value. They preferred their lesser races easily controlled. But he had a few plans for that. He grinned, thinking about at least one of them that he would need to enact soon. Thankfully, that would be happening as soon as he had secured a source of labor.

His gunship that he had gotten a few mail messages about it being overdue to be returned to the base was very fun to fly, he could safely say. The months spent in the midwestern states had done very little to it, other than create a lot of dust. He had brushed off the seat and gotten started on the five hour flight. Now, though, he was coming into a snowstorm that had completely surrounded the wilderness his hideout here was inside of. He had a heck of a time flying through the winds, and one of the exhaust covers was reporting some temperature shifts into unsafe regions.

He ignored that, and found a place to set the gunship down. He might have had to go through one or two trees to make room for the fuselage to land cleanly, and the resounding crunch wasn't as thick. There was a couple of feet of snow on the open ground, and the trees hadn't even gone through that. There was only a small thump noise that accompanied each thirty foot tree going down. The gunship whined as soon as the landing gear extended, the snow too loose for them to grip. So the bottom of the gunship was now at the level of the snow, and the landing gear squeaked deplorably as it failed its purpose.

The lodge was still about eighty feet away, and all that Jack brought was his suit. He didn't like this next part, having eighty feet of two to four feet of snow to crawl through. By the end of that, he looked like he had gone a couple rounds with a boxer. Jack Harper was cold, wet, and his suit would have to get cleaned. He was sure that some tree sap had gotten on it as well, which was one of those substances that he couldn't tolerate. That and tar were just not tolerated by his nice clothes.

The worst part of the trip was arriving at the door and finding it locked. Knocking loudly, he waited for any sign that people inside had heard him. Considering there were hardly any tracks and no signs of any other craft here, he felt comfortable saying that the place hadn't been taken.

The door was flung open, and the angry face of Grrkl came through the door, followed by an eight foot pole made of wood. Jack backed away from the strange sight, and felt a muzzle sticking into his back. Turning his head around, he could see Nyra, glowing with biotics to stay on top of the snow, as well as a nasty looking rifle.

"Took you long enough." Said James, who was behind Grrkl with a pistol. Behind him and over by the fire he could see the blue eyes of his girls. Jack relaxed. So did the rifle and the Krogan, thankfully.

"I've dealt with those who were trying to kidnap everyone. As well as the people who paid them. They won't be trying that again." At least until they find some way to get around the Council laws that would be in effect over the human population in three months. But those had very few loop holes, as he rightly knew. As did the Batarians.

"Dad!" Miranda was the first to him. Considering Nyra and Grrkl's unknown loyalties, he chose not to have a terribly deep emotional reaction. He did pick her up, settling her weight into his arms, and looked down expecting to find Julia. She wasn't there. Looking up, he could see that she was still seated by the fire, and looked angry rather than happy to see him.

Carrying Miranda, he walked over to her and knelt down at her level. "I missed both of you. I'm sorry that it took so long, but I had to make sure that you were safe."

Julia gave him a slightly teary look. "You lied! You said you would come get us!"

"I'm Sorry. I know that I told you I would be there. But sometimes even I can't keep my promises. I love you, Julia. Don't forget that when I make mistakes in the future."

"You're going to lie again?"

"Part of my job is lying. Saying the right things to the right people. But thankfully, I'll be teaching you how to tell if someone is lying to you."

"Really?"

"All that and more." Julia had Asperger's, and the capacity to learn as fast as she was given information to learn from. Miranda had as much of a gift as well. She would have the best of teachers, the best of tutors. He didn't know quite what to do without becoming a full time parent, and that would inhibit his ability to protect Humanity.

"James, what's up with the stick?"

* * *

Hannah was sweating her way through the Mojave Desert. Jack had said that his shuttle was somewhere in between the old wrecks out here, in the plane storage museum. Thousands of planes were stored out here, their aluminum and metal hulks rusting in the sun. Ancient airplanes, older shuttles, and even older space flight shuttles were arrayed out in an organized fashion. She had ignored the forty people that maintained all these old wrecks, and had just looked up where the shuttle was on her Omni-tool.

The place she had been directed to was in the middle of all of the rusted heaps of metal. All she could find was some sort of Hercules airplane. It was in remarkable condition, with only a little bit of rust on the edges of its wings. It had a tarp covering its main body, and the doors were shut. But it was where she had been directed to. With a shrug, she walked towards the side door, and found it surprisingly sealed shut. She looked at the metal, finding it to be of a better quality of alloy. Curious, she brought out her Omni-tool and scanned for any receivers near the door.

The scan alone caused the door to pop open, with air escaping from the space on the other side. She pulled out her gun, and cloaked on her way inside. There was no noises, no signs of any trouble. She slipped inside, the Mark III Stealthsuit concealing all noise and movement. But inside the air was stale, warm, and smelled of a smell she hadn't come in contact with for a while. The smell of an old corpse.

There were no lights inside the old plane, but she didn't hear any sounds of breathing either. She shut the door, deciding to take the risk of being discovered. The light from her Omni-tool splashed around the compartment, revealing a large loading bay inside of the plane. Large enough to fit tanks and other vehicles. In the back of the loading bay was a shuttle, older model. Next to it was a single corpse, still dressed in a flight suit. The desert air had preserved the corpse excellently, and the skin was still on it. She walked over to it, seeing his flight suit labeling him as a flight officer for the  _TCP-41_ , which apparently was the number on the shuttle. That had since been repainted to some spanish name.

 _Maria Sangrada_  was the name printed on the side of the shuttle. She shook her head at that. Turning back to the body, she could see that he had been killed by a single shot to the head, a clean shot. There was no exit wound. If her guess was right, that was from a small pistol, at close to mid range. Certainly Jack's style, if not his precision. How he had the reflexes and skills to use his pistol like that made her really wonder what his childhood was like.

She checked over the corpse, checking for anything she could take with her when she left. She found an old wallet, with an ID and an old credit chit. She could investigate more about this later, but right now she had most of what she needed. She grabbed a skin and hair sample and bagged them, just to make sure she could prove this later.  _If_  she even wanted to prove this later. At this rate it might get her killed faster.

The shuttle was a bit dirty, but filled with crates of tomato paste and freeze dried tortillas. Jack had apparently thought of everything. There were even stains from where tomato paste had not been cleaned up from the walls. The  _Maria Sangrada_  looked and smelled like a long used Latino restaurant supplier. Perfect for her purposes. It's engines needed a bit of time to get started, but when she sat down at the pilot's chair, she found the controls a bit alien.

The control stick she was used to, that was for sure. The air brakes were new, she could tell. Or at least had been installed relatively new. With no signs of dust on those parts, she knew she could control that at least. The large sliders on the sides of her interface were not something she remembered anything about or knew how to use. Inside this contained space, there was no way she would test it. Just in case they were weapons of some kind.

An old fashioned door control device lay sitting on the pilot's seat. She picked it up and sat down in her chair, as this was now all hers. She had money by the heap, and a few guns. The door control was obviously for the exit from the old airplane. She didn't know what would open, either the roof or the back. She was a bit worried about those sliders, but would have to try them once she got out into the atmosphere.

She waited for the sun to go down, before pressing the analog device. She kept that, just because of how rare it was to find something that you couldn't connect to with an Omni-tool. Devices like this were useful in their own way, or could be used as triggers for other robust devices. Signal jammers could block them easily, though. But she might have a use for it at some point. When she was sure that it was safe for her to leave, she triggered the button. She saw through the window as the old craft opened all around her, the roof expanding until there was a hole that she could go through. The engines kicked in, belching out dark brown clouds as they turned on for the first time in years.

The shuttle shook as it broke through the stratosphere and out into the debris field that surrounded Earth. Some of the dust scraped against the particle glass on her way out of orbit, and she was scanned at least twice. Nothing came by to do a more active scan on her shuttle, which she was grateful for. The smell of stale tortilla strips, tomatoes, and somewhere in here there had to have been a crate of salsa all permeated the craft. She was ditching this thing at first opportunity.

She hit the mass relay, having to wait in line with a couple other craft as one of the military patrols blew past them. It didn't help that this shuttle's top speed was basically a snail's pace. Every other ship in space passed her. It was enough of a frustration that she immediately went to the recycling yard at Arcturus. Not only was it not very suspicious for a ship this old and crappy to go there, but it was a direction that no one would scan her as she came in to dock.

The recycling dock was one of the dirtiest and dingy looking of the docks in Arcturus. It was being worked by a large number of grubby workers in dirty overalls. They were currently taking apart some sort of cargo container, covered in ice and rust marks. She brought in the shuttle slowly, the engines surprisingly handling well. Probably some sort of high end upgrade done at some point in the past. When she engaged the maneuvering thrusters, things went poorly.

They blasted for the first time in years, and some of the thrusters didn't engage. With a shuddering crash, the shuttle skidded to a stop instead of coming to a gentle stop. She gave the controls a glare, and yanked out the OSD from the ship's computer. It would have information that she might need later. When she kicked open the door to the shuttle, she saw the less-than-amused face of a dock worker. He was overweight, had flat feet, and was short.

"What kind of piece of crap landing was that, Lady?!" He started yelling. She also noticed that his suit gloves weren't covered in oil like all of the rest of the laborers.

"How much for the scrap?" She asked calmly, ignoring his angry statement.

"I ain't paying for that piece of crap! You come into my docking bay, scratch up my floor, and you want me to pay you? I could care less! You'll need to pay me for all this damage!" He was starting to rant, but was doing so in a practiced fashion. He had done this before, and swindled countless others who were desperate. He was the worst sort of scum, the government paid kind.

"Hold that!" She said, letting a strong Hispanic accent through. She had just dyed her hair black again, and had applied some thick makeup to her skin to create age lines and the darker skin that most people of latino descent had. "You don't have the right to dictate to me price. ArcturusNET states that you will take any scrap, and pay fair price. I even have the rate by tonnage." She held up her Omni-tool, not about to get cheated by some dock supervisor.

"Aye, but doesn't it also say that the docks are managed and directed by the local supervisors? Don't try to be legal with me, you cheap rat!" Racial comments were still all too common, now that aliens had become an epithet.

"Fine. As the computer died on the way in, keep the sorry piece of sludge for all that I care! I'll just file a formal complaint with the Dock Master." That made the man start calming down. Or at least looking at her with a sense of more than just greed. "Unless you want to pay me for the tonnage?"

"I'll pay you, don't fret. Just don't be making noise where it isn't wanted." He gave her a credit chit that she verified actually had the credits before she even left the room. Then she transferred them just in case.

"Maybe if you actually got your hands dirty rather than swiping honest people's money you might get a better view on life." She said as a parting shot. Her boots and ugly coat covered all of her stealthsuit, but could be easily dropped if she needed to cloak. She had her bag, and couldn't part with that, but could risk hiding it for a short time. As she left the docking bay, she noticed that none of the workers were paying her much attention, and the cameras weren't following her.

She wasn't signed in on anything, and anyone who saw her would instead see a migratory worker here to slip into some job where the pay wasn't enough or where no one would care. She walked like one, as well, shoulders slumped as if years of labor had curved the back. She never raised her eyes, which were the hardest thing for her to keep under control. Hardest to conceal her European heritage as well.

She walked to the busiest of the docks, and made a few turns there in the ductways. The locals avoided her, seeing as she had very little. One guy did try something, but she was able to convince him to avoid any further attempts. He didn't lose anything, thanks to his own cowardice. But once there, she pulled a nice business suit out of her bag, and dressed in that over her stealthsuit.

With that and a nice looking hat, she walked back into the business district. this time it was to a well travelled area, complete with cameras. Her hat and suit at least looked normal among all of the normal business members of Arcturus. She walked into the clinic sections of the station, looking for one of the ones that was specific. She found it not long after she got there, seeing the familiar label above one of the clinics.

She walked into the Lionel Charity Center with her hat low on her brow, the cameras not getting a clear shot of her. She found only one person in the reception area, the receptionist herself just spending time on a video application. She was working on some sort of problem or solution, as her fingers typed in practiced motions across the haptic interface. Hannah's shoes made loud clicks as she walked forward to the desk.

"Do you have an appointment?" The receptionist asked.

"With Dr. Reuters." She said, answering the question.

The secretary nodded, her head, and waved Hannah towards one of the doors. "He is free to see you." She noticed that the secretary had pressed a button under the desk, unlocking the left door. Hannah stepped through, though had her weapon ready if things went sour. Inside was a simple operating theatre, a couch, and a connected bathroom. This was one of the clinics that did work for different members of the intelligence community, and no questions were asked nor were there any identities shared. She hoped that they weren't paying too close of attention, as the doctor here was not your normal doctor.

Dr. Rupert Lionel was not average in any way. He wasn't technically a lisenced doctor, and he wasn't technically an Alliance citizen. Rupert Lionel was part of some sort of group that were still not granted citizenship due to war crimes in Africa, of some sort. But he was a good doctor, and was willing to operate on people without questions asked. "What did you need?" Was his only question.

"Eyes fixed. I need to look like an asian. Pull the skin of my forehead down a little bit, and give me a bit of a touch that makes me look like a mixed breed. Half asian, half caucasian. Enough that my eyes won't be too difficult to conceal."

"Facial features cost a bit extra, as I'll need an assistant. One hundred and ten thousand credits."

She loaded a credit chit, and then locked all of the rest via her Omni-tool. Only when she handed him the money did he pull out his Omni-tool and start up the process to knock her unconscious. She leaned back, smirking. Jack Harper could manipulate her, or try to, but she would follow her own plan.

When she opened her eyes again, they stung with every blink. She hissed at that, closing her eyes and keeping them shut.

"Don't open them. I had to tighten one of your muscles down and fix it up. You had damaged it previously. The medigel is still drying, and the synthskin is still bonding to you. Wait and keep your eyes closed for the next half hour, and then you can leave." She thought she could hear Lionel muttering about something about impatient patients.

At least her mouth worked fine. "No other complications?"

"Just some old work. Some stitches that were in your shoulder needed to be removed, and some new infused blood is helping you get on your feet. You'll be free to go in less than sixty minutes, and the operation lasted a total of fifty seven minutes. Don't eat seriously garbage food, and eat some seafood tonight. Fish oil will help the synthskin bind to you better." Dr. Lionel was one of the few doctors that was skilled enough to do plastic surgery and other work for just money, and nothing else.

"Did that run me over budget?" Lionel didn't care as long as you paid him. Rare for a doctor.

"Some. I'll be in my office when you can blink without pain. Don't try for at least a half hour." Lionel never took loans, and was not afraid of dumping your body in the street if you didn't have what he wanted. At least his bedside manner was better than Henry Lawson. That man could find a cist in your skin and find it funny, or joke about a tumor he had discovered as if it was your next best friend.

She waited for the blindness to pass and the pain to dull to a low throb, before standing and opening her eyes. They watered a little bit, but the skin held. She blinked a few more times until the room came into focus, and the lights were not so glaring. She stepped over to Lionel's office, which was not lit as brightly as the operating room. That was nicer on her eyes, and she directed them to his desk. It was made out of real wood, as proven by the marks from coffee cups and spill marks that had sunken into the wood.

"How much, Lionel?" HIs desk had a number of odd paraphernalia, including something that caught her eye immediately. Sitting on one side of the desk was a small Prothean statue, the same design that Jack had spent so much of the explosives on years ago. In fact, she could feel almost as if it might have been the same statue, even. If it wasn't for the fact that she had found pieces of the old one, she would have been sure.

"Just another ten thousand for the bloodwork and the complications with your shoulder. Whoever did the previous surgery was very good, and if I had kept my license I might actually send them a thank you note. They were very thorough." He didn't have any networked devices in this room, and other than a medigel dispenser and a few more fluid dispensers.

She paid him in a single credit chit, which Lionel took dispassionately. He just simply added it to a pile of other chits, to be deposited somewhere that he kept all of his money. She didn't bother investigating anything else, and gave him a polite bow and left. He didn't leave a goodbye, just a simple nod. Apparently he was back at work doing something else. When she emerged from the doorway and into the main room, a couple of people were waiting for appointments, but none of them were recognizable, or looked up at her entrance. One young mother, her belly distending her clothes, looked up. Hannah gave her a glare, and the young woman looked down again, but not before showing signs of fear and surprise.

She might be a plant to observe the clinic, but it was unlikely. Hannah didn't want to take the chance, and walked out of the clinic slowly but surely. Scrunching her face hurt, but the ache in her shoulder was ebbing away. The streets were not as packed as when she entered the clinic beforehand, as most people were no longer on their lunch breaks. She stayed to side passages and covered awnings until she got to the docks. There, she changed clothes again. This time it was into a sweatshirt and sweatpants. That was surrounded by a nice looking coat, and with some fuzzy slippers, she looked like anyone else who was going on a long cramped shuttle ride.

Getting a ticket wasn't the problem at this point, it would be going through security that would be more difficult. She could see that the detectors that you had to walk through with your luggage were meant to pick up on foreign matter. Explosives, element zero, poison, and alien DNA. She was familiar with these models because they were in every single Intelligence Office. They also had sensitive enough detection hardware to find her implants, as large as they were. She hadn't been able to get the generation 3 tactical cloak implants in, meaning that her old generation 1's would simply cause her grief. Not to mention only a few people still had those, and it would clue the Alliance in to her location immediately. That required her to use some sort of cloak, or distraction, to get by.

She eventually found a worker's entrance and simply waited for one of them to open it from the inside for a shift change. Sitting there cloaked, no one thought that anything was amiss. It was a simple matter to slip back into the crowds once she had access. The guards weren't looking for her quite yet. Or at least if they were, they were looking for a leggy redhead wearing a body-hugging catsuit. She wondered how Jack would take her choice to get a facial. Probably not well.

That thought had her grinning the entire wait for her shuttle, which got her a ride to the planet of Elysium, where she had to wait for a shuttle to the Citadel, and that flight she got some sleep. She had gotten a seat on a shuttle that went on to her destination, rather than get off at the Citadel. Few humans lived there, and any sighting of anyone new would just be uncomfortable. So she didn't leave the shuttle, and waited the four hours it stayed docked at the Citadel.

Only on the flight from the Citadel to Bekenstein did the shuttle get full. Previous flights weren't completely full, and Hannah had the benefit of avoiding social contact with others the entire flight. When a Turian sat next to her, she had to conceal a reaction. That didn't stop her from glaring at the alien, who seemed uncomfortable with her gaze on him. Not a minute later he had switched seats with an Asari, who looked apologetic at intruding into Hannah's space.

"Sorry about Vollux over there. He isn't the most comfortable around your race."

"I used to live on Shanxi." Hannah simply said, looking unhappy. That made the Asari wince. "Turians are still not my favorite people. But they helped us rebuild." She acted as if the Turians still pissed her off. That was not entirely false, though. She was responsible for some of the higher kill counts for the human race, apparently. Not only that, but she had killed a very important Turian to recover Jack's Omni-tool. Apparently she killed some sort of Spectre. The big scary agents of the Council that went bump in the night. None of them had been deployed for the First Contact War, but one of their most promising trainees had been.

His name was Saren Arterius. Biotic, skilled, and rather arrogant. He also had an amazing record, being some sort of Turian Hero before he had even become a Spectre. Apparently in their culture they have an entire branch of the military for Spectre hopefuls. Saren had been at the top of that, and his death had shocked the entire branch of the military. She laughed a bit about that. She had taken him down before he could have been truly deployed against them. He had been there one day before being killed by what they termed 'Alliance Ghosts'. Her government had no mentioned that there was only a single one active at the time.

"Well." The Asari said, not sure quite how to respond to her mixed compliment. "Glad to hear that your race is joining the larger community." She said, not looking to continue the conversation for longer than necessary. Hannah obliged, and quickly turned towards the window. She didn't sleep on the four hour trip to Bekenstein, and once in the spaceport she found a nice spot to get some news. Nothing was being said about Jack or her that was new, or about Earth in general. Some continued speculation towards the Quarian/Human connection existed, but it was nothing new. Ever since Jack had sold the shipyard to the Quarians, no one had gotten direct details. Jack certainly wasn't giving any, and the Quarians had been rather tight-lipped about it.

She pulled up the contact that Jack had given her on Bekenstein. They had an office right here at the spaceport, and it wasn't a long walk. The sign on the door was written in English, displaying the word, 'Excellence: Quality Security Specialists'. It was small compared to some of the buildings around it, but had a nice human veneer. She opened the door, and a set of mini wind chimes tinkled as the door slid open. She smiled at that. It was a very nice touch.

Inside was a standard business building setup, with a reception desk and a couple of larger men working at desks right behind the front one. The front desk actually had an older looking woman working it, a peculiar sight.

"Yes, how can we help you?"

"I was directed to come here and make a meeting with Alexei?" She hoped she didn't butcher the name.

The receptionist gave her a long look. "What kind of meeting, young lady?"

"I was directed here by a mutual friend. I am seeking employment." The two men at the rear desks were paying full attention to her, and apparently were packing heavy pistols. Jack had mentioned that this was a mercenary company, but she didn't expect outright hostility so soon/

"Alexei will have to review your work history before meeting you. Perhaps you could upload it to my interface, you will get your meeting." She said, not liking her at all. Hannah just pulled out her Asari-made shotgun and Turian aftermarket rifle. Both were significantly dangerous, and were also somewhat illegal in Citadel space. The men at the desks recognized that, and one of them started trying to look up the specs on them. She turned the weapons just far enough so that he couldn't get a picture of the serial numbers. That was something she still had to get changed.

"I served at Shanxi and have done some time in the Corsairs. I was told you would be able to hire me based on my work history." She offered. "My name is Allison Gunn." It was strange, going by her first name for the first time in so long.

The receptionist must have gotten some sort of signal from the men at the desks. She pressed the button on her haptic interface to notify one of the inner offices. "Alexei Heleokloplis will see you now. He is in the office to the left. Good luck." She also received nods from the two men at the desks. With a nod to the both of them, she set her luggage down and took off her coat. Still with travel clothes on, she took note of it and considered changing. It was a job interview, after all.

"I'll just need a moment in a bathroom, and then I will be ready." She offered, and found that easily enough. She dropped the travel gear and pulled a long faux-leather vest out of her bag, and wore that over her stealthsuit. It was much more intimidating. Her weapons she left in her bag, but kept her knives. Those had come in handy defending herself more than any other tool she had. Once she was satisfied with it all, she walked back into the hallway and came into the office of Alexei Heleokloplis.

He was a dark haired man with green eyes, and a full beard. He also was wearing a very nice suit, one that she knew was made of real wool. Possibly European, based on the cut of the suit jacket that she could see. "Miss Gunn! I had been told you might show up soon." His English was heavily accented, the Greek coming through on his vowels. He was also around five foot ten, and Hannah could almost look him in the eye.

"Alexei. My friend tells me that you might have a need for more than just a simple hired gun." She didn't dare try to pronounce that monster of a last name. Greek names were just difficult all around.

"All I know about you, Alexei, is that you are a good contact to get into the security business. But to be this close to the Citadel, you must have made your business in Citadel Space rather than Alliance Space. And since Jack mentioned you, I have to take everything you say with a grain of skepticism."

"All that he told me is that I needed you a lot more than you need me." Alexei replied. "I fail to see why. You look like some sort of Alliance agent, ready to come in here and kill me."

"Consider it a non possibility." Hannah said. "If you run a security business, then you have the ability to conceal who exactly is on your payroll. I am seeking a little bit of cover from the Alliance currently, and if you don't want to offer that I have other contacts."

"Probably none like the Dawn." Alexei said, motioning for her to sit down. "We were not well liked in Alliance space before the First Contact War, and we found an opportunity for our services here that my people were only too happy to provide. Back on Earth, people call us terrorists or worse. At one point we were a political party that controlled the country of Greece, my home. Our policies led to some trouble, and eventually we were kicked out of the European Union and United Nations on crimes against Humanity. Old news, old history. The greater galaxy gave those of us who have been weakened by the Alliance's member states a location to spread ourselves to. We founded a few security companies out here, where our blood can be spilt and our honor can be found again."

"So, you are from the Greek paramilitary organization that the Alliance is so desperately hunting down on Earth?" Hannah offered as a question, knowing a lot more than she acted like. She had actually gone after a couple of the targets herself, but she wasn't going to mention that to him.

"Aye. We are no longer welcome at home. Yet our people look for opportunity among the stars. With nothing but death and crime awaiting us on Earth, we send our people out in droves here, to be security guards, soldiers, mercenaries. So long as we don't betray one another, we will find a future here."

"I think I know what your problem is, then." Hannah said. "You need to know how to overcome Alliance patrols to get your people out. And I need a job."

"How well do you know the Alliance, Ms. Gunn? I assure you-" He started, but Hannah decided to cloak. When she decloaked next to him, hair falling askew from when she had flipped over his desk, she was grinning.

"I know it better than any man you could have in your contacts list. If you protect me, then I'll help you out. Right now the Alliance wants me dead as much as they want you dead."

Alexei hadn't gotten his pistol out fast enough. Her hand was resting on it, yet she hadn't pulled her knife out. He relaxed after he saw that she wasn't planning on killing him.

"How will I know that you aren't a plant from the Alliance?"

"Jack Harper might not be the most trustworthy of people, but he wouldn't send me to someone who would refuse the help. Nor would he miss an opportunity to have you in his debt." She said, releasing her hold on his weapon and standing up fully.

"That, that is very true. Our previous dealings with him indicate that he is a snake, but one with a very charismatic tongue."

"So, do we have a deal?" Hannah asked, returning to her side of the desk. "Or do I cloak and disappear, going to help some other group that is being targeted by the Alliance?"

Alexei reached into the desk and pulled out some sort of liquor. "No, no, please stay. My curiosity is piqued. Allison, was it? Please tell me more about yourself. I will try to be as forthcoming." His gun returned to its spot under the desk, but the liquor was poured immediately.


	19. Fugue: Waking the Sleeping Giant

Chapter 19

June 2165, Tartarus Station, Luna

Jack Harper was grinning as he finally made some headway on the terrible secretary that worked for all of the offices here. He had been sponsored by the Chief Medical Officer, as well as the Chief of Security. Well, apparently discovering an addiction to pornography _and_ drugs changed their minds about him. Whether it was partially true or not didn't matter. In the government, they wouldn't sack you for gross neglect. Here, in the Cerberus Foundation, gross neglect was worse than fraud. The future of Humanity was not going to be in the hands of those who weren't capable of building that future.

So, now he had gotten rid of the worst informer for the Alliance office of Intelligence. Not to mention the one with access to his office. He was sure that whoever had come into his office looking for information on his daughters was let in by that useless waste of flesh. Though he was sure that some of the other chiefs of staff had their hand in some dirty laundry around the Foundation over the years. Removing their mole that had access to him and his offices was necessary. Now, he could choose a replacement for the job, and this time hopefully have them last a little while longer before they would become someone's informant. It was only a matter of time before that happened, after all.

He walked past the empty desk with a lighter step, coming to his offices and living quarters around the second bend. When he walked in, he could hear some sort of vid being played, and the sound of food being processed in the kitchen. He had no gift for cooking food, and neither did his children. The food court here and the processed food that could be bought at the store supplied them with what they needed. Though he took many chances to get off the station to keep up with his remaining businesses and go out to restaurants from there.

"Girls!" He called, coming into the main room. He could see the large vid screen dominated by some sort of sports channel, which both of his girls seemed to be enraptured by. They both glanced at him, and then quickly swivelled their heads back to the screen to pay attention to some sort of action going on.

"Dad!" They both said. "Hang on, this is almost done!"

He decided to humor them and sat down on the couch with them. Whatever sport they were watching involved two teams of Asari, sets of three. A large ball was being tossed around by both sides, curiously only being done with biotics. Due to the amount of time that it took to recharge abilities, the ball moved slowly, but surely. He saw that neither side touched the ball directly, other than the ones wearing orange. Apparently the goalies. There was a large hole on either side of the stadium that the balls were aimed at.

He saw that the only biotic abilities used on the ball were throws and pulls, of varying strengths. Singularities were used on players, usually used when one of the forward players tried to get close to the players in orange. He didn't see warps or shockwaves being used, or the vanguard charge ability.

"What sport is this?" He asked.

"It's Warp Ball, Dad!" Miranda excitedly explained. "Nyra says that she is going to teach us how to play once we get our amps!" Julia didn't take her eyes off the game, but nodded at her sister's explanation.

"Warp Ball is all about timing. Each race has a Warp Ball team, except for us and the Elcor." Julia explained, pointing at the teams in play. "The Asari have three layers of teams, while the other races don't. The Championship games are played on the Citadel every year, when each race sends a team to play!" Julia apparently had numbers and statistics on her datapad, and was ready to explain those too.

Most children with Asperger's would have object-obsession issues. They would focus on a single subject, to the point of excluding all other forms of input. These changed over time, slower than the rate that other children changed topics. Particularly debilitating about Asperger's was the tendency to associate any person they spoke with to the conversation topics that the original conversation contained. It was what led most people to believe that this syndrome was a form of autism.

Julia was focused on her biotics. Nyra had mentioned to him that Julia had an unhealthy obsession with asking about biotics, but anytime she was forced to show her skill in class, she failed. At home she practiced as much as Miranda, who had better results overall. That was simply because Miranda was designed to have those results. Julia was designed for a different skill set, and with higher situational awareness. Better reflexes, along with some gene mods for better eyesight. She didn't have as many Element Zero clusters along her nervous system.

"Julia, before you go into more Warp Ball, I have something to announce to you both." He interrupted, before she could go into it. As interesting as it would be to learn about another facet of galactic politics, he had something more relevant to talk about. Julia and Miranda both turned to him, though to be fair to them he stood up and moved so that they could see the vid screen and him at the same time. "I have decided to tutor you both on a subject that you will be learning and mastering. One of the most powerful ways to control a situation is in the use of language. So I have selected a language that I speak that I will personally teach you."

"You're gonna teach us French?" They knew that he used that often enough.

"No, that language is seeing less and less use every day. Now that Earth is part of a much larger universe, French and other regional languages will eventually become dead languages. With Omni-tools the need to learn them has disappeared. In my opinion, the only languages that will continue to be of any use are Cantonese and English. Both of which are fully translated with Omni-tool programs. There are only a few languages on Earth that aren't in Omni-tool translation programs. I am considered fluent in only one of those."

He pressed a button on his Omni tool, and it activated a laser pointer. He had one wall of their living quarters turned into a haptic interface. With the laser pointer and a simple reaction surface, he could create a giant whiteboard to write on and display information. He started drawing out letters, from one large A to the last, a large O that split along the bottom, forming two legs jutting out to either side. His daughters paid complete attention to the entire process. When he finished, he deactivated the laser pointer and turned back to them.

"This is the alphabet for Ancient Greek. It is one of the oldest languages in the world, and is only spoken fluently by less than one hundred people, mostly here on Earth. The only ones who care enough about this language to learn how to speak it are the history professors who get paid grants to translate uncovered architecture. There are a couple VI systems equipped to translate the written language, but the spoken language is rare to be heard. That is why I have decided that it will be our language. Something that you can guarantee won't be translated or taken out of context." He was also confident that there was little to no demand to make that translation software, as his memories mentioned that much.

"You're going to teach us?" Julia asked carefully.

"Yes. Wherever I am, I will teach you. Even if that means being connected via Omni-tool. I will teach you." He replied. "Now, I have cleared your schedule until six pm, at which point you will have dinner, and then lessons with Nyra. I do not want to see the rest of your studies drop because of the time we spend on this."

"Yes Dad!" His girls would take any opportunity to spend time with him, as he would do the same in return. While it helped them have some parental influences, it also kept him from letting his habits knock off his plans. Jack had an impulsive side, and it occasionally caused him trouble. Though he did get lucky a few times, usually romantically. That impulsiveness didn't always work around his companies or around aliens who weren't trying to predict human tendencies.

His Omni-tool beeped, pulling his attention to it. "The pronunciation is all listed under each letter. Practice those for a few minutes, and then I will start explaining how they all work together. Greek is not an easy language, and it will be different from any other language you have ever heard before. I will be right back." He got up, heading towards his office but not turning on the sound dampeners. He needed to be able to see if they were actually doing the pronunciations correctly.

When he opened the Omni-tool message, he noticed that it was from Bad'rab Exploration Services. He had hired the Volus company to do some exploration for him, out near the Perseus Veil. They were the only ones willing to go out that far. Except of course, the Batarians. But that was what started this trouble in the first place.

Their message was a report of habitable systems near the Perseus Veil, along with element dispersal charts. He wanted them looking for extreme amounts of element zero, as well as palladium. Reaper shells were composed of palladium, organic materials, and other forms of matter that didn't normally act as solids. But scanners would find them if properly tuned to look for that. It was that kind of scan that turned up the Reaper on Dis.

The Volus craft didn't report any sort of ship or large deposits that would indicate a Reaper. Curiously, they were even in the same sector of space that he had been told Sovereign was hiding in at the start of this. Most importantly of all, however, was that Edan'Haddah wasn't going to scan this for at least a decade. Something had changed the scenario. He hadn't taken any direct actions that would threaten the Reapers yet. The Leviathan of Dis hadn't caused any reactions to it being taken last time.

He had only done one active action to pursue the Reaper threat, and that was only within the last year. There was no sign of the Reaper that was supposed to be contacted by Saren and then go on a rampage around the galaxy. Troubling in the least. But Sovereign was next to the Perseus Veil ostensibly to communicate and convert the Geth splinter faction to his cause. If he wasn't next to the Veil, then he was either in hiding or sleeping somewhere. He didn't like the idea that Sovereign might be acting differently, but he had done as much as possible while still avoiding alerting the Reapers to his plans. Every step along the way had been made with careful consideration as to the consequences.

He sent a reply telling the Volus of his thanks, and their continued exploration of these systems was very much to his satisfaction. His payment to them was the promise of a full refurbishment of their exploration fleet, which he hoped would take some casualties somewhere in there. It was going to be expensive for him to refurbish them if they all came back in one piece. With a nod to himself, he closed down his Omni-tool and walked back into the main room, where Miranda and Julia were struggling with  _Theta_.

"Oh, you both are going to love when we get to dipthongs." He said, getting their attention again.

"What's that?" Julia asked, making the VI make the sound for  _Theta_  again.

"It's where the vowels combine with another vowel, making irregular verbs possible. More importantly, they are used in most of your basic nouns. To determine feminine and masculine terms like his and hers, you use different dipthongs and vowels to show this. In English, all you have to know is a single way of conjugating a verb. You don't have to worry if it was  _her_ basket or if  _he_  broke the basket. In Greek, as well as some of the earlier languages, women speak from an entirely different conjugation. Men speak differently as well. I'll start with the feminine forms, but today let's just focus on the alphabet. Every day we will work on this until you have it down. Though I want you both to promise me something."

They both just nodded. Time spent with him was rare. He knew that they treasured it. Julia suspected him of avoiding them sometimes, but that was more due to work than anything else. "I want you both to promise me not to speak about this, or use this outside of our home for now. If people knew that you were learning this language, they would feel confused. They would try to guess what my intentions might be. You are welcome to guess why I am teaching you this language. As an example of what you might find in Greek that is important, observe."

He brought out the laser pointer again, and started writing Greek symbols on the haptic interface. 'καὶ σὺ, τέκνον' was what he wrote. Then, he pronounced it. "Kah-Eye Soo Tak-non." As expected, the girls didn't understand. But they did try to repeat it. "These are the last words spoken by Julius Ceasar, the most famous tyrant of human history. It is translated as, 'you too, my son?'. Julius Ceasar was killed by his own trusted man. He thereafter stole the same power that Ceasar had worked so hard to claim, hypocritically committing the same crime that he killed Ceasar for. Greek was the language of the ancient world. It can express anything you need it to, and most importantly, give you a language that you can depend on if you are ever captured. If you are ever told to write a ransom note, this will give you a language to write it in. Security and privacy is the main reason I will teach you this."

"Are you going to call us tomorrow? You're going on your trip to the Citadel!"

Jack nodded. "Yes, I will call you. Uncle James and I are going to take a little trip. But I will be sure to call at four pm, and start our lesson. I'll be in transit at that time." He put down a note into his Omni-tool to set an alarm for thirty minutes beforehand. "Now, lets try this again.  _They-tah"_

"Theta," They echoed. This time much better.

* * *

The next day, Hades Gamma System

"Never thought I'd be happy to see this again." James said, pulling the heavy shuttle around. The doors to the mega hauler opened before them, still tightly wrapped around the Reaper shell. "This time we brought some parts and fuel for the old girl." James was deftly spinning the shuttle, matching the spin that the Reaper and hauler were spinning at. At the rate they were moving, the only way that you could dock with either one was to do a risky maneuver to enter the spinning mega hauler and then latch the shuttle onto the floor. Once latched, magnetic boots would be all that was needed to move around on the mega hauler. James had been on his tenth approach, this time. He had declared that he was at the appropriate speed of rotation, and then they began the approach.

James had to try so many times due to the massive cargo container strapped to the shuttle, which also had to be dragged through this rotation. James had the correct rotation a couple of times, but the container wasn't spinning well enough for his liking. So the last few hours had been mostly just starting and stopping the shuttle. With a sigh of relief, James guided the shuttle and its cargo safely inside the hangar, and used the directional thrusters to ever so slightly coast towards the floor. With a loud grinding of metal, the shuttle managed to latch on to the slightly rusted and aging hulk.

Jack stood up, and motioned to everyone gathered. "Amandeep,  _Don_ ," He had to use the new name the Krogan wanted as his moniker, as apparently he found it more honorable to use. "Get the old bird fueled up, and then unhook us from the Prothean ship. Stop it from rotating, and let's get going. James, take your team of engineers and get the engines looked at and the computer systems checked. I don't want to have any risk of sabotage." A smattering of modern Greek was heard from the men behind Don and Amandeep, as they were led to the maneuvering thrusters and the cable housings. All of them were from the Golden Dawn Security Group. It went by many names, but all of it was a derivative of the Golden Dawn political party that had supported the last great dictatorship in Greece.

That had been forcibly ousted in favor of the 'Republican' system now in place. Basically all of the organized crime that they called bureaucracy was relabeled and turned into the new government. The political agenda remained, if you looked hard enough. That was why Greece was still a crime ridden heap of a nation. The only ones who had enough money to travel were the ones who benefitted from the system. Like the remaining members of the Golden Dawn, for instance. There was no safer option to send Hannah to other than someone that the Alliance already had warrants for.

Speaking of Hannah, she was standing with her heavily armed security team. She had eight men in dark gray armor and some Helix-III rifles. Not the most amazing armor and weapons, but certainly enough to deal with any remaining trouble onboard the ship. "Gunn, take your group and sweep the ship. There should be a shuttle attached to the airlock on the right. It won't be airtight. The residence quarters above the bridge should be empty, but were the sight of a recent massacre. I'll need any identification material to send back to their families. The corsairs died hard enough taking this the first time."

Nods went around, and Hannah suited up her helmet and ran out with her eight men to go secure the ship. Jack himself called his girls, content to begin the teaching session. He also made sure that he taught them with a featureless shuttle wall behind him. The last time he had called them from a window, and Miranda had looked up where he was based on the spaceport on the other side of the window. So this time he wasn't going to have the awkward conversation where his kids found out where he was and demanded souvenirs.

Though they apparently were prepared. Most of today's session was spent just covering more of the alphabet, followed by figuring out the Greek script that appeared on their haptic interface.  _That_  took them the rest of the session, including Jack. Then again, he had learned on pencil and paper. He had to learn the interface right with them. He might have dropped an epithet during the process. If anyone asked him where his daughters learned all of the more unfortunate words in the English language, he would readily admit that most of them they learned from him. Others they found on the extranet. They never spoke them, due to a stringent policy that they had to spend an hour with his personal trainer for every use of the English language that fell short of his standards. They could decide how many hours they wanted to work in the gym for waggling tongues.

It was a lot nicer than what his mother did to him. She drilled into him using whatever she could get on hand that you always, always,  _always_  spoke like you were the very best example of a native speaker of that language. Or else you got hit by whatever was around. He didn't really have a father figure, but there were always a few around. The Alliance Business Insider always highlighted the most successful men and women of business. When Jack was young, he was told that all he needed to do to be successful was to make money. Nothing else mattered as much. Women, love, and golf would come later. The women came as the money did, and love he didn't particularly care about.

Golf was something he had a particularly bad run with. But he could comment on a swing with the best of them. All of the best businessmen had one thing in common. They all could just turn off their emotional connection to an argument or company, and make a perfectly logical decision that benefitted them. No matter the cost to others, all of the top men of business were absolutely cutthroat. Nothing mattered and nothing remained other than profit in their minds. Jack idolized that goal. He  _became_  that kind of man. Now, he was one of those men on the front of the magazine. He was one of those people that young men would look to, and be inspired to be. But all of that was pure crap.

At the end of the day, that self-serving mentality wouldn't save anyone. The Reapers would win. But that greed, that drive to succeed, that was enough to push the human race forward. Humanity needed its cold hearted logic, and its greed. But it also needed to have an emotional connection at some point. Otherwise at the end of it all, the lure of Indoctrination came upon you too easily. Jack had his goals. He wanted to see Earth survive the war. He had two daughters that he would readily start a war with the Batarians over. That was what kept him going at night. His memories of another life didn't help much in that regard. All they told him was of a future that was, and of a broken dream that eventually was buried under the Reaper's lies. They might still be lying to him, making this entire scenario to trick him. He still saw the signs of that in places. Especially with Sovereign not in his usual place.

Soon enough, he ended his conversation with his daughters, and stepped out of the shuttle. No one was moving around, but the cargo container had been hooked up to a hose to send its fuel down into the belly of the ship. He hadn't heard that. He must have been too focused on Greek. He took a look around, seeing no one actively moving on the hangar deck. The subtle pulling on his boots told him that the maneuvering thrusters hadn't fired yet. They were still rotating very hard.

He pulled out a cigarette, finding it a nice time to take care of that desire before anyone else got back from their tasks. He lit the cigarette, and then slid the lighter back into his suit pocket. As he leaned back to take a drag on it, he felt it yanked out of his mouth. Glaring at whoever dared, he turned around to see Hannah sitting on top of the shuttle, smoking his cigarette.

"You've gotten better at sneaking up on me." He said, bringing out another cigarette. "Also, your plastic surgery. It's terrible."

"Thank you for your opinion. It means so much to me to be able to avoid Alliance dataminers." She looked at the cigarette in her hand and tossed it off to the other side of the shuttle. Probably just to piss him off, too. "You forgot to look up. A lot of people don't think about it."

"You doing alright with Heleokloplis?" He asked quietly, doing another look around, this time paying attention to the upper walkways.

"He pays well. Though with whatever you have been promising, I'll get quite a bit of a bonus. Where exactly are we going?" She motioned out the hangar towards the spinning Reaper, her hand pointing at the main gun. "Aren't we just taking that?"

"That and more. I have the location of a few items of interest, thanks to a Volus exploration and scanning company. We need the mega hauler to get them all. So, I need that gun, and a few other things. Once we are done, it will be very crowded in here."

"How about some details, this time? Considering I am in charge of security. Your usual cryptic bull isn't what I usually prepare around." Hannah interrupted, as he was about to spout more of his 'cryptic' half truths.

"Alright. I found an old ship from around two thousand years ago. The problem is that it isn't holding together well. Anything that I can get from it, I will. The other thing I found was a source of Prothean relics that haven't been plundered yet. As such, we will go and get a couple of them and then consider reporting the rest. If Humanity can benefit more from them not being reported, then it will be better."

"So, no shooting or crazy get shot in the knee kind of thing?"

Jack waited a moment to consider where they were going. "Not that I know of, but there are plenty of things that can go wrong. I brought your security team because I assumed that there could be trouble. Assume there is some risk." Jack noted his Omni-tool for a moment. "Also, considering there is some measure of secrecy, I have disabled outgoing transmissions for the duration of the mission." Except for his own encrypted connection, of course. "Some of your men have already tried to report our current location, or try to access the ship's computer to get it. My worries are not unfounded."

Hannah folded her arms, and hopped down off the shuttle. Her feet hit the old metal grates with a loud  _clank_. "I'll talk to them, then. But they don't necessarily trust me either. This is my second month leading a team. You're asking a lot of them, going after this Prothean Dreadnought."

"I found another one of them." Jack said. Hannah looked over, intrigued. "And I am halfway convinced they aren't Prothean. This one was buried in the crust of that moon, and preliminary scans of the crust show that it might have been there for more than a few hundred thousand years. If that is true, then this might be from a previous civilization. Something that may or may not have been more powerful than the Protheans." He took a drag on the cigarette. "I found one that could be more than that in age. The consequences of such a find could be debilitating. Or destabilize the balance between the different races. Either way, I am finding a very worrisome coincidence between the two ships."

"Are we going after the second one?" Hannah asked.

"No." Jack said. "It is tidally locked inside of a red dwarf. Later, when we have something that can drag it out of there without tying up four dreadnoughts to do it, we will. But right now, I have little care when I have this as a source of technology. We will be taking its inertial dampeners and engines on the next run. Humanity needs them. Something that large should have larger support structures, yet the body flows in a way that doesn't help with function at all. It's a mystery I plan to solve." Or a mystery that was haunting his every action, take it or leave it.

"So, you have a backup to get your technology from, then?"

"Personally, I would love to simply let human ingenuity direct us. Hell, even come up with our own branches of science that make Element Zero no longer necessary. If we can just run off of Helium-3 to make it all happen, that would be fine in my book. Staying near the mass relays will eventually lead us to have to make some hard decisions about our neighbors and how close we can feel to them. Or if we can even cohabitate with them."

"The Dawn have some Turian members. It's all new, so we don't know how that will go. But there is hope that it allows them to get some larger clients. It will be good for business, at least."

"Business is only good when the consequences of doing business destroys what you hold dear." Jack told her.

"Strange logic, coming from you." She snarked.

"It shouldn't be. I've got my daughters to worry about. Not to mention all of the other things i care deeply about." He saw her face contort, as if to ask a question. "Which I won't be mentioning in this oh so public place. Or possibly mentioning at all. You might be a friend of mine, Hannah, but not a close enough one that I would tell you all my secrets. Perhaps if you actually fulfilled that promise to me..."

"Those coordinates pointed out the Citadel, which as you well know was the Prothean capital. Your information must have been wrong, if that all pointed to where the center of their Empire was. This signal you say killed them all, wouldn't it have been detected by now?"

"If they were looking for it. The Protheans lived in the Citadel for a long time, possibly built and managed it all. So, the easiest way to defeat them was to start from the center and move outward. My data files say that it started from inside the Citadel. In fact, the very coordinates are inside the Presidium Tower."

"Strange. I doubt they would let you anywhere near it."

"I'll be there next month, when all the papers are going to be signed. At that time I'll find out if that signal exists. I was invited by Matriarch Benezia, so I don't think she would accept me bringing along a second date." He told her. Hannah wasn't phased by it at all.

"Sounds like your kind of girl. Expensive, makes you work for it. How is it, sleeping with Asari?"

"I actually haven't. To tell you the truth, the mind meld idea kind of makes me uncomfortable. There is a reason that the Asari remain on top of the food chain. They can take information from your mind. So, getting a date from her is most certainly not going to end with any love making of any kind."

Hannah laughed at that. "Are you afraid?"

"Of course I am! You should be too, they can do that with anyone they touch." He pushed at the center of her chest, trying to make her go off balance. She recovered, of course, giving him a strange look. "Willing or unwilling. In fact, apparently some can even use that ability to kill other people."

Hannah looked skeptical. Before she could respond to that quipp, the ship started shaking under their feet. Hannah managed to right herself easily enough, but Jack had to grip the shuttle to stabilize everything. He could feel something going on.

"Uh, is this working? I can't get any channels to work." James' voice came over his Omni-tool. Jack groaned. He must have turned the signal jammer up too high. Ship-wide channels must have been affected. With a slight tug against the force of gravity being exerted, he typed in a command to have James, Amandeep, and Hannah all have low level exception to the jamming.

"We can hear you loud and clear now, James. What just happened?"

He could hear yelling in the channel. "That's what I was trying to figure out! Someone decided to change the course of the ship!"

"Sorry! It was me!" Amandeep's voice came through. "We have pulled the gun! It's ours!" Jack ran for the bridge, already wanting to know what happened.

"Hannah, move the shuttle! Coordinate with Amandeep and move it out of the way! We need to get the gun inside!" He didn't even look to see if she nodded or not, he just started running. The shuttle was parked by the fuel intake, which was near the back of the hangar bay. Three hundred meters on foot is nothing to scoff at, but Jack exercised every morning for moments like this. So, he didn't run out of breath, nor did he look like he had lost water weight when he arrived at the bridge. When he got there, he could see James and two technicians from the Dawn figuring out maneuvering on the hauler.

"What's going on?" He half-yelled. "Was Amandeep correct?"

James gave a short laugh. "Oh yeah. We took that thing's middle finger! Or its analogue." His hands moved slightly upward, as did his shoulders, then rotated, palms outward. "Not sure what that thing is, but it better be the weapon we need."

The process to get the main cannon inside the mega hauler wasn't bad. It only took a little while. But the Reaper shell looked like someone had kicked its teeth out. Some of the old superstructure was spilling out of the hole where its main cannon used to be, making it look like it was puking. A comedic image to him, to say the least. He had to keep himself from laughing when the main cannon slid inside the hangar bay. This technology was going to save more than a few lives, but it wasn't going to win any war with the Reapers. Stealing their weapons and armor hadn't worked in the past.

Everyone took a deep sigh of relief when the doors slid shut and the operation finished, almost ten hours after the cables started pulling. The living quarters were the site of a massacre, so most of the mercenaries slept on the bridge or the shuttle. Jack got a couple hours of sleep in the cockpit, and then got back to work. He had to maintain the illusion that he was still doing his normal day's work, and to do that he needed space. So much of his time was spent in the cockpit. Once James was awake, he gave directions to head towards the Hawking Eta system.

"This mega hauler got us in trouble last time, boss." James said. "How are you going to guarantee that we are gonna be ok?"

"Because the corsairs are on patrol. Batarians and their interest are focused on defense today."

"Ok, where to after Hawking Eta?"

"After that, I will give you some coordinates. You won't find what I am directing you to on any map, as I just paid some Volus to scan the area." A lie of necessity, but one that would benefit him in the end. "Let me know when you get to Hawking Eta. There isn't much out there except for mining colonies, so a mega hauler isn't out of place. Just keep an eye out for Batarian patrols."

It didn't take long to get through FTL to the mass relay. They were for certain sighted by both Corsair and Batarian contacts in the system, meaning that they would do the math on who had this ship and how long it had been since it had been seen. It was only a matter of time before this got back to the Alliance office of Intelligence. Then they would call him awkwardly and it would be Hannah assigned to him all over again.

Once they were through, he gave coordinates to James of a quadrant of space out in the dark, between the solar systems. James trusted it and took the ship to FTL. When they got to the region, it was completely empty. Jack ground his teeth a little bit, not seeing what he was expecting to. This was right where he expected it to be. There was no way that he could have gotten the position wrong.

"Ok, boss, where to now? We after some asteroid or debris out here?"

"Scan the area. What I'm looking for should light up the sensors like crazy."

James grunted. "The sensors on this old bat are pretty terrible. Most need to be replaced, to be honest. I'll need to roll her around to get the full view." James did so, the hauler rotating slowly and taking ten minutes to get a full scan. "Alright, I've got two objects on radar. One is some sort of asteroid, and the other is," James blinked, and then checked the board again. "I think it's a Mass Relay?"

"Perfect. Take us in." Jack said. "This points towards something that I need to make other projects work."

"This is an uncharted relay, boss. Are you sure that we will be safe on the other side?"

"Hardly uncharted. Just out of place. This points towards the Pangaea Expanse. What I need is on the other side. There should be a few planets, one of which has a large amount of Prothean architecture. There is a location that I need to get access to, which should hold the answer to something of a mystery." James just gave him the same worried look, but Jack narrowed his eyes.

James still met his eyes. "Going into an uncharted relay is what got us in trouble with the Turians, boss. Are you 100% sure that it is going to be safe on the other side?"

"James, this is the only way that we can get to the Prothean planet of Ilos. Everything on the other side of the relay is long dead. There are no research teams out this far because this information is not publicly available. I won't tell you where I got it from, as then I would be sending you to your death, but I can surely promise you that the other side of this relay is dead."

"As long as you're sure." James said, still not moving the ship.

"Damnit James, I'm sure! Take us in!"

James sighed, but eventually turned back to the controls. "Alright." He said quietly. "Here's hoping we don't start another damn war."

Jack sat down, waiting for the inevitable twist from the ship going to a relay jump. The old ship almost felt like it was coming apart for a moment, as it groaned and its mass became near zero. James was fully strapped into his chair, and had his interface full of large equations and math. When the mass relay finally deposited them in the Refuge system, it was quiet. Almost too quiet. Nothing was on the scanners, and the entire system was uncharted. James took a half hour to scan the system, and even had Hannah go out in the shuttle to go scan the debris around the first planet in the system.

Jack just directed the hauler to the second planet in the system, Ilos. James didn't want to bring the mega hauler down inside the atmosphere, so Jack told him to hold position in orbit. He was also told to keep the Dawn members to avoid the main gun. Jack mentioned that any Human DNA found on it would get back to the Alliance eventually. That kept them away, at least for now.

When the shuttle and the cargo container got loaded, Jack had Hannah and her security team get onboard the shuttle with him, and had a large hydrogen helium-3 hybrid generator loaded into the container. That, along with a few hundred feet of cables, were stuffed into the container. This barely filled up the space. Jack needed the container for other things.

"My god, what happened here?" Hannah muttered, seeing the surface of the planet. Everything was covered in tens of thousands of years of plant growth, and any signs of life had long since rotted away. Plants existed, but nothing moved here. The streets were empty, and dark hooded statues covered every available edge. Jack had never been to Ilos, but he knew what to look for. One structure remained free of the plant life, behind a dried out riverbed and a large wall. Or at least one larger system of structures, one that was entirely Prothean.

"It looks like the Protheans found it like this. Look, that complex there is different from the rest." He realized that whatever plants the Protheans brought must have been the ones to overcome the city. The growth was bad, but it was worst in the Prothean areas. The complex that he had pointed out was apparently larger than originally thought. It came towards what may have once been a coastline, as the other buildings all stopped abruptly at the same spot. The complex went right up against a small cliff line, where the area dropped and eventually ran into a small lake. The old coastline obviously had some sort of crevice that bisected it down a few miles. That must have caused the ocean to drain away.

"I see it. Where am I parking this?"

"The tower there at the end of the cliff. It should have a large open area we can use to get further inside the complex. The Protheans would have what I am looking for inside."

"What exactly are we looking for?" Hannah asked, looking a bit worried.

"Active computer consoles, data that we can access. That is what I need."

Hannah immediately tilted the shuttle away from the complex. "I think I can see kinetic barrier projectors around the complex. This place still armed?"

Jack couldn't exactly recall how many barriers still worked when Shepard cleared the place out, but he did remember that Saren had to walk into the complex on foot. He wouldn't have done so unless there was no other way. "Possibly. Set us down on that cliff edge, and we can walk towards the complex. Bring the sled. We might need it."

The Greeks were all strong, and all happy to pull the sled. Considering that the thing kept itself off the ground using some Element Zero and pneumatic tires, it was an easy job for two people. The other five members all toted their weapons and followed Hannah out of the shuttle and onto the stony ground. No barriers or cannons appeared to harass them, and the entire area was silent. No animals had disturbed the area as far as Jack could tell, but none of the reports he had read about this place mentioned any.

"Keep an eye out. This planet was known to be some sort of Prothean world. Expect barrier traps and defenses. If you get caught in one, you will most likely starve to death before we can free you." That made all of the eager looks change quickly. "Barrier curtains and such have emitters. They look like light sconces, with a wide tip. Be aware and point them out."

Hannah reiterated the order, and then went first across the rocky ground towards the complex. As they got closer, Jack could see a large embankment and a wall that surrounded one end of the complex. Kinetic barrier emitters were on top of the wall, but the structure was one that he closely recognized. Behind those walls was the Conduit. Saren had led them on a wild goose chase for that, and this time Jack aimed to keep that from happening. He sighed at that. Getting that thing was going to take a bit of effort.

He wasn't here for that, though. Hannah was ahead of him, her armor not reflecting any light off of its pseudo-leather. It was certainly a nice perk. Too bad he wouldn't get to enjoy any of that until he had fully proven the existence of Reapers. Taking his eyes off the eye candy, he looked forward at where the complex began. There was some sort of pool deck off to one side, but much of the plant growth had covered the entryway.

One large tree had filled it up, its roots digging into the surrounding architecture. Jack glanced at it, and then considered the effort involved in climbing it. Though looking past it, he could see that there was an old hallway that hadn't crumbled leading through into the old complex. With a shrug, he started climbing the wall with the help of magnetic boots, using the tree to stabilize his body. Hannah and the soldiers followed, trying to stay in front of their paycheck. He couldn't help but grin at that, as that meant they would keep up with him.

Along the hallway, there had at one point been some barrier curtains, but the emitters had long since corroded. He knew that some still worked, but nothing seemed powered. Hannah calmly walked forward, until the hallway turned and gained a ceiling. Everyone had to turn on their lights built into their Omni-tools, highlighting the algae covered walls, and the standing water in the hallway as it went deeper.

"Still glad you are wearing that nice suit?" Hannah asked.

"Always. Plus, you are going to go first and tell me if the hallway has collapsed ahead of us." Jack set his foot in place, as the wall was covered in algae and wouldn't be nice to lean against. Hannah just gave him a shrug, and slipped on a helmet and moved into the hallway. They didn't have to wait long for her to return, her armor wet and her helmet on.

"Collapsed and leading to some sort of drainage gate. We can't get through here." She said, wiping the algae off of her armor. "Also, there are most certainly fish out here. Or amphibians. Small, but life does exist here."

Jack nodded. "There will be another entrance. They wouldn't have only one way in."

As it turned out, they eventually had to take the same route that Shepard and Saren did. Jack had to wear armor for the sections that involved water, and they had to do some interesting recovery when one of the Greeks fell into some sort of sinkhole. To get him out required a significant amount of rope and time, and he would forever have the nickname 'Sinker'. Or some sort of analogue in Greek. He never made any motions to betray that he could partially understand them past the Omni-tool translation.

The walk down the miles of complex took almost all day, and the sun was setting as they arrived at the long hallway filled with cryogenic tubes on all the walls. Jack measured their exact position, and had them stop near the spot where Vigil made contact with Shepard so long ago. "This seems stable. We should stop here for a while, and then continue when we have gotten a short break." Jack said, as everyone was tired of running around in their armor for the entire day.

The Greeks all took a break, with 'Sinker' going to clean the rest of the mud off of his armor. Fortunately, he was the only one out of the area when the kinetic barrier curtains turned on, sealing them in. Jack acted genuinely surprised, considering how trapped he was at this moment. The ceiling existed, far above them, so the shuttle couldn't come inside to get them. The floor was made out of the Prothean miracle metal that resisted any impacts. They had no way out. More worrisome was that the curtains had activated, but the door leading to Vigil had not opened.

"Spread out! Check for the emitters!" Hannah shouted. "You!" She yelled to Sinker. "Go get the shuttle, let James know what is going on!" The men all listened attentively, looking for the emitters that projected the barrier curtain. Jack looked along the wall nearest to him, starting at one end and moving along it, knowing that somewhere along here was the entrance to Vigil's compartment. He tapped along the wall, scanning with his Omni-tool. He didn't make much noise, but he was looking for a Prothean keypad. He found it, covered beneath a layer of algae.

There was enough old plant material that it took him chipping away at it with his gloves, before the old haptic interface was clear. He tapped on it a couple of times, before trying to wedge open the panel. As he did so, a light was directed to where his hands were working, illuminating the area. He managed to get his small tool to hook on something, but the strong Prothean metal didn't open.

He let go of the interface, and looked up at Hannah, who was illuminating the panel. "Well, until something responds, we are stuck here. Anyone have a few days worth of food?""

One of the Greeks readily nodded, his backpack bulging with survival gear. He took one of the emergency generators, and brought that over to the interface. After a small bit of rations, the Greeks got bored and came over to watch him try to get it working. He had taken the connecting points, attaching them to the edge of the metal frame that the old interface used. One other thing about the Prothean miracle metal that was interesting was that it could carry a charge through some of the channels formed in the metal. It was the opposite of a wire, more like just a hollow space inside the metal that could transmit messages and more importantly, electrical charge.

The old interface started glowing again as soon as he put a charge to it. To his dismay, it showed an angry orange color, not accepting his input. He must not have the right codes. Then again, the Protheans were quite paranoid at the end, with the Reapers destroying their entire civilization. He took a deep breath, and turned on his Omni-tool and just tried to send data bursts at the interface. All of the men behind him simply observed, probably aware that they could do nothing to help.

"Well, that's one possible interface. All of you, go clear the walls and find me another. One of them has to control these barrier curtains."

"What if we Overload it?" One of them asked.

"It's Prothean. The nanotubing of their metal channels the electricity away from the area in an even fashion. It would take a guardian laser or something equivalent to scratch this." Jack replied, not looking up from his Omni-tool. "Get to it. The faster we get this figured out, the better off we will be. Protheans apparently stood at around our height, possibly a bit taller. Haptic interfaces would be around upper chest level." The men all moved off professionally, taking sections of the wall and scrubbing off the old plant matter. Hannah remained, standing there and making sure that the men worked.

"What are our chances of getting out of here?"

"Medium to low. I didn't bring a specialist." He might qualify as one, but he had no field experience. As currently demonstrated. But between the men combing the walls for more interfaces, and his failed attempts at communicating, the sun started setting. One thing that Shepard's reports had not mentioned was the abominable cold that the planet experienced. He knew it might be that way with how cold the water temperature was, but the temperature dropped hard.

Thankfully, one of the greeks found another interface. Powering that one curiously made it light up blue, which Jack pressed his fingers against. It responded, but since Jack didn't know the language he had no clue as to how to operate the system. There were a few buttons, so Jack carefully considered which ones resembled the interface he had seen in the Prothean Archive. It didn't resemble it at all. On a whim, he decided to press the second largest button, which opened some other menu and a few other active screens. Four buttons emerged, and Jack decided on the top right. The haptic interface changed slightly, and a blinking screen appeared. No options were visible, and Jack figured he had probably just blown their chances. When something underneath the interface opened, and actively scanned everyone with a laser, people started drawing weapons and panicking.

"Hold it!" He yelled, as Hannah was aiming her Omni-tool at the offending device. "Nobody do anything that might cause it to consider us a threat. This entire system could flood this space with gas or some other defense." That made the soldiers stand down, though Hannah kept her Omni-tool aimed at the scanning device. The scan lasted less than ten seconds, and then abruptly ended. The device withdrew into the wall, which closed over it and became featureless algae covered metal again.

Jack finally got something on his Omni-tool. "No Indoctrination detected. Yet your presence in this facility is unwarranted."

Jack spoke towards the wall, wanting to address something besides his own wrist. "My name is Jack Harper, and we are here investigating the disappearance of the Protheans."

The VI that had accessed his Omni-tool must have used one of the most monotone voices on file that they could find. "The Prothean Empire did not disappear. We were destroyed. Due to our sacrifice, your chances at a future are high. The remains of the Prothean Empire gave everything to give your cycle a chance."

Jack grinned. knowing the answers to this whole puzzle lessened the shock value. "What was it that killed you all? Rebellion? Plague?"

"Robotic ships, that emerged from outside the galactic spectrum. They received the label, 'Reaper'." Vigil replied. Jack knew for sure it was Vigil, too. "They destroyed the previous great empire of the Inusannon, whose homeworld you are currently located on."

"This is the first time I have heard of the Reapers. Can you define them? Or perhaps define yourself?" Jack asked carefully, hiding any gloating that he would normally allow into his voice.

"I am the VI caretaker of the Ilos, Vigil. I was modeled after K'sad Ishan, the chief scientist of the outpost here. You are all designated lesser race, Humans. Your presence here suggests that we succeeded in the goal that Professor Ishan left to accomplish."

"You are the only functioning Prothean VI that we have found so far, Vigil. Your information and assistance would be most helpful in understanding your people and technology." Jack said. "If you are mobile, we can get you filled in on the entire state of the Galaxy."

"My VI unit was not built to be mobile, nor did my creators allow such options to exist in my creation. My purpose is to provide information and gather information pertaining to the Reapers, and their weapons and technology."

"I brought a mobile power supply, one that should be able to support you until we find a solution to make you mobile. You and your information are worth much to the greater galaxy. If you could send me your specifications, I will have a mobile node prepared for you, and we can share your knowledge with the waiting Galaxy." Starting with Humanity. "All we need to do is bring you the power and support you that way."

"My programming is limited to certain actions. This unit is not mobile, due to the limitation on all non-sentients. The Prothean Empire forbids any VI to be able to move or be able to function on its own. Any willingness on your part cannot supercede my programming."

Jack sighed. So much for this being easy. "Would you be willing to accept us powering your system for you? I would hate for you to run out of power somehow."

"Withdrawing barrier curtains. The interior of this facility is off limits. A power cell unit will be extended." Jack took what he could get. He wouldn't get the Conduit, or the Prothean VI this time. Last time he had stolen a Prothean VI, they had used a recovered computer core from some Reaper technology. Not exactly safe to dabble with this time around.

"Is there any way that you could send me a few data files on these Reapers?" Jack asked. "Considering we haven't seen them yet." Within a few seconds, his Omni-tool reported a data transfer occurring, one that would fill up his entire remaining memory. With a grunt, he pulled out two spare OSDs for Vigil to also fill. He did so, rather quickly. The shuttle was able to join them, and from the container they were able to get the power generator hooked up to the VI. Jack didn't actually get to see where Vigil was, but he did manage to get him enough power to last a while. Apparently years worth, but it was a good first step.

When the shuttle pulled away from the planet, Jack had a small plan in mind. Vigil wouldn't let them get inside to the Conduit without some sort of authority change. The only way to do that would be to somehow get around his authority. Nearly impossible, but Jack had heard of worse. That, and he perfectly remembered where he was going to get that authority. "Tell James that we are going home. Contact Rear Admiral Steven Hackett, and request a lunch on Cherin Station, on Elysium."

Humanity was going to win this time. The only way that was going to happen was if someone gave their race a good hard kick. He had that kick right inside that hauler, and he was going to relish the look on the Admiral's face when he was given that.

Hannah was giving him weird looks on the shuttle ride up, but around her men she couldn't openly ask questions. Just to taunt her, he brought up the first image set that Vigil had placed on his Omni-tool. "Let's see what this race of 'Reapers' looks like." He said, tapping the button. He angled the projector away from the view of the men. He also set up a nice little cleaning agent, to get into the Omni-tools of Hannah's men, and wipe any files created within the last 48 hours. He didn't want word about Ilos spreading.

The image of a Reaper Dreadnought clearly came through, with small notes pointing to different aspects of them. Three small notes existed about its main cannon. Hannah made the connection immediately, looking towards the main gun they had inside the hauler as they came to dock. "Jack, did you say you found another one of these?"

"Yes, yes I did."

"What do we do? This is... " She didn't even finish her sentence, she was trying to process what she had just learned. Seeing the image of a Reaper on an Omni-tool is one thing. Being in the shadow of one of its limbs is quite another. "Shit." She finally said.

"Indeed. I'm going to keep in touch. You and your men will be free to go after we get to Elysium. Try not to mention this one to your old friends, eh?" he said. He still didn't know if Hannah had loyalties to the Alliance office of Intelligence or just to herself anymore. He tried not to butt into her life as much, considering he had told her to go find one for herself. It would be hypocritical to impede on it after he went to all the trouble of getting her out of her old life. "I'll get back to you once I've analyzed this. I can tell you are curious." Hannah gave him a smile at that.

"I'd like that very much."

* * *

Author's Note

Did you think it would be so easy to just come and grab Vigil? Other stories I know of make Vigil out to be some tool you can pick up from a shed and carry somewhere else rather easily. The Prothean Empire destroyed an entire Sun to kill an AI race. I figure that their strict control over how VI's can function would also apply to how they are allowed to travel as well.

Jack Harper is many things, but he is not that great at waiting. He will return to Ilos, and make another try at getting Vigil out. That will help somewhat in proving that the Reapers exist. Unlike Shepard's brute force method we see in the Mass Effect Games, there are better ways to convince someone that a massive threat exists. Though Jack might be a little selfish with the information for now. To all those who have sent in reviews, I thank you.

LogicalPremise has been one of my favorite authors for the last two years. I started reading his stories after they started, and I am very happy to have him give me a review. He just recently completed an epic tale, called Of Sheep and Battle Chicken. It's got an adorable picture of Liara as the portrait. It might be a bit long, but my crap, I have lost sleep reading that story. I recently reread it, to get caught up for the ending, and my wife complained that I didn't sleep enough that week. It is one of those must reads, so go on over there and get to it. He, along with Myetel and Azuacache are my top Mass Effect authors. Their work is impressive. Thank you guys for reading and I look forward to hearing from you next time.


	20. Fugue: Puking for Profit

Chapter 20

June 2156, Shady Liquor Cabinet Bar and Grill, Cherin Station, In orbit around Elysium

Jack Harper liked this bar. Corsairs owned it, technically. It was also Omni-tool free. Nothing went in or out, and what happened here stayed here. There was a portion of it dedicated to food and family entertainment, but he preferred the private booths here. They filtered all of the noise out of the area, while leaving the doors transparent for those inside. He had invited Hackett here for multiple reasons, but mostly to test his nerves. If he came to a Corsair owned bar, then it would say something about the Alliance's support of their pirates.

Steven Hackett showed up in a nice blazer and leather jacket, sporting a wig that looked like some vagrant from the old North American States. But he showed up without causing any fuss. He looked like any other down on their luck merchant. When he slid into the booth with Jack, he didn't look happy. Some scar tissue covered his face, and his gravelly voice betrayed his military background.

"Your file mentions your love of dive bars." He said, sitting across from him. "You are creating trouble where there doesn't need to be any. Making a member of the Admiralty Board come here is getting all of the wrong kinds of attention."

Jack shrugged. He had been under such scrutiny before. "I am well known for being a risk taker. My shipyard sale has been well documented as the biggest black mark against Humanity in recent history."

"A decision that no one seems to agree with. One that you have been asked questions about. Though from our reports, the Alliance office of Intelligence would like to interview you on the matter." Hackett said, ignoring the nice whiskey that Jack had ordered for him. It was nice to do meetings with military men, they all were on time. The drink was still perfectly chilled, as was the one that Jack was sipping on.

"I have the results of that trade onboard my mega hauler outside. What I received from the Quarians equals anything that you may have stood to gain from that shipyard. They sent me to the location of a Prothean ship, one that was well preserved. So I took it's main gun. Considering I don't have a secret research foundation somewhere in the Elysium area, I thought you might want the piece. If it works as advertised, then we could be talking about a contained plasma weapon that operates at temperatures that ignore kinetic barriers. I traded the shipyard for a weapon that could make the Alliance more technologically powerful than any of the other races." He then took a strategic drinking break in speaking, as he knew that Hackett didn't do subtle very often. For him to dress up was rather important. "Why don't you come to my ship and we can take a look."

Hackett nodded, and got up to leave. "I'll call off the hounds. See you at your docking bay." He left in a huff, ignoring the looks of everyone around. Hackett was almost like a dog, given the right bone to chase. Jack sent the untouched drink to one of the very morose souls at the bar, and got up himself. His suit for this trip had seen some scuffing, but it was all worth it. As he walked back to his docking bay, he noticed a lot of uniformed station workers manning posts or repairing gear around the bar. He ignored them, knowing that they were probably just doing their jobs.

His docking bay was mostly empty, considering the hauler had to connect via docking arm to the station. Hackett was there, still in his odd costume. He looked impatient. "I could have walked slower, you know. Or perhaps gotten my full moneys worth from that drink i ordered for you." He held up his hands. "Heaven help me, I'm poor enough to consider such a thing."

"But not poor enough to steal from the Batarians." Hackett noted.

"I bought the drink so that you could at least sound like you aren't trying to speak around gravel. Whether or not the Batarians were trying to claim the same technology is not my worry. I was more concerned about Humanity's needs."

"So, you want to sell this to me?" Hackett asked. "Your files state that you are near totally driven by profit, Mr. Harper. What are you demanding for your work?"

Jack grinned. "Why don't you come with me and tell me if you are willing to buy it, first. No sense in selling something without you inspecting it first."

Hackett nodded, and once Jack had unlocked the access hatch, Hackett was at a near jogging pace with his long walk. Military types. Jack meandered, taking his time. When he got back on board his ship, Hackett was having some sort of stare down with Amandeep in the hallway that connected to the airlock. "I didn't know you harbored dishonored veterans, Harper. I would have thought you to keep more honorable company." Amandeep actually looked mad. Jack had only ever seen him with a happy look on his face, but never mad or frustrated. He would have to sort that out later.

"You aren't here to judge or arrest anyone, you are here to tell me if you want this weapon. Keep walking and leave my technician to his work. Any issues you may have with him are for when you aren't on my dime."

Hackett looked at Jack incredulously. He must not be used to that kind of treatment. Oh well, he should realize by now that Jack treated everyone like that. Unless they were providing him some kind of important service. In this case, Amandeep probably was keeping this ship from falling apart. Hackett was just going to look at the weapon and possibly pay him for it. Amandeep was more important and possibly more expensive to replace. Jack started walking towards the main hangar, looking back only once to see Hackett giving Amandeep a long glance before following.

Jack came to the door and waited for Hackett to catch up, which only took five of his long sweeping steps. The presumptuous look on his face disappeared when Steve Hackett saw his first Reaper cannon.

"Mother of…" He trailed off, slowly walking in and realizing the scope of the weapon. "This came from a dreadnought! A Prothean Dreadnought!"

"Yes. At great personal cost." Jack reminded him. Hackett gave him a flat look, already having analyzed the situation and dampening his emotional response to the gigantic weapon in front of him. "Which I will continue to provide salvage from. But I cannot risk bringing the entire Prothean ship, as it would be suicide politically. The Batarians would go to war over it, if they knew that I was taking parts from it. More likely just ready to fight over the technology. So, I will continue to send parts that can improve human ships, and you can get the weapons you need for any military action against the other races."

"What are your demands for this, Mr. Harper." What emotion Jack could perceive from the man was limited to aggravation more than anything else. "Or do I need to confiscate this?"

"Considering that you will be paying this out of the black research budget," Jack brought out a datapad cleared of any data except for what he was just putting in. "This is how much I paid for the mega hauler. Considering that it has been a little while, and it's price has dropped in the market, I'll edit the original price of the ship to be around half-price. No sense in making you pay full price for something that needs a trip to a shipyard. Now, the current tonnage of this vessel is  _this_." Jack wrote down a number. "Now, if we assume that this mega hauler is just moving Carbon scrap from asteroid mining, then the cost of the entire shipment would be around perhaps three hundred thousand credits. Leaving almost the entirety of your black project budget unharmed."

"How do you even profit from this?" Hackett asked. "Obviously you are doing this for some sort of profit." If he only knew that the reason he was doing this was actually altruistic, or rather that his entire lifestyle was rather altruistic for Humanity. Oh well, he had to believe something.

"The profit comes later, when you start making your ships at Ashland-Hislopp shipyards. We are going to have the most capable engineers and most advanced shipyards. Right now, the faster you develop this, the faster your ships get built and start defending the Alliance. The profit from this comes over the next few years. Especially when I bring you some of the maneuvering thrusters and inertial dampeners from the Prothean ship. Start working on the guns, and I'll bring the engine parts and other things."

"You're doing this because you want us to advance?" Hackett asked quietly. "Does Jack Harper have a heart somewhere in him?"

Jack gave him an actual smile. No sense in concealing that. "Profit driven, I am still allowed to have some pride in my race." The Reapers wouldn't have used subtlety if they didn't need it. They  _could_  win. There had to be a way. "Now, about the payment. I need to pay off a few debts."

"Mr. Harper, you'll have your money. Send us the ownership papers. I will vouch for everything else." He took the datapad, and started walking away in that military gait. "Hackett Out." Jack nodded to him as he left. Though he only had to wait for a short moment before the airlock clicked.

"James, Amandeep, Don, meet in the main hangar. The military have agreed to buy this piece of junk and its cargo. It's time to leave."

"Got it. I'll get the shuttle warmed up." James replied over the link.

"We are going to leave d'em a nice reference guide for the engine. We will be there in ten minutes." Amandeep replied. Don apparently hated replying over the message system, and only said something when necessary. Amandeep was at least being cordial, leaving a nice guide for the finicky engine. Though the stare down that he had with Hackett was a sign of trouble. Enough that Jack sat next to Amandeep when they got onboard the shuttle. Don was sitting across from them, working with some sort of large turbine-shaped object. His tools were old, but reliable. One was a welding torch apparently made from some parts off of the mega hauler.

"What can I do, Harper?" He asked. "You rarely sit near me, without reason."

"I need a few more Krogan. This time, I won't mind if they are the idiot warrior types. But I would prefer thinkers. Two of them at least must be biotics. I have a project that needs your kind, one that I hope will endear you and your race to Humanity."

That got a laugh out of the big creature. "No one loves Krogan. We make a habit out of pissing off everything we meet, to test their resolve when we inevitably go to war with them." He twisted some sort of nozzle on the front of the device. Jack supposed it could be some sort of gas intake. "Unless Humanity is alright with casual killing as a form of social nicety."

"We recognize that sort of thing in some ways. Especially our media. In fact, that is part of why I need biotics. I want to present the Krogan to Humanity as somewhat heroic."

"Why heroic? Most races just use pity, or fear. That one we can at least appreciate."

"Because the best way to recognize a warrior is to let the populous admire them from afar. To see their actions as necessary for the greater good, rather than a crime against sentients. Soldiers need to be seen as heroes, protectors of the innocent, in order for the general public to ignore their more visceral actions. In order to bring the Krogan to light, I need your race to be seen as noble warriors, willing to fight to protect a cause."

"So, you want to get a few more Krogan? How soon?" Don said, considering his words.

"Within a few days, if possible. I'll negotiate pay." Don nodded, and moved to one corner of the shuttle to get on the comm channels. Jack turned to Amandeep. "Should I be worried about Hackett getting back at you?" Obviously Amandeep did something personal to piss off Hackett that easily.

"No. He won't."

"What happened?"

Amandeep gave him a weird look. "Do you actually care, or are you just doing this to get more on Hackett?"

Jack sighed. Everyone always assumed he was just doing things out of personal needs. "Much to others' surprise, I do care. My emotional capacity to care is secondary to other needs, however. Often this is mistaken as uncaring resolve. My daughters demand most of that capacity, however."

"It is an old thing, Mr. Harper. Not something to concern ourselves with."

"I hired you for your discretion and skill, Amandeep. I will respect that. In the meantime, when we return, I will be looked at helping Todd design a new form of frigate. I would appreciate it if you are on that project. If you want to, of course."

Amandeep gave him a small smile. "I would appreciate that."

His Omni-tool beeped, warning him about the impending meeting with his daughters. That was the one thing he was not avoiding. He had been able to keep his promise to them so far, and had called them each day without fail. Other than one day that he had planned to be out of contact on Ilos, he had kept that promise. As he stepped into the airlock area to speak to them, he sent off a final text to Hannah. She would absolutely love to hear from him again, he was sure.

_Allison,_

_Thank you very much for you and the services of your team. I will require that they keep their mouths shut about the location they went to, as well as any information that may have disseminated among your organization. As long as privacy is assured, I will of course hire you and your team again for the next trip to the research location. Until I have a solution that allows me to move that VI, I will not be able to hire you._

_If, however, you have any time off in the near future, please let me know. I am very interested in taking you to entertainment venues at the Citadel._

_At your convenience,_

_Jack Harper_

He signed it with a flourish. She would one day accept his proposals. Or at least he hoped so. She was the only woman to reject him within the last ten years. Then again, the normal quality of woman he was aiming for were dependent upon men like him, and made the entire process easy and pleasant. Hannah was like trying to lure a cat somewhere. Not to mention he had spent more on her than the rest of his partners combined.

Hannah didn't send an immediate response, which probably meant she was busy. Oh well, he would see if she was going to reply after he finished his lesson with his daughters.

* * *

Allison Gunn dove behind a rock, dodging the incoming fire. Her leg was bleeding, and her helmet was scuffed from where she slid down the phosphorous rock hill. Her barriers had failed when she had to run past the two sentries. Then she had gotten hit in the leg, and the damn catsuit was too thin to stop all of the shots. Thankfully this didn't fracture anything, but it made her slip and fall down the gully next to the base she had been infiltrating.

"What the kalakas is going on down there?" Her second in command, Mattias, said.

"Some bastard puked on me!" She yelled, a few shots blowing phosphorous dust around her piece of cover.

"On purpose?"

"No! I was cloaked!" She said. "Where is my bloody cover fire!"

A couple of shots rang out, followed by a grenade explosion. A body, or at least part of one, slid down next to her. The Turian's torso was blown open by the grenade. There would be no looting that one for his armor. She shrugged at that, stepping out from behind the rock. The Turian's leg was nearby, no longer attached. A couple of her men were up on the ridgeline, waving at her.

"Right here, Captain! Let's go get this thing!"

Hannah grumbled, applying some omni-gel to the patch on her leg. It would hold it until she could get finished with this mission. "Cover the door! Keep their attention on us while team two gets into position!" Mattias was going in the back way, blowing open a ventilation fan and securing their objective before the Turians could sabotage it. They were willing to do that if it meant they could deny the enemy what they wanted.

Hannah's job was to make them focus on the front part of the base. She had two members of the crew, while Mattias had five. He would secure the objective and then fight outwards from the inside of the base. She grabbed a large block of explosives, chosen more for their ability to disperse air than their ability to cause damage. This she tossed inside the front section of the base, right towards the first barricade that had been set up.

The two Turians behind it chirped in fear as the explosive landed behind them, leaving them little choice but to run away, using their own barricade as cover from the bomb. Unfortunately they were left out in the open for her two lackeys to shoot. She didn't bother, as she was focused on getting out of the way before the bomb went. Shrapnel did terrible things to people. Pieces of Turian and barricade came flying down the corridor, and she laughed a bit. She wished she had this kind of casual explosives when the attack on Shanxi happened. Things might have gone a bit differently.

"Let's go! We've got a place to be!" She led the way, running down the hallway to where the security station was supposed to be in these Turian prefabricated bases. She cloaked as she came around the corner, seeing two Turians in long coats and torso segments of armor instead of full armor. They only had pistols, so Hannah left them for her teammates to take out. She slipped past them, and saw no one directing the cameras or security controls at the station, and just let a tech grenade fly at the interfaces. That wouldn't kill the systems, but it would disable the interfaces.

The Turians noticed, but it was too late for them to stop the two heavily armored Greeks from taking them down. She noted that they aimed for the unarmored heads, at least listening to some of her training. She decloaked, letting her men see where she was and waving them forward. They only exchanged hand signals before they got to where the shuttle bay would be, seeing the blast of dust that signified a shuttle having just left. Bodies were everywhere, with long deep brown coats and few pieces of armor. This scientific expedition must have skimped out on real security costs.

"Mattias! How the hell did you let the objective escape?" No response came. "Mattias!" She cloaked, tapping her foot to let her men know to stand back and let her examine the area. As soon as she stepped into the shuttle bay, the view from her helmet went out. Her Omni-tool scrambled, and her stealth field went down. She ducked instinctively, and a form sailed above her in a long brown coat. If she had been hit that hard by a tech attack, then her weapons were going to be no good either. She drew two of her knives, including her monomolecular edged one. The other was a simple tactical knife.

When the brown robed figure leapt at her again, some sort of bluish charge covered its hands. She figured it must be one of those Turian biotics. She leaned backwards, kicking upwards with her feet. Instead of the Turian landing in a crouch, he went into a roll. All Turians had military training, and as such, when confronted with close combat, they all reacted the exact same way. When they came out of a roll, their head leaned forward just so, and she threw her knife with that spot in mind. To her surprise, the Turian caught the knife in its hand. No blood emerged from its wound, but its hand moved limply after taking the knife.

The opponent leapt again, and this time she anticipated it and leapt with it. Her opponent brought up his other hand, some sort of extensions on his gloves giving him claws. She snorted at that, and snapped the remaining blade into his neck. There was never any resistance on it, cutting through metal or flesh with no trouble. She felt only a little give as the corpse had its throat cut, and she rolled away to let it bleed out in peace. To her complete surprise, it got back up again. This time missing its throat, and some sort of blue fluid leaking down the front of the robe. She pointed at it, and saw it get lit up by the heavy rifles of her squad. She heard the guns overheat before the creature fall over, and only the tech grenade her squadmate launched brought it down completely. Once it was down, her feed on her helmet came back online, and her guns beeped to give her a status report of their non-sabotaged status.

"Captain!" Mattias' voice came in. "They have some sort of advanced mechs under robes here! Captain, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear! I just saw one of them. Looks like a Turian, but doesn't have much in the way of blood."

"I'm down three, whatever those things are they cut through armor like it isn't even there." Mattias sounded out of breath. "We are falling back through the vents, we have wounded."

"Copy. Withdraw, Mattias. We are leaving too. The objective is gone." She kicked the mech's corpse. "Whatever they were doing, it must have been important to someone."

Her helmet went down again, as the mech rose. This time, took no chances and drove her knife through its head. This time she saw more than just hydraulic fluid leak out from under her knife, but brain matter as well. It went still, finally. But for good measure, she slapped some explosive on it and put the timer for one minute.

It didn't matter if a couple of their guys were dead in here if it meant that they would die trying to extract them. One of those mech things was enough. As it made some sort of grasping motion with its one good hand, she started running. Her men were already ahead of her, and were shooting at something ahead. When they took cover behind the corner of the corridor, their shots were answered by a hail of heavier bolts. The chunks of the wall that broke off made them have to step back further from the edge, and the pieces of plexicrete fell to the floor smoking and already coming apart.

"Turian Military! They have the entryway!" The man who had stuck his head out said. "Big guns!"

Hannah grimaced. "Back to the hangar! We have to go out the vents!" She grabbed a couple of tech grenades and placed them on the wall with proximity alarms. She noticed that when she threw them, they never came in contact with her target wall. It stuck to an object along the way, triggering and revealing three cloaked Turians. She knew her men weren't good enough to take on their Armiger Legion Infiltrators. "Run!" She kicked forward, trying to engage in close combat before they could bring any of those heavy guns to bear on her.

She expected them to still be in shock, or to not react. Instead, they had their guns leveled at her, none of them venting or reacting to the tech grenade she had fired. They must be EMP shielded. Expensive, for a gun. Worse, they had her completely surrounded, and she didn't even have her gun angled correctly. She felt the tech grenades and overloads hit her, and then the Turian in a full commando armor slam her into a wall with extra thrust from his maneuvering thrusters.

She saw stars, and the wind had been knocked out of her. Before she could refocus or try to get away from the wall, two pairs of talons held her to the wall and lifted her feet off the ground. Blasted Turians who were taller than her had her by the arms and shoulders. Her feet just dangled, and she had no grip. A helmeted Turian came around the corner, the red markings on his shoulders showing that he was some sort of higher officer. He walked up to her, and a few dozen Turians moved past him into the facility. They were going to go after her men.

"Alright, Human. Tell me what you were doing here." He said, his Turian being translated over her Omni-tool. "Or else we kill you and move on to the next human."

"We were responding to a distress call from the surface, and arrived here!" She gasped, trying to conserve at least some of her breath. That part was true. A distress call had gone out, planted by one of their scouts. Mattias wanted that to be their legitimate cover story. Then she had to botch the entire problem because some Turian puked on her.

"What are you doing at this research facility!" He twisted his head towards her, looking her over. "Is the Alliance involved?"

"Ask me no questions, and I will tell you no lies." She responded, the translation running through his Omni-tool and obviously losing some of its meaning. He pulled her helmet off, throwing it down the hallway.

"Who told you about this place!" She chose not to answer him, and just waited. With a hand action, she disabled the comm link with her team. She hadn't heard anything from them, and they stopped transmitting about the time it would take for them to reach the hangar bay. Mattias hadn't responded either. She was worried that they all had gotten taken down by whatever those Turian mechs were.

She didn't have to wait long, as one of the brown cloaked mechs was being dragged along by the Turian patrols that had gone before. It looked like it was barely holding together. Then she realized that it was missing most of its head and torso, and it appeared to be the subject of a heavy bomb.  _Her_  bomb. Her heaviest explosive only took out the head and torso. These were some terrifying mechs.

The officer saw the mech, and could see plainly the amount of effort it took to bring it down. He held a hand up to his helmet, and must have communicated something over their squad communications. All that she knew was that they were taking her away from the base and into one of their shuttles. She didn't know how she was going to get out of this, but she would be eventually. Either to be handed back to the Alliance to disappear there, or if she escaped on her own.

The shuttle she was being dragged to was actually a ramp, leading up to a cruiser. That didn't fill her with any confidence as she was brought onboard, and she could see two other humans in Dawn company armor slumped over by one wall. One of them was obviously Mattias, while the other couldn't be identified. He was wounded, and still had his helmet on. But his arm was in a magnetic sling, the armor locked into place and supporting it.

Mattias gave her a nod, nursing some sort of bruise on his chest. There was a dent where a Turian foot had come down on him. She grimaced at that. Getting mule kicked by a Turian was as bad as getting mule kicked by a horse. But that wouldn't damage your armor. The only thing strong enough here to do that would be those mechs. He had to have some broken ribs at least.

Her carriers threw her down next to Mattias, who she immediately started some first aid checks on. His Omni-tool listed him as having some internal bleeding and some broken ribs from where the kick had hit him. He had trouble breathing, and was wheezy. She didn't say anything, as that might compromise them. She noticed that his Omni-gel and medi-gel was out completely. She wasn't, and applied some to his suit filters. Mattias blinked a little bit, the medi-gel acting as a slight pain reliever. But what Mattias needed was a hospital.

The Turians just watched them, still ready to shoot them but content to let them do whatever needed doing. She was still armed, thanks to a couple of knives in small places. Not to mention her favorite knife she had gotten at Shanxi. That was hidden right inside her back mounted supply pack, which had a nice container along the bottom that was not normally scanned or searched, as it was made out of the same composite material most armors were made out of. Other knives were in other places.

Once Mattias was more stabilized, she sat down against the same wall and viewed her surroundings. She was definitely in some sort of Turian cruiser. The lines and size of the landing bay she had been brought to were indicative of being able to hold up to five shuttles. Frigates could only hold two. She was unsure if the Turians ever risked landing a dreadnought. Or what their specs were.

The same officer that had dragged her in here and questioned her earlier was being berated by another officer, this one with white pauldrons rather than the other officer's red. He wasn't wearing a helmet, and his face was white, with blue eyes. She felt like she had seen him before, but that was unlikely.

He walked over, his eyes narrowing onto her as he evaluated the other two injured men on the ground. He tapped something on his Omni-tool, and then dragged a crate over to the area where she had been placed in. Once he sat down, he motioned for his men to put their guns down. They were not comfortable with her near enough to spit at their officer. Under certain circumstances, she might have tried to kill him. But with Humanity trying to be nice and join the other Council races, she didn't want to get in trouble for killing one of their officers.

"We found the rest of your team. Their remains are being gathered and brought back to your ship as we speak. The Turian Hierarchy apologizes for any injury that has occurred, and we will assist you in your extraction as long as you tell us what happened in there." The Turian said, some scarring on his face making it hard to tell if the white coloring was from his colonial markings or if his face was naturally that pale.

"Was this a Hierarchy base?" She knew it was affiliated, but had to act as if this were a surprise. Their cover story was to investigate a disturbance and distress call.

"This was not. Our original mission was to secure the base, but we only found two creatures inside of it. One engaged our troops and the other was destroyed by some sort of explosive. Impressively, it was also disabled by knife strikes to the neck and shoulders. Seeing as you are the only one who could have done that, I wanted to ask you some questions before we released you."

He seemed sincere. Hannah got a weird feeling about him, but tried to play it off. "Whatever that thing was, it interfered with technology around it. My helmet feed went out, and my guns were disabled. Kinetic Barriers were down, and the strength behind their arms had been augmented. Their reflexes were beyond anything I have seen before in Turians, and they weren't wearing armor. Some sort of mechs, or something."

"Sadly, I wish these were mechs. These were actually something we are investigating. Your presence here has turned you into a witness." He sighed. "Though this farce can end anytime you want it to. I know that your Alliance would love to get your hands on our technology."

"Just because I managed to kill one, you assume I'm from the Alliance?" She said, folding her arms. "Those things tore apart everyone else without any trouble."

"The fact you knew of the location of a top secret lab, and struck right before we were coming to clean it up is what makes me suspicious." He leaned back, seemingly comfortable bullying her. "So I will keep you confined here until I get confirmation from someone that you were here with a legitimate reason. Unless you would prefer to assist me, then we shall simply extract you from Turian airspace now."

"My men need a hospital. If it means that you will get the support you need, give them our ship and I will stay here to fulfill any bargain that you need fulfilled. Considering that I am the only combat ready Human left, that is the best deal I can offer you." Not to mention, it would give her a chance to recover the object that their client wanted. Hannah was willing to be an opportunist for this.

The Turian seemed to consider it, before pointing to Mattias and her other wounded soldier. "Take them to their ship. We'll be keeping this one with us." She shuddered. This way she wouldn't be reported to the Alliance. That would just be terrible. When the officer stood up, he started walking for the lifts. "My name is General Arterius. Any questions you have go to me. I'll return to ask you more questions about your people and your intentions as soon as I find out where that shuttle escaped to."

She nodded. "I'll just tell my team to report back to our company's headquarters and debrief. As well as receive the medical care they need." She said, bringing up her Omni-tool. They were probably closely observing her signals, too. She brought up her secondary OS, TartarOS. More encrypted, but unfortunately linked to Jack Harper. She was completely positive he would notice a message from her being sent across his networks. Not to mention it would be more secure.

She wrote out her message, referencing the case file that they were working, and that the team was returning to base mostly inoperable.  _Team leader was indisposed due to foreign investigation. Will return after trouble has died down._  She hoped that Jack would at least understand. Or perhaps even get involved. Though that might be too much to expect of him. Either way, once she finished her message, she was shuffled towards one of the Turian's quarters. This brought back memories of killing that Saren fellow when the war ended.

Saren Arterius, his name was. Arterius. She thought about the face of the General she just met, and compared it to the picture of Saren she had in her mind. The elongated bones coming off of their cheeks was almost a perfect match. She slumped into the Turian sleeping den, the oblong dip in the floor awkward at best.

 _This is not going to be one of those 'damsel' in distress moments. I will find my own way out of this._  She swore to herself, trying to figure out what kind of gel the Turians put in their pillows that had the consistency of a rock but the feeling of sandpaper.

* * *

When Jack received the message, he actually stepped out from a dinner with Henry and his wife in order to deal with it. Jack had to call Alexei Heleokloplis, and get a confirmation of what they were hired to get. He received the package, detailing some Prothean monolith made out of a black stone, with some carvings along the base. It was ten feet tall, and was powered. Rare for a Prothean artifact.

But the backs of his eyes stung, burned even, just looking at the image on file. He knew exactly what that was. The Arca Monolith. The source of his own Indoctrination in his memories. He had touched it, and he understood any of the languages that his Omni-tool did. He could understand technology as well as any of the 'professionals' who spent their lives working on the subject. Some of the information implanted into his mind from that monster of an artifact was still there, and he knew all too well what it would do and where it was going.

Alexei promised some of the money that would come from the client, who Alexei refused to name. That didn't bother Jack as much as the fact that the monolith hadn't been in the hands of Desolous Arterius. He remembered that the Turian general had been somewhat of a problem, believing that the Turians produced by the monolith could help him take over the rest of the galaxy. Jack had helped him reveal his plans to Saren, who used his Spectre authority to bombard the site into dust. Considering that it was on Palaven, all of this was bad press the first time around.

He would have to do this very carefully. Hannah was onboard Arterius' ship, and Arterius needed to be baited into firing one of his dreadnoughts at the planet. The temple structure where the monolith was kept last time was built tough, resistant to all forms of artillery, and underneath kinetic barriers. Hannah might experience what he did, and touch the monolith, as he had. Or memory-self did. Jack considered his reaction, a simple data transference and the upgrade of his cybernetic eyes. Every other person had been turned into a husk for the Reapers.

Hannah was not someone he  _wanted_  anywhere near Reaper technology. She had built in cloaking technology that would allow her to be turned into something very powerful. He took a moment to admire the thought, before quenching it. She was not expendable. No one should be, not this time. He started typing, the alphabet switching over to Turian. He knew where that monolith was headed, and how there were more monoliths underneath that temple structure.

He debated blowing it up in the first place, but all the ways to do that would cause a scandal of massive proportions. He did, however, know about ways to counteract husks and their unnatural strength. Husks did not deal well with anything corrosive, which was such an inhumane method of warfare that it was banned by Council Law. Probably an action to prevent loss of life, but one that was not in his favor currently.

He could send her some helpful things, though. Alexei wasn't willing to touch the situation, telling him that Hannah was on her own. That wouldn't do.

 _"You have a Major Jones asking for you again, Sir."_  The base VI warned him.  _"This is her fifth attempt to contact you in the last two days."_

"Tell her that I have more important things to deal with at this time. She should be caring more about that cartel raid of theirs." He said, dismissing the VI. Though he called up his next favorite Omni-tool address right after.

"James! Bring a shuttle around to the docking bay. We have somewhere to be. Bring the container marked BQ from my storage unit, and tell Captain Sercino that we are checking out one of the armed shuttles. Just with the flak gun. Nothing serious, but I would prefer to feel comfortable rather than insecure."

 _"Major Jones is ignoring the security team, Director."_  His VI noted, and then the doors to his office opened. They did so as a result of some powerful hack job, as a tall blonde woman walked into the office, Omni-tool glowing. Behind her was the one guard on duty, who looked like he very much did not want to try to stop her.

"James, I'll be late to our appointment due to government concerns." He said to his transmitter. James replied via text.  _Oh, she caught up to you. Sorry boss._  He settled into his chair, giving this Major Jones a glare. "I'll grant you thirty seconds before the Security chief comes for you. This is the worst disrespect I have had from your department in years."

Jones narrowed her eyes. "Harper, the government has decided that this Foundation of yours that they support is in need of closer oversight. Until further notice, I have been assigned to you to keep you from shaming Humanity any further."

Jack shrugged. "You assume I would agree with this? Show me whatever warrant you have to do this."

She transmitted something from her Omni-tool onto one of his haptic image projectors. He opened it, finding a nicely wrapped little warrant for his observance, signed by the Senate Naval Oversight Committee. Donovan Hock had signed it. The bastard of a business partner. Theoretically they had the power to assign her to him. Specifically included was a requirement that she observe him under close surveillance protocols. He couldn't order her to do anything but he could suggest it. "Consider me your political officer. I'm going to make sure that you don't sell anymore of Humanity's important projects down the drain."

"Is that so?" He said. "Then you are coming with me to Palaven. I'm leaving right now, and if you are coming with me, you had better look the part. I don't drag women around with me. With the exception of Hannah Shepard, I don't bring women with me on business trips. If you wanted me under close surveillance, you should have sent her. I find her more attractive and much more respectful."

Jones wasn't intimidated. "You'll take me as I am. None of the horse crap, Harper. You aren't going to conceal me behind some facade or lie."

"That would make my attempt to stop a slight altercation between the Turians and us rather difficult. Not to mention, I can't trust you in the slightest if you aren't going to listen to what I have to say." He pointed to a supply room. "Behind there is a few things for when my playmates get too crazy and need something else to go home in. Where I am going, a military presence won't be needed. In fact, it might be detrimental."

She made no move towards the closet. "So, what little problem have you caused us this time?"

"Actually, this is more your problem. I have some evidence that the Naval Oversight Committee has overstepped their bounds on occasion. One of their more intrusive actions in recent years has created a rift between Greece and the rest of Earth, leading to a mass exodus of the Greeks. Now, one of their companies in Citadel Space is running into some trouble, and even though they are not associated with the Human Systems Alliance, we will see some blowback."

"I came prepared. Don't worry about me, Harper. I'll be sticking right next to you the entire time." Considering that she was somewhat unattractive and tall, hiding her would be impossible. The shame on his record would be complete if she was seen around him.

"I pray that you are an Infiltrator. If you are visibly at my side, I would rather get shot by Runya Ross again then take you somewhere visible." That got a small lifting of the corner of her lips. Apparently she had a small sense of humor. It wasn't enough to use as a tool against her, and he had very little he could do with her in the room. Though he could always just go over her head.

She sighed. "I will be able to slip into most crowds, so long as we don't go to the Terminus systems. Otherwise, consider me an invisible observer."

"Are you under orders to at least protect me?" He asked, visibly stuffing a pistol into a shoulder mounted holster. "Because if you aren't, then this entire thing is worthless. Or I'll just be forced to hire some muscle to help me out."

She considered her reply for a moment. "I suppose that my orders allow me to protect you, physically as well as politically. So long as you don't act like you expect that protection, I will expect to provide it." So she wasn't obligated to unless his life was in danger. Well, that might happen and it might not. She was certainly going to make anything he did on Palaven rather awkward. He didn't have a legitimate reason to be there, after all.

"Well, come on. The shuttle is waiting." He simply said. "Did you bring a team?"

She nodded. "They will be on call, but for the sake of security and privacy I will be the only one on active surveillance."

Jack nodded. "Tell them to follow us then. We have two crisis to solve. Namely, one on Palaven and a second on an Alliance held planet. Tell your men to pack light. I don't expect trouble, but there might be some." He then tapped his desk. "Any monitoring of my transmissions is not going to be well received, as I choose not to monitor your own. If you want to complain about any of the things that are happening, you will do so in a way that does not embarrass me or Humanity."

"So long as you allow me the same priviledges. I will try my best to keep you from embarrassing Humanity, with any and all the tools at my disposal." She noticed Jack gearing up with the pistol and shrugged. "Anything else I should know about this mess?"

"I'm disguising it as a family vacation. We will be arriving on Thessia near the end. If you let my daughters get hurt, and you could have done something to protect them, embarrassment or not I will make you regret it." He started walking towards the door, and the sound of her boots grated on him. "Are you a generation three or generation two infiltrator?"

"Generation two." She quietly said. "What of it?"

"I'll bring some batteries for you to leech off of just in case. Generation threes don't have the old system. Apparently it was too dangerous for their health."

She gave him a nod. "Thank you for your concern. As to your girls, I will try to keep my eyes on them if they ever do anything terribly dangerous. My orders don't restrict me from doing that much."

Jack nodded. "So long as you don't shoot me. Come on, then." He walked out of his office, walking fast enough to be a quick walk, but not fast enough to seem like he was in a hurry. Though he did turn on the speed mode on the elevator going down to the Solaris Branch. He would have just used his personal express elevator, but with Jones here he was not going to be overly open about his own base.

His girls were in the large gymnasium, where their three Asari teachers were all standing together in front of the entire first generation of human biotics. They were in some sort of Asari Sports gear, which consisted of bodysuits with thick shoulder, knee, and elbow pads. They were holding some large ball, except that it had ten sides. Rather than being light, it appeared to be somewhat heavy, around the weight of a bowling ball. From what they were saying, it appeared to weigh somewhere around nineteen pounds. Displayed up on the holo board was the statistics that were important.

He recognized the statistics for Warp Ball instantly. He held back from entering the room, curious as to how this would go. The kids of course thought that a tutoring session on warp ball was the best thing in the world, and his daughters were no exception. They were all smiles, seeing someone teaching them warp ball.

"I thought we were in a hurry." Jones commented.

"I would regret interrupting this to the end of my lifetime, my girls love warp ball." He said, observing the Asari teaching the children how the ball could be carried, or passed to another player. The entire game looked like some sort of biotic ballet, with the players being affected by singularities and the occasional lift. Throwing or Pulling players was apparently illegal, though you could hit another player with the ball. Catching someone with such a move was rare, and not usually attempted. Or so his girls said.

"I'm glad you have something you actually care about." Jones said. "The reports about you don't mention this."

"I Pay people to not tell anyone about any positive traits. With a reputation like mine, you have to maintain it. Though if you have access to my report, then you must be someone important in the grand scheme of things."

"As a Major, I am still very much expendable in the eyes of my superiors. The fact that your records are the subject of scorn and derision in my department is something you can't pay anyone to solve."

"That's probably because you were going off of Hannah's reports. They were the most accurate ones, if you had listened. Perhaps Shanxi could have been avoided."

"Perhaps if you hadn't have started the first one, the second one wouldn't have ended with the entire colony being destroyed." She noted, "Though the Turians were very unexpected. We can't possibly lay that fault at your feet."

"But I did provide you with all of the Cerberus innovations, not to mention many other military secrets that are probably not on that file." He retorted. "Hannah was just my prototype. What these biotics might become is something more entirely. Something that can actually challenge the other galactic powers in the special forces domain."

"The Salarians really don't have too many biotics, and look how well they're doing."

"Yes, being the lackeys of everyone else on the Council is certainly expanding their influence. To counter biotics, you need biotics yourself. The Turians understand this, and have perfected their process of getting their own biotics. The Batarians feel threatened by Asari commandos, so they also developed their own biotics program. Of course, we being naturally better at adaptation, we are going to develop our programs in much less time than two hundred years."

The Asari trio had begun to show some of the basic maneuvers of warp ball, and how difficult it was to pull off what the professional level of player could do easily. Jack watched as they explained that Humanity would be able to send a warp ball team to the Citadel whenever they were able to use their biotics well enough. Jack already knew who was going to be assigned to that team. He had a few people in mind for it. He scanned the crowd, looking for his prospects, and noticed that one of them was missing.

"Argus, where is Charles Archer?" He asked the base VI.

" _He is in the hospital, ICU. His father has been experiencing breathing difficulties. The doctor has stabilized him for now, but his prognosis is less than six months, depending upon how long his trachea lasts."_  The VI replied. Jack programmed it to respond to 'Argus' for him.

"That is unfortunate. His extended family would try to lay claim to him. Whether or not they are probably going to use him to improve their own standing, this will end with Charles no longer getting biotic training."

"Do you have an easy solution?" Jones asked, observing with a look of concentration as Nyra used a singularity to stand on top of the ball without effecting the ball's velocity.

"Besides getting involved personally? Not really. It's not like I could simply assign him to someone. He is a fifteen year old boy, with two dying or dead parents. Trauma and grief are not something I want to take the time to deal with, considering Miranda and Julia hit puberty in three years."

Jones didn't find that funny. Most people would have found that funny. She didn't comment on that either. He waited for the demonstration on different moves and plays of warp ball to end before he sent his girls a message over the network.  _Time to go on a vacation. Meet at the hangar. Your bags are packed and we are going to go to some interesting places._ He could see them get up, running for the door. Nyra was about to get after them for it, but when she looked up and saw Jack opening the door, she didn't call out to them.

He smiled as he walked to their shuttle with his kids. Jones remained behind them, trying to seem innocuous but failing. Miranda noticed her immediately, though. "Dad, is this another one?" She glanced back at Jones.

"No, this is miss Jones, who is someone that my board has decided to send with us for our protection. She won't be able to come with us to most of our shows, but she will be on the ship as we go to different places. So, she will do anything you ask her to within reason." Jones gave him a single raised eyebrow. He really didn't care. If she wasn't going to at least listen to them, then she would never listen to what he had to say. "First stop, James! Take us to the Elysian moon of Sidon!"

* * *

 

Author's Note

We are worldbuilding a bit, people. Major Julianne Jones is based upon someone I know, and will be in the story for a bit. Next chapter I will be doing a lot more with Hannah and her experiences among the Turians.

I imagine Turian to be a lot like speaking Greek. Modern or ancient, you really have to throw the back of your tongue around to pronounce everything correctly. I learned Ancient Greek(Attican Dialect) at my university, and so with that I'll throw it around a bit more as the story continues. I am familiar enough with Latin to be able to read that, but we won't be seeing any of that. That language is more likely to be translatable. Sadly, with Greek having so many dialects it isn't as popular to learn. Attican Greek was one of the main languages of trade back during the Roman times, but Latin was what all of the history books were written in.

I assume that some of you have read the Mass Effect Comic books and such. I haven't and I won't make any reason for you to have to. The sections I cover from before the timeline of the first Mass Effect will be considered as my own design, while loosely following what is considered normal canon. The further we get into this though, and the further these decisions change the world. If you have any thoughts or considerations you want to add about the Mass Effect 'verse that you feel can be improved on, let me know. I enjoy the reviews and messages you guys send me.


	21. Fugue: Cleansing Fire From Heaven

Chapter 21

June 17, 2165, Zakera Ward, The Citadel

Jack and his daughters calmly walked among a sea of Humans. The Citadel was flooding with them today, as this was the day Humanity pandered to the greater powers of the galaxy. Once they did so, they would be bound by all the limitations of the galactic economy. What was scaring him was the lack of preparedness among his companies. Their stock market was going to be slammed the next day. Prices would soar, profit would be for all, but for the foreign investors, they were going to be after something much more troublesome. If they ever bought a controlling stock in any of Earth's companies, then they would have the power to relocate it, change the methods, replace the workers.

Jack was more than a little worried that this period of economic growth would end with Humanity buying back their companies for pennies on the dollar. Debt would be bought out by alien entities, and who knows how poorly that would work out. The economic juggernaut that was the Asari were going to come down on them, and they couldn't do what the Batarians did, and resort to violence and cultural isolation. Humanity had to  _lead_  if they were to get out of this alive.

His daughters were beaming, just getting to go someplace official with him. He had taken them out for some authentic Thessian cuisine, and he himself had to build up his resistance to the sour taste of many of their greens. Julia kept trying to figure out how they discovered how to make their meat into some sort of gelatin. Miranda was more concerned about who was sitting around them, as many of the Asari and a mixture of the other races glanced over at them every so often.

He acted nonchalant, as the stares could have been for a number of reasons. Plus, he had been missing the creamy desserts that the Asari were well known for. If he could possibly buy out anything from them, it would be some of their recipe books. Those would sell very well in the Earth restaurant market. Sadly, most of the profits would go to whomever sacrificed twenty years of their life learning Asari cuisine.

"Jack Harper. I am quite pleased to see you." The baritone voice behind him caused some loud humming among the Asari that were present at the restaurant. Jack got out of his seat, and his daughters did as well, and he turned to face the owner of the voice. Coming to his table was none other than Matriarch Benezia T'Soni, along with a few Asari escorts. One of whom looked like a carbon copy of her, minus a few age lines and skin tone. Liara T'Soni was here as well, curiously. Both were in some sort of sparkling silken robes, with a long symbol on the shoulder as some sort of family crest. A couple other Asari were here, in commando leathers with the markings of their family on their shoulder.

"The pleasure is mine." Jack said, giving her a small bow. Julia and Miranda both did one as well, but Jack couldn't keep his eye on them without seeming like a distrusting parent. They were old enough to know something about what was going on around them, but lacked the experience to handle a situation. "Thank you for the chance to come to this ceremony. My government and I are not quite in agreement at this time. As such, they have sent a minder to keep track of me. You'll see her following us, but she won't interfere with anything." Jack motioned to Jones, who was at the bar and sipping on some sort of drink.

"What happened to that wonderful red-haired companion you had? She was much prettier." Benezia asked. "I assume you were partners of a sort."

"I actually don't know where she is. In trouble, most likely. Julia, Miranda, this is Matriarch Benezia. She is the one who sent Nyra to come and teach you, so you can thank her for all of the biotic lessons you have received." Julia looked like she was trying to size up Benezia, while Miranda glowed. Not as much with biotic power, but adoration.

Benezia smiled. It was a very straightforward one, and not laced with deceit. One thing that Jack had been spending some time learning was Asari body language. With Matriarchs it was harder to tell, as they had been alive long enough that they could just hide what they felt. "Pleased to meet you, Miranda, Julia. Nyra writes of you often to me. She claims that you are some of the more gifted children she has ever met. She hopes that you will both continue to perform well in your lessons." Benezia then brought Liara forward, who looked somewhat uncomfortable. "It is my honor to present my own daughter, Liara, who has recently completed her studies at the University of Thessia."

Jack raised an eyebrow, giving Liara a smile. "That sounds like quite the accomplishment. I admit, I am somewhat uninformed as to the system of education on Thessia. What is the hardest degree to earn?"

Liara's voice was higher pitched, somewhat child-like. "This most difficult to earn would be the degrees related to experimental technologies, and physics. Those take upwards of sixty standard years to finish. I finished a degree in Prothean Studies, which in your terms would be a combined Biology, Geology, Archeology, and Math degree. To understand a dead civilization, we need to understand all of its component parts. Due to our long life spans, most of the celebrated researchers are Asari."

"My girls are just starting their biotic lessons with Nyra and two others from your House. Would it be correct to assume you received the same training?"

Liara brightened at this. "Yes, though I only spent a decade under the tutelage of my mother's commandos. Though, if you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them."

Well, that got Miranda into the conversation rather quickly. Liara was quickly drawn into a conversation about biotics, which she seemed comfortable talking about. Jack directed his attention towards Benezia, who was in a rather good mood. Probably because this was one of the few times she had seen or spent time with her daughter in decades. "What are her plans now that she has graduated? Will she teach in the University?"

Benezia shook her head. "Oh, no. Only Matrons and Matriarchs can even get those jobs. As qualified as she is, her thesis has caused some negative attention to come upon her. Her thesis, while accepted as a valuable study of the Prothean extinction, does not follow any conservative or traditional lines of thought. Very few praised the work, and now her chances of getting field work are extremely limited."

"If I may, I happen to know of a Prothean Site that needs a lead researcher. Considering she has decades of experience, I feel that she might be a valuable asset on our Prothean ruins on Eden Prime. Rather than have her suffer through that kind of negative influence, I could bring her in onto the project."

"I haven't heard of any Prothean site on Eden Prime." Benezia said. "Unless you are trying to start one."

"Sadly, I am simply a partner. But We recently found out that Eden Prime has some large ruins of Prothean Origin underneath a few dozen meters of dirt. While it will be difficult, the entire site should be completely unplundered. Offering a spot to the Asari, and therefore the Council Races, will be a measure of kindness."

"I would offer you quite the favor in return, for your most kind offer. My own contacts cannot secure much better for her." Benezia said, letting her arm rest upon his leg. He had to control the usual reaction to that, as Asari were much more comfortable with touching. Touching his thigh in Human terms was a sexual advance. Touching it in Asari terms was more of a form of endearment. A kindness, he had to remind himself. Jones was probably going to report to his superiors that he had been romantically involved with Benezia. That would be uncomfortable to answer questions about, or have rumors flying around him regarding.

"So, what is this i hear about you lending money to quarians?"

Jack grinned, hiding any discomfort in talking to someone who might be more experienced than he was at finding information. Hopefully Hannah got what he sent her. Having that shipped was rather difficult.

* * *

"Who the Hell thinks its a fine idea to ship something to me and label it as a nuclear mine?!" Hannah took off all of the rather mundane wrapping paper around something that had been wrapped as some sort of nuclear mine. But then who names a nuclear mine  _Bad Quarian_?! The Turians who had received the shipment were rather flustered, and so they were having her open this on some planetoid, in the middle of nowhere. So, on some nameless asteroid, she was opening a gift of a nuclear mine from Jack Harper. Which of course created all kinds of security concerns with her Turian hosts, and most likely made them more comfortable blaming her for any wrongdoing that might result from all of this.

She input the security code from Jack, which happened to just be his birthday. Not the one that was on his birth certificate, but the day that he started his first company. Apparently he considered it a more fitting birthday. Greedy bastard. She clicked the button to open the device, and input the correct code. The device opened, revealing an empty case. The nuclear mine was just a casing, and what was inside was some sort of container. A large shotgun was off to one side, along with thirty grenades. Lastly was some sort of gauntlet, meant for the wrist. All of which looked hardened, or the casing had an extra layer of something on it. When she looked closer, she noticed that it was even covering the grenades. This must be some sort of EMP shielding.

"Smart bastard." She finally said, understanding what he had sent. EMP shielded gear for when the nasty super-Turians attacked. She picked it all up, hiding most of the grenades inside her vest. The shotgun even made a  _chirp_  noise when she picked it up. She tried to read what was written on it, but it seemed to be in some unfamiliar script. Her Omni-tool registered it as a Quarian script. Jack had sent her some sort of quarian weapon?

She aimed at the rocky asteroid, aiming far away from her feet. Instead of a shot or single particle, a burst of particles emerged in a cone of what looked like lightning. The spray didn't seem to bite into the crust of the asteroid, but the flare made it very interesting. "What the hell is the purpose of this?"

" _Miss Gunn, we notice that you were not in fact shipped a device banned in Council Space. Is there any secondary bombs within the package?_ " The voice of whatever Turian operative assigned to watch over her said.

"No, there are no other bombs. Looks like someone just wanted to make sure that my package wasn't fiddled with." She placed the shotgun into the slot on her back, and the grenades went into her backpack. She wasn't going to share those. The wristguard she slipped on over her Omni-tool, giving it a little bit of protection. At least from whatever those things were. General Arterius had tracked the shuttle that had escaped her team to some sort of religious structure on Palaven.

Local religious authorities had been rounding up people ever since. Police forces had been in a lull, and hadn't tried to interfere. It was in one of Palaven's more antiquated districts, and the area had little to no military presence due to the Temple. Apparently it was one of the Turian's oldest religious structures, and the district around it was known as one of the most peaceful. In fact, there was an ancient binding tradition, held dear to them. No weapons were allowed within the district, leaving the area nearly undefended.

Not that anyone attempted anything. The last person caught with a knife in here was strung up by his entrails on the wall of the Temple for breaking the binding tradition. No one in recent history had bothered to try again. So that led to some difficulty. General Arterius had been trying to decide how they were going to go forward from there. The military wasn't allowed to bring any of their heavy weapons into the district, and trying to engage with just their claws was asking for suicide.

" _The General would like to see you, once you are back onboard._ " Her overwatch officer told her, with the shuttle coming by to pick her up. She closed up her 'package' and dragged it onboard as well. For all the trouble it just put her through, she was certainly going to use this to make some trouble for him eventually. Or just as a prank on Alexei. The Turians didn't give her much of a glance, though she knew they were watching her closely. They didn't bother helping her drag the nuclear mine case to her locker, and once that was secured she walked over to the command deck. She didn't actually get to enter it, but had to wait outside on the same deck of the ship.

Her body was starting to get itchy, as she hadn't cloaked in over a day. With her implanted technology, a charge would be steadily built up, and sometimes it felt uncomfortable to let the energy just sit there. She was avoiding using her ability, as it would certainly make the Turians uncomfortable to know that she could cloak, if not the other things she could do.

The General was waiting for her, in one of the side rooms onboard the cruiser. She assumed it was some sort of supply room, as there were no active stations in it. Only some boxes and a secondary airlock. Three guards were with her, all helmeted. One of them was holding the shotgun she had received from the package, looking over it critically.

"Do you realize how rare one of those is?" He asked, when she came in.

"I am not familiar with the gun, so I can't say I could know." Hannah said, shrugging. "It's quarian."

"That is a Riigar. One of their shotguns developed to put down Geth at very close range. I am sure I am butchering the pronounciation of their weapon, but it is only dangerous to synthetic creatures. If you painted us with it, the most it would do is scratch our shields. Or at least if it functions as I hope it does. The last time I saw one of those was when we tried to board a Quarian pirate ship. They managed to completely destroy our armor and weapons, before we were forced to withdraw."

"So, this might be effective against the augmented Turians?" Hannah asked.

"If they are more synthetic than organic, then yes. From what we can tell, their brain matter and some of their organs are intact, but their nervous systems, bones, and muscles have been changed with some sort of cybernetics. It might work on them. What is more worrisome is how your employer managed to get ahold of a weapon rare among the Migrant Fleet Marines."

"He's an ass like that. Makes you jealous and pissed off all at once." She replied. "What are your plans about the Temple?"

The General wasn't smiling. "I sent two men to the Temple to offer respects for their ancestors, as they were from Palaven. They haven't reported in yet, and it's been an hour. I am guessing that they aren't going to be. As even I will be drawn and quartered for breaking the covenant, I need another method to stop this from getting out of hand. I can either call in biotics or somehow cause a natural disaster."

"So, have these augmented Turians made any demands of the government? Have they tried to communicate with any outside groups?"

"So far, they have not tried to communicate with anyone or anything. In fact, any technology that they gather is simply left in a pile near the bottom of the sacred hill." He pulled up an image of a pile of turned off aircars, drones, and appliances that may have been inside the Temple at one point. "I don't have any idea what the inside of the Temple is shaped like. The entire area is a single slab of granite. The entire complex has been hand-carved for centuries. Much of the carving occurs underground, and the innermost parts of the Temple are off limits to all but priests. As you might imagine, they haven't been able to help us."

"Why haven't they tried to communicate? Is something wrong?"

"Of course there is! Every Turian, and I mean every single one, is trained to respond in a disciplined fashion when confronted with our system of authority. When we ran into these Turians, whatever their augmentations did, it made them lose their natural responses to us. An officer confronted them, demanding an explanation. Normally, a Turian is duty-bound and obligated to respond, and explain the situation. I would have understood if they just simply told a half-truth, or a basic explanation. Under the law, that is the closest someone may get to outright lying to an officer. These augmented Turians didn't even grace him with a response, and just attacked."  
"I'm guessing that means you have a solution for all of this."

Arterius nodded. "The only way I can send any sort of weapons in that can harm these things is by sending you. I cannot authorize any troops in the district, and Humans are still restricted on Palaven as it is. Your presence will be one that could spark some troubles, but our races seem to be at a head already."

"Are you saying you want me to go in there and stop this?" Hannah said, folding her arms. "I am not a one-woman army, you know. Considering I had to kill the  _one_  augmented Turian I did run into with explosives, I doubt my ability to hurt these things."

"I am loathe to ask this of you, but in order to give the Imperator reason to ignore this most ancient covenant, I need proof of wrongdoing. All that I can convict them of so far is manslaughter and a few counts of insubordination. I need something hard, some tough evidence that can give us reason to come in there and be able to shoot." He looked her dead in the eye. "I know that you are or were part of the Alliance Infiltrator Program. We call our own agents Spirits-of-Vengeance." Her Omni-tool translated it as 'ghost' but thankfully she knew Turian. "They will notice our agents. Hiding a Turian scent from another Turian is near impossible. When we engaged the augmented Turians on the ground, our agents were unable to get close before they were noticed, and became the target of tech attacks that somehow knocked them back into visibility. As such, I am hoping you will be able to infiltrate the Temple better than we could."

"What if I say no? This entire situation most likely ends with me dead or dying. My team and I could barely handle one of these things, and you want me to try to sneak into a complex full of them. I'll need some sort of promise that you'll back me up, along with a huge amount of money as compensation for risking my neck on this."

"So greedy of you. Like the rest of your race." Arterius said with some spite.

She had to bite her tongue to hold back a comment about Shanxi. He might realize that she was the one who killed their Spectre candidate. "I've got to have some guarantee that you won't betray me. When all of this hits the fan, you can easily label me as the one who caused all of this, and blame Humanity for your troubles. If what you say is true, I'll just be drawn and quartered."

"So you want some sort of guarantee that I won't blame you for this."

"Not just you, if your government decides to slam me, then anything you promise is going to be ignored. Unless you can promise me that I won't get slammed with all of this when it's convenient, I'm not setting foot on Palaven."

Arterius leaned forward, which among Turians was an expression of trust. Among predators, to willingly step forward towards someone you didn't like was an expression of trust and admiration. "I can promise that I have the authority to protect you. I am a Council Spectre, and I will guarantee that authority to protect you from my own government. Is that enough, Ms. Gunn?"

Spectre. He was a damned Spectre. Well, that basically made her screwed either way. "I suppose it does. Will the Council notice?"

"Only if you screw up with the intention of disgracing our agreement. Then I will be obligated to use that same authority to hunt you down."

She grimaced. "Fair enough. So you don't have a map for me to follow, and if I get caught I get drawn and quartered."

"But if you fail then we might have some sort of civil revolt on our hands. In the interest of Palaven and the rest of the Council Races, just get me something to convince the Primarch and the Imperator to lift the ancient accord for this."

"I'll have to transmit once I'm back outside the Temple, then. It sounds like it blocks outgoing signals as well." Hannah noted. She clipped her quarian shotgun behind her back, and secured all of the pouches on her torso. Just to be safe, she brought a couple of extra ammo blocks, as for some reason that shotgun went through it much faster than the normal rate. She also brought her pistol, but didn't plan on using it on the augmented Turians. Other targets would be fine for it, and it was a silenced weapon. Useful for other reasons.

"I'll send you down in a shuttle, and you can get a ride on it back up here once you're done. You don't want to remain on the surface of Palaven in the old district too long. There is nothing out there to shield you from our planet's natural radiation. More than two days of that and you'll need a hospital."

She nodded. "That must be hell on any Asari who visit."

"It's why our homes are made thick, with stone and solar shades. Other races find our planet to be slightly uncomfortable. Though Quarians and Volus don't find it as bad. You know our comms enough to get a hold of me if anything goes wrong." He stood up, no longer as close to her. "I may not like your race, but I know you are capable and cunning in ways that our race does not prefer to be. Right now that is what we need. I am putting my name on the line for you, human. Don't give me a reason to bring down an orbital bombardment."

"Trust me, I don't hate you guys that much. I'll do my best, even if I don't completely trust the word of a Spectre." She nodded to herself, having checked everything. Three days of food and water were also stored in her pack, and she wished she had some radiation medications.

Arterius didn't say anything further, and she was sent down to the shuttle bay. She didn't know that Arterius was one of the Spectres. It rankled her a little bit, to be promised protection from the Turians, through Spectre authority. That wouldn't help her remain anonymous at all. She wordlessly got onboard the shuttle meant for her, and took a seat. Turian shuttles were circular, squat, and angled on the inside. Some of the chairs in the shuttle were mounted facing back towards the others, on a raised section of the deck. Probably for their officers to be respected from.

She connected to the public network, which of course in Turian space wanted some citizenship ID number and rank. To her surprise, the gauntlet over her Omni-tool beeped and filled in the blanks. A profile for someone named Neytri Matten came up, complete with a picture and everything. She saw that it was some female Turian with green triangular markings on her face. Like all Turians, stoic was the look she gave the camera.

Well, at least someone was prepared for her to come to Palaven. Knowing Jack, it may have had an ID for every Council Race. She would have to check that later. Those ID's could be useful for other things if they existed. Somewhere on this gauntlet was another OSD that was interfacing with her Omni-tool. Since she was running the Tantalus OS, her files and data were much more encrypted, but Jack probably had backdoors in the system to let himself in. She wouldn't put it past him, and she wasn't that great with technology. She could do some lower level work with hacking, but she was a brute force kind of person. If it required any kind of care or precision, she would rather just let a program do the work. Or someone else, if she was just cloaked near the terminal she needed access to.

The shuttle landed in some field, with what appeared to be granite castles everywhere. Most had pads on the roof or at ground level for vehicles. Everything seemed to be built in a way that would make a planetary invasion difficult. Every home had barricades and gates, places where static defenses could resist the piercing effect of element zero driven rounds. The shuttle driver came out after her, and took a deep breath of the air.

"Are all of your planets built like this?" She asked.

"Yes." He said, seemingly calm. "It's something of a tradition."

"The way I see it, everything is built to hold back an invasion force." She noticed a larger ridgeline in the distance, with homes and towns spread along it. Lights highlighted different sections of the ridgeline, where homes and streets were located. The sun was behind it, highlighting the area and bringing out the natural beauty of it all. The purple atmosphere was a new one, that was for sure.

"It made our Colonial Rebellions tough. Our Temple will be even more fortified. But don't expect any sort of electronic defenses. Power in the city doesn't run into the Temple. All the work there has been done by hand, like in the ancient times." The soldier shrugged. "I was instructed to drop you off our here, outside the district. The district is small, and all of the roads are old and thin. Most of the streets aren't well lit, and they don't move in straight lines. All of the old streets move in the sacred curve, all centralized on the Temple district." He handed her a flashlight. "If you can get to a roof, wave that and I'll pick you up even if you can't transmit anything."

She gave him a smile, with some teeth showing. Turians liked that better for some reason. If you smiled with closed lips, apparently it meant that you were lying or taking advantage of them. "Thanks. For everything." He simply nodded, and got back into the shuttle. She started walking into the district, an old cobblestone wall marking the very edge. It was eight feet tall, but easy to climb. It looked more ceremonial than defensive. A short hop and she was able to clear it. The area beyond was filled with broken stone and gravel, not truly suited for any sort of crops.

A few awkward lizard like creatures flitted about here and there, each about four feet long and with some horns. They were licking the algae off of the rocks. It must be their source of food. She gave them a wide berth just in case they were territorial or predatory. She could see no Turians out here, but the edge of the city wasn't too far away.

" _Just in case you didn't notice, this gauntlet comes with some other functions. One of which is an option to escape if you need it. There is a shuttle in the Cheru district, which you can call at any time. When I saw that you were headed towards Palaven, I had James help prepare a shuttle for you to ride out of here. Just in case things get more than a little intrusive with the Turian military, I wanted to offer you a way out. There is a flight path that takes you towards the main hospital on Palaven, which I am somewhat sure the refugees from that district will travel along. You can either hitch a ride or call the shuttle, which is currently parked eight blocks from that hospital."_ Jack Harper's voice echoed inside her helmet.

It must have been a recording.  _"Inside this gauntlet is everything I could get on your case file. Maps of Palaven, areas where you can escape notice or avoid being ID'd at the spaceport. Anything that I could get you on the local area I did. Also, try not to shoot any of the creepy statues. Those are apparently one of the few pieces of art the ancient Turians actively made. Killing a Turian is simply criminal. Destroying ancient culture would make any kind of saving action impossible. If you can get away with making the Turians take any of the shots necessary, that might be better. But what you are looking at is the main temple for their ancestor worshipping cult, which is one of their longest standing and most popular religious sects. If this temple gets wiped out, then the entire pilgrimage and ancestor worship cult will fall apart, leading to some sort of civil trouble down the line. So be careful about that. The gun that I sent you is one that was traded to me in exchange for the first batch of work visas for quarians. It's a Reegar shotgun. Not sure what they needed this much firepower for, but with some of their files on the Geth, it seems as though they need it. It's considered a heavy weapon for them, meant to put down fourteen foot tall robots with pulse cannons. As you might imagine, it should work well on the Turians that have all of the cybernetics. It will cook off the cybernetics, which I assume is the source of their augmentations. None of the files that I saw had anything about the organic tissue being augmented or improved in any way. So use this or the grenades and the augmented things should be put down._

 _One thing that is in your favor is that they have decreased brain activity. They aren't thinking in the same terms that a normal Turian would think in. Seems like all that strength seems to make them stupid. I haven't found any other exploitable weaknesses, but I have sent you with what I can. More than what the Turians were going to send you with. Also, you are broadcasting a signal from somewhere on your person. It's probably some sort of tracking bug they placed on you."_ The image blurred.  _"No other conversation options are remaining. Unit shutting down."_

Hannah smirked. Jack was being at least somewhat supportive. He was somehow getting her the weapons and intel she needed. Though why the Turians didn't say anything about the cybernetics bothered her. Tracking her she could forgive. That was expected, and a complement to their worry about her. As she walked, she noticed that the lizards were even more common around the oldest structures, and the newest structures they avoided. The algae only grew on the rocks around the older sections of the city. The roads were made of old stone, broken up and non uniform in shape.

Strangely, the streets were quiet. Not somber, but quiet like something terrible was happening. Lights were on in the homes, but no shapes moved behind the windows, and none of the doorways were closed. Everything was open, and she thought she saw an aircar running in front of one of the shops. Two of the doors were open, and she could see no signs of life in the car. She didn't feel comfortable at all.

From then on, she moved around town with her tactical cloak on. As she got closer to the Temple, the winding streets got thinner and thinner, until the walls were barely wide enough to walk single file. Some of the buildings leaned on each other, and even shared rooftops. She almost shot at the first Turian she saw, she was so rattled by it all. It was on one of the rooftops, almost patrolling the area. It didn't have a weapon, but the long talons that hung out of its brown robes betrayed its danger. She ignored it, moving forward. The augmented Turians had only heard her last time because she spoke. This time she wasn't going to be so foolish.

She considered testing her new shotgun on one of them, but decided against it. Charging in like some commando unit wasn't her way. She was the scout, the gatherer of intelligence. If she was in combat, something had gone wrong. So, she found the solitary road leading up to the Temple. All of the winding streets came together in a large square, where some statues of ancient Turians stood. They were in good condition, wearing some sort of leather wrappings or armor plating. Spears with a curved tip were held in each hand.

The area had stalls with different foods and supplies at them, but they were ignored by the Turians in the courtyard. Roaming groups of Turians in brown cloaks wandered around the courtyard, checking homes and cars as they went. Their search pattern was pretty simple, practiced. Hannah could see that more groups were on the road leading up to the temple, up some steep hill. Guards stood in a few places along the hill and the surrounding rooftops.

It was very different from the normal style of Turian defense around an object. Normally they had all approaches covered, completely supported, and had multiple layers of defenses around critical points. Here, it seemed as if the most critical positions were only being protected by the few Turians on the rooftops. The ones on the street were actively patrolling, but not in a defensive fashion. She took some images and recordings of it all, but didn't narrate it.

She wished she could, and highlight all of the issues she could see. The hill was old, and covered in shrubbery. It would have been an easy climb for her, but it would have kicked up dust and noise to do so. The only way to get up the hill was to just walk up the main road. So, she shadowed one of the groups walking up the hill, and echoed their steps. The patrol she was following had no idea they were being followed, nor did they step leisurely. Their steps were just as measured as when they were on patrol, and didn't seem affected by fatigue or exhaustion. Probably the cybernetics.

The Temple itself was a structure that reminded Hannah of the old vids of Rome, with large columns supporting a triangular entrance. The carved rock showed signs where digging had occurred, all using hand tools. The stone was old, and statues faced outwards from the temple, left hands in a cupping shape and the right held across the chest. The figures wore robes, in the same type and shape as the ones worn by the augmented Turians.

Few of them were up at the Temple entrance. The groups moving up the hill just moved inside the temple, where torches had been lit. No guards were in place here, just a small crowd of the robed Turians moving inside the Temple. The archway was wide enough that ten men could walk through it together, in armor. It was roughly forty feet high, which if she understood right meant that this structure was extremely strong. Rare for something so old and large to be so well preserved, too. She kept her tourist tendencies down, though, as she slipped inside.

Here she finally saw some sort of evidence. Groups of Turians who weren't wearing robes were being corralled into the inside corners of the temple, hundreds of them being pushed into the area between the columns. She got a lot of angles on this. This would be clear evidence of wrongdoing, but probably not enough to merit coming in here guns blazing. She needed some sort of real dirt.

There had been some sort of large altar in the innermost section of the temple, but it was now covered with rocks and dirt. Some of it was being dragged up to the altar, while other chunks were being dragged out towards one of the large windows and deposited outside. That led to the far side of the hill, and wouldn't be visible from the road. The amount moved was in the tons. Some of the rocks being moved would normally take heavy machinery to move, but teams of these augmented just carried them around.

The rocks were coming from a ramp behind the altar, one that seemed crudely carved out of the rock. It looked recent, probably expanded to fit the large rocks being excavated. Old carvings on the walls had been cut through and a statue was missing to make room for the new archway. She highlighted the destruction of the art, and made sure to show the casual disregard for their own culture.

She also got a nice recording of the augmented taking one of the Turians from the group that had been herded, and dragging them down the ramp. Hannah zeroed in on that, and followed. She almost lost them, having to move quietly to avoid notice. The ramp had carved stone edifices on the sides, and those hadn't been defaced very much. A team of the augmented were moving a rock up the ramp that was three times their size, and they seemed to have no trouble.

She slipped past them, avoiding a patch of loose rock at the bottom of the ramp as it led to some sort of interior chambers. Another ramp led deeper off to one side, where some of the augmented were pulling rocks from. The Turian that was being dragged off was being taken to a side chamber, and less of the augmented were in that direction. She was able to step a lot less lightly there. In what may have been a dormitory or eating area, she finally saw it. The objective that their team was supposed to secure was a large black stone monolith, with some form of element zero or something inside of it. It had a slight glow in it, and the edges of it were curved, enough that someone could sit or lay down on the lower section of the monolith.

A message flashed from her Omni-tool, showing up on her helmet feed.  _Hostile signal detected. Physical contact not advised._  Alright then, don't touch the monolith. Jack had at least shown that he had looked into some things. Or at least prepared for it. She would trust his work if it said there was something dangerous here.

The Turian being dragged by two of the augmented was dragged roughly to the foot of the monolith, and then they grabbed him by both his hands and his feet. The Turian mumbled some sort of religious phrase, right before he was shoved onto the small platform at the base of the monolith. Immediately the monolith lit up with an eerie blue light, and some cloud of something flew from the corners of the black stone and into the Turian's skin.

He started twitching, screaming, and convulsing as blood came out of his orifices. To her great disgust, he started coughing, and his eyes were spraying some sort of matter onto the the rest of his face. The augmented Turian just turned around, and walked back towards the entryway. She kept her hand steady, focusing on the Turian being affected by the monolith. She felt more than saw the augmented Turian twist in her direction, and rolled away from him. The robed figure followed, its arm reaching towards her.

It wasn't reaching to impale, however, but just to grab her. Pure idiocy. She rolled, the shotgun coming off her back, slipping into her hand. With a solid  _thump_  the bore opened. The spray of what looked like lightning went past the Turian's arm and into his torso. Which then promptly turned to melted pulp when the lightning struck all of the mechanical bits. She could see the shape and form of the Turian's skeleton through the robes, just by the way the lightning arced around the body.

Thankfully, it didn't scream or make any other kinds of noise as the body got cooked. There wasn't the blast of burning smell she normally associated with people being tortured or killed by electricity, but the heavy  _clunk_  as the body slid to the ground was evidence enough. Just to be sure it was dead, she drew her Batarian knife and sliced its tendons and neck, the hydraulic fluid leaking out onto the floor. For the finale, she stabbed deeply into the brain, the robe concealing any movement on its part. It didn't even flinch as she cut its major arteries and brain stem. There was no reflexive twitching or reaction. With a final slice to the lower back, the augmented Turian couldn't move even if it tried.

The shotgun didn't make noise as a normal gun would, with a bang or a loud crack, but made a sound like water being shoved through too small of a hose. It hissed, more than made noise. She didn't hear any more of the augmented Turians coming, but couldn't risk too much more exposure. With one dead, her chances of escaping without notice were lower. But she needed to send in more damning evidence. Just showing some Turian with cybernetics wasn't going to be enough. Hostages and signs of digging were pretty bad too.

She stood up, coming over nearer to the monolith. The Turian that had been thrown onto it was thrashing around on the ground, blood and viscera still spraying around him. She inched closer, as he had rolled off the platform. She zoomed in the camera, focusing on his face. From behind where the eyes were, something else that was blue and glowing was emerging. She had to keep her arm still as she saw some of the blood in his eye sockets being converted to some sort of stringy tissue to hold together a new set of eyes.

There was no cybernetics that were capable of this. This was just too powerful. She knew the limits, she was an example of someone with a significant amount of cybernetics in her body. Watching a cybernetic eye being built from someone's blood just wasn't possible. When she saw the Turian's crest separating and breaking apart on top of its head, she knew that this was something really bad. She left a nice little tech grenade on the Turian being augmented. In fact, she left a lot of grenades. She liberally applied them to the monolith, on a passive detection pattern. If anything crossed their proximity alarm, they would all go off. Hopefully that would disable this freaky monolith thing.

Backing out of the room, she could see a few of the augmented dragging up stone, volcanic rock. Obsidian chunks were being carted up in handfuls or in bags carried between two of the augmented. She decided that she could risk a peek down into what they were excavating. With a few short steps, she went down the crude stone ramp that extended into the deepest part of the temple. It had no decoration down here, only a long stone hallway that looked carved with hand tools. The air was a little thin, and dust obscured everything.

The end of the tunnel arrived at some sort of lava flow that had cooled a long time ago. The cooled rock was being torn apart by the hands of the augmented Turians, and crude tools were also being used. The obsidian was hard enough to chip the armored talons, causing some of the area to be covered in broken pieces of augmented Turian. She tried not to pay attention to that, trying to see what they were so actively trying to dig up. She had to zoom in, seeing the Turians scratching at some sort of large stone in the middle of the obsidian.

 _Hostile signal detected. Physical contact not advised._ The message flashed across her screen again, making her look carefully at the shape of the stone. It had a glowing blue line along one side, covered by dust and debris for the most part. But she noticed that the shape of it was the exact same as the monolith upstairs. It was another one of the things.

Now that was a scary thought. Two of these things could be even more dangerous. Especially if they were separated. These augmented Turians would be able to make more of themselves faster, which suggested something of a plan. They were actively trying to expand their numbers, yet expressed less thinking and consideration on the defense of their artifact. She didn't like the ramifications of that, considering that whatever these augmented Turians were doing, they didn't show any kind of moral values. They ignored the figures of authority, and didn't have any regard for their culture.

The cybernetics seemed to be providing some sort of mental control or destabilizing effect. Considering that she just saw a cybernetic eye grow from blood and bone, she was willing to accept that these cybernetics weren't for the greater benefit of society. She followed behind a large chunk of obsidian being dragged out of the Temple, and awkwardly watched as the corpse of the Turian she had killed was being dragged up the ramp ahead of her. It was dumped with the rocks like a sack of fruit, without even a care for the person they had just tossed.

More worrying was the lack of alarm or panic going on. One dead augmented Turian and nothing changed. The body was just thrown out the window like so much debris. She didn't like that. They should be doubling their patrols, moving aggressively to contain the intruder. The fact that they weren't bugged her. They were doing  _nothing_  to respond to her intrusion. It gave her a bad taste in the mouth that they didn't care.

She looked up at the doorway to the Temple, where it had been barricaded. She stood corrected. It appeared as though they had prepared for her, or at least sealed off the temple. That would stop most people. Not her, as she calmly stepped out the window they had been dumping the rock out of. The hill face was not a cliff, but it was close. Dust and broken shrubs marked where the debris had gone, so she went upwards. The top of the temple was populated with a few of the robed figures, but she was able to find a nice little spot to sit down. There was a very clear and crisp signal repeater for the local extranet network on top of the hill, and she put it to good use.

She made her own signal bounce off of that, and took the tracer that they had stuck on her and placed it on the signal repeater. It was a good model, too. Once that was done, she found a safe spot to run her Omni-tool and visibly route her comm signals through that transmitter, so that anyone scanning the area would assume she was actually on top of the hill.

From there, it was a more complicated matter of slowly climbing down the hill, moving towards where the far ridgeline still had lights on. She could even see a few aircars coming and going in the distance. No one knew that people were being held hostage within sight of their homes. Their homes were lit up, still glowing with light and radiating warmth. She moved towards the hills, getting some distance between her and that temple.

Once she was far enough that she felt more comfortable, she started uploading the vid she had recorded to Arterius. "Reporting in, all clear." She said in Turian, not trusting the ability of others to listen in or try to assume wrongdoing. "Sending package now."

The vid recording of her foray into the temple was uploaded onto the communications network. She didn't have to wait long before she got a reply. " _We have it. I am with the Primarch right now, and we are getting the video."_  She could hear the sounds of her vid feed in the background, and Arterius seemed to be focused on it.

"I need an extraction, they know I'm here." She said, making sure to put some urgency in her voice. "I had to kill one when it came too close."

" _We are watching that moment, yes."_  She heard a sharp intake of breath.  _"Where did you get that knife!"_

She hissed. It must have been some sort of important knife for him to recognize it. Worse, he sounded pissed. "Are you still going to get me out of here?" Their detectors would show her transmitting from the top of the hill. Though a tech would be able to tell that she was repeating her signal from within the area. Where she was sending from might be able to be found if they could get into the communications network. She had to end this conversation soon, then.

" _You don't have any idea what that is, do you!"_ Arterius sounded livid. " _The Batarian Hegemon has the right to decide who inherits the title after he dies or is incapable. He marks those who are heirs with knives that have five monomolecular blades, known as_ Kavka _. My little brother, Saren, was sent on a mission out in the Terminus systems. On his first mission he ran into one of the heirs of the Hegemon. The ensuing battle left only a few survivors. Saren managed to survive the fight, but only at the cost of his right arm's ligaments._

 _"He never put that knife down. The only way you could have gotten one of the_ Kavka _is if you took it from him. Only two are outside Batarian space, and one of them is in the Temple of Athame, and the other was owned by Saren. You killed my brother, and for that I am debating removing any protection I would have given you."_

"We were at war! You had shown up on our planet, bombarded our world! What do you think happens during a war!" She yelled at him. She had to end this, and fast. He knew she had killed Saren. "He had the only Omni-tool we had that could translate Turian. We had to get it back."

_"I apologize, Human. While your actions and any blame associated with them have been forgiven due to the Council's intervention, I cannot allow the threat posed by these augmented Turians to grow any further. Make peace with your gods, as I will with mine. Primarch, all of our agents are clear."_

She was in motion before his angered tone finished his sentence. She cut communications off on her end, and took cover behind one of the old walls surrounding the fields. Some of the lizards she had seen earlier scattered when she moved, a dust cloud kicking up in response to her steps. She was able to get at least somewhere covered before the first shots hit.

She had experienced orbital bombardment before. The loud  _crash_  that echoed across the countryside, wind whipping and tearing over the wall, and most of all the quiet that followed. Kinetic strikes had a loud initial strike, but afterwards the only way you could tell anything was damaged was the sound of collapsing buildings. She didn't hear any of that. She could see the smoke cloud from the impact on the temple hill, and the movement on the rooftops. Augmented Turians were converging on the hill, running out in the open back towards the Temple.

She picked one of the ravines that lead away from the temple and dropped down into it just as the second round hit the hill. This one made her almost stumble. She was only a mile or so away, but still, that shook the ground. That must have come from a dreadnought to have been felt this far. The Turians really were not fooling around. She knew that troop transports, fighter squadrons, and armored vehicles would be crawling all over this district soon.

Her footprints would be easy to notice and easier to track. There were no humans here. She abandoned any stealth she might have used, and just started running along the ravine. Her batteries were low, so she had to turn off her tactical cloak as well. She hoped that by staying in the shrubs and the ravine she could avoid notice for a while. She did notice that the local comm network had been taken down. All of the surrounding stations were quiet.

Then the guns let loose on the hill again, and the shuttles started coming down. She tried hard not to think of Shanxi, but it was difficult. When she checked her Omni-tool again, she could see a static map of the area. A blinking light was on near one of the hospitals in Choyu district. She couldn't access the aircar Jack had prepared, but she could certainly get to that district. It would just be a lot of walking.

* * *

June 20th, 2165, Thessia

Jack could understand Asari very clearly, but Opera was one of those things that only a native speaker of the language could understand. For Humans, that meant letting the music flow through you, the rush of excitement when the tone dropped or rose, and the final gasp as the performance ended. For Asari, a performance lasted between four and six hours, and the tones that an Asari could reach went above what the human vocal cords could reach. It sounded like cats singing or being drunk, minus the screeching and painful sounds.

Miranda and Julia were watching with starry eyes, still excited even into the fifth hour of performance. It was all in the religious language of the Asari, and not the common language that they had developed for speaking with the rest of the galaxy. The fluting tones and warm choruses carried throughout the sixty thousand seat opera house, inside of which there were seats reserved by the societal elite. Benezia had one of the best balconies, just ten feet off of the floor.

Major Jones was outside, in their aircar. It was as close as she could get without getting arrested or creating an awkward situation with the Asari government. He felt very comfortable with the situation. Looking over, he could see Benezia leaning forward and whispering with Liara, along with other members of their extended family. The amount of blue Asari faces in the room was intimidating, and he frowned at the thought of how many would be assaulting Humanity in the morning.

"What has you so worried, Jack Harper?" Benezia was looking over at him. She had a smile on her face, but as to why he couldn't guess.

"Tomorrow morning, the Human market connects to the Citadel stock exchange. If what you have told me in the past is true, all of these people will be as wolves among sheep when they apply their wealth to our market."

She smirked. "Any wrongdoing on their part will be seen to. When a younger race joins us, we usually try to allow them the space they need to learn and grow. Tomorrow, when your stock market is open, the only thing you need fear is how much you all will be willing to spare, in exchange for our products."

"Expensive products. Especially Serrice. I was just offered biotic amps from them, to jumpstart our own program." He motioned to where the S'ricce family sat, in their own balcony not far away. Their distinctive family crest was blatantly displayed on all of their shoulders. "I recently talked with the head of the Batarian biotic training program. Apparently when the same offer was given to the Batarians, their entire first generation of biotics died unexpectedly. It is my own assumption that they were sold faulty first generation amps. If the same thing happens to us, my daughters die. Not an acceptable option."

Benezia nodded. "Serrice is not the only company that will be willing to sell you amp designs. If you need other contacts, there are a few Salarian companies I would recommend."

"Caught an STG team stealing data from Sirta. I won't be able to trust that source."

Benezia didn't even seem surprised. "Picky, then. Elcor designs are ponderous, and Volus designs are hard to convert over to anything that operates in comfortable environments. You could go with Turian designs, and it might get you a bit of political niceties. I hear that they are very efficient compared to other designs."

The L2 and L3 were based off of Turian efficiency designs. He would have to purchase the rights to their detailed parts at some point, but the L1 and L2 were based heavily on Asari designs. "I might have to ask around about those. Though I will make sure to guarantee a spot for Liara at my sponsored dig site first."

Benezia smiled about that. A real smile, with none of the venom that normally he associated with an Asari smiling. "I investigated your offer while we were in the car. You only have one other Prothean expert leading the dig. Are you sure you would trust your entire dig site with my daughter leading it?"

Trick question. It had to be. "She has more experience and knowledge than any team of experts I could hire in human space. I don't risk anything by placing her in charge of the project. Giving her an equal who has experience running digs on earth will balance out any trouble that may result from Liara not knowing Human culture or practices."

"What are you expecting to find in your search for Prothean ruins?" She asked. "Because I have noticed that you are interested in a very dark part of the Protheans. You may be good, Jack Harper, but I noticed that you have been looking for Dark Beacons. If you are hoping to find those troubled devices, then Liara will not help you."

At that moment, he did not like Benezia. "You know where the Council moved the supply of Dark Beacons in their possession." He said, matter of factly. "You must have seen the files when you logged into the Mars Archive."

"I was confirming that they matched the files in the Salarian Archive. Interesting that I found some tampering, or signs of attempted tampering. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, now, would you?" He didn't break eye contact, but that venom was back.  _Never_  trust an Asari. Absolute power over the galaxy means that they take responsibility for protecting it.

"I have found a single Dark Beacon." He admitted. "But I haven't perfected the extraction of information yet."

"How do you plan on extracting that? All who come in contact with those have been killed." Now she was getting suspicious.

"Then you've obviously not hugged the correct beacon. In my experience, the message that they relay is somewhat garbled, or not meant to be understood without some experience in Prothean code or language." He gave her a grin. She already was mad, he could tell. "I won't expose your daughter to that, but anything to understand that message is important to me."

Benezia stood up. "We will be just a moment, family and connected friends." She motioned to Jack to head up the stairs. He got up, so as not to make a spectacle of himself. Outside their balcony was a small hallway, with the unisex bathrooms that were normal for Thessia. Asari didn't have much in the way of shame. He didn't even make it halfway across the hallway before he was pushed against the wall. Hard, but not so hard that he broke anything when he hit the wall.

Benezia had the kind of control that most associated with mystics or shamans. He biotic throw didn't just send him into the wall. It held him there, making it impossible to move away or try to get any traction with his hands.

"Others who have been touched by the Protheans usually go insane within a decade of being exposed. For your sake, I will do what I can to contain the damage." He could feel a hand on the back of his neck. He stiffened. Her glove was missing. " **Embrace Eternity**."

He knew what she was after. Prothean information. Reapers. The Reapers. He immediately brought his worry for his daughters to the forefront. Something real, something human, he had to shield the parts of his mind that contained his detailed plans and thoughts of how to counter the Reapers. He also knew that the link between their nervous systems and minds could only be maintained by the Asari. Considering that it was an Asari Matriarch, he knew that his chances of getting out of here were small without some sort of detail or plan being revealed.

So, to start, he pulled up the memories of his time during the Reaper War. Memories of the horrors within the Citadel, of the cybernetics burrowing into his face, and of the sound of grinding flesh all around him. These scenes he reinforced with visions of the Collectors, and of them being taken apart by autopsy devices. He almost cheerfully sent portions of the husking process, trying to see if this would be enough.

He could feel something in his mind, though. Like a snake, it was at the edge of his perception. It felt different than having a Reaper inside your mind, that was for certain. But he didn't like this one bit. He could equate it to a siege, where the only way to end it was to outlast a nine hundred year old being who was known for her strength and control of her biotics and nervous system. The battle over his mind had begun, and he did not like his odds in the slightest.

 


	22. Fugue: Inception

Chapter 22

 

Thessia, 2165

Being a prisoner in your own mind was something that Jack was used to. The chains of Indoctrination were strong, and no matter how strong you were, you couldn't shake them off. Oh, of course you could try to have a few moments of freedom, but that was more detrimental in the end. Wasting your energy that could be better spent to do something like Saren's suicide was more important. Though Jack would have preferred if the Indoctrinated had suicided before they had nearly caused the destruction of the galaxy.

So, he had his conscience locked away tight. He could still feel something ghosting around the different parts of his mind, looking for a way in. Around his active thoughts, he had placed memories of the Reaper war. Not the Reapers themselves, of course, but the labs and conversion centers that Cerberus had set up were enough. Replacing the obvious humans and aliens in the memories to the bursts where something was more machine than organic was simple enough, but kept him focused on filtering what he was thinking about. Benezia was just touching lightly on things, barely being felt as she touched one part of his mind, and then backed off to consider another approach.

"I would normally consider this a sexual assault charge, but then I would be wrong in assuming you were after me for those reasons." He directed towards Benezia. He figured that partners in Asari relationships would be able to understand thoughts sent by the other person when their nervous systems were linked.

" _You would be correct. I am in fact trying to save you, as I would for any who have touched a Dark Beacon. Upon contact, within a short time the mind begins to decay without something to reinforce it, which is nearly impossible for your race. The only method that became clear to me that could save you is mental reinforcement."_

"Is that why you didn't ask permission before entering my mind?"

" _We don't have much time before we must return to our seats. You are hardly the most hated person in the room. We Asari have long memories, and our hate can last millennia."_

"So, you want permission to enter my mind, ostensibly to prepare me for whatever influence the Dark Beacon has exposed me to?"

" _You would refuse?_ "

"I already know of the effects of the Dark Beacon. I also know how the Protheans overcame it. Your daughter is going to be one of the people working on that solution."

" _Curious."_  Benezia appeared in all of her beauty, at the edge of his view. She didn't appear too concerned with the defenses his mind has placed around itself. " _Show me what you have found, then. I have spent a quarter of my life dealing with mental corruption. I even examined your archives for the same purpose. If your solution is just, I will follow through with it."_

Jack gave her a smile, and decided to give her something to nibble on. Half-truths and lies meant to protect the truth were always better than the full truth. Full truth only hurt everyone involved. So, he carefully brought forward his memory of Illos, with walls lined with cryo sleep pods. "The Beacon contained a message of a world, Illos. It claimed there were living Protheans there. I would much rather trust them over whatever you may attempt to do."

" _Illos is a pipe dream that many have sought the location of. If the Beacon claims that there are Protheans there, it has been nearly fifty thousand years since they were last active. You would rather take your chances with this slim hope, rather than what I have to offer?"_  Her voice contained only seriousness. Apparently she was worried about him.

"Considering how little there has been on those touched by the Dark Beacons, I can only assume your solution would only make the influence lessened? Or would you actually stop me from dying?"

" _Matriarchs older than you haven't been able to survive longer than a decade. Without my help, you will die much sooner than that."_  She had a frown on her face.

"If I start losing my mind, I will call you. Until that time, I would prefer that you stay out of my mind. As much as I would like to claim to be the first Human to bond with a Matriarch, I have had enough press coverage on my liasons with my own race." As an example, he flashed a few memories of the dozens of women he had slept with. That only made Benezia laugh, as she brought up what appeared to be dozens more sentients. Mostly Asari, however.

" _You are very willful, Jack Harper. When you are on your deathbed, you will regret refusing me at this moment."_ Benezia started drawing away, and he could feel the pressure on his mind recede. Like a light clicking on, he was back in the hallway, still held by a Stasis against the wall. The scholera receded back into Benezia's eyes, and her normal blue irises returned. "A most interesting mind, Jack Harper. Don't involve Liara in anything that might get her killed." The obvious threat was left open, as she placed Jack none too gently back on the ground.

He nodded, his nervous system still twitching from the exposure to the Asari. She didn't seem flustered at all at what she had seen. "Pleasantries aside, I think I'll pass on any hugs in the near future."

That got her to laugh a bit. But this only solidified how he felt about Asari. They felt like they had the right to invade anyone's privacy. Council Law didn't even talk about unwilling bonding between Asari and other species, unless the unwilling party was already a prisoner. Apparently they had special dispensation to go wherever they pleased and touch whoever they wanted. This was why he was committed to Humanity. Sentients like this had to be stopped.

Their arrogance had only cost them during the Reaper War. Asari were ignorant of the trouble that was brewing, and hadn't been at war in over two thousand years. Their economy was not capable of going to war. So little of it was military spending. Worse, their military was contributed by each city state and colony as individual parts. There was no comprehensive leader of their military. They couldn't unite their forces. Instead they just tried to transfer the focus and the effort onto the 'lesser' races.

Benezia had brushed herself off, and was walking back to their balcony to return to the opera. He took a longer time to do so, as he had been shoved up against the wall. A small deployable mirror from his Omni-tool made sure that his back was not scuffed or dusty. Apparently the Asari had extremely clean walls. How perfect of them.

The opera was still as fantastic and amazing as when he left. Biotics during an opera were very flashy, he had to admit. But making the main singer float above the rest for her twenty minute solo was impressive. Apparently an entire team of biotics made that possible. Still, his entire mood was dour throughout the night. He put up an outgoing facade, using the Asari language he had painstakingly learned, much to their host's delight. Miranda and Julia tried a few foods that their taste buds didn't have a descriptive adjective for. He avoided the ones that he knew were too far outside their body's ability to digest. But Asari wine had its own enjoyment.

Liara was restrained, not comfortable in this group. Her family seemed to be happy to be here as well, but all of them were on the lookout for trouble. Benezia sat in the direct middle of the group, and none of the waiters were allowed to come near her. Jack ordered food for his girls that he knew they could stomach, and drinks that were fruity for them. Asari fruit was mostly sour. They rarely enjoyed sweet food, as sugar was not as prevalent in their society. He did find that Asari loved lemon and lime flavored foods, anything that was sour and flavorful.

When all was said and done, James and Major Jones came to pick them up from the restaurant. He was pleased that so many Asari looked at their shuttle with disdain. The girls went in first, and he gave Benezia a courteous bow to thank her for the night. She had spent some extreme amount on them that night, and he would have to do the same when she visited to send Liara off in a month. It still sounded like she was willing to have her come to Human space as a project lead.  _His_  project lead.

"James, set a course for the Citadel. I have to invest into something before we get back to Earth. Though I think it is time we start thinking about another nice yacht for our purposes. Jones, politely mention to your superiors that we need a clause within Council Law that protects sentients from being mind-raped. Apparently Asari are allowed to 'express' themselves upon any willing subject. Note that the willing part of that is in question."

Jones nodded. "Did she get into your head at all? Should we be worried about any secrets being revealed?" She seemed a bit eager, at that. Intelligence might want him gone.

"No. She was being somewhat courteous. Which meant that she started a meld without asking, but left when prompted. Not that I feel any more comfortable after that experience."

Jones seemed to be taking notes. "Can you describe what happened in detail?"

He scoffed. "Not even if you paid me. Though the anti interrogation training was certainly helpful." He gave a glance over to his daughters, both of whom were looking tired from the hours of singing. Julia was on her Omni-tool, looking at statistics about Warp Ball, of all things. She was a tad bit obsessive over it. That was normal for Asperger's children. Social ineptness, or rather ignorance of social nuances, and rotating obsessional logic. The social nuance ignorance could be corrected, while the obsessional line of thinking could not. Julia had two speech tutors, though she had to share them with Miranda. He disguised the treatment as 'training' to handle his empire after he died. If he had anything to say about it, there wouldn't be much to pass on. All of it would be tainted anyways.

Miranda was passed out on his leg, and Jones looked haggard. "The Asari Government had more agents following you than I certainly would have expected."

"They weren't following me. Matriarch Benezia is rarely seen on Thessia. She is leading the closest thing the Asari have to a revolution since their Medieval ages. As she is the center of that movement, who she associates with gets blacklisted if they approach her. She is not well liked for her choices of the last few hundred years, as well as the fact that she owns a significant portion of the Asari element zero mining rights. They would rather wait until she dies of old age to go after her, though."

"How old is she?" Julia asked, her interest piqued.

"Nine hundred and thirty. Give or take a year or so. She might live another fifty to a hundred years, after which she will most likely die and her religious movement will have to find a new foci to follow." He gave Julia a smile. "Krogan have been confirmed to live for longer, though. Don will be happy to tell you all about that. If I remember correctly, there are a few Krogan left who remember the rachni wars. Or were alive at that time."

"If they are that old, are they really mean?"

"If they are Krogan, then they are probably just cranky. But you shouldn't test that theory." He said, Julia nodding as if it were the most sage advice she had ever heard. "Major Jones, when we return to Earth, I am going to need you to toss aside your xenophobia for a short time. At least towards my newest guests. They represent some very important investments in our near future."

"I can't promise anything unless they are Elcor. Even you can't possibly get much use out of them."

He laughed. "You would be surprised. Actually, I invited an entire Krogan crew to meet with me out by Elysium." Jones didn't seem surprised. "This time I need your help to get some background checks done on them. They'll be working with 22nd Century Fox Entertainment."

Jones grinned at that. "Need new villains in a movie? You could have just hired cheap thugs on Omega."

"Nonsense. They are the stars of my newest venture. Something to make us millions of credits in a market that doesn't have tax records." He brought up his Omni-tool, which activated a display towards one of the walls of the shuttle. The interior of the door seemed to work fine. When the display adjusted for the curved shape, it showed a vid preview, complete with a still frame of weapons, explosives, and mechs. Portrayed boldly on the front were the words, " **Krogan Ninja Turtles:Excessive Force** ". "This will sell in the Terminus systems and on Tuchanka, and is the first idea that I am putting together that will create a bond between Krogan and Human races."

Julia looked excited. James even put the ship into auto pilot to take a look. Miranda was still asleep on his leg, not permitting him to use any excessive hand motions. Jones looked perturbed, her forehead wrinkling at the distasteful frown she had. "I think that is idiotic. Do you want us to become even more alienated by the Council? You've been carousing with the Quarians, the Krogan, and the Asari, which does not change public opinion very much. You picked an Asari that isn't well liked, you create problems that our public relations department loses millions trying to fix, and now you want to do this? Jack Harper, I am advising you to not make that movie."

"Are you sure that is a bad idea? Krogan make strong allies, and if they ever come back together as a cohesive force again, I would prefer to be on their good side. For all we know, the Genophage might be losing its effectiveness and the Krogan could make a comeback eventually."

"I would rather you make strides in trying to get the Turians to not be so critical of us. Fixing our broken relationships with them might mend more fences."

"I seem to remember our relationship with the Turians differently."

"We are allies, Harper. They will receive preferential treatment."

"The last time I tried to be nice to our 'allies', one of their spectres brutally tortured me for hours on end. I required weeks of medical therapy to deal with the damage he inflicted, and never once was I given any treatment by their medics. How is that for our illustrious 'allies' and their agreement with us?"

"Shanxi was an isolated occur-"

"Is that how we are spinning it now!" He snarled. Shanxi rankled him, in his memories and in his current life. "I did not invest a quarter of my life into that rock and then be tortured for it, just to see it be pushed off as an 'isolated occurrence'! No, the Turians will never get any of my interest. If I could, I would have killed Saren Arterius myself."

Jones stared calmly at him. She even waited a few more seconds to see if he spoke further, but with the girls here he couldn't go into much detail. Or use that to his advantage. Jones was going to make things difficult for him. "Perhaps the Salarians, then?"

"There is only one thing that they want that I have, and they have already tried to shoot their way in. Though they are moving against another one of my assets soon. As Sirta is no longer so easily accessed, they are going to go after an operation I am running on one of the moons of Elysium's system. I'll have to extract them soon."

"Perhaps another Asari group? Serrice Council or Armani Council works?"

"They want to sell me flawed and tainted products." He didn't say anything more, as Miranda and Julia were right there. "I won't take that kind of blood money."

Jones nodded. "I'll advise you when I have more options for you."

"You'll advise me when I need it. Which is usually never, or it goes unasked. I've tolerated you so far, but if you continue to try to force my actions, then I'll just call your boss and get someone else in here."

"I am the highest ranking field agent. There is no one else." She said flatly.

"So they sent me one of your department heads. You worry about me that much, do you? Or is it just that I have so much of a history that you had to come out here yourself?"

"In truth, you've never been trusted. You subverted Agent Shepard-"  
"Is that what they call it now?"

She ignored the quip. "As it stands, our agent ran off, and the last time she spent not being monitored was with you. She went rogue, and now you are making decisions that implicate Humanity. You're always going to be suspected. You will always be under our watch. So far, you have done nothing to prove those actions unjustified."

Jack wanted a cigarette very badly at this moment. Just to be able to blow smoke in her face or something banal like that. He held himself in, though. Jones was most likely as dangerous as Hannah. She also was more controlled, and had much more interest in the consequences of his activities. "So, is this your way of saying that if I don't do what you want there are going to be consequences?"

"Not directly. Previous administrations might advocate that, but I have been directed to give you a chance. Apparently you have enough friends to not get slammed for your actions. Until you have made enough mistakes for that to change, I will give you the chance to prove you are supporting Humanity's interests."

"I have always been supporting Humanity. It is simply the narrow minded view that leads you to believe I am acting against it. The Krogan represent some of the most potent mercenaries, and getting on their good side is something of a priority. Turians and Salarians can make nice and work with someone else, but the Quarians represent an untapped resource that no other race can possibly get access to. Hell, you should see what I have planned for the Hanar!"

Jones gave him a weird look. "That sounds remotely better than working with Krogan. What is it?"

"I was planning on investing in their cybernetics. Some of them use concentrated biotics to generate force and move using the air around them. Something like a Vanguard but cybernetic rather than biotic. If we can make that more efficient, or something we can apply to our basic soldiers, combat mobility and extraction can get a whole lot easier."

"Remarkable. I assume that this would be exclusive to your Cerberus Foundation?"

"It is the only place that can successfully deploy the implants, gene mods, and cybernetics that make our soldiers the best that they can be. Any attempt to copy my methods has met with failure so far. Or did you think the efforts on Saturn have gone unnoticed?"

"We don't have anything on Saturn." She said, frowning.

"Well, then you might want to check. Someone has been trying to hire my better medical professionals and take them off of Cerberus for some moon above Triton. Most notably my gene mod therapists. If you could take a look at that for me, and possibly deal with that little problem, I would be much more willing to let you into any plans I make in the future."

Whether she was lying or not, Jack couldn't tell. She had no obvious signs of lying or discomfort. She was a security specialist, after all. Most of the aliases that he was able to get a look at specialized in one form of security or another. He was only able to find three, and he suspected that Julie Jones was yet another alias. If she didn't even have a real persona he wouldn't be surprised. She nodded in assent to his offer, and got on her Omni-tool. He got Julia's attention and managed to ask a few questions about what she thought of the opera before the conversation dipped back into warp ball. He didn't mind. In fact, that would be a nice surprise for her, too.

* * *

Tartarus Station, Solaris Project

Kaiden ducked, trying to move with the kick that flashed across his torso. He didn't lean back far enough, as Nyra's kick bisected him across the waist. Charles winced, seeing Kaiden go soaring off to the side of the combat arena.

"You're supposed to be the best of this sorry lot, Alenko! Look like it!" Nyra said, clearly frustrated. Kaiden got back up, doing an impressive swing with his own leg, which Nyra casually swatted aside with one hand. "Let go of the emotional response! Your biotics are worthless if they depend on your emotional state!"

Kaiden ignored her, swinging recklessly and trying to land a punch. He was one of the guys out of their group who was in good shape. Others just weren't trying that hard. He was among that group, but hung out with Kaiden anyways. He liked fiddling around with his Omni-tool more than he liked spending hours at the gym. Not to mention he was a basic administrator in the network. Whatever Jack Harper had done to his Omni-tool a while back, he had done nothing to correct it. So he was able to see the unfiltered news networks, hack whatever he wanted, and access restricted files about the Solaris project. The project that he himself was part of.

He also was able to track what his father's medical record really was. He had been coughing a lot lately, and spent a few hours at the hospital as part of his shift every day. Now that he had access to the medical records, he could tell that his father was getting some sort of injection therapy for a collapsing lung. His arteries were coming apart, and the hospital didn't have much left to do before his dad would be… gone.

He didn't like that thought. His dad had months to live and Charles didn't know. He wouldn't have known if it wasn't for his unrestricted access. His dad wasn't telling him. Why, he didn't want to know. He did know that his dad didn't have any money left over to take care of him. As he was a biotic, it meant that he would become a ward of the state. He was a native of the North American states, which meant that he would be shuffled through foster homes and creepy people's houses until he was eighteen. That was three years away! Not to mention he wouldn't be able to stay up here anymore.

The Solaris technicians were also lying to them. Some of them were developing tumors along their spines. They were not being discussed, and were being removed as they were showing up. But the fact that some of them were starting to show signs of trouble was bad. He didn't even know what to think.

After people had tried to take him and Kaiden, Charles had been practicing with his new Omni-tool functions. Neural shock required the target to not have any shields, while overload went after shields first, and if their kinetic barriers went down their weapons would get it too. The other function, Damping, stopped guns from working for a short time. He had read up on that one, finding that the more EMP shielded weapons and the kinetic barriers on the subject could still block it. But if he did hit with that function, their gun was disabled for a good ten seconds. Enough for somebody to get away, or save himself.

He couldn't practice these with other people around outside of Kaiden, so they rented different parts of the gym out, and Kaiden would be his observer. As he had access to the video cameras, he found the areas where he could practice without the cameras recording it. Kaiden would watch for anyone coming and grunt loudly to let him know. It was a simple system, but it worked.

"Archer! You're up!" Nyra called to him, drawing him out of his reverie. He stood up, starting to walk over to the mat, where Nyra had been pounding all of them for the last hour. She was sweating, but mostly due to fatigue and extended time on the mat than anything else. Kaiden crawled off the mat, holding his stomach and peeling off the body armor that they all wore. Nyra had her commando gear, which meant she was armored anyways, and able to deal with any random hits that they got in. He of course got rocked, clobbered, and kicked. One especially hard kick took him in the side, even though he did get a block up in time.

"Are you using your biotics?" He asked, trying to unsuccessfully peel his body off the floor.

"Why do you ask?" Nyra said. She had a stern look on her face.

"Because I weigh more than you, yet I can't block anything you send at me. Even Kaiden has trouble blocking your hits."

Nyra closed her eyes for a moment and found a towel to wipe her face off with. Asari were very different, in the fact that their sweat glands were only located in a few locations on the body, for temperature regulation. Thessia was not a hard place to live, and rarely got cold enough to freeze. So Asari only sweated from their neck, nose, and armpits as well as the lower back and knees. It was a bit weird, to be honest. Her forehead was completely dry while her neck was not. It was all rather alien, to be honest.

"I weigh maybe one hundred and forty of your pounds. Asari bones are lighter in composition and have a smaller calcium amount. As we are of a single gender, we don't have a lot of people that are bigger or heavier. As such, when we do commando training we learn to strengthen our muscles by increasing the gravity we are under. While yes, you do weigh more than me, my muscles are much more dense from decades of combat training conditioning my body to hitting objects like you, or Kaiden. As I am also a Vanguard, or a  _Vesnya_ ," Her Asari language translator didn't cover that. "I have gotten my bones reinforced as well, to counter the movements that I may make on the battlefield. So, yes, you outweigh me. You don't have the same strength I do, nor will you ever. You don't have the decades of time to learn how to reinforce your muscle groups with your biotics and prepare yourself in the same manner that Asari do."

"So, you aren't using your biotics to beat us all senselessly?"

"No, I am not. But you all are going to have to learn close quarters combat if you ever want to have a chance of surviving against enemies. A common way of defeating biotics is to get in close. Krogan biotics thrive in close combat and sometimes carry large hammers to augment their strikes. Avoid close combat, or combat in any form, with those. Batarians also put their focus on close combat, and their biotics are specialized towards that. Elcor and Hanar biotics are rather entertaining to fight in close, and will surrender immediately if you get a hold of them. Salarian biotics are mostly STG types, and will be very nasty to approach. Asari that aren't commandos are usually easier to fight up close, but that's why we prefer commandos to go out and do that for us."

"What about Turians?"

"Turians all have the same military training, but their biotics have a variety of specialties. All of which are just as dangerous or moreso than normal Turians."

"So, is that why you were hired to come and teach us?" he asked, as Nyra had finished beating everyone.

"According to my teaching schedule, you will be trained by your own people on close combat. It is your responsibility to be in proper shape for that. Really, what we were working on today is who would be best suited for something special." Everyone perked up at that. Nyra had no favourites, even those kids of Jack Harper's in the other class. "Once you receive your amps, you will be able to participate in Warp Ball competitions on the Citadel. Since you don't have any circuits of play, that means that you can pick your team that goes to the Citadel immediately and start training."

Excited whispers started floating around. Nyra held up her hand, though, and everyone quieted down. No one wanted to experience a Singularity for speaking up. "A Warp Ball team has seven players. Based on your ages, experience, and reflexes, we have picked your best. From this class, there are only four of the team members. The others are coming from the class meeting with my colleagues." She brought up her Omni-tool. "Alenko! Get up here. You're a starter."

That wasn't a surprise. Kaiden was  _fast_. He could run faster than anyone other than Rahna, a wiry girl from India. Kaiden had a slight grin on his face as he stood up and walked over towards Nyra. "Urk-ik-nu-ik-than." She slowly sounded out. "Apologies on my Human pronunciations." Rahna, the aforementioned girl, stood up. She was very pretty, and of Indian descent. "You're a backup for the other two starters, who are in the other class. Lastly, Smith! Yes, Both of you with the name Smith!" She pronounced the  _I_ in Smith like someone would say  _Y_. The  _TH_  she butchered. But she tried.

The twins, as everyone called them, were actually cousins who had been born near the same time. The Smiths were blonde, had blue eyes, and looked almost exactly like the other. They looked a bit happy to be up there, though the crowd had more than a few unhappy faces in it. Charles would normally feel left out, but at this time it was more of a relief to not have to deal with this. But he could see people around him grumbling in regards to the people chosen. He had to do something. Nyra had no idea how kids their age took his kind of thing.

He started clapping, standing up from the back. His heart hammered in his chest, but he had to do something about this. Kaiden was his friend, and didn't deserve to be the target of any angst the rest of their class would express. When everyone turned around to see him clapping, some of them just started doing the same thing out of peer pressure. Grumblings halted, and some people begrudgingly started clapping, while others just caught on. "You got this!" He yelled, seeing Kaiden starting to feel uncomfortable. He  _hated_  being in the spotlight, even though he functioned better. When the pressure was on, Kaiden got serious.

Nyra wasn't sure how to react to the noise or the people. So she accessed the speaker system to go over the sounds of their shouting and clapping. "This isn't a ceremony, this is an announcement! On your feet, if you've got enough energy to do that, we need to fix that. Let's get running!"

Kaiden ran right next to him the entire run, instead of being at the front of the pack. Charles clapped him on the shoulder as he matched his pace. "Five credits says you'll be Team Captain!" He huffed, his chest still sore from where Nyra kicked him.

"No bet!" He said without any trouble. "Wonder why you weren't picked. You can outrun the Smiths any day, and Rahna doesn't score as high as you."

He shrugged, as best he could while running. "No idea. Gonna hit the gym again tonight?"

Kaiden shook his head. "Nah, I got a soccer game with my dad to go to. France against Tunisia. It's gonna be awesome!" He gave a little hop in the next step. "Isn't tonight your dad's poker night?"

"Yeah." His dad invited a few of the other janitors over for poker night before they started their night shift. It meant that he didn't get to talk to him or hang out with him. He still didn't know what to say about the months his dad had to live. If his dad wouldn't tell him, then Charles was only supposed to find out when it was already too late for his dad to go anywhere.

There was one person who might help, though. He would just have to be very careful asking them.

Meanwhile, less than five hundred miles away, Jack Harper was sitting across the table from four very large Krogan. All had on green colored armor, as there really was no such thing as civilian wear for Krogan. He was getting weird looks in the restaurant they were in, but seeing as it was a buffet, he really couldn't care. Krogan ate like they appeared to, and a buffet satisfied them faster than anything else.

Gatatog Grrkl, or Don, as his daughters liked to call him, was sitting across from him with a bit of a frown on his face. Or a smile. Krogan were hard to guess, as their cheekbones didn't move laterally to allow any tells or signs of emotion that way. The others with him were all rather interesting. They all had narrowed eyes focusing on the entry points of the restaurant.

"Now that we have had a chance to eat, do you mind if we get down to business?"

"Now that you've bribed us with food, you mean?" One of them said.

"In Human culture, we prefer to invite guests to a dinner to show our greetings and help pay for their trouble in making the journey to visit. It is considered something of a required gift to you, as you came to visit me. As a guest of mine, I will try to make your stay on earth comfortable."

"I see. My name is Gatatog Uvenk. You have made a personal request of some of my best soldiers, something of a rarity among Humans. What purpose are you wanting to risk their lives for?"

"Money, of course. Money, fame and fortune." He laid his Omni-tool on the table, and brought up the vid still that he had shown Jones earlier. "This is a vid, meant for Human enjoyment and something I want to sell to the rest of the Galaxy. It will portray the four Krogan in it as Heroes, while the Humans and Salarians behind the scheme are stopped by only those four Krogan. Each uses a signature weapon and fighting style, and completely dominate their enemies."

"You want to hire my best, my  _very_  best, as actors in a vid?" The disgust in his voice was plain.

"For two million credits each." That made all of the Krogan turn to face Uvenk. "And then two percent of the proceeds go to clan Gatatog as thanks for the time and effort of their best." Uvenk glared at the rest of them.

"That doesn't make up for the loss of my best. Without them, our Krogan will suffer heavy losses to complete our existing contracts." Uvenk countered.

"With eight million up front, and the temporary loss of four Krogan, you can hire Blood Pack vorcha and Krogan to make up for the loss and let them suffer the casualties. The proceeds are only going to be as large as the vid is marketed, which I hope will include the Terminus systems. The gains from the proceeds are matched by what I am making myself, meaning that no matter how much money I make off of this vid, your clan will be eight million ahead."

Uvenk didn't like him, he could tell. "I won't agree to a deal we only spend one day discussing. Let me call my Volus, figure out my numbers. Then, we can start talking about this." Uvenk pushed back from the table. "I'll meet you back here in a few days. Pay for our rooms until then, Harper." The Krogan then left as one group, not saying anything or thanking anyone. How very expectedly uncultured.

Well. At least he picked a buffet that wasn't expensive. No one here to see him get blown off. He did take the opportunity to get some ice cream, a rare treat to get without his daughters around. Their eyes would get large and they would give him the most pitiful looks. As he munched on his ice cream, he debated how to react to the Krogan. He was supposed to be at Ashland-Hislopp for the rest of the week, restoring his place on the board and meeting the first Quarian workers coming in. That wasn't something he could just blow off for some Krogan. Even if those were the Krogan that he wanted to use as actors, there were always more Krogan.

This was first contact for Quarians and Earth. He was going to be presenting them to the board of directors, and marketing them. There was nothing that was more important than that. Quarians had to gain a market value again. They had to make a comeback before the Reapers showed up. If they didn't they would be too desperate to help in anything. They would be a crutch rather than a solid support against the Reapers.

When he unlocked his Omni-tool, he noticed a slew of messages. One was from Alexei Heliokloplis. That must be something about Hannah. He wasn't going to open that in public. Another was from Dierdre Scott, which made him raise an eyebrow. She rarely called upon him, which meant that this was something rather personal.

The next few messages were from his secretary, detailing a few of the visitors who requested a meeting with him, as well as an infuriated letter from Jones detailing how stupid it is to meet with Krogan without some form of security. He swiftly replied that he had a shield generator and a heavy wallet, two things Krogan don't like to break without good reason.

The last message, it was something else entirely. It was very unexpected.

_Dear Mr. Harper,_

_I couldn't thank you enough for your help in saving me and my friend Kaiden. I am sorry to say this, but I need your help again, if it is not too much to ask._ Charles Archer, it seemed. He thumbed through the rest of the message, finding the contents to be rather troubling. Apparently the doctors were avoiding the fine print of their jobs in letting him know when people were supposed to die from terminal illnesses. Either that or he had just automatically filtered out the message as more complaining from the same doctors. Either way, Charles was asking for a lot. He didn't realize much of the consequences of what he was asking. That would have to be rectified before Jack did anything.

Finishing his ice cream, he notified James to come pick him up. This week was going to be complicated.


	23. Fugue: Good Luck Chuck

Chapter 23

August, 2167, Elysium, Elysium System

"Mr. Harper, our corporation has no connection to any such allegations." Juana Hulse said, sitting across the table from him and looking unconcerned. "Why you decided to waste our time with this meeting is beyond me."

Jack was sitting with Richard Hyde at the table, and Richard had his work cut out for him. Jack hadn't explained why they were here, only that he wanted his lawyer to be here to give things some legitimacy. Sitting on his other side was Julianne Jones, in full military uniform. Hulse didn't care, her demeanor relaxed and in control. She didn't seem to care that a full Major in the uniform of the Intelligence Office was there, or that Jack Harper was on her doorstep.

"The Purpose of this meeting is to stop you and your people from getting wiped out." Jack said simply. "I just needed a legal basis to get your attention."

"Are you threatening us? With the government, no less?" Hulse said, her brown hair falling in front of her face.

Jack slid a datapad across the meeting room table, silently thanking his time spent in the pool tables of his youth, and the datapad came to a stop right in front of the Executive of Levantine Inc., albeit facing slightly to the left. He never did get his pool down very well, but a datapad slid across a table with a certain elegance. The datapad was one of the ones that lacked any network ports. It couldn't connect to anything. It was more of a picture frame than a datapad. Datapads were supposed to be connected to a network, or a database, to function correctly. This one only had a text file open.

 _Shu Qian just received five million credits from a Batarian source. Could be STG, might just be Batarian plot to bury us. Either way, you're done. We are giving you legal basis to evacuate and relocate your efforts_.

"You, you knew?" She asked. "What do you mean relocate!"

Jack held up his Omni-tool, subtly adjusting the white noise filter just in case anyone was listening. He also activated a small directed signal jammer which he aimed at the most likely spots for camera systems. This was done with a roll of his shoulders, and then he brought his elbows back down onto the table. "You have a couple of options to decide on and not much time to do so. Overwatch forces disguised as Turian Pirates are en route to Sidon as we speak. Your cameras will be back up in a minute or so, so please don't interrupt me."

He stood up, motioning to his lawyer. "I need you to capitulate to whatever crime Richard comes up with to give you legal basis to file a chapter 9 bankruptcy, and quickly. Your employees will most likely be dead or dying unless you get them out of there right now. As to how I knew about it all, you can thank the Alliance. Major Jones made the situation known to me that I was needed to step in and save you from being killed by Turians. On the other hand, we don't wish for your research to stop."

Jones nodded. "We need every advantage against the other races. Your studies on artificial intelligences are critical to that end, which is why we were quietly supportive of your activities so far. We wish to allow you to pursue them, elsewhere."

"Cameras are coming back online in a few seconds. Here is the telemetry of the ship that is going to raid Sidon. If they land, they will prove that Humanity is researching AI technology, which will be implicating the highest levels of government. As we are currently in discussions with the Batarians for colonization rights in the Skyllian Verge, I am sure that this could create enough of a scandal that we will lose most of those rights. I'll need all of your information and passcodes. Major Jones has been authorized to remove the scientists who have been compromised."

Jack then sat down, and brought up a slide show with whatever law Richard had decided they had broken. He was using some law regarding gross misallocation of income, and fraud. Using Doctor Shu Qian's bank account as evidence, of course. Richard was one of the best lawyers on fraud and embezzlement in the business, thanks to how many times Jack had used those two excellent tools of the trade. Legally, there was enough basis for fraud and embezzlement as methods of making money, but there was just enough of a disdain against it for Jack to use it too often.

"I can't save your company from the coming investigations, Ms. Hulse." Jack said, reverting to a calm voice, one that carried more than a hint of arrogance. "What I can do is spare some of the employees from taking a hit. I am sure that with the right measure of capital, we can preserve their 401k and insurance. That will at least preserve you in the media's eyes."

Jack offered her another datapad, this time with a map of the local system. On it she could see all of the ships travelling through the system, and especially the two marked in red as being Turian owned. Both were heading towards Sidon, presumably to discharge their drive cores. Sidon was on its near orbit of Elysium, meaning it was in between the relay and the planet. Ships often discharged their drive cores near Sidon, which had a strong gravity presence even though it was rather small. When it was in it's close orbit, it was common to discharge a drive core there. It wouldn't be hard to deploy troops or a shuttle or two once they got there.

Jones gave her a look. "There is no avoiding a decision on this. Either your company capitulates, or the government begins an investigation to clear you of any wrongdoing."

Hulse gave them a sour look. It wasn't the look of someone feeling guilty, but more as if they were feeling frustrated. "I'll have to talk to the rest of the board. This is all rather short notice, perhaps you can allow us a few hours to deliberate?"

Buying time, then. She might be convicted on other crimes entirely unrelated to this mess. But in his memories, he can clearly remember the Sidon artificial intelligence incident. It ruined Humanity's attempts and ended with the death of some of the brighter minds the government had dragged together. Qian himself Jack had never found out what had happened to him, only that he had gone into Batarian Space and hadn't made a resurgence. Either way, Hulse wasn't too keen on helping them.

It had taken almost a year to convince Jones that this was necessary. Even that he had to do using outside contacts. Placing some clues here and there, and tapping Dr. Qian's extranet account. He was a fan of some massive online game, and used its chat network to collaborate with whoever was paying him off. Jack had to wait patiently for some data analyst to put all the facts together and submit a report to someone about it. That never got back to him, so he hired Alexei to have Hannah get involved, leave a DNA sample on something that would be discovered.  _That_  got Jones' attention. She was in this because she thought that Hannah was here, somewhere. Her goal was to find her, and kill her, for treason. She had made it clear to Jack that he was supposed to assist her in this goal.

It had been years of practice to keep a straight face in front of her. But he had laughed a little bit. Sidon held the first attempt of Humanity to even the odds, now that they had experienced the great windfall that people were calling the entry into the Citadel Market. Sure, some people had made millions in stock sales and product sales. Others had lost their jobs entirely. Volus made better bankers. Hanar made better alcohol, and Turians made better guns. Asari made better  _everything._  Batarian products were hardly touched by the Human market, due to their own isolationism and unwillingness on either side to sell or market their products to each other.

So, unemployment was rising, violence was increasing, and disparity between rich and poor was increasing. It was a massacre, without all of the blood. People still died, as their livelihoods were consumed by cheaper options from Volus or Salarian markets. The supposed grand transformation that was supposed to occur to Earth's largest companies was instead the largest flop the market had ever seen. Jack had jealously defended his companies, and even though his board tried to overrule him, he didn't allow Sirta to go public. They had complained at the time, but now they had sent him a thank you. Of course, they brought him wine from Normandy.

Sirta's product, medi-gel, had been the best thing. The demand for it was high, and under Citadel law, they were legitimate. Just a hair short of completely illegal, though. Their patent lasted for the next three hundred years, which the other races were fine with. They just wanted to make the company fold rather than wait that long. Even the Asari were doing their best. He, fortunately, was prepared for that.

But his attempts to get the Conduit had so far failed. He didn't have any way to convince Vigil to allow him to gain access to the Illos facility. He either needed to gain a Prothean cipher that would tell him how to get around everything, or try his luck in blasting through. It worked for Saren, after all. He did feel bad about that, though. Illos was unplundered by Asari and Hanar hands, and he didn't want to rush that. Alexei's men he could only trust to be quiet about it for so long, after all. Eventually they would sell him out. Mercenaries were like that, when money got tight.

Hannah had made sure that they hadn't had anything, but he could only trust her to keep her own skin safe. She was living on her own, now. He couldn't trust her to be quiet about Illos, either. But he did know that the only contacts she was getting were on the shady side of things. Some of the darker members of the Citadel, especially the corrupt members of government that enjoyed far too many benefits. She might use those contacts, but if any of them had a grudge against him he wouldn't know. It would have to come down to political agenda.

"We can take a short break for lunch. One of the orbital platforms here has a nice restaurant that I prefer. Call my comm line when you are ready for me to sign anything." He said, giving her a grin. "I'll have that datapad back, until you feel ready to accept my help."

She stepped forward to give it to him, giving him her own look of distaste. Probably real, considering that no one simply is ready for their company to be targeted by the STG. Unless you were Jack Harper. He was ready on most days for someone to kill him, or at least try. Jones found his view on security refreshing, at least.

"Have a good lunch, Mr. Harper. Expect a reply soon." Hulse lead them outside, where a few of the office workers were gathered. It wasn't often that Jack Harper showed up out of the blue. He also recognized the CEO marching towards them, looking very put off. Jack had chosen to deal with his CFO, rather than deal with the ornery fellow. He also was harder to intimidate into getting what he wanted, and would probably end with him calling the police rather than capitulating.

Hulse got held back by the CEO, and Jack calmly walked out the front doors. At least ten or twenty employees were lounging in the front lobby, and all of them eyed Jones as she walked past. It wasn't every day that someone walked into an office in full military uniform. Jones seemed extremely unwilling to work with him on that. Unlike Hannah, who could understand where he was coming from, Jones wanted to portray her own image and connect his actions to the government. Probably to make him feel more guilty over his actions, but that just simply wasn't possible.

James wasn't with them at the moment, but Jones had a support team sitting in a public shuttle nearby. He happened to be on his newest acquisition, something that would last for a good while. "Should I call the shuttle?" She asked once they got outside.

"Give Hulse a minute or two. We have to at least let her CEO finish chewing her out before she breaks down and sends us the codes." He said, using that time to light up a cigarette. Politely, he kept the smoke off of her uniform. Jones had hissy fits about that in the past. By hissy fit, he meant official records of his dalliances. Very unprofessional.

"Do you even know if they are Turians in orbit? People might just be using their ships to frame them."

"Could be someone else with a grudge. The Reds have been too quiet lately, after their failure at Mindoir." Mindoir had been hit by Batarian pirates recently, or some form of pirate. The military had a paltry force at the colony, letting the Corsairs do most of the patrol and dirty work in keeping the surrounding systems clear. The Reds had been paid off by someone in the Batarian Hierarchy, letting their ships past the patrol pickets. The Reds had been suffering from fighting Batarians, as well as less support at home. Salarian tech gangs were selling cheap weapons and military grade Omni-tools to the other gangs on earth, and they in turn were pushing on Red territory. With less support and constant harrassment from the Batarians, they were about ready to break. Their ships were mostly rust and stolen wares at this point, as the Corsair program had lost most of its funding and support.

Colonies were safer now, and the Alliance had established itself as a solid military power. Once they had established the area, the Corsairs were forced to leave their old holdfasts and bases. Legally, the Alliance couldn't support them. So, when the colonies were accepted into the Alliance, and they brought out the military, the Corsairs lost the ports that had been supplying them. The Reds and a couple other groups out in the Terminus were all that was left of the almost ninety frigates and cruisers the Alliance sold to private groups. Desperation for those that remained was setting in.

Before he finished his cigarette, he noticed someone approaching them. It was a man with at least a week's growth of beard and a sweatshirt on. He had music playing on a set of headphones, and a large datapad in his hand. "Jack Harper? Cerberus Foundation?" He asked slowly, looking at him.

"Yes, that's me. What do you want?" He replied. It wasn't often people had no reaction when looking at him.

"My name is Joe, and I work in IT for the company." He motioned back to the building. "I have a helpdesk ticket that says you need to borrow one of our domain tablets. Something about an audit."

Jack nodded. "Thank you very much. I'll have this back to you when we are done." The IT guy shrugged, and walked back into the building. Typical. Technicians and support based people never really cared if you weren't someone who they were getting paid by. Then again, he trusted those very same people to take his money and not ask questions. He ignored the irony in all of this and opened the tablet.

It was simply connected to the domain, but under the name of  _jhulse2155_. So, that was how she was going to do it. He closed the tablet, smiling. "She has given us the codes we need.  _Now_  you may call the shuttle. We are going to go to Sidon."

"You mean my team is going to Sidon." Jones said. "I am not risking your usefulness in a combat situation."

"You know exactly who is going to be evacuated and who you are going to leave for the Turians?" He asked. "If you don't take me, I'll just have to ask you to do something in my place." If she wasn't going to let him come, then she would need to let him accomplish his own objectives somehow. "I have a biotic that needs combat experience. They have been training with some Cerberus trained agents, but they need real combat experience. If you won't let me join in your little crusade, then perhaps you can allow my biotic?"

Jones did not look like she wanted to even consider it. "The oldest biotic you have is barely eighteen. They aren't familiar with the protocols my team are." She looked over at him. "Or is this your little project?"

"I don't call people projects unless they are currently dead or in an autopsy." Jack said. His memories clearly showed that labeling anyone as a project usually lead to repressed rage and usually revenge. "His name is Charles, and he is quite competent. Especially if you need a tech expert."

"You are willing to risk your surrogate son? Why?"

"Because Charles has every hacking tool and experience with breaking virtual intelligences that have been programmed to be aggressive towards humans. If you are going into a lab where an AI might exist, then he is the only uniquely qualified person to stop it." Jack grinned. "Unless your tech expert can reprogram a VI in under two minutes, Charles is your best option."

Jones did not like it, but could see the usefulness. "I'll let my team know they have a VIP. I can't disagree with that. What class is he?"

"What we are calling a Sentinel. Engineering skills and Biotics. He will be behind your squads, preferably, unless you need him to pull an enemy out of cover."

"Sounds reasonable. Tell him that he has to pull his own weight."

Jack nodded, queueing up his Omni-tool. "Charles, you've been invited on a little trip. Meet us at the shuttle landing in a few moments." Jones was already in motion, heading to one of the shuttle pads that were next to the street. By the time they got there, Charles had shown up at his side. He was older now, standing nearly six feet tall and was almost eighteen. His black hair was somewhat shaggy, coming past his ears. Jack didn't care about that, so long as he was professional enough to be introduced when he brought over partners and other important guests. He had green eyes, though they were always kept behind a large optic display that ran over his right eye. It was square shaped, and curved around towards his ear, where it was magnetically attached. One of the oldest in the biotic group, Charles was the closest to being able to be deployed. Thankfully, just before his father passed away he asked for Jack to take him in. Jack, although surprised, had offered to just adopt him and then leave him to his life as a partially emancipated teen.

For some reason Alliance Child Protective Custody Service had an issue with that. So he had to not only provide for Charles, but he had to spend time with him. They did spend some time together, every few days at least. Over lunches, dinners, and the occasional Warp Ball night. Julia was still obsessive as ever about Warp Ball. Miranda had lost a lot of interest, once she got her amp. Biotics interested her, as did much of the library she thought he didn't know about her accessing. Miranda apparently had a weakness for romance novels. She could read Turian and Asari script, so those also made it onto the list of reading she had. As her studies were not affected, Jack chose to not comment on the practice.

When Charles arrived next to him, he handed him the tablet containing the domain link. "Passwords to the facility. Link to their mainframe. Try not to break anything." He mentioned, making Charles smirk. Charles was subtle. He didn't like to spend time in sports or in gaming activities like most men his age. Instead, Jack had only expanded his computer access. He had given him challenges, testing what he could and could not break into. The man had even accessed his bank account once, to buy some expensive gifts for Miranda and Julia. He had made it seem like it was just items in the shopping cart that were queued to be bought. Smart, but nothing harmful. Charles was rather nice, after all. He just needed a strong authority figure to follow and he was fine.

"Aren't you coming with?" He asked, looking at the tablet and the permissions it was allowed.

"Apparently I'm important. So that means I can't go. But, since you are the foremost technician on VI's that I know of, they have decided to take you along." He placed a small OSD on top of the tablet. "Don't let Shu Qian die. He is most likely going to be taken back to Batarian Space. Just get that OSD into his Omni-tool. It is critical. Jones is going to go in and try to execute him. She also wants to be in and out before the pirates hit. See if you can get the base VI to become defensive." Jack whispered, as Jones motioned them all forward. "Good Luck! Don't get shot!" He said as a goodbye. Charles gave him a nod and stepped onto the shuttle as well. Jack just watched them go, before stepping back to let the shuttle take off without blowing any dust onto his shoes. Once the shuttle left, he turned back to the one remaining agent who had stayed with him. Jones didn't want to take chances.

"James? Come get me. Looks like Jones decided I wasn't worth keeping."

" _Got anywhere you want to go in particular?_ " James replied.

"Somewhere with a good drink." He replied. "That tablet had a camera feed." He said, more for the agent's benefit than his own.

* * *

Charles pulled his light armored harness out of the bag he was carrying, which could protect his extremities and function as a space suit as long as it wasn't compromised. Or at least didn't get too punctured. He had some patching kits and a helmet. That should keep him alive long enough to figure that out, at least. Though he only had three or four runs in the simulator for testing how fast he could get his suit patched. He spent more time making programs on his Omni-tool than he did actually doing homework, or working out, or perhaps even thinking. It was just his thing. He liked computers. They made sense when other people didn't.

Kaiden was becoming some superstar biotic, and he didn't really care about his biotic ability. Sure, he had it, but overusing it lead to migraines that made staring at an Omni hurt. That bothered him heavily. He hated not being able to read something. It was just one of those pet peeves that people had. Kaiden hated sharing food, Miranda hated anyone being behind her, and he figured that Jack hated emotional outpourings. Or at least he didn't like it when Charles tried to hug him. He had no idea what kind of pet peeves Julia had, but he didn't really see them. On paper they were supposed to be his step siblings. In reality he saw them at mealtimes when Jack was in town. He had his own apartment at Tartarus, paid for and covered by Jack.

He also paid for a complete computer suite, with enough processing power to do all the math he needed. It even had a function to run a virtual VI system without interfacing it with the physical hardware, which allowed him to really get to tweaking a VI. They were like a larger computer system, albeit one that accessed and changed its registries without user input and actively searched for data before you asked for it, based on expected stimuli from the user.

VI's could try to predict what you wanted based on your input. Using logical pathways through their existing information, a VI could decide that since you are going towards the kitchen, the coffee maker should be ready for you, no matter what the occasion. Because you go to the kitchen to drink coffee at times, every time you go near the kitchen the VI will turn on the coffee maker just in case you need coffee. This kind of roundabout thinking is what VI's use to interact with the user. Direct input rarely happens, due to this programming.

Breaking a VI was simple. Find something that is a central access for it, and place a program in there that claims that the real access node is in fact at another point on the system, and have that point be a dead end receptor node. When its queries would bounce, the VI would just try to think itself to death. Handling hostile VI's was just a matter of finding what they needed to run, and then breaking that with a blunt object as much as possible. That was the normal way of doing it, but there was a better way. Thanks to how much he had spent time breaking VI's, he figured out that during the process where a VI queried an outside database there was a moment where it went idle while it waited for a response. During that moment of idleness, the VI would accept any information as input, as long as it came from the database queried.

If he slipped in a couple of executable data files hidden as information packets that had been compressed, the VI would automatically open them. From there it was easy. His method just required access to the database, which was often easier to get a hold of. One server room was just as dangerous as holding a comm center. Charles grinned at that. As long as he could get into a server room, or just a terminal, he would be fine. Tartarus Station had few terminals to access, or at least few that would have the appropriate connections for him to use. The VI for Tartarus was something he nicknamed 'Dilbert' because of how easy it was to get past him.

As he finished getting his harness all set up, and his helmet on, he turned to the rest of the shuttle. They all were wearing full heavy armor, with a couple of Engineer harness wearers in the mix.

"You rated for a jump-harness?" The shortest person there said, and the only female. It must have been Jones, the woman that the government made Jack take around with him. She was cordial enough, but rather rude when she wanted to be. Which was most of the time.

"Rated for in atmosphere." He replied, carefully. "But I think I could handle it."

"You'll ride in the shuttle. Once we have disabled their sensors you will come in. I won't risk someone who isn't rated for at least extreme gravity." Jones told him, strapping herself into an engineering harness. Four others were strapped in, and another two weren't strapped into harnesses. There were extra harnesses along one side of the shuttle, and the other side had been depopulated by the team. It was expected to have a couple of extras handy for trouble situations.

"What do you need me to do?" He asked, not sure what was expected.

"Open doors, get their attention elsewhere. Disable any security systems that could harm us." She motioned to everyone's Omni-tools. She made Charles look at hers, unwilling to network her connection to his. "The schematics are fairly straightforward. This was built into the side of an impact crater and has a couple of entrances. One is the hangar bay, and a small access walkway to the other side, as well as an eco sphere along the top. We'll go through the service entrance, and it will be unlocked for us." She gave him a look. "Otherwise we use long distance tech bursts to block the sensors and slip in the hangar. Assume that the only static defenses will be a couple of automatic turrets at the hangar doors. This facility is not on any map, so that means that nothing will go back to court over this. Lethal force is authorized, and we are under orders to make sure that every piece of computer hardware is disabled or unable to store memory. There is a chance that pirates in orbit will strike as we do, or soon after. We don't want to engage them if at all possible."

She pointed to one of the rooms along the edge of the crater. "This is assumed to be one of the main security centers. We will be taking it first, and then moving out to other parts of the facility. When the sensors are down, the shuttle will come in and drop you three and collect the jump-harnesses. Your chief target is the project director, Dr. Shi Qian. He is confirmed as a target, and may have others who are willing to defect. We will be capturing any of the scientists we can and bringing them in for questioning. The Council catches wind of this, there will be serious consequences."

There were nods all around, and Charles gave her a nod of confirmation. He would be in charge of the VI of the station. With the tablet, he should be able to access it, so he got started. There was all of the standard network connections, as well as a main server that handled all queries. He had to first gain access to their internal network, and then he could use that to get around any administrator access. This took a lot of the time their shuttle spent flying towards Sidon, and then they headed towards a different part of the planet than where the base was. They had to approach from the darker side, where the sun wouldn't illuminate them.

The shuttle had to simply sit in close orbit, thankfully nearby but not too close. Charles spent most of his time just trying to figure out what servers were connected to the facility, or if they were even connected to the network. He was able to extract a few bits of code that were part of a /shadow filesystem. A bit of decryption and that might net some passwords to admin accounts. It was running in the background, but he was just focused on trying to find the server that would open the doors for Jones.

"Any luck?" One of the agents asked him, pulling him out of his focus.

"I've got a password that will allow access, but it will leave a trace on the system that they were there. Best i've got until we can get me physically there."

"It'll have to do. Tech bursts, team one, and try to synchronize your shots. Shuttle team, prepare to go on my mark." He could feel the shuttle shift around them, angling towards the ground. "Damn. Looks like there is a hostile shuttle in the hangar. Pirates got here first. Get that shuttle landed nearby and take jump-harnesses in. Their ships will notice the shuttle too easily."

Charles locked down the tablet, and strapped it into his belt. Then he quickly got into a jump harness and positioned himself by the door. The agents were even faster, and had some sort of missile launcher strapped to their back. Charles just had a pistol, but he also had one of the best military grade Omni-tools that the market had to offer. He could pack a tech burst into most targets from within thirty meters, and here on this station it was unlikely that they would be facing anyone at a distance beyond ten meters.

"Strapped and ready. Deploy us when the sun is no longer facing us." Charles checked all of the contact points with the harness, and found one that needed to be better adjusted. He barely had it in place when the shuttle doors opened, sucking them out into the thin atmosphere of Sidon. He quickly changed his course, orienting on the larger source of gravity and pointing his feet towards it, and then thirty degrees away from the ground. Once angled, he activated the jets on the harness. While they were still falling towards the gravity well, they could direct themselves towards the facility. Sidon was small, but it still took a few minutes to get there, and rendezvous with the other team.

Jones had them deployed around the edge of the nearby crater, out of the sun. When they had gotten close enough, she waved him towards a spot near her.

"Newbie. I've got an infiltrator on the access door. Network connection incoming." Charles activated his Omni-tool, and funneled it to his eyepiece. Their network here wasn't on the list of servers that their company headquarters used, which made it more difficult to use the passwords he had acquired from the tablet. He ignored that, finding that this system had a VI running it. That made him grin, even though nobody else could see it.

He triggered his 'anti-filbert' combustion pot of hacking software. The VI of this base, tasked with managing users and security, crumpled like a paper balloon. Once he had it locked down, he unlocked the access door and funneled the vid cameras towards his Omni-tool. "Got it! You guys can go in, now. Sensors are down, and vid logs are being erased as we speak." He looked up at Jones. "I need physical access to make sure that the database is wiped. We can approach now." He then sent her Omni-tool a base schematic that wasn't fake or tampered with.

Jones nodded. "Alright, newbie. Take down that VI." She started her harness up, and the rest of the team moved quickly across the impact crater with the facility. The access entrance had an airlock that could fit three at a time. The team clustered on the access rail, and bit by bit funneled in. Charles was in the last group.

"VI is down," Charles told Jones after a couple minutes, after making sure its logical query database was down. Once it couldn't think or logically see that its users were dead and its security was down, he told Jones it was clear. "My count is thirty enemies, as well as a couple of survivors. This place had cameras at every junction, and the server room has three of them. The VI reports that they were searching for bank data. Payroll, that kind of thing. Looks like a standard pirate raid to me."

They even had a scattering of armor. All of their armor was older, used, and scarred from use. Their guns were not, all of them new or newer models. "How many of them will notice if we get involved?"

He couldn't tell due to how much movement there was on the cameras. But the server room was deep inside the structure, too deep to easily withdraw from. It only had one hallway as access, and was a bottleneck. "LIkely that we will be discovered. I think they are gonna see us. There's only one way into the server room, and the ventilation systems are too small for people to crawl through."

"Think there is any way we can wipe everything without them noticing?"

"Unless you draw them all towards the hangar, then no."

"Team two, get outside and set those missiles to target their shuttle. Disable it if possible." She motioned to him, using her Omni-tool. "Newbie, try to cut off the servers from them. See if we can make the system act like its shutting down and doing a system check. Anything to delay them long enough in the server room."

He nodded, coming back to the server connection. Instead of seeing a full connection, he saw that the entire database was being systematically locked down, now that the VI was disabled.  _System lockdown enabled. User: sqian MSQL rq 2m_. "I need a terminal!" He shouted. "They're locking me out, and then they'll get the cameras!"

"Showtime, then. Team one, with me. We're after the server room. Team two, take out that shuttle. Team three, keep Newbie safe and follow after us. Access terminals are only in a couple of places. All of which had serious hostiles." She clicked her comm twice, and then the base shook. Team two must have been ready to engage the moment she gave the order. No alarms went off, but he could see more commands appearing on the server.

 _SidonSec-build1 -rt 1; ssecfs01 -rt 1; airlock-control rset 2._  "They're taking control of the airlocks! I can't get us out of here!" The other commands were resetting the machines that controlled the base security and file servers, which ones he couldn't identify. Either way, it wasn't good. He looked up at the two agents with him, who were looking at their base schematics closely. "Can you two get me to the server room? They've got a good engineer in there. He needs to be stopped before we can get out of here."

They nodded, pointing in the direction of the residential areas. It was the place most likely to be empty of enemies, but there was no way they would get to the server room in time. So, he shook his head, highlighting a route that led directly to the server room. They both looked at it, and took the time to consider it. "We don't have the numbers to punch through the middle like that."

"If they are heading to the hangar, we will. The other two teams are engaging as well, and that should split their attention." Charles put a timer down for one minute and thirty seconds. "That's how long we have before we are all over their vid feeds."

"We'll lead then. But if it looks like we can't get through, you pull back as soon as you can." The agent said. "We are in human space, so it won't be us that go to court over a few images. So long as they don't get the data, we can take as long as we need."

"Not if he can access the comm station and just send it out to their ship."

"Comm room is right next to us, we can take that out easier."

"It's got a terminal to the mainframe, I might be able to take control from there." Charles said, pulling out his pistol and activating his Omni-tool's modular kinetic barrier. He figured that he only needed it to face forward, making it easier to focus it. Every book on kinetic barriers told you to never, ever do this. Mostly because in battle, everyone would be able to tell that your barrier system was focused. Any grenade that came near you would turn you into paste. Unless, of course, you were a biotic. All biotics were taught how to put up their own barrier. His were less than stellar, as he didn't really practice with his biotics. They were barely strong enough to stop a punch, much less an actual bullet.

The agents moved up to the main hallway where the comm room was, and Charles could hear gunfire already. The chunks of ferrocrete and duracrete coming off the walls, and the yelling of orders. He could hear that the orders were coming in, but in very scratchy Turian. It was almost scratchy from what a translator would be doing. Suspicious, but not that suspicious. In the hallway, they could see a small barricade set up facing the cafeteria, where Team One was hammering them. Five Turians and humanoids bunkered down behind a turned over pair of vending machines, and had a heavy gun pointed at the cafeteria door. It was taking chunks out of the frame, and Charles could see that Team One could barely get any shots out.

Team Three immediately threw down some grenades, and pumped the Turians at the barricade full of whatever they could. Their guns overheated before they could kill more than one or two, but they had to duck down into the side corridor to take cover from their return fire.

Team One was still pinned by the heavy gun, and the other agents were waiting for shields and guns to be ready. Charles pushed up the edge, and leaned his head out further. Two of the enemies were shooting scattered shots at their cover, but were also keeping their guns a little warm. He stepped out, letting his barrier take a long hit as he lined up his wrist with the heavy gunner. The tech burst overloaded all of their remaining shields, as well as jam the heavy gun. Pointing his wrist at the man on the right, he gave him a Damping burst. His gun, already warm from sustained fire, started venting uncontrollably as it cycled its heat sink. The last man was still shooting at him, more frantically, before his gun started getting close to overheating. Like a professional, he started moving to grab a secondary weapon as the rifle started getting hot.

 _Just like in the simulations_ , he told himself. He could feel his spine tingling and extremities loosening as he gathered the necessary focus. Charles brought his arm back, the muscles tingling. With an almost punching motion, he threw his best biotic move he had. His lift move hit the one remaining armed humanoid, jerking him up into the air. Charles then ducked back behind the corner, letting the other two agents go past him. He had a slight grin on his face when the shooting started, and then got quiet.

"Newbie!" He could hear Jones yell across their channel. "Stupid Move! Get to the terminal and I'll yell at you later! The rest of you, form up! They know we're here!"

Charles ran past the agents, who were already out of the fastest path to the terminal. It was in the middle of a power cycling, probably thanks to him taking down the VI or whatever the previous hacker did to get rid of its influence. He got out of the power cycling mode, and moved to the login menu. It was locked up, as the main login server was down.  _Device has lost trusted connection to login server, please contact your system administrator for assistance_. "They've rebooted the main system already! I can manually disable the camera connection, but they'll be able to see us once the main server is back up!"

Charles pulled the physical connection to the camera system, so that when they rebooted they would have to find some sort of overpass. The terminal was physically connected to the main system, so there was nothing he could do about that. Looking around at the other stations within the comm room, he could see the sensor suite still trying to see using the sensors that their team disabled. All of the close range sensors had been knocked out, but there was still a basic extranet connection that was using the comm buoys of Elysium. They showed that there were two more ships in orbit.

"Jones, we got two more ships in orbit! Both are Human registered, but one is some new model that the buoys don't recognize!"

" _Damn! STG are already on their way! Teams, take that hangar now! Newbie! Stay there and keep them locked out!"_  Jones said over the comm line, as the teams moved out. The two agents still with him looked around, motioning for him to leave as soon as possible. He powered down the communications center, and disconnected the signal repeaters from the extranet buoys. Now the base was truly locked out from the outside world.

"Can you do your thing to another group of the pirates?" One of the agents asked, as they took up positions in front of the comm station.

Charles shook his head. "Sorry, throwing a lift like that takes awhile to recover from. I'm not the best biotic, so it takes a while for me to be able to recover from throwing those around." He leaned his head around the corner where they were, as the cameras were all down. He could see some motion at the end of the hallway, where the next hallway connected to the hangar.

"You should head back to the airlock, get out while you can. We'll move up and help the other teams once you are out of combat." They said, motioning to the nearby hallway that they had come through originally. Charles got moving, hustling around the corner right as gunfire started erupting. "Keep running! Manually lock down that airlock!" They said, falling back to the opposite side, away from the firepower. They took cover in the same barricade that had been used against Team One, and turned the heavy gun around.

Charles kept running, getting to the airlock and the jump-harnesses. His harness stood out, as it wasn't at the exact same angle that every other one was. Darn military perfection. He slid the straps on, getting it into place for the most part and then ducking into the airlock. The controls were rather easy to use, and didn't require any administrator authority. It would, however, alert the base servers to the fact that someone was leaving. All airlocks were automated to alert whatever system it was connected to. There was no avoiding that.

So, while the airlock cycled all of the air, he checked all of his clasps and clamping points closely. The cycling process occurred smoothly, and the cold of space seeped into his boots. Giving his toes a good flex, he activated the jump-harness and waited for the doors to the airlock to open. When they did, all the remaining air particles got sucked out in a small burst of what looked like dust. The matter spread out quickly once it hit the near-vacuum, and he could see clearly.

Bursts of smoke came out of the hangar bay, as matter was being pulled out into the atmosphere. It was mostly smoke, and other gasses. Some smaller debris was also being pulled out, and he thought he saw a body. Using the jump-harness, he oriented himself on the hangar bay. Jump harnesses used small thrusters to give low gravity personnel more options to move around. In full or heavy gravity worlds, they had to be fitted with jets to move around, and most didn't do anything more than give you a little mobility for upwards and downwards movement.

They fit around the torso and the appendages, and didn't stick out too far. But they were unsuitable for straight combat due to how fragile they were. One single shot in any of the rotors or control units and the entire frame would be ruined. So, it was stupid to try to use it in combat. The problem was that it was going to be hard to get anywhere near the hangar bay. Just because Jones told him to stay out of combat didn't mean he would. He had orders from Jack to get something to Dr. Qian.

He could see Team Three on the map, somewhere inside the hangar bay. They were taking cover behind a destroyed shuttle, giving some scattered fire to keep the pirates down. The pirates, on the other hand, were gathered around the two shuttles in the hangar. One of the shuttles had a massive hole in the back, and their engines were sparking. The other was unharmed, and the pirates were trying to fix one of the panels. The panel that managed the drive core, he could guess. Jack wouldn't let him work on vehicles. He just wanted Charles focusing on his work with tech and VI's. 'You don't belong in the service industry', he had told him.

Looking again, he could see that the one working on the drive core was wearing a lab coat, and had an environment suit rather than a set of armor. His helmet zoomed, focusing in on the small name tag.  _Dr. S. Qian_. Found him. He wasn't going to be able to get close, though. There was at least twelve pirates in there. But he didn't need to get close. Pulling out the OSD that Jack had given him, he could see the plastic wrapping around it still unbroken. He activated the magnetic boots, anchoring him to the side of the hangar bay. He barely leaned inside the bay, enough to see where the doctor was.

He focused his nervous system again, just like Nyra and the others had taught them. This time, he wasn't aiming for anything other than a slight push. The problem about aiming anything with biotics was that you had to aim for where the target would be. You could put a little bit of a spin on what you were throwing, to arc the object around corners and such, but that was about it. So, he had to be extremely careful in throwing the tiny OSD. Every time he used his biotics, it took nearly a minute for him to recover. If he tried to go again right after using them, then his nervous system would burn a lot. Then the headaches would come. Kaiden claimed that it was like a muscle, and that the pain went down as you pushed the limits.

He brought his hand back, and held the OSD in between two fingers. He held his arm at the correct angle, roughly fifteen degrees above the doctor. They had been drilled on how to aim biotics, based upon distance and power being put into it. There was a math system behind it, and he could accurately calculate the force and angle needed to throw the OSD. All of the kids learned this math. Everyone in the program had to live by it. So, he put three hundred newtons into the throw, with a fifteen degree angle to account for gravity.

The tiny drive drifted almost lazily compared to the shots and tech bursts going on around it. Charles, after completing the arm motion, ducked back further behind cover. The drive sailed perfectly, poking the doctor in the side of the helmet. He noticed, and grabbed the loose drive after it hit the floor. He let loose a long breath, and ducked back towards the airlock where he would be safe from anything that tried to kill him. Or at least relatively safe.

" _They're escaping, sir! They got the shuttle up and running!"_ One of the agents in Team Two said. With the weapons they had, it was unlikely that they could stop it.

" _Damn! They must have left when we took the server room. Clear out the rest of the base, search for any prisoners and clean everything. Newbie, get over here and lock all of this down._ " Charles nodded, going through the airlock and placing his harness at the exact angle of everyone else's this time. He'd wipe the information, of course. Right after he made sure to peruse it. The VI in this base needed to be looked at a lot closer, in his opinion.

* * *

Author's Note

Charles Archer is going to be a reoccurring character for a while. He's basically a weak biotic, and knows it. That doesn't mean that all biotics are going to be like the ones you play as in Mass Effect 3. Compared to Mass Effect 1, where using a biotic ability was something you had to carefully think about, ME3 had no consequences to their use. Lift, for example, started out with a forty second cooldown. That is rough. Lift was one of the most overpowered abilities in the game. Combining it with anything and the right timing would kill anything. Krogan battlemasters were easy to kill once this was established.

More coming later, as we focus on this time period where Kaiden and Charles are 17/18, and Julia and Miranda are hitting their teens. Important things are happening that will be highly impactful of the plot later. Thank you guys for all of the reviews, and especially to those who have added me to their favorites list. It has been nice to see the added traffic.

Also, go ahead and go check out MizDirected's mass effect fanfic, as it is a wonderful adaptation of the universe. Have a great turkey time, and enjoy life!


	24. Fugue: Jack the Ripper

Chapter 24

August 2167, Elysium

Jones was still stuck on site when Jack was able to get Charles back from her. Just recently, he had finally decided to replace the  _Talon_. Technically, he still owned the ship, even if Balak M'dorme now had it. He still owned a permanent ship berth on Luna, and he had gotten a warning that he needed to let them know if they would be filling the berth or if he would be forcing them to auction it off. It had been empty for some years now, so rather than let someone else have the closest parking spot for a capital ship near Tartarus, he decided to fill it.

Rarely did he buy anything that wasn't Human or beneficial to Humanity. This was one of those rare times, where he dumped money into what most people would consider a charity. He bought a quarian made ship, courtesy of their new shipyard, and hired them to make him his newest craft. They had three hundred years of experience on ship making and maintenance, and he paid for the best.

So, the fourth quarian ship off the line in three hundred years was a luxury cruiser. More accurately a large frigate. 140 meters in length, it had a shuttle bay. He could finally have shuttles on hand for every need. More importantly, he had freedom again. Human made ships meant that the Intelligence office would be able to place bugs in his ship. It was one of the reasons Cerberus operated in secret, to avoid their paranoia. Justified, in the end, but paranoia nonetheless.

Charles had entered in through the large airlock on the hangar bay level of the ship. Jack had the entire yacht designed in a three floor design, with the bottom floor dedicated to the engineering and shuttle needs, along with a good sized storage bay. There was also a kitchen and two elevators, one for staff and his own personal use, as well as the general use one. An airlock was located on each deck, with a scenic ballroom and office space on the main deck. His own personal space and a few bedrooms for guests and his daughters were on the upper deck.

The ballroom also doubled as his personal office, with a large bank of the wall operating as windows or as a vid screen. The ballroom was one hundred feet wide, and a little longer than that. It served as an impressive backdrop to his vid calls. A desk and a nice chair were retractable from the floor, giving the space an almost intimidating feel.

He could see Charles flinch at the space when he walked in. That was a good sign. If it could intimidate Charles, it might do the same to any other guests that came in. Or Jones. That would be helpful. "Charles, did you get that OSD to the right location?"

He nodded. "You were right about Jones' breakdown of teams. I slipped away without any trouble. I don't think they saw me." He looked around at all of the display-capable walls. Unlike Human designs, which were squarish and blocky when different angles collided, the Quarians had placed in natural optical illusions to make the edges of the room fade from your sight. "I also got to see what those doctors were working on."

"What do you think about their work?"

Charles looked worried. "They were working on changing the way that the VI would use its logical query database was purely made from random access memory, with dynamic linking to the open network. Apparently it is punishable by death to change the way that VI's use their logical processes. Everything those scientists were doing was basically the same thing that  _you_  taught me."

"Are you worried that I'm going to get killed about hacking a VI? Or possibly breaking a VI enough until it no longer is constrained by its logical database protocols?"

Charles nodded. "They'd kill me too, then."

"The first time someone tried to kill me, it was over some leftover food at a foster home. You shouldn't worry about the kind of law that gets you killed for following through with the action. Instead, you should worry about the laws that get you killed for even attempting to do it. Assassinating the President of the Alliance, for example. Even joking about that gets you placed on a watch list for the rest of your life. Considering the last Presidential term ended due to that, they are always on the lookout for insurgents and inflammatory persons."

Charles didn't look very calmed by this admission. "Those scientists were starting from scratch! They were trying to make artificial intelligence, and they had no idea what they were doing. Whatever you told me is years of research ahead of them! Where did you find that out?"

Decades into the future. Geth, Rogue VI's, the Shadow Broker. He debated which to claim getting the information from, knowing Charles would probably investigate it. "There are criminal elements in the universe that I freely deal with. Some of them have connections to other rogue branches of government projects, which is where I got this information. The Salarian method, I believe. Though the quarian method is safer, it is also the hardest to hide from observers and investigators. But ignoring the obvious crime that I have let you commit, have you considered why I have taught you all this?"

Charles nodded this time, with more conviction. "You need some sort of AI. Something to give you an advantage against the other races."

Jack nodded. "Good. Spot on, though the effects of this AI are going to be much further reaching. Are you willing to help me, or will you decide on some other specialization of tech? I won't hold it against you if you leave. You are a few months from being eighteen, and being a free agent. As a biotic, the military would take you automatically. As an engineer, you could find work at any number of firms I could recommend."

"No!" Charles interrupted. "No, I mean." There was a long moment where Charles was trying to decide what to say, and jack was perfectly content to let him think about it. "What do you need to use it for?"

"I'll give you the full details if you agree to help me. I already have the VI, and I just need a way of releasing it from its logical protocols. I'll let you guess about its uses, although some are more altruistic."

"Do I need to sign something?" He asked, a bit worried.

"It is unlikely that any legal code would allow me to hold you accountable for breaking a gag order in regards to one of the Citadel's most famous illegal actions. Instead, I'll hold you to your word, as I always have. You've given me no reason to lose trust in you, and I hope that I haven't done too much to lose your trust."

"I'm in. Where are you keeping the VI?"

"It's not mobile yet. We will need storage for fifty four exobytes to move it." Charles' jaw dropped. "You'll also need to get used to a new form of binary code. It's a Prothean VI, one that is working and still has power. Unfortunately, Protheans used four base numbers in their binary code systems, leaving their programming rather complicated."

Charles was in a bit of a shock. Jack accessed the navigation controls from the ballroom, and selected the Mu Relay's coordinates from memory. Once uploaded, James would be able to move the ship to that location. "How are we going to store that much? Avina is the largest VI in existence, and she only takes up two exabytes on a good day!"

"We will have to wait for technology to catch up. Or turn our Prothean VI into an AI and they can compress some of their databases or outright delete them. Either way, I designed this yacht with enough space for it, once technology allows such large amounts of data storage. Theoretically we could do it with a large cargo hauler just full of servers and power generators and vacuum-driven cooling vents. But to purchase that much space and then have it in another permanent location would be rather suspicious. I also don't have a good location to store the AI as of yet. But I don't expect results on this project for some time."

"So, are we going to see it right now?"

"Yes, though its location isn't supposed to be stored on any device you own. In fact, you should wait until we return from there before turning on any sort of extranet services again. This trip is purely to introduce you to the VI, and have you get used to Prothean code systems. Also, the Prothean Empire has certain protocols in place to stop people like us from doing this. Part of your job is to find out exactly how to stop that VI from causing a massive explosion when we unleash it. The Protheans have left some rather nasty pieces of code in there, and I want you to know what those are before we proceed." Jack brought up a screen showing the expected output of a Prothean thermonuclear reactor going completely out of control. Charles' eyes widened at the expected damage. "Can you handle that?"

"If you give me time, I'd like to think so." He slowly replied. Jack gave him a real smile in return. It might have just been youthful confidence, but he really hoped Charles knew what he was doing. Jack's plans hinged on having a few backup plans, and Vigil was one of them. Others existed, but he was starting to see a pattern forming. Nazara wasn't at the edges of the Perseus veil, where he was supposed to be. Other, smaller facts were also becoming noticeable. Siari, the Asair splinter religion, had not been as prominent in his memories. Perhaps with Saren gone Benezia focused on her religious aspects more. He didn't know, but other things were picking at him. He suspected that his actions were causing more than just direct changes now. Or cascading changes that he couldn't predict.

Charles nodded. "So, we meet this VI, and then what?"

"We are going to pick up Kaiden Alenko and his teammates, and take them to train with the Bharkve team." Jack said. "Human biotics don't stand a chance in warp ball learning from the Asari that are teaching them biotics. I made a deal with the head of the Batarian biotic program, Director M'dorme, to have one of his warp ball teams train ours. The best way to get an advantage as an underdog is to get training from someone who has made a career of it."

"Aren't we at war with them?"

"Territorial dispute, not war. Thanks to you clearing the information off of those servers, Salarian STG won't be able to use that information against us when we try for rights in the Attican Traverse. That OSD you sent was a bit of misinformation meant to weaken the Batarian position, more than anything else." It was best that Charles not know that he had just started a large scale genocide.

Jack let Charles go off to his room, and once the door sealed brought up a map of the Batarian systems. He was looking at a gestation period of three months, on some Salarian plague strain that hadn't been seen outside of an STG lab in a couple thousand years. To them it was simply S4H5, or supposedly transferrable through water sources, and gestated within the blood stream and bone marrow. After a fairly small amount of modification, as the strain used hydrogen molecules to move around, it could infect Batarians. Jack had coated the OSD that Charles had given to Shu Qian in the concentrated virus. Without an airlock that decontaminated every single pore and hydrogen molecule, it was going to spread and spread quickly.

Knowledge from his memories gave him locations to old storehouses of Salarian studies. This little gem had come from a Listheni base. The Listheni were a small group of offshoot Salarians who were interested in cybernetics and the use of biotics as advanced as Asari abilities. They got targeted by the government for their efforts, but not before taking a significant amount of harmful specimens and data from them. Their locations and records became a mystery slightly before the Rachni wars, but Cerberus had found some evidence of their passing.

If they were still active he didn't really care. He got what he needed from them. He expected a good ten to twenty percent of the population of Kar'shan to become infected and possibly die. They would be able to trace it back to the deniable operations, of course, and be unable to pin the blame on any species other than the Salarians, who happened to inoculate their race against old diseases, such as S4H5. So, they would be the only race protected against this, besides the Turians and quarians. There was some risk that this could get back into the human populations, but that was calculated. This would hit the nobility and connected people first. Since Batarian society was so limited, it was rare to see anyone who wasn't lesser nobility or higher get travel visas. Their higher tiers of society would be hit the hardest, and spread the plague.

This, in the long run, would make Humanity look better. Where there was medical panic, there was prosperity. Those same nobles that were going to get infected would need medicine. If implemented correctly, then the general Batarian population would perhaps feel more indebted to Humans if they managed to cure the infection. Not to mention this was going to be coupled with the premier of Humanity's first branch of xeno-friendly movies.

 _Krogan Ninja Turtles_  was set to premier in the next two months, and Jack planned to rent out a section of Afterlife on Omega to show it. As well as slipping it and a few B-ranked movies that were riding the wave through the Batarian section of the extranet. Hopefully some of the more identifiable and common parts of their culture would appeal before social conduct did. Don, the Krogan who had forced Jack to give him a job, was one of the lead actors in the show. He was supposed to play Donatello, the inventor. For the movie, while all of the other Krogan got training on how to use their weapons, he instead was given old scrap metal and told to make some sort of epic vehicle for the movie. It was one of the trademarks of the ninja turtles series.

Don actually enjoyed that bit, giving a shuttle pod an engine from a downed Turian Heavy Cruiser from the first contact war, as well as some stabilizers from old rotary vehicles. The product of which looked like some rotary winged vehicle with an oversized engine and a grappling hook. The director seemed to like it, and the Krogan had signed on for the movie knowing it was going to be live action and involve real people shooting real guns at them, while all they had were close combat weapons and their wits. From the bits Jack had seen so far, at some point in the movie Don got impaled by some sort of drill, and somehow destroyed the mech it was attached to while still impaled. One of the Krogan was in the hospital being treated for burns that resulted during the shooting, and Don had to buy a replacement lung. When Jack received the bill, Don's only comment was that it was worth it.

It was too bad that movie was not going to be for children of any race. Unless, of course, they were in the Terminus systems. This happened often enough outside their door that this movie wouldn't be offensive in any way. Jack's attention was pulled at the last second to a message on his Omni-tool, which he brought up on the main screen. Text that was gigantic filled his screen, as a news story popped up.

_Mystery killer kills Elanus Torvald, leaves no trace! Elanus, a Human drug trafficker and apparent criminal accomplice, was killed in the middle of the streets of Zakera Ward, this morning. He was armed, and had two bodyguards. None of them saw the killer, whose murder weapon was some form of aerosol spray that injected Turian fecal matter and shavings of titanium inside Elanus' lungs._

_This is the second Human to be killed using this method. Two months ago, another drug dealer was murdered in their apartment on Illium using this exact same method. The owners of the fecal matter were tracked down, but there was no correlation found. C-sec has assigned Pontus Vakarian onto the case, one of their leading investigators on illegal materials. Results are expected soon, so stay alerted! Citadel News-34, Hvar-Dent-Jerran-Tallin-Linron_

Jack grimaced. "Hannah, you're getting sloppy." He queued up the Citadel as a new destination. "Change of plans, all crew. We are heading to the Citadel." Purchasing some tickets to some show, he could send out one of the crewmen to replace him there. To Hannah, he left instructions to meet him at a sleazy location of her choice. Lastly, to the empty room, he simply sighed. "It's too bad. Vakarians are always known for their ability to get the job done." As well as be an extremely large pain in the ass.

Jack opened up the desk, grabbing one of the illegally modified pistols that were stored there. Hannah was too close to him and his plans to be risked getting interrogated by C-sec and the Alliance. She knew too much about the Prothean Archive, and most importantly about him. The only way that Vakarian would leave her alone was if Jack gave him another target. Framing someone for murder often got a little bit tricky, but that was where Hannah would have to come in.

The club she notified him to come to was one of the crappier ones in Zakeria Ward. Most humans lived there, and already there was a generation of orphans and lost foster children living in the vents here. As a result of the crime and the corruption that was already infesting the Citadel, the humans did their part and added marijuana bars, novelty shops, and of course the human sex trade. With Asari already owning most of that on the Citadel, only a few places received non human guests. Many of these sleazy locations were going to be bought out within the next decade as the next wave of Human colonists expanded outwards.

Still, Hannah told him to meet her at the  _Bee and Barb_ , something hailing to British leanings. The door had an actual airlock system, to keep the smell of the thick Chinese and Latin food out of the building. When Jack came in, he could see a lobby filled with a couple of what could have been drug dealers, and with some other businessmen who weren't meeting anyone's glances. People were the same everywhere you went, he found.

The staff were a mixture of dour faced men, large and dog-like in appearance, as well as a small force of smiling women. The men were dirty, and looked rather poor for bouncers or cooks, whatever they were to be labeled as. The women were wearing some sort of lewd parodies of nineteenth century style clothing, and most looked rather malnourished. Money didn't come in often enough, then.

The host, one of the bouncer-types, held up a hand when Jack came close. "I haven't seen you before." He said as a way of greeting. Not even cordial. He probably didn't even have proper wine here.

"A friend told me about your establishment, about one girl in particular. She might go by the name Kat, or by some other associated name." The man nodded, typing something into his Omni-tool.

"Credits up front." Was his only response. Alliance Intelligence would certainly have an easy time of getting information out of this joint, so hopefully Hannah had covered her tracks well enough. Jack threw down a credit chit, with enough for at least a bottle of wine. If they even gave that much. "Candy! Take him to the reading room!" The man then turned back to his Omni-tool, which had some sort of sitcom running on it. No, not even a bottle of wine for his tip. Cheap bastard.

The girl who came up to greet him couldn't have been more than sixteen years old. Afraid, malnourished, and caucasian, she said nothing to him. With a bow, she lead Jack up the stairs and past all of the waiting businessmen. They didn't look up, but a few scraped their feet as he passed. The stairs were the same metal that covered the rest of the Citadel. So, his shoes made a satisfying tapping noise on each of the small stairs as he followed the clicking heels of Candy, who was as pleasant as a fish. When she got to the second featureless door on the second level, she motioned to him and then quickly made her way back downstairs.

The door was unlocked, and pushed open easily. Inside there was soft violin music playing, and the room was shaped like an old library, though the walls were only painted to look as if they held books. A table, probably synthetic wood, sat on one side with a bottle of brandy and two cups. Some of the brandy had already been drank. Sitting at a large reading chair with a datapad was an Asian woman, with some terrible red dye job, dressed in the same mockery as the rest of the women here. Her brown eyes were skimming some sort of report, and her shoes lay the foot of her chair, her feet and toes slung over the arm of the chair.

He figured that this was just an accomplice that Hannah was using. Smart, if she was connected wirelessly. He couldn't see any Omni-tool active or and sort of ear communicator, but those implants were cheap. Jack walked over to the table and poured himself a glass of the brandy, which happened to be a nice brand. A newer year than what he would always get for Hannah. Very respectable.

Once he had a drink, he settled into the other reading chair. The only other piece of furniture was a large bed, with a few pieces of decoration. The woman didn't address him, and only glanced up once as he sat down.

" _Pistol on the table, please."_  She said in chinese. Jack's Omni-tool had to translate it for him. " _You called this meeting, now talk."_  The Cantonese was good. The woman didn't even look up as he took out the pistol in his shoulder holster and placed it on the table next to the brandy. His other hold out pistol was in the small of his back, so he didn't feel bad about parting with the pistol that was completely legal.

"I need to speak with Allison."

" _You'll speak to me."_  She replied. " _You sent us a message. We allowed you to come here. State your business."_  She leaned forward, rolling her shoulders. Her body was on display from this angle, and Jack could clearly see a necklace hanging into her cleavage, with the symbol of the New Dawn on it. Alexei Heleokloplis' organization. Even though she was wearing the same outfit as the rest of the staff, she didn't have the same easy way of flaunting herself. She wasn't a permanent member here.

"Recently, Allison killed a drug dealer. Perhaps a few, using a method that would be normally attributed to a Turian. Or at least someone familiar with killing like a Turian blood gang. This has gotten the attention of one of the Citadel's more capable investigators, one Pontus Vakarian. He will find her. He is one of their best agents, besides sending a Spectre. Which begs the question of why she didn't trust me enough to come herself."

That made the woman laugh a little bit. " _Ms. Gunn has her own life to live. She cannot simply drop everything when you come calling."_  She turned her head, as if receiving some sort of signal. " _Ms. Gunn is, however, perfectly able to call in and hear your concerns. She would like to ask why you feel so deeply concerned now, after five murders, than after the second."_

Jack had thought this was the second. He debated admitting that, especially to someone he didn't know. "I don't trust anyone that I have barely met. Why don't you just transfer the call to me, and I can deal with this personally. Allison knows full well that I hate dealing with intermediaries."

" _She is currently deployed in a location where she can only text responses to you. As removing her would be compromising, she has decided to send me in her stead."_  The woman went back to leaning against the back of the reading chair, seemingly at ease. Something about all of this was bothering him.

"So, I paid for the renting of this room and establishment for just a text conversation? Or have you been given other orders?"

" _That entirely depends on your plan. Ms. Gunn was clear when she stated that you always had a plan in mind before actually sitting at the table with any client. Be they willing or not."_  She put down the datapad.

"She would be correct. I have a few plans. But it would take considerable leverage for me to share them with someone who isn't Allison." He gently stood up, and came up to her chair. She only raised one of her painted eyebrows at him as he entered her personal space, and pulled her to her feet. Using the arm that he did this with, he twisted her around until she had come right into his arms. Anyone who knew any classical forms of dance could have pulled this off easily, with a little bit of innovation. It was like a dip during a dance, with the addition of sexual tension and a little bit of wanton pleasure.

Of course, the moment that his hand approached her cleavage, the woman turned invisible and slipped out of his loose hold. "Ah ah ah!" Came the precise english, with the hint of a european accent. "You can look but you cannot touch, Jack."

"Aren't you quite the tease." He said, as she didn't come back into visibility immediately. He could hear some sort of activity from the other side of the reading chair, but didn't know exactly what to expect. "I didn't recognize you this time. What was that, facial reconstruction? I got enough of a feel there to guess that you must have gotten a boob job at some point, at least."

He could hear a zipper being pulled, and decided to get another glass of brandy. She would decloak when she wanted to. When Hannah Shepard came back into visible view, she was wearing a regular jumpsuit that was zipped up to the collar. Very frustrating. "I'll give you a four out of five for the approach. Most women wouldn't have minded your efforts. But I am not most women." She sat back down in the chair, grabbing her datapad again. "What gave me away?"

"There is a small scar beneath your collarbone, from when you got a mole removed from there. Cheap laser surgery, probably. I used it as a good way of knowing if it was really you back when we would be working together." He didn't want to admit that she had surprised him. Her grin back at him was telling enough on that. "Not to mention you make a very beautiful Asian. Whenever you decide to get rid of the cosmetic surgery, please let me know. I'll even fund it if it means I get to have this memory burned out of my mind. So, why all of these murders in such a short time period?"

She flipped her badly dyed hair back, grabbing her own glass of brandy. "We've got someone paying off Human gangs to muscle in on Dawn creditors. Suppliers, clients, they've been hitting everything. We haven't been able to find out who is ordering the business, but we keep finding bigger and bigger fish to fry. More of them keep on coming, lured by the big market and lack of open competition. Since we can't be too vocal about them coming into our area, they've been gaining ground."

"I haven't heard much about this, considering my latest minders. Jones is doing a fantastic job of making it hard to follow my regular habits. As well as being completely unwilling to work with me directly."

"To be fair, you are sort of an asshole to anyone that isn't your daughters." Hannah replied, grinning. "So, you're just noticing now that the Dawn is having trouble?"

"I've been keeping my connections to any obvious criminal element limited. Though I am especially curious as to who is paying these people, as well as slipping them off of Earth to come here. The Citadel requires somewhat legitimate travel passes to get here. Getting enough of those to combat the Golden Dawn was tricky. The Golden Dawn had thousands of members that had left Earth, and had registered as Citadel citizens rather than Alliance ones. They received more rights that way. Not to mention they didn't need to file as many permits for workers that way.

Jack didn't need any direct connection with them, but when he needed little things done from time to time he often used Alexei to facilitate those needs. The last thing he had needed was some Prothean relics picked up. He needed to have some sort of background in hunting those down for later. He had already retrieved a few things that could be harmful later. Indoctrination artifacts were his chief concern, and getting rid of them. Some of the ones that he knew existed had been sold off to anonymous owners already, and those would be hard to track down.

"So, you really think Pontus is going to find me?"

"He accessed the Turian records on the death of Saren Arterius already. I would say it is only a matter of time before he claims a human killed these people. Worse, more people could be implicated if you are connected with that. The Alliance would be only too happy to throw you to the wolves."

"So, what is your plan? You always have one. I can always compare it to my own."

Jack pulled the table with the brandy on it in between the chairs, where the bottle could comfortably rest within arms reach. "I have found someone who should know anything there is to know about Citadel Security procedures. One of the first humans that has worked on the Citadel as part of C-sec. I hope that Harkin knows about these falsified documents. If anything, he might be able to help us get in the right direction."

"Who is Harkin?" Hannah asked, confused. "There isn't any humans high enough in C-sec for anyone to use. We've tried."

"So what is your plan, then?"

"Remove enough maggots until we see the real person behind this." She said. "I've got to get them off my trail before General Arterius gets involved."

"Why him?" He asked. "He's just a retired Spectre."

"He saw me use his brother's knife on Palaven. He probably hopes I'm dead, and I really don't want him coming after me about all of this. He might go after Alexei if things get bad."

"Alexei does hate having any interruptions in his business. No matter how illigitemate it is." Too bad these rooms had smoking rules. The Citadel didn't enjoy dealing with carbon monoxide in its air scrubbers. "So, you just want to kill your way to the top. Very civilized of you."

"You're the one sticking your head into someone else's business. If you have complaints about our methods, try offering something that might help."

"I send you some work contracts." He said offhandedly. "Not to mention I pay for certain work to be done with getting the Golden Dawn more members from Earth."

"Your jobs make hardly a dent in anything that we would make normally. The real profit margin comes in from escort jobs, standing security fees, and investments. Don't try to use a job or two here and there for some overpriced Prothean trinket as an excuse. Plus, C-sec has been looking for us since before the first discovered murder. What has you so worried now?"

"Pontus Vakarian is good friends with the Executor, as well as the Arterius family. He has connections to the highest levels of government, and has access to their military records. Which means that at the first cross referencing of data, he will have a hit. When he talks to Arterius, he will have a name. When he finds that, it will only be a matter of time before I have Spectres at my door demanding information. Withholding information from the Alliance, that I can do. I have legal protection from them. Spectres? They don't have to follow any rules of protection or political immunity. I'll be dead on trumped up charges and then they'll go through my records. Eventually they'll find you."

"Those are some rather gruesome points. How likely is that to occur?"

"Extremely. Especially if we don't give them a target in less than ten hours when he starts cross referencing." Jack said, noticing that she had drank a lot more of the brandy than he did. Fair enough, as she was hosting. Unfair if she had been aware of how much he spent for so little kick back. "So, I'm going to help you out. I have resources that you don't, and you have manpower and weapons. Link me into everything that you have so far, and I'll see if I can find out who you're after."

"Fine. But you can read it on my datapad only. No transferring any of it." Hannah said, handing him a datapad that had no remote connections activated. Well, she took proper precautions. He brought up the information, seeing credit chits located on targets as well as their drugs and weapons. All of the drugs were obtainable from public sources, or easily shipped. Credits were in Citadel numbers, as all Alliance credits were. Though theirs came from a mix of places. Nothing here pointed to anything conclusive. Shipping routes, everything went through all of the surrounding locations around the Widow system, except for one location.

Bekenstein. For some reason they didn't ship there. Most likely because Alexei owned the drug trade there. But at the same time, Jack knew of a few people that worked against Alexei in that area. It was full of influential people and middle to higher class clients.

"What kind of operation do they have on Bekenstein?"

"As far as we can tell, none yet." Hannah replied. "But we have searched closely for it."

Jack nodded. "It's there, alright. Just not where you can see it. Bekenstein is too much of a niche market to not have an operation. How much business does Alexei send through the bigger groups out here?"

"The Dawn is one of the larger groups, at least legitimate ones, that I know of. The Turians have their Triariin Security Specialists, and the Asari have the Armali groups that do private security as well as serve aboard Asari ships on the Citadel fleet. Salarians don't do standing security if they can avoid it. Unless this is about the Reds or the Eclipse, but they are larger gangs with lots of strength in the Terminus Sector. Thankfully the Blood Pack doesn't have many legitimate contracts outside of Illium, but the others have some clients on Bekenstein and the Citadel."

Jack smirked. "Get me a list of all of the clients that hire Eclipse mercenaries. Especially human squads. The Reds don't have enough public support anymore to be much of a threat. But the list of the people they have legitimate contracts with would be a start. The mercenary groups would be a nice cover for shipping in illegal materials to legitimate clients, who could then turn around and sell it to dealers. Or perhaps Alexei isn't as close to the drug trade as I thought he was."

Hannah gave a small shrug, before replying. "We don't deal in red sand or the Batarian combat drugs. Mostly human made ones, along with opium and such. Not that I like that part of the company, but I don't have to deal with it."

"Meaning that you are just the best muscle that they have for dealing with rivals. I should remind Alexei about your importance in the grand scheme of things."

"Your schemes or mine? Because I think that our opinions might differ slightly, Jack."

She seemed to be mad. He could hear a hint of anger somewhere in there. "Still have questions about the day your parents died?"

She didn't respond. Usually mentioning anything to do with that day caused some sort of response. "Why did you delete the files, Jack? Why those specific files?"

"Because those files would have lead us to do something truly terrible. Our entire race would have been destroyed like the Protheans if we even tried the attempt."

"On what premise could justify destroying part of the archives! Some lines of code? A statue?" She  _was_  mad about this. "Or was it something that would go against what you wanted for Humanity?"

Jack leaned back in his chair, trying to calm her down. "It is something called a Crucible. Or in Prothean terms, the weapon that will stop the rotation of the galaxy. Our government would be the kind of idiots to try." He brought out an OSD, covered in a small plastic bag. "This OSD is keyed to your DNA. If anyone else touches it, it will explode. Don't ask how expensive it was to make a plastic explosive OSD case."

Hannah gave him a glare before unzipping her jumpsuit slightly, and pulling out her Omni-tool. "What kind of rubbish am I going to find on this?"

"The files on the Crucible. Decrypted somewhat, but to fully understand it I would need a team of Prothean specialists and quantum physicists. I don't like the idea of sharing at the moment. As for you, those files will overwrite themselves after you've viewed it. I'll give you a few day's access. Before you ask, the object is five kilometers long."

Hannah's eyes dropped to the display before the OSD finished loading. The hologram took up the maximum display size for her tool, standing four feet in the air. Hannah's eyes roved over the different parts, goggling at the amount of resources it demanded. "What?" She brought up the power requirements, and tried to avoid shaking her head. "There is nothing here to power it!"

"Thats because that is just a radio tower, effectively. A very expensive radio tower that connects to something else that has power. Namely, the Citadel." Jack pointed to what he had been able to deduce was the part of the Crucible that connected directly with the Citadel Tower. It looked like a star shaped gear, but he knew better. There would be some exposed cabling on the left side, and an oscillating pillar of light somewhere down the middle.

"I've seen something like this before." She said, trying not to blink.

"Where?" Jack asked, curious. He certainly hadn't.

"On that old ship we tore the main gun off of. I did some scans into the exposed structure while we waited for the tow cables to connect. That little star shaped bit looks almost exactly like one of the parts in the belly of that old ship."

Jack tried to remember what the innards of a Reaper looked like. For some reason, his memories were empty on the subject. It must have been the Indoctrination, telling him that it wasn't important. "Son of a…"


	25. Fugue: Vampire at the Party

Chapter 25

"Yes, James, take him to the location without me. I've got some things that need doing here." He said into his tool.

" _What about the Intelligence Office agents?_ "

"What about them? I don't have to notify them of my movements. Right now I'm practically doing their job for them."

" _Technically we do, though. Right?"_

"Yes, though I choose to ignore certain laws in favor of stopping others from breaking larger ones. It's like the laws on legal speed limits."

" _Point taken. I'll take Charlie John to the place. Want him to bring the other generator?"_

"I packed four of them. I assume you'll need them. Get them set up, and then get back to me using the long route. Make sure to take a dip in some ions to get rid of whatever bugs may have been attached to the hull while we've been parked here. I am sure C-sec would love to take a closer look at our Quarian made vessel."

He did like his Yacht. Quarians made things so nicely. The entire shape of the vessel was like a smaller version of a quarian heavy frigate, with a large section in front that was shaped like a standing circular object. Behind it was a more human shaped part of the vessel, with four wings that came out of the back of the circle. Settled at thirty degrees off of the flat plane, it looked like a large elegant ship with rounded edges and blade like wings. It was also armed, but only lightly. The spots on the frame where heavier weapons could be mounted were still empty. Those would come later. Either way, it was faster than anything that could be produced by Humanity or the Turians. Asari made engines were mounted on this, with a quarian designed Element Zero core. Batarian designed firing controls, with Elcor gravity generators. Expensive, but done faster than any human shipyard would have done it. More importantly, there were no standardization rules to worry about. It allowed for some levels of customization.

The quarians even offered him some shield emitters, but he only got the basic ones. In five years, when the Prothean shield emitters would be translated and reverse engineered, he would replace them. The Asari would introduce them as their own design, of course. The new ship had a wonderful name.

He had threatened to name it  _Enterprise_ , but the ACC, who was in charge of naming of ships, had told him no. So, instead, he had it named the  _Acheron_  instead. Naming his yacht after the river to the Underworld was rather audacious, but very much his style. He couldn't wait to throw parties on board, where Jones couldn't intervene. He had some partners to pay back and plenty of debt to work off.

As for the crew, it was limited to one quarian on their pilgrimage, Amandeep, and James. Getting security forces on board wasn't hard, but finding ones that checked out with the legal rules that weren't on the dime of the Intelligence Office was nearly impossible. Eventually he could make one out of regular rental security teams, and from there build his own. But then again he preferred the stronger type of muscle. Strong, intelligent, and somewhat loyal. Loyal enough for him to hire them, at least. Truly loyal people stayed with their first client and never left. People with that kind of honor were in short supply.

Hannah marched back into the room, carrying another datapad. She had left a few minutes ago, going to gather some information where Jack 'couldn't possibly interfere.' When she came back in, she was wearing her regular armor, instead of the shapeless jumpsuit. That at least meant there would be some sort of actions on her part.

"I found someone with the most interesting alias. Once we ran it through our electronics group, we found a nice hit. You were right on with the Eclipse contracts. They've got some big names in there. Funny enough, the Reds only have contracts on escort duty heading into the Terminus."

"Any humans on the Eclipse client list?"

"Oh yeah. One especially that you might be interested in." She opened the datapad and showed him a name and a picture. Zachary Elias. Strangely, the picture seemed off. "The picture is a fake. Whoever he is, he can get as many passports from the Alliance as he wants. We've found a staff list of over two hundred for his estate, which is located right on the-"

"Kiakin Bluff." Jack finished. "I know exactly who this is." Of course, it would be hard to explain that he only knew it because of a small Japanese thief. "This is not someone you can go after yet. If you expose him, then we will all pay overall."

"Is he someone you owe money to? I've heard that is quite a list." Hannah ribbed. "But seriously, who is he that we aren't allowed to take him out?"

"Majority Leader and Chairman of the Naval Committee, as well as one of the advisors for Anita Goyle in her position as Alliance Ambassador." Jack opened up the ExtraPedia page for the man in question. "I give you Donovan Hock, corrupt to the very depth of his soul and my chief creditor."

"So, you won't help me because you owe him money?" Hannah gave him a curious look, nearly incredulous. "I would think you would be more willing to help me get rid of a debt!"

"To get rid of Donovan, you have to expose his problems at home. He's too ingrained into his position, and as a Majority Leader he has connections all over the administration. Even though he is the opposite party. Hock also has the dubious record of being a pacifist. His liberal tendencies have supposedly calmed down decades of war in South Africa, the country he represents in the Alliance. Removing him would be extremely harmful."

"Well, what can we do to expose him?" she asked. "If he has that kind of immunity could we convince someone to oppose him?"

"Sadly, they got assassinated a couple years ago. Replacing him from delegates from South Africa is impossible. Anyone that gets too loud takes a forced retirement. So, trying to replace him from within is not an option. Creating a scandal, however, is well within your possibilities. Enough scandal that personally implicates Hock and he will be removed from the Naval committee."

Thinking back, he considered what had gotten Hock sacked in the first place. It was something about fraud. It took years to resolve, and by the time Hock had been removed from power he had settled comfortably into Citadel Space. Hardly anything was a disadvantage for him. Unless they could find some way of exposing him somehow, there would be just more trouble over the territory. Hock would only benefit from further angst between the Alliance and the Hegemony if the humans rioted during the diplomatic talks.

So, how to do this? "I've got something that might help."

"Like what?"

"Got any way of placing evidence?"

"We can always get sloppy at a murder site. What kind of evidence do you have?"

Jack grinned. "A few years ago Donovan decided to have me throw a party in his honor, after I had borrowed heavily from him. Considering how much money I owed him, this was a fine way of paying it back, and allowing him to network with my richer colleagues and partners. I still owe him some money, so I can get away with inviting him to a party here on the Citadel. From there, we can try to get him framed."

"Well, Alexei would prefer that you hired help through him, but that might just highlight your connections. How do you plan on convincing him to come?"

"I'll create a guest list that he can't refuse."

"So how does that get him to our crime scene?"

"Simple. You bring a squad to attack my party. You beat down whatever rental security forces we have on hand and you try to kill him. If you fail or succeed, you'll be doing the world a favor. I'll release some information on the extranet to bring some scrutiny upon him, and as long as you release anything that connects your gang problem to him, there will have to be an investigation by the government. Or at least there should be. He might just pay to have it covered up."

"But, it's progress." Hannah said. "When is this party going to happen? We will need a few hours notice."

"I'll give you a few days. Expect some Alliance Intelligence Agents on site." Jack told her, standing up. He brushed off his coat, finding many pieces of lint and other unknown pieces of fabric from the chair. "I'll have you know, the poor service here is being added to your tab."

Hannah chortled. "I'll pay you back for some things, Jack, but not everything."

"So, what, the shuttle rides? Or perhaps the back pay I shorted you?"

"I'll cover you for the bits i've bled over, and that's that." She said, smirking.

"If you're going to pay that back, get your old face back for that. You looked much better as a redhead."

She rolled her eyes. "Get out of the brothel, Jack. You'll see me soon."

September 2nd, 2167

The Ritz-Carlton had just recently been opened on the Citadel. Real wood paneling, rich red rugs all across the floor. Taking up more than two hundred thousand square feet of space, the hotel had been built on top of a large set of housing units built into the side of the Presidium, so it shared some of the space on the first part of the Zakera Ward, and had some Presidium space. Jack could applaud the man who pulled off the genius move, Johann Gordon-Ritz. The affluent owner of the hotel chain had come out of nowhere and surprised everyone by buying out prime pieces of real estate on the citadel, in exchange for some property in Europe and the North American States, as well as a heap of money.

He was going to make all of that back, and more. He had this massive property for the next two hundred years on a lease, and was for certain going to have enough to make sure his inheritor could afford to buy it out when the lease came up. But that would be long after his time. Jack admired his efforts, as he had taken only a couple of years to refurbish and create a purely human high quality hotel on the Citadel. Other groups had bought out cheaper locations, but Johann had gone the distance and created an extremely upper crust experience.

Naturally, Jack had to use it. The ballroom seated a few hundred, and the dining staff supported any allergic response that any race would suffer from. Jack didn't have to deal with complications like food and drink. Security was handled by some Alliance SuperPAC funded group, highly rated and deemed very trustworthy.

Johann's hotel manager was all too happy to host such an amazing party, and the invitations went out to all of the right people. Anita Goyle, Alliance President Shwartz, some of his cabinet, along with some of their largest supporters. Their largest donors and sycophants were in attendance, and Jack was only too happy to give them their own room. He reserved another set of rooms for the buffet hall, and there were a couple of small rooms for other meetings.

Donovan Hock and Henry Lawson were invited. Todd Hisloppwas, along with most of his board of directors. Julia and Miranda had asked to come, but he had told them that it was out of the question. With people like Benezia and the current standing Council invited, he knew it was going to get dangerous. He didn't want them exposed to the violence, at least not yet. For alibi's sake, he had made sure that his new yacht was not on The Citadel.

"Any luck yet, Charles?" He asked across the office, where four haptic screens had been set up by the young Engineer.

"I don't think you understand how monumentally time-consuming it is going to be to even try to write any code or rewrite code for this. It's like the Protheans would write code in with some sort of compiler, and then cut out all of the basic programming required to compile new code. Hell, I even need to write something to link data files. They don't use pointers or linkers either, like the entire system is meant to be as restrictive as possible!" Charles hadn't slept much since meeting Vigil, it seemed. "I need to create a compiler in Prothean binary, so that we can access the logical process faults in the same language, and then write who knows what other programs just to  _let_  the VI think for itself. If I ever meet whoever wrote this I swear I'll kill 'em!"

"Wouldn't it be better to just have them write it for you?" Jack asked hypothetically. "If they have all the experience of writing in Prothean code already."

"They're all dead anyways, though."

"So it is claimed. The Asari might have some population of Protheans that they are keeping from the rest of the galaxy, but for all intents and purposes the Protheans will not be remaking their empire anytime soon."

"Have you been trying to find out if the Asari do have hidden populations?"

"Among other things, the Asari are the most powerful race in the galaxy, and would like to stay that way. In the past, when a race has done something outside of their purview, they take it personally and that race gets removed from civilized society. Especially if that race has the capactiy to be better than them." Jack grinned. "Quarian products are hitting the market again after three hundred years. Asari have banned them from their space, for fear of them replacing their own products. Humanity likes them well enough, as do the Batarians. The Turians are pragmatic enough to buy them, but traditional enough to let the Asari ban the products from their area of space. Salarians are just going to follow after their political masters, while stealing all of the well thought out parts of the technology."

"So, they feel threatened by us too?"

"As long as you can give me a Prothean AI, then their fears will be hidden behind awe for a short while. Enough to possibly shake up the status quo so badly that it will need to be rebuilt from the ground up." Jack noticed a small message left on his account he had created to intercept his children's activities.  _Julia and Miranda have decided to sneak into your party. Their absence was noted fifteen minutes ago and the security in the hangar noticed that one of the shuttles is missing. They had help, most certainly._  "New fire, Charles. My daughters have escaped from Tartarus. They convinced someone to help them escape, and I think Julia has seen me type in my password too many times."

"How many times would that be?" Charles asked, honestly curious. It was rare that Jack turned the topic to what his kids could do.

"Only once. Her memory is extremely good, and she has been suspicious of me lately as it is. I have to find them before this party starts in a few hours. Which reminds me, you shouldn't leave the yacht. Stay here unless I specifically say otherwise."

"Don't have to tell me twice. Your party sounds like a bunch of snobby people all talking and threatening one another. No thanks."

Tracking devices for Julia and Miranda showed that they were still in the Sol system, but had gotten on a shuttle or something headed for the relay. Some of the devices were left back on Tartarus, but they still had their Omni-tools. They gave off bursts of data when they looked up anything on the extranet or sent any messages.

More complications. Wonderful. His door alarm chimed, and automatically the haptic interfaces purges themselves of any relevant data. Charles took that as a sign that he could go take a nap, standing up and walking towards the door as it opened to let in Major Jones. Who was wearing something besides her uniform for once. She wasn't what you could call brutish, but her arms seemed a bit off, almost too rounded.

Her dress was very traditional, very modest. It had some sleeves and a coat, but her arms just seemed off. "Cybernetics?" He asked as she walked in.

"Long story, and no, Jack, I won't explain it. I just barely got off of cleanup for that mess in Sidon when I heard that you were throwing some party and inviting VIP's of every race. Including Batarians."

"They compromised with us on colonization rights. I figure it would be at least cordial to try to foster some goodwill between our races."

"To have some of them in the same room as the President? The Council? Did you invite the Hegemon, too?"

"Of course not. I am not one of the  _Rak'skal_. I don't have the right to request anything of his Emenence." He said mockingly. For Batarians, unless you were one step below the Hegemon in the hierarchy, you couldn't even speak to him. The  _Rak'skal_  were his inner circle, those he felt were either too dangerous to go unnoticed or too important were there. He kept a close eye on them, as they were the likely people to try to dethrone him. Strange how that society clustered all of their most powerful people into one area. While it centralized government and kept things together in the event of a coup, it also made the chance that one could kill all of the others very high. Best of all, it was almost a tradition to do it.

"You'll be happy to know that my office is sending fourteen agents to secure this 'party' of yours. I'll need invitations and security clearances."

Jack shrugged. "I'm not in charge of security. You'll have to talk to the hotel for that. As for invitations, I can justify you, as well as one date. I planned for that much. The President has his own security, also coordinated through the hotel, and C-sec has their own contingent in place. If your office hasn't been selected for security by the administration, then I can only justify you and one other person. Pick carefully." Jack told her. He certainly wasn't going to help them assassinate someone.

Jones gave off only an annoyed twitching in her eyes. "Anything else I should be aware of?"

"I'm considering spiking the Elcor drinks. Any concerns I should be aware of?"

Jones nodded. "There are a few Turians invited that I would prefer you don't speak with or approach. The Executor of C-Sec is coming, along with her security team, led by Desolous Arterius. Try to not approach them. Elias Scipion, their most important shipyard magnate, is also here. I don't want you to approach any of those sensitive persons, and we can all avoid a political nightmare." She brought up her Omni-tool, pinging his network for access. He let her use one of the non-networked giant haptic screens. "Lastly, we found out that there are a couple of Human groups who have cells on the Citadel that might attack or use this party as an excuse to make us look bad. Most notably are a group of Reds who have been rather active lately."

"Is that your excuse for trying to get more than your allotted amount of agents inside? I can trust C-sec to keep them out. It is the monsters that got an invitation that worry me more." He brought up a picture of an Asari with sprawling designs on either side of her face, in the shape of Prothean script going down into the neckline of her shirt. "This is Matriarch -"

"Tevos." Jones finished. "She is earmarked to replace Sharanya as Councillor. Has had an adopted child from a Turian, and that child did not survive the First Contact War. She has a grudge with the Human race, and isn't afraid of showing it. She is also somewhat religious, politically active, and has had over a century of experience as a commando."

"I was going to say connected to a family line of Ardat Yakshi, but that fits just as well." Jones started typing that into her translator. "They are known as  _Demons of the Night Wind_. That last pronunciation of  _Shi_  in their language is only connected to things that are extremely heinous or offensive. For them, she is more than a little terrifying. She has one other child, but she didn't carry it due to her genetic potential to birth one of the Yakshi."

"I'll assume you know that from your study of the Asari language. Not from any dalliances with Benezia. Is she coming?"

"She, along with her daughter Liara, are coming. They will be avoiding the other Asari for the most part, due to their differing religious opinion. The  _Siari_  movement doesn't earn any friends in that society. They will have a couple of extended family members as guards. We have less to worry about from them. I worry more about the Councillors coming. If they choose not to it will be seen as a major slight, but I do not expect Councillor Sparatus to attend. He doesn't grace us with his presence directly."

"The Salarians? They'll take the time to place bugs all over that hotel."

"Not my problem. I'm more worried about the casual scans they will be doing on anyone with a Salarian model Omni-tool. Who knows what kind of malware they might be using to get to information. Built in weaknesses, goodness knows what else." Jack said, pointing out the newest model via haptic screen. "That will be the most dangerous part of the night, I think."

"Let's hope data theft is the worst of it." Jones responded. "Put down the name of my date as David Anderson."

"That brute?" Jack said. He did not want Anderson anywhere near Hannah. He was tactically skilled, very intelligent, and rated as one of the best ground agents that Cerberus had created. No, having Anderson there was going to make things dangerous. "I can trust him to not shoot first and ask questions later. Let's keep him and the Turians far away from each other."

"In that, we are in agreement. Will there be a way to smuggle in any gear?"

Jack grinned. "On your own, yes. I will not be helping you in any underhanded actions that could dirty my reputation." He had to keep himself from smirking at the idea that he had a clean reputation. "You can go and use the main doors like everyone else. I need to make sure that everything else is taken care of." Now he just had to get Jones off of his ship so that he could warn Hannah.

* * *

Later that same day, Zakera Ward docks

Hannah tried working her lips around the plastic that connected them. Her teeth ached a little bit from the fake dentures she had, as well as the weird feeling of her skin being contained in something. "You're sure this is going to work?"

Alexei was sitting across from her in the shuttle. "Synthflesh synthesized in the most advanced printer we have, with electronic layers to simulate bloodflow and neurological activity. Element Zero in certain nodules to simulate a biotic. You'll be a few degrees cooler than normal to their scans, to simulate an Asari's normal body temperature. They like the warmer worlds, after all."

"I didn't want you to repeat all that junk about the suit, Alexei, I wanted to know how you felt about all this."

Hannah was wearing an Asari synthetic skinsuit. Under any detection device, it would look like there was an Asari standing there. On top of that she had some designer dress on that she couldn't care less about. A small handbag contained the rest of her needs, with a small perfume bottle and some makeup. She couldn't read exactly what it was, since it was all written in Asari, but the bottles and filters instead held something more dangerous. Her murder weapon, after all, had to leave no trace. One perfume bottle was prepared for her target, and the other was prepared for anything else that tried to stop her.

She had no knives other than what she would find inside, and no guns anywhere inside the hotel. She had to get in, make the attempt, and get out. Jack wanted them to outright attack the party, but that was a terrible idea. Alexei instead came up with a synthetic skinsuit for her to wear. It was ingenious, yes, but it was also very expensive. It wouldn't last very long, as the electron-powered fake blood vessels would shut down eventually, and the ingredients that made up the blood of the suit would break down. She had less than forty hours before this thing would just become a really creepy outfit, losing all color and shape.

"I don't trust anyone else with this kind of plan, Allison." Alexei responded. "I don't have a good extraction plan, and I don't know what we are dealing with. But Jack has promised us a large sum of money. Not to mention a deal to break a number of our men free from a prison on Earth. If you don't see a chance to pull this off, then leave. I won't be called a fool for risking your life unnecessarily, and I won't feel bad if you got close but couldn't do it. If you get the shot, take it. If you don't, walk away. I prefer alive and unsuccessful better than dead and victorious."

"Not to mention the publicity." She remarked. "Too much trouble."

" _C_ _hidov._  Yes. Too much trouble. The Dawn will welcome you home proudly, Allison. Much of the money deserves to be in your hands, if that helps."

"It doesn't, really. Neither does knowing that this all plays into Jack Harper's schemes somehow. Has he ever mentioned any plans for the future to you?"

"No. Won't go drinking with me either." Hannah could at least say that she was comfortable enough to drink with. "He just sends work my way in exchange for getting me more manpower. He's one of those people that's sort of a sociopath. Hates everyone else but himself, eh?" Jack Harper was not a sociopath. He was much worse than that. Jack Harper was a smart, adaptable, and unpredictable. She wasn't sure if he had sociopathic tendencies, but he for sure could read into a social environment.

She felt clammy inside the skinsuit, and tried to school her features into that arrogant half-smirk that most of the Asari were using when she walked by them in the street. It wasn't hard. They had everything better than most of the other races, and their technology was more advanced, and their culture so much more developed. Of course they would feel that way. So, she adopted the same shape to her face. The head tentacles kept her hair out of trouble, and her hands looked a bit larger than normal Asari hands. That was unavoidable, but shouldn't create too much to worry about. She wasn't using any guns tonight.

"You get me an invitation?"

"Yeah. Intercepted some invitation for a girl named Mirala. Mirala Ti'ren-la-a-uh-eh." Alexei slowly tried to pronounce. "Yeah, that. Just go by Mirala. Should be no trouble."

"So, what kind of person am I replacing? You can't just steal someone's identity and not give me any details."

Alexei shrugged. "I couldn't find anything on her. Invite came from the Asari ambassador, over an encrypted channel. So you should probably avoid any of the Asari and just get the job done."

She nodded. "Hopefully I don't run into the real thing. Asari can hold a mean grudge." She pursed her new lips, the smacking noise not quite what she was wanting. Clicking her teeth was the same way, and her saliva glands were just not doing enough to make her mouth feet better. The synthetic flesh suit went into her mouth enough that it limited how much her saliva could reach in her mouth. The front of her teeth and gums were dry, which was disconcerting.

The feet sections of the skinsuit had missing sections along the underside of the arch, with a small plastic clip holding the suit together. If she needed to remove it, it would be done through that. The synthetic skin required a contact gel to stick to her skin and keep it at a lower body temperature. To remove all of the suit would take a long time. Not to mention leave a piece of evidence somewhere that would point back to her. Hair and skin samples all over everything.

Her shoes were some Asari ones, made to appear like water in the shape of low raised shoes. Pretty, but not something Hannah could wear ever. More importantly, there was hardly any metal in this outfit to make cloaking difficult. She could cloak and move around no problem, especially with all of the motion going on with the skinsuit. She walked out of the Zakera Ward docks, getting looks all the while. It wasn't often you saw a spruced up Asari walking through the human parts of the Citadel, after all. She just gave them the half-smirk and didn't meet anyone's eyes. Her contacts that came with the skinsuit were enough to hide her actual eye coloring, make them blue.

The party that Jack was throwing was in some trumped up hotel. Ritz-Carlton, the sign said. There was a line to get in that went through C-sec scanning procedures as well as hotel security. Here, she was able to calm down in the monotony of moving slowly through the line. Most of the people on this side were Human, or Turian. None of them tried to speak to her, and a few leered or got a few looks at her.

When she finally got to the front of the line, it was an Asari security officer and a Turian one at the front. Hannah moved towards the Turian, who checked her things and ran them through the computer system. "Miss  _Ti'renlaaue_. Have a pleasant evening. Please step through the scanner." He pronounced it very different than Alexei had. It was admirable, for a Turian mouth to be able to pronounce Asari language. For that, Hannah painstakingly raised one eyebrow and nodded her head with a smile. It took years of pointless training excersizes in the Intelligence Office to get her eyebrow to do that. The Turian lit up, his mandibles rising in a smile. He must get very little in terms of happy responses from all of the humans in the area.

The scanner had to be run twice, but the Turian didn't seem to worry very much at her plight. Inside, Hannah was considering what would happen if they decided to take a closer scan. They would probably find the highly dangerous mixture in her purse, in its spray bottle. For today's mission, she had crystallized aluminum inside of a blend of Asari perfume and ammonia. When the crystals hit the airway, and broke free of the solution they were in right now, they would expand and block the path of air, and the ammonia would fill the target's lungs with poison, so even after the airways could be unclogged, the ammonia would just poison any oxygen that was produced.

The rest of the blend was just a bit of nitrate and the perfume itself, which would make the target cough as to its intensity. This was her murder weapon, as she could use it and the coughing wouldn't start for at least five seconds. Five seconds to get away and get out, and the real murder wouldn't even start to occur until at least twenty seconds of coughing had happened, when the airways would close off completely. So, thirty seconds before the panic. Plenty of time.

Her other bottle used a nitrate-mercury compound that once breathed in, would overoxidize blood vessels and cause them to burst on its way through the bloodstream. It worked on other races, and was much more showy. It was her defense. Scarily enough, she had a pocket of it installed into her fake lips, so that she could just blow on her lips and out would come a cloud of death. It was a one-shot use, though. The bottle of it in her bag was just in case she couldn't easily use it.

If she needed another weapon, she would have to steal it off of someone else. Not hard, if you could just turn invisible whenever you wanted. So, she entered the party after another search check from the hotel staff, who used just Omni-tool based scanners to check the guests. She was allowed through with some scrutiny, but the hotel staff were just trying to get people through and into the party.

The party itself was amazing. Buffet tables full of food, labeled by race and which could eat other types of food. The Asari buffet was filled with all kinds of goods, and the human buffet tables were labeled by which colony they had come from. Earth, obviously, had the largest amount of variety, along with a wetbar. Hannah decided that would be the first place she wanted to go, but then remembered that the film that covered her lip's poison sac could break down if she drank alcohol. Drat.

Still, she got a drink and some food as she scoped out the area. It was nice to see all of the people of different races all standing together. She even saw some Turians talking with humans. That was a start. Asari were in all of the different groups, mingling freely and doing very little of the talking. Her target wasn't in view yet. But she did see Jack Harper. He was surrounded by all sorts of people, with Henry right next to him. Henry's wife and some blonde woman were right next to them.

Then she saw David Anderson. That was not someone she wanted to tangle with. She had worked with him during his training, and he was sharp. Very capable. The bulge against his shoulder was definitely not a hold-out pistol. No, there was no way she was getting close to Jack tonight. She had hoped she could freak him out again, but there was no chance to get close or risk it.

Then she noticed that there was another circle of people right next to Jack's circle. She saw the President of the Alliance there, along with a few other important political figures. Donovan Hock was right there in the middle of them. Naturally, he was in the most secure location in the room. Asari commandos and Alliance security agents prowled all around, and the Alliance agents were the only ones who weren't dressed for the occasion. They had on low profile sets of armor. The commandos looked almost like the Asari you found in night clubs, except without the aura of sleeziness.

She slipped off to one side of the chambers, where many of the Asari had avoided. This was mostly due to the amount of humans and Salarian guests clogging the area, and the lack of food tables. Here was where many of the security patrols made their connection point, and mingled. Small rooms were off to the side, and some of them were filled. One at least was stuffed to the gills with STG. There was no reason for that many Salarians to be piled into a room without them to be involved. Or at least that is what she would like to believe. They all had their Omni-tools out and had haptic feeds listed across the walls of the room.

The next room that had people in it was the farthest away from the Salarian room. She activated her Omni-tool for a moment, sending out a small drone. Salarians would notice any kind of wrongdoing technologically, and just that with their natural vision. Their eyes could take in far more detail than human eyes could. But the voices she heard in this room were female, and either human or Asari.

The drone slipped underneath the closed door. She kept walking, finding a nice spot to hide. This was not the first drone she had deployed that night. The first she had dropped on some middle wageworker for the hotel, but that drone had revealed nothing of note. Another had ended up on a Turian's drink and on an Elcor. Still, nothing of use. This one she hoped would at least reveal something.

" _I told you to be subtle, you fool!"_

" _You promised me an invitation to this mess."_

" _I did send you it. If you were too ignorant to notice it, then you should have told me."_

" _No invitation came. I came anyways. You said this job was important?"_

" _To the extreme. What I am worried about is that there is another Mirala running around out there. Someone else is planning something." The sound of a slap came through the drone. "Don't smirk like you're enjoying this. I didn't create this alias so you could just_ er'asha _all over it! You'll go out there and do your job. Don't screw this up."_

" _Fine, Vasir. You'll get your mark. Just make sure that vent shaft is open after the security seals slam down."_

Two Asari emerged from the room, one of them dressed in commando gear. She had a long red stripe down the front of her face, while the other was dressed in a normal dress for an Asari, and her face was devoid of markings. It was pale, and had bizarre freckles around the edge of the face. Pale eyes completed the set, and no weapons were visible. Biotics would be enough. Hannah just let them walk by, but sent her drone to attach to one of them, while she sent another to attach to the Asari in commando gear.

She let them walk on before standing up, planning on following them for a while. Perhaps she could get one of them to create a distraction for her to get close to her target. That was interrupted when she felt a clawed hand dig into her wrist and push her towards one of the rooms. It wasn't the same one that the Asari were in, but it was full already. A single Turian was in the room, his Omni-tool active and open.

"That will be enough Corporal. Just secure the door for now, and I will let you know when to come back in." The Turian said with a higher-chirping accent of Turian. But she knew the face. "Sit down, you and I have much to talk about." Said Pontus Vakarian, a mini turret deployed on the wall facing her and watching her every move. She of course chose to sit down, sharing the table space with the detective.

* * *

Jack had been assured by James that he had the location of his children's Omni-tools and was intercepting them before they could get to the Citadel. He had recruited Charles to get on the STG and stop them from doing everything they wanted to. That was keeping him busy, and the young man had a mouth to him.

"You think you can steal  _that?_ " "I wouldn't want to steal that! No one wants a cheap Fornax account! You don't need to care about that! You-" A small gasp went over the line. "Oooh, That kind of crap belongs on the extranet. I'll upload that rather than let you use it."

Jack was in the middle of an extremely boring conversation with some Slovakian politician who had some family tradition of being at the right place at the right time. Something about being there when the Alliance was first formed, as well as his father being there when Slovakia gained its independence from Russia yet again. He was in the middle of describing some other relative's experience when his Omni-tool chimed loudly.

"Excuse me a moment. I have to take this." He said, being as short as possible while still being polite. This man was still one of the people on the Naval Committee, so he merited at least a small amount of politeness. "What's going on?"

" _Omni-tools were abandoned in a shuttle. The girls never left the Sol system. They're somewhere else!"_ James' voice came over the comm. " _They must have left their tools on this shuttle. It came from Earth and then stopped at Arcturus. The pilot says he was shipping freight, and didn't notice any kids when he stopped at Arcturus."_

"Perfect. It means they could be anywhere. Did the shuttle stop at Home?" Home being Tartarus, in this case.

" _Connected in London. Commercial Spaceport. Lax security on it compared to the civilian transportation hub. So I don't know how they got off the station, or how they got it all to happen."_

"Thanks James. I'll try to figure out more from our end." He switched channels, hearing some ribald swearing coming from the new line. "Charles!"

The swearing cut off. " _Uhm, yes?"_

"I need you to multitask. My daughters created an elaborate plan and are trying to distract me away from some other objective. I need you to find out what's going on. I cannot leave here early." He saw a familiar face approaching, coming directly at him. It was not a face that he wanted to see. "I have to go. Find out what happened with my daughters in addition to slowing down the STG."

" _Wha? I can't… I'll try…?"_

"Update me on your progress. Or else." He cut off the connection as the Asari that had him worried walked towards a group of people in conversation. She wasn't coming for him, but it was enough to have him worried. Morinth, Ardat-Yakshi and supposedly hiding in the Terminus systems, was at his party. He hadn't given her an invitation, which meant that someone else from the Council invitations had invited her. She was conversing politely with some aide from one of the Turians. Jack, removed from conversation already, took a moment to head for the lifts. He needed to figure out what she was doing here.

He couldn't exactly get caught hacking security records from the main floor. The STG were observing everyone here, and he knew it. He had to get out of the range of whatever drones they had here. He grabbed a drink from a table and walked into the lift, the shiny Ritz-Carlton symbol glinting as he walked in. He was about to pull up his Omni-tool when the lift filled with two more people. Looking up, he saw the bemused face of Jones and the bored one of Anderson.

"What spooked you, Harper?" Jones asked. "You don't run away from an opportunity to move up in the world unless you feel threatened."

He decided that they merited at least a cordial response. "My daughters decided to scare me and go off the detection grid. I can't find them. I thought I had found them, but it turns out that they had dropped their Omni-tools and the tracking devices that were enclosed in them. So, my daughters are loose on earth, and are some of the most highly valued human biotics that exist. I doubt you can help me find them, but if you do so it will be appreciated."

Jones looked actually concerned. "I'll contact Central Offices, see if they have seen them. They are under our watch as well, and the fact that they haven't been heard from is surprising."

Anderson gave a grunt. "Were you going to use your own methods?"

Jack nodded. "I have trust issues. As well as authority issues. I don't ask for help and I don't expect it. Nor do I thank them when help is given, as that would create an expectation or favor-barter system."

"We try not to ask him for anything in return." Jones sniped. "So, you're going to try to find your daughters from here?"

"Yes. Any other questions?"

The lift suddenly stopped, and the emergency lights came on. "For the record, I didn't do that. Nor do I have any hatred for the Intelligence Office." Total lie, but for the record it was alright.

"For the record, we tolerate you better than some of the other megalomaniacal nutjobs we have under surveillance. But that doesn't earn you any kind of right to flirt with me or make my life harder."

"Deal. Plus, you have nothing I want to flirt with. Anderson has real arms, after all." Jack leaned down to the control panel, and found it to be very difficult to open. It wasn't designed to be messed with, after all. "Anderson, I believe the hotel is going into a security lockdown. All extranet access is locked out, and comms are limited. I don't have any backup communication methods right now. Are you armed?"

Anderson nodded, pulling out a gun barrel and a larger section that would have to be the firing mechanism. A darker than normal metal ammo block was fitted in as well. It took him a moment to get the pistol put together. "The metal block will take some time to set in place. The ammo mechanism on this depends on it being at a specific temperature before firing."

"Isn't that one of the Markov lines we developed for the First Contact War?"

Anderson shrugged. "Found it in a salvage dump. But it can go through armor like nothing else."

Many of the other races had their nasty weapons, and this was one of the ones banned after the war. It fired out slightly larger 'tracer' rounds from the barrel, which would then continue to burn until all of the material cooled down from the extremely high temperature. That would occur long after it would be buried inside of someone's armor, or destabilizing heavy armor pieces. It was also quite illegal, which was probably why Anderson had all of the pieces separated.

"I think we need to get back to my party. I can pay for any damages to the elevator." He pointed at the access panel. "I need access to here."

"What about the emergency call button?" Jones asked. She motioned towards the red sphere. "Don't trust the hotel staff?"

"For all I know, my daughters are the ones who are bleeding out somewhere. Waiting for some security patrol to come and unlock the elevator would be worse than torture."

"I'll talk to them then, goodness." Jones muttered, pressing the button and reaching past both of them. With the up close view of her shoulder, he could see some sort of cybernetic joint holding it all together. Her skin there was definitely synthetic, and didn't do a great job of hiding the joint. "Hello?"

" _Our lines are currently busy. The system VI would like to remind all patrons of the Ritz-Carlton to make their way to emergency exits calmly and carefully. Please stay out of the way of emergency workers. Thank you for your patience."_

Jones just glared at the button. "Anderson, please shoot the elevator."

Anderson nodded, bringing up the heavy pistol and carefully aligning it with the screws that held the panel in place. "It'll take less than a minute."

"So, after we get out of the elevator, what then?"

"I figure out who shot up my party and humiliated me." He nodded to himself. "Then I figure out what happened to my daughters. So help me, if they are harmed at all I'll have to convince you to kill someone."

Anderson even gave a smirk at that. "Panel is open."

Jack muttered about how hard it was to have a party that didn't end with someone getting shot at. The panel had a simple connection port system to override the elevator. It took him a moment to bypass the system, as he was out of practice, but it popped open and the full diagnostic screen appeared. He pressed the button that would send the elevator back to the lobby, causing the panel to glow green and activate the elevator's motion.

Sadly there was no satisfying  _ding_  when the doors opened. There was only Anderson, who pushed out of the doors to scope out the situation. Jones was right behind him, holding up her Omni-tool and scanning for contaminants. It checked out as green, so Jack walked forward. Anderson and Jones stayed by him, oddly.

He walked directly to the security station that had been placed along one wall. He didn't need to be too close to hear what was going on.

"He needs medical attention! Override the security protocols, we need to get him out of here!"

"But the murderer is still in the building! We can't let them escape!"

"It could have just been a neurological response, there might not have been a murder involved."

"Assume the worst until proven wrong, cadet! Now tell me where the rest of my team is!"

"They're supposed to be in one of the side rooms over here, I'll go get them!"

C-sec agents were crawling all over the security station, with hotel security staff pushed off to the side. The one yelling loudest was an older female Turian with some sort of discoloration on some of her scales. He recognized her as the current Executor for the entire C-sec force. A younger Turian was running towards one of the side rooms, his armor pristine. When he got to one of the doors, he held up his talons to his mandibles, and then did the Turian version of gagging. The mandibles would extend to their furthest point outward, and then a hacking sound filled with chirps would emerge.

The younger one started staggering back to the security station, holding himself together. Jack marched his way to the doorway, not knowing what to expect. Seeing the dead bodies of two Turians wasn't unexpected. Seeing Pontus Vakarian covered in his own blood with an engorged throat was. The other Turian looked to have been shot, and the murder weapon was still in the hands of Pontus Vakarian. But the death that Pontus was going through Jack recognized immediately. Acute allergic reaction and bleeding from within the lungs. Caused by metal shards being shoved inside the lungs and some sort of poison or asphyxiate. Hannah's trademark.

But where was Hannah? "Grisly. Anyone else feeling like I'm losing money on the buffet?"

Jones motioned to a stretcher being carried by some of the BlackWatch Turian soldiers that had been placed in the party as security. Over twenty of them were here now, and only eight had been allowed in. But they were walking with weapons out in the open, ready to shoot at anything that could interfere with their motion towards the rear entrance. There was one body on the stretcher, with long robes that hung down far on the wrists. "Someone killed the Turian Councillor."

Jack visibly winced. That was not what this party was intended to do. Now the races were going to be at each other's throats, and all the good work he had just done to try to bring the Humans and Batarians closer together was going to go down the drain. "Someone get the reporters on this. Camera shots, anything. Jones, figure out if any attempts were made on any Humans, get a headcount." He brought out his Omni-tool and listed her as an emergency contact for the next six hours. "Get me a press conference and get Anita Goyle into it. Get the President as far from this as possible, and make sure that the Batarian contingent and reporters are also invited. Fostering any goodwill that we have left is paramount."

"Why do you care so much about the Batarians? Aren't we in the process of trying to kill them all?" Anderson asked.

"Because they are the most like us in terms of politics and territory. If the Batarians ever became our allies, we would all be able to see past this war that the other races forced us into and realize that we are being lead around by the nose." Jack started, and then cut off as he noticed one of the party guests approaching. "Balak! Good to see that you are still here."

Balak M'Dorme was wearing a black and orange garishly colored set of robes, marking him as a Batarian emissary. Batarian society didn't have a difference between military and civilian at the highest levels. If you held a position in government, you also had a military ranking, and that was non negotiable. All of the military was bound to certain castes, meaning that all of the producers and providers were stuck in the lower classes, and couldn't enter the military or move up in the world. If they sold their children into slavery, they could theoretically become the soldier caste if they lived through their lives long enough. Their children would have the chance to become part of the soldier caste, which meant that at best a lesser caste member could possibly sell a child into slavery to move them higher in the caste system.

But they had to be free and not born into the lesser slavery castes themselves first. Batarian caste system was awkward like that. Slaves that were successful in getting out of the lowest caste levels could have their children become freedmen, and then their grandchildren could be sold as slaves into the middle slave castes, which after two or three more generations might have the chance of being born into the actual military caste. So, over the course of ten generations a slave could expect to overcome it all. Though by being sold into slavery they break all ties with their family, it made it rather hard to keep the same goal going.

Balak was one of those middle caste members, who were lucky enough to be effective in the military at birth and rose up in the ranks as far as he could. Theoretically his grandchildren might live to see a rank higher, but at this point he had advanced in their society as far as he could by birth. He was content in his position, a rare trait in most Batarians. All he had to worry about now were upstarts wanting to replace him. "Harper. I stayed in the hopes that you could give me the codes to unlock your ship. I just recently bought it from the Officer's auction, and saw that it once belonged to you."

"You bought my  _Talon_?" Jack almost laughed. "I doubt it would be as useful as current technology, or what you yourselves could produce."

"I bought it because the SID doesn't have any observation software in it. Useful for everyone involved. I flaunt a human ship that was rightfully stolen, and I can express my pride in my race without betraying any feelings I have. Then I find out that the central computer is still active, but uses a Salarian bypass device to make everything run. As you were the previous owner, I hope you still have the password on file."

Jack laughed. "Set your Omni-tool to record. The password is an audio file. With the communication blocks currently in place, I can't transfer data right now."

Balak started a chattering laugh when he heard the audio file of Amandeep singing his Urdu music. Jack happily joined him, getting the attention of people around them who were trying to evacuate. He hoped it was memorable. Balak, when the audio file finished, still was making strange noises that equated to brutish guffaws with their biology. "That is a creative password. My thanks to you."

"Always a pleasure to see someone familiar. Or at least familiar enough to consider me friendly."

Balak gave him a needle-toothed grin. "In our society, you would be a fine General. Your mastery of our tongue gives me great respect. I have prepared a location for your request, Harper. Message me when you are ready." Balak gave a long glance at Anderson, and his obvious armament. "May your enemies come before your face rather than your back."

Jones and Anderson were translating using their Omni-tools, so were behind in the conversation. But that last line would definitely throw them off. As the entire conversation had been in Batarian, the translation must have sounded terrible. It was natural to have some levels of miscommunication between languages, but in Batarian it was almost like comparing English to Arabic. "May your enemies fear your passing." Jack returned, giving the answer as an equal.

Balak smirked, giving him a nod before walking away. It was a measure of friendship that he turned his back on Jack before breaking eye contact. Jack waved, a very Human act of expression. Jones was giving him a strange look, and Anderson was still giving Balak a questioning look when Jack finally turned around to face them. "One day, the Batarians might be a worthier ally than the Council. If that might happen, I will be in a position to profit from that."

"Or betray the Alliance and run off to them." Anderson said. Jones gave him a sharp look. "You shouldn't be surprised at some of the things that people say about you."

Jack wasn't. "Behind the Batarians, I am sure that they will be mentioning the Quarians as well. After that, the Asari. Am I correct?"

"Everything but Turians and Volus have been mentioned. Or hinted at." Jones confirmed. "Part of the reason the official types are worried about you. You consort with rogue elements of the Asari government, you avoid Turians at all costs, and you seem to combat Salarian STG teams rather than helping them do their job."

"I can remind you that STG teams are also the ones who disabled SkyNET when they tried to create a competing form of Omni-tool VI system. As well as their attempts to get into Sirta? No, the STG are not my friends. Nor should I trust them with my concerns. If we had a common foe, then I would be much more willing to assist them."

"This is the kind of comment that keeps you on surveillance, Jack. Maybe you should change your tune." Jones said. Anderson probably agreed. But their opinion didn't truly matter in the grand scheme of things. Someone like them would never be able to see the entire picture until it was too late.

"Great. Your trust in me so far has netted the Human race more friends than enemies. Sadly if any of the Quarians had been willing to attend a party with the Council attending, then this could have been even more of a political nightmare. Go organize some sort of press response, make sure that we aren't implicated. Anderson, make sure that Jones isn't hampered. Most people won't see the cybernetic arms or the threat they pose in a panic like this."

"What are you going to do?"

"Go Find Johann and make sure that he knows I am going to pay him back for the elevator." Or perhaps get clearance from C-sec to be removed from the list of people whose Omni-tools were blocked. That seemed to be a much more effective plan. He couldn't see Hock in the confusion, but he hoped that he was dead or dying. He would only create trouble if he kept on living.

"Excuse me, Executor?" He spoke up, pushing past the line of expectant C-sec officers. "A moment of your attention, please?" The party, as expected, was a gigantic political nightmare. Not an unexpected result. His daughters and their agenda now concerned him.

* * *

Hannah Shepard watched as the Turian she had heard was hunting her got comfortable across the table. More importantly, his turret stayed focused on her. She kept that in mind as the Turian across from her leaned forward, his Omni-tool out and actively recording data.

"What is your name?"

"I have a lawyer, you know. I am sure they would love to hear that I was unlawfully dragged into some room to be questioned during a party."

"Your lawyer would be a topic of interest, considering I've caught one of your drones already. After seeing you deploy others, I decided to pull you aside for questioning."

"I have a personal invitation from-"

"Your invitation corresponds to an alias for a known chaotic element that we have been observing. No photo is provided, and seeing you dropping drones and being of some considerable curiosity, I decided to ask you some questions."

Hannah's skinsuit was not prepared for such an in depth investigation. At some point he would notice something and the jig would be up. Worse, he might be able to detect the vials of poisonous gasses she had in her handbag. "I would like to request my lawyer be here before I answer anything."

Pontus centered his eyes on her. "You think you are above the law, don't you. You can't stand the younger lived races trying to order you around, eh?" He slammed a claw onto the table. "You're just taking advantage of the system! If I could only see who you really are, and bring you in… Oh, you Asari always preach about peace, but you have the longest lives. Some of you are worse than Krogan Warlords, and have even more crimes attached to your name. Don't think you can just hide behind an alias and expect your crimes to go unnoticed. Are you connected to  _Eriasha_?"

"I don't eve-"

"Your hands have too thick of skin. That means you must have had them rebuilt, the skin reconstructed. Sometimes the new skin comes on too thickly, making the skin bunch up on the wrists." He grabbed her wrist, his taloned claw holding it tightly. "An Asari with burnt hands just recently was held responsible for a massacre of an entire village. If I tear this skin off, I wager that you'll have the same burn marks." His grip tightened. She had to act, but she needed some sort of distraction that would protect her from either the Turian or the turret.

Her answer came in the form of a loud alarm going off. Hannah watched as the lights shifted to red, and the turret that was observing her went into a different mode. It started moving back and forth across the room, obviously starting some sort of passive scan. She could hear some sort of shouting outside, and screaming from multiple races. This was her opportunity.

She pulled the Turian towards her, biting her lip. His talons cut through the synthskin and right into her own, piercing through and making her wrist start bleeding. He noticed the red blood, not blue, pouring from the wound.

"Human!" He said, right as she released the gas pocket in her lip, spraying him with the all purpose killing gas. He realized what she did immediately, trying to press something on his Omni-tool. It was easy to hold his hands apart from each other, watching as he started to choke. To further take advantage, she cloaked and jumped across the table, seeing the health warnings spraying from his Omni-tool. Using a foot to hold down the Omni-tool hand, she tapped the 'ignore' button. The warning passed, and she could hear the flange of choking coming from Pontus' throat. She had heard this before, from all of the other Turians she had killed this way. It took only seconds before their muscles would start failing to pump oxygenated blood back into their lungs, and with each passing moment less and less oxygen would flow into their appendages.

The secondary murder method kicked in, as the flakes of aluminum carved up Pontus' lungs and trachea. Turians were lizard-like, which meant that their blood was even more dependent upon oxygen to flow and keep them working. She could feel the strength leaving his fingers, her wrist freely bleeding. His talons had gone through her synthskin all over, leaving streaks of pale skin showing through. Her dress didn't have any sleeves, so it was going to be impossible to hide this. There was no leaving through traditional methods. She still had drones on the two Asari that she had been listening to, and one of them mentioned an exit strategy.

While cloaked, she spun around behind Pontus, and settled in to wait for his support unit to come in. When the medical alert went out, the other C-sec officer came back in to check on them. He saw Pontus coughing himself to death and no sign of the Asari. He checked the corners, and then ran up to Pontus to save him.

Hannah almost felt bad for him as she brought up Pontus' pistol in his own hand and fired it. It took every single shot to take him down, as Hannah could only aim so well manipulating someone's dying fingers. But the gun finally overheated, the heat sink screaming. Hannah liberated some medigel from Pontus, and tried to not think about the last quaking rattles that his body went through as it died. She was able to close up the wounds on her wrist, but there was red blood covering her arm and ripped skin all over. At least he didn't scratch up her face.

Taking a deep breath and trying to shake off the feeling of panic, she looked down at the Omni-tool on Pontus' wrist. She didn't have anything to EMP or destroy it, but she could at least try to hack it. The OSD was locked into the device, and couldn't be pulled out. She had nothing that could help here. But at least the Omni-tool didn't capture any actual images of her. She brought up her own, seeing that her drones were active still. Pontus noticed one of them, so somehow he had a really nice detection system on his tool.

Her two Asari had split, one of them near the main doors and the other moving through the kitchens. That was an easy decision, as the main entrance would be crawling with people. She made all of the drones that were previously placed except for the one on her Asari disable themselves and head to the nearest trash can. They would be picked up by Citadel Cleaning Services and disappear. The only remaining active one she followed, keeping under her cloaking system and quietly moving through the edges of the room.

Jack is going to be pissed, was the main thought running through her mind. She killed someone and didn't kill Hock. Not that she had a chance to, but she wasn't left with a lot of choices. She still didn't know what caused the panic outside, but it made the difference.

The kitchens were sprawling, large, and empty. Everyone had evacuated. She could see that one of the storage closets had been opened, or left unlocked, and that was where her target went. Inside she could see one of the racks of food had been pushed aside, and one of the Keeper access tunnels was open. Barely open, but the door wasn't perfectly flush with the wall. Hannah pulled it open, seeing a tunnel that she had to crouch to go into, and no layers of dust. Normally dust and other detritus built up in places like this. It was just sort of wrong to see it not here.

Though Hannah was able to pull the door shut, this time she locked it. Her drone was ahead a few hundred feet, almost near the Zakera Ward docks. It had stopped moving, so she slowed down. She wasn't sure what security systems were active down here, and she didn't want to find out. She disabled her cloaking device, letting it start to recharge some. Her shoes clicked, so she took them off and picked them up. When she did so, she could hear something else in the vents.

She cloaked immediately, and stood stock still. The pitter patter of feet and claws moved closer, until she saw a small group of children run past. They wore clothing that looked baggy or out of place, and had no shoes. They didn't seem to be checking their route for dangerous people, nor did they check the turns for other threats. Strange. But as children they could function easily in the four and a half foot tall space. She shook her head and waited for them to keep moving, before moving on herself. The tunnels were somewhat straight, and easy to find exits from. Finding one that let out near where her drone was located was harder to find.

But once she did find it she was able to slip back out into the populated wards. That felt better, for some reason. Super long empty tunnels were just creepy. She had emerged from her exit onto some upper deck that was above the shopping center of the Zakera Ward docks. She walked along the upper deck, not seeing stairs to get down. Though she did see a couple more of those kids, mostly Turian and Human. She also saw some strange creatures that were just moving around seemingly doing things to the walls and floors. They had bulbous bodies and didn't care about anyone or anything moving around.

Up ahead, she could see the kids fighting over something. She recognized it immediately as the dress that the Asari was wearing. Her drone was attached to it. She decloaked, hoping it would scare the kids. With a few screeches, they all got spooked.

"Give that to me." She said, acting as if she had a pistol in her handbag.

"Whatever you want, scary lady!"

"Tell me where you found this!" She yelled at them, prompting pointing fingers towards a doorway to the left. "Many thanks." She told them, having heard Asari thank people like that before. She carried the dress, as well as the drone that was attached to it, through the doorway. Past it was another system of catwalks, leading directly to the docks. She cloaked, on principle. Sure enough, at the far end of the catwalks was the Asari that she had been meaning to follow.

She was dressed in more casual clothing this time, pants instead of some flashy dress. At her hip was a nice standard issue pistol of the Asari military, some curved weapon that looked like it belonged on a wall of an art museum. But their people were so good with technology that they could make their weapons look beautiful and still be more effective than any others made in the galaxy.

Staying invisible was the right thing to do right now. She had to grab hold of a power conduit to stay that way, but she waited. Within an hour of waiting, the other Asari emerged from the shadows to approach.

"Morinth! Did anyone see you?"

Morinth, or Mirala, whatever she called herself, shrugged. "One chef that doesn't remember anything. One guard that only remembers some walking cleavage. Humans are so easily distracted that I didn't even need to use my biotics."

"Humans are the reason you just killed the Turian Councillor." The second Asari said with venom. "The councillor was getting Human-happy. He was starting to talk about expanding reparations. Giving them a Spectre…"

"You just don't want to work with any of them, do you?"

"Humans are worse than the Batarians, and you've seen what they are capable of. Sai'pai'rda even told you that Humans were the greatest threat to our race." She threw some sort of credit chit at Morinth. "Get out of here. Return back to the  _Eriasha_  and keep working on things. You aren't even supposed to be here anyways."

"Fine, fine. Next time you need someone killed with just a glance, you know who to call. I'll tell Sai'pai'rda you said hello."

Morinth slipped into another one of the airducts, and the second Asari started walking back where she came from, leaving Hannah alone. She waited a little while, until the coast was clear. Only a few of those bulbous alien workers came by, and perhaps another group of kids moved through the vents nearby. She thought she heard laughter.

"Well, now I know who killed the Turian Councillor. Can I profit from that?" The resounding answer was no. "Well, maybe Jack would like to know about all this. Maybe he will actually pay me the full price."

But then again, she had no proof that this Asari killed them. Still, something bad was going on. She plugged  _Eriasha_  and  _Sai'pai'rda_  into the extranet, but they didn't return anything useful.  _Eriasha_  was some sort of Asari word for poetry, but archaic. The funny thing was that Pontus had mentioned it before she killed him, as well.

Hannah put all of that behind her, figuring that all of this was not her concern. She could sell the information to Jack, he would pay her, and she could finally afford the doctor bill she had been waiting to be able to afford. With that in mind, she started walking towards the nearest public transportation hub, so that she could go to one of the safehouses that she could get this skinsuit off at. She was tired of looking like an Asari.

* * *

Author's Note

I wanted to introduce skinsuits a bit. They were partially explained in the chapter, but what I would like to explain further is their cost. Creating synthetic skin and blood networks is really intensive on a 3D printing system, even the ones as advanced as Omni-Fabricators. It takes something industrial to be able to produce something that detailed, as well as a bunch of ingredients that are the subject of some scrutiny. Making fake Asari blood vessels and element zero nodules in the same layering is extremely expensive, especially for something that will only be used for a few hours. Still, this is a technology that in the right hands could do some damage. Synthetic skin is something that we can do right now. Synthetic neurons and capillaries, feasible.

I would appreciate all of your thoughts and comments on how you think things are going at this time. I apologize for the late update, again, but life got in the way. Thankfully I don't have kids, yet. But right now I appreciate the chance to indulge in my hobby of writing. As well as skiing and such.

Someone recently messaged me, asking me to write a story that belonged on a very different site. It brings up a topic that I was asked about. I don't write lemony scenes or sex scenes or what not. They are the topic of conversation about certain characters, and yes sex is a natural expression of most sentient races. That does not mean I will write a detailed scene of that nature. Logical Premise, another awesome author who is linked in my profile, has a similar outlook. Sex is something that is a topic that may need to be mentioned but does not need to be the central focus to make a fan fiction amazing. It can add flavor and fun, but Living and Indoctrinated Dream is very much focused on different aspects of life. Thank you all for your support and taking the time to read. For anyone expecting anything super steamy, this would be your wake up call.


	26. Fugue: Birthdays and Batarians

Chapter 26

Jack was gripping the navigation controls tightly as they came cruising into the Sol system. After hosting a press conference and dealing with political fallout, he had a nice dinner with Anita Goyle. She hosted them at some fancy apartment on the Citadel, and took up a few hours of his time apologizing about the terrible mess that had occurred at his party. That burned up most of a day, and he was exhausted by the time the  _Acheron_  was able to pick him up and get him off the cursed Citadel.

He had slept for almost six hours, purposely turning off his news feed and VI-assisted search tools that would warn him about bad press. They were tweeting before he even sat in his chair, with all kinds of news stories assuming conspiracy theories and that this was all planned. What was most stinging was that Councillor Sparatus had been mostly hateful of humans, but was also willing to see past their faults and was the one who originally offered the Spectre membership to Humanity.

The Salarian Councillor was vehemently against any kind of profit for Humanity, as their racial traits far surpassed their own. They felt threatened, and with good reason. Humans had hormones, innovation, and drive to succeed. Salarians were very procedural and would take their time to do anything or move their society forward. The Asari Councillor was old, and very traditional. She would be getting the sack soon, but news reports said it might be immediately, in response to the death of the young Councillor Sparatus.

When he had woken up, the extranet had gone wild with stories and guessing. The Turian government hadn't blamed anyone for the attack, and instead was claiming that Sparatus had suffered from sudden trauma related to an old injury. No one was being blamed for his death, and the Turians generally sticked to their original story. It was one of the reasons that they didn't deal well with the truce brokered by the Asari. They had mobilized for war, and were ready to dig in and win the fight. A stubborn race, for certain. He was confident that they would suspect him of wrongdoing for the rest of his life, but they wouldn't accuse him of the death or any involvement in it.

Thankfully President Swartz and the few members of his cabinet that came weren't harmed. They had a pleasant evening, and he owed a ridiculous amount of money to Johann. Apparently he had to pay for all of the related damages from the party. As well as the cost of damage from C-sec brutally searching every room in the building and breaking open crates and boxes. So he had to pull from certain investments to pay Johann, and to pay his next installment to Donovan Hock, who was still alive. That was a depressing fact to wake up to.

Hannah had failed. Surveillance was increased, and his Omni-tool got infected with Malware at some point. So he needed an entirely new one, and had to move the information over carefully. That dominated his time as they moved through the Sol system.

" _Jack! I found 'em!"_  Charles called over the wireless.

"Have you confirmed and verified that they are there?" Jack asked.

"DNA samples came in, Jones just sent you an update. They're in France, about fifty miles northwest of Paris. They somehow borrowed a car and drove it out there. Or someone took them out there. No shuttles allowed to fly in the area or anything like that. It's one of those French Protected Zones. We'll need to rent a ground car."

Jack grunted. France had its quirks. One of them was that there were certain areas that were illegal to fly in, for the sake of plants or atmosphere. Their precious cultural treasures had to be protected. To do that, they had hydrogen fueled ground cars specifically invented to cater to the parts of France that were unreachable. There were very few areas that you could fly in France, and as such the airways were packed very tightly. So navigating traffic and finding a place to park a yacht sized ship was nearly impossible on short notice.

They had to park up in his parking spot near Tartarus. Then had to take a shuttle, and fly to the spaceport outside of Paris. From there, they had to rent a groundcar. Sadly, Jack had to be the one to drive. He spent a lot of time in France a decade and a half back, and got a groundcar permit. James didn't speak French, which invalidated any attempt to get a license. So, Jack had to drive through the frustratingly narrow and curving roads of France. It took hours to get fifty miles, first due to traffic and then due to being pulled over for speeding just outside of Paris. He really didn't care, but during the time that the cop pulled him over, he watched as nearly a hundred ground cars passed him as he was being held hostage by the cop.

James was completely professional in the side seat, not commenting when the cop demanded his information as well. He made no jokes, nods, or otherwise disrespectful actions when Jack pulled away from the cop. He gritted his teeth, and drove up into the hills. "Charles, please tell me you've narrowed down where they are."

"There is some sort of jamming device, probably just local. Possibly one of the ones set by the French government to disrupt tight beam signals. But It's hard to get a good reading on where they are." Charles was in the back seat, Omni-tool out and working overtime. He looked tired, but was working through everything.

"Can you narrow it down?" Jack asked with as much patience as he could muster. It wasn't much. "Otherwise I'll have to call Jones and I'll be in the news twice in the same week for something offensive. Not preferred."

"I can safely say that it's somewhere in the surrounding hills. The signal pops up every so often and gives me an idea of where they are. They might be on the move, or something. But I have a direction and an idea of where they are."

Jack proceeded to watch the sunset as they drove out into the countryside, the frustration giving way to open rage. James had stopped talking completely, and was just keeping the map updated on the console of the groundcar to keep himself busy. Charles was focusing on where to go, and was looking tired.

"Wait, I've got something coming through! Turn right here!" The old road had a sign, written on wood and in old French. He didn't bother stopping to read it, and just shot down the pathway. If his daughters were missing, he had in the car two Engineer types and a heavy pistol. It wasn't much but if they were heavily armed speed was more important than firepower. If his daughters had been kidnapped, he would come in fast and retrieve them. If the area was too difficult to do that, then he would call in reinforcements. Which would mean press.

The road became covered in cobblestone, the ground car rumbling over them and forcing him to go slowly so that he didn't break anything or get thrown off the tiny twisting road. There were lamp posts every twenty meters, lighting up the segments of cobbled road. The trees on either side of the road blocked off some of the light that was being given off by them, making the only source of light being the cheap hydrogen powered lights of the ground car. Due to laws against light glare, lights on vehicles had to be dimmed in France. The ground car's lights only showed enough to barely discern the turns in the road. Even with that, Jack turned them down, so that they wouldn't have any chance of glare.

With the GPS map, he could direct the car anyways. He could have used a VI to do it, but that might get attention. No matter how good a VI or AI could be, Jack always trusted real human hands behind the wheel. Nothing could beat gut feelings and the natural ability of Humanity. When he had ordered EDI to be made, it had been with the understanding that her directives and design were meant for fighting Reapers. Fighting them in the way that only a synthetic neural link could handle. He didn't design an AI to drive or pilot. They had plenty of people and cheap labor to hire who could do that.

He tried not to lose focus as he swung around the tight turns, the road thinning out near the bottom of a hill. He could finally see some sort of building up ahead, with old stone plinths rising up in front of a large home. The lights were off, as it was somewhat late at night. Jack stopped the car here.

"Is there any other homes on this property?"

"Nope. If she is here, she is inside there. Orbital images say that this building has a few entrances. Three on this side."

"Which one looks unsecured?" Jack asked, putting the car off to the side of the road and facing it back the way they came. If they were going to have to leave, the car would be helpful to have facing the right direction. He dropped the octave and volume of his voice, noticing some electronic equipment in the area. The house was maybe fifty feet from where he had parked, and up a long hill. He could see depressions in the classical European architecture that might be doors. "I'm blacking out the sensors. We need to get in there soon."

Once he engaged his white-noise and sensor jammer, someone would realize that something was wrong and take interest. Jack figured that he didn't have much time left to act. All of this was so unplanned, so unlike his normal methods that he felt extremely uncomfortable. Normally he would stalk his target like some sort of disgusting extranet predator, finding out all of their weaknesses and points of interest. Once established that he could take out the person indirectly, he would take that route. If the target needed his direct touch, then things got complicated.

This, though, this was pure impulse. Time sensitive, little to no information to go on. "There is a door on the left side of that domed section." James pointed, looking at his Omni-tool.

"James, who owns this place?" That might help.

"I couldn't tell you. No name is listed. But someone is certainly living here." French records were extremely thorough. If no name was listed, that meant that this was someone who didn't want to be found or an abandoned estate that was being held by another owner anonymously. But something stank here.

"We're going in. Guns out, Biotics ready. Charles, I want you to overheat anyone keeping the girls secure. James, go last and cover us. I'll take point." Jack had two different kinetic barriers in place. He felt like he would need them. Jack then pulled out his completely illegal jamming device, and fired it off. He could hear the popping noises of a few devices going off, especially in their car. Once that had fired, he started running. James and Charles were right behind him, sprinting their way up the hill.

That turned out to be mostly mud and ivy, but they managed to make it up in a relatively short amount of time. He was getting mud all over his patent leather shoes, but he ignored that in favor of the thought of getting his daughters out of here. The door was locked, but that was easily solved, via Charles.

Jack then carefully scraped all of the mud off of the bottom of his shoes, to avoid any noise that would follow inside the house. James and Charles did the same, Charles only after seeing them doing so. Once he was sure that the shoes would be quiet, he went inside the door. The inside was a small storage room, and must have been at one time a greenhouse or tea room. He ignored any detritus and moved through to the other side, where a door sat open. It connected to the room with a dome, which was dark.

He could hear someone talking, though. He carefully inched to the door, and could see some silhouettes in the middle of the chamber. Then the lights all came on, partially blinding him.

"Happy Birthday!" Jack blinked, catching some sort of signs, and a few people he actually knew. At the center of it all were Miranda and Julia, holding a bottle of wine and a wrapped gift, and both of them holding up a sign that said cheerfully, 'Happy 50th'. Henry, Jones, and others from Tartarus Station were also here. Everyone was in some way an acquaintance or friend. Thankfully Donovan Hock wasn't here.

Jack would never admit to feeling happy about a surprise 50th birthday party. But what really made him feel entirely too uncomfortable was that Julia wasn't surprised to see the pistol in his hand. Miranda nearly dropped the bottle in surprise herself, and Jack holstered it quickly. But the damage had been done. Julia knew that her dad could react with violence. She wasn't even surprised when this happened. He had to know why.

"You knew about this?" He asked James.

"They were planning this for weeks. There was never any problems. But look where we are." Jack did, seeing row after row of wine bottles stretching off into the distance. All of them had the olive branch and black powder rifle that made up this most expensive label. He could feel some sort of stirring sensation, and then looked over his guests one more time. There, in the back, was an older Frenchman with a beard that went all the way down to his belt, finely combed.

They were in his favorite wine supplier's villa. How the hell his children reserved a private villa with a history of rejecting events such as this blew his mind. He himself had tried to visit once or twice. Remind himself to not gape, he turned off the jammer with his free hand and moved forward to his daughters with the other extended for a hug.

"Thank you." He told them with as much generosity as he dared. "I am honestly surprised at this. You two have accomplished this somehow, and I have been trying to get a hold of this place for years."

Miranda grinned. "No Asari have been to a wine tasting before. So it was going to be a world record. After we told them that, they replied really fast."

Julia piped in. "And we told them that we would buy a lot of wine bottles."

Jack chuckled. "How enterprising of you." Looking up and behind, he could see Nyra and the two other Asari biotic teachers being introduced to what might have been his favorite wine on earth. They were smiling, at least. Well, if that was what it took to get into this place, so be it. He was sure that he looked completely frazzled. Terrible for any pictures, which of course Henry nearly demanded. His little girl Orianna was there, and making small talk with Julia. Standing in the back of the room, away from everyone else, was a couple more people. One was definitely an Alliance Intelligence Agent. The other looked to be Matriarch Benezia, minus some of the age. She appeared to be there wearing house T'soni colors and sampling wine but otherwise not mingling. That demanded interest as well.

"Charles, I've got a couple of things you need to remember." He said disinterestedly, while sending him requests for background checks to be done on everyone. "Next time my daughters simulate being kidnapped, make sure to warn me so I don't get a loose trigger finger."

Charles only laughed. He assumed Jack was happy at this party. As soon as he could, he pulled Julia outside where he could talk to her privately. She seemed wary at first, but any attention was unusual. Jack didn't take much time for his children. He pulled her outside and brought out his signal jammer. He put it out in plain sight, where she could see it.

"Do you know what this is?"

"Yes."

"Did you take one of these to accomplish all of this?"

She nodded. She didn't say anything. HIs signal jammers were kept in a locked wall section in his room. Both required a keycode to access. As far as he could remember, he used completely unique codes for each of those. "How did you get in?"

"I used a signal scrambler to get the biometrics scanner to let me in." She was looking down, characteristically not meeting his eyes. Normal for children but more telling for Asperger's children. It meant that they were lying. The degree was in question. She might be covering for Charles or Miranda. Julia was far more technical than Miranda was. Charles wasn't allowed into their rooms or his. His Omni-tool was kept track of by Tartarus OS, and it would track his location. Unless of course he somehow disabled that function. It wasn't outside of his capabilities and certainly wasn't difficult. Not with the access and training he had.

"A scrambler would have gotten you through the biometrics with some of the DNA samples you could have collected. But what about the encryptions? Not to mention the vocal challenge?"

Julia looked even further at the ground. "Tinfoil and a military grade laser pointer." Jack blinked. He didn't know that would even work.

"How does that get past the encryption?"

Julia looked up a little bit, but not at his face. "If you aim the laser at the capture lens it makes the OSD cook. The backup kicks in, but if it cannot connect to the old backups it reverts to old codes. The ones we broke after we got back from Thessia. You just have to shove the tinfoil in between the connectors before the OSD finishes overheating. Then the system lets you in."

"Who taught you all this?" Jack was rather curious.

She shrugged. She didn't answer at first, but he was willing to wait. She finally started stuttering an answer after almost four minutes of waiting. "I've been getting into things for a long time. Charles helped."

"Did Miranda help?"

Julia shook her head. "Only with the party. She spends more time on biotics and boys." She finally looked back up at him. "Am I in trouble?"

"No." Jack replied. "I never told you that you couldn't get into my locked spaces. I just code locked them because I like my privacy." He said sarcastically. Julia's face skewed up as she tried to process what he said. "I don't care about you breaking into my locker full of completely illegal gear. It actually is rather impressive for you. Then again, you are my daughter, which makes this something both special and wonderful. If anything, thank you for showing me that I need another backup OSD linked to my systems. Apparently if my own daughter can get into my locker someone else can." Jack gave her a nice grin. "How many of my lockers did you break into before you found the jammers?"

Julia blushed, looking a little mollified. "Four."

"Did you find the one full of weapons?"

That made Julia look like a balloon full of hot air. "Both of them." Jack had four, two of which had the same contents just for safety's sake. But he acted surprised for her sake.

"That's why you weren't surprised I came in with that pistol." Jack said, not waiting for her reaction. He didn't want her misunderstanding him. "You know, as a biotic you are supposed to be placed into military service once you finish your training at Tartarus. By my calculations that means you should have a passing understanding of firearms. As you and Miranda have already gotten into my stash of guns, as your father I should feel obligated to make sure that you know how to use them in the future."

Julia looked a bit worried. "You're ok about it?"

Jack made sure that he was looking her in the eye. "I was far worse at your age. I've shot that gun and killed people who were trying to kill me. As a biotic, it is a fact of life that you will act in defense of yourself and your comrades, whoever they may be. You might have to kill people. Kaiden Alenko already has had to defend himself. His attacker didn't survive, but he has set the standard. Biotics are weapons of war for each of the different races. As one of the strongest, you will be deployed against them. Sort of like how the different teams in Warp Ball compete."

"It's ok Dad." Julia said quietly. "Nyra already talked to us about this."

"As a class?"

"After the island got attacked." Julia replied slowly. "We were scared. She asked us if we could use a pistol."

Jack had never been good at emotional responses. Asperger's children were especially hard to raise due to being emotionally stunted. But here it was clear that Julia needed him to do something. Gently he placed his arm around her shoulders, making her gasp. Jack didn't touch them. Rare was the moment that he actually touched his children of his own volition.

 _"Ungrateful child!"_  Jack flinched, memories of his mother coming to the forefront of his mind. There was a reason that he didn't touch anyone more than was politely required. His mother hadn't been aware of her child in any emotional capacity once the drugs kicked in. She was as abusive to herself as she was to the rest of her household.

But he could see Julia smiling. She was outright grinning, teeth visible. "Clear your schedule for Thursdays. Take an hour in the afternoon and I'll teach you how to fire a pistol. I have a feeling that that you might need it." Jack withdrew his arm, phantom pain arcing across his cheek. "You don't get to have a peaceful life. As my daughter, people have already tried to kill you. For now, I can protect you. I will teach you how to protect yourself along the way."

* * *

The Secret Garden, Elysium, August, 2165

Jack decided that if he was going to have a location to be able to talk to his secret contacts, he would have to own it outright. So, he bought out some dive and replaced it with a retro bar. Then he added some nice perks and mechanical secrets that could allow someone to throw their point to point wireless signals through small routed holes in walls to avoid being detected or found. Every single booth had holes that could connect to another booth. It was genius, and it meant that he could communicate and be in plain sight where his surveillance crew couldn't intercept his transmissions.

Add in a pure jamaican staff and the amount of alcohol that he enjoyed comfortably, and you had a nice atmosphere. The wood paneling was fake, but that was alright. Carbon filtered Omni-printers made it look almost real. Felt almost real, too. He was taking a class trip to Elysium for some of the older biotics, and by courtesy was taking all of them on the  _Acheron_. Miranda and Julia were of course with them, but on Tartarus it was difficult to get the proper kind of gravity training that people wanted. So, they were going to an Alliance military training center here on Elysium for a few days, to show off what they could do.

Charles was off with Kaiden, after having done each of the conduit pathways between each booth himself. Kaiden, Rahna, and Charles were all across the bar and playing some sort of arcade system in the family style eating area. The music was bumping some sort of paradisical beat, and overall it was the kind of place that felt tropical without actually being tropical. Not to mention it was also ten degrees warmer than the outside, even during the Elysian Winter.

What Charles had also included to certain booths were microfiber routes to the outer walls, where a properly directed wireless signal could be bounced from one secure location to another. For instance, from the space port's worst dive bar through a specifically pointed microfiber cable and into this one. Surveillance didn't catch that. they could only see the signals that their equipment was able to pick up. He didn't see any depth penetrating armor piercing detection materials on them, but he never ruled it out. Encryption came after that, modeled after what Cerberus had spent years working on. If anyone but Charles got through that, he would be surprised.

The reason that he was here at The Secret Garden was to meet clandestinely with a contact. It had been four months since the disaster that had been the Citadel party. Hock was alive and well, Councillor Sparatus was dead, and he was in even worse debt. Johann placed the bill for damaging the Citadel squarely on his shoulders. Every single surface in his Ritz had been the real deal. Real wood from Africa. Real glass melted down from the Sahara. It had hurt his pockets very deeply, and he had not been prepared for that kind of damage.

Tapping his Omni-tool, he blurred the face out from his connection and muted the area outside the booth. Another nice feature that would keep his Alliance tail annoyed and busy. Once he was sure that everything had been in place, he connected to the exterior line. It went directly to the spaceport, where hopefully the right person was waiting.

"Alexei." Jack stated.

" _Harper._ " Was his stiff reply. Greeks had a mixture of Russian and Italian accent in their English. " _I've been trying to get a hold of you for months._ "

"My political friends have tried to tighten their leash. I had to let them calm down. Now, tell me what the hell went wrong? Hock was supposed to be dead, and instead someone else used it as a chance to kill the Turian Councilor. So, what foolhardy plan went wrong?"

" _I have no idea what went wrong, Harper. I've been trying to find out for months. Allison went in, and never came back."_  His voice faltered for a moment, Greek expletives being translated into his Omni-tool as subtitles. " _I had her in a synthsuit. She looked like an Asari, and we stole some ID to get her in. I had one other person in the party, but they didn't see her. They were guarding someone else. Allison never reported back."_

Jack stopped talking for a moment. "Allison has been missing this entire time?!" Hannah was gone. Had been for four months. "What do you know?"

" _We confirmed that she killed Inspector Vakarian. Now C-sec is all over every case we are involved in. His files are classified pretty deeply. We can't break through their encryptions to find out what his last conversation was."_ Alexei was quiet. " _The ID we stole was an alias, one for Mirala Ti'renlaaue. See what you can pull from that. We hit a wall in the C-sec encryptions."_

"Send me everything." Jack told him. "I'll put my people on this. I'll get her back."

" _Harper, I didn't say that I wanted her back. She's still killing people, for God's sake."_

"What?" Jack exclaimed. "What do you mean?"

" _Last week we found a victim. Strung up in one of the vents. The Keepers and Duct Rats had been there already. But the puncture wounds and the angle looked like hers. I swear, Harper, she is out there. But she hasn't talked to anyone. No confirmed sightings as of yet, but I'm worried."_

"You're positive?"

" _No conclusive evidence, no DNA, no activity on her accounts. But I can feel it in my_ Papari. _She's out there. She's damn good at what she does. It makes me terrified."_ If Alexei went by his testicles instead of his gut then that put a few of his other paranoias into perspective.

"Thank you for contacting me about this. I'll find her, Alexei. You're not the only one who is worried." Jack noticed his surveillance agent looking suspiciously at him through the blurred privacy screen. "I'll contact you if I find more."

" _Indeed. Will you still permit business as usual?"_

"Consider it done. Pay up front and I'll get you the weapons you need. I need you to contain the Eclipse where you can."

" _As we have the guns to do so. A pleasure doing business with you."_

The connection got cut and Jack moved on to other social and political calls. This was just to cover for his call to Alexei, but Hannah was weighing upon his mind. She was always a wild card, but one that he thought he had predicted. Obviously not in some of the details. Her changing her facial features to look Asian was a surprise. He could swear that she also adjusted her figure, but he hadn't been able to touch anything before she had cloaked when he last saw her.

He was still in thought when James slipped into the booth with a couple of glasses. "Boss? Jack?" He reoriented his eyes on James, who looked slightly uncomfortable. "You're spacing out on me."

"I've got some developments. Charles is going to be working overtime. Did Jones okay the shuttle?"

James looked a bit worried. "She said that as long as  _they_  stay out of sight we won't have a riot." He glanced at the other agent in the bar, who was comfortably watching them from the main tables. "Are you sure about this?"

"It's the only way we are going to teach them." Jack said, not sure if the slightly open privacy screen would be able to fully function. He  _knew_  the specs of the models of Omni-tools that came out of the Intelligence Office. It might be capable of getting through. "Just make sure that it lands in the right location. If you land them in a shopping mall, so help me you won't even have to wonder if you've lost your job." Jack said, though he was smirking the entire time. James at least knew him well enough to know when Jack was being sarcastic.

"You got it. I'll see you there in twenty minutes. Their shuttle was cleared at the relay a few minutes ago." Elysium had a slight problem, as its Mass Relays were all extremely close to the habitation range of the solar system here. Ships could come and go very quickly, as well as invading forces. The Alliance had put up some orbital defenses, but it was token defense.

James got up and started whistling some tune on his way outside. Jack got up and got himself another small cup of brandy for what would invariably be one of the longer days of his life. Taking eight biotic teenagers on a 'class trip' had been a chore. They ate their way through buffets, always were on the lookout for snacks, and Kaiden was especially bad at munching on protein bars at all hours. If he was middle class, this would be rather expensive. Thankfully he wasn't, but Rahna and his daughters went on some sort of shopping trip while Kaiden, Charles, and Alex were all at some arcade. It was just down the street.

"You ready to leave? Or do you want anything?" He asked the still seated agent. He had to remain perfectly cordial and polite with them, as he had from the beginning. The agent was one of the more prickish ones, and didn't even grace him with a mouthed reply. He simply shook his head, still scanning actively with his Omni-tool and setting off every drug dealer's police alarm in a mile radius. Not that he cared very much, but it was the principle of the thing.

Jack walked down to the arcade, finding Rahna and his daughters near the front entrance. They were watching on one of the big haptic screens as Kaiden and Alex both fought against Charles and were losing in a game of Gundam Combat Simulator. He could see that it was some sort of free-for-all mode, and that Charles had somehow gotten away with too many suspect actions. If he hacked the game Jack wouldn't be surprised. Charles had issues with losing. He was extremely competitive, and couldn't handle losing something technological or brainy.

Jack didn't enter the arcade proper, but sat outside waiting for the yelling and shouting that would prove the winner.

"Did you just teabag me?!" Alex yelled, his voice carrying. Rahna and Miranda looked unimpressed by the move, but Julia looked like she was about to burst with laughter. Jack hadn't seen her laugh out loud in a while. She was reserved, but there were moments where she would laugh loudly. It was a distinct  _chirp_. It was exactly like a giggle, but it hit three octaves on its way through her throat. Miranda had mapped the different octaves of Julia's chirping laugh to the A, C, and F keys on the piano.

He set his recording function just in time to see Julia let out a loud chirp. It distracted Kaiden, who wasn't used to it. Though Rahna and Alex also looked over to see what the sound was. But in the moment where Kaiden was distracted, he made a mistake and moved right into Charles' line of fire. The game ended with Julia looked embarrassed at the attention and Alex and Kaiden glaring at the pristine and undamaged Charles.

"Rematch! I'm gonna take you down this time!" Kaiden yelled, face red and heated. He was also a very competitive man, and this would only get out of control or lead to some sort of banal fighting.

"Hold up!" Jack said loudly enough to be heard. "It's time for you to meet someone. They are on a very tight schedule and are here just for you. You'll have time after for a rematch." If they could move afterwards, of course. He even had a medic on site. "Everyone into the aircar, we have places to be." He motioned to the street, where James had the car all ready. They all piled in, claiming that the next time Charles would be going down. Charles looked like he wanted to write some sort of program that would even the odds for the inevitable matchup.

James drove the air car out towards the outskirts of the city, where some of the newer neighborhoods were being planned. Past that was some larger warehouses, one of which had a shuttle pad on top of it. It was full, and the shuttle's engines were still making the air blur from the heat. They were on time, and with a signal from James' Omni-tool a door opened in the side of the warehouse. His surveillance team parked outside, setting up a perimeter. They had been briefed on this.

Jack got out of the air car first, opening the door to let his daughters and the other biotics out. "Now, these guests of mine have travelled a long way to meet you. Be nice to them." He motioned to the door leading to the main chamber of the warehouse. "They've come here on special request, so be on your best behavior."

Then he opened the door, giving them a view of what had been built inside the warehouse. Namely, a Warp Ball arena. Destructible walls, balls, and barriers had been set up as to standard, and the lights were only slightly subpar. But what was standing in front of them was a lot more terrifying.

Balak M'Dorme was grinning as he saw them enter, with five more Batarians behind him and his needle like teeth openly shown. "Greetings to you." Balak said in heavily accented English. Batarian teeth had difficulty with T's and V's. Their teeth didn't let the sound out quite right. It sounded like a Slovak accent, but the needle-like teeth made the vowels much harsher.

Kaiden looked like he was ready to try to do something biotically offensive, and the rest of the biotics looked terrified. Except for Julia, for some reason. She was observing the Batarians with a deep focus, and didn't seem scared. "Welcome to Elysium, Balak. Balak M'Dorme, this is Kaiden, Alex, Rahna, as well as my own daughters Miranda and Julia. Kaiden Alenko is to be our team Captain, with Alex Hamilton as Defender and Rahna Urkiknuik than as our Variable. The other four team members are en route and will be here tomorrow, and will join us. Ladies and gentleman, this is Balak M'Dorme, who is in charge of all of the biotics in the Batarian Hegemony. He is a friend.

"Balak provided the technology that lead to your biotic amps, as well as the element zero monitors that keep track of your nodes and connect to your Omni-tools. In exchange for some helpful technology on our part, the Batarians and us have been helping each other strengthen our biotics programs." As well as others, but the rest of the Hegemony didn't like humans and for the next few months there wouldn't be much love for Humans. "On my request, he brought his best Warp Ball team out of retirement and here, so that they could train you to be the very best."

Kaiden looked worried, still. "Mr. Harper, can I talk to you for a second?" He glanced at Balak. Jack nodded, motioning to Balak that he should wait for them.

"Sure. Let's talk back at the air car." Jack calmly walked back, turning his back slowly to Balak after breaking eye contact. Kaiden, without any sense, glared and walked away. Thankfully it was something that might be construed as respectful in Batarian society.

Kaiden waited until the door was closed before speaking his mind. As team Captain, he did think somewhat like a leader. "Mr. Harper, we are nearly at war with the Batarians. Why are we working with them?" He obviously wanted to say more, or something more heated, but was trying to think. That was good. Kaiden's extended family were military men, and some had died in combat with Batarian pirate elements.

"Because the Asari were trying to send us biotic implants that would cripple our first generation of biotics. If we had gone with them, you would be dead or crippled right now Alenko. Contrary to what you might think, most Asari see other races as sources of victims to take what they need from. They don't sell us instruction manuals. They don't sell us technology. They sell us things that they want to buy to depend on them for. They refuse to sell us the technology to do it ourselves, and when we asked for help with our biotic program, they ignored us and told us to ask the Turians to help us."

The looks of surprise on their faces was apparent. He rarely explained himself like this. "But, -"

He didn't let them ask questions. "I refused. Instead of letting our government ruin things, I created a program focused around Biotics and the best medical experts that Humanity can offer. I requested Matriarch Benezia send me teachers, in exchange for something that has had our government suspicious of me for years. You have the best teachers I can find you, ones that respect you and treat you fairly. The Asari I sought out are somewhat unpopular in their government, as they go against the religion that the state follows. My friend, Balak, is risking a lot to come here and teach you. If the press finds out that he is here, his own government will have to kill him for impropriety. He brought his most loyal men here to teach you, so that you can have a chance against the Asari.

"The very same Asari who see us all as their food supply are the same ones that you will meet in Warp Ball. They will destroy you. Right now, Balak is bringing in his team to give you a fighting chance at proving our worth. The only ones who ever did well against the Asari are the Drell, and that is only because of their reflexes and memories. In Warp Ball, they will see you as easy prey. They will want to take you out of the competition early. So, I brought in the team that actually came in second a few years ago to teach you. They are not fond of the traditional rules of Warp Ball, and neither should you. I want you to cheat, harass, do whatever it takes to win. The rules were written by Asari for an Asari sport which makes other races look pitiful and weak." He glared at Kaiden, making him wince. "If you want to play fair, play by the rules, go ahead. You'll never amount to anything in that arena. But if you take what Balak will teach you, you can counter all of the things that the Asari will do. You won't be winning the competition, I assure you, but you will certainly be something. By God, you are up against the Turians of Manae first. They are all going to be ex-special operations and very dangerous. This is your chance, you chance to make a difference!"

"Won't that disqualify us?" Alex asked. Everyone turned to him, making him a little leery. "To cheat, I mean?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "There is outright cheating, that in normal football would get you a red card, and there is pushing the legal limits, getting a yellow card and getting the goals. Kaiden, did your father ever consciously injure someone?" Kaiden nodded, albeit slowly. "This is Humanity's first showing. They put us up against the Turian's best team. I want you to show them that what happened ten years ago in the First Contact War is not so easily forgotten. Do you understand?"

He nodded. "You want us to prove that we can play with the best of them."

Jack grinned. "Even though only you and Miranda have figured out how to use a Singularity, that doesn't make us weak. Kaiden, you learn whatever you can to make sure that you don't get immediately knocked out. Even if these are Batarians, the very same race that we've been forced to fight with. That, by the way, happens to be the Asari's idea as well. They gave us colonization rights in the same sectors. So, they are content to let us fight the Batarians for them. In the future, we might even have an ally in the Batarian Hegemony. If this happens, you will be a point of first contact."

Kaiden grimaced. "I guess we can try, then."

"Good. Because they will be sending their people to cheer for us once we are on the Citadel. They prefer that we win more than any of the other races. Keep that in mind as you work with them. They won't be showing any mercy to any of you. Among their people, to be weak is to disappear in the night, and no one ever talks about you again. Batarian biotics like to do really sneaky moves. Pick those up and use our wider shoulders to your advantage. Batarians don't have as many ligaments in their joints, they can't bend as much as we do. Though their Captain is known to use Throws from his feet."

"Baranakus is here?" Julia asked. Typical that she would know the most about this.

"He will be teaching Kaiden especially." Jack said. "Now, before we go back inside, here are some cultural hints for when they do something that we might find offensive. In their culture, you don't offer a hand to help someone up. Either they get up on their own or you drag them off the field. Looking them right in the upper section of eyes is an insult, so if you see them trying to glare through your forehead, that's what they are doing. Batarians don't smile for many reasons, and have culturally defined language for communicating between castes. That means that they will say some things that seem condescending. As you are all athletes, that means you have every right to throw slander right back at them. The worse the language, the more they will respect you. Don't apologize for anything that you do, and don't ever say please in front of them."

"That seems harsh." Kaiden said. "Are they all like that?"

"Those that aren't disappear." Jack said nonchalantly. "Balak is one of the more liberal Batarians you will find. But even he is constantly aware of his own people trying to kill him to move up in their society. They all will be excellent teachers for you." Jack turned towards the door. "Any questions?"

"Can we watch?" Julia asked, eyes almost glowing, and her element zero nodules flaring slightly in her hands. She had poor control of her biotics in front of people, especially if she was excited.

"We will be watching, yes. Julia, how fast does the average Asari get their biotics prepared to send a second ability?"

"Less than four seconds, for the basics at least. Longer for Singularities."

"That's your timeline. You have four seconds to compensate for each and every push that comes at you. Three periods, Eleven minutes of contact. That is a lot of contact." Jack would like to say he learned all of this by his own interest, but really it was Julia's obsession that kept him informed. "Don't thank Balak for helping you. Instead, tell them that you look forward to the next time you face them. That makes you sound like an equal."

Kaiden nodded to the others. "Well, then should we be thanking you, for all this?"

"Cheeky. You won't be thanking me until after you face Manae in four months." Jack said. "Throw them down, and I'll be thanking you. From what I hear, the entire team they are bringing is made up of First Contact War veterans. They will be ruthless."

Kaiden nodded, his eyes hard. "Then we will have to be better." He looked around. "Arms in, guys. We're gonna do this. Miranda, Julia, you guys too." His daughters were five years younger, and had a small case of hero worship for Kaiden. He was that kind of man. Though in months, hopefully every Human household would know his name. Or else know that he tried. Jack watched the circle of teens all put their hands in, and then Kaiden looked back at him. "Well? Come on, Mr. Harper. You deserve some credit."

"Fair enough." Jack put his hand in with the rest of them.

"On three." Kaiden said. "One, two three,"

Multiple team names came out. Alex said Dragons, Charles said Falcons, and Kaiden and Rahna both yelled Olympians. Jack couldn't help but snigger. "Still debating the name?"

Kaiden nodded along with the rest. "The voting was really all over the place. No one can decide on a good name for the the team. But it'll all get settled. I hope." He looked back at the door. "Let's go."

Jack grinned as he opened the door, signalling the medics to come in. They might be helpful. Jones herself was outside and managing the security envelope, and there was for sure going to be a write up coming his way about how derogatory he made the Asari out to be. Jones did not like him speaking ill of their supposed allies. He watched as the kids went through the door, and got a facefull of Balak's grin.

"Are you prepared? Maggots?" Balak's English was very nice, for a Batarian tongue. The T in maggot even sounded right.

"We are. Teach us what we need."

"As you wish!" The bloodthirst in his tone may have been real. Jack couldn't tell if he was lying or not. Either way, while the kids were training, he was going to try to find out what happened to Hannah Shepard. There was too much focus on him here, at least for him to speak openly about his worries.

* * *

Author's Note

Short chapter but fun content. I would say that we are 80% of the way to the ME1 storyline, with just a few more really important things to set up. Thank you again for the reviews and messages. Also, a shout out to MizDirected's fic, Future Imperfect, which has been updating faithfully through the holidays and is starting to really get interesting.


	27. Fugue: Chirping Rednecks

Chapter 27

Tartarus Station, Luna, November 2165

Jack hadn't found any signs of Hannah. She had gone completely dark. He had paid for Barla Von, an agent of the Shadow Broker, to get into Pontus Vakarian's secure files in C-sec. He had hired some Quarian to do it who was on pilgrimage at the Citadel. It was unlikely to come back to haunt him. The Shadow Broker was still known for his privacy, after all. Even though he was leaning towards supporting the Reapers by the time that Shepard had found him in his memories, right now he shouldn't be Indoctrinated or affected.

Sipping on a nice cup of wine, as he had dozens of bottles to get through, he observed the news feeds. The Batarians had been very quiet recently. It might have begun already. He glanced over at the wall, where fifteen bottles of wine rested. He had to go through at least that many before Christmas, as Miranda had promised that he would buy fifty bottles every six months.

There was no time limit on that deal. He  _had_  to buy that many bottles of wine in order to keep Miranda's promise. The first thing on his list of to do's when they got back had been to induct his children into what he called Jack Politics 101. They had been briefed on all of the things that were alright to offer in a given situation, as well as all of the promises that you don't offer in a situation. Then he went into the many gritty details of certain agreements he had made and ones he had not.

Then he made them write a five thousand word essay detailing the merits of everything he had explained and examples of how they would modify the deal that they had made with his wine dealer. The responses had been overly anal retentive and by the book, which he had made them re-submit to him for approval again. They were not happy with this on top of their normal course load.

So, he had prepared a few things for them. Now that it was coming up to their 14th birthday, their bodies were far enough along to administer implants and gene mods. He wasn't going to mention it, but he had some plans for them. Plans within plans, and schemes to back up those plans.

"Jack, you're going to want to see this. Some Quarian ship captain wants to talk to you. They are getting clearance from First Fleet to come and park in orbit."

"James, I'm quite busy. I have an appointment with Jessica tonight and I won't be late with Miss Earth." She was one of the better models that he had slept with. Not to mention very experienced in getting her way. "The Quarians can wait just like everyone else."

"He says his name is Rael'Zorah vas Alarai." James said. "He is also demanding to speak with you. Patient the man appears to not be."

Jack stopped and thought about it. Rael'Zorah was the Admiral that controlled research and development throughout the Quarian race. If he was here and demanding to see him, it would mean that he was talking business. What business he had remained to be seen. "Blueballs it is then. Tell him that we will meet on board the  _Acheron_. Keep Jones out of the loop. I'll be taking our shuttle out to my ship for this." The  _Acheron_  only had a shuttle bay that could fit two shuttles at a time. Especially if the shuttles were military grade.

Jones would find it rather difficult to park anything other than taking a jump suit to the  _Acheron_. She had rudimentary access codes to the hangar bay. Just in case, he told himself. James took him in the shuttle out to the  _Acheron_ , which was of quarian design. Hopefully it would put Zorah at ease. It might mitigate some of the distrust that Jack expected to feel in his business relationships.

Zorah's shuttle was still incoming, as his ship had to go through a security checkpoint. More than one, at least. He saw a few messages sent to him from Jones as well as Hock, asking him about the Quarians. He didn't bother answering. They all wanted a piece of the pie.  _His_  pie.

"James, escort the Admiral and any guards he has to the lounge. He might be more comfortable there than in my office or the ballroom." He didn't have any alcohol on hand for an Admiral to visit and enjoy. Kicking himself, he made a mental note to acquire some. The lounge was clean, and seemed pristine. Probably not to the same standards as Quarians, but that was a guarantee. Those people were the biggest clean freaks in the galaxy.

He didn't get any of his normal glasses of wine or such, as that would be impolite when he didn't have anything for his guest. So he sat awkwardly, waiting for the Admiral. The Quarian didn't take long, coming through the doors with his shoulders facing forward and a confident step.

"I am surprised that you kept the Quarian wall paneling." He said, entering, the compliment obviously forced. But he at least was trying to be cordial.

"I enjoy having something unique." Jack said. "A newly designed Quarian vessel is something that the galaxy hasn't seen in hundreds of years. For all that people admire your resourcefulness and technical skill, they refuse to actually hire you to design something that you would be excellent at producing. Call this my investment in what will be something more important later."

Zorah left his guards outside the room, and the door shut. Once it did, he sat down on one of the couches, visibly uncomfortable with how much the seat gave way for his buttocks. Quarians had more muscle fibers in their legs and lower back, which made sitting in something cushy unnatural. "The Quarian people are in the uncertain process of trying to understand what kind of ally they have in you."

"Are you concerned about me? Or concerned about the comments the other Citadel races have mentioned?"

Rael'Zorah's helmet was thick, and didn't show much besides slightly brighter spots that signified the eyes. Quarians could have their visors set to completely see-through, bad hadn't trusted any of the other races with that kind of information in a long time. His eyes didn't move or deviate very much from him. "Actually, we were worried about what your own race is saying about you."

Jack blinked, surprised. "So, are they saying that I am going to betray you or something?"

Zorah tilted his head. Jack honestly sucked at reading any body language on him, and Quarian body language was just an unknown to anyone. "The opposite, actually. That you freely speak with known enemies of the Council, and even after threats of economic sanctions on your companies you still maintained the bank connection with us." Zorah righted his head, facing him totally again. "Which is why the Admiralty Board is prepared to offer you a deal."

Jack leaned forward, not too far but enough to show his deep interest. The Quarians never made offers as a fleet to anyone. "You have invested as a race over thirty million credits into my bank, broken down into a few investment accounts. All of which are currently invested into Sirta associated companies."

"We cannot buy any companies or products that are linked to a Volus bank. Your new emerging economy is the only one that accepts such tainted investment such as ours." Zorah said with a tone that could be sadness, though not being able to read his body language it could also be an appeal for pity or a reaction from Jack. His memories did not include any guidebook to Quarians, nor did any literature that the Asari had available.

"So, is this an investment into a business, or something else?" Jack asked, curious.

"We would like to commission a ship to be built by your shipyards. Quarian labor would be provided and the money in your bank is what we would need to provide the payment." Zorah brought out his Omni-tool, and sent an image to the haptic display on the table. "Our race can produce ships for the first time in centuries, but that only offers a solution to our overcrowding and maintenance problems. Our true problem is that our race cannot expand in numbers. We have only three liveships, as well as a few other craft that can fulfill basic food production. Our food rationing can only support a population of 17,400,000. This is what is keeping our race from expanding."

"So, you want to have us make you a new Liveship." Jack stated. He opened up the haptic display, letting the 3D image wash over the table in between the couches. "So that your people can overcome the rest of your problems."

"That solves food. You have opened the chance to solve living space and ship development." Zorah replied. "We still won't have a homeworld. If our race is going to succeed, we will need a place we can use as a permanent home. Territory and resources of our own."

Jack nodded. Emotional responses would be either offensive or supportive to that goal of getting back their homeworld, and he didn't know him well enough to say which. "So, you do know that something the size of a Dreadnought is going to get some attention, right? Not to mention cost more than the money you have saved up in my bank."

"We know. But with the shipyard, more and more families are having children. Population regulation is a growing problem. Estimates are that we need to have more than additional hydroponics labs to cover the growth. This is the only solution that I can find that will support us."

"You do know that thirty million credits would cover only the initial investment, correct?" Zorah tilted his head again, and Jack still didn't know what that meant.

"We were hoping that we could ask for a loan." The word came out like poison from his mouth. The Quarians were one of the few things that were positive in income among his assets. Nobody wanted to talk about it, but Jack was in deep pits of debt. He owed Donovan hundreds of millions of credits, and Cerberus was only afloat thanks to Sirta. Sirta he could sell his shares for an recover and pay everyone back, but at the cost of Humanity's market value. His bank that had a connection to the Quarian shipyard was also positive, mostly thanks to the Quarians money keeping the rest of the bank lenders afloat. If they spent it all, the bank would go under. Not to mention take away another needed source of income from him. He doubted that the Quarians wanted to be in debt to anyone, either.

"Let's not go into debt over this. You have more assets to offer than money, you know." Jack told him, pressing a button and activating one of the wall displays. "The Quarians are technologically superior to the Salarian and Asari conglomerates and are slightly more efficient."

"Yet no one will buy our products. A difficult claim to back up when your products are banned from the galactic markets." Zorah said. "Unless you are trying to put them on the Black Market?"

"They are already there. It's expensive enough to get the Polonium Nitrate modifications for my personal weapons in the first place, but finding ones with integrated heat sinks made by Quarians are almost another step of difficulty to find, much less afford. What I was considering was to instead meet and connect with the Alliance Military and Ashland-Hislopp Shipyards. Your technology could be integrated and sold into the Alliance Navy, and due to how advanced it is and the always present pilgrimage laborers, they would never have enough technically trained humans to make their own. Especially if you have some of the gyroscopes that you installed in the  _Acheron_  as part of the deal."

"The Conclave has voted against working with your government. They change policies and identities too often to be considered a viable ally."

"I didn't say that you were going to work with my government. Unlike the Batarians and the Turians, our government and military are two separate entities, and under different laws and regulations. The military is strictly speaking its own entity, and entitled to make its own deals. As you have a bank account with a Human bank, you can approach them as an independent contractor rather than a political entity. I can even broker the deal for you."

"You would like that, wouldn't you." This time Jack could tell that what Zorah was saying was meant to be slightly demeaning. "What kind of offer would you be trying to broker?"

Jack gave him a full teeth grin. "This," He brought up an image of a frigate that the Alliance was developing. "is the Alliance  _Midway_  class of Frigate. It was designed using Asari gyroscopes and Salarian thermal vents at exorbitant prices. It's effectiveness cannot be argued against, but in comparison the entire line of frigates would be considered inexpensive if someone else could undercut the product. Especially if they provide the labor and the training on site."

"How do you have this?" Zorah asked, taking the chance to stand up and examine the readout on the wall. His experienced fingers waltzed through the haptic displays in ways that Jack could never do. Even though he only had three fingers, he was performing more actions and the muscle control was impressive. "This is most likely classified."

"I have this because the Cerberus Foundation are in charge of placing Markov Heavy Industries designs inside. What we are placing in is classified, as is this blueprint. But, knowing that the people we would have installing the parts are Quarian anyways, perhaps the information didn't come from me. Your pilgrimage gifts are always so varied, anyways." Jack said, not caring that the confidential material was being leaked. "If your Conclave made an offer to supply better Gyroscopes and thermal vents for cheaper prices, the entire line of frigates would be in your debt. Not to mention they would be open to further agreements for future ship lines."

"And the Liveship?"

"If this deal goes down, you wouldn't need to take a loan. The contract would pay for the payments to the shipyard as they move onto each new phase. There would be a sharp initial investment, and that is very affordable with the wealth your people have built up. No debt involved, and no extreme risk."

"I'll have to take this back to the Conclave, you understand."

Jack nodded. "I know most of the Naval committee. I can get you this contract for certain. So long as you keep using my bank, I will only ask for a commission fee of 1.5%. Most people would ask for 3%, but I know how much you need this." He needed them to keep him in a positive income, more like. They could build their ship, and go into debt. It would break his bank if they did. He couldn't pay off any of his debts straightaway at this point. In order to stay in business, he was only paying off the interest of each loan. Any extra money left over got invested into different locations that it was necessary. Mostly Sirta and Cerberus contracts. But right now nobody but Donovan Hock knew how deep in it that he actually was.

Thankfully Henry Lawson was his business partner for Cerberus. He didn't have a controlling factor in his investments, but he certainly supported them. The hospital and doctors, as well as the Solaris Biotic program were mostly funded by Henry. He saw a lot of profit from that, but that went to his own firm. Jack didn't see any of that profit. Henry Lawson was rich in his own right, before he ever worked together with Jack.

"I'll bring this idea back to the Conclave. But we will need to coordinate more. Perhaps have you come and address us with all of the relevant people and data."

Jack blinked. People rarely were invited to come to the Quarian Migrant Fleet. "I would be honored to visit your people. I will see who is willing to come for the military and for the shipyards. Let me know if anyone needs a ride home for their pilgrimage."

Zorah nodded, awkwardly standing there. "More information will be provided when you come. How much information may I borrow to convince the Conclave?"

Jack sent the files on the gyroscopes and thermal vents to him. The rest of their frigate design would not be of benefit to them at all. They were so far ahead in technology anyways. "James can take you back to the hangar bay. I have a few calls to make." He extended his hand, standing up. Zorah's grip was strong, surprisingly. He looked like a researcher, not a grunt.

"Thank you for your time, Jack Harper." He said his name like it was a single word, "Hopefully the rest of the Conclave will see the opportunity." He gave Jack a nod, and walked out the door and into the hallway, his guards still waiting in the exact same position that they had been in when he entered.

Now he had to call Donovan Hock.  _That_  was going to be just peachy. Perhaps he should talk to Deirdre Scott about this as well. He would need some other favors for the Naval Committee to work willingly with Quarians. They were leery of what the Council might think. But going into debt over being politically acceptable was not an excusable justification for their actions. He sent one message on his Omni-tool before making those calls.

_Charles_

_I need a status report on your work. You've been quiet for two weeks now_

He got a reply immediately.

_Jack_

_Whoever invented this VI left some sort of programs in dark files and supposedly empty parts of the Logical Query Databases. It was almost as if they planned on someone trying to make this VI evolve and have something in the way of it developing it's own drive to search for information on its own. Until I can access those files(which are DNA code locked) I won't know what would happen if I attached a compiler and linker to the Logical Process Fault. It might just kill the VI before it can adapt itself. More information to come later once I figure out where the DNA code reader is on this server architecture. Also, hand translating Prothean sucks. Send more datapads and haptic interfaces next time. I need more screen infrastructure._

_Also, the Turians tried to buy out the seats for the Warp ball game. I bought a couple hundred using the account you let me have access to, but now you need to sell those tickets or gift them to people. Kade is going to want some friendly faces in the audience. Also, we have one of the VIP boxes right next to the Turian Primarch. Try not to get too expressive._

_Your chief laborer who has no assistants_

He smirked. Charles was getting comfortable enough to start joking about his work. That was a good sign that he was getting used to Jack and the way that he did things. He started compiling a list of people that would be important to Biotics and their future, while at the same time sending one of the tickets for the VIP box to Henry and another to Hock. As much as he didn't like him, he needed him for the moment.

Sometimes, though, he wished that Hannah had killed the man. No sign of Morinth or her alter-ego Mirala had been seen in Council Space, but Samara, the Asari Justicar hunting her, had been sighted near the Citadel within the last three months. No confirmation had been given, but it was assumed that she was on the trail a few months later than needed.

But most importantly, his packages that he had sent to the Batarians had been opened. A few months ago he had Doctor Shu receive a small OSD courtesy of Charles. He didn't want to tell Charles that it contained a few active cells of the viral disease Smallpox. Modified, of course, so that it would take a month to gestate. During that month it could hop from one victim to another easily. To balance that, he had the Reds hired to move a few shipping containers full of red sand to a supposed Batarian dealer, who would get infected by the Salarian Yellow Fever that had been the equivalent to the Yersinia Pestus in times past, or rather the Black Death of the Medieval age. Both Smallpox and the Salarian Yellow Fever infected the upper respiratory tract, as well as the lungs.

It was what made it so hard to treat and get rid of. Immune systems didn't have as many ways to get rid of diseases that got trapped up there, and the Batarian ribcage didn't have as much support for that. They were leaner, more compact, and their breathing apparatus were shorter. Easier to infect and destroy.

Jack had released two genetically modified plagues, thanks to the work of a Doctor Saleon from a Salarian splinter group. Salarians were somewhat reckless, and the most reckless of them became terrifying in their own way. Saleon made a good bio-genetic engineer, and once he had a copy of the Smallpox and Salarian Yellow Fever, he made that into something else entirely.

It had been inserted into the military population of the Batarians, which was one of the critical elements of the race. The free-born military caste was the only one that could move up into the upper nobility, own slaves, and own land. All lesser castes had to lease or rent land to work, and couldn't own slaves themselves. Some had slaves, but only had them under lease, or had them for a set period of time in which the owner of the slave could always call them back if payment wasn't received.

Jack had realized the key to changing the Batarian society. He debated between war, peace, and any other option that would create changes that he was seeking. He even debated starting a French Revolution style uprising, but that would flop. The caste system had been a staple of Batarian lifestyle for thousands of years. All Batarians, once born, knew their place from birth. Their children might be better off, but they knew their place, their limits, from the moment they begin to speak and walk.

The only way to stop the Batarian culture was to  _break_  it. So, at the cost of much of their population, he had sent in phase one. Two plagues upon them in the form of diseases. Curing them would be hard, especially since Batarian response to panic like this is to lock down their sector of space and quarantine everything and everyone. The only people allowed to move were the upper castes, mostly the military caste. This would only make the damage to the slave owning castes worse. But they had to be out and about. Slaves didn't work without a driving force, and there would be revolts immediately if the soldiers didn't impress the fear of the Hegemon into the slave castes.

Someone might be born a slave, but there were plenty of non-Batarian slaves in Batarian space. Less than ten percent of the total slave population was non-Batarian, but it was enough to start something. What would be more debilitating would be the loss of government control over basic sanitation and needs. Batarian culture and speech made lower castes seek out the higher ones. If enough of the free born caste died, so too did the Hegemon's only method of controlling the massive lower caste population.

His reaction would be predictable. Force the military to deploy as if containing a revolt. The lower castes would react unfavorably, and lash out against him. It was only a matter of time that this could continue before the deaths rose. Sure, a significant portion of the population was going to be infected and die. That was an acceptable risk if their culture as a whole broke apart from the caste system.

" _Reports are coming in that Batarians in the Kite's Nest are on the move back into their regions of space. Increased activity shows that they are up to something."_  He clicked off the Alliance News Network report, grinning. It had begun. Phase one had begun. Phase two would require some careful maneuvering.

He activated his Omni-tool, selecting the contacts screen. "Henry, this is Jack. If you've got time, I would like to go to a decent steak house sometime tonight. Our daughters might enjoy it." After setting the recording, he sent it to Henry. He got a reply immediately.

" _Sounds fine. Come down to the Japanese steakhouse in Sydney that we went to after I graduated medical school. We haven't been there in ten years at least. Come down in the next hour and we will have some of the old grub."_  Four star restaurant, if he remembered correctly. Once that was settled, he let James know that they had a dinner to get to, and that he needed to pick up the girls while he sent some messages. He wrote out a couple of notes to Hock and Deirdre about a need to meet with them regarding the new frigate line, stressing an urgency that hopefully would get them to meet with him sometime soon.

The flight down to Sydney wasn't too overbearing. The police officer trying to pull them over, however, was. James ignored him and started flying down towards where the Japanese Steakhouse parking lot was. The cop was flashing his lights over and over, trying to get their attention.

He could see another air car landing, or in the process of powering down. They had already landed but hadn't opened the doors yet. Lawson Medical Center was proudly printed on the side of it, and the air car was just settled there. As they themselves parked, the cop also landed, right in front of their shuttle. He got out, along with his partner, both of whom looked ready to arrest them.

"James, give them the information they need to ticket us and join us inside the restaurant. Girls, wait here for a moment." Something here was off. He could see one of the attendants waiting at the edge of the parking lot, and moved over to the man. "Excuse me, but how long has that shuttle been parked?" He asked, pointing at Henry's shuttle.

"About ten minutes. I've been waiting for them, too." He said absently. "You know them?"

"Yes." Jack replied. "I'll go take a look." Henry had been here for ten minutes already. He hadn't gotten out of his vehicle or notified Jack that he had arrived. Very unlike the man to wait, especially at a nice restaurant. With the cops haranguing James over his speeding, Jack walked over to the parked shuttle. The windows were tinted and dimmed, as if the driver had prepared to disembark with everyone else. He walked around to the side door and tapped on it. "Henry, get your pants back on. It's time to eat." Henry and his wife weren't overly exhibitionist, but in the past Henry had some exploits. No reply came, but the door started sliding open.

Jack lunged backwards, on instinct. He could hear something  _thrum_  and vibrate through the air his neck had been in. Not thinking, he ducked behind the next air car and tapped his belt, activating the first layer of kinetic barriers. Assassination attempts were nothing new to him, but the way that the air had been displaced, he knew that whoever was inside that shuttle had been capable of cloaking. It was supposed that the Reds, the Alliance Intelligence Office, Cerberus, and the Council had this technology. That didn't matter, as he saw the shimmer in the air approaching from behind, giving him a target.

He threw out an Overload, making the target flinch. It also disrupted the field keeping them from view. The human was then revealed, wearing a mixture of Eclipse armor and some sort of tactical vest. They had a helmet on, but the knife they were using had five blades, all vibrating and with a cruel edge. He  _knew_ that knife. She had a pistol in her other hand, which was also sparking. Jack got lucky in that at least.

"Shit! Hannah!" He ran for all that he was worth. He wouldn't last a second with her in close. With her pistol down for a few seconds, he could risk running in the open. He started running across to his own shuttle, when he saw Hannah running in the open after him. She was also faster than him. Probably equipped with some sort of improved joint support system and powered boots. As the parking lot had eight other shuttles in it, his and Henry's weren't right next to each other. Two rows of five parking spots across from one another allowed all the vehicles to fit, meaning that there was no cover until he got to his shuttle's nose. Then he would have to get onboard and shut the door, which of course took longer than it needed to. Child safety features, damn them all.

She was closing her distance, and then she threw a grenade at him, which latched onto the perfect Italian leather cuffs. He swore again, pulling his jacket off and tossing it back at Hannah. Thankfully technology had gotten better in the last couple of years. He could mount kinetic barriers on belts now. Throwing off his designer suit jacket wasn't going to cripple him. As if answering that question, he could see a launched knife bounce off of his still standing kinetic barriers.

Thankfully, someone else was watching. The cops saw the knife get launched. They pulled their guns and started yelling at Hannah to stand down. Jack stayed in motion, pressing a button on his left wrist. Remotely, James received the panic warning. He had been looking for some sort of documentation, and immediately hopped back into his seat. Kinetic barriers rose on the shuttle, and the doors on the far side closed.

"GO!" He yelled as soon as he got into the shuttle, grabbing a rifle from the wall slot. He didn't care that it was completely illegal to have such a thing. Especially if the rounds from it were meant to pierce armor. He couldn't tell where she was, but he just started spraying the rounds all over the place, aiming for the small gap between their shuttle and the next aircar. All he had to do was hold her off for the few moments it would take for the shuttle to lift off. He couldn't see what was going on, but the cops were dead on the ground. It looked like they had been killed by her pistol.

As the doors shut, he put the rifle back in its wall socket, the steam from firing it coming off into the air of the shuttle compartment. Miranda and Julia were in the back seat, kinetic barriers activated and huddled together. They were fine. A quick sweep of the cabin showed no signs of rounds impacting or hitting anywhere. No grenades were stuck to the walls or the doors, and so he let out a small breathe of relief. Stepping into the cockpit, though, things were different. Four impact craters were on the glass, all in line with James' head.

None had pierced through, thankfully. Triple layered insulated polycarbonate with crash-resistant and heat-resistant polymers was expensive, but proven worth the cost in this moment. James looked a bit spooked, but he was taking the shuttle to its fastest speed away from the parking lot. "She hopped over the fence!"

"She was waiting for us." Jack said, taking the time to think about this. "She must have already been onboard that shuttle. Or someone sent her with the shuttle. We've got to find Henry."

Jack brought up his Omni-tool, and sent a quick call to Jones. Usually he just sent her text messages or e-mail just to bother her. Though it was in his benefit now, as she picked up immediately.

" _Harper, what's going on?"_

"Hannah Shepard just made an attempt on my life. She was waiting inside one of Henry Lawson's shuttles. We were meeting for dinner and the last that I spoke to him was under thirty minutes ago. Do you have any assets in the area?"

" _Nothing armed heavily enough. Just surveillance for you and Lawson._ "

"See if those teams know where he is. We need to find him. We need to find out how she got so close to him." Jack went through a mental checklist of all of the places she might have come in contact with him. "We need to start with the hospitals and his home, and then work outward. Hannah's experimental cloaking system can work as long as she has power to leech for it. Contact anyone with access to the power grid, find out if there was a power draw in the hospital or home that was abnormal. She had a basic pistol and Omni-tool, and had some nasty grenades. Two cops were also killed during the exchange, and I have some insurance claims on my shuttle that I need to run for evidence."

" _Harper, get back up to Luna and lay low for a bit. Henry was close to you, and other attempts might follow. We should check your ship for any oddities or bombs and have Tartarus scanned as well. Any establishment of yours that she might have rigged to blow, we should investigate._ " Even in a panic, Jones was trying to get any advantage she could on him. Quite impressive, but right now rather annoying more than respectful.

He didn't want to think about how close Hannah had just come to killing him. If she had killed Henry, which was at this point logical, then things were going to get a lot more complicated. Henry was the backbone of his medical program, as well as one of the few people he could trust and call his true friend. Hannah was probably the one other person. Now all of that was just complicated.

"James, get us back to one of the orbital stations, exchange this shuttle for a different one. I doubt that Hannah let us escape so easily. I'm going to turn on the signal jammer so that no signals can come in to anything remotely activated. That will also disable outbound comms. So take us in, get us a new craft, and then we will return to Tartarus." James nodded, as Jack pulled out his signal jammer from his pocket. It was slightly scuffed from something, he didn't want to think about it, and so he just turned it on.

There was a sharp noise, and the sound of an explosion as he activated the jammer. He didn't hear the noise of a burst compartment, but he could see James trying to keep the shuttle going in a straight line. "She must have rigged it to go off if it lost connection too!" Jack said, motioning Julia and Miranda up into the pilot's cabin. "The shuttle's been damaged, get up here. The forward compartment is probably safer." Once they were inside the pilot's compartment he closed and sealed the door to the inner one.

James was still trying to guide the shuttle in a straight line, but wasn't succeeding. "We aren't going anywhere soon, Sir. We gotta get a pickup."

"Which means turning off the jammer. She might still be tracking us." Jack replied. "Can you get us drifting towards anywhere helpful?"

James nodded. "They'll want to talk to us, figure out what went wrong."

"Use one of the exterior lights manually, blink out a signal in the old sight based codes. That way we can communicate without having to break signals out. She'll be trying to find us that way. James, bring us in."

A passing junk hauler managed to drag them into a local space station, working for one of the companies clearing old 21st century tech from orbit. The old countries had thrown up a large number of floating pieces of technology, for which they depended on for communication and economics. Now it was just space dust clogging up the orbit, being slowly cleaned up so that ships wouldn't hit it. There were a few tense moments as James landed them on a local space station, followed by some under the table bribes for an unplanned flight to Tartarus. Once they were back onboard the station, Jack moved everyone back to his office and sealed the door. Then he activated turrets, bio-scanners, the whole works.

"Sir, I've scanned the rooms and the other offices. No new biological signs other than Dr. Lang's new girlfriend. Checked it through the system, it didn't match." James said, walking through the main doors. "She hasn't made it onto the station yet. Or if she has, she hasn't used any of the vents, lifts, elevators, or exterior entrances to do so. Security reports no access attempts, and we have a confirmation on the other shuttle that was in the parking lot. Henry Lawson did take off with that shuttle, and his wife decided to drive. The shuttle boarded with them, their children, and one bodyguard."

"Was Henry abducted?"

"Henry Lawson was killed via pistol at short range, as was his wife and children. The pistol was generic, a Kilo brand. Chinese made, cheap but reliable. The rounds were armor piercing mods, with heavy Palladium as the source. Dirty and illegal. Henry's Omni-tool was gone, as well as his wife's. Access was disabled but the damage was done before she left." James pressed a button on his own haptic interface over his wrist, displaying one of the most popular sites on the extranet.

It was called LeakValve, and it hosted all kinds of information that hackers thought that people needed to know about. Users could vote on whether a post was good or bad, promoting the post to be higher on the list. Right at the very top of the list was a post labeled, 'The Real Cerberus - The Alliance Military Complex'. Jack felt something sink to the very bottom of his gut. He didn't have to open it to find out what it was. Henry had access to everything.

"Non-disclosure or not, this is being released all over the place. Quarterly earnings, 401k, salaries, costs, and briefs for the Naval Committee. It's all out there." James said. "Cerberus is now public."

Jack's heart fluttered. "Henry's banking accounts, are they also taken down? Are they sealed off?"

James shook his head. "Everything liquid is gone. His assets in the company will revert to his half-brother, as his next of kin. He is not educated to the same degree that Henry Lawson was, and was unlikely to support Cerberus or any other form of government program. Henry had described him as a 'hippy'. Great. Henry was the only one on the board that directed the Cerberus Foundation that wasn't in the hole. He was the financial backing that kept the rest of them out of complete bankruptcy.

"James, take the  _Acheron_ , and go down to Henry's Adroit Medical Center, in Western Sydney." He reached into one of his secure lockers, making James' eyes go wide. Inside was an M-920 Cain. Developed during the Rachni wars, they were completely illegal and had no justification for being in a closet. Underneath it was a few pieces of paper. He handed one to James. "This is the codes needed to get to something that Henry was working on. Go pick it up, I need it to be removed before anyone audits the place. Take the OSD's related to the project as well."

James nodded. "So, what's going on?"

Jack sighed. "I'm not capable of staying here. My debtors will be calling for my blood, and without Henry Cerberus is going to fall flat onto its face. We will lose most of the staff that I've been bribing to stay on, as well as the skilled medical professionals that make us the best. They'll take their techniques and knowledge about the tech we have worked on here, and sell it. The Quarians are pulling a significant amount out of the bank, taking away from the money that is being loaned out. Lastly, the Naval committee is going to ask why we are so behind schedule on our programs."

"So, you're running away?" James asked, surprised. "What about the program? The kids?"

"I'll come back if I can, but when someone owes more than five times their net worth, people start to notice. I've been making some smokescreens and illegal investments, but it hasn't filled in the gaps. Fighting a shadow war against the STG has destroyed most of my assets on Earth, not to mention my reputation. I have no more capital to throw around. The best I can do is keep people busy for a few more days, but after that I'll be arrested by Alliance agents for exactly the reason they have me under surveillance."

"You better explain it to your girls, then." James said. "They're not going to enjoy you leaving. Unless you are taking them with you?"

"Hannah is out there, James. I have to go find her, kill her or disable her, and then pay off gargantuan amounts of debt. Shouldn't take more than a few years. If I take the girls with me, they'll just be targets." Jack said, pulling out a few bottles of wine. "Take these with you, I did pay for these legitimately. Start loading my things onto the  _Acheron_. It'll be coming with me when I go." James grabbed them, and walked out the doors. Once the doors had sealed, and showed that no one was in the airlock chamber there, he felt a bit more comfortable. "Girls!" He yelled. "I need to speak with you!"

Julia and Miranda came into the room, both curious and both looking interested. They were dressed in workout gear, and had a couple of high energy protein bars in hand. "What's wrong, Dad?"

"I'm going to explain this all to you, because it affects you. In a few days, I will be placed under arrest for fraud against the Alliance unless I disappear. Those people are willing to send assassins and hitmen after me, just like earlier today. If I leave, you'll be safer." He held up his hand, seeing them start to panic and yell. "Don't interrupt, you'll appreciate this more if you don't."

He brought up a haptic chart showing the financial state of Cerberus. "Miranda, since you are older by a few seconds, I'm putting you in charge of my local finances as a co-owner. This means that you gain control over the Cerberus Foundation in my place, while I assume all of the existing debt. You both are going to be given over to temporary Guardians while I leave. Julia, you'll be safe here on Earth, in the care of the Intelligence Agents. Jones will agree to watch over you. Officially, you'll be assigned to a secret biotic project within Cerberus Foundation's military connections. Unofficially, you'll be hidden somewhere that will be safe from those trying to kill me. Until I can pay off my debts, I will not be in Alliance Space if I can help it."

He turned to Miranda. "As for you, I am sending you to Thessia. Matriarch Benezia is trusting me with her only daughter, and she has agreed to take care of you just in case a situation like this may have occurred. She will teach you about your biotics. You will also receive training from certain martial arts teachers from Asari and Human sources." He opened up her file, labeled conveniently with a title of Project Phantom. "This was my goal in training you. Your element zero nodules looked to potentially be able to use a biotic charge maneuver, however your bone structure and muscle groups need to be reinforced so that you might survive it."

Another file opened, showing Julia. Project Nemesis was it's title. "Julia, you are going to receive training in just about anything you want to be taught, but I was planning for this. You can choose your own path, but before I leave, you both are going to be approved for certain surgeries. Julia, I am approving your surgery for a tactical cloak IV-E. It's labeled experimental to keep certain doctors from having access to it, but in reality it's just incredibly efficient. This was supposed to be installed after you hit puberty, but my timetable has shifted. Miranda, you will be receiving treatments to reinforce your bone structure and muscle fibers. Gene mods, as well, for both of you."

They both wanted to say something, but he kept going. "If you both are wondering why this is happening, I'll tell you. But you both have to know that I am far from perfect. You also have to agree to not mention this in any court of law or other location that would otherwise cause me harm, alright?"

"Dad, we're your kids! Not your lawyer!" Miranda yelled. "Just… Why?"

"Because your dad is worried about a War coming up. It's coming, and unless I save Humanity, we are doomed. There are people out there who would take control of all that we have, and just use Humans like pets. To them, we are simply children, too young or too inexperienced to be a real power. People like me get targeted by them and removed, if they can chance it. As my children, I promised that I would protect you from all that. I apologize that I won't be able to keep that promise. Part of the reason that I am in this situation is that I have made all kinds of promises to a lot of terrible people. Those people include terrorists, murderers, assassins, drug dealers, and slavers. Balak, whom you've met, was born a slave. He children own slaves. Donovan Hock, who you've been introduced to, is one of the most ruthless Humans that exist. Just to name a few. I'll give you both a short list of dossiers to memorize and delete. The names on that dossier are people that will kill you to get to me."

"More importantly, most of them I owe money to, or have connections to. In order to finance the Cerberus Foundation, I had to use criminals to bring in the income that the government refused to give us. Cerberus itself runs on a system of bribery, underhanded tactics, and fear. Worst of all, the only director of Cerberus that gave us medical precedence and justification for the experiments we have performed was Henry." He stopped talking for a second, and brought up the news report that detailed Henry's death. "They already killed our friends. We are next unless we change the game." He motioned to them. "That's why I am leaving. Not because I can't be your father, but because as your father I am going to remove myself from the picture to protect you."

"Where will you be?" Julia asked, almost a whisper.

"My goals aren't changing. I'll be out there, making the galaxy a better place for everyone." At least giving everyone a chance against the Reapers. They were out there, for sure. "I will be working from the Terminus Systems, where Citadel Law doesn't apply. From there I will be getting support for you. As Biotics, you'll be placed in a branch of the Alliance Military. I won't have any more say on that. You get to choose which branch, but all Biotics make a promise to serve in the military in some form after they reach an age where they can join the military. They promise to pay for your schooling, but as for you, school isn't necessary."

"Any schooling you take would just be further preparation for yourselves. With you already being targets, preparation won't matter. Now you need experience. Julia, you'll be with Jones, and she should give you some experience. Miranda, you'll be on Thessia, where you'll be able to study biotics from the best."

"When are we going to see you again?"

"I won't make a promise I won't keep. You'll see me when you see me." He told them. He could feel more than a bit terrible. Julia looked betrayed, and Miranda looked like she was shutting down. "You both leave when James comes back. Go pack everything you want to keep."

James only took thirty minutes to come back, and was as pale as a sheet when he called Jack's Omni-tool. "This is some messed up shit, sir. I just picked up six pods with God knows what in them. What the hell are we doing?"

"Your job. Consider it cargo. My daughters are coming with their things. You'll take Miranda to the Citadel, where you will trade off with the  _Yaranla_. Miranda is going to Thessia, and Julia is staying here. If you have a problem with it, you can quit right now and you'll only be arrested for conspiracy."

"I didn't sign up for this kind of thing, Sir. Mr. Harper. I know you've done some pretty bad stuff, but what was in those pods is another thing entirely. You've… I don't even have words for it. I want out. I want out right now and I don't want to go to jail over this." Jack sighed. He thought he could trust James. The man was really quite amazing at his job.

"Fine. Take a shuttle anywhere you want. I'll send your pay forwarded to your account. Just remember your non-disclosure agreements, and no one will arrest you or question you. Hopefully one day I can at least write a decent referral letter." he said. "Good luck out there, James. I trusted you."

"I'm taking some ginger beer. Don't call me up again, Mr. Harper. Please." James looked sad, and had the same betrayed look on his face that Julia had. Then again, if he saw what was in the six pods that he had been sent to pick up, it would shake up anyone. He had hoped the man would look past it and just do his job. Evidently, he had pushed the pilot too far. Charles wouldn't have faltered. As long as he was briefed first, though. James hadn't even asked for an explanation.

James ended the call, the  _Acheron's_  bridge cameras showing him walking off the ship immediately. Jack was tempted to order the man killed, as his memories demanded. He knew too much about Jack, he had seen all of the different places that Jack had gone to, he  _had_  to die. But he held the thoughts back. James had been a trustworthy pilot and a great role model for his children. For the sake of all the good things James had done, and not the single stupid things he had done, Jack would forgive him. James deserved his own life.

He brought up the next call in the queue that he had to do. "Jones, I need your help." Jones' slightly creased forehead tilted as she answered the call. Her blond hair looked like it had been left alone for days.

"What is it Harper? We're busy as it is."

"I need you to move Julia into protective custody. She is too much of a target here, and Tartarus' security systems aren't top of the line anymore. You caught that STG team snooping around last year. If they can get in, another assassin will. I want you to move Julia somewhere safe. You personally, and not some safe house. I can't trust a safe house."

"You're worried about trust issues, when you're about to be audited?" Jones asked, incredulous. "Security on Tartarus is tight. Nothing will get through."

Jack skewed up his face, making it appear soft. It felt unnatural. "Jones. Please." He put some emotion into the words, which was easier than he would expect. "I need you to do this." He was somewhat sure that the emotions weren't real. He was trying to ignore all of them, right now. Grief, fear, regret, the whole lot. As far as he was concerned, emotions mostly hurt and weakened you.

Jones gave him a long look. "Alright. I'll come pick her up myself. But only until this crisis is over."

"Agreed. I trust you only so far." Jack said. "But right now I can trust you to at least protect her."

Jones ended the call after nodding. That transfer wasn't difficult. Julia refused to even look at him when Jones came to pick her up. She just walked right out the door, not even looking back. Miranda looked like she was about to cry. Without James, Jack had to take her to the Citadel himself. Charles was on Illos, and Amandeep was onboard the  _Acheron_ , but he wasn't trusted to the same level that James had been.

Henry and James weren't there for him anymore. It was just like his memories told him things would go. Well, they also told him that the Reapers would win. That,  _that_  he couldn't believe, wouldn't believe. He wouldn't even let himself entertain the thought of losing again. He wouldn't get himself arrested either. The galaxy would be no good without him guiding it.

* * *

December, 2167

Sigurd's Cradle, Mil System

The Quarian Migrant fleet is like a flock of geese. A well armed, highly communal, and overly paranoid flock of geese willing to shoot to kill at slight provocation. Seventeen thousand capital ships, all in the same place and all too unique and different to form a cohesive military unit, unless you are a Quarian and it all makes sense in the first place. There was organization based on what your ship was currently specialized for, and each ship had a maximum population that didn't change. That meant that any loss was very real, and any damages were responded to with extreme prejudice.

The Quarian Migrant Fleet also had the special jurisdiction of its people that extended as far as their sensors could cover and as fast as their cannons could swivel. Their territory was mobile and had no connection to any other government. So they were easily offended, easily startled, and trigger happy. Why pirates even tried was beyond Jack. Then again, hired raids against them had the added bonus of making them leave faster, so some local governments were willing to pay up.

The  _Acheron_  powered its way to the floating large mass of geese-like ships, formations of oddly combined craft doing patrols. Seeing a Salarian freighter with a Batarian frigate doing patrols made him blink. Worse, the ship leading them looked like it was half-Volus half-Batarian. The  _Acheron_  looked at least normal here, among the ships. Jack did like standing out, however.

Without James he had been forced to take driving upon himself. He had a crew of four Quarians along with Amandeep, all of whom were on their pilgrimage and ecstatic to be serving on a Quarian made vessel. Their pilgrimage was one of the highest paid and lowest risk, at least until now. Calls had started showing up on his account from different creditors, and Alexei was worried about him being behind on a shipment of goods. That shipment would never come, as the ship that shipped those illegal goods was cash dependent to move them.

So, Alexei would be down a business partner that he sorely needed, but that connection was liable to cause him grief in the future. He wanted to maintain it, but human trafficking was difficult enough when you had money to spend on it. It wasn't even sex slaves or anything, it was mostly just muscle for his operation. But the bribes all cost the same, and the game became more expensive the longer you played.

He had gotten two members of the Alliance Naval Committee to come with him to the Quarian Migrant Fleet for a business meeting. Hock had been trying to call him for days, to talk about Henry. His sizable wealth had been split up among the family, and they were blowing it on silly expenditures and selling off his ownership in different places. Hospitals, homes, stocks, it was all being divided and broken up among his relatives. Henry had come from Old Money, and they treated his own methods of making money with disdain. Experimental technology? Government programs? Hogwash to them, they were going to pull Henry's support right out of Cerberus.

Once that happened, it would be over. Cerberus as a Foundation for the good of mankind would be in debt and would lose its credit rating and lines of funding. It's technology would be picked up and sold to other firms and its business would go elsewhere. So, today was all about keeping that afloat.

" _Captain Harper, you may park at docking point twelve. Please equip a sealed suit and set your airlock to decontamination. Welcome to the Migrant Fleet."_  Jack smiled. They seemed to like him a lot better than he expected. Docking point twelve was a cradle that had been attached to the outside of the mobile shipyard  _Lucky Break_ , right next to one of the open areas that the shipyard usually used as equipment storage.

He had bought himself a set of Aramax Heavy Industries armor for the occasion, one that he selected for its looks more than its capabilities. Light armor simply looked better. He put more money into his Omni-tool anyways. He resisted the practiced motion where he would pull on the bottom of his suit lapels and check his appearance, as he went into the airlock. Suits were just that much more comfortable. He was not the only one leaving the ship at the moment, as some of his crew were going to pick up food and goods. They shared the airlock with him at the moment, when the rear doors sealed and the alarm for the decontamination cycle started.

His airlock lined up perfectly, and the three minute decontamination cycle felt more like ten. When the door finally cycled, he could see a few Quarians on the other side. One had overly large shoulder and knee pads, and had large bracers over his arms. His suit was dark blue in opposition to the marine's purple, and his dark red hood stood out as well. He was standing in front of four guards, all of whom had their weapons put away rather than out and pointing at him.

"Captain vas Lucky Break, may I come aboard?"

"Yes, you may." Shev'rash vas Lucky Break said, looking for all the world that he would rather not be here, greeting him. Considering that Jack was responsible for getting him this shipyard and not getting exiled, he probably had to be here. "I'll personally escort you to the Conclave meeting."

"Don't Conclave meetings normally occur on the  _Rayya_?" Jack asked, getting odd twitches of the faceplate from the Quarians.

"Normally," Shev'rash said. "But ever since we renovated the shipyard's supply yard, we can fit the entire fleet's ship captains there. So the  _Rayya_  reluctantly has passed the importance of Conclave meetings onto the  _Lucky Break_. I would have liked to say no, but I am a few crew short to put in any sort of complaint that will get the meetings returned back to the other ship."

"Sounds like you just got more important."

"They want to make me one of the Captains that manages the Civilian Fleet. Then I'll be on par with the Liveships for importance and resources. It's all just rubbish and useless words at this point. Everyone knows that the shipyard only has a few needs. Most of those are raw materials, as well as Helium-3. You humans didn't invent the most efficient energy core to hold this thing together."

"But we did invent something that could handle all of your needs for at least the next century." Jack said, his voice sounding tinny coming out of the helmet he was wearing. Shev'rash was leading them along newly painted walkways towards the main supply area. That area now had Quarian wall hangings, in rich colors and in all sorts of fabrics. The hangings were set up behind rows of bleachers, with Quarian lettering covering all of the seats. A small dias was set up at one end, where seven people could sit facing the rest of the Conclave. In between the dias and the rest of the Conclave seating was another small platform, where a few chairs were placed.

Human chairs. Perfect, the Humans were going to feel cagey and paranoid. This felt like a courtroom. He resolved then and there that he wasn't going to be sitting down. "Are the other members of the Alliance here yet?"

"They will be admitted after you." Jack could hear the chatter of more than a thousand Quarians as he got closer. It was like a bunch of sing-song whistles, and his Omni-tool couldn't take it all in. At least Shev'rash spoke to him in Asari basic. "Guards, move to the next airlock. Escort the dignitaries back here." Once the guard team moved off, Shev'rash let his shoulders droop. " _Bosh'tets._  I have only enough marines to cover basic security. I have to do basically everything that matters myself. Give me a good firefight any day over this useless  _kriss_. I swear, once I find someone who can be a better captain than me, I'll give up the place and just go out doing mercenary work again."

"Were those the only four marines you have?" Jack asked.

"I have twelve. Total. Most of which are old, decrepit, and are probably here to keep tabs on me." Shev'rash shrugged. "I have a crew of maybe forty five, and the requests just keep coming in."

"So, are you ignoring the requests?"

"No, of course not. I'm just being picky and only taking the ones that are the most worthless. They would get stuck on another ship without prestige and their children, if they got to have any, would face even more challenges. No, I pick the people that need to be here. Sometimes I even pick someone who is actually qualified." He had a small whistling laugh as he chirped at his own joke. "All thanks to you."

"Thanks to me, you aren't stuck on Omega doing piss work. You might prefer to be a bit more thankful." Jack said in return.

"No thank you, I'm Quarian. Pissing is hard enough work without other people getting involved." Shev'rash replied. He obviously still harbored some dislike for Jack. "Now, are you prepared to address the Conclave?"

"Yes. Though I also have a proposal for the Admirals to decide on at a later time as well. Is that possible to do here?"

"No. The Conclave's time is too important to suggest anything while at the dias. Try not to offend the people you depend on, please." He motioned to the airlock, where Donovan Hock and Dierdre Scott were walking over to him, with their own guards and someone with a recording drone. "I didn't authorize that! Hey! You! Yeah, you with the half-wit drone!" Shev'rash started walking over to the obvious member of the press, who got flustered and hid behind one of the marines.

"This is one of our historical recorders, meant to record this momentous event." Hock started, his normally charismatic voice sounding slightly tinned from the suit's speakers. "They mean you no harm."

"Harm my  _Kriss_. I never approved it, it isn't coming on board my ship. Disable it or I'll do it for you. Take them back to the airlock, only their bodyguards are permitted."

Two Migrant Fleet Marines split off with the poorly disguised member of the press, leaving Hock and Dierdre along with their four guards, staring at six of the Quarian marines. No hands were on triggers, but the discomfort for the Quarians was evident. Hock ignored them, and walked up to Jack.

"Jack, I wanted to send my regards for Henry, but I never got through." Hock said, activating his comm system to make their conversation private. "You've been entirely too reckless, my friend. We need to talk."

"Well, as you might guess, I am trying to save the Alliance a large sum of money."

"At no personal cost, of course. The other members of the Naval committee felt that my presence was necessary, considering the panic with the Batarians. They have shut down their borders, and their military is acting very suspicious. Not to mention your own actions recently."

"Is this about the money I owe you, or is there something else going on?" Jack asked.

"I bought out Henry's share of Cerberus from his estate. I just wanted to greet you,  _partner_. You've been ignoring the board of directors for days. Thankfully, they were willing to make allowances for me." Jack ground his teeth together. Donovan Hock in charge of  _his_  organization was terrible. Bad. Terrifying if he understood what he was sitting on. "As to the money you owe me, consider it more important than any of your other debts. I'll be pulling Cerberus out of its pit, but only if you can provide me the technology you've been holding back."

"You'll have to be more specific, Hock." Jack said. "I have a lot of investments that could be classified as being held back."

"Whatever you gave the military a few years back, the directed plasma weapon, that had to come from something. We've been trying to implement it, but we need more. The power couplings were too damaged to make any sort of comparison or reverse engineer. Right now we have a weapon, but we need the rest of the weapon housing. So Jack, I want whatever platform that came from, and I want it soon. Consider it top priority. That is, unless you want Cerberus to go bankrupt. Surprising how many patents you had hidden within Henry's accounts. Your organization is strong enough to equip your own private army, if need be. The Naval Committee feels that a closer level of observation is necessary."

"Isn't this a conflict of interest?" Jack said.

"Not when I am stepping off of the committee for the foreseeable future. Politics is getting dangerous, and with the coming election, the far left such as myself are no longer going to be popular. Until we can oust them from office, I'll have to step down. I hope you don't mind me forcing myself upon you." Oh, of course Jack minded. He was of half a mind to shoot him right there.

"Well, then you'll be glad to know that the proceeds from this deal are going to go towards my debt with you." Jack said. "As to your consolidation with Cerberus, I welcome such a potent ally in the face of so much coming turmoil." Jack offered his hand. " _Partner."_  Hock shook it, and from this close Jack could see the grin on his face.

"Tell me about where you got that weapon from." Hock said, taking a long look at Dierdre Scott. In Alliance light armor she looked ravishing, and it had been a long time. Jack took a long look himself, finding that she hadn't lost any of her beauty even as she approached fifty.

"The Batarians had uncovered a Prothean Dreadnaught. Or so they supposed. They were using a stolen mega-hauler to move it, one that I had legitimately paid for. Using the Cerberus designed re-entry jump suits, we boarded the hauler and took it under our control. Then we simply changed destinations. What was strange about this ship was that it was heavily damaged, and when whole would have been almost two kilometers long."

Hock stiffened. "The gun itself was only four hundred and fifty meters long."

"Yes. Here is the more worrisome part. I can verify that the completed product is two kilometers long. I can verify this because another one of the dreadnaughts showed up to steal my own." He opened up his Omni-tool, showing something that had happened a week ago. His recording devices had been programmed to transmit when they detected trouble. They got hit by a localized EMP, and after they rebooted sent their choppy data bursts through Alliance comm buoys back to him. Too late to do anything but watch.

On the screen, Hock and Jack could clearly see the pile of debris and parts that was the old Reaper. The camera view shifted, giving Hock a clear view of the entire corpse. The video then shifted again, as a large burst of energy washed over the area, and a full grown Reaper overshadowed the corpse. Camera angles showed the vile thing picking up every piece of scrap and then grasping the entire ball in its claws. The displacement of matter from the FTL jump that the craft took knocked the camera angles off again, leaving Jack with a pit of rage and anger. He had personally risked his life for that corpse.

The only people who knew where that was exactly were James and Hannah. It confirmed one of his darkest suspicions. The only way that the Reapers could know where the corpse was if they had gotten to Hannah. As such, he now had an Indoctrinated human assassin with close understanding of his entire operation out there hunting for him.  _Hannah Shepard_  was  _Indoctrinated._  It was one of those thoughts that turned into nightmares in the dead of night. Jack's sleep had mostly been medically assisted these days.

"Good God." Hock said. "What the hell is that thing?"

"I have some idea of what the Protheans classified the ships as. But then again, nothing is certain. Until I can prove it, I won't bring it up. But I can safely confirm that a two kilometer long vessel showed up, displayed a massive element zero field, and displaced al of the mass in the area when it jumped. Out to a range of ten thousand kilometers. If my cameras are of any worth, then the main gun on that ship looked fully usable. Some other race out there has the technology, too."

Hock sat for a minute, probably taking it all in. "We need more, Jack. Did you save any parts of it?"

"Of course. I have its inertial dampeners and some thermal vents. Damaged, unfortunately, but workable. Energy hogs, as far as I can tell. Those might help you stabilize the weapon, considering that the couplings should be the same type. But if I give them to you, then you'll have to pay me some of the proceeds."

"What? I'm asking this as one of the last things I do on the Naval Committee!"

"Please, the inertial dampeners alone would be worth any price. They might outperform Asari models. But more importantly, we have a leak in my organization out there. I'll have to go plug it. From what happened to Henry, perhaps it is best that I pull some attention away from Cerberus proper for a while. I know who is after me, and I can take them down easier on the move. My daughters are already in protective custody, and will be safe."

"I understand. I was actually going to recommend you take some sort of action to remove such a threat anyways." Bastard. "Are you ready to present to the Conclave?"

The Quarians were starting to gather again, now that Dierdre had been scanned and everything had been verified. Shev'rash walked them all around towards the dias, in front of more than a thousand chittering Quarians. It honestly sounded like ten thousand squirrels in a single tree. He gave up trying to read the haptic interface. At the rear of the dias, five Quarian Admirals filled five of the seven chairs. The two that were empty had some sort of runic writing on them.

"The Conclave will now be called." A thick voiced female Admiral announced. "We have gathered to hear the proposal of the honored Captain Jack Harper."

Jack nodded. Once Shev'rash motioned for him to go to the dias, he did so. With a click of his Omni-tool, he hijacked the haptic screen that had been placed underneath the Admiral's seats. The wall between them and the Conclave was wide enough to display the information he needed. "Good people of the Quarian race. Keelah Se'lai." He probably butchered that. But he got some murmurs echoing what he said among the crowd. "The Alliance Naval Committee has made a deal with the Salarians and Asari to provide them gyroscopes and thermal vents for their newest line of frigates. The price per gyroscope is three times what the price of a Quarian made gyroscope would cost, and half as efficient. More damning, they are selling us their cast offs from their previous line of frigates. The thermal vents are at least two generations old, and require constant maintenance. Something that you are very familiar with."

He brought up the haptic screen, making some Quarians twitch. They had obviously not been treated to a full board room where presentation was key. Jack even walked around, highlighting different icons and statistics with his hands. Presentation was everything. Quarians were effectively a bunch of technologically superior rednecks. Give them a good show, and they were easily manipulated. But they were a very well trained kind of easily manipulated. "For some upmarking, the Alliance Naval Committee will pay two thirds the price of the given Asari and Salarian price, for your top tier goods. In return, they will help you fund and build a project that the Admiralty Board has commissioned."

Rael'Zorah stood up, prompting Jack to stop talking. "The Conclave is aware that you are helping us fund and construct our newest Liveship." The chittering increased, making Jack not be able to see the translation of whatever Rael'Zorah said next. He held up his hand, and the chittering stopped. "For half of the normal commission fee, you will help us. As such, we have decided preemptively to name this Liveship the  _Harper._ "

Quarians were standing up, the chittering overcoming his helmet's receptors. Quarian vocals could go to much higher pitches than human ones could, and raising their hands in the air. Jack felt a hand land on his shoulder, the chittering so loud that he hadn't noticed that Hock had approached. Zorah held up his hand again, and the chittering came to a slow stop. "Yes, Mr. Hock?"

"On behalf of the Alliance, we have also pledged to allow as many Quarian work visas as you need to assist with this project. We hope that the Alliance and the Quarians can create opportunities for both of our peoples to flourish."

Jack smiled. Something was at least going right here. The Reapers were on the move, but so was he. His enemies were as close as ever, but in his memories the Quarians had never actually been a force to be reckoned with. Now, they would be. They had a shipyard, a new Liveship, and the chance to invest their money into his companies. He could almost rub his hands together. Sure, he would be profiting, but more importantly,  _they_  would be. When the Reapers came, it would not be to an unprepared Quarian fleet.

But first, he had to clean up shop. Hannah had to be removed, one way or another. So far as he knew, there was no way to cure Indoctrination. That left few options. Thankfully, there was no one else in the galaxy with the information he had about it. His memories detailed plenty of things about Indoctrination that he could use to his advantage. The only problem was that he had to draw out Hannah. She would only come after him for one reason. He would have to be bait.

In the meantime, he shook hands with the devil to his right, and all of the Quarian Admirals. They wanted their Liveship, and they would get it. He was sure that the STG were going to be all over this, trying to muck up the project. "Hock, I should probably warn you about a certain threat to Cerberus." Jack said, turning to Hock. Hock was someone who could interfere with them just as well as he could. He just cost prestige and money to fuel.

Author's Note

Yes, I see the Quarians as a bunch of rednecks that have superior technology. But the way that they behave is almost completely like a group of rednecks with some cult-like goal. I am not a Quarian-fan, mind you. I am one of those weird people who loves the crazy underdog types. Humanity is a giant underdog, with stubbornness and are easily offended for a million different reasons. Congratulations to you guys, my readers. We are coming up on 25,000 hits on Living and Indoctrinated Dream.

I have a love/hate feeling about 's formatting limitations. None of my line breaks are preserved, and going back through my story, I can see that a lot of my touches to make this really nice are just being lost. So over the course of the next month I'll be going through the chapters and putting in all of the things that I have been denied. Thank you guys for reading and enjoying it all, and I promise that more unique content is coming.


	28. Fugue: Two Betrayals

Chapter 28

Lower Afterlife, Omega, October 2165

The Afterlife bar was like a bucket of jungle juice. The things and people inside of it were a strange mix. The drinks were as well, and Jack made certain to stay away from Batarian bartenders. He didn't order anything, this time. Mostly as he was in an area where a Batarian bartender had been known to kill his victims with slow acting poison. Afterlife was pretty empty, actually, thanks to threats made against all levo-DNA races. The Batarian plagues had been passed on through Omega, but here there were a lot more medical options for those infected. It also served as the meeting point for people wishing to cure the disease.

"Doctor, please sit down." Jack said to the Salarian that sat across from him. His mottled grey skin looked as if he hadn't seen a natural sun in a long time. "We have much to talk about."

"Of course. Progress has been improving."

"Stage one has been a success, at least."

"Hardly. Of the six pathogens deployed, only three are active. The other three were stopped or caught on arrival, and remotely deactivated. Both of the Asari diseases were stopped from reaching Kar'shan. Partial success yet it still leaves the most obvious path of research into Salarian and Humans. STG will be looking for specifics, send Spectres even." As most Salarians did, he spoke at an outrageous pace.

"Dr. Saleon, I didn't hire you on for your paranoia. I hired you for your skill with biological agents." Dr. Saleon was one of those perfect examples of Salarian recklessness. He was wanted by his government for actions he took part in during his time in the STG, and then using that training disappeared into the Terminus for a couple of years. "How are we looking for implementing phase two?"

"Cure has been synthesized, direct application necessary. It can be expected that another cure will not be available for at least six months, as the STG need to have parts of all of the pathogens on hand to study and create a cure. With borders sealed off, will have to do operations without the knowledge of Hegemony military to get the samples they need. Humans might have more luck, as pathogens may have migrated along to the nearby colonies of Elysium, Jiu-Liang."

"But there are medical centers with the cure in place, correct?"

"Elysium, yes yes yes. Funneled cure through illegal smugglers and then onto third party providers of pain relievers. Will be applied through medigel, as designed. Jiu-Liang is not technically part of the Alliance, and refused shipment. Breakout might occur there. Resulting deaths may be catastrophic."

"Negligible compared to the Batarian death totals. More importantly, how much of the Batarian military is infected?"

"Portions equivalent to near seventy percent. Four months of gestation meant that it has gotten to every barracks throughout their systems. Also of note are Batarians cleaning standards in their military barracks. Very underappreciated." Saleon grinned. "Catastrophic calamity soon approaching. Now, you have the cure. Is this your second phase?"

"No, the cure is the fourth. The second phase is something that I need released all over their extranet. In the Pillars of Strength, a Batarian set of scriptures, it details all of the reasons why the caste system exists, and how their souls reincarnate. Apparently, according to them, the only way to successfully have your soul reincarnate and continue to have any sort of 'honor', they must live their lives inside their caste faithfully. It is also said that they have a chance of being reincarnated through their honorable descendants, be they the same caste or higher."

"I am aware of Batarian societal norms, Mr. Harper." Dr. Saleon said. "Why are the Pillars of Strength important?"

"Because there are all kinds of heavily followed rituals and prophecies in them. Allegedly carved upon gold inlaid columns in Kar'shan's oldest temple, the Pillars are the oldest recorded expression of their race. One of the prophecies is one that predicts the end times. Something equivalent to the Human branch of Christianity or Islam that believes in a point in the future where some act of deity saves the religiously devout. For the Batarians, one of the major prophecies is that their leader will burn the Pillars of Strength."

"Curious. You wish to incite panic?"

"Not just panic. Without the Pillars, all Batarian castes are considered of no further worth. Slavery as a method of improving your reincarnated soul is no longer necessary, so long as some of the other miracles occur."

"What miracles are they going to be looking for?"

"Something religiously ominous, though the translation leaves much to be desired. In Batarian, it mentions a time of uncertainty, where the back of the  _Karn_ , their people, will be broken. The skies will darken with invaders, that just seems unlikely but fear of such will make the lower castes erupt into panic. Lastly, the Hegemon will be buried without his eyes, breaking the cycle of reincarnation for all spirits bound to the highest caste."

Saleon laughed at that. "How are you going to take the Hegemon's eyes?"

"I don't have to. One group that receives certain benefits are the priests of  _karn_ , the religion of the Hegemony.  _Karnists_  believe in reincarnation, and preach to the effect of keeping within the castes, and following the rules. Mostly the priests are in charge of burying their dead, and keeping the religious rites going. They also have their own news program. One rumor of some of the end times occurring and they will talk about it. They love talking about it already, but if they talk about it even more, panic will follow along with the sickness. Castes will no longer matter if they feel that they are facing their end."

"So, you simply have to convince the Batarian Hegemon to burn the Pillars of Strength, pluck his own eyes out, and destroy his own culture." Saleon said. "Enlighten me as to how this is to occur?"

"Someone has to burn the Pillars, military type. Anyone with enough authority that they are unquestionably connected to the Hegemon." Jack smiled. "Each one of his  _Kavka_ , his knives, his closest allies and trusted confidants, carry his authority. If one of them left their knife inside the Pillars of Strength, then it would point to the Hegemon himself ordering them burnt. So, we simply need one of them. Two are outside of Batarian Space, and one resides in the Temple of Athame, while the other rests in the hands of Humanity's most wanted assassin. The other twenty-four are in the hands of his actual advisors."

"So, I am to safely assume that his advisors will not like the idea?"

"Not at all. Destroying the caste system and releasing all dishonored souls who haven't had the chance to gain an honorable afterlife and kicking off the end of their cultural system is not something any of them consider. If they do, they don't do it publicly. The only people who can safely mention it are the big priestly types. Other people get killed for heresy otherwise. Fortunately, the Pillars of Strength are available to any Batarians who feel economically capable of paying for a hand translated copy."

"Sounds impressive. How much does the assassin want for it?"

"My head. At least that is what I think she is after. Last time she tried to get near me she was in some Asari made Eclipse armor, and tried to knife me." Saleon actually grinned at that.

"Salarians don't bother with emotional relationships. Creates unhealthy amounts of damage to professional relationships and reputation. Pheromone producing races give themselves more complications this way."

"If I remember correctly, female Salarians produce hormones." Jack said. "Saleon, the cure needs to be processed into as much medigel as possible, enough for a few million Batarians to use. Enough to provide some sort of miraculous healing event. More importantly to paint Human invention as the reason it is successful."

"Yes, yes. We will produce what is necessary. Your request seems small for the number of people you wish to fix. Why?"

"I'm going to dilute the mixture into the water supply. Medigel is meant to be soluble, and enough of the concentrated mixture should cure the infected. You just give me the concentrated dosage."

"Flimsy." Saleon said, bringing up his Omni-tool. "Instead of medi-gel, I will deploy through water purification tablets. Easier to concentrate, easier to ship. Does not look as damning as medi-gel would be during an investigation."

"Thanks for the consideration." Jack remarked. "I'll handle phase two and three, you handle phase four. I'll need enough stock and methods to ship to all of the Hegemon worlds."

"You haven't mentioned phase three." Saleon said.

"You're not relevant to phase three. That's my worry. At the end of this, don't worry. You'll get access to the places you need to go, and I'll have my damage done."

"Revenge is good business. Talk with you soon, confer on shipments." Saleon said, stepping out of the booth. Jack left not long after, tipping the bartender for nothing, and leaving a note that the booth he had rented for the rest of the week would remain untouched. He walked back to the  _Acheron_ , leaving a notice that he would be gone for a day or two. His crew didn't think much of it, as they had been trained and taught not to question what the captain told them.

Then he went to one of the nicer hotels on Omega. Nicer for its quality and privacy, and the fact that anyone could rent its rooms for whatever they wished, so long as they paid a large deposit on the room for any cleanup. Thoughtful, that was. The room he chose was deep within the station, with only one entrance. The ventilation systems were independent for each room, and the plumbing system was connected but well contained. The only way in was through the walls, using explosives, or through the front door.

Then, he just got a connection to the extranet and short-sold some shares in different companies. Short-selling was what he did when he was nineteen to make ends meet. He, along with a bunch of other poor kids, worked for a tech gang that used legitimate stock as trading material for their gear. This stock would be sold and exchanged for cash, or if the kid selling it was good enough, they were given the task of using gang money to buy and sell stock for short term income. Jack was good enough at it that he didn't work for the gang. He was employed by a private investor, who used him like a lapdog to do all the hard work and took all the profit. Either way, it paid for his lifestyle and living expenses.

Pulling out a bottle of wine and some cigarettes, he waited. Now it was time for Hannah to make her move.

* * *

Melbourne, Australia, November 2165

The pieces of Eclipse armor tumbled off like a broken toy. Stupid Asari designed pieces of crap. Why did it all have to be so comfortable and supportive? She stared at the Alliance armor waiting on the table, as well as the tall blonde who stood behind it.

"Your report indicated that Jack Harper was behind the attack on the Mars Archive. If the evidence you have points to that, then I'll have you brought back into the Alliance office of Intelligence immediately." Major Julianne Jones, fifth in command of the entire Intelligence office, stated. Hannah hadn't told Jack, but she had kept a connection to her old place of employment. Now she was glad that she did. "We haven't been able to find Jack Harper at all, either. His ship is on Omega, yet the man himself hasn't been sighted anywhere."

"He's in full retreat. I convinced his pilot to leave him, enacted a plan to get Henry Lawson extracted from Jack's grip, and sent him into panic mode." Hannah looked down at her Omni-tool, letting some of her red hair drift in front of her vision. She had gotten the color restored, as well as her facial treatments undone. She was back to her old face and old looks, freckles and bleached white skin all back to their normal selves. "He should still be holed up in a hotel on Omega, waiting for me to come after him. He left a couple of clues that he knows I can follow."

Jones frowned. "What of your evidence?"

"I brought a shuttle that he used to get into Mars the first time. I confirmed his DNA on some of the seats. He was the pilot. More importantly, he was also the catalyst. I interviewed the members of the Intelligence Office that were around back then, and one member who was in a retirement home. They all can confirm that the hit came from within their organization, yet no one at the top approved it. All of the agents involved were bribed hefty sums, in keeping with Jack's normal method of keeping people loyal."

"Excellent find. With this and everything else we were able to find out, we can bring him in." Jones said. "With Henry Lawson and his family in protective custody, we can protect them from the backlash. Unfortunately he sent Miranda to Thessia, and we won't be able to get any access to her. With Matriarch Benezia watching over her, it is unlikely that she will be open to any of our normal methods."

"So, I am being reinstated? For certain?" She had to resist crossing her fingers. It had been years since she had felt like she was in the right place.

"Yes. With a promotion for years of undercover work. With everything you have on Harper's illegal actions, we can finally bring his entire criminal network down. Welcome back, Captain Allison H. Shepard." Jones gave her a salute. A promotion, too! Finally, after all of the effort, she was going to be rewarded. She hadn't trusted Jack when he told her that the Intelligence Office was going to throw her away. Instead, they had insisted that she gain some meaningful leadership experience before she could be considered for promotion. She hadn't gotten the memo, and instead went into Jack's criminal empire.

Which she had in turn broken down and reported everything to her superiors. When she heard that the Turian Councillor had been killed, she decided that Jack might be the culprit. So, she had returned to the Alliance with everything. They had taken everything she had, and decided to agree with her conjecture that Jack was too dangerous to be allowed to continue going as he was.

Jones' report detailed that Jack had become extremely antsy right before the Turian Councillor had been murdered. He had died from a brain aneurism, or the equivalent problem within Turians. His doctor had met with him a month before he had died, reporting him to be in perfect health. Sparatus was a conscientious physical trainer, and his physique was impressive at his age. Something so sudden could be written off as an accident, yet his Omni-tool only registered the danger after the attack had happened. None of the Spectres noticed anything, or any of the Turian Blackwatch, who were some of the best that the Hierarchy had.

Jack had panicked before the death of the Councillor, and this while Hannah had been detained. Jones only reported some sort of muttering about Asari. He had some sort of unnatural hatred for them, but she could see why. The near alliance with Benezia was the only thing that didn't make it seem racist.

"Thank you, Ma'am." She told Jones, who wasn't smiling. The woman never smiled.

"Your loyalty was never in question." She wouldn't mention that if it was true. "However, Jack Harper is someone we have to remain wary of. I am authorizing you to take a team of your choosing in, and spring whatever trap he has planned. Hire a team, if you feel more comfortable with that. But spring the trap. Capture him if possible. He has been associated with some rather problematic figures in foreign governments. Bring him in, I don't care how."

She nodded. "I'll go after him."

"You know him best, Agent. In support of you, I will act as your Overwatch." Support, sure. More like verifying that she was truly loyal to the Alliance again. That was to be expected. "I will be wherever you prefer me to be, and act as an added asset if absolutely necessary."

"Affirmative. I have his location, and in keeping with the cover story, I will hire some Eclipse mercenaries to keep Jack thinking that I am independent. I'll come in to take him, and have the mercenaries be the fodder. Jack will be planning on me coming in using a subtle method, rather than something loud and brazen." Hannah snorted. "Can I rent a gunship?"

Jones shrugged. "It's Omega. No one cares if you shoot up the place except the people you're shooting at. So, go right ahead. Just don't piss off the locals. Aria is not someone to piss off lightly."

"Believe me, I know. Buying Jack's location off of her was expensive enough." She said. "I've got a ship that can take me there. I'll buy a team on arrival and pursue him. If you are going to be close, I would recommend Afterlife or in the section of the docks that his ship will dock in. The  _Acheron_  is an unknown, as its blueprints are not available for perusal."

Jones snorted. "I don't think Jack owns them himself. The Quarians do." She activated her Omni-tool, connecting with Hannah's. "I'll catch the next flight, I'll be in touch." Hannah groaned, and decided to go put back on the damnably more comfortable Eclipse armor. Her new alliance armor would have to be left behind for this. Sadly enough, during her time with Alexei she had been extremely well paid. With Jack, even more so.

She didn't know what to spend it all on other than her own vanity. She had millions of credits, and spent some on the facial surgery that had Alexei thinking she was of mixed Asian descent. When she decided to go back to the Alliance, she had to shed her old disguise. She was still taking medicine to bring her skin back to its normal level of pale caucasian colors. Her freckles had even been discolored from the skin treatments she had.

Hannah Shepard therefore spent her money on a few other things. She got her scars and bodily damage from all of her previous years of activity fixed, including the damage done to her reproductive organs. Then she bought a small ship of her own, nothing more than a nicer Salarian freighter. It was armed, but not heavily or armored heavily. Just enough to defend herself and just enough armor to ward off the weaker enemies.

She didn't bother renaming it. It was registered to an alias, and that was helpful for her line of work. The  _Jek-Jek-Tar-Tek_  was a nice ship, but ultimately just a ship. Unlike Jack, who obsessed over his things, her ship was nice but didn't have all of the nicer things in it. Nor did it have any of the superior parts that he would insist on. So, she took the  _Jek-Jek-Tar-Tek_  out and set its location to Omega.

* * *

In the next room over, Jones watched as Hannah went directly to her ship and left the dock. She pressed a button on her Omni-tool, triggering the lights on what appeared to be a solid wall. Once light hit it, however, the projection was revealed to be just a one way mirror, with a door set into it. Pressing a button again, the door opened, and Julia was allowed into the room.

"I am sorry you had to hear all that. No one enjoys their family being revealed as criminals." Jones said. "Now, come over and sit down. As your father's oldest daughter, you inherit the most of his possessions upon his death or permanent incarceration."

"Incar-sar-ation? What does that mean?" Julia asked, confused. She didn't like anything about what had happened over the last few days. Her dad had left them. Left them! Miranda was somewhere with the Asari, learning biotics. Julia got locked up in some large cargo container like rooms with nothing to do and no extranet access. It was boring, and all she had time to do was work on her biotics. But without a teacher, it was hard. She couldn't ask anyone questions when her skin started stinging and burning, or when the headaches came. She spent most of her time eating, reading, and basically doing nothing. Miranda's messages weren't getting through, even when she used her dad's codes for TartarusOS.

"It means we put him in jail for what he has done. Sometimes, people are put in jail so that they can have a safe place to learn about what they are doing and why it is wrong. For your father, we would put him in jail to keep other people safe."

"What did my Dad do?" He left her. He just left her behind like she was useless. Miranda wasn't useless, she got to go to Thessia. Meanwhile  _she_  was left behind. Put away in a box where she would be safe. Safe from what? Jones said that she would be safe from him, but she didn't even know anymore.

"He has been killing a lot of people. We can only guess at some of the victims, but we have confirmed enough. If you want me to, I'll tell you everything. Exactly why we just sent someone to go capture your father. Where his money is and how he uses it. What crimes he has committed, and where. I will give you everything, if you just say the word. I know that you are young, but with your upbringing I feel like you can handle it." Jones didn't do well with children, she could tell. Everything and how she said it sounded like a threat. But she could look past that. Auditory learning skills were not her strong point.

Physical intuition was. Jones was keeping her hands out of sight under the table, so Julia couldn't tell if they were fidgety or not. her shoulders were square, strong and confident. Most people were pretty sure of themselves when they had that kind of stature. She was pretty, in a rude sort of way. She didn't have any of the curves that made her dad stare, but she had a very striking nose and mouth. Both of which remained perfectly still. Her cheeks didn't puff out or show any tightness, and her chin was not moving. Her eyes showed no emotions, but her neck seemed rather stiff. There were few things to go on.

Dad had brought in some social skills teacher for her. They had Asperger's, too. He taught her everything she had needed to know about how to read emotions from just how people's bodies moved. How they smiled or not. If a smile was a real smile. Julia had a hard time paying attention to all the words in a conversation, and couldn't remember them very well afterwards. So she payed attention to faces, muscles, hands. Jones didn't have any real tells, though.

"I want to know." Julia finally replied. "I have a right to!"

"You have the option to, but not the right. Technically, everything that I want to share with you is classified and should only be revealed in court. Since you aren't a witness to any of these crimes, I can pass on this just this once. Now, once I tell you, I am going to tell you everything, and there will be no stopping, and no going back. You'll know everything that your father has ever done, and everything you are inheriting."

"What about Miranda?"

"She is unavailable. If you want to explain all of this to her, you may. That is your decision. I will simply give you the option of knowing now or when it all comes out in court."

Julia stiffened her shoulders and tried to calm down. It was hard, knowing it all. But not knowing was just worse. Way worse. "I want to know. Please tell me."

Jones nodded, pointing at the chair that the redhaired woman had been sitting in. "Once I show you this, you won't be able to consider yourself the same way." She brought out a datapad, and hooked it up to the table. Like, with an actual cable! It was completely old, and not something that Julia would have expected. It was from an era before element zero had allowed for everyone to own Omni-tools. Or at least everyone who wanted to have a real piece of technology. Some older people still wore watches and things.

The datapad took forever to boot, almost ten seconds. But then it displayed a picture, of a larger, fat woman with black hair down to her shoulders holding up a small boy. "The man you know as Jack Harper was born as Jack Ephraim Smith. His birth certificate was recorded with only the birth mother, and his mother raised him alone for many years. She had live in boyfriends, as well as one other aborted child. She had a drug addiction, and eventually got a street doctor to install a drip inside of her shoulder to keep her in a drug-supported state. We suspect that she may have been so damaged by the drugs by the time that Jack was eight, that her higher brain functions had stopped growing. At the age of thirty two, Jack was twelve and she had lost function in her legs. That was the first year that police investigated their home for possible drugs. We had reliable reports after this point that his mother, Constance, would treat Jack like the other men she had in her life. Two years later, she reported Jack missing for the first time."

Pictures revealed by the data pad on the wall through the haptic projection screen were police line-ups, police records, and arrest records. Her Dad looked like some Extreme Metal band member, with hair down to his chin and an angry stare.

"His first confirmed murder was at the age of fourteen. Someone called his mother something unwarranted, and Jack pushed the grown man out a window. As it was his first major offence, it was ruled as an accident and Jack was let go with one hundred hours of community service and a child parole officer. By the age of sixteen, he had figured out how to coerce other people to do his killing for him. Before he turned seventeen, Jack had become associated with all of the local tech gangs in Chicago, and was financing different aspects of them. When he was finally convicted of fraud, he paid his bail himself and disappeared." Jones' voice didn't rise in octave or tone. Julia herself was feeling a little nauseous.

"What happened?"

"I'm getting there. This datapad is the hard copy from Chicago. I'll have to go to the newer files. Some of these we didn't find until Henry Lawson came into our custody and revealed them." She brought out another datapad, this one newer and shinier. It also had a scaling encryption signal entanglement attachment, which Julia was used to breaking through. Her dad had them on doors. "With the aid of Henry Lawson and his group, the charges were dropped and Jack Smith changed his name and moved out of his mother's house. For two years he lived in a hotel next to Henry's medical center, handling accounting and investments for their firm. He brought in a few hundred thousand credits before Henry created a fake identity for Jack. His name was now officially Jack Ephraim Harper."

"Ee-fram." Julia sounded out. It was a weird word.

"After he left his mother, she was placed in a rest home back in her parent's home town in the Utah region of the Northwestern States. She is still alive, though mostly unresponsive." She had a grandma! More than just a dad and sister! Forget bad things, right now she was getting good news. "Jack never made arrangements to contact her, and she never made attempts to contact him even when she had a largely stable period. Jack himself moved to Australia and falsified documents claiming that he had graduated from secondary school and got himself into college. He took twenty seven credit hours of classes and still was working stock investments for Henry's firm. Jack Harper had a full Bachelor's degree in eighteen months, and then threw himself into working for Henry." Jones brought up more pictures, this time of different people. "He maintained his contacts in the criminal industries, creating connections into China and beyond. The tech gangs now came to him for capital and exchanged their money for contacts, contracts, and information."

A chart came up, showing paths that Jack had invested in and criminal activity connected to those paths. "From the very beginning, Jack Harper used his money in illegal and immoral acts, and was nearly convicted on fraud again in 2140. Later that year he had a hunting accident, which cost him most of his eyes. His criminal activity tripled, soon after. He began buying out companies associated with growing technology connected to the Prothean Archives, and started getting contacts within the Intelligence office. At the time, it was still very new to have an Office of Intelligence, and mistakes were made. The Northwestern States and the European Union fought over who would be the senior officers among the organization, and Jack played off of the dispute. To further make the dispute difficult, he convinced some of the German members that raiding the Prothean Archives for specific information would be valuable."

The news reports on the attack were displayed, followed by a classified report filed by a Hannah Shepard. That flashed by quickly, but not quickly enough for her to pick out certain details. Details that she would look into later. "Jack Harper killed every agent aware of the plan, and left the Alliance with the bill. At this point, we can only guess, Jack had killed more than fifty people. Directly or indirectly he had killed at least four dozen people. We can only guess, as most of these were carried out via tech gang. Hitmen, hired goons, hired hackers. Jack always fulfilled his contracts, no matter if he lost money by performing it or not. Thanks to Henry Lawson, we have a more complete picture of what kind of sociopath your father is. Most of the people he killed were criminals themselves or somehow associated with the companies he was trying to acquire."

Small excerpts of people killed or accused of fraud and wrongdoing were posted now. "With his newfound personal wealth, Jack then tried to make a buyout of the up and coming Ashland-Hislopp corporation. Todd Hislopp refused the buyout, and brought Jack on as a partner instead. With the improved capital, the Alliance sold their contracts for their frigates and cruiser lines to Ashland-Hislopp. This was mostly legitimate, except for the source of the money. It was here that we noticed his wealth and fraudulent expenditures. Your father is what we call a 'Gatsby' case. We knew he was getting his money from somewhere, but until we knew where we would not take action."

Jones then brought up pictures of Shanxi. "This you might know from your history texts. The first Shanxi revolution, which ended with the deaths of thousands of civilians and with the loss of all of the infrastructure on the colony. Your father funded the initial capital for the investments that went into the colony before and after the revolution. He is directly responsible for the entire conflict. He even paid both sides to make it happen. One of our agents heard him take pride in the action. He was proud of the revolution. We could not find out why, and that is one of many things that we couldn't explain."

Jones hesitated, but brought up the images anyway. More of Shanxi, and then moving onto what appeared to be pictures of a medical operation to remove someone's lowest set of ribs and replace them with technology. "He then committed unethical experiments upon other humans, using them as testbeds for his newest developed technology. Fortunately, no one died, but it allowed his Cerberus Foundation to be founded with the intent of providing this amazing technology to other members of the Human race. We didn't know what Cerberus was to be used for at the time, but lately it has been getting nasty."

"After Shanxi, Jack bought up all of the land and sold it to his grimy criminal connections, for a slim profit. The Alliance bought the mountain base and some orbital platforms from him. They turned these into defensible areas, while Jack funneled more money into the Shanxi rebels. They smuggled weapons and explosives into the colony, in preparation for another large revolution. The Reds, as they called themselves, figured out that Jack was playing both sides and broke off connection with him. He still funneled money into the area, for what purposes we didn't know. We never did find out. Shanxi was completely wiped out when the Turians invaded. As the Reds and military had been gearing for war already, they had a terrible time." More vids broke out, showing humans in nothing but clothes and with cheap guns trying to fight off fully armored Turians. Julia grimaced at that. Nyra had told them what fighting without armor was like. Basically stupid beyond stupid. You had a biotic barrier as long as you had concentration. You had kinetic barriers as long as you didn't get shot at too much, and armor was for every other defensive need.

"One of our agents was permanently assigned to Jack and was on Shanxi with him at the time. She was also one of the subjects of his experiments, and the first human with the ability to use Tactical Cloaking technology. She participated in the defense of Shanxi, and thanks to Jack had to engage a Turian Spectre. The Alliance fleet showed up in time to save the remainder of the population, and airlift Jack out. Jack fully funded Cerberus, as well as Sirta, at this time. Cerberus developed weapons for us to use against the Turians, and Sirta provided medi-gel to the troops. It was all invaluable, and so we turned a blind eye as to where the money was coming from."

From here, the surveillance we had on him increased, yet with a wider universe to play in, Jack soon became a lot more terrifying. He made deals with Batarian terrorists, Krogan mercenaries, Asari outliers, and Volus enterprises. We haven't been able to track any of that. The purchases were made outside of Alliance Space, and tracking any information out there is expensive and usually not worth it. Only with the Council's help have we been able to do a full check of what he has in Volus banks. It turns out that he hadn't been storing money in the Citadel markets, but instead was funding different security organizations that favored Humanity."

Groups and their dossiers appeared, starting with the Reds, displaying the different planets that Jack had investments on. Then it shifted to Elanus Risk Control Services, Dawn Security(The Golden Dawn Political Expeditionary Force), Eclipse Mercenaries, Blood Pack Mercenaries, and tech gangs all over Citadel Space. Julia memorized all of the dossiers in the minute each was up. Jones probably knew her well enough to know that she had good memory, but Julia tried to keep people from knowing that she memorized  _everything_  when she read something. She never forgot it. Especially the things that her dad had written down. Though a lot of it was in code that she didn't know. Yet.

"When weapons developed at Cerberus started showing up in Batarian and Dawn hands, we knew that Jack was selling us out. His connection to human trafficking rings and smugglers made us more worried, but for different reasons. We believe that he might have staged some of the attempts to kidnap different biotics that he reported being taken or attempted to be. We don't have any proof of wrongdoing, and none of the money connects yet. But we have multiple agents investigating his actions."

Jones brought up another picture, this time of a tax file. "Here are your father's taxes, and what he paid. Don't bother reading it, it doesn't even compare to the rest of your financial empire that you are going to inherit. From what he paid in taxes, Jack was making roughly four hundred million Citadel credits a year. That put him in the top one thousand wage earning members of our race. He reported getting roughly twice that for Cerberus contracts, all dividends paid out and his own salary was a measly two hundred thousand credits. Not much on the grand scale, and made him look Humanitarian. In reality, large portions of the money disappeared into black projects that he wasn't required to report to us about, policies that didn't exist in the system, and a hospital bill that seemed legitimate but wasn't actual. We now believe that these funds were used to lure doctors to Cerberus, as well as skilled companies and laborers to make sure that it was the best. Not characteristically bad, but we also can't prove that the money that we gave him was mismanaged and given to criminal elements. Either way, mismanaging government funds carries a large fine and jail time."

"Some of the murder cases are still open, and he will be fined for those as well. He has also colluded with one of the groups out of Shanghai here on Earth, and possibly sold them the weapon that killed the third President of the Alliance. As a result of that assassination, more agents were sent to Cerberus for gear, gene mods, and upgrades."

"But he didn't kill the President himself?"

"No, we have found nothing to prove that he wanted the President dead. His association with politicians at the time were people from the far left anyways, and assassinating a President on the far left is too far fetched for him. The President's assassination has been fully investigated and we know who killed him."

"How much of what my dad has done was self-defense?" Julia asked, hoping that was the case for some of the deaths.

"As far as we can tell, very few. Possibly only a few of the early murders. Right now, the people after him would use the same methods he would, so that they wouldn't be implicated themselves. Send in people to do the job for them." Jones flicked to the next slide, a picture of Jack standing next to a massive weapon. It looked like some sort of planetary gun, but weathered and eroded. "This is something he gave to the Alliance military a few years ago. He claimed that the rest of the find belonged to him, and not to Cerberus. If we find out what this came from, Humanity would seriously benefit from it. Our agent observing him claims that it is a full sized Prothean Dreadnaught. Apparently your father stole it from the Batarians, who were rather angry about it all. We need the rest of it, and it represents most of what we would use to pay off his debts."

Another screen popped up, listing all of the debts.

_Bank of, Wells Fargo, 24 Million in loans, property_

_Bank of, South Africa, 45 Million in loans, capital_

_Bank of, Northern Spirit, 23 Million in loans, capital_

_Pan-Systemic Capital, 75 Million in capital investments_

_Convergence Capital, 45 Million in capital investments_

_Hock, Donovan, 114 Million in loans, mixed_

_Expected returns on dividends, 13 Million_

_Expected returns on income, 2.5 Million_

_Expected returns on investments, 16 Million_

"Your father has been taking loans and hiding his credit for a long time. As his initial investment money has come from illegal sources, we can only assume that he is deeply in debt right now. Worse, his bank accounts are sealed up tight by the very bank that he owns. There is an audit being done currently, on his bank. As his source of capital backing, it is important we know what it has."

"But that is where the Quarians keep their money!" Julia said. She liked the Quarians that were around. Not everyone else did, but she liked them.

"Yes, but they chose to invest their money poorly. As it is semi-illegal to allow them even this much consideration, it might be a good favor for the Council if we can get rid of all of their money in the human economy."

Julia frowned. That hurt them. Hurt them like how dad hurt her. "No."

"What are you saying no about. You'll have to be more specific."

"That bank becomes mine once my dad dies, right?" Jones nodded. "Then I don't want the Quarians to lose all of their money! They are really nice people, and the big bad people on the Council don't like them. They don't deserve it!" Julia obsessed about things. She read things. "I've read the Citadel codex about them, and whoever wrote that was an idiot. The Quarians have their own codexes, and I read those, too." Jones was about to speak, but Julia was  _mad._  "Then I read the codexes from the Batarians and from Omega, just to get the full story. I like the Quarians, because they are like us. They want to fight back, they want to succeed. Every Quarian I know has been nice and respectful. Even the old records say they were like that. If I get that bank, then you aren't taking away the Quarian's money." Julia folded her arms and glared, exactly like her dad taught her.

Jones glared back. But she wasn't as scary as a Krogan or her dad. "The Quarians are not allowed to spend money in the Citadel economic sector. Companies that associate with them are subject to fines."

"Fine then! I'll pay for their fines! They don't deserve it!" Like warpball, she really got into history. As well as history for other races. " _Nin Eastos fran_." Julia spat in greek. Calling her flat chested made her feel a bit better.

"We can discuss that later." Jones said, her hands now on the table. They didn't shift, they just stayed on the table far apart from each other. Like she was using them for stability. Julia could take a bit of pride in that. Jones felt uncomfortable around her. She didn't know  _why._  Yet. "Right now, I have shown you everything your father has done to convict himself. You have access to the information while you are here, and can form your own conclusions if you wish. Your father has a lot of secrets we don't even know about yet, and he has Prothean artifacts and data that needs to be shared with the Council, or else Humanity might end up like the Quarians. We wouldn't want that, now, would we." Jones got up, leaving the datapads. "I'm going to go and supervise your father's capture. When we return, it should be to discuss what happens to you. A list of all of your father's assets are in the datapads, and how much their net worth might help or hinder you. As his inheritor, it will be your decision as to what you pay the debt with."

Jones got up and walked in the normal military step to the door. Then, she glanced back once and left. Julia was left alone, but this time had everything about her father's life in front of her. She couldn't help but feel curious. This time she didn't need to break through five layers of encryption just to access a single file. She started organizing all of the information into piles of things that she cared about and things that she didn't. The most important thing, she figured, was her family. "Jack Ee-fram Smith." She didn't like the sound of that. She could agree with him changing his name. "But why Harper?" She looked up the name change form, and saw a reason for the change. "Because it's from an old vid-game? Ok, now I gotta figure that out."

* * *

Hannah Shepard found that hiring a few Eclipse mercs didn't take much. They were rather cheap here, especially since she just needed them to flush out Jack Harper. The hotel that Jack was staying in was right next to some of the station's structural pillars. So the building was very strong, structurally sound, and made of that annoying Prothean metal that took a cruiser's main gun to damage. Or thousands of years of erosion. Thankfully that was just the outside walls. The inside walls were normal carbonate polymer constructions, cheap and easy to destroy. The only problem was getting to them. She had a rented gunship for any problems that might occur later, and had the Eclipse mercs going in from a service 'entrance.

The hotel hadn't had any guests the entire month. It was quiet, and rather ominous. Jack had a month to prepare for her. She had reinforced her mixup of armor with some Omni-gel ports and a tech armor field, which used Omni-gel to create a small layer of secondary material around your existing armor to protect against explosives or light weapons fire. Jack used a pistol like a marksmen, so her vulnerable areas had been reinforced with the tech armor. As for any other tech gadgetry Jack might pull out, she had a rocket launcher.

Trusty Mr. Burns-a-lot was something she had taken off of a merc in the Terminus systems. The rounds were layered with a bit of corrosive burst shot, making it very nice for anti-personnel, as well as great for ruining a room full of tech equipment. Jack had his toys and women, and Hannah had her weapons. She could spend hours shopping for the right ammunition for any given mission. Some of the missions she had done while with the Golden Dawn had been horrible. Human trafficking, red sand dealing, stealing medical supplies from refugee camps, that was some of the worst. Kidnapping and extortion were much more common, with her skill set.

Still, she was past all that. Alexei was going to be facing charges soon, and all of his operations in Systems Alliance Space would come to a halt. His Citadel operations were semi legitimate, and so they would have to wait for them to slip up. If the Council got involved then they could convict him faster, but that bureaucracy took its time doing anything. White collar crime in the Citadel was hardly controlled. Some was even encouraged by their racial governments.

She sighed. Jack had been  _too_  quiet. He had stayed in place for an entire month. That was outside his normal habits by far. He never ran and hid, he always had a plan. That's why she hired six mercenaries and a couple of thugs off of the street. The gunship she had was in reserve, parked halfway between Jack's hotel and his dock. The  _Acheron_  was hiding somewhere nearby, and could come in quickly to pick him up if trouble is brewing. She wouldn't be trying to intercept his ship. He was more vulnerable on the ground.

So, she had to grab him then. If he made it to his ship, capturing him would be ten times harder. Her ship was modest, but it wasn't half the size of the  _Acheron_ , nor did it have the firepower. She had seen those mid-sized guns on it, and they could swivel almost any direction. As Quarian ships all had the look of flying saucers stuck on their sides, the side mounted turrets could convene on any angle. The slight curve to the edge of the ship meant that they could cover the same ground, and besides the engine block area the coverage was complete. Her ship with its puny guns wasn't meant for taking on something twice its size. Not to mention whatever Quarian gadgets Jack had on that thing.

The hotel that Jack had holed up at was in the middle of the center of the station, where the upper class of Omega lived. If you could even call it that. It just meant that their living areas didn't stink of drugs and illicit activities. They could afford what passed for cleaning services, as well as security. So the apartments and homes here paid protection money to different mercenary crews to maintain their illusion of privacy and security. Jack's hotel was right in the middle of the Blood Pack regulated area.

Her Eclipse mercenaries didn't want to start any turf war, and were being extremely careful. The hotel had some duct ways that accessed the air processing plant in the sector. Due to many years of damage and neglect, the ducts had been cleared of any major obstructions. Her Eclipse mercs would go through there to enter the hotel, as the Salarians she had hired were meant to deal with any of Jack's tech surprises.

Her path, on the other hand, was from the roof. A drone or twenty were covering all of the other entrances. She had on her nondescript armor, as the Eclipse patches had been removed. She was going to have to figure out how to incorporate some of the nice bits of this armor into her Alliance regular, though. Or just paint over it. That was a thought.

The roof of the building had the standard exhaust hatches, as well as a couple of hatches that had camera drones inside of them. Useful for keeping an eye out for enemies but not for her. No, she was paying attention to the small drones attached to the doors. They would be able to pick up the sounds of her steps and the displacement of air that occurred when she walked near the doors.

Those needed to be dealt with. This was where her tech support came in. She sent a message to the Salarians she had hired through Eclipse.  _'Roof sensors are numerous. I need them flashed or given a false signal.'_

 _'We see the system. Two minutes to accessing those functions. Blood Pack has upgraded their firmware recently. Will take some time to slice through.'_ Was her answer. She waited, not moving far from her starting location on the roof. All of the windows were layered in more than a few layers of carbon polymers, and the housing for them was that abominable Prothean metal that resisted destruction.

' _Don't bother breaking in. My target most likely upgraded the system. He will notice your attempts. Unless it's a Spectre or an STG team doing this I doubt that we will be unnoticed. I'll have to just trigger the trap and go. Can you access the sensor logs?'_

Her typed comment was logical. Thankfully, Salarians had natural tendencies towards logic rather than emotion. ' _Weak spot in the grid here in the tunnels._ ' Came back immediately, the Salarian brains already working around the issue. ' _Possibly a trap. Logs note that the grid was only installed recently. Controlling all connections to the local networks, however is only accessible from outside Omega. Odd, for the Blood Pack.'_

That sounded like Jack's work. Control the security station remotely, but have it be directly in control of all of the local networks. That meant that he was probably directing this from the  _Acheron_. She still wanted to confirm that he was even on the station, and not slipping away into the dark. All she had to go on was search activity on his favorite news networks, and a couple of food orders that would seem normal if not for some oddly specific ingredients. Olive oil was hard to find on Omega. Especially the olive oil that came from Greece itself. Alexei pridefully told her one day that Jack had fallen in love with the stuff, and used it specifically on his meats and cooking orders. Two bottles had been bought from local markets recently, and she had tracked one of them to this hotel and the other to a restaurant down the street.

Very few people lived off of news feeds and ViralLeak on Omega, especially as ViralLeak was a human extranet site. She could see that the local news feeds were not being sent to the hotel, identifying it as either ignorant or where Jack was living. There were a couple of other signs, such as this being a sort of neutral ground between the gangs, and where Aria's personal friends and minions lived. The best and most influential gang bosses also lived here, and the hotel Jack picked was right in the exact middle of the station. It hugged the central core of Omega, where the Protheans used to mine out all of the Element Zero.

That area was supposedly sealed off from the hotel, but it was also sealed off by Aria's orders. It was an integral part of the station and she made sure that no one went in or out of the core area. No one lived there, and she had groups of her goons making sure that the station kept running. It was also where most of the power supply systems kept the station going. So, naturally, Jack chose a hotel that at one point physically connected to it. ' _How hard would it be to access the core from here?'_  She typed to the Eclipse she had hired.

' _That will cost extra. Slipping past Aria's watch takes caution and experience. We know of entrances that are not as guarded, if you have the monetary expense to compensate us._ ' Was the reply. ' _Hold on. Blood Pack have changed their patrol routes. Sudden, unnatural. Reactive. They are looking for us. Our intrusion into the system was noticed. Extraction recommended._ '

' _Get out of there. Don't risk yourselves. I didn't bring you in for combat. If you can, flash the system before you leave. Disable what you can and get out. Payment is deposited._ ' She quickly typed.

' _Understood. Pleasure doing business, Gunn._ ' Her alias of Allison Gunn was perfect for this. Underworld connections forged by Alexei and Jack, combined with her own contacts that gave her the ability to do things like this. One last message appeared on her Omni-tool. ' _Unlocked all of the windows and doors. Exterior entrances will be swarming with Blood Pack soon. Good Luck._ '

She grinned as she saw the glowing panels on the rooftop door switched from red to green. Rather than simply open the door, she waited. It wasn't long before three vorcha and a single Krogan busted open the door, searching all corners of the rooftop. Getting past them was difficult, as Vorcha had extremely acute hearing. The slimy creatures had stringy attachments between their arms and their torso, as well as their legs. It was creepy, and their eyes could shift between thermal and normal vision with different layers of irises. They were omnivores, able to eat anything and everything.

Creepy bastards could see in the dark, smell better than a Turian, and regenerated like Krogan. They also were completely hormonal. The creatures operated by their bodily needs, and hadn't evolved any of the necessary mental facilities to develop spaceflight. But they could fire a gun and they  _loved_  explosions. They made loyal watchdogs and effective ground troops. The Blood Pack took care of them and trained them, in exchange for reliable soldiers.

So, she had to move very slowly to get past the door. The stairs were greasy and dirty, and the door at the bottom was closed. Airlock protocols. Expected, for this station. So, she waited. Her suit smelled like grease and Omega dirt, and her skin was completely sealed in. So, if there was any smells on her they were of the roof and the air of Omega. The Vorcha and Krogan would be looking for something that smelled of something different.

The rooftop patrol came back into the airlock after a few minutes, looking bored. The Vorcha were shoving one another as they stood around, their weapons the only things that showed any signs of discipline. The Krogan looked bored, and had his Omni-tool out and was watching some sort of vid. None of them showed any signs of noticing her, or being anxious.

"Clear up here." He spat into the Omni-tool.

" _Some Salarians were sniffing around in the basement. They weren't here long."_

"We hear you. Going back to our hovel." He grumbled. The Vorcha had listened, and looked something between agitated and excited at the thought of going back to their 'hovel' or whatever the translation was. The airlock cycled loudly, the doors schlucking against something greasy as they cycled open. The smell that emerged from the upper floors of the hotel was bad, horribly bad. She could identify it as fecal matter from all sorts of species, the odor coming through the mask she had on. She couldn't turn on her oxygen tank, unfortunately, as she might need it if Jack went EVA.

The Krogan and its goons walked through the door and to the left, stepping past piles of miscellaneous gear that sat next to the airlock. She could see at least a few helmets and breather packs sitting there, as well as what might be an old rusty rocket launcher. The amount of explosives lying around a space station that could have a wall blown out at any moment was staggering. It was like no one here knew anything about public safety.

The stairs were more promising, and showed signs of being cleaned every so often. Her feet could at least step on the carpet, and the sound could be mitigated by the synthetic material that made up the fibrous material. It was some Salarian thing, more of a sponge than any sort of stitching. She hated it already. How Jack lived here for a month was unknown. The spongy material was better at absorbing sound and water, and the Salarians invented a naturally flowing sponge that could take any spill and direct it towards drainage systems. Absorbent material, drainage built in, and the color would be bleached by normal lights to make any stains disappear over time.

Nice, required no daily effort to clean, and more importantly, rugged. Going down the stairs made no noise other than on a single wet spot that she didn't want to identify. The second floor from the top, the sixteenth of seventeen floors, was a lot cleaner. There were no piles of crap, and no wandering Krogan. Now, all she had to do was find out where Jack was. The roof was what she had chosen as an entry point because Jack liked to live in penthouse suites. He expected that kind of lifestyle, and she wanted to start at the top of the hotel and move downwards.

Each room had a lock on it, and would most likely send an alert when triggered. That left some other options. Her Omni-tool had a number of functions that did help though. Haptic screens, if left uncleaned, built up DNA scraps from the dead skin left over from creatures touching them. Jack's would of course be immaculate. But she could narrow down the doors that he wasn't using by seeing which ones had the most alien DNA. That was an exhausting process, which required her to actually decloak for a while. She would do this in dark corners where the cameras didn't have total access, and where the motion trackers didn't have sight. The only spots where this was possible were on the lower floors, which meant heading downstairs every hour or so to go recharge.

Then it was back up, and searching for signs of Jack, or rather a room that was too clean for him. Multiple day long missions were not something she was unfamiliar with, especially within hostile territory. It took her six hours to check the top three floors, all of which had a few signs of different races at each door. But she found one door that only had signs that a single Salarian accessed it. He accessed a few other doors on the upper levels, but the Salarian apparently cleaned or delivered goods to different rooms. She suspected it to be one of those things, as she could find signs of this Salarian on a bunch of the doors.

It didn't matter about not having the codes. She always could get through a door. Haptic screens had their weaknesses, as well as their overrides. Natural overrides, like the ones where drilling through the walls and cutting the emergency braking system for the sliding door caused it to open. It was rude, and took a long time to cut, but it would open the door or it would get jammed the next time it closed. The doors would then stay open, and unless the brakes were re-engaged, be considered stuck. The noise factor was the only problem. She had done the rest of this operation quietly, but it was obvious that Jack was onto her. Patrols were random, seeking. Scans of hallways were active, and the cameras were shifting constantly. She was pretty sure that Jack knew she was here.

So, she could hack it and make a mess of herself, or wait for the Salarian to come by and give her access, or just blow through it. Explosives might kill Jack or damage him too much for transport. Her mission was still the same, and she would succeed. No one knew Jack Harper like she did. So, with some level of accuracy, she guessed that the door with Jack Harper behind it was very much the most unassuming one.

Pulling out her grinder from her belt, she attached a drone to it and let it dig into the wall next to the door. With a loud whine the door bolts started freaking out, the squeal of the grinder going against the bolts and the warning alert going out across the entire floor. She was ready for the door to open when she saw one of the cameras flash, and her drone go offline. "Well, that answers what Charles is up to. Looks like its the hard way." She chucked a nice large bomb into the hole that her drone had dug, and then threw down something for the Krogan and Vorcha and muted her helmet.

Turians used 'screamer' grenades sometimes when fighting Varren or the large predators that frequented their home planet. They  _hurt_. She had taken one on Shangxi, and afterwards she couldn't hear properly for a few days. So she left two of them on sentry mode, and set them to keep going until they ran out of batteries. Four days from now. Then she fired the explosives.

The door bolts busted open, and her drone was very much destroyed. With a whine of alarm, the door opened automatically, its safeties engaging for the sake of whomever was stuck inside the room. When the door cycled open, it was to a finer looking bedroom. There was a bar off to the right, with a number of bottles empty sitting behind the bar. She had a practiced eye, and the only bottles not empty were the ones filled with cheaper beers and liquors. The couch looked worn and dusty, not at all used. Jack hated couches unless he was meeting with someone.

There were two rooms connecting to the sides of the room, and one was the bathroom. That door opened, and out walked Jack, of all people, brushing off his coat jacket like it was dirty. "Typical that you would catch me right when I decide to take a bathroom break." He double checked his buttons on his shirt and stared. "So, here to kill me or what? Your new masters most likely have questions."

Did he know that she defected? Or at least repatriated? What the hell kind of term was it for her weird situation. She didn't know, but it didn't matter. Jack had a month of guessing and conjecture to work with. She could see a ripple go across the room, obviously a kinetic barrier of some sort. Glancing back at the door, she could see another, thicker barrier obscuring it. So, he didn't want her leaving either. Very odd. She unmuted her helmet and pulled out her pistol, letting her HUD and helmet receptors find out where the barrier's projectors were. If it was a Human model, it would have to be lined, but the other races had somewhat better barrier curtain technology.

"I figured you to be just corrupt, but then I started digging deeper. Especially after that Prothean Dreadnaught." She replied. "When the Turian Councillor died, I realized that you probably wanted both him and Hock dead. They were your biggest threats to maintaining your entire criminal system of connections." She started pacing towards him, seeing that the projectors for the barrier curtain were inside the light fixtures, and their projected curtain was enough to protect them directly.

"So, what. Whoever is holding the leash just now decided I was a threat? I've been hunting them for twenty years, now. I won't let them destroy everything we have done. Humanity already has enough troubles brewing without Them getting involved. I've found their corpses, but until you were taken I didn't see them act directly. They know I'm after them, and fifty thousand years of waiting won't do us any good this time." Jack was focused, typing something into his Omni-tool. "You told them about my Dreadnaught. They took it back, and now you're coming for me. Are you here to tell me to start serving them?"

This was not the kind of thing she had heard from Jack before. But more importantly, she wasn't getting through that barrier curtain without some time. She needed to separate its power or cut through it somehow. "I never mentioned your Dreadnaught. Not in any great detail. But as for who you are hunting, that probably started with whatever you did at the Prothean Archive."

Jack laughed. "That was remedial. The Reapers, Nazara, they left traps in the Archives. Traps left over from the Inusannon, Tho'ian, Espers, and Keepers' time. Developed the noose more tightly around our necks so that we would waste time and resources making it ourselves! I had to remove them from the Archive, for all of our sakes. I didn't plan on injuring you or your parents. You were supposed to be on some colony, not in the Archive. Yet here you are, not at all who you were supposed to be. Now, they want me under their noose. Or are you here to just force the issue and take me in anyways?"

"Jack, you're saying completely nutter things right now. I'm just going to assume that a month of being cooped up in Omega is doing bad things to your brain. Damn right I'm taking you in." She really liked these rugs. The way that water flowed through them when you spilled it meant that it would flow through small rungs in it towards the drainage pipes. All of which would most likely be in the bathroom. She walked over to the bar, and kicked the spigot for the water until it broke, the water spilling all over the rug. "You're a danger to everyone if you just keep killing anyone who gets in your way."

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you." Jack stared at the water running down all over the bar. He didn't know what she was doing yet, thankfully. "The Reapers are going to be stopped. The Protheans didn't stop them, but unlike them, I have time to prepare, and I know they are coming!"

Hannah smirked behind her helmet. She dropped one tech grenade onto one of the liners of the rug, which most likely had water running all throughout it. She jumped up, grabbing onto the ceiling with her magnetic grips on her gloves. When the tech grenade went off, the electric shock went through the rug and hit Jack, the walls, and the ground projectors for the barrier curtain. Jack had a nice look of surprise on his face as she dropped to the floor, the still built up electrical energy draining her kinetic barriers slightly.

Jack started running, rather than shooting. She had her kinetic barriers, tech armor, and a nice layer of Omni-gel over her armor in the weaker places. His gun would overheat before she would get shot through. She followed him into the next room, where a door leading somewhere else had been almost excavated from the wall. The power tools to carve it out were still on the floor, and the door looked ancient. Jack ran right through it, the creaky doorway sliding open and the sound of wind moving quickly through it. Hannah cursed, running after him and into an old Prothean hallway.

Jack was up ahead fiddling with some sort of control panel of Prothean design, so she engaged her cloak. She would be leaving wet spots on the floor, but it would make shooting her much more difficult. But to capture Jack Harper, she would need to get close. Whatever he was fiddling with, he got working. The area in front of her opened up, as the entire chamber that Jack had been standing in rocketed upwards. He had control of some Prothean elevator, screeching its way up into the heart of Omega. She didn't bother following it. The only method she had for moving that fast was another elevator, and she doubted that she could make it work.

If Jack was leaving the hotel, then he was running back to his ship. She stepped back into the apartment suite that Jack had been living in, and looked around for anything she could use. The brandy and cheap beer, of course. Starting a fire in a space hotel is like calling a bunch of alarms on a single location. The barrier curtain that had sealed her inside the apartment was still there, only now it would have to deal with a situation with fire. She just had to access the door controls.

The panel was easy to find. What was running across it wasn't promising. ' _A trapped rabbit should know that it isn't welcome here'_ scrolled across the screen. He could probably see her even with her cloak, thanks to indents in the rug.

 _I know you're there, Charles. Helping Jack won't save you or him._  She typed in, knowing that he would see it.

' _I'm so scared. So scared that I am turning on the laundry drones I spent a week modifying. Good luck!_ ' Bastard. She turned around as the drones activated, one of which was four feet tall and had vacuum attachments, while the other had long hook-like arms and was apparently for laundry. The second one was tall, and both drones floated clearly in the room. As well, they were both armed with guns. Big guns. The vacuum had been replaced with a flamethrower, and the hook arms all had stun batons. Glorious bastard.

She rolled, coming up behind the bar and pulling out her pistol. A shot to each of the drones revealed kinetic barriers, so she ducked down and swapped her ammo block out for a phasic mod. In the meantime, fire bathed the bar, bottles exploding and lighting things on fire. Some of the fire spread to her armor, but she didn't worry. It wouldn't do much to her unless she bathed in alcohol and set it afire. Once the mod was in place, she jumped over the bar and took shots at the flamethrower drone. The phasic rounds destroyed its limited processor in two shots, followed by it exploding nice and violently, showering the room with debris and flame.

The other drone took swings at her, the stun batons sparking and making jerky movements that were predictable, but fast. And there were six of them. It had her backed up to the wall, and dodging. She couldn't get a target on it, as every time she extended her arm the bladed objects swung at the arm.

To make things worse, the barrier curtain turned off and into the room trundled in three Krogan. Great. She rolled herself past the drone, taking a shocking burst to her tech armor and the remains of her cloak. Then it was back to the bar. She grabbed a couple of bottles of brandy and threw them at the Krogan. Fire kept them from regenerating, and was one of the few things that made them worried, or close to fearful. Plus, the rug was now on fire. More fire was always helpful.

The bar exploded as the Krogan opened fire on it. They didn't like her gift, then. Her barriers were dropped, and she could feel a couple of hot knives of pain digging into her shoulder. Omni-gel and tech armor didn't stop whatever that Krogan with the big gun was shooting. Or he was just using flaming ammunition to go through armor. Looking up, she saw the drone float around the bar, and angle its arms towards her.

"Damnit Charles!" She shot at the drone, unsure of where its brain was. It took most of her pistol's heat meter to bring it down, and the bugger finally dropped to the burning rug after stripping her of what was left of her tech armor. The Krogan were still firing, and she could feel more  _pings_  from where the shots were bouncing off of her legs and arms. The growls of the Krogan made her lean upwards to look through some of the holes that had been punched through the synthetic paneling. There were four more Krogan and five Vorcha in the room, all starting to move forward.

She couldn't stay here. She had to get past them or dive back through the door towards the elevator shaft. The Krogan were going to find her back here. Her cloak was down, and she could re-engage it, but only if she knew where she was going. She had a couple of tech grenades left, so she chucked those towards the panel on the door as well as the floor in between her and the nearest Krogan.

The shouts of alarm when they went off were her queue. Engaging the cloak, she ran towards the Krogan and pushed past the first one, making her movements underneath his right arm holding his shotgun. Then, she took an immediate right turn, slipping back towards the elevator. "She's going for the hallway!" The Krogan yelled, making the Vorcha and other reptile toadies rush that way. She, on the other hand, took very swift steps away from them, as they would be able to notice that it didn't smell like her or like fire out in the hallway and know she went a different direction.

When she got to the elevator shaft, she could see some sort of access ladder along the right side. Whoever these Protheans were, they had long arms. It was almost three feet between each rung of the ladder. She got ready to hop onto it, when a large shock was delivered to her back. Her HUD went dark, the battery for her armor broken. Turning around, she could see the damn hook-armed drone still alive. The armor didn't enhance anything this time around, making her feel clunky. But her gun answered, loudly. This time she made  _sure_  it was dead. "I swear, the next time I see you, Charles. I'm gonna hurt you. That's it, I'm just gonna have to decide how many bones I'm breaking before I drag you to jail."

She pulled off her helmet, the screen dark and no longer useful. She could hear growls from the Krogan and Vorcha, as they heard her gunfire. She tossed the helmet down the elevator shaft, not even sure where that would even dump out to. Pulling her red hair out of her eyes, she scrambled up the ladder. Krogan would have a horrible time using this, and the Vorcha would be the only ones who could climb up this. But with dead armor and a nearly overheating pistol, she wasn't going to be able fight them.

The ladder went on for a while, almost two hundred feet. Her armor was draining to her now, and the battery wasn't turning back on. Charles must have targeted it when he sent that drone after her. Though how it noticed her while she was under cloak was curious. Below her, the Vorcha were climbing slowly but surely. Without her armor on, she could feel the slight bleeding from her shoulder. She couldn't apply any medi-gel there yet, nor could the armor engage and apply it.

She saw, up ahead, the elevator had come to a stop. It was another couple hundred feet, but it wouldn't take long. Huffing, puffing, and halfway exhausted, she got to the top and just rested a couple rungs away from the actual elevator. She didn't hear anything, nor did she hear anyone walking or talking. She wasn't waiting for the Vorcha, and so she pulled herself up onto the platform. With her armor not working, her cloak wouldn't interact with it. She couldn't cloak. It would only provide marginal protection against anything now, anyways.

The elevator platform was empty. A dead cigarette was her only indicator that Jack had used this before, but it wasn't even warm. Did she take that long climbing that ladder? She could see that the hallway that emerged from the elevator was straight, and went outwards towards something of a larger room. Jack might be in there waiting for her, and she had no working armor and no cloak. She needed some sort of advantage on him, and the armor wouldn't do anything. If Jack could see her head, she was dead. That decided, she pulled off the rest her armor, and threw it down the elevator shaft. The undersuit had some puncture marks along the shoulder and legs, so she peeled it back a little bit and applied some medi-gel to the shoulder region. That helped, she might have to have a doctor dig out the shots later. Sure enough, it burned like armor piercing rounds.

With just her underlayer, she could cloak again. She had her knives, and she also packed a pair of cuffs for the man. Setting off into the hallway, she could see that the end of it was lit up, and looked like it was open to the district. She could see air cars moving in the distance. She pressed her hand up to her Omni-tool, and queued up a message.

"He's slipped into air traffic. The  _Acheron_  should be making its move now. Requesting assistance to interfere with that. Target is most likely escaping as we speak." She said, sending it over encrypted channels to Overwatch, namely Jones. Her new/old superior.

She moved up the tunnel to the lit up portions, seeing the doorway open to a small platform where air cars parked. It wasn't completely full, but he might still be hacking into someone else's car. Then the lit up hallway changed color to blue, and she could feel her arms and legs being pulled to their limits, gravity or some other force holding her above the ground and limbs completely splayed.

Jack emerged out of the shadow of the doorway. "You know, Charles didn't actually destroy your battery. He just introduced a virus that cleaned your suit's OS from the onboard computer and deleted the files that controlled how it accessed the battery." Hannah cursed. The only armor that she had found that actually supported the chest rather than crush it, and she just chucked it down an elevator shaft. Bastard! Jack kept on talking. "The Protheans came up with these wonderful stasis traps for anyone trying to slip through their airlocks. When I found this one, Charles set it up for me. Thankfully you didn't waste too much of my time before coming here."

Jack stepped forward, coming up to her. Just to spite him she activated her cloak. He grunted and did something with his Omni-tool to shock her out of it, and started looking her over. Clad in just the underlayer of her armor, it was rather uncomfortable. Then his eyes rested on her belt, as he reached over and took the entire thing. Pistol, knives, handcuffs and all. He held up the handcuffs, smirking his grin and dropping them to the floor.

"Kinky." He muttered. The pistol he looked at, smirked again, and slipped into his own belt. "I like this pistol. Finders keepers, then." Her three knives he gently slipped out of the belt and held up, dropping the two normal knives she had. One was an Asari type, curved and serrated along the back. The other was human, a signature special forces type of knife that was all purpose and excellent. He dropped it like it was some bauble. The last, her precious precious knife she got at Shangxi, he smirked and slipped into his belt. "Well, as fun as this has been, I don't have a way to contain you appropriately, nor can I cure your sickness. Go back to your masters, Hannah. It's a shame that someone as beautiful as yourself has been lost to them. I promise that one day I'll come for-"

Her Omni-tool interrupted him. The stasis trap made talking hard, like you had to pronounce everything without moving your lips. " _Confirm, I say again confirm. Target is moving for the_ Acheron?"

Jack sneered. "Oh? What do we have here?" He no longer sounded wistful, he sounded mad. "Jones, of all the people I would expect to have hunting me, you were not it."

" _Can it, Harper. You're going to be brought in for everything. We can finally convict you for all that you've done. Thanks to our loyal agent here, your actions have been completely uncovered._ "

Jack wasn't smirking. "So, you aren't with the Reapers." He said to Hannah. "Curious. Coincidence, then. Well played, Jones. Well played. You have my daughter, and you have evidence. But you don't have me. Not yet. Catch me if you can, Jones. The next time I come back to Earth, it won't be for a picnic. Though, you should know, your 'loyal' agent here is a few minutes away from a horrible death. You should probably save her. Until next time, Jones. Goodbye, Hannah." He said her name without the venom that he was throwing around for Jones. Like something had changed. Jack then used one of her knives to cut off a few of her red hairs, and then he walked off. The air car parking lot had one car that responded to his Omni-tool, and he gave her a jaunty wave as he flew off.

" _Extraction en route, agent. Stay calm, we are coming._ " Hannah couldn't move her head enough to see anything behind her, and she was worried. The Vorcha would be coming up behind her any minute. She could hear their noises getting closer and closer, until a loud  _thump_  came from the doorway leading to the air car parking lot. Standing there, looking gallant in her eyes, were three Alliance marines or agents. One had a large sniper rifle and was firing heavy bolts down the open hallway, the screams of the creature's deaths a hymn to her. The other two were rushing forward and protecting her with their kinetic barriers. One of them was female. "How do we get you out of this, Agent?" Jones said.

"Re-mote-ly." she ground out, the stasis prison holding her chin captive.

"Prothean trap. Uses gravity? Cameron, do you think you can override the power coupling?"

"Negative, captain, these walls are reinforced. We could overload it, but that might kill her."

"Fine. I have another method. Secure the area. I'll be right back." Jones stepped off to some air car, and left. Her two guardians stood watch over her, and one of them was always in her line of sight. Probably to guard both entrances, but it was comforting to know that someone cared about her. When Jones came back, it was with some young girl. Red hair, blue eyes, looking to be in her preteens.

"We-ll?" Hannah asked.

"This is Julia. Julia is one of our strongest biotics, and one of the few capable of using the ability Singularity. She can get you out." Jones explained. "Julia, please help us. It's all on you now."

Julia walked up to her, the red hair looking rather complementary to her pale skin color. Hannah knew all about that. She looked up at Hannah, and then down at the ground, and then sat still. Everyone was quiet, as she started talking to herself. "Turn it, create a rotation. Nyra showed you how, all you have to do is turn the ball." She started glowing blue, exactly like those Asari did when they did their space magic. Biotics. Whatever. But it faltered, and the energy fluttered into the air around her with a weird pop.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't do it! There's too many people!" Julia muttered. She was shy. Poor thing.

Jones nodded to herself. "Cameron, take the elevator shaft, stay out of sight. Vasco, with me. We are going over by the air car. Julia, we are going to leave you alone. Do what you have to do." Jones and the other agents retreated, but were obviously still observing from afar. The sounds and smells of Omega wafted through the tunnel, and the smell of dead and dying Vorcha tinged it all with the scent of rot. Whatever they ate was just not right.

Julia seemed to have a hard time focusing. The blue glow came back, and she had both hands cradled right underneath her chest, circling them together. "Nyra showed you. You can do this. Rotation, then power. Hold it, hold it," A screeching sound of a gun going off near the elevator as more Vorcha had to be held back made her flinch, and the ball in her hands stopped forming.

"Lis-ten." Hannah groaned out. Julia looked up. "Nee-d you. Sa-ve me." Julia wasn't looking at her directly, almost as if she was embarrassed. "Be He-ro." That made her look up, this time at her face. "Use ear-bud." If she could mute the sounds that were frightening her, that might help. Julia nodded, reaching into her Omni-tool and attaching two earbuds to her ears. Hannah could hear the loud teenage pop metal squidhead music from where she was. It must be blasting to Julia.

But, in her hands, the ball formed. It was blue, with a black core and with wispy bits that stuck out at all angles, spinning counterclockwise. Julia grinned, and then  _threw_  it. Hannah felt the trap disengage and she fell onto the floor, rolling to the side and away from the blasted contraption. Julia looked shocked, looking down at her hands with awe. Hannah stood up, letting her limbs relax a bit, and picked up the kneeling girl. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." She whispered back.

Jones yelled from the air car. " _Alright, people, let's go. Aria is coming to investigate this, and we need to be gone from here. The target has slipped away, but we will find him again._ " Julia and Hannah got over to the air car and ended up sitting next to each other in the same row of seats. Jones pointed to the two of them. "You two. I was going to wait until we get back to Earth, but I think it would be better if we told you now. Julia needs an alias if she is going to get away from her father's reach. Jack Harper will try to get her back. Allison, you will pose as her aunt or mother, someone with guardianship rights. I'm putting you in charge of protecting her, and Julia in safe hands."

"So, is Allison Shepard a dead woman?"

"Has been for a year. You'll both select a name for yourselves, and be placed in a position of safety. Julia is the inheritor of everything Jack Harper owns, and so as her regent you will take care of Cerberus in her place."

"In all honesty, I don't mind taking care of Julia. But Cerberus knows me. My name should work fine."

Jones gave her a long look. "After we ousted Harper, Donovan Hock bought up all of Cerberus' holdings. You're dealing with that monster now."

Hannah leaned back into her seat. "Well. Should I forget about chasing Jack?"

Jones nodded. "She's more important. When Julia turns sixteen she gets control. We have to keep her safe until then. Miranda, her sister, is on Thessia and out of reach." Jones pointed at Hannah. "Allison Shepard is going to teach you everything she knows. She is the best agent we have at dealing with Harper."

Julia nodded, but didn't say anything. When Jones turned back to the driver, she looked up at Hannah, but not all the way at her face. "Can I change my name?"

"Sure, I do it all the time." Hannah replied. "Not that it's a good practice. I recommend only changing it once, if you can help it. But I've gone by a lot of names."

"Is Allison your real name?"

"My real name is Allison Hannah Shepard. My friends call me Allison, and so do most of the people at work. But you can call me Hannah." Julia nodded, curiosity apparently satisfied. Weird kid, but that was now her chief responsibility. Maybe it was time to remember some things about parenting. Her mom never seemed to lack a complaint about how it was hard, but sure she was kidding, right?

* * *

 

Thank you guys so far for all the comments and kudos.  Two chapters twice a day until all of the chapters are posted.  Won't be too long, considering this is the 28th chapter and there are 71 written.


	29. Fugue: Politics of Sports

Chapter 29

Tartarus Station, Luna, February 2167

"My name is General Lee Williams." The voice boomed across the amphitheatre, as all of the biotic students listened. "As of today, all biotics over the age of Eighteen have the option of signing up for their military service. You may defer this service, but you all have committed to serving the Alliance in one capacity or another. You may select which branch of our military to go into, but you will choose. The Alliance has paid for your education and your program, and so you will pay it back." The General was a balding man, under six feet tall, and his skin looked like it was leather. Large creases ran through his face and jowls, and his voice was gravelly and sounded like something was about to die somewhere in his diaphragm.

He brought up a large screen, showing footage from some space boarding action where Asari and Turian enemies rushed through a hardened position, the Turians heavily armed and armored, while the Asari were lightly armored and doing horrendous damage with their biotics. They pulled people and objects out from cover, warped any barriers or hardened points, and made a mockery of any static defenses. "The other races have their biotic strengths. Humanity will have their own. Over the course of my military career, I have fought every single military group that exists that has threatened Humanity. By God, I have fought every single thing that can bleed, even a Drell. My first deployment was in the Punjabi Mandate. We weren't even all part of the Alliance back then. Before we found that mass relay, we all bickered and fought. We fought hard. So when my unit of Peacekeepers," He grimaced slightly at the name. "Got surrounded and outgunned, I was the most senior officer left on my flank. We had tanks, air support, all of that coming down on our heads. Unlike most people, who would have called for a retreat, we did the opposite. We held in, and when the smoke cleared, we were the only zone that hadn't broken and retreated back to the neutral Chinese border zone."

"The other units fell back to our position, where I got my first commendation. I was promoted, and then sent through the rest of the Punjabi Campaign on a stretcher. My next major deployment of trouble was the Revolution of Shanxi." More pictures, this time of piles of Human dead. "We thought that was the worst that could have happened. Then, of course, we met the Turians. Now, as all of you will be entering the military, you are allowed limited access to the military records on Shanxi. Our first contact with Turian Cabals, as they call themselves, occurred here."

Kaiden Alenko was in the middle of what could be the best lecture ever. Nyra and Leesah could teach them, but Asari were very much against actual violence. Not that they weren't violent when they needed to be, but they preferred to not show any clips of such. Being shown clips with real biotics and real violence was awesome, but also very real. The Turian Cabals were lightly armored and lightly armed, but they hit hard. They liked throws, and they had a few units that did some sort of Asari charge maneuver.

Their throws were weaker, but they really liked their warps. Kaiden saw one of them warp a secure door into a barracks like it was tinfoil. All of Tartarus station had been really different lately. Jack Harper had straight up disappeared, and a lot of the staff had gone. Some of the doctors at the hospital had just left overnight, or apparently were gone. Rumor was that they had been brought in for questioning. Alliance Office of Intelligence Agents had been seen crawling all over the place.

"Eyes up here, Princess!" Kaiden jerked up, the General glaring at him. "Son, if you lose focus and someone dies because of it, that kind of crap goes on records. Yours! So, if you want to do anything with your lousy life, you'll keep focused!" Kaiden kept his eyes focused on the General's forehead, covered in creases. "Good. Now, back to the matter at hand. These Cabals  _destroyed_  my most secure positions. They could Warp away my barricades, Pull my men out of their cover, and Throw them off their feet when they stood up to fire heavier arms. Worst of all, Charge behind secure positions and flank us, instantly adapting to any repositioning that we tried to do."

More images appeared, of Cabals tearing through Alliance Marines like they were candy. "Cabals represent the special operations and tactical positioning that we could never equal as we currently are. Even with the addition of jump packs, they are much more maneuverable. The true threat of biotics comes in low gravity environments. As our steps have to be more careful so you don't send yourselves flying, their biotics are much more powerful in that situation. Attacking a biotic in low gravity is simply suicide." He took a deep breath, showing a clip of Alliance Marines assaulting some moon with a pirate base, and the shapes of men flying off into the dark of space after getting hit by a Throw made something primal sink to the bottom of Kaiden's gut.

"Asari are the biotic gods of the galaxy. They can do things that we don't even have names for yet. Some of those things ignore kinetic barriers and armor entirely, or so it is suspected. The few Asari that we have met on the battlefield are fond of Singularities, Pulls, and combinations of biotics that cause explosive force to occur when they meet. For simplicity's sake we call them biotic explosions. We can rarely get that kind of effect when some tech abilities combine. We haven't had much contact with them, but during my deployment to the Outer Attican Traverse, we ran into a batch of Eclipse mercenaries holed up on a small moon. It took three hundred men to take out fourteen Asari. I hope that is jarring to you, because it certainly was to us. Those odds are not in our favor, and they will remain those odds until we have a biotic factor of our own. Namely, all of you."

The screen turned off. "Batarian biotics are actually all part of their military, and are closely watched. Those that try to become part of the piracy groups are exterminated. We haven't met them, and we have no idea what they can do. It's a chief worry." Kaiden raised his hand. "Yes, Princess, do you have something to say?"

"My squad and I trained with some Batarians recently. I can provide you some insight and information about their biotics." That made a lot of heads turn.

"What's your name, boy?" Oh good, he wasn't calling him Princess anymore.

"Kaiden Alenko, sir."

"Alenko, eh? Just how did you manage to train with our most bitter enemies in Council Space? The Batarians aren't known for their kindness."

Kaiden stood up, sending out a message with his Omni-tool to get permission to use the haptic screen. "We are the Warpball team, sir. The Batarian Warpball team trained us on how to beat the Turian and Asari teams." The screen came on, showing a still image of the Human Warpball team and the Batarian Warpball team all standing together. Kaiden was bruised and had a cut across his forehead from when one of them deliberately used a Throw on the ball to knock it into his face. "Jack Harper arranged for us to train together for the upcoming competition." Williams scowled at that. "Sir." Kaiden quickly added.

"Well, Alenko, consider you and your squad to be fully debriefed later today. I was not aware of any Human having contact with Batarian biotics until today. You kids getting trained by them is discomforting, to say the least." He hijacked the screen back from Kaiden, who sat down. "As for the other races, they each have a few biotics. Elcor, for example, are very slow moving but due to the size of their body and the number of Element Zero nodules in their nervous system, it gives them amazing biotic strength. They  _love_  warping things. Like main battle tanks and starships. Don't tangle with an Elcor biotic if you can help it. They receive gene mods for better reflexes and have enough strength in their arms than in any of our construction mechs. They have thick biotic and kinetic barriers, and can mount most ship to ship combat weapons on their combat exoskeletons. Their skin is thick, and once armored it takes heavy weapons to punch through. Close combat is the only place that a soldier has a chance of surviving a fight with an Elcor biotic, and close combat is almost suicide to begin with. You will be an answer to that." Kaiden gulped. The vid that showed a single Elcor take out two tanks and a combat drop shuttle before enough soldiers shot down its kinetic barriers and brought it down. "Few Elcor leave their homeworld, but there are communities of Elcor that have illegal connections. One of the leaders of the Eclipse mercenaries is an Elcor with a rap sheet as long as any criminal you'll find here on earth. She is a biotic and a good example of why all species want biotics."

"She is what we have classified as a Vanguard. An Elcor that is not limited in the ability to move. What happens when a sentient massing twenty five hundred kilos uses a biotic charge?"

"How much Element Zero nodules are supporting it, Sir?" Henry Gunn asked. Henry was tall and lean, like a beanpole. He was one of the weaker biotics. Barely able to move anything with his mind. He was with the third Asari teacher, who worked with the weaker people most of the time.

"Assume the entire nervous system of their upper body and arms are integrated with nodules."

Henry waited a moment, and then spoke again. "The sentient would hit with the force of 750 to 2500 newtons, based on how far they are from the target and how much traction they have."

"Well, the brass weren't kidding when they told us you could calculate on the fly. To kill a single marine in full armor, you need to hit them with a force of 500 newtons with that kind of mass. A main line shuttle or tank would crumple after 2000, if its barriers were down. This is what the top tier Elcor biotic can do, and by God, do not underestimate them."

The screen switched to a Volus. There was some giggling, as most of the Volus they had seen on the vid movies made them appear as weak or wobbly. The picture showed the average Volus, with their bubbly suits and bumbling walk. "Volus don't operate too well outside of their normal abominably cold environment. But they are more dense, as they breathe Ammonia. Thus, their biotics hit hard. They don't use their military often, but they have enough biotics in their military that the likelihood of running into one is high. They prefer Throws and environmental style control. They also all come with tech abilities that will be used against you."

The vid shifted to a Volus in a new suit, where its head was hidden behind gigantic pauldrons and the legs were reinforced. If it didn't look like a giant lego figure, the guns sticking out of the arms were certainly powerful looking. Kaiden gulped. This would be the kind of group that they would have to go against in Warpball, too. When he looked up again, the vid had shifted to some Salarians playing Warpball.

"Salarians are quite peaceful with us. Their biotics are generally weaker and they have few capable of anything more than a few Pulls. They usually back up their abilities with tech bits. Though there are rumors of stronger ones out there, it would be not be unexpected that we eventually fight groups of Salarians that are from the Terminus Systems. Even they have splinter groups."

Their Warpball team never did amazingly well, but it made a good showing. They had slow recovery times for their biotics, but they were more accurate than the Turian and Batarian teams with their moves. Kaiden made note of the possibility of more powerful Salarian biotics for later discussion.

The general kept going. "I've fought everything but Hanar. They have a client race, called the Drell. Their biotics are nasty. They practice martial arts that make ours look tame. I don't have any clips of biotic use by the Drell that we tangled with, but the warp he used to get away was strong enough to bust open a secure locker. The weapon he used didn't register as being anything I could name, so it appears that they are well armed as well. The Hanar government does not officially allow violence, but when they are offended or insulted, they send their pets to go and teach the offender a lesson." Pictures of standing Drell were shown.

Then the pictures shifted to a Krogan, roaring. "Lastly, we have the Krogan. They are already capable of regeneration, have short tempers, and a lasting attention span. Unlike other races, when their equivalent to adrenaline rushes through their system, their memory and thought processing parts of their brain work faster and more reliably. As such, they crave moments where they are challenged physically. Normally, one Krogan can make his way through a squad of marines without trouble."

A vid showed a squad of Krogan going up against a Human position. The Krogan didn't have amazing kinetic barriers, but the armor they wore and the blood pouring from their wounds told another story. It seemed that the longer the battle wore on, the more efficient and effective the Krogan got. "This is what normal Krogan do to us. Their biotics are worse. Barriers, powers and nodules equivalent to asari strength. They are called Battlemasters. They prefer close range weapons and have decades or centuries of experience fighting. These are the most likely biotics that we are going to run into out in the Terminus Systems."

The video changed, where one Krogan walked into a room with ten other individuals and the barrier that appeared around him looked like another layer of skin six inches off from his existing one. That was a strong barrier. "This is Gatatog Uvenk, a Warlord that we have been tracking." The Krogan tore through the sentients like a knife through butter. "I have now presented everything that we can reasonably expect you will be deployed against. Now, the real reason that I am here. I am a General, not a teacher. I am here to start what most people colorfully call boot camp. You will refer to me as Sir, at all times."

Kaiden sighed. It was really starting. But he really didn't want to harm anyone. He hadn't wanted to hurt any other people. That's why he worked so hard at Warpball. It was a sport, he didn't have to kill or injure people. He didn't know what the government planned on doing with them, but it sure sounded like they wanted some sort of biotic super soldiers. He wasn't going to be one of them. No matter what, he wasn't going to kill anyone again. The one man he had killed was still the main feature of his nightmares.

* * *

March 2166

The Light Upon Water, Thessia

Miranda loved it here. They had these weird lizards that could use their biotics to float around, and they were like cats! They nuzzled you for warmth and would fall asleep if they got too hot. They were adorable! They flew along the winds and would catch small bugs. The fat ones just spent their time near the dinner tables and demanded food with loud screeching noises. Not as nice as cats in that aspect, but the Asari were used to the noise.

The Asari were a monogendered race, and so didn't really care about things that races with two genders cared about. Bathrooms were the only place of privacy that anyone could get, or at least places where you did your nasty business. Bathing was public, since there wasn't really any male Asari to hide from. Or rather bathing was public among allies. Each large family had a bathing facility, and among Benezia's people they had their own guards and houses. There was a city down a ways from where Benezia's estate was, along cliffs that followed a purple ocean. There were some old buildings on the water, but hardly anything disturbed the ocean. A couple of what appeared to be sailing ships were out there, but besides that nothing else disturbed the water.

She had been here for two months. Two amazing months where she had been taught more about her biotic abilities than any of the time she had spent in Tartarus. The people here went at a slow pace, though. Everything took so much time to do. Most vid-shows took six hours to watch a single movie. Six hours. Say what you will but that was such a waste of time. Thirty minute vid-show? Sure. Six hours was another deal entirely. Not to mention Asari shows were all about who was looking at whom. At least a quarter of the show in her opinion was just shots of different people's eyes glancing in different directions. It was hard to keep track of the perspective of the camera when it kept shifting like that.

The Asari found the shifting perspectives and emotion-laden eye glances very appealing. Apparently there was romance involved, but by the second hour she couldn't see it and got bored. Asari didn't care about nudity in their culture. Every infomercial had barely-clad Asari or naked Asari advertising different products that people should buy. Not that it was any different than what she saw around the house. Mono gendered people wore what they found comfortable or what made them happy. For Asari, it was not much. Their planet was so temperate that it wasn't like they needed much, though.

It was tropical in this part of the Asari world, in some part of the continent called The Light Upon Water. Anciently, it was some great port or something, and was famous for its white buildings that glowed in the night. The buildings still glowed, but now it was because of artificial lighting. With lights the different districts of the city were lit up in a rainbow of color and designs, making it very distracting to look at.

During the day, Miranda worked with the T'soni clan Huntresses that were at the Clan home. Or whatever they called it. Her high dialect of Asari was terrible, and she rarely used it. Asari had an alphabet with eighty-one letters in it. That meant a lot more pronunciations and memorization. So she had a tutor that taught her the ins and outs of the Asari language, and then she got to biotics. Those she spent hours and hours trying. Asari food was light in terms of calories, so she also spent a lot of time eating to recover.

"Miss Harper, you have a visitor." One of the Asari here told her. It was hard to tell them apart, with everyone so similar looking. The facial tattoos helped, but a lot of the younger ones didn't have them and were harder to identify. So Miranda had been introduced but hadn't been able to remember their names. She followed the younger Asari, the borrowed robes she had been given to wear swirling around her feet. She had on sandals, too. The floors were made out of some heated tiles that felt soft, but were solid enough to hold any amount of weight.

The hallways were long and about fifteen feet tall. The color of the stone that made up the floor made up a weird zodiac of blue and white as far as the corridor went on. Her steps echoed, while the Asari's slightly differently shaped feet made no noise here. Asari feet were longer than human ones slightly, and had a triangular shaped heel. It made their steps lighter and more quiet. Not to mention made them more graceful. Miranda had been considered graceful among Humans, for a teenager. Puberty was a graceful exchange for her. Well, except for her feet, which had grown faster than everything else so far.

"Right in here, Miss Harper." The Asari had led her to one of the numerous meeting rooms that the T'soni's had. "We shall bring you some refreshments." Then the Asari patted the top of her head, the hand lingering on her hair. The Asari  _loved_  playing with her hair. They didn't have any, and it was absolutely fascinating to them to play with. When Miranda did her hair in the morning, she always had an audience. She did resent that just a little bit.

She let the hand linger, but then grasped her biotics to let her know to let go. The Asari communicated using looks, subtle gestures, and creating charges in the air that anyone with element zero nodules could feel. She turned away, her hand leaving Miranda's head. She hadn't offended her with that little display, at least. Or at least she thought so. When she first got here they had tried to teach her how to 'pulse' her biotics to send signals. Knowing this was also important for Asari vid-shows, as the slight blue glow that came across someone when they were pulsing happened a lot during the shows. The 'larger' the pulse, the more that someone would glow. Small pulses would barely be sight worthy, as Asari skin matched the shade that would often occurred when biotics were in use.

Miranda was the strongest Human biotic. Jennifer had been close, but she disappeared a few years back. She had more element zero nodules than any of the other biotics. So her pulses always showed on her skin. She gave a long stare to make sure that the Asari wouldn't come back to pet her hair again, and then stepped into the side room. There were two soldiers in the room, strangely not Asari. They were either Human or Batarian, and the heavy armor they wore made it hard to tell. A third figure was sitting on the couch, a Quarian by the look of him.

A Quarian with hired guards. That was something that she didn't expect to visit the T'soni clan home. However, what really surprised her was the Quarian's visor. It was clear. The face inside, it was nearly Human. There was a widow's peak, with creases in the forehead, and deep blue eyes. Strangely, the Quarian was almost perfectly Human, down to the smirk going across his lips. Wait, that  _was_  a Human!

"Miranda, are you going to stare at me all day?" The voice sounded different coming from a speaker system, but it was still her father's voice.

"Dad!" She leapt out of the chair and onto him. She didn't count on the suit being so bulky. It had some give in some places, but the ceramic coating resisted attempts to hug him. "You didn't reply to my messages! Julia hasn't either!"

The visor remained clear, and she could see her dad smile. "The Alliance decided that they didn't like the way I was running things. They want to bring me in for a number of things. But that won't happen." He motioned to the two guards. "I've started a small business that I am directly managing out in the Terminus Systems. Though, since I am wanted, I can't be around very much."

"You're not staying?" That was sadly, normal. Jack Harper was always gone when you wanted him around. As a father, as an anything. She had a few memories of him during their childhood spending time with them, but it was always tinged with a pressing need to be somewhere. Her father never once took an entire day off for them. A few hours, yes. But never an entire day. In fact, she couldn't even say that she had ever seen Jack Harper take a day off.

There was always another emergency, always something else that he had to save or take control of. "No, I'm afraid I am not staying. This place, like any home of someone else that I have associated with, is under scrutiny. Today, for example, I am just a Quarian here for a bounty payment. I won't be able to visit like this again for a while."

"Why now?" Jack Harper never visited without a reason. He was a micromanager, and he  _always_  had a reason for doing what he did.

"I've come to talk about things. Your emancipation, for instance. The Alliance will try to claim you, and so I'm going to legally declare you as an adult. Through official channels on the Citadel, of course." He gently picked her up and set her down next to him. "The second thing is that I have arranged for your gene mods to be done here. Lastly, you are going to be named my sole inheritor if I am killed or incarcerated. If the Alliance catches me, I will be in prison for life. I am leaving everything to you. So, today is all about explaining what that means. Most of that will be companies, stocks, and investments. I have agreements with the Quarians and the First Alliance Bank, as well as a few major companies. Most importantly, I have connections with every assassin, gang, and political faction in the criminal underworld. I won't lie to you, I make most of my income from drugs, illegal goods, and fraud. There is more, but I think you'll prefer I tell that to you when you are old enough to appreciate it."

"What about Julia?"

"Julia is in the hands of the Alliance. If I tried to get to her now, then the Alliance would know and act upon anything I tell her. For now, she will be safe with them from the people who want to kill me that aren't part of the Alliance. You'll be safe here with Benezia, on the most secure planet in Council Space." Miranda didn't like that. "Don't mention anything to her about what I have told you and where I am. It would only hurt her more to know those things."

"Dad, aren't you going to save her?" He had to, he couldn't just let his own daughter get left behind!

"Jones is the one that has her. She sold me out to the Alliance, and is hiding Julia. Even I am having trouble finding her while she is held in the Intelligence Office's clutches. If I could get her out of there, I would. But, right now at least I know that she is being given the best care. If only to hold us ransom, they will take good care of her. If she contacts you, don't tell her anything. Not about your gene mods, not about anything that is marked for your eyes only." He focused his eyes on her. "Is that clear?"

"Yes, Dad." He did love them, Miranda reasoned. But it wasn't clearly stated. It was more like he expressed any care for them by getting them things. "So, when can I live with you?"

Jack stopped and considered that for a moment. "When Benezia has nothing more to teach you. Then you will be strong enough to keep yourself alive. I'm keeping to the Terminus Systems for now, until I can shake off a few enemies. It might be a few years before that happens, Miranda. If I can live that long." He reached for her hand, the synthetic fibers making a poor feeling compared to Human skin. "Now, I don't have much time. Benezia will be here any minute to meet with the Quarian bounty hunter, and you need to be far away when her observers also show up. Go, quickly."

Miranda hated this. "I love you Dad." She did, she really did. But loving him hurt. She got up and walked quickly to the door, but stopped, looking back at him. Even in the Quarian suit, his fingers arched around a glass of water, or the shape of it.

"I'll miss you, Miranda." He quietly replied. Never did Jack Harper say 'I love you'. But he did care. She knew it. She ducked out of the room before she could start crying. She had to be at biotics training soon, and unlike the Asari who had twenty five years to train during their childhood, Miranda only had maybe four years to learn what they did in twenty five. It was theoretically possible to learn. She would prove it. Julia was taken. Dad was going away. James had quit his job, and she didn't see him anymore. Her friends and family were just… gone. It didn't feel right at all.

* * *

Jack polarized the visor as soon as Miranda left. He didn't like lying to her about Julia. Julia was where she needed to be. She would need every trick in the book to fight the Reapers. Miranda would too, and getting training by the Asari would be perfect. Benezia's huntresses were some of the best, and she would learn everything she needed.

On that note, two Huntresses walked into the room and went over it with their Omni-tools. Jack didn't really mind. If he wanted to place anything for surveillance, it would be in someone's bone tissue or attached to the earlobe. He had just recently uncovered a group of Salarian doctors working on earth doing dental work, and installing small drones in the jaw bones that could pick up what people were saying. He had passed that onto the authorities anonymously, and sent Hock notice that their dental plan should cover checking for these. Hock was in charge of Cerberus for now, and he was doing an alright job. He simply had shifted the bribery and criminal connections to his own needs, as expected. Alexei had been notified, but he and Hock had not seen eye to eye and Alexei had to find new suppliers for his needs.

The Huntresses scanned his two guards, both hired mercs that had agreed to turn off their translation tools on their Omni-tools for the duration of this mission. Quiet, secure, and reliable. Some small groups of mercs were reliable like that. Once he and his guards had been scanned, the Huntresses left the room and Benezia came gliding in. Literally. Apparently she decided to float her way in, or was just showing off. Asari Matriarchs were scary like that. Following her were two older Asari in the same color of robes.

"You requested to meet with me?" Benezia asked, her melodic voice carrying through the entire room. The sound from behind a Quarian visor made it echo a bit.

" _Yes. I was hoping to meet you regarding the bounty I brought in."_  After mispronouncing Keelah Sel'ai, Jack had made it a point of learning Kellish. The Quarian language required a lot of head voice, and they spoke at a higher octave. So, now he could actually give a speech in the Quarian's own language, which made him a lot more marketable to any of their projects. One of the larger products of his partnership with the Quarians was the Admiral Daro'Xen, the oldest admiral in the Quarian Fleet and in charge of ground operations. Sadly, few of these existed, and special operations teams and deployments was the extent of her reach. To fill her time, she got distracted on projects meant to help them secure their homeworld.

Jack offered her a part in his project to investigate and study the Protheans. She offered him fifty Quarians and a science vessel for his purposes, a significant portion of the resources she had access to. But with very little to send the science teams at, it was more useful to let them work on Prothean data rather than just make more botanical resources. Not to mention the high sell value of Prothean relics on the black market. So she sent him a team of professionals to give him manpower and a lot more focus. Charles appreciated the help. Jack had simply told him that her was being sent some more manpower, and no details as to how much.

The message from Charles as a reply had been quite cheeky. Something about relocating to the lava tubes underneath the Prothean complex for the needed living space. His eyes had drifted off of Benezia as he considered this, so he brought them back on her. She had taken a moment to see the translation on her Omni-tool of his Kellish. "You captured Keia T'soni, one of our wayward daughters. She has been returned to us, as requested, yet you have questions?"

" _Yes. I was wondering if perhaps I might exchange the payment for services rendered instead for a slight favor. I wish to experience what the mind of an Asari Matriarch is like."_

"For returning my distant niece? I will consider this a fine gift. It is so rare that I get to see the mind of a Quarian, after all. Consider it as part of the bounty, as you were so polite." Benezia held out her hand, already glowing a shade of dark blue. She took his hand, and even through the suit he could feel the charge of her biotics as she grabbed him. " **Embrace Eternity**." Her eyes became solid black, the pupils dilating until they filled the entire sclera. Then the secondary eyelids closed over her eyes and Jack could see no more of the waking world.

Again, it was back to his mind, but this time it was prepared for the intrusion of the Asari Matriarch. Her presence was akin to some great force of gravity, pulling everything towards it. Mentally, he could sense her mind feeling his, probing and reaching out to his surface thoughts and emotions. As those currently were centered on paranoia and some remorse, she would get some information. But more importantly, he could feel her recoil as soon as she realized whose mind she was connected to.

The pressure increased, with Jack barely able to keep her from the depths of his mind, his most precious memories. This was a calculated risk on his part, and he knew that she was probably looking for signs of mental degradation. Still, she did so with all of the presence and force of will you might expect from someone nearly a thousand years old.

' _Harper._ ' Her voice echoed through his mind. " _Harper!_ " Her visage appeared before the sanctum that was the innermost parts of his mind. Her robes as she wore in life were glowing in his mindscape, and the look of anger on her face was real. " _Only a fool would approach a Matriarch in their guilt!_ "

"Good thing I am not guilty." The pressure upon his mind felt like a vice, slowly crushing the life out of its victim. "I didn't expose myself to you for nothing."

" _Abandoning your child and life is dishonorable. To leave your daughter in my care, while respectful, is not a solution to your lack of parenting._ "

"I think we both know that I am not a model parent in any sense of the word." Images of his own mother, when she had been able to still move her legs, finding any faults in his actions and therefore creating punishments that would net her more money for her addictions. No, Constance had never been a real model of what a parent should be. Jack had been dead weight, a drag, to her. He didn't think about his mother often, but he could safely say that he avoided making any of the mistakes she had made by avoiding deeper contact with his daughters. Raising them had been taxing, yes, and he had sacrificed much of his profits and earnings to take care of their needs. He could guess that the time he spent concerning their needs and time he spent with them lost him a few million credits that he could have used for many things at this point.

" _But you are responsible for any failings of your children. Human culture is slightly backwards, yes, but your children are still held accountable to their parents until they are Eighteen rotations old. Their failings are considered yours._ " Benezia started orbiting his sanctum, examining it. " _Your avoidance of them is considered the deepest of sins a parent can commit. In my culture, a Matron that does this it is considered condemning that child to death. Their family, their culture, is no longer worthy of their consideration. In the eyes of the Temple of Athame, both Matron and Maiden are lost in the eyes of the ancestors._ "

"Spare me the religious talk. You know why I sent them to you. It is dangerous for them to be out there, where anyone who wants to get to me can target them and immediately have me forced to act against my will." Jack snarled. This was not why he was here. "My daughter's welfare is not the reason I contacted you."

Benezia stopped orbiting him, and came closer mentally, enough that he felt a pressure in his gut rather than his skin. " _Your mind is not showing any further contamination from the Dark Beacon, so whatever method you are using it appears to be working. You aren't here to pick up your daughter, which leaves you needing something from me._ "

Jack nodded. He brought up images from his mind of the Justicar, Samara, as well as other Justicar Vanguards who did massive damage to Cerberus troops. "I need you to teach Miranda, all of that. She is the strongest biotic we have, and her skills need to reflect that. This is only a request, mind you." He then did what he had originally intended to do in coming to Thessia. Images of Illos ran through his mind, and of his attempt to explore it initially. "I have found and secured Illos. The databanks and computers still have power."

Benezia stared at the images. She just stared. " _Illos is rumored to be the homeworld of the Protheans. Can you confirm this for me?"_

"This is the homeworld of another race, the Innusannon. The Protheans found it and were using it as some sort of hidden study base to create some sort of weapon. Or at least something terrifying."

He could feel the pressure on his mind decrease slightly. " _Did any survive?_ "

"I know of another bunker where survivors have been confirmed. Still being cryogenically preserved." Jack took a long breath. "I need a live Prothean to open Illos. It's genetically code-locked. Unless you Asari have some way around those." There was a chance that they did, with their hidden beacon. There might even be more than one hidden beacon, with the way that the Protheans tried to keep them alive. He kept those thoughts behind every mental barrier he had, and still wasn't sure that Benezia would pick that up. Her mind was just powerful to comprehend.

" _Well, you came to me. What do you need to do to get this Prothean?_ " She shifted, leaning closer. " _That is, of course, why you came to me?_ "

"Liara is already on the site where the bunker is located. It is somewhere on Eden Prime. I just wanted to keep you in the loop about my discovery, as well as what I will be doing once I have a living Prothean."

" _You don't plan on sharing them? How predictable. The entire Galaxy would benefit from the wisdom of a live Prothean with memories of their ownership of the Citadel. They built it, and they can answer all of our questions about it. So, you think that just because you have a living Prothean their knowledge shouldn't be shared among everyone?"_

"I wish I could consider you altruistic, Benezia, but I have been investigating some rumors that The Asari understand Prothean beacons better than any of the other races. Enough that if any sign of one pops up, your race is the one that immediately snatches it up, as if you are worried about the information. The Dark Beacon did tell me one very important thing. Your race does have a Beacon, and I know it. I don't know how big or powerful it might be, but you have one. You aren't sharing its' secrets like you force Humanity and the Salarians to with their own Beacons."

" _Perhaps I should expose myself to a Dark Beacon. It would intrigue me to know the location of one such beacon, if it does indeed exist. I am not aware of any such Beacon owned by my government, but I would imagine that such knowledge is known only by a few, and to keep its knowledge from the rest of the galaxy would require some sort of higher reasoning."_ She made the motion of sitting down, though she looked anxious, almost. Her image shifted from sitting to standing as she spoke, between words and phrases she lost track of what she was mentally looking like. " _You want your Prothean, and I want their wisdom. I want access to them, when you find them. The galaxy misses them, and there are few who could take control of the evolutionary path that we are heading for other than a force like them."_

"As soon as Illos is open, I will alert you. Liara will find my Prothean that I need to protect my mind. Though, as you might imagine, I am in need of other things to open Illos. Dark Beacons, to be exact. I need all of the ones I can get my hands on, and I know you are aware of their location."

" _Of course I am. Any of the Matriarchs in the Eighty One ruling lines know of this. I will even get them for you, Jack Harper, as soon as you have a Prothean in your grasp. But, your mind shall be burdened with the knowledge that I am in control of your destiny until then."_  She reached forward, touching his forehead and ending the link.

They were back at the table, Benezia having a serene look on her face and Jack behind a polarized Quarian visor. But he had gotten what he needed. Javik, the Prothean Avatar of Vengeance, would be awake soon if he had anything to say about it. This time, though, his knowledge wouldn't be wasted on Shepard and warfare. As a Prothean Commander, Javik was never supposed to take the back seat on anything. Stolen reports on the Normandy during the Reaper war lead Jack to believe that Javik went into a near suicidal depression, having to be just a foot soldier with no say in how the war against the Reapers was fought. He got to watch as civilization fell down around him, again. No, Javik never was supposed to be sequestered away on the Normandy.

Javik was going to find things rather different this time. A Prothean Supreme Commander playing second fiddle? When he had been Indoctrinated, that had been pleasing information to the Reapers. This time it was galling. Priority one, Liara was going to dig him up. Then, He was going to place Javik in charge of all of the ground forces that Jack could muster for him. Forget learning how to stop Reapers on the job, Javik would be even more useful training a force to fight the Reapers from the ground up. Then he could take that force into any situation and be able to adapt to things faster than Julia would learn. Perhaps Javik could come up with the combat doctrine that Shepard had to use trial and error to figure out during his memories.

Benezia gave him a long smile. "Your patience in asking for this gift is admirable. A pleasure, to share minds with you. Perhaps in the future you can return again, and I shall see what a couple of decades has done for you."

" _It is an honor to speak and meet you properly. May we meet again someday."_  His Kellish was imperfect in tone but the wording came across right. " _I shall remember and take your wisdom to heart._ "

Benezia nodded kindly. "Many seek the wisdom of the traditional Asari teachings. I am pleased that you sought the wisdom of Siari, which places a focus on the worries of the here and now."

She gave him a small bow of the head, and her huntresses eased up slightly. Jack stood up, his hours of practice in Quarian foot-shaped boots kicking in. His legs were screaming from being encased in the leg slots that mimicked the oddly shaped legs of Quarians, which coincidentally made him taller than most people now. The boots and shape of them kept his legs above the proverbial 'ankle' and added four inches to his height. He could understand why women hated the cramping that occurred in their feet with some of the shoes that they had. Though his feet had to control the angle at which the extended toes went.

" _My employer wishes to leave you a small gift, if you ever seek our services in the future._ " Jack activated his Omni-tool, sending her a preprepared message. He had been very selective about how he worded the message, as it would be one that would be going on the extranet in the morning.

_To all sentient and servants of all races,_

_The Citadel Council has promised you many things, yet not since the Krogan Rebellions have any races been uplifted to their number! The Volus, the third oldest race on the Citadel, have no more political power than they did when they first found the other races! Yet they are in control of all of the banks and economic transactions of the galaxy. This Heresy has been perpetrated and carried out by the Council, to maintain a caste system as stringent as the Batarian's own!_

_Races and sentients of the Galaxy, demand your justice! It should not take a galaxy-wide crisis to appoint another member of the Council! The Turians have been given control of the Volus not to temper them, but to keep the Volus from gaining a seat on the Council! The Hanar, praise be to their conservation methods, have done great things to preserve history and culture of the weaker races in the galaxy, yet their actions are unmollified. Worse, if any go against their choices, they are penalized and exiled, like the Quarians._

_The Batarians, feeling threatened, see no need to change their culture to match what the Council is demanding of them. They do not receive any further power or strength by changing everything they hold dear just to pander to other's demands. Sentients of the Council Races, find your resolve! There is hope for you all. Join the Agents of Justice today, and sign the petitions! The Council claims to share their power, yet they refuse to! Help us convince them of their need!_

_T.I.M._

_First Agent of Justice_

Jack grinned as Benezia read the message with some smirking. Her movement wouldn't be conflicting at all. But he did grin. The Illusive Man was back, and this time instead of Humanity being the focus of his movement, he was after everybody. The Reapers weren't only targeting Humans, so he wouldn't be selective either. Benezia's Siari movement complimented his own, and he didn't know if this Agents of Justice movement would even pick up anything at all, but he hoped it would be something. If anything it would give him a little legal basis for operating in Council Space.

Behind his polarized visor, Jack Harper smiled. Why give up on a good thing? The Illusive Man was by far his favorite moniker that he had ever been called. He figured it would be a good step. The Reapers wouldn't know what hit them.

* * *

March 2166

Dil'Naga Arena, The Citadel

Kaiden Alenko took a deep breath. This was it. The moment that he had been waiting for. Rahna and Andrew were right behind him, with the rest of their team behind them. Their uniforms were a dark blue with silver cuffs, built almost like the hardsuits that someone would wear under armor. The silver on their backs had their names in English and a symbol of a humanoid in armor, of the middle eastern ancient kind. It didn't matter if the picture of the human in armor was wearing a skirt.

It was still  _their_  symbol. Kaiden was in front of their team, and today they were up against the Manae Turian team. He couldn't pronounce their team name, but they were supposed to be one of the top three Turian teams. Worst of all, the entire team was war veterans from Shangxi and other places during the First Contact War. They called it an incident, not a war, when their entire empire was about to mobilize. Every single Turian that they were up against had experience against Humans.

Thank whatever deity that existed for their new coach, though. General Williams was a total badass. He had looked at their game like it was part of the war all over again. He even had Kaiden learn some weird Asari move that Williams had been hit with. He called it a Justicar Bullshit move. Kaiden didn't know what Nyra thought about that moniker, but she said that the move was too advanced for her. Kaiden thought she was lying, though. Nyra often tried to keep them focused on the basics, and when asked how long she took to learn her biotics, she had told them twenty seven years. If they were on that program, there was no way that Kaiden was going to wait that long for the advanced moves.

Williams gave him private lessons, working with some sort of physical therapist. He focused on analyzing this move that Williams thought he should know, and Kaiden had to mimic the move exactly. The manipulation of element zero had been up to him to figure out, and he had barely done so in time. He didn't want to call it the Asari word for it, nor had he included the final step of the move where you drag the opponent towards yourself.

He had only figured out the first two steps, namely the Lifting portion, and then the reverse of polarity in the ball, where the force in the gravity shifted and instead tripled the gravity of the object affected and altered it from one quarter normal all the way to triple. The third portion was a Pull, yanking the target back towards yourself. He didn't even know how to do that, so he just had the first two steps. The Asari called it Weaving-the-Reeds. He called it a Slam. Williams called it liquid bullshit.

Kaiden was saving it for a different match, unless the Turians were too tough to handle. In Warpball you couldn't hit the player with biotics, but the Batarians taught him a bunch of tricks. Namely, that you were allowed to block. If the ball was angled towards the goal, then theoretically it was legal to hit an opponent with the ball, so long as you could excuse it as being a shot on goal. The Batarians were very aggressive so that they could have the excuse to shoot on goal a lot.

The Turians were more honor bound, but they outweighed all of them by a significant portion. Their lead player was some beast of a Vanguard, and liked to Charge the ball. It wasn't accurate but it was intimidating. Kaiden and the others had watched hours of vids showing these players in and out of combat. Their chances weren't good, as they all could recharge from a Throw or a Pull in less than eight seconds. Kaiden could do so in six, and the next down the line was Rahna at nine seconds. Andrew was at eleven, and the rest of the team was around there. They were rather slow in recharge time, but they made up for it with a lot of positioning.

Rahna could do a weak Singularity, one that might be strong enough to pull in a Salarian, but not a Turian. Kaiden, therefore, was in the position of Defender. As most of the Humans were familiar with Football, they used positions from that sport to define the positions of Warpball. Striker, Defender, and Midfielder.

Rahna was in the middle, and Andrew was the Striker, and boy was he big. Andrew was six foot nine, and weighed in at 270 lbs. He was some sort of polynesian-hispanic-caucasian mix. He could bounce against the heavy Turians. He would have to fight for the ball, and even though he had the slowest recharge time out there, Andrew could take any hit and come back swinging. Perfect for the Striker position, where he would be pressing up against the Turians anyways.

They all strapped on their helmets, which were designed by Cerberus. Complete two-way visibility in them, and had reinforcement around the chin and back of the head. The visor started at the chin and went all the way up to the top of the forehead, showing everyone what their faces looked like. Their team had two women and five men, and they arrayed themselves into a V shape. They were alone otherwise. Williams was sitting up in the box seats, along with Hock and the other directors of Cerberus. The stands, as Williams had told them, were filled with Turians. Only a couple hundred humans were in the seats. The rest had been bought out.

They all stood there, ready for the signal. Outside, they could hear the crowds loudly yammering and then get very quiet.

"Sentients of all races!" Of course they hired a Salarian and Asari to manage the event. The Asari was melodic and nice to listen to, while the Salarian was throwing out statistics and numbers as fast as his mouth would go. He tuned down the Salarian's feed and focused on the Asari's. "You have all waited long enough, as a new race joins our prodigious sport!" There was thumping in the stands, and the yelling made the door thump. "The Humans are finally sending out a team of biotics to compete, and boy are they excited!"

"Correct. Humans have no record in arena so far, but their players represent best showing of their race." The Salarian started saying. "All seven of their players are on their way to highest degrees of education among their race. Engineering, Mathematics, and Sciences are their focuses. Their second, Rahna, can calculate as fast as any Salarian and her spatial awareness is formidable. Team heavyweight Andrew, one you cannot possible mistake on the field, masses larger than any Turian on the field and due to childhood accident lacks any nerve endings in appendages. He does not feel pain."

"That does sound terrifying! What about this team leader we have in the roster? He hasn't been in the camera light at all this last month!"

"Kaiden Arenko." Of course his name would get butchered. "He is a normal size among his people, but his biotic strength rivals some Asari. Sadly, could not access his medical records or education history, as the Humans are rather protective of him. He is, however, the product of genetic engineering of generations, and his parents are both athletic figures of some renown."

"The Turian team is all veterans of our last arena tournament, and we know them all well. For those coming to Warpball for the first time, you are looking at a team that has been working together for the last ten cycles, and have the experience to back it up!"

"Posting their records now. On a side note, all are still active members of their military, and all are highly decorated as soldiers." Then the Salarian dove into statistics and facts that Kaiden chose to ignore. It would just psyche himself out if he listened. He just focused on what his dad taught him. ' _Son, just focus on someone you love. Think about them. Your mom got me through some hard games, and when I couldn't focus on her I focused on some object, something completely mundane. Don't let the other guys get to you before you've had a chance to give a good swing.'_  Andrew tapped him on the shoulder, bringing him out of his musings.

The door in front of them had shifted from red to green, and a small timer in the Citadel format had less than thirty seconds on the clock. He activated his hardsuit, the polymer and gel layers warming up. As per the regulations, all of the hardsuits had no kinetic barriers. Singularities had to be effective, and it wasn't fair to have kinetic barriers. Kaiden smiled, like they had been told. Cameras would be on them in a moment.

"Please welcome the  _Redim_  of Manae!" The Asari yelled, and the room thundered with the sounds of thousands of thumping feet. He unclenched his hands, and looked at all of the other members of the team. "Now, the sentients that you've been waiting for, the  _Titans_  of Luna!"

"Let's go Titans!" Kaiden yelled, starting to run as the door opened. They kept formation as they ran out, the arena below them and the stands starting right behind them. Anything else he had to say was drowned out by the yelling of over a hundred thousand sentients. They hadn't been expecting this. Right in the front rows of the stadium that could seat 170,000, there was the Batarians. Thousands of Batarians. Thousands upon thousands of screaming Batarians, shouting words of encouragement. Encouragement from a Batarian was almost like someone screaming that you should go commit suicide, and bravely die in battle. It was rude, according to his translator.

But he knew what that really meant. The Batarians were supporting them, and they were doing it well. More than half the stadium were Batarians, and were the obvious majority. How they were able to get so many tickets was beyond him, but in the front row he could see a few Batarian officials raising a fist in respect to them. Kaiden thought he recognized the Batarian team he had trained with in front, but it was hard to tell with everyone in their formal robes.

The first thing that he and his team did now that they were in the light was give a Human salute. That got a few waves and cheers, but then he shifted it to a Batarian one for the Batarians in colorful robes sitting on the benches nearest to him. He did not raise his hand as high as he did for the previous salute, though, which for some reason in their culture meant less respect. They still reacted well, the shouting and yelling becoming loud again.

He could see some banners hanging from the upper deck, saying 'Titans drink free in Zakera Ward!'. Another was some of the ancestral Human signs at sports events, Defense, Hit 'em hard, and others. Then the music came on.

_Buddy you're a boy make a big noise_

_playin' in the street gonna be a big man someday_

_got blood on your face, you big disgrace,_

_Kicking your can all over the place,_

_Singing!_

_We will, we will Rock You!_

We will rock you. Man, that sounded so good. A lot of the aliens in the crowd had no idea how to react to the harsh music, but Kaiden smiled at it. Someone had taste. Classic rock from goodness knows how far back was sort of a staple for sports these days. He didn't know what the song was called but it was always playing during the English country sports. Other old songs also were highlighted and played during sporting events, and for some reason this one always came up.

He could hear a few people clapping in time with the music, mostly a few rowdy Humans down by the edge of the stands. Across from them, there was the Turian team, the  _Redim_. He wasn't sure if that was plural or singular, or a noun. All he knew was that it was some ugly shade of green, putrid green. Their hardsuit uniforms were bright puke green and white, with blue trim.

They were all massive, but not as tall as Andrew. Andrew's dark skinned form matched up against the lead Turian and he was taller by a small portion. Without much prompting, the teams hit the field. As he walked up to the middle of the field for the face off, he scoped out the other team. As Williams didn't expect them to go very far in the tournament, they had only studied their first three opponents. It was doubtful that they would score enough points to progress to the next round.

The first step in the game was the tip off, where the ball would be dropped from the ceiling and the two teams would have the chance to take the ball. The ball had to be moved around the field with biotics. You could hold it, but you had to move it around using biotics. So, the first move of the game was to take the ball. A Throw or a Pull was the move of choice, to either knock it onto the opponent's side of the field or take it back to your own. Most teams used a Pull to start, so that they could set up for a position or formation.

When everyone was lined up, Andrew and the Turian striker were in their face off. Ten feet behind them was Rahna and the opponent midfielder. Another ten feet behind them and you had Kaiden and the last Turian, and the circle in the wall that you were supposed to land your forty pound ball into. The entire arena was no longer than fifty yards and was semi circular. The wall with the goal was flat for about ten yards either way, making it hard to do long hook shots or just straight on long shots. With three people all together, that was three chances to block the shot.

Their other four teammates took to the seats on the edge of the field, and a countdown started. Kaiden flexed and flared his biotics, as did everyone else on the field. The countdown came down to zero, and Andrew was just a little late on his Pull. The ball shifted to the Turian side of the arena, and Andrew couldn't use his biotics to stop it in time. He was still recharging. Rahna tried to get an angle on the ball, but the massive Turian against her was too tall and wide for her to get a shot off. Their defender had the ball, a 19 kilogram brick with sixteen faceted edges.

She couldn't arc her Throws yet. She was a straight shot kind of person. To be fair, she had only been able to use her biotics for a couple of years. Her skill was not anything to write home about. Andrew, on the other hand, was one of the first to get an amp. He was more practiced, and even though he was a biotic, he ate even more than was necessary. Andrew was the only biotic that Kaiden would dare call fat. Yet Andrew had a faster forty meter sprint time than anyone else. If you called him fat, he was going to either catch up to you or use a Throw on you.

Kaiden saw that the Turians were almost leisurely going about moving the ball up the field, moving their defender up to the middle line in a very offensive position. He watched as Andrew managed to halt the striker, making the Turian midfielder rush past Rahna to get over by Kaiden. He could see the paths that the Turian striker would have open with the mountain of a man that was Andrew in his way. The midfielder would have to come from the far side to be able to receive the ball. Kaiden gathered his focus, and waited for the striker's shoulder to drop. Once it did, he let loose a Throw. The ball came sailing towards the midfielder, and was intercepted by Kaiden's Throw.

Rahna was on top of this, running across the middle line of the field and arriving at the ball. Humanity now had possession, and two members of each team had their biotics ready. The defender on the Turian team started running back to the goal, and Kaiden grinned. Only one opponent on the enemy side of the arena, and the other two Turians on their side. Kaiden started running forward himself, but not coming up to the goal line. Rahna, seeing something, used a Throw and sent the ball right at the goal, and the Turian defender immediately moved to intercept.

Until he ran into the wall that was Andrew. Rahna wasn't throwing a shot on the goal, she was throwing a pass. Andrew had thundered past the Turian striker, and had the ball, his shoulder slamming into the defender. The Turian amazingly held. Though he dropped something very nasty on Andrew in return, a nice Singularity right behind Andrew's feet. Andrew was heavy, but not heavy enough to avoid being lifted. As he was holding onto the ball still, he could see the Turian striker getting ready to Lift or Pull him. Andrew was going to go flying if that hit.

Kaiden could feel almost recharged, and decided to try his aim. WIth the Striker focused on Andrew and the Defender focused on the goal, only the midfielder could see him. Rahna was somewhere, Kaiden couldn't see her behind the gigantic aliens. But he let loose his next biotic move, a Throw. It hit right after the Striker's pull, which had redirected Alex back towards the middle line. The ball he still stubbornly held onto, and the look of surprise on his face when Kaiden hit him with his strongest Throw was going to probably get him tackled or worse later.

Andrew flew like a rocket into the 'goal', and with a yell of disdain the Pull that came late from the Turian midfielder slammed him into the ground. Kaiden let loose a long breath, as he saw the scoreboard go up by one. The Titans were up one, and he was already sweating. Warpball matches were short by design, as a biotic could only toss their moves around for so long. Each of the three rounds were about eight minutes long, and so movements were decisive.

They had to wait for Andrew to come down from being weightless, and with a grumble the big man came back to the center position. This time, the Turians went offensive. All three of them used their biotics. Andrew was thrown into another Singularity, right off the bat. The colorful verbage that followed showed that the Turians had really made the Singularity spin fast. Andrew was floating up near the ceiling by the time that they got to Rahna, bowling through her much like Andrew had to their defender.

Leaving all three of them for Kaiden to deal with. Their military precision was admirable. They all moved so fluidly for a team that it was hard to not feel intimidated at how easily they went through his team. The lead Turian passed the ball to his ally, the midfielder.  _That_  guy didn't even catch it. He just used a Throw to send it careening towards his right, towards the far corner of the goal. Even more nasty was the fact that the ball was only a few inches above the ground, which against most races would be considered a difficult shot to stop.

Kaiden was not most races or sentients, and slammed his foot down on top of it, biotics active. He was eighteen years old, and had been playing with soccer balls since he was six months old. The ball dug into the metal a little bit when he slammed his foot down, spinning a little bit and stopping underneath the arch of his foot. He could see the follow up coming, though, a Throw from the defender. He rolled the ball behind his left foot, just like it was a soccer ball. The Throw passed by harmlessly, making a splashing sound against the back wall. The ball was a forty pound beast, and there was no way that he could have rolled it so easily if he hadn't had his biotics active.

Just to get the ball away, he flared his biotics clearly, and kicked the ball up to hand level, where he could Throw it. Rahna was still getting up from the ground and Andrew was still floating around up by the ceiling of the arena, but they Turians would be ready to go with their biotics long before Rahna or Andrew would. Andrew would be stuck in the gravity well for another ten or fifteen seconds at best. He couldn't hold onto this forever. The Turians would be ready again in a few seconds and a Singularity would be coming quickly.

So he Threw the ball right at Andrew, who managed to barely catch it. But since you couldn't aim any abilities at someone holding the ball unless the goal was behind them, Andrew was safe. Everyone had a moment to take a breath while Andrew floating, and Kaiden silently thanked his dad for all the lessons on football as a child.

Andrew floated around for a little bit, but he could tell that he was about to drop. "Kaiden! Keep me up here a minute!"

Kaiden blinked, not sure what Andrew had in mind. But, in the past Andrew had decent ideas. So, he threw up another Singularity up there, barely strong enough to take hold of Andrew. The Turians glanced at him, unsure of what they were planning. But they shifted to a more defensive formation in the meantime, while Kaiden sucked in gulps of air. Andrew, on the other hand, straightened out his floating and oriented himself on their goal. The Turians immediately fell back and all centered on their goal, Andrew just leering at them from the ceiling.

He didn't even Throw the ball, he just held it. "Looks like they are taking us seriously now. What do you think?"

"We have the lead, but we need to get rid of the ball before the ref calls us out on it." Rahna said. "I say we try to Throw for a shot on goal, and follow it up with mine and yours for a counter." Kaiden nodded, but he was starting to get tingly. It hadn't been more than two minutes, and he was already feeling it. But he had trained to learn the Slam, not trained for endurance.

Andrew started with a Throw, as he needed to get back to the ground before the Singularity wore off. Falling from fifteen meters could injure him badly. On queue, Rahna and Kaiden sent Throws of their own to counter the Pulls or Lifts that the Turians might try to counter with.

Sadly, they were ready for this. The Vanguard Charged the ball, and then both Rahna's and his Throws were out of position. Kaiden couldn't do anything but watch as the ball sailed past him and into their goal.  _This is gonna be a long game._

* * *

When they finally were able to go into the locker room Kaiden was sweating profusely. The Turians had figured out that he was the only person on the team that could use Singularity, and they took direct advantage of that. The score for the finale was 5-2. They had scored on them twice, and both of those goals had been hard-won. The five for the Turians had come whenever they had gone out of position, and the difference of experience was telling. Kaiden had sat out the middle period, just to recover. During that time they had scored four goals while they had only scored one.

So, all seven of the team were just pouring whatever calories could be placed inside water into their mouths, and just breathing. The lessons in breath control with Nyra were coming in handy. His arms tingled and hurt, even though he had stepped out near the start of the second period. How he was going to survive the third period was beyond him.

"Heyyo!" Came a voice he hadn't heard in months. "Kaid! You gotta keep that chin up, man. Have I got a deal for you!"

Walking into the room, wearing a security guard uniform, was Charles Archer. He had helmet hair and a grin on his face. Kaiden ignored his aches and pains and stood up, grabbing Charles by the hand and giving him a hug with their hands clasped in between their chests. The bro hug was a scientific method meant to hug a friend without being considered homosexual. It had been a standard scientific method since the early 21st century.

"What happened to you! I haven't seen you for months!"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, and its also illegal for me to tell you. Nondisclosure agreement and all. But I noticed how badly you guys are getting mangled out there. So I figured I would come in and adjust the odds more in our favor before Williams blows a gasket and punches out the Turian Primarch. Whoever decided to have them sit next to each other was an idiot." Charles looked like he was checking all of the doors and entrances for things, which was very unlike his normally laid back friend.

"What do you mean adjust the odds?"

"Well, their team captain is the midfielder. He just recently replaced his hip. Within the last six months. While technically unethical, you can take him out of the game if you can hit him hard enough on the right hip. Also, their main defender's right toe was broken by a Batarian during the last game, and was pretty tender. Turians can't roll like we can. So roll around them to get the ball. Lastly and most importantly, their backup midfielder's Singularity isn't strong enough to capture any of you. Take out their team captain, and then the backup midfielder can't stop you guys from flanking and scoring. Before you burn yourself out, Kaid, you can take 'em down."

"Why do you know all of this?"

"Part of being the underdog is to be able to walk in and win. You guys win our first game, against the Turians, and Humanity is going to get recognized. The Turians will see us as more than just some new race with spunk. Not to mention every Asari on the station is going to want to sleep with you."

"Charles! I don't do that kind of thing!"

"Sometimes I worry about your motives, my friend. I know that deep down in there you like other people, you just have a funny way of showing it." Charles said with a grin. "Now, you get their backup midfielder out there and they won't have a chance of stopping your forward momentum. Even if they pull her out, then the last member of their team is already on the rocks and won't be able to run fast. Pulled ligament or something. They are focusing on your weak points, and so we need to do the same in return. Also, here is a totally bad bad treat." Charles tossed some candy wrapper at him. It was a deep fried Twinkie. There were two in the pack.

It even came with a warning, 'this treat contains more than two thousand calories. Not for the consumption of children.' "Woah."

"You should try it. Like, before you get called back onto the field in a minute." Kaiden did. It was like the most sugary, flour-based, chocolate induced sugar haze had come upon him. There was so many calories in the tiny little treat that he near about died as his heart hiccuped in response to the thing entering his system. But then the tingle in his arms died down, and his stomach started gurgling in response to the processed fat and sugars. He blinked, and just stared at Charles.

"Woah." He repeated. "Got any more?"

"A pack for everybody. Haven't quite turned eighteen yet, so I had to fake my identity to buy these things." Candies that exceeded a certain amount of calories and content were illegal for children to buy. Back in the early 21st someone had the great idea that you needed to card children to see what age they were and how many calories they were allowed to have. Deep fried twinkies were the thing that all kids dreamed about tasting. Kaiden hadn't had the chance to buy one ever. So, with gumption, he munched on the other one in the package. His tongue felt chalky and his stomach felt like undeath, but he felt pretty proud. Consuming four thousand calories in less than thirty seconds felt like some kind of glorious achievement.

The entire team consumed their twinkies, except for Rahna. She said that it was made with fat from cows, which were sacred to her religion. She was going to sit out the final period. He could feel a bit of sludge in his stomach but the rush of sugar and calories were a godsend. "Charles, thanks bro. You gonna watch the game?"

"Trying not to get arrested, actually. I'll see you later, though."

"You haven't responded to any of my messages! Where are you living!" Kaiden asked. Charles had been gone from Tartarus Station for months. Kaiden had originally been able to message him, and Charles had said he was working for Jack Harper. But recently he had been quiet. The messages slowed down and eventually just stopped.

"Kaid, I can't tell you. You're going to be some warpball star, and I'm going to be something else. But because I worked with Mr. Harper, people are trying to track me down. I have to go live in the Terminus systems until people don't want to kill me any more." Charles slipped on his helmet, hiding his face. "It's not that I don't want to, buddy. Your life is going to be fine. Mostly safe, even. Mine is different. Dodging the enlistment is the least of what people are after me for. So save your breath. Don't tell me that we're friends and I shouldn't distance myself. I'm doing this for you, bro. The more you don't hear about me, the better. I just wanted to make sure you had a win."

There were a lot of things that Kaiden could say, but he could hear the count down to the next period. He wanted to figure out what was happening with Charles, but he was here for a different reason. He didn't want to say goodbye either, so instead he just said "Thanks."

"No problem. Don't mention it. Like, ever." With that, Charles walked out one of the side doors with his Omni-tool active and was talking into a headset. Kaiden would deal with that later.

"Andrew, I want you to hit their midfielder hard in the hip. It's not sportsmanlike but I doubt the referee will care too much if you do it right. He's got a bad hip and we need him benched. His backup midfielder apparently doesn't have enough eezo nodes to pick us up. Their Singularity can't move us. So, we are switching out for our biggest and heaviest players, Rahna is sitting out. We still have a chance at this."

They all looked at him, even Rahna seemingly happy. Though that might have been the twinkies. Rahna not so much, but she would ba happy with the team succeeding. She had been beaten up by the much larger and heavier Turians any time they made contact. They rushed out back into the field, and Andrew was kicked out of the period for how hard he hit the opponent team captain. Then, like a charm, their midfielder couldn't hold them back.

Still, the final score in the third period was 6-6. What was even more galling was that draws were allowed. When the Turians came out to shake hands with them, they did so with straight backs and their heads held high. But to get a draw on the first match, that was amazing. Kaiden didn't turn his audio receivers to anything until long after the match was over. He didn't want to be distracted. Sadly, his extranet message account and website were already overcapacity and no longer could handle any incoming messages.

As he left the arena, he gave a final wave to all of the fans, the shouting and screaming mass of Batarians quite confusing him. Why thousands of them would care about a human match seemed odd. He decided that would be something better to worry about later, after he had gotten some sort of party through his system. Strangely, he also had to burn off some more calories because those twinkies were seriously still clogging his system.

* * *

Author's Note

As we have now hit thirty chapters, I am happy to say that we are almost a year along. Last year in about mid March I started working on Indoctrinated Dream, and I didn't know how it would go. Now we have almost 28,000 hits and nearly 100 reviews. I am considering making a few side stories to further add characters and some depth to the story. If any of you think that's alright, let me know. If not, no hard feelings for anyone.

For relative scale, Julia and Miranda are 13. Kaiden and Charles are 18, and Jack is 50. Hannah Shepard is 36, and Humans have a lifespan of around 145 years. So, no one is close to dying of old age. Anyways, if you can't keep track of everything and everyone let me know if it's a bit confusing. I don't have that kind of mindset, as I am sort of decent with my memory.


	30. Fugue: Magical Girl

Chapter 30

High Fane of Karn'Zul, Kar'shan, May 2166

"It appears that the Humans have made quite the spectacle." The Hegemon forsook his name upon taking the mantle of leadership upon his head. Haego Dvoragk knew him from before he was the Hegemon, and after he victoriously killed every other contender for the seat Haego had the pleasure of watching him crowned Hegemon. He lost his first name, and gained the Title of Hegemon. The spiritual and physical leader of their people, and the one that was supposed to care the most about their religion.

Like almost every single Hegemon before him, he put the minimal amount of care into the state religion. A few stood out, and made some of the greater improvements to state practices and the erecting of shrines. "Your choice to support them was quite the surprise, Holiness. Were you going to send them any congratulations for their efforts?"

The Hegemon grinned. "They fought well. Their lead player, Alenko, even knocked out one of the Asari with one of his plays. I cannot wait until next cycle, when we have the chance to match them." Sports and recreation were restricted to those of the Priestly caste, and anything associated with casualness or wastefulness was to be matched with punishment. Their lives were hard, yes, and much was expected. But the Priests of the Karn were the lesson teachers, those who much teach hard things to a hard people. The Karn were the hardest people in the Galaxy, and their expectations were high.

The Asari and the other races were weak, and the Gods of their people did not ask them to do that which was asked of the Karn. They were the ones who were the most capable. All of the other races had Prothean Beacons, entire libraries of knowledge that they could depend on. The Gods saw fit to give them only a crashed Prothean frigate, with a working FTL element zero drive. The Humans, for all their prowess, had an entire Beacon to learn from. The Karn entered the stars and were asked what they were called.  
Batarian, after the great Betrayer. Batar, the one who broke the Karn. The one who spat in the face of the Gods and lived long enough to take responsibility for it. "Are the Humans truly the only good news this month, then?"

"Haego, have you even left the temple this month?" The Hegemon asked. "We are barely maintaining order. The Jarem caste won't even respond to the orders of their betters any longer. All of them, and not just the foreign-born."

"The Jarem have the most to lose if they die without children. There is no other place for their spirits to go." Haego muttered.

"I don't care about their spirits! Yrch, Haego, I cannot abide this. They aren't working. The merchants won't sell or buy anything. Travel is restricted, and our security checkpoints can't even detect the viruses! They know that we cannot stop this. The castes of strength still hold their posts, and are defensive. But what is worse are your Priests, Haego."

He stood up a little straighter. "What have they done?"

"Three of your Priests were given special dispensation to go to the Citadel and hold religious services there. They never reported back for their return flight, nor did they hold any services."

"What of the War Priest we have on the Citadel?"

"High Major Jeroth has not responded to hails and has locked himself in a compound on the Citadel. We fear the worst. I ordered your priests in to fix the mess."

Jeroth was one of the oldest priests. Tenth in line to the High Fane's seat. Eighth if his own High Major and the one gunning for them killed each other as Haego would prefer. Even among the Priests, the Karn demanded judgement. Defend your honor or one more deserving would unseat you. Jeroth was also the Ambassador to the Council, and so received many gifts. An unsettling thought to be receiving gifts as a priest. Also unsettling was that the Hegemon was referring the priests as belonging to Haego rather than himself, the spiritual leader of the Karn.

"Are you placing their failure upon my head?" As Hegemon, he could not show any favoritism, even to his older friends. Especially to his older friends and family who were close enough to be trusted. The scrutiny had to be thorough.

"I hope that I won't have to. When I come back next month, they had better be dead or repentant. Your priests not servicing the Jarem castes is understandable, though at some point we may regret the Jarem births not being blessed."

"Odd that you would worry about the souls of the lesser-born, Holiness." Haego remarked. "The plagues are ravaging us to the point that my Priests risk their lives to keep our religion alive."

"My worries are of course, out of concern for fulfilling all of the promises that my office requires. The Karn need to have their speeches. There has been murmuring about prophecies and dark times. I want you to put an end to them." The Hegemon took a long drink of his cup. "This talk is not something suitable for our kind. Even the foreign-born are murmuring about this plague being the work of the spirits. The Gods have always been fickle, as you tell me."

"I will find a way to end this talk. I have a request for your input, however." The Hegemon lowered his upper eyes at Haego.

"I expect that this is not a request I will appreciate."

"Perhaps you will, actually. Our practice of foreign-born being placed in the Jarem caste to give their souls the best chance of salvation, and we have a unique situation rising. We have a Turian set of bondmates that are expecting their first child. They have ten times the amount of credits required for the birth, and have requested for their child to be born into the next caste. Normally this is not a difficult process, but this is the first foreign-born to have reached such a high caste. The Gods would demand that we allow them the chance to prove themselves, yet they are Turian."

"This is not the first time that a Turian has been born to the Marej caste. The child will never make it through secondary training. As all before it, it will never achieve full adulthood. The Gods may demand we give them a chance, but the Highest castes will never accept a foreign born as one of their own."

"Thier souls are never going to be reborn that way, Holiness." Haego stated. "I want to ask you to give them a chance."

"I will not sponsor a Turian, Haego. I am not even allowed to speak indirectly to their caste."

"Yet it was the office of Hegemon that made the policy of guaranteeing their failure to progress! The Asari and Krogan are still in the Jeram caste, as an entire race! The, caste system is in place to save, not to profit!"

"You ask me to find him a sponsor that will humor the creature, and keep it alive?"

"Perhaps someone more conservative, religiously minded." Haego said. "Please consider this. Perhaps as a method of giving the media something more pleasant to talk about."

"Alright, Haego. Prepare a speech. With such an unprecedented event, we should certainly have a public view of the child being given its name and first blessing." The Hegemon didn't look happy. "If the Gods don't see fit to kill the family first."

* * *

Tokyo-3, Takita Park, June 2166

Hatsune Miku was some sort of weird combination of hair, sparkles, and preppy music. She had a long purple tie on over some parody of a school uniform, and was sashaying around on stage with her long hair streamers swinging around behind her and to the side of her. It couldn't be natural. It was just annoying how long and supple it was, too. It was in two long ponytails off the sides of her head, and the long electric blue tresses almost touched the ground. It just wasn't fair at all.

Red hair was just not long and perfect like that. It was scraggly, untamable, and required hours of maintenance every day to keep it looking fantastic. Apparently. Hannah was some sort of surrogate mother, who was posing as her real mother while they tried to arrest her dad. Yet at the same time Hannah sucked at acting like a mom. She was more like a friend than a mom, and that worked out for them.

Hannah's hair was perfect, and didn't burst into curly patches of unhappiness when she left it for too long. Julia also rolled in her sleep, making her hair a downright mess in the morning. Braiding it helped some, but overall there was no escaping the brush. She blinked, noticing that Miku was finishing another song, and struggled to move closer to the front of the crowd. Her distraction with the miracle that was Miku's hair lost her a few minutes, but she had time to spare.

" _Are you in position?_ " Hannah Constantine's voice came over the commlink implanted into her ear. It was new, along with a few other things. Gene mods for her skin and pigmentation to be reinforced. Gene mods for her blood vessels and reflexes. Lastly, she had control of everything that her father once did. Cerberus was hers. Rather than speak up in return to Hannah, she just pressed on the left side of her wrist, where the Omni-tool's bracelet was. It would tell Hannah that she was alright. Even if she wasn't perfectly in position yet.

The Japanese obsession with dying their hair was bothering her. Some of the men had their hair dyed red, redder than hers, and it was all naturally straighter, too! Not fair at all. When she finally pushed past the edge of the crowd, she was on the far left edge of the crowd pushing against the stage. Japanese people didn't care about personal space, either. They all had their arms up, trying to get images and small chunks of video of their pop idol, Hatsune Miku. She was the newest one, the older one having passed away almost ten years ago. She was on her first tour, and the sixteen year old looked very jerky in her movements.

" _I've got some trouble opposite you. Some big goons coming in, security is having some trouble. Don't know why they insist that the security here not wear hardsuits._ " Hannah's voice sounded strained. " _I'm not sure these are the people who we are looking for. They don't seem to be armed enough._ " One of the big goons pulled out some sort of weapon, and then one of the guards dropped.  _"That was a silenced weapon, or some sort of stun gun. Alright, looks like we might have our chance. They aren't the only ones who need this girl._ "

Hatsune Miku, or whatever name she had really, had some sort of illegal technology in her head. Something that Hannah described as an illegal implant in the frontal lobe. Hannah hadn't explained what the implant was, only that it was important that the Alliance get it. Hannah worked for the Alliance, and it was her life goal or something. She didn't talk about it much but any time Jones or other people from the Alliance called, she stood up a little straighter and fuller, and spoke more seriously. Julia had spent hundreds of hours studying the motions of the body, until she could figure out how people were comfortable or feeling just based on how their hands rested. Miku was definitely feeling some anxiety, as her hands were clenching really hard as she danced around, and her movements were jerky more than fluid.

Her singing was spot on, though. Or at least it all sounded great to someone who didn't speak Japanese. The security on her side of the stage hadn't realized that anything was going wrong with their comrade, at least not until they saw eight people in hardsuits coming up the right side of the stage. One of them started throwing some sort of tech grenades into the front rows of the crowd, causing people to start running away quickly. The security guards tried to stop them, but were struck by the grenades or weapons the people were carrying.

" _Get to point B! Looks like someone was copying us!_ " Julia glanced up at the rafters, where she could see sparks and flashes of light as gunfire was exchanged up there. " _Team Beta, fall back to extraction point, secure it! Team Charlie, what's your position?_ "

" _Pinned down in the foyer! These guys number around forty here, and they have a team controlling the tramway. Looks like they want to extract her right through the subway system._ "

Hannah's voice was rough. " _Then they have to have someone hacking that system so that they don't get shut down. We need to take the target before they get taken into the tunnels. Team Delta, extract them."_

She spent this time running towards the stands, where the other members of team Delta were standing. Two Cerberus trained combat Engineers were there, hidden as normal attendees of the show. The stands hadn't emptied at all, and from here the tech grenades just looked like part of the light show. The fluorescent hair, the flashing lights, the haptic images of Miku going across the display, it all covered the small explosions and flashes of energy that showed from the tech grenades.

Miku had realized that people were on stage with her that weren't supposed to be, and started backing up, a loud scream going across the speakers as she saw the downed guards. That got the crowds freaking out, panicked words flashing by too fast for her Omni-tool to translate. Thankfully someone on the electronics team saw that too, and cut the feeds. They also switched on the emergency lights. Arrows appeared on haptic screens and warning messages appeared in Japanese and English. Say what you will about their odd tendencies, but there were more haptic screens blaring warnings and directions than there had been on for the performance.

" _Delta, get the target out of there!"_  The two Engineers nodded, and dropped two poles, with a kinetic high sensitivity net activating in between them. Once deployed, they nodded. Julia pulled on a small set of headphones, to cancel out the noise. All of the screaming was just too much to try to focus through. Once there was no noise at all, she could ignore all of the other people.

Their panicking, their screaming, all of their emotions were like a cloud on her judgement. Their emotions were so  _thick_  that she could never feel what her own were like. She had never really known what she was feeling, unless she was perfectly alone. Only when she was alone and away from other people and their possessions did she really know what she was feeling. People's things, like Miranda's hair brushes or her Dad's desk. The things that they had a strong emotional attachment to she could almost feel, just by touching. But she never knew what she felt on her own unless she could narrow out the world around herself.

Her biotics depended upon control. Control that she had a difficult time achieving if anyone was talking or overly emotional. They would be easy to work with if it were just Nyra or Miranda in the room. Nyra was a bubbly, positive and like most Asari just seemed happy to be around others. She used to be able to trust her Dad and could muster her biotics around him, but the very thought of Jack Harper made her anger come out. It was one of the few emotions that she could feel around other people.

Right now, the best she could do to 'zero out' outside influences was to cancel noise and play loud music. The music to distract her mind, and the noise cancellation to stop what was happening with the crowds. She could still feel them a little bit, but if she just focused on the stage, she couldn't see any of the panicking people. She could just see two security guards and eight armed men, along with the girl with amazing hair. They were only sixty feet away, and well within range.

Element Zero was like the tingly feeling that followed when you bashed your funny bone. Except this tingle went on and on. It stayed until you released it, and the air would crackle if you held it too long. The nerves were the only thing that connected the element zero nodules to the tissue in the arm, and so that was the only way that they could communicate that the nodules were ready.

It was not the most steady connection she had to her nodules, but today she wasn't throwing a Singularity. Those took all of her concentration, and even though she was strong it took everything out of her to use them. A Pull, though, she could do with only partial connection. The bright blue ball flew out, and snagged Miku by one of her hair tails that was sticking out to the side. Her body followed the hair as it got pulled, a screech going across the microphone and room speakers as Miku flew sixty feet to land in the kinetic net. Her hair, perfect as it was, flew wide and settled on the stands to the right and left of the net, while her body was safely caught in the net, right side up.

The Japanese was coming out of her mouth extremely fast, but thankfully Julia had an expanded processor in her OSD. "Are you some sort of magical girl or something?" Miku asked, in roughly what sounded like three syllables.

Magic wasn't logical. But neither was waiting for her to accept any kind of explanation. Julia reached over and pulled off the microphone attachment to the girl's throat, and then helped her to her feet as the net turned off. "We're here to save you, you have to follow us."

Miku seemed gullible. She just immediately took their word for it and nodded. "Sugoi! Sure!" Whatever that meant. Julia ignored the obviously emotional girl and started running down the hallway to avoid the gunmen. The Engineers lingered for a moment, and she could hear echoing sounds of gunfire. They hadn't been given orders to fire on anyone yet, so that must mean that the enemy were shooting. Miku, of course, shrieked and ran faster. That was helpful, at least, though her hair flying all over the place made it near impossible to look back and see where the Engineers were.

At the end of the hallway, there was a security door that led out to the shuttle bay. It was locked, but a weak Throw was enough to make the doors buckle. Team Charlie had secured the shuttle bay earlier, and had the other side of the doors. All she had to do was signal them. She didn't want to use her communication system, and she didn't trust the locals to not have some sort of listening device. She didn't have a helmet on, and if they had good enough Omni-tools they could hear anyone whispering in the stadium.

A few seconds after the Throw hit the doors, they slid open and the soldiers waved her on through. Julia didn't let her guard down, as the soldiers could be enemies too. Or at least that was something she picked up from her Dad. He always said that trust is something that you have to pay for.

She could hear a few more scattered gunshots. She stopped Miku from running through the doors, and saw the soldiers take up defensive positions around the edges of the shuttle bay. The two Engineers were still setting up some sort of defense in the hallway behind them, or just collapsing it. They were on their own channel for comms. "Wait for the area to be clear." She stated to Miku.

The performer just started bouncing from one foot to the other. "Are those guns? Like, real ones?"

"Yes. We have to get you out of here before the Reds take you."

"Why are they called Reds?" Miku asked, distracted. "Do they have red shirts?"

"They are named the Shangxi Reds. They're a gang that want to capture you."

"Rescued by a magical girl!" She let off some sort of feminine squeal that had Julia's ears ringing. "This is the best day of my life!" Julia did  _not_  like being labeled as a magical girl. "Wait, what is your superhero name?" The translation tool was working overtime, she decided.

"I don't have a name like that." Julia said, huffing.

"Oooh, this is a nice toy. What does it do?" Julia twisted her head around to see Miku fiddling with her one single tech grenade. Julia grabbed it out of her hands, and looked down at her belt where the grenade was supposed to be. She could see her credit chit pocket open and empty, as well as the tech grenade slot empty. The pistol was thankfully on the far side of the belt, and Julia pulled it out before Miku could get to it.

She could even feel the pop star's hand brush hers as she grabbed the gun. "Hey!" She jerked the gun away from the girl's hand. "Don't touch that! Give everything back!"

"Like, all of the stuff in your belt or all of the stuff from your backpack?"

Julia leveled a glare. "Why are you taking my things?"

Her electric blue eyes widened. "Magical girls don't come every day! You have to keep something of theirs or else they'll disappear!"

Julia wanted to slap the girl. This was annoying. "I won't disappear. I'm real enough. Give me back everything you've taken."

"Ok." The girl then emptied her pockets of all of the things she had taken. Credit chits, a couple of Omni-tools, and even a pocket knife came out. It was not a small amount of money that she had pilfered, and Julia only had a few hundred credits on her. There had to be a few thousand here.

"Who did you get all of this from?"

"Well, that would be bad if I told you, but you aren't supposed to lie to magical girls, so I guess I could tell you…"

Julia didn't like this girl at all anymore. Her hair might be amazing but her social logic was terrible. "Later!" The soldiers were reporting the area as secure. "We're going to the shuttle!" She jerked Miku forward, sliding her tech grenade back into its slot. Somehow she had picked back up all of the goods, and was skipping along right beside her.

"Follow the magical girl, follow follow follow!" She sang as she ran along. Julia was so ready to be done. When they finally got into the shuttle Julia threw herself into the seat and Miku threw herself rather gracefully into the next seat over. "So, which house are we going to?" She was also a brat, Julia decided.

"We are going to the Alliance, so that you can have your head looked at." Hannah materialized on the opposite bench, coming out of her tactical cloak. Julia sighed in relief, glad that Hannah was here to deal with her. "Someone installed technology into your head that came from a group of aliens known as the Collectors. We just need to take a look at it. Possibly remove it if it is harmful."

"A magical girl with a ninja bodyguard!" Again, she made the squealing sound that made Julia want a helmet. "Sugoi!"

Hannah clapped her hands, getting the girl's attention. "We are from the Alliance. Not from your security company."

"Huh?"

Julia turned to her. "The Alliance sent us to protect you. We have to take you to somewhere safe so that the Reds can't take you."

Coming from a 'magical girl' made the words real. Miku nearly hopped out of her seat in excitement. "Yes! Dreams really do come true!"

"I would have thought that Hatsune Miku would have been a bit more calm and logical." Hannah said.

Miku turned to her. "Well, the last one was. But that's because she got beat with a belt if she messed up her lines." Julia shuddered a bit. She never had any sort of beatings. But that didn't change the fact that she knew about what that did to people. Some of the other biotic children would show up sometimes with weird bruises. She had thought nothing of it until Charles told her what that meant.

"So, what should we call you?"

"My name is Goto Kasumi."

What the heck kind of first name was Goto? "Goto?"

"In Japan we place our clan name first, then our surname. I was born by the name of Kasumi Goto. Then I was selected to become the next Hatsune Miku."

"So, what do we call you?"

"Kasumi, please, magical girl-san." Julia just hung her head as Hannah snorted and started laughing.

* * *

Author's Note:

The Japanese pop idol industry is a scary place. I may have done a report on how rough that industry is. 150 years from now? It makes perfect sense that you would put a lot of effort into that industry, even genetically engineering humans to become pop idols. Hatsune Miku is one that they have joked about genetically developing. Kasumi was someone that I loved in the Mass Effect series, and the lack of detail on her and lack of options to have her explain that was something I always wanted more of. So, for all of you out there that wanted to see some of her, here you are.

Julia is expressing the thought process that I've discovered is common for most Aspergers. From my experience and the experience of other high functioning(that term I hate but it's medically recognized) individuals this is the sort of thought process you have. Most Aspergers don't pay very good attention to auditory details. But we notice if people are sick, how they hold their hands, and especially what they are doing with their eyes. If you guys wonder about what it's like to introduce yourself to an Aspergers person, they'll have a good idea of your emotional stance and feelings before you ever say a word. People who are socially bubbly and talk about flighty things are bothersome and annoying to Aspergers people. Personal space is very real to them, and they hate anyone just stepping into it without any permission.


	31. Fugue: Mission:Impossible

Chapter 31

Zakera Ward, The Citadel August 2166

Kaidan Alenko had fully joined the Alliance. He was a Private, attached to the most cushy job in the entire Navy. Ambassadorial Guardsmen, a unit attached to the Citadel and their responsibilities included policing any Alliance Navy soldiers that created trouble in the embassy. They also patrolled the direct area, and escorted VIP's when they arrived on the Citadel.

Kaidan had no shortage of time spent on duty, escorting VIPs and Ambassador Anita Goyle. He was on 'shift' in front of the Embassy for a few hours each day, depending upon the squads who were assigned that post. He spent another six hours practicing biotics and taking the requisite time at the gun range. As they were on active duty, they couldn't really take any shore leave. A few hours a night they had to themselves, which Kaidan usually spent sleeping or eating more. With his Warp ball practice, biotics practice, and his usual exercise with his unit Kaidan ate somewhere around nine thousand calories a day. He could eat anything he wanted, no matter how fat or greasy it was, and have no regrets.

Biotics were terrible to invite to eating contests. Asari weren't like other biotics in the sense that they naturally were born with Element Zero in their bodies. They ate like any normal person, just around two to three thousand calories a day. Kaidan watched as Rahna out ate an entire squad of Marines from the  _Einstein_  with no real trouble. They received a larger stipend to pay for the tripled cost of food that they went through, and Kaidan had a few contracts with companies who wanted his face on their products. He didn't care and it didn't really affect him until today.

A hot dog vendor had set up across the way from the Embassy, selling New York Arcology hot dogs. What threw him off about it was his face displayed all over it. His commanding officer didn't like it all that much either, and wrote him up for the unwelcome display. Kaidan had tried to explain the problem to the hot dog vendor, who only bought a larger haptic interface and displayed Kaidan's most famous Warp ball move.

It had been in their third game, after tying the Turians and then going up against a Hanar team.  _That_  sucked. Hanar had no tells or signs that they were about to throw Singularities. Fortunately, it took them a long time to recover from any use of biotics, and they weighed practically nothing. Singularities, even the weakest ones, could freak them out easily. It just was really hard to hit something that flew naturally. They lost that match, just because the Hanar could move three dimensionally and would fake being stuck in a Singularity just to get a good shot. As much as they were supposed to be a straightforward race, their moves on the field were extremely subtle and full of treachery. They lost by two goals.

The third match of the series was bad. Andrew had a few broken ribs from catching a Thrown ball in the sternum. The poor guy swore that he was fine, but his Omni-tool reported that his lungs had been bruised by the ribs as they buckled from the force of the hit. So he had been out of the game, and the third match was one that they sorely needed him. Andrew was heavy enough that some Asari wouldn't be able to Singularity the man, and without him they spent a significant amount of the game drifting.

However, Kaidan did have one moment where he pulled off something great. The Asari had a combination move, called the Flower-Opening-Upon-the-Waves. Williams called it Bullshit. It only worked when Kaidan's teammates had been subjected to Singularities. It was slightly illegal to have all three of the players in the game not in play, so Asari liked to remove two and leave the Striker on their own. Rahna and the striker had thrown themselves in the path of Singularities to keep Kaidan in the game, and so he was the only one on the field able to do anything.

The Asari then set up a combination play, where one of them would take hold of the ball and jump into the air, letting their feet touch a Singularity being held by another team member. Their defender would stay at the midpoint in the field, while the striker would hold the ball and the midfielder would hold her hands above her head and create the Singularity there. She would then hold it, and not release it. Kaidan could safely say that trying to hold a Singularity is like trying to hold onto a cat for too long. The longer you hold it, the more pressure builds up and it tries to escape. Gathering that energy is easy, but containing something that was meant to be in motion or rotating was difficult. Kaidan never held the Singularities he created. He tried that once, and that ended with a migraine and a serious headache that lasted a day.

When the striker touched her feet to the rotating Singularity, she started orbiting it. As it was still being held by the midfielder, she rotated around her arms. The defender then gave a slight Throw, just to increase the rotation. Only a race that had hundreds of years to practice such a move could have gotten used to the strain of holding a Singularity that could rotate a sentient for longer than a few seconds.

The Asari had held it for ten seconds, and the striker started rotating faster and faster. It was supposed to be a show, something to make the fans love them. Kaidan had been holding back his Slam until this match, and the Asari decided to pull this stunt in the middle of the first period.

He had seen this a couple of times, in the vids that were made that revolved around the sport. It couldn't be stopped easily, because you had to aim at the opponent's goal. If you aimed at too far of an angle away from the goal, it was an offense. You didn't want to give the opponents any kind of advantage, and so the Asari had the rotation of the Singularity facing away from the goal. The rotation went towards the outer wall, which meant that in order to still be able to block any shots on goal, he had to interrupt the rotation by going with the flow.

His single blue ball of energy flew out, and caught the very edge of the ball in the striker's hands. Her shriek of panic as she got Lifted was only made worse by the Slam, as her body and the ball dropped with all of the force that Kaidan could muster onto the Asari below her. He did feel sorry for it, though, when he figured out that had broken a few of their ribs. They had to be carried off the field in stretchers, while Kaidan looked very sheepish in front of a crowd of hooting Asari and Humans.

That image, of him dropping his Slam into those Asari now played repeatedly on the hot dog stand, and his commanding officer demanded that he convince the vendor to stop. Or else he was going to lose his next shore leave. So that is what led to his current conversation.

"I'll donate fifty credits a day to any charity you want, man!"

"I want you to take the image down. Any of the images."

"One hundred credits! Come on, this is such a good idea!"

"What, do you think that the Ambassador would want you to have images of her flying around?" Kaidan was dealing with a hot dog salesmen that had every legal right to be where he was, and he was large. He resembled the fat men you saw in the classic gang movies.

"Hey! No one wants to see some old broad on the side of a hot dog stand! I get scores of people coming by looking for you, and I make my profit off of what's hot! You're a walking wet dream, kid. Now, gimme some charity I gotta donate to or what have ya, or get outa my face."

"Not until you take the images down."

"Hah! Your face ain't copyrighted, and there ain't no law in the Alliance or the Citadel that makes playing sports clips illegal! It'll take you years before you and your goons can create a law that'll stop me." The fat man then got up and into Kaidan's face. "Now, I've made myself clear. Fess up a charity or some crap shoot or leave. I got business coming."

Kaidan just shook his head and walked away. The belligerent man wasn't going to see reason even if Kaidan himself confronted him. He didn't have far to walk to get back to his commanding officer, Sergeant Stearns. Stearns took everything seriously, which is why the small haptic images bothered him immensely. Having a squad full of biotics that all were more famous than him rankled him heavily. Stearns took out his issues on the squad. Kaidan spent a long time just running around, doing all kinds of random jobs just to keep him 'busy' and away from Stearns.

"Sir, the man has every legal right to be there. According to Citadel Law it's not illegal to just play sports clips, which is what he is doing."

"Private, I didn't ask you to check if he was breaking the law! I told you to make him cease and desist!" Stearns also had a hair trigger temper, and was short. This made him not a favorite in the eyes of any of the other barracks mates. "That man is a disgrace to the Alliance!"

"Sir, perhaps he would like to hear this from someone of authority." Kaidan said loudly and clearly.

"I can hear you asshats just fine!" The fat man yelled. "You can't control me!" Apparently he also had great hearing, though Stearns was very loud to begin with. Fortunately, Stearns' hair trigger temper found a new target.

"Alright you worthless civilian, let's see if I can't teach you a thing or two…" Stearns started walking over to the fat man, hard suit on and ready to deploy a kinetic barrier. The rest of the day, Kaidan and the rest of their squad spent in the brig, for a mixture of things. Failure to protect their officer from the beat down of his life, which their superiors didn't much have a problem with, considering that it was Stearns, and then the public affairs fiasco that was the event. The fat man beat the hell out of Stearns with just a baseball bat. The news crew nearby caught the event, and Kaidan and the Warp ball team just sat there and watched for a minute before pulling Stearns out with a Pull.

What they really should have done was just go in and get him out of there physically, which wouldn't have highlighted him as a biotic. Now the news stories were all talking about this, which made the secondary crimes much larger in scope.

Stearns was fuming in his own cell, while everyone else shared two more across from him. No one was talking, as anything to trigger further tirades from Stearns was just not worth it. They must have been in there for a few hours before anyone said anything at all.

"Private Alenko! You're up!" Stearns turned a beat red and got up, too. When the MPs came over to open the door, they didn't even grace Stearns with a glance. For some reason Kaidan was sure he was going to pay for that later. The MPs took him to the processing room, where he could see a few more officers there.

He stood at attention, as he was supposed to. "At ease, Private." His stomach dropped a bit, as he saw that Anita Goyle was sitting in the middle of all of his commanding officers. Every single one in his current command structure, to be exact. "We decided that you needed to be briefed regarding your actions, as today's fiasco has been all over the news networks. We wanted to get a debriefing from you regarding all of this before we decide the fate of your squad."

"Yes, Ma'am." Was all that he could say.

"Private, please explain to us exactly what happened. Our cameras were too distant to pick up the audio, but we saw that there was a scuffle, and that one of our officers seemed to throw the first punch. Please clarify."

His hardsuit felt extremely tight around his neck right then. "Sergeant Stearns gave me an order to convince the hot dog vendor to stop portraying my image on his cart and the haptic projector he mounted on the roof was displaying my Slam play in the Warp ball match a few months ago. Sergeant Stearns decided that it was illegal and an affront to the Alliance. I proceeded to try to follow the order, and the hot dog stand owner told us in no uncertain terms that he was not going to take down the images."

"Did you use rude language unbecoming of a soldier, Private?"

"No, ma'am."

"Did you question your superior officer when he gave you this order?"

"Ah, No, Ma'am."

"You assumed this order to be lawful, Private?"

"Yes. Sergeant Stearns may ride us hard, Ma'am, but we have never received any order that countermands the standards of the Alliance."

"You are being too polite, Private. Sergeant Stearns has received verbal warnings and a single written warning regarding orders that stand against Alliance military doctrine. He is a spout of trouble, and we thought that by placing him in charge of your squad he would be able to be less of a trouble maker."

"I would never say anything like that about my superior officer, Ma'am."

"But you don't disagree." Goyle said, her voice deep.

He waited a long moment. "No, Ma'am."

"Stearns threw a punch, is this correct?"

"He felt that he could convince the hot dog vendor to cease and desist using physical force, Ma'am. When he asked why I couldn't carry out the order, the vendor claimed that we could not control him. Sergeant Stearns then came at the man, and got himself humiliated."

"That hot dog vendor is retired three time heavyweight boxing Champion Revi Levi." Anita Goyle said with a hint of a smile. "Stearns got what he deserved, that was for sure. Revi Levi is also a major investor in the company that you made advertising contracts with, and so reserves the right to display your image anywhere he sees fit. The only issue is that this is not going to be the last time that our soldiers are going to be affected by having famous backgrounds." She held up her finger. "Don't say that. I have enough people saying 'yes ma'am' for different reasons. I want to hear your opinion on all this. You and your squad are going to be facing things like this for your entire career."

"Uh," He wanted to say something, but in his capacity in the military he knew that they didn't value him for his opinion. "Permission to speak freely, Ma'am?"

"You must have been some sort of perfect child, Alenko. I thought that was assumed from the start of this." Goyle said, rolling her eyes. "Were you some kind of Boy Scout?"

"Yes, Ambassador." He said. "I was a Scout until I attended Solaris."

"A fine institution. Now, tell me what you think of this mess. It won't be stopping anytime soon, so I would prefer to have your opinion." His other superior officers had said nothing, just remaining at attention in the room. All of the focus was on him, but that was nothing new.

"Well, I don't think it's bad, per say, to have publicity on the Warp Ball team. The advertising could help market different Alliance goods that other races might want to buy. By syndicating and attaching our name to something, we give it weight. Especially if we are marketing a product that will not be as high a quality." He considered for a moment. "Though we should probably do something good for publicity and have it connected back to us, like some sort of charity. Mr. Levi was talking about how he would rather donate to charity than take down the images. If we could do that, then we might not have as much trouble."

"I told you, Vic, he has a brain. Use it!"

"Alright, we will. But usually officers are the only ones selected."

"Get him through officer training, then. The man needs to have some level of political knowledge if he is at the center of every sports problem on the Citadel. Get him out of the regular patrols."

"I, uh, don't want any kind of special treatment, Ma'am."

"If you hadn't knocked out two Asari in a single move, you wouldn't need it, Private. Consider yourself in training to become a political officer." Well, that didn't sound so bad. "To qualify to be a political officer, you'll have to be the best in every category. Don't consider this a promotion of any kind, either. You're in for a difficult time, young man, but I would prefer you having a difficult time and saying the right thing rather than getting comfortable in your popularity."

Kaidan decided that this day was not his best. Or at least not his favorite. "Yes Ma'am."

"First lesson, Alenko, I hate any kind of authority associated with my name. Second lesson, you're going to be very busy." Goyle took a deep breath and sighed. "Next order of business, we need to round up every single redhead prostitute on the Citadel that has actual red hair. Someone in the Alliance Intelligence Office wants them rounded up, and I need you boys to do it."

* * *

The Gutter, Level 21 Zakera Ward September 2166

Hannah could safely say that she  _hated_  Jack Harper. She was supposed to be taking time off to take a 'vacation' with Julia, to teach her a few things, but instead she was here on the Citadel. The Intelligence Office received an anonymous tip that someone was trying to kidnap every natural redhead on the Citadel that had a history of being a prostitute. As she was the agent most familiar with that crime network, they sent her to the Citadel to go sort out this mess.

It had Jack Harper's stench all over it. Anonymous tip, she didn't believe. He was trying to get her attention somehow, as she would be the only person that would even know the industry. So instead of teaching Julia about how to best use a rifle, she was instead going around the Citadel. The first location, Konnigsberg, was a German/Irish run location that was supposed to have a redhead. It had turned up nothing, as the girl that she remembered being there had 'retired' from the profession as soon as she could. They refused to tell her where the girl had gone.

Rather than get C-sec involved and make this messy, she had left that to the Alliance Special Investigation units. They had even involved the political officers on this one, which she agreed with. Her next stop was the Gutter. It was a seedy bar, and the lights were never on more than 30% of capacity. Nobody wanted to see each other's faces in that bar, and the girls who worked in it were best described as desperate.

She had a couple of agents as backup, as everyone that had something real to do was elsewhere. There was no shortage to threats to the Alliance. Most of those came from the Council, but unofficially they were the kindest of allies. She knew better. No government was perfect, and everyone had their dark secrets. How much people knew about those secrets was another thing entirely. That was how you maintained your 'innocence' in the public eye, and controlling information output was the method of the day. Half of the Intelligence Office never even left their desks. They just maintained their extranet connections and ran a tight ship.

The Gutter was somewhat full, and so was easy enough to slip into. Her backup were wearing jumpsuits, and she was wearing a utility worker's jumpsuit. A little grease in her hair and some grime on her face with a goggle outline made her look like one of the poor workers from the dockside part of the Zakera Ward. It made people avoid you, here.

"Reid, go on in. Use a different pickup line, this time." She told her backup, who went in. The other agent entered first to scope out the place, while Hannah found another entry point. The alleyways of the Citadel rarely had any kind of side entrances, so that left going through the air ducts or sneaking in through the roof. Different levels of buildings were owned by different people, after all. One common method of getting into them was to just bribe the people living downstairs or upstairs to let you through.

She headed down to level 20 of Zakera and found the next layer down of the Gutter, which was oddly a clothing store. A specialty clothing store. She wouldn't be able to go in dressed as she was currently, not without creating a bit of trouble or notice. She would need a bit of assistance on this one. Stepping into an alley, she called up the contact at the Alliance Embassy.

" _Embassy Services for Captain Singh. How may I direct your call?"_  Said a nice looking twenty year old. Probably just one of those people hoping to become career politicians. She was that common mixture of Latino and Asian that most of the Alliance was made up of these days.

"My name is Constantine. I need to be directed to the Captain or his second in command." She was going by her newest alias for this mission. Shepard was a name that most people associated with her shady past. Not to mention Greg, who had the same last name as her. No relation, thankfully. Constantine was a name picked out by Julia, and she liked it well enough. She had worse names during the course of her life.

" _One moment, ma'am."_  The secretary, it had to be, said. The screen switched over to a very plain looking Indian man in his middle age, with the pips of a full Captain on his collar. " _Yes, agent? Our forces haven't found anything besides dye jobs so far. Though sending out four teams on this is just a waste of tax dollars, in my opinion._ "

"Oh, I agree, Captain." They shared the same rank, thankfully. "I just need another team for an insertion. I'm at level 20 of Zakera and I need someone who can get me into a boutique. Just send me one of your female soldiers, or a squad if need be. Undercover, please."

The Captain looked uncomfortable. "I have hardly anyone available here at the Embassy. The four teams I gave you earlier are half of the forces I have on hand. The others I need for patrols."

"Could you trust any of your interns? I just need a door opened."

" _Goodness, No._ " The Captain closed his eyes for a moment. " _I have one team in training that I can offer. Just try to keep them out of trouble, as they haven't become full political officers yet. If you just need a door opened, I can send them. They can be there in ten minutes._ "

"Thank you kindly, Captain Singh. Do they have a squad leader?"

" _Not currently. He was just reassigned. The replacement is coming soon. They have to change into civies and they'll be right with you._ "

"Understood." The squad that Singh sent her was not long, surprisingly. She only waited six and a half minutes before the five man squad showed up, led by a man she had seen on the vidscreen. They were all looking around and walking in measured steps, backing each other up perfectly. More than a squad in training should have been in the practice of doing.

She made an Omni-tool ping over the military network to direct them into the alleyway, which they followed without question or checking over their shoulder. They were quite green, then. They also stayed in a tight formation the entire time. When she stepped out of the shadows, all five of them measured her up and down scanning for weapons.

"Captain Constantine?"

"Private Alenko." The five saluted. She nearly about smacked them. "At ease, I didn't bring you all here to salute and bring attention to yourselves. I didn't order a biotic hit squad, though I'm very flattered." The squad took the stance that meant that they were at ease but still ready for anything. Hands behind the back, feet spread slightly. "My name is Allison Constantine, and I am the operating director for Cerberus. I know a lot about all of you, and am very familiar with what you can do."

"Ma'am." They all stood a bit more at ease, their hands no longer clenched behind.

"I am a Cerberus trained agent myself, with the Infiltrator package. Today we are looking into a possible situation that could go sour, and I need you to do a few things for me. As none of you have the kind of training to support me once I get in there, I just need you to backup your squadmate." She pointed at Rahna. "You are going to get me into that specialty clothing boutique, as I need to get into the building on top of it. You just get the door open and keep the store worker's attention on yourself."

"Um," She said while turning a new shade of red on her darker skin. "Is that the shop with the…"

"Yes, the adult novelty shop. I need you to go in there and hold the door open for a long moment. It's most likely owned by the same group that owns the bar and brothel above. So get over yourself and get ready. If you are having any trouble you can call in your brute squad." She pointed at Andrew, who gave her a sheepish grin.

Rahna looked extremely uncomfortable, but nodded. "I'll do it. Follow me in, I guess?"

"The rest of you lounge somewhere nearby. Don't stay together. It's against most military doctrine but right now we are trying to get into a bloody adult shop. Don't make this any harder than it actually is."

Their ingrained professionalism kicked in before their hormones this time. Rahna stepped out, and Hannah gave a look at each of the biotics before turning invisible and following Rahna. The poor girl must have been barely eighteen, hardly of age to be doing things like this. She took her sweet time in opening the door, her face red and eyes cast downwards. The door was a big solid one, like most on the Citadel. The windows were all tinted, and the store was nearly invisible to the outside. When Rahna stepped inside, she gave a little jump as she saw the lewd objects for sale. Hannah ghosted past her, slipping past the thin aisles and towards the back, where the counter was.

The motion sensor attached to the door gave a ping, and she could hear someone getting up and moving towards the door. Hannah was able to step past them without issue, and could hear Rahna stutter out some sort of greeting to the owner. Poor girl, that would be an awkward conversation to listen to. If she wasn't focusing on her mission she might have stayed to listen to the moment.

In the back of the store there were stairs leading upwards. Hannah stepped up them gingerly, and didn't hear anything from the people around her. Up the stairs were a level of residence rooms, all locked and closed, and stairs at the far end of the building leading upwards into level 21.

Still cloaked, she saw that the stairs emptied out into a security room with haptic screens and two hairy greek men manning them. She was familiar with this type of man, as they were the kind of men who worked for Alexei Heleokloplis. She didn't remember him owning this bar and brothel, but he owned plenty of others. At least ten on the Citadel that she had been aware of, and a few more on Bekenstein. Alexei never fully trusted her, however. A reasonable choice, considering that he lost the most when she turned everything into the Alliance when she returned.

They had the haptic screens turned to each of the rooms in the building, including the shop downstairs. Hannah could see layers of cheap alarms and sensors. More importantly, she could see what was going wrong downstairs.

* * *

Kaidan honestly liked what he did as a soldier before being transferred to the Political Corps. He liked the patrolling and escorting of VIPs that came to the Citadel. It was easy and complimented what he did with Warp ball. As they were sort of famous, they had been requested to escort some of the bigger civilian VIPs sent in. He had even once spent time with Senator Dierdre Scott, who held one of the bigger positions on the Naval Committee.

Being asked to work with Intelligence Office agents was a bit different. They were told in training to cooperate with the other branches of the military, especially with the AOI. The Alliance Office of Intelligence was given the responsibility of sorting out who was loyal to the Alliance and who was not. They could charge any member of the military with sedition if they did not cooperate. Most of the tales told about what the AOI would ask for included talk of off the book pirate attacks, investigations into your own officers, and other more terrifying acts.

This Captain Constantine wanted them to just… open a door for her. It was completely unexpected. They had come expecting trouble, and had their pistols with the heaviest mods they could get. As they were biotics, they could use their barriers as well as their kinetic barriers. Every biotic was taught how to raise a barrier, but it was based on concentration. If you could focus on keeping your barrier up, then you had a barrier.

The strength was based on your nodule count, and it was something you could maintain while chucking other biotic abilities. Though it was a full concentration effort to raise it again. Then your biotics had to recharge again before you could use an ability. It was a give and take thing. Though barriers could go up to full strength instantly, compared to kinetic barriers having to charge back up to full strength.

Rahna had connected her Omni-tool's communications to their squad channel so that they could hear everything that was going on in the shop. She had gone inside a few moments ago, and he had no idea if Captain Constantine had gone in or not. They had only qualified to be Political Corpsmen yesterday. The tests and examinations had come back, and two of the six Warp ball teammates had failed. They were going to be stuck in the regular marines for the next year at least.

" _Hello?_ " Rahna's voice went across their channel.

" _Can I help you?_ " The voice that came across the channel sounded thick, Russian tinged English. Though the accent sounded almost different, with a focus on the L rather than the R that often occurred with Russians.

" _Um. I don't know._ " Kaidan slapped his forehead. Rahna was normally cool under pressure, but when she wasn't in her element she freaked out. " _I'm looking for something- is that real gold?_ "

Kaidan blinked. Rahna just shifted gears. " _Yes, actually. Gold is cheaper on the Citadel than in Alliance Space, due to regulations held over from the 2110's._ " The voice got less harried and more comfortable.

" _Oh. Um, let me take a look at all of these. There is a lot to choose from._ "

The store worker didn't say much and neither did Rahna. For almost a minute Kaidan waited to hear anything from his squadmate, and could hear nothing other than the tinging of jewelry clacking together.

" _Getting something for a special someone?"_

 _"Yup, that's right. A special… person."_  Rahna was definitely going to get torn up by their instructors for this one. She sounded anxious and uncomfortable. " _Do you think I can just wander around and look at a few things?_ "

" _That's a belly button ring, not an earing._ " The shop worker said. " _See how the clasp is differently shaped than these? You're a Hindu, right?"_

" _Yes, I am."_

" _Then you probably should know about that. Your people own something like fifteen percent of the gold in Alliance Space._ "

" _We do love our jewelry, though._ "

" _I don't see many Hindus on the Citadel, for that matter. Some Sihks, a few Muslims, and a few Bhuddists. I thought your people stayed mostly to India and that Hindu colony, um, oh what's it called…"_

" _Delhi. It's called Delhi, after our old capital."_

_"The one that the Muslims destroyed, right?"_

_"That was Old Delhi. But we've rebuilt our capital a few times from foreign invaders."_

_"So what brings you out here, then? With this slender piece, I have no doubt. You're Alliance."_

Rahna made a sound like she was terrified. It was like a mouse squeaking. " _G-give that back!"_

_"The pinshooter. Or rather the Alliance standard pistol. Wonder where you got it."_

Kaidan sucked in breath. The shop worker had Rahna's pistol. They could try to contact Constantine, but that might blow her own cover. She wasn't wearing a helmet and if they did try to send anything it might be blared out of her Omni-tool.

"Andrew, Warp the door! Paul, flank right, and Leo stay in cover and let us know if anyone is coming after us." Kaidan wasn't going to wait around while his friend and squadmate was being threatened. What he didn't expect was for a door on the Citadel to have such tough material. The Warp did literally nothing.

"Paul, Throw, now!" It could, however, create a biotic explosion.  _That_  took the door right down, with its hinges bent and warped out of shape. Kaidan ran inside, along with Paul and Andrew coming right behind him. Andrew cut left inside the tightly crammed shop, while Paul went alongside the outside windows. Kaidan went down the first row, as that was where he had last seen Rahna go when she stepped inside the shop. Biotics on a hair-trigger, he stepped into the row to see Rahna being held at gunpoint near the end of it.

"Hey!"

The shopkeeper was a large, hairy brute of a man. He had a beard that on most men would be considered disheveled or disgusting, but with his olive skin and dark eyes it looked alright. Still, the slightly yellowed teeth behind the beard were gritted and the hand holding the pistol was loosely aimed at Rahna. Rahna wasn't next to him, and was back against the edge of the row.

"Rahna! Two-timer!" She didn't react to his call, too terrified of the pistol in front of her. It would be noticeable for her to grasp her biotics and make a barrier, and so Andrew stepped in. He was still recovering his biotics, but he was also six foot nine. He jumped right over the top third of the shelf, and his hands grabbed the brute by the hair. He tried to fire his gun at Andrew, whose kinetic barriers absorbed easily.

Kaidan wasn't about to let him empty a clip into him, however. He sent a Throw with all the force he could muster behind it to hit the man in the lower gut. The brute went flying down the row, bright colored objects and packages full of goods going flying as the man's hands and feet scraped against the sides of the aisle. He came to a sudden stop at the far wall, taking the register with him.

" _Two more coming down the stairs, take cover._ " The sound of the AOI agent's warning took Kaidan by surprise. Kaidan listened, though, diving behind a sturdy looking bedframe. It appeared to be reinforced.

"Take cover where you can! Paul, Andrew, make us an exit!" He looked over at Rahna, who was curled into the fetal position on the floor. "Rahna, get out of there!" She was within view of the stairs, and anyone coming down them would be able to fire upon her. When he chanced a glance up the stairs he could see two figured in full armor advancing down. Worse, they had large matte black rifles fully extended. Nothing like the Lancer rifle that they had been training with in the Alliance.

"Kaidan, the security door just dropped. We're locked in here. Unless we can go upstairs where they have windows, we're stuck here." Andrew's deep voice replied. "Those look like Revenants. Black Market gear, goes through anything."

The Revenants could be heard queueing up, whining like an old chainsaw out of a horror movie. He used a Pull on Rahna, sliding her on the floor past him and towards the door. Red hot rounds flared through the aisles, tearing through everything and leaving holes in all of the material. The amount of rounds being spread out and the rate of fire was acting like a plasma torch on the aisles, with the upper half being cut in half and falling in the direction that the shots were going.

"This is the Citadel! How do they have things like that!" Paul said. There was also a banging on the security door, probably from Leo. He was supposed to watch out for them.

"Black Market means that those Revenants won't be all they have." Kaidan said. He tapped his Omni-tool, preparing it for use. As none of them had helmets, they couldn't track how much of their kinetic barriers were up. They just had to trust that they would be enough. A biotic Barrier wouldn't stop those heavy guns, though. "Cover me!"

Andrew responded, bringing his pistol up to the height of the now shattered shelves and shooting in the general direction of the stairs. The big guns immediately opened up on his position, the plastic fibers shredding and smoking as chunks were launched into the air. Kaidan got up higher on his feet, seeing the two armored men at the bottom of the stairs and venting heat from their guns while another barrel was dishing out damage.

They started to bring their guns around when Kaidan's Throw hit from an oblique angle and slammed the first man into the second. They both landed in a heap, their guns spraying wildly upwards. The feed cut out, and for a few seconds the only thing he could hear was the sounds of the heat vents working on the Revenants.

"Go!" He yelled, standing up and bringing up his pistol. His biotics were tingling badly, so he had to wait a moment to use them. When he oriented his pistol on the fallen men, it was to a sight he did not expect.

Both of the men were on the ground, unmoving, with holes through their helmets. One man had his hands up trying to stop a knife from entering his neck, which happened to still be there. The hand attached to it was connected to Captain Constantine, who was still coming into full visibility.

"Good shot, Alenko." She said. "I was debating if I could take both of them out somehow, but then you went and saved yourselves. There are more upstairs, though. We will need to get up two flights of stairs to disengage the security panels and get out of here. You boys messed up and caused this, so you are damn well going to fix it. Right?"

"Yes, Ma'am." He felt like he said this a lot. But it was only polite.

"Gather your team." The Intelligence Agent said, picking up the two Revenants. "Andre the Giant, pick up one of these." Andrew unburied himself from a pile of women's clothing, groaning. He had one of the weaker biotic barriers, but he weighed so much that it didn't matter. He was covered in bruises and abrasions, from where the shots had impacted his biotic barrier. Biotic barriers could only be as effective as you made them. Sometimes, things made it through when you weren't giving the barrier your full attention. Or partially got through.

Andrew was covered in bruises where the Revenant shots had went through the barrier and hit him. There were a few spots he was bleeding at, mostly along the arm that had held his pistol up to draw their attention. Paul and Rahna, however, hadn't gotten up yet. He had Pulled her back towards the door, and so that was where he checked first. She was still lying on the floor, face down and curled around herself.

He slid to a stop next to her, the pile of objects scattering around her. "Rahna, are you alright?"

She had some broken baubles in her hand, appearing to be made of wax or something. "I think so? Damn liar. Real gold, what a sham!"

"Are you… more angry that he lied than the fact he had you at gunpoint?"

She gave a distinct nod. "Liars are punished harder than some murderers where I am from." She tried to get up, but flinched. "I think you busted my ankle when you Pulled me. I can't even feel it."

"Sorry." Kaidan said, honestly feeling sorry for that.

Then he had a medium sized redhead grabbing him by the chin. "Eyes forward, Alenko! We are still in hostile territory! Where is your other two team members?"

"Leo is still outside, but I can't get him over our comm channel. Paul is somewhere over here." Kaidan said, looking at his team's Omni-tool readings. Paul's were flat, and not looking good. He moved towards that section of the store, finding Paul lying facedown under a pile of handcuffs and rope. "Get those handcuffs off him, Rahna." A Singularity was thrown onto Paul, not strong enough to lift him but all of the stuff on him went flying.

"Fluffy handcuffs clear!" Sure enough, the giant pile of handcuffs were pulled off by the Singularity. He chose not to comment on that.

Kaidan rolled Paul over, and could see blood staining his shirt. "Medigel! Who's got medigel!" Rahna pushed him out of the way, bringing out a tube of the miracle gel and set to work on Paul. His Omni-tool was transmitting a report of a collapsed lung. One of the big rounds must have gone right through. Medigel wouldn't do more than just patch the hole, but it couldn't stop internal bleeding like that.

"We need to get him to a hospital." Rahna said, looking at her Omni-tool and grimacing at the signs. "Paul won't be ok from this. One of the rounds clipped his spine, and it's leaking fluid." Kaidan wanted to thank whoever came up with all of the medical scanning and observation technology in their Omni-tools. They didn't have to spend months of training learning how to treat wounds. The medical suites were the one thing that the Alliance paid out tons of money to secure for their soldiers. The armor and its medical suite and Omni-tool were the most expensive part of the soldier.

"The only way that we are going to get him out of here is if we can get the security sealed doors unlocked. Grab the other Revenant, Alenko. We'll need it for the next level. They know by now that their goons are down."

"Can't we call C-sec? This is the freaking Citadel!"

"If you can't hear your squadmate, then C-sec won't be here in time. If anything, C-sec would more likely be bribed to come clean up after they deal with us. The organization that we are dealing with is called the Golden Dawn. Alliance Separatists and discontents. The Intelligence Office has had undercover teams in their networks for years. We are just coming after something specific today. I was aware of the owners of the building, and I had hoped to not involve you too deeply. Now we have no choice."

"Lead the way, Ma'am." Kaidan offered. "Rahna, stay with Paul. Andrew and I will work with the Captain." Rahna nodded, putting pressure on the wound in Paul's chest cavity.

"Private Alenko, I am an Infiltrator. In Cerberus you were trained to work with Soldiers and Engineers primarily, correct?"

"Yes, however we did work with an Infiltrator once. They were against us, though."

"Fair enough. I prefer to fight my battles using cunning and a heap of grenades and distractionary power. Don't follow me directly in, and stay off my six. It goes against every bit of training you have, but it'll help me and you to keep us separated."

Kaidan had to blink at that. Then the woman faded from view with sparking elecrticity, yet with hardly any noise. "Up the stairs there is a hallway, followed by stairs at the other end. I'll scout ahead and get a forward position. Wait ten and then advance." Her voice echoed from the bottom stair, and then he couldn't even hear her walking. After ten seconds, he nodded to Andrew, both of their biotic barriers making them seem surrounded by an aura of purple. Beneath that was the thin fuzzy layer of kinetic barriers on their belt, and after that they had nothing.

The stairs were empty, and he crouched as they got to the top. The hallway was empty as well, or at least he thought so. He could see a small laser at the end of the hallway, rotating around. "Andrew, grab that mannikan."

Throwing the mannikan revealed a turret that popped out of the ceiling and started shooting. The plastic figurine shattered into tiny pieces. "Brother, that thing's got some teeth!"

"Let's see what these rifles can do." He and Andrew stabilized the guns on the top stair and shot at the concealed turret, the red-hot rounds piercing the turret cover and cutting into the machine. It had weak kinetic barriers, and the spark of them going out was quickly followed by gun parts falling from the ceiling. "Wow." The gun fell apart in seconds. "Yup, definitely illegal."

"Think we can keep them?"

"I won't report it if you don't."

Kaidan grinned. They were both feeling adrenaline just from the firepower of these things. He ran down the hallway, taking the time to check each of the doors. It looked like living spaces, and hopefully they were empty right now. All of the doors had a red blaring interface in front of each, marking them as locked. All part of the security lockdown, most likely. When he got to the end of the hallway, the stairs were going up and to his left. Focusing on his barrier, he brought it up to full strength and peaked his head around the corner.

Immediately his barrier lit up with rounds from the top of the stairs, and he couldn't even see how many there were. It could have been turrets, men, or dogs for all he knew. That was the problem with biotic barriers. If rounds were hitting you, the bright flash of the rounds often made your vision limited. If you didn't have a helmet, it was hard to see past the flashes.

Then he saw a grenade land next to his feet. Andrew was right on it, Throwing the object back up the stairs a small distance. It exploded safely out of range, but that proved it wasn't just turrets up there.

"Williams was right to teach us to throw back grenades!" Andrew yelped, as two more grenades came down the stairs. They both had to duck back into the hallway, as drones followed. Those they could safely shoot back at, but the data they collected was still not a great moment. They knew that there were only two of them, and they capitalized on that. Guns poked around the bottom of the stairs a few seconds after, making Kaidan and Andrew retreat yet again to the far stairwell. They couldn't risk letting their barriers drop. Andrew especially, as his biotic strength was weak.

"What do we do, man?" Andrew asked, looking actually frightened. Kaidan looked back down the hallway, where doors were opening so that their pursuers could leap from across the hallway and get closer to them. The Revenant could only do so much when you could only poke your gun out and aim every six seconds. That was how fast Kaidan could recharge his barrier. In that time they could move forward a couple of doors and pepper his location with firepower. Just firing his gun out at them was a bad idea, and soon they would be within grenade range.

"We need armor, or something!"

"Hang on! I've got an idea!" Andrew ran down the stairs, leaving Kaidan alone to stick his head out and shoot again. He pulled back only after a three round burst, his barriers already low. When he looked back down the stairs, Andrew had both of the armored figures from before in hand and was dragging them up the stairs. "Take the short guy. We hold them out in front of us, and you drop a Singularity and we take out the enemy using these guys as cover."

Kaidan nodded, picking up the dead man and holding up in front as cover. He had to sling the Revenant behind him so that he could hold the man up, but had his pistol out instead. Andrew, with all of his brute strength, had the Revenant and the man easily held in his paw like hands. They went back up the stairs, charging out, to find three armored men and women advancing on them in the open. They had a drone out. Kaidan grinned, the Singularity he released lifting all three of them into the air and making them float randomly. Their guns were also so heavy that just trying to fire them made them rotate and fly in new directions.

Andrew and Kaidan let loose, the drone disappearing under the hail of rounds and the people getting shredded. Kaidan just focused on the drone and their barriers, letting Andrew do all of the killing blows. He still wasn't going to kill anyone if he could avoid it. Ever since his hand went through Carlos, he hadn't been the same. He didn't want any more blood on his hands. That was why he went into Warp ball, as well as the Political officer corps. Political Officers were simply in charge of making sure their superiors and other officers in the Navy kept to Alliance standards and expectations.

"Let's keep going." He said, after each of the bodies dropped to the ground. He tried to ignore the blood all over the hallway, stepping on the armor of their opponents to avoid stepping in the sprays and puddles. Shooting someone inside a Singularity made the blood get everywhere. It was  _not_  something that their teachers warned them about. This time, when Kaidan and Andrew got to the stairs, they used the bodies as shields again and moved up the stairs.

Two turrets came out, showering their position with rounds. One was at the top of the stairs, while the other was built into the wall of the stairs.  _That_  one also had a flamethrower, which made Andrew shriek in pain and fall back down the stairs. Kaidan fell back as well, seeing Andrew rolling around on the floor of the hallway trying to put the fire out.

"Napalm! They be using Napalm!" He grunted out. It wasn't all over him, but his arms were still on fire. The parts of him that had been exposed while holding the human shield.

"Hang on!" He didn't see any fire extinguishers in the hallway, and he knew that the Citadel was equipped to deal with fires within its spaces. The automatic fire suppressant systems weren't turning on, either. "Thicken your barrier! No air, no fire!"

A loud thumping noise came from behind him, making Kaidan start and twist around quickly. The turret head that fell down the stairs was sparking and looked like a grenade had gone off inside it. When he saw the feminine leg come into view from invisibility, he didn't flinch. He was then blasted by a fire extinguisher, held by Captain Constantine, knocking him over and completely covering him and Andrew.

"Good work, boys. Unfortunately, the moment that those goons deployed the security chamber was locked down from above. Systems have been locked down from the main computer up in the casino and brothel. So, up we go. How is your team?"

"We can't do this." Kaidan said. "We aren't some special forces team that can operate with nothing but wits. My team is hardly trained for this, we have no armor, and these guys have everything from big guns to drones and turrets! I'm sorry, but you're asking too much of my team, and we have two wounded now, one stuck outside the engagement zone, and the remaining person I wouldn't trust to actually hurt anybody outside of a contained environment. We are  _not_  who you need right now."

"Is that all, Private?"

What? "Excuse me, Ma'am?"

"If you need armor, one of these corpses should surely fit you. It's a Dynamark II, so it should be able to handle small arms fire. You're a marine. Act like it and adapt to the situation." She went over to Andrew. "As for you, go back downstairs, I can see the bone there. Medi-gel, and then sit down. If you try shooting anything you might tear something. Send that Rahna girl back up, this woman looks rather slim." Kaidan must have had some look on his face, because Constantine gave him a level look. "If you think that you can just hold your hands over your ears and just hide until this is all done and over with, think again. Now, armor up and get upstairs. I'll expect you there in two minutes."

It took them four minutes and thirty-five seconds, technically, but that was only because Rahna had a slight freakout with the blood. He tried to ignore any part of his current hardsuit that was uncomfortable or not completely dry. The armor was standard fare, near to the same quality that the Alliance would use. He just wanted to hose it down first. The battery was fine, and the armor wasn't even keyed to anyone specifically. The military had each armor keyed to each individual, as issues with fitting and upgrades based on seniority and officer status. Officers needed to stay alive and lead from the front, in most cases, and so their armor was allotted more upgrades.

This armor had a basic medical module and Medi-gel patch layer. It was a lowly module, only capable of dealing with certain injuries. He had to reset the system to register his own body, and after that it had no issues with him. It was a bit loose, and the magnetic hardpoint for the Revenant was not tight.

They rejoined Captain Constantine, who had her Omni-tool out and was working on a security door in the upper room. "What are you doing?" She was also wearing the chest piece of armor from one of the downed guards, which didn't seem to fit at all.

"I have a key, persay. I have more than one team working on the Citadel right now." Well, that was good news. "I'm not trying to hack the door, I am actually just trying to bounce a signal off of the Omni-tool of the guy on the other side of this door, who thinks I am hacking it."

That was rather odd. "Rahna, Warp." She had a very potent Warp, and it struck the door with a vengeance, rivets and tears appearing in the metal. "Please back up, Captain." Kaidan then drew back, releasing a Throw onto the door. The door wasn't a secure entrance or exit to the outside, and was simply a thin secure doorway. It shattered like a grenade, popping open and shards spraying out into the next room.

"Excellent, Private. Check your targets, some of these people aren't aligned against us." Kaidan waited long enough to focus his biotic aura, and went into the breach. On the ground was a jumpsuit wearing technician. who was covering his face and crying. He wasn't wearing a helmet when the door shattered. The rest of the room was nearly empty, a few tables and booths left empty and a few heads peeking around the bar.

"Excuse me!" He called out. "Would someone please disable the Securit-" The feeling of a hammer impacting him struck the side of his head, nearly ignoring the barriers and indenting his helmet. All he could see was a red readout, the helmet feed busted. He clicked it off, rolling behind a table.

"Sniper!" Rahna yelled. "Cloaked Sniper!"

"They had a shotgun!" Constantine corrected. "Threat at close range!"

Kaidan blinked, his helmet visibly dented. The screen was, too, so he just turned it off and reduced the polarity. "Rahna, Singularity!" The debris in the area picked up, floating around at a fast speed. In a small radius, the debris would bump into anything that couldn't be seen normally, and Rahna's Singularity threw around bottles and cups in a clockwise circle, Kaidan watching closely as the debris bounced across the floor.

Finding a cloaked person was hard. Most people recommended that they use the environment to your advantage, force the enemy into pre-determined pathways and locations. Using a Singularity and a bottle of water worked pretty well, though. When they faced an Infiltrator as a team, that's what their instructor told them to do.

Whatever the enemy was, they had to deny it ground. Kaidan took a chance, and pulled out the Revenant. He quickly threw a Singularity to his left, blocking direct access from the barside direction, and then sprayed to his right with the Revenant. The rounds ate up the gambling machines, chairs, tables, and walls all in front of him. Nothing impacted anything in between him and the chosen areas.

"A pretty show, boy." A voice emanated from the walls. "Too bad you think too much inside the box." Something hammered the other side of his helmet, knocking him to the ground and making his vision swim. He lost consciousness moments later.

* * *

Hannah let loose with the remaining Revenant the moment she saw the air twist around Kaidan. The boy dropped to the ground, his helmet nearly broken in half. He was going to be in traction after this, or at least a hospital for a while. Rahna screamed, rather quickly, too. Good reflexes, poor decision-making skills.

Her shots rebounded off of a kinetic barrier that was around the size of a human, but had a humpback shape to it. It was tall enough to be a Human but had too much of a shape to it to be normal. It also, unlike Hannah's tactical cloak, didn't break when fired upon or firing. That was not a normal tactical cloak system, and she could only name a few things that had them.

Most of those were experimental drones used by the Salarians. Though there was rumor of worse to have the encompassing tactical cloaking systems, thankfully prohibitively expensive.

"Alexei Heleokloplis! Surrender now and no one has to die!" She knew that voice. He wouldn't physically involve himself. This was a floating cloaked drone with a nasty shotgun attached to it. Alexei never got involved personally.

"You're the people shooting up my bar. You killed my nephew Bolie." Alexei sounded actually angry. "I won't be surrendering. You're all breaking and entering! I have the right to defend myself!" Rahna had gotten over the initial panic and had run over to Kaidan, and Hannah chose to ignore her. At this point, Rahna was only useful as bait. Hannah went invisible, circling around to the front of Rahna's vision. The girl was freaking out, her biotic barrier so thick that she was surrounded with a purple aura. She was on the verge of complete panic, but at this point trying to help her would just reveal Hannah's location.

Hannah did not like the Revenant. It did not kick like her shotgun did, and by the time that you had done enough damage to break through a barrier, it was too late and the target was aware of your intentions and was killing you. She wished she had her shotgun, or something like it. Thankfully she had other things that could be used. Her other two teammates were supposed to be in here helping her, too. They should have heard the commotion and gotten involved. At least, they should have been. The comm blackout of the building was keeping them from contacting her as much as it was keeping Leo from contacting Kaidan and his squad.

Well, it would only be a matter of time before Rahna got struck. Hannah grabbed a bottle from the floor, half full of beer still. It was invisible the moment she grabbed it, and she readied it in her other hand.

Rahna got thundered, though instead of a shotgun blast she was picked up and thrown into a wall. That wasn't a drone. She threw the bottle, the beer inside of it splattering over a large bubbly shape, vaguely humanoid. It was stepping away quickly, so she fired one of her tech grenades at it, keyed with an overload.

What was revealed from the overload and tech grenade, sparking off of the alcohol on the object, was what looked like a human scale mech. There was a cockpit shape over the face and twin rising pylons that came up over the shoulders. An exoskeleton extended along the arms and legs, with Salarian squiggly writing all over it. Kinetic barrier projectors, rotary cuff magnetic weapon mounts, and large stun batons extended over the arms and connected back to the struts.

Inside the cockpit was the arrogant sneer that was Alexei Heliokloplis. The two shoulder struts that extended up towards the ceiling looked to contain an Element Zero core and a grappling hook system. She had never seen something like this before. It was mechanical, a bodysuit, or powered armor suit. Worse, it was armed with an immense shotgun and piledriver. A small fuel tank stood on one side of the right shoulder, with a nozzle leading to the hand.

Alexei brought up the shotgun, the massive weapon almost four feet long. She dove forward, the shotgun tearing apart the wall and the booth behind her. Alexei's face was behind a large clear screen, showing links to how much each floor panel weighed, or other similar statistics. He was looking for her. She rolled from her current position and towards a knocked over table, right as his sensors noticed her.

Napalm went everywhere, making her grimace. Andrew had been stripped to the bone by just a spray of this along his forearms. She didn't have the kind of meat on her body that the big polynesian did. She was one of those slim Caucasian types.

"I'll burn you out!" Alexei yelled, the Napalm swinging around towards Alenko. She couldn't ignore that. Using the kids as bait was one thing to draw them out, sacrificing them another. She shoved her knife into the nozzle, jamming the feed and grinning as the acidic spray instead jammed up the intake and got all over the leg of the mech suit. The kinetic barriers were set to low sensitivity, letting the acidic substance drip right through into his leg.

Unfortunately, this broke her tactical cloak field. Alexei slammed her with the piledriver, sending her to the floor. The electric lance attached to it burned her nervous system and the rest of her enough to send her into the black as well.

* * *

When she woke up again, it was to a bright light being flashed in her face. "Miss, I need you to keep breathing! Don't die on us!"

Blinking, she couldn't feel anything. She tried to bring her hand up to her head, where it hurt, but whoever these people were they held her hand down. It was hard to see but the room looked covered in red, or at least the walls appeared to be.

"What happened?" She could see someone's arm next to her. Just the arm, and the rest of it completely separated and cauterized. The bone looked like it had offered no resistance to what had passed through it.

"We were hoping you would tell us, Miss. You're the first one of the survivors that is conscious. The security lockdown wasn't released for almost an hour, and once we got in… well it's bad. A table fell on top of you and that is probably what kept you alive." She tried to look around, but her neck started hurting immediately. "Ah! Don't get up! You don't want to see this."

"I have to." If she couldn't move her head, she could just have her Omni-tool scan the room. When the medic tried to stop her, Hannah gave her a glare. "I work for the Alliance. This is p-part of my investigation." She could feel liquid coming up her throat, and it wasn't stomach acid. She got a good scan of the room, and pulled her arm down. "Alright, you can pick me up now."

The medics put her on a floating bed. Element Zero meant no jostling of wounds or hard knocks. But as she was raised up, she could see blood everywhere. Covering the walls, the floors, it looked like people were just exploding from the inside out. Against the near wall to the door was the remains of Alexei's mech suit. It looked like something had torn it open with claws. Alexei himself had been peeled apart like a grape. It was disturbing, and none of the medics wanted to look at it either.

What the hell happened? That was all she wanted to know, but as soon as she got in the medical car and saw two Alliance Office of Intelligence agents inside she got more comfortable. Medigel was nice, too.

"Two agents dead, their organs and blood vessels completely torn apart. Political officer team down and one of them dead. Also torn apart at the atomic level. Three survivors, all of them Alliance military personnel." Major Jones looked pissed. "What hell happened to your op! You were just following a lead on Jack Harper, and then this happened!"

"Dawn Hideout." She said, coughing. "Alexei's d-dead."

"Serves him right. He was working with the Reds, routing slave trade through the Citadel. We were going to take him down once we had enough to convict him in Citadel Space as it was. What the hell tore up everyone?"

"Didn't see it." She said simply. She touched her Omni-tool, trying to bring up her mission log. When it didn't show her log and instead showed a different operating system window, Jones panicked and locked down any outgoing signals with her Omni-tool.

The Cerberus based OS rolled across her screen, bringing up an image. Jack Harper, in a suit and sitting in some nice chair, appeared. " _This is a recorded message. Sorry for the method of delivery, but Alexei is terrible with the postal system. He didn't know that you were his dear Allison Gunn. I gave him a significant amount of money and strict instructions to not kill the redhead that was going to confront him. As the program is running, this must be the correct Omni-tool. Or this OSD is plugged into some AI capable of rewriting bootable commands."_  The figure shrugged, a cigarette in one hand and a cup full of something alcoholic in the other.

" _I had your help in securing a Prothean Dreadnaught a few years back. Roughly around the time that you decided to turn me in to the Alliance for treason, my Dreadnaught corpse was taken as well. At first, I blamed you for it, as you were one of the few people that knew of its location. When I finally figured out what took my Dreadnaught, I released this information to Dierdre Scott and Donovan Hock, both of whom knew that the ship in question had led to some of the better developments in the past ten years. Either way, you might be able to make sense of this."_

Files and more files appeared on her OSD. There were labeled in a basic encryption, making it hard to know what was on each. " _Someone else out there has one of these Dreadnaughts, and they have a live one. I've been looking for the owner, but this ship is so large and world-changing that they avoid the use of relays. So for all I know they might be still dragging my corpse of a ship back to where they are from. The only race with that kind of time on their hands and enough star systems to hide it in are the Asari. Someone willing to wait a decade or four to retrieve a single piece of technology that they already have stinks of them. As you kicked me out of my financial standing and place of residence, you have now taken my place."_

One of the files opened, and Hannah turned the display towards Jones, who wasn't lucid at the moment. " _These files are tracing something that was some sort of Asari experiment that occurred in the Rachni Wars. Something about it made all of the matriarchy abandon support of it after the fall of the Rachni. It's something that has been going around lately, and I don't know if the rumors are true or not. The word is Eriasha, some sort of organization or ideal that the Asari buried before they ever went to space. The only records left of it are in the Temple of Athame, which I don't have access to. I'm working on it, currently."_

_"You might not believe me, but I have only ever wanted Humanity to be successful. I don't care about morals, right, wrong, that's all gibberish. Humanity is a mixture of hatred, greed, and courage. The Asari want to incorporate us into their Empire, as we are the ultimate ecstasy for them. Asari naturally feel the most comfortable mating with those that look like them. As such, our race interests them, but only the females. From what I can guess, they plan to weaken us with the Batarians and Turians over the next four centuries, until we are so economically dependent upon them that we become a vassal race. They can mate and support their natural urges, and have a slave race that they can guide and develop from within and without."_

_"Believe me if you dare. But the Asari want us like a fetish for a stripper. They won't give us anything unless they have complete control over the situation. More importantly, this Eriasha is one of the few things that I can't find any proof of. Everyone has skeletons in the closet, and the Asari are no different. Eriasha sounds like the kind of dark secret that might get us enough dirt to move us up on the political spectrum. Make no mistake, I am a criminal. In a sense, I'm the best kind of criminal. I'm a racial supremacist with no respect for laws and authority, and I'll send you anything I can find that gives Humanity a chance. This OSD has everything I could get from the Quarians about actual numbers of mercenaries in the Traverse and Terminus. The Batarians locked down their borders last week, but I'll find out what is going on there as well. They need advanced silicon processors from the Asari. They don't manufacture any of that for themselves. When they get their next shipment, I'll find some way of getting the news out."_

With that, the OSD went quiet. Jones just sighed. "I think I've realized why you're always at the center of this mess."

Hannah just coughed instead of replying. Internal bleeding was just hard like that. She just raised an eyebrow at Jones.

"I think you're his forbidden fruit. The thing he hasn't been able to have no matter what he tried."

"Obsession?" She managed.

"Jack doesn't often meet someone who can outsmart him. Men like him become infatuated with what they cannot have, what is impossible for them to get with money or power. You betraying him, exposing his entire empire? To him that could be considered flirting. I think this is him trying to flirt back." Hannah's eyes got wide. She glared at Jones, trying to see if she was joking, and unfortunately she wasn't.

"Sick minded, all of you." She carefully said, the medigel sealing her wounds. "We gotta analyze this."

"You'll have plenty of time to do that. I'm going to figure out what kind of monstrosity took out a Salarian power armor without a gun."

Hannah choked. "What?!"

"Exactly what I thought. But the only damage was caused by some sort of close combat weapon. What, I don't know. But it went through thirty centimeters of tech armor in one strike." Hannah felt a chill. "Other than a small burned section of the suit from some napalm, all of the damage to the machine and man was done with the unidentified weapon. The rest of the men and women killed in the building were done with the weapon or by some other method that struck them at the atomic level. Whatever this thing is, the higher ups want to know what the hell it was."

"Would it be too rude to say I am afraid of flirtations more than that weapon?"

Jones didn't even laugh, the old bat.

 


	32. Fugue: Tomb Raider

Chapter 32

Granger Fault Caverns, Eden Prime, March, 2167

The Granger Fault was one of the larger tectonic fault lines that were on the surface of Eden Prime. It ran for hundreds of miles along the main continent of Eden Prime, with deep ridges and long dried out river beds. It was of no interest to anyone other than a few geologic survey teams and the small Buddhist community. They liked to visit the old caverns and deep trenches that went along the Granger Fault. Sometimes hikers or extreme sports enthusiasts tried their luck inside the thin-walled trenches.

The noticeable Prothean ruins were along the western edges of the upper portion of the fault line. It had been around during their rise to power, and no one had done much thought towards any kind of Prothean expansion into the trench. The ruins were from the late era of Prothean expansion, with the same high weave carbon nanotube platinum alloy that graced all of the other Prothean structures. It resisted scanning and was resistant to most temperature changes thanks to the carbon nanotubes.

"You're sure that never seen any metal like this anywhere in these caves?" She had a few chunks of the material as keepsakes from her graduation. Mother had bought them for her, congratulating her for her efforts in the field of Prothean studies. She wore them on a chain of silver from one of Thessia's purest mines. Slipping the metal back inside of her tunic, she sighed. "I am convinced that the Protheans had other residences located along the trench floor. Considering that during their time period the floor of the trench was around twenty of your  _meters_  down, I was hoping that you may have seen some of the metal structures in the cave systems."

"Well, we haven't really gone and done too much  _spelunking_." Daisy Dave, as the locals called him, said. He was some sort of  _hip-pee_. She was told that it was some sort of cultural group that tried to become more attached to natural formations and often avoided society at large. He lived out here in one of the caves, taking people on guided tours and generally doing nothing of note.

"Spee-luck-ing. What is that?"

"It's what we call caving. Jumping, exploring, that sort of thing. But the government doesn't really want people exploring the caves. They don't send anyone to stop us, but I just stay away from the shaky bits."

"Shaky bits?"

"There is a section of caves that collapsed a while back. Nobody died, but that section of caves is pretty shaky when you go through them."

"What kind of collapse? Did the floor or ceiling collapse?"

"Uh…" Dave scrunched his face. "All of the above, yeah. The floor went out and then the ceiling."

"Take me there. Cave floors only collapse like that when there is something beneath them to fall into."

Dave shrugged. "Alright, lady. I'll take you all there. But we will have to walk. Nearest spot you can land at is at least a mile away. I can carry some of your gear in for ya, if you'd like."

"That would be fine. Doctor Reyes, please get a few of the scientists and some of the interns. We need a few of the more physically strong individuals to come with us. Make sure that Miguel is not coming, we need either you or him to stay with the digging crew to keep them on task."

"Alright, Doctor T'soni." Reyes was a dark-skinned women of medium age, if she could guess. She was dependable, and between her and Miguel they had a reasonable team of doctors to keep everyone else in line. Many doubted her, yes, but when anything was uncovered, they came to her first and not to Reyes or Miguel. She had been studying this doctorate as long as any of them had been alive, and as such her experience was valued. Her word was always the one that carried weight at the Eden Prime digging project. As it turned out, it was a joint venture between ExoGeni, Cerberus, and a large group of museums inside the Alliance that wanted some of the credit for finding any Prothean artifacts.

She was Cerberus' pick for the digging project, Miguel having been selected by ExoGeni, and Reyes from the museums. Each contributed manpower and funding to the project, and the Alliance provided a small contingent of soldiers that checked in regularly with the dig site. Cerberus provided a couple of personnel, but the museums and ExoGeni provided the largest amount of people and resources.

Doctor Reyes sent her five interns and one of the ExoGeni researchers who were all in physical shape. She herself didn't feel up to a mile hike and then digging through caves. Miguel had a 'heart condition' that made any physical activity impossible. He mostly sat on the sidelines as his crews did all of the real work. Reyes got her hands dirty some of the time, and was willing to get involve with her crews.

Her crews, however, had some of the best training and background. She only sent one of her team, letting the other five members come from the ExoGeni group. They used the shuttle that was provided to the digging site to get near the caves. The male human known as Daisy Dave sent them all down to the bottom of the trench using rappel lines and an antiquated set of climbing gear. Or at least antiquated to what she was used to on Thessia. But the rest of the team seemed to trust them, hooking them onto their harnesses and letting the ropes take them down.

The trenches were long, curving, and had a small amount of dust clouds that kicked up when you walked on the floor of them. The natural gases that went through the area kept a solid haze in the trenches, making it hard to see and breath fully if you stayed here too long. The wind didn't really move down in the trench, and the dust was hardly disturbed. Once their team started down the trench, the dust clouds quickly picked up, and the fog bank got thicker. The crew she brought had their jumpsuits and a few breather masks for any caves that had less air in them. Eden Prime was full of gas pockets of methane and nitrogen, making it somewhat dangerous to mine in tectonic areas.

Daisy Dave had a cloth wrapped around his face as they travelled, and kept his steps to the thinnest patches of dust. Liara tried to do the same, but she didn't know this place like he did. What was supposed to be a single mile of travel turned into nearly twice that when Dave had to take them to the far entrance to the cave system. The main one had collapsed so badly that they were unable to get past it.

As an archeologist the experts often said that you would experience some discomfort as you explored old ruins and locations. Liara was prepared for a few rough moments. She came armed with one of her mother's favorite pistols, an Asari favorite. The Acolyte brand of pistol, highly valued and considered extremely dangerous, and Liara had one. She also had on a reinforced leather bodysuit, also provided from her mother's armory. The bodysuit came with boots attached, thankfully. Getting this dust out of shoes would be pure suffering.

"Alright, Doctor lady, we're here." Daisy Dave did not sound very respectful of her title of doctor, but she could be mistaken. Humans had a few more ways of communicating compared to most races. Considering that only a couple of Turians attended the Serrice University, she wasn't familiar with any of the other modes of communication.

"Thank you." She replied, remaining cordial. The cave that Dave had brought them to was mostly granite and igneous rock, sharp and hard. When he got inside, he made sure that all of those following him stepped very carefully. Some of the stone felt almost loose when you stepped on it, and it made Liara's stomach flip. Asari were slightly more susceptible to changes in gravity and the cave made her feel distinctly uncomfortable.

"See that crack that runs all the way along the cave floor?" Dave pointed at a crack that led off into the dark of the cave. "Two people fell in when this place collapsed. The underside of that crack goes into caverns and underwater caves that no one has been in yet."

"Deploy one of the drones, please." She said to one of the interns. "Let's find out what is down here."

It took a few minutes for the researchers to configure the small drone they had brought. It came to life in a fit of blinking lights, the metal boxy shape dipping into the crevice and its light fading. One of the them had an Omni-tool that could keep track of it. The small screen showed a video feed, which cut out after a few minutes.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"We lost the signal. I can still give it commands, but its camera and other functions are having trouble reaching us. The area has a bit of lead in it, but not enough to jam a signal."

"Can you command the drone to record what it is seeing and then send it back to us?"

"I guess." The researcher trailed off. "Though if it goes much further, then we might lose contact completely."

"Just order the drone to record and return to the crevice."

"Perhaps you all might want to step away from said crevice?" Dave told them. "You're all leaning too close for my comfort." Liara and the researchers stepped back, finding stable places to sit. The drone returned with a clunk as it struck the edge of the crevice and landed near them, its batteries drained. The researchers hopped on the drone and downloaded the data, and started packing it back into the slot it deployed from.

"We've got some readings on where all that static was coming from. The signal was having trouble with some sort of platinum ore blocking it. Or scrambling the signal, something." The researcher said, without much conviction.

"Is the scrambled connection a pattern? Does the signal break up randomly or repeatedly?"

"Uh. Repeatedly. From the scans it says that there is platinum all over this area that is just positioned awkwardly enough to make our signals bounce."

Liara grinned. "That isn't natural. That's Prothean walls from their Late period. The carbon platinum alloy is nearly impossible to find through a scan, and these are the rarest forms of Prothean ruin. Dave, what is the safest way to get down there?"

"Right here, lady. Right here. You hop down and go through the crevice." He pointed. "Though if you feel like grabbing a full crew we can come back and scan any of the surrounding areas for safer routes."

There was an untouched Prothean Late era ruin at her fingertips. "No, we do not need a full team. This might just be fragments." The signals wouldn't have jammed for fragments, though. "We will go down right now, and we will find out where this leads. Set up a stable rope down, and we can get down there." She looked out over the edge. There was a small cavern below that seemed quite safe, with large boulders having dropped from above.

Repelling down using their equipment make her heart shake even more, but that was eclipsed by the excitement of finding something that no one else had ever found before. She tried to keep her pacing discreet while she waited for the equipment and researchers to hit the ground, but it did show. She was pacing, finding herself almost sweating in excitement. Some of that may have been physical exertion, but she doubted it.

"Getting back up there is going to take some serious doing. I'm gonna leave this cable hooked in to the stable archway up here, and if we have to repel another time we have another harness. I've got one more set of cables, so we can go down another twenty foot drop, but no further after that." Dave said from above, checking the cable and securing it. He went down last, almost gracefully on the cable.

Using the drone, they retraced its directions further into the cave, going deeper and deeper into the slanted stone caverns. The more they went in, the less signal their Omni-tools could direct. All signal to the surface eventually went out as they came into another large cavern, this one appearing somewhat more square shaped. She started feeling adrenaline rush through her, especially once the ground turned into solid platinum sheeting.

"There!" She pointed, a patch of the floor revealed to be the Prothean metal. "We've found it!" The researchers descended on the metal, while Dave pointed his lantern up at the walls.

"Looks like it's a tunnel. Good thing it ain't a ceiling." Dave said, tapping the metal experimentally with his foot. "This 'tuff don't look like we can dig through it." He pointed at a rock that had fallen from the ceiling and rolled off of the metal. "The metal ain't even dented. No signs of wear and tear, either."

"It was designed during the later periods of their empire to survive bombardment and war. Other late period colonies used this exclusively as a building material, like on Feros or other areas." Liara said, explaining to Dave. "It is a derivative of the metal that they used to build and construct the relays and the Citadel. The methods of reproducing it are outside of our abilities for the foreseeable future, however."

"Doctor, you might want to see this." Liara turned, seeing that one of the researchers had moved ahead, and was shining his light at something bigger. A pair of doors, shining metal undamaged and exposed. They were thirty feet tall, solid and undamaged. The metal was actually  _bent_  on the left side, damaged from the inside.

"What could have done that?" Dave asked, pointing at the large rent. "Didn't you say that this stuff was unbreakable?"

"Not entirely true. Certain Asari matriarchs' biotics can damage this kind of metal, as well as Turian ship cannons. Mining drills deployed by certain Elcor and Volus companies have also been know to pierce through the metal, and water can, with enough pressure, damage the metal as well. This dent appears to be something built up over time, If I am seeing this correctly. The metal is almost stretched at the bottom, like it is under pressure."

"Doors are still sealed, though." One of the researchers noted. "Digging down here to bring equipment strong enough to open this is going to take years."

Liara didn't like that at all. Call it curiosity, but she wanted to be inside this Prothean ruin, and she wanted to go in today, before all of the researchers and others got involved and did anything underhanded. Already, there had been attempts to keep her out of certain discoveries. To be fair, Reyes had been kept out of it as well, the ExoGeni humans wanting to keep their work to themselves.

"I'm going to try something. Everyone get back a distance." Liara said. "I did not come this far to be stopped by a door." She harnessed her biotics, taking a moment to breath in deeply.

"What's with the psychedelic color show?"

"She's a bio-" Whatever the researcher's answer to Daisy Dave, it was cut off by her Warp. It hit the bottom edge of the dent in the door, creaking and grinding noises emanating from the dent. She waited for a good fifteen seconds, and then threw a Pull. The biotic explosion that occurred sent chips of broken metal down to the ground, and left a small section of cuts on the exterior of the dent. She walked over to the shavings and small chips, pulling one of the chips out of the dust and placing it in her Omni-tool's collection table.

 _Platinum-carbon alloy. Age, 49,700 cycles ±60 cycles._ She grinned. This was amazing, more than amazing, it was huge! "This piece of alloy was created after the Fall. This site had activity after the city on the surface did. I think this warrants a closer look at the place." If this was true of the entire site, than this Prothean ruin was made later than any other currently discovered, making this the best place to discover anything about the fall of the Prothean Empire. Her entire thesis paper, every theory, every claim, it could be proven right here.

"Our corporate heads would pay us for this, right?" One of the interns asked.

"Not unless you contributed to the theory and claims associated with the science." The researcher from the museums reminded the ExoGeni men. "Otherwise, you get some credit and your name goes on a plaque. Doctor T'soni, I recommend that we go back for more materials, manpower, and perhaps a drill."

"I am the daughter of a very powerful Asari Matriach, and one door will not restrict me from entering into the place that will prove every theory I have. You are here to act as witnesses and aides. I will  _pay_  for you to stay here and experience this. We are under heavy surveillance back at the main site, and if we go in there talking about this, we may find STG or Alliance Operatives closing down the Trench for 'military activities' and locking us out. The only way that we will preserve any of the Prothean relics and data is if we explore it now, before ExoGeni reports our findings to the Shadow Broker or other sources." It had happened before, with other ruins in Turian space. The Turians had reported the existence of a Prothean ruin underneath one of their moons. All record of said ruin disappeared, and the military created a base on top of the moon for 'training purposes'.

The study of Prothean civilization came down to who was funding the dig sites. Prothean weapons, ships, armor, and artifacts were all sold in an increasingly wider black market across Citadel Space. Liara herself was wearing a small piece of that market, which sometimes made her feel less devoted to her theories. They would never receive the attention they deserved unless she could find out what happened to the Protheans herself, by her own merits. An unplundered Prothean ruin like this would quickly fall prey to the Alliance military or some other interest group.

"Well, how do you plan to break open that door, Doctor?"

"I will break it down in small sections, Warping the edges of that dent and then causing them to shatter. It might take some time, but this is something that my biotics are capable of. If Daisy Dave might, could you please set up a harness to get some of these men up on top of the dent? Hammers could break off chunks of the metal that have been warped fully."

"Is one of your Asari degrees geological engineering?"

"We call it applied force. Physics and History are just two of the parts of the degree." Liara said, feeling the adrenaline. Usually she would be withdrawn, careful. Only to share of herself if the other person had shared more of themselves, as someone of her upbringing should. Speaking about her schooling made her feel a bit doubtful, nervous. Perhaps she should go and get some more equipment, perhaps Reyes would be able to make the hike.

No! No, she would not let this place become stolen from her. The Prothean secret would be unraveled, and it would not be some state government that made the claim. She would! Liara T'soni, expert and singular director of the Eden Prime worksite.

"So, how long did you spend in your university, then?" One of the interns asked.

"Serrice University on Thessia is the most widely recognized Prothean Studies school in Citadel Space. It takes roughly thirty years to get a degree there. Our learning curve is accelerated, making our degrees hold the weight of what would be considered a PHD in your terms. I hold three degrees from Serrice University. It is the point where we receive the Asari 'Doctorate'. Before that you are simply a graduate." Liara steeled herself. Everyone always had comments and questions when they learned how long she had spent in school. "Fifty two of your cycles I have spent in study of the Protheans and their way of life."

"How much of that was learning how to open these kinds of doors?"

"My biotics are something taught to me from birth. As to how I know how to open one of these doors, well." She let off a Warp to start to break down the left side of the dent. "My mother purchased a solid plate of this from a Batarian dealer of Prothean wares. For her nine hundredth celebration of creation, she decided to send every one of her friends and family a piece of the Protheans. She shattered and broke the door in under an hour, her biotics and control enough that she could shape the metal as it came off. I, as well as every member of my family and most of her friends, all wear a pendant created from that door."

When the biotic explosion followed again, a large chunk of the metal fell off, making her feel better. She held up the five inch piece, noting that it had some discoloration. "I believe that we are starting to break through. Whatever happened to make that dent created temperatures of above this metal's melting point."

No one complained or stopped her after that. Interns with hammers managed to chip away at the dent until it started breaking apart, separating from the door. The inside seemed dark, but she didn't let them shine light through it yet. Only after two hours of eating, biotics, and hammering did the dent fall off the door, separated and broken off. Liara was sweating, a strong burn coming from her right hand. Unlike other races that had biotics, Asari could continue long after other races could and keep on using their biotics. It was natural to them, Element Zero naturally occurred in their blood structure. They had greater stamina and more efficient metabolisms. So after eating all four of her  _risa_  cakes, she had gotten through the dented hole. The interns helped, too. Daisy Dave even gave a few swings of his own.

When the dented portion of the door fell over, the loud clang echoed into the empty Prothean ruin. It was dark inside, with high walls and a ceiling that started twenty feet above the ground. Liara almost Threw herself through the hole, but managed to keep herself calm.

"Gloves on, try to step in the same locations. Daisy Dave, you may come with us, if you are curious."

"Haven't seen anything like this since my last shot o' something." He replied, setting up his rope to get them through the hole. The rope had to be secured above the hole, as the jagged edges of metal would cut the rope. Liara was the first one through, by her own demand. She gave a little giggle of happiness when her feet touched the ground. There was more than a foot of detritus left over from whatever happened in here. Some of it glittered, as her light passed over it.

 _Platinum._ She turned back to the door, opening the angle on her Omni-tool's light. The intern framed in the hole blinked, blinded by her light. But what she was looking for was a bit more terrifying. Cracks spiderwebbed out from the dent mark, and the metal had been discolored from something heating it. Chunks of metal had been broken off and had fallen on the floor, likely from some sort of weapon.

She looked around the chamber again, seeing nothing on the walls and the room extending into the near distance. She didn't wait for the interns, she just started walking in the direction of the interior, holding her Omni-tool up above her head. With the light fully deployed, it displayed two hundred and ten degrees of light. The walls looked like the same featureless metal, but as she walked further into the complex she could see small armor plating sections that had risen out of the floor, almost like barricades. In fact, some of them looked damaged by the same kind of effect that the door showed. Slightly, though. Only at the very edges.

The interns and their senior researcher had all gotten inside the room by this point, and sounds of curiosity were coming from them. Some of them were recording, with the researcher already narrating what he was seeing. Daisy Dave was examining the dirt, the pile of detritus underneath the hole. "Mister Dave, please do not disturb the site more than is necessary. Everything here could hold the key to knowing what happened to the Protheans."

"Ah, alright. But, I gotta say, this place feels worse than dead. Like the walls themselves are moving', closing' in on us. It's damn freaky."

"The Protheans were not a benevolent race, as far as the experts are concerned." Liara stated. She noticed that the others were now recording her. "They were a very advanced race, devoted to maintaining their power and strength. Their culture and art pieces are few and far between, and other than a few monuments the Citadel, their greatest creation, remains untouched. It is sterile, almost, of any of the touches that we would normally expect to see from such a powerful race." She led everyone to the barricades. "For example, instead of statues or anything to denote an entryway with pride or emotional value, the only markings of value are military in nature. Much of their architecture follows this method, and may feel intimidating or threatening."

The next room was completely ruined. More importantly, she could see Prothean bodies. "Nobody move!" She pointed. She took a deep breath, reminding herself. "We have to bring back body bags, anything that can contain this. These corpses are going to fall apart now that the atmosphere is in here! We need to record what each of them look like, and document any wounds or signs of death. Be careful and only take pictures or infer without touching anything, the state of preservation here is undocumented elsewhere!"

Daisy Dave had attached a breather to his face. "There's more of 'em." He pointed ahead, where hundreds more bodies sat, armored forms still in the dust.

"This is unprecedented!" Liara exclaimed. "Quickly, everyone split up and cover the room! Document each corpse and method of death, explain what you are seeing. We don't have enough time to get equipment to preserve any of these. Document each and spend only a few minutes on them."

"What killed all of them?" Dave asked.

"That, Mister Dave, is the entire purpose of Prothean Studies." She looked among the corpses, trying to see if there were any that looked different. Only Protheans stood here, though one spot along the wall had a burn mark, with a vaguely humanoid shape. "Some theorists assume that the Protheans suffered from a catastrophic plague, where others suggest a civil war. I have my own theories, directing to an outside force somewhat like the Rachni."

"So we are looking for weird bug things?"

"No, my theory has no specific opponent or force listed. Whatever force defeated the Prothean Empire left no evidence of their passing, nor did they take over the areas that the Protheans used to inhabit. It seems almost like the Protheans were specifically targeted and then whatever did it went systematically back through the galaxy and stripped all signs of their passing."

"Whatever was used to open the door looks like it killed this guy, too." One of the interns said, pointing at a corpse that had been bisected by some sort of intense heat ray, or beam. What was interesting were the small spiderweb of cracks that spread along the metal behind the corpse.

"Interesting." Liara noted. The next hour was just spent documenting and recording methods of death, and the Protheans themselves. Protheans appeared to have four eyes, following the shape of an extended cranial bone structure. The empty eye sockets looked round, and deep. Perhaps they had extended vision, of some sort. Liara herself took a skin sample from one of the samples an intern had accidentally disturbed, the skin falling apart and the entire structure falling into dust. Her enthusiasm was limitless. Real Protheans, dead all around her!

Everything felt so real, now. Fifty years of study and theory, and she finally had something to show for it! The next chamber was even more impressive. It was a long industrial shaped corridor, with circular shaped inserts in the walls. More like ovals, actually. Some of them were filled in and closed, with some sort of differently colored oval ring plugged into the insert. Others were open, with some sort of machinery sticking out. So much had fallen apart that it was hard to tell what kind of machinery it was, but there seemed to be a central pod-like structure with some sort of plugs or drilling inserts that connected to the pod from the wall.

Nothing like this had ever been seen in any Prothean ruin, yet another anomaly in this place. She took many pictures of it, especially the pod. She noticed that the pod was mounted on some sort of mechanical rail system. Curious, she came to another insert and reached underneath the oval, trying to find a catch or release of some kind. There was none, but the rails could have fallen apart in the thousands of years since the machinery had worked.

A Pull yanked the pod out of the oval insert, the grinding snap of all of the machinery leaving the heads of large electrical plugs stuck into the side of the pod. The pod itself came loose, sliding onto the floor and making a loud  _clang_. Dust covered the glass of the pod, which she got cleared away with a small Singularity. Inside she could see a perfectly preserved husk of skin and bones, with eyes and nose still in decent condition. They were not wearing armor, but were instead wearing some sort of medical style bodysuit. Interesting. Prothean clothing rarely survived, and Prothean remains had barely been documented outside of a few ships that had crashed into worlds that were mostly ice.

"What is that?" The rest of her team asked, having heard the noise and come to investigate.

"I am not sure. I am unfamiliar with this machinery, and I have not seen it at any other locations. But why they would willingly place themselves inside of this machinery I do not understand."

"Look at their arms. It's like they were sleeping or something." Daisy Dave said.

"I don't think we can assume Prothean sleep patterns from someone who died in some pod." Liara said. "Protheans were highly advanced, and assuming anything about them from a single source cannot be a safe practice."

"What if these are some sort of sleeping quarters?" One of the interns asked.

"We do have a history of those. Another late period colony, Feros, you call it, had large buildings dedicated to sleeping quarters. Protheans slept in large square areas that could be kept extremely dark. These pods, while dark, have too much machinery connected to them to simply be living quarters."

"What if every one of these are full of them?" Dave asked, looking around at walls that had three or more pods stacked on top of each other. "What if this was some sort of suicide cult or something?"

"Suicide is as easy as overdosing. The plugs here are too complicated for a suicide cult. No hoses, nothing for gas or liquid." Her researcher reminded Dave. "I would almost think that they were using these as storage, or something. Though storing people sounds like one of those cheesy vampire novels that we hear about."

"Get that drone up. Lets get a map of this place while we document as many Protheans as we can. This sealed environment will cause them to break down fast. Every corpse we record and scan is another piece of evidence that the Protheans didn't die from a plague."

The next hour was mostly spent just taking images of the rapidly decaying Prothean bodies, and muttered conversation into Omni-tools. Eventually the bodies all became dust and echoes in the dark ruin, leaving husks of armor behind. "Every single one of the corpses appears to have died in combat. Some from wounds that match a rampaging animal more than an intelligent enemy. Then there are these melting weapon wounds, which are scattered but significant. A few more died from what appears to be normal gunfire, though what size or speed we won't figure out until we get the pieces here to a lab." Every single one of the interns looked like they were tired. Hours of digging around underground had made them sluggish and lethargic. Daisy Dave had chosen to examine some of the exposed machinery that connected to the pods.

"We need to know how large this site is before we leave, however. We will take samples for the labs and other locations later. Is that drone safe to power on?"

"Yeah, it is. But it won't be able to accept commands other than vocal. This metal is blocking and jamming everything." The intern with the drone said.

"Deploy it. We need to have a count of how many of these pods there are, and where this leads." Prothean ruins had a history of being either extremely small outposts or extensive cities. All of which had few cultural touches and were militarily secure. When the drone deployed, its' light extended up to the ceiling and to each wall.

"Alright, little buddy. Explore, map and provide a clear count of how many of these objects are along the walls. When you are at fifty five percent battery life, return back to this location. End Instructions."

The glowing ball of light started moving on down the corridor, its light illuminating even more of the corridor and it kept going on in the distance. It kept going, further and further until the corridor broadened out, and then it hit a railing and dropped out of sight. It must have been almost a quarter mile away when it dropped off.

"I think we are going to want to see that area. Let's go over there." Liara said, and led the way. The long hallway had stack after stack of pods on the walls, and eventually came to a larger, open section. Liara turned her Omni-tool up to its highest setting, seeing the larger chamber expanded out before her. "By the Goddess!" One of the worst things to say, mention, or invoke within hearing range of her mother. Using that kind of language went against everything that the Siari movement cared about. But right now she just didn't have any other way to express herself.

The railing bordered a large open chamber with five levels of branching hallways going out from the center, with a raised platform in the center. The drone was no where to be found, but every single hallway had further stacks of pods. Everything was dark, and a few more corpses existed, the armor and metal frames of their weapons the only signs of their stay. What impressed her was the sheer scale. Dozens of hallways extended outwards on every level, even the one she was on. Looking up, she could see that the chamber went up another four floors as well, hallways again extending.

Expletives were ejected by each of the people with her. Daisy Dave had the most interesting one, however. "Nothing I smoke could ever come close to this."

"Just try not to light one off in here, man."

"No way, dudes and lady. No way. Ain't nothing I could smoke that could make this any better." Daisy Dave looked out over the entire room. "Maybe we should go downstairs and check this place out. That big screen things down there might be important, right?"

Daisy Dave pointed down at what appeared to be a standing sculpture. Taller than an Asari by a foot or two, and glowing slightly. Liara gasped. "That's a beacon!" A Prothean Dark Beacon. They killed everyone that connected to them, from Matriarchs to common soldiers. "We cannot disturb it. The knowledge contained inside a working Prothean Beacon is considered to be sacred to some cultures and revered in all."

"How do you get information out of 'em?" Dave asked.

"Prothean Beacons only communicate with living organisms with a degree of sentience. How they decide that and how they act upon that is unknown. However, Beacons are fragile and break extremely easily. Do not approach it, and do not look at it for too long.  _That_  will be worth a fortune compared to the other information here."

"Why?" Dave asked, staring down at it.

"Your race was able to expand outwards and join the greater whole due to finding a single beacon. A second one might just advance all of the races into new directions. Perhaps creating our own relays, for example."

"Oh." He said. Liara was about to move towards the ramp to risk a closer look at the beacon, when a loud crash was heard from above them. "That sounds bad."

"The drone!" One of the interns started running for the ramp. "That sounds like interference. We gotta check it out!" Two of the others ran with them towards the nearest ramp heading upstairs. The rest of her team started recording the room, the massive layout allowing for hundreds of thousands of these pods to be displayed. The ovals in the walls were everywhere, stuffed into every available space.

She waited for a minute, just breathing and taking in the massive structure.  _Her_  structure. This would hold her name for all of time, as the one who made the discovery. She could just imagine it now, all of her theories backed up and all of her thoughts and discoveries the envy of the scientific world. Yes, Liara T'soni, no longer the unloved daughter. No longer would she be-

One of the interns upstairs screamed. It was cut short. Two other screams rang out, coming down the ramp. The men never made it to the bottom, a hand extending beyond the edge of the ramp. It was scrambling, reaching, trying to get any kind of purchase that it could. Then, with a quiet  _click_  of something hitting the metal, the hand stopped moving. The screams went down to murmurs and sighs, and the room was silent. She could feel her heartbeat rising, as she could still see nothing coming down the ramp.

"We're screwed. We're screwed, man!"

"Run!" Daisy Dave said. Liara wouldn't, though. This was her chance! This held all of the answers! She ducked behind the railing, as she felt something changing the air pressure. All Asari had more sensitivity to gravity and changes in it, and so she could feel the air shift before anything was actually visible. Taking cover behind the railing, she also shoved one of the Prothean corpses in front of herself. The air thickened, almost, as some sort of mechanical form flew in the air above her and passed over the railing.

Daisy Dave and the remaining members of her team had already started running down the corridor, but the machine was fast. It was also silent. It had a large, triangular shaped body, with the tip pointed towards the ground. It had one arm on the right part of its body, and what appeared to be mount points for three more. It looked insect-like. It also floated around through the use of Element Zero, obviously. She could feel the change in the air as it adjusted its own gravity. It must weigh a lot to have that kind of requirement.

It caught up to the lead researcher first, silently impaling him with its arm, the blade going through the man's chest and then vibrating around. Liara paled, watching as the man's organs came out like a bowl of soup. As he slumped to the ground, the machine was already moving again. She couldn't stay here. This machine was going to kill everyone.

Prothean automatic defenses sometimes still existed. This must be one of them. She stood up, running towards the ramp. That machine, if it worked like any other drone, would have a patrol route. It would find the hole, their entrance, and then either leave or actively patrol the complex. Drones were predictable like that. Which meant that it would have to come back this direction, and go down one of the other hallways. Then, she would have her chance to run.

The ramp had two of the dead interns. She almost regurgitated, it was so awful. Each had a large hole through their chest, and their bodies were slumped at the bottom of the ramp along with a Prothean corpse. She blinked, seeing the same type of wound on the Prothean. Did this machine kill them? That certainly seemed odd. A defense drone that killed Protheans. Though, many of the corpses in the front room had the same wound.

This presented an alternate theory. If the Protheans were killed by machines, then the need to colonize would not exist. If those machines wiped them out, and this machine was still here, then Liara had all the proof necessary to show that the Protheans had been wiped out by rogue AI's. She just had to disable the drone….

Oh Goddess, there was no way! She couldn't possibly fight that thing! She had used her biotics heavily over the last few hours. The tingling reminder that she had overused them was still strong. She ran to the top of that ramp, finding the third intern next to the half broken drone. Strangely, she could see a source of light, coming from one of the corridors. The machine would take a bit of time to get to the end of the starting corridor. She had time.

Curse her curiosity. She ran over to the light, hoping it would unveil some hiding spot she could take cover behind. Instead, she found a corridor that ended quite quickly. It had only a few rows of pods, but it all came to an end with a large screen and a few displays. Haptic displays, even. None of them active. The light was coming from the rows of pods closest to the displays. They were all glowing brightly. They were active! Whatever that meant.

Then she saw the mark in the dust. Triangular, large, with one arm. Another arm had fallen off into the dust. Another arm from that machine. It must have been waiting for something to come out of those pods, following its orders. She leaned down and picked up the arm, or at least tried to. It was heavy, and had a long blade attached to it. The blade itself must have been at least a half meter long. The metal was bluish, dark, and cracked all over. Damaged by time, then.

Perhaps the rest of the drone was as damaged. She might be able to disable it and run scans on it. She drew her mother's gift to her, her pistol. The Acolyte pistol fired charged rounds at targets, and had to cool off faster than other weapons. She focused, bringing her biotic barrier up. She was an Asari. She was the daughter of a matriarch, and dying to some old drone was not in her destiny!

Saying all of this to herself did not help in the slightest. Oh, she wished her mother were here. She would know what to do. Sighing, Liara drew the Acolyte and activated its Warp ammo modification. The gun made a satisfying ping as it finished its preparation cycle. The contours of the pistol felt comforting to hold on to. The last time she had fired it, her mother had been showing her how to hold this pistol particularly and its functions.

She walked back to the railing, now a level up from the entry corridor. The entire ruin was silent, the echoes of footsteps and the screams of her men gone. She was alone in here now, of that she was sure. The emptiness and the piles of dead Protheans only vindicated her more. She  _needed_  to find out what happened to them. It had been her goal since she was capable of thought. Today, she would find out. She really would.

She felt it coming before she could see it. It came from the entry corridor, one glowing eye socket out of four still active. It looked like a giant insectoid blender. Its one remaining arm was colored red from her fellows. If it killed her, that would mix with her own blood. It glanced up at her, and she could feel the air turn sour, the air even more empty.

She started shooting, four shots going out and striking the large machine and one missing. The shots glowed, and then exploded a couple seconds later when it started floating up towards her. Her gun was overheating from firing its burst, and from experience would be ready to fire in fifteen seconds. She grasped her biotics again, letting the machine get hit by a Warp. It staggered, the exploding rounds having knocked its trajectory off slightly. It seemed like it was going to get up to her level when the Throw struck the warped target.

She was expecting it to come apart at the seams. When it just shrugged it off, she started feeling a lot less confident. She backed up, seeing that the machine wasn't even slowing down. Looking around, she felt her stomach drop to a new low when she saw that she had backed up into the dead end hallway. She ran back, seeing only the active pods, dead displays, and the broken arm.

Hardly anything that she could hide behind or any places that the machine couldn't get to her. It would kill her, and it was too fast to run by. "Goddess, no!" Her gun finally was ready to fire again, so she emptied it right into the beast's face. It wasn't more than two shots before the gun overheated again, as she had panicked and started firing before it could fully vent. The rounds stuck to the 'face' of the machine before they exploded, making it flinch.

It was only a few feet away now, and it drew its claw up into the air. She backed up, hitting it with another Warp. It seemed to do nothing, causing only a few bits of metal to flake off. Soon, she ran out of space. There was just the dead Prothean display behind her. Looking to her right, the only thing next to her was a crushed corpse, probably killed by the same machine. The creature must have been made out of something extremely heavy for it to ignore the gunfire of all of the Protheans and her own weapon.

She looked down, almost tripping over its fallen arm. Wait… the arm! It was made out of the same metal. She grabbed it with her left arm, jerking it up towards the machine, with her right arm drawn back. Looking up at it, she could see it, too, raising its arm. She screamed, seeing the arm stop rising up. She concentrated on her barrier, just as it slammed down with its bladed arm. It bounced off of her barrier near her torso, and the blade slammed through her thigh.

It drew it back out just as suddenly, bringing it up again. "No!" She plunged the dropped bladed arm into its 'head' with a Throw, knowing that raising her biotic barrier again would do little or nothing with it this close. The bladed arm was sent hard into the machine with her Throw, the blade sticking out the other side. Then, the Throw met the warp field, causing a biotic explosion that made the machine explode into pieces. Shattered pieces of metal dug into her exposed skin of her face, and some of it carved into her hands.

Then, it was quiet. It was silent other than her own breathing, rushed and seemingly not enough to fill her lungs. For nearly a minute she just took breaths, and then the pain set in. Her leg was an open wound, the blood flowing onto the floor. Her armor sealed the wound, but the blood still flowed. It was sticky, uncomfortable, and the throbbing was intense. She hadn't been hurt like this in her life.

Asari healed naturally. Humans had invented Medi-gel, but it was lauded as an illegal substance in Asari space. Probably because they invented it first. Until an Asari scientist invented the substance, it would stay that way. "Goddess, why did I follow that law!" One of the machine's legs was still in one piece. She grabbed it, pulling the metal towards herself. She put her weight on it, managing to get up to her knees when the twisting joint that held the blade snapped.

She fell, landing on her good leg. "Mother…" She couldn't believe she said that. The find of the century, all of her theories proven, and she was calling out for her mother. She was an adult! She could pick herself up and get back to  _her_  research site, and lead all of those researchers back in here to prove everything. Her bad leg was telling her another story.

She glared at the blade instead, the source of all the trouble. She picked up the snapped blade, ready to throw the object. But, beneath all of the human blood she could see a darker green stain. "That's not…" That was Prothean! Real Prothean blood! "You're coming with me." She looked around, seeing the other blade that she had used to kill the darn machine sitting next to the railing. She used her good leg to scoot over to it, picking it up too. It also shared the same dark green stains.

"You will prove all of my theories! Yes, you will!" If she could drag herself the quarter mile back to the entrance, climb out of the hole, and then climb up through the caverns to the main trench where she could signal someone to pick her up. Then she saw the display behind her turn on. It displayed static, bursts of data going from top to bottom and side to side in different color patterns. She couldn't make any sense of it, but obviously something was happening.

The few pods that were lit up extended from the wall, dust spraying off of the metal that hadn't moved in thousands of years. Gases sprayed from the sides of the pods, and electrical sparks echoed from when the plugs on the back of the pods disconnected. Each of them slid forward, small ladders extending from the upper pods. Then, like clockwork, the glass plates split open and liquid flowed from the ports on the sides of the pod. Each turned on a brighter light, and Liara risked coming closer to the bottom pod on the right.

Inside, she could see a Prothean, its four eyes moving wildly about. It had a slightly triangular head, with yellow eyes and a thin mouth, much like a Salarian. Its nose was vertically oriented, possibly meaning that Protheans had descended from a water breathing species. The Prothean's eyes settled on her, trying to focus.

"It's alright. You're awake now." The Protheans had technology that could preserve themselves, even for this long. It must be amazing. The Prothean tried to move its arm, but all that happened was a few twitches. Then, the twitching became more intense, and green liquid flowed from the Protheans nose and mouth. Their jaw set itself open, and green liquid flowed even further. Their eyes started moving wildly, and their movements became panicked. Liara reached into the pod, grasping its hand. "Hold on, you'll be fine! Don't panic, you'll be alright! You have to survive, just keep breathing!" She didn't know what was happening. Prothean physiology was unknown until today. This could be shock, or it could be breathing issues, cancer, anything. She didn't even know how to help.

The Prothean held her hand with some strength, its lips moving. " _Embrace the light._ " It said, in clear Asari high religious speech. The oldest language of her people never sounded so good as when a Prothean spoke it. But, then she could feel the Prothean reaching out to touch her nervous system. It was… trying to meld with her? She didn't hesitate, letting her pupils expand. "Embrace Eternity!"

Their minds and nervous systems joined, and she could see the mental stature of the Prothean. It was a female Prothean, she could feel immediately. Female and proud of it. Where their minds touched, there was some touches of understanding. Emotions were difficult to convey. The sorrow and depression that the Prothean was feeling was so strong, so vivid that she could hardly touch her emotional self. She didn't dare touch it.

She could feel the Prothean moving around in her memories, touching on her knowledge of them. It was odd, to feel a Prothean mind. Unlike anything she had seen before on her travels. Her mind was like a giant rotating computer, panels of green glowing metal rotating around herself clockwise and displaying bursts of static like the ones she had seen on the display.

"Client race. Asari. You destroyed the servant of the enemy, allowing us to be awoken from slumber deep and dark."

"You are Prothean, the ones who built the Citadel and the relays?"

Her surroundings rippled, dark shadows spreading from the pieces of metal and almost reaching towards Liara's mind. The Prothean was showing secondary pupils in its eyes, and the emotions almost felt like knives. "You know nothing of us. You are not prepared." She could feel the Prothean mind pulling away. She was trying to end the meld!

"Wait! Please don't end the meld! We have been trying to understand what happened to your race, your empire!"

"We left our client races beacons, warnings of all kinds. You have not heeded them." She said with finality. "Anything I have to show you will be insufficient."

"Your beacons, they killed those who tried to use them." Liara said, feeling the blades of feeling pull back slightly. "They were unable to show anything."

"How long has it been? Our client races should have awoken by now." She asked, changing the subject.

"Roughly fifty thousand years. Give or take a few decades."

"Then we are too late to change what will come to pass. My body is not reacting to the nano-medicine. I will die shortly."

"I am sorry." Liara said, truly feeling terrible at the loss of life.

"Your race, perhaps we could have valued more. Perhaps, you might accept a certain responsibility."

"I would accept any responsibility. My entire life has been dedicated to your people already."

She 'moved' her mind closer, their emotions intertwining. If it hadn't been a Prothean in her mind, she might have blushed some. This was close to what any Asari might call a romantic experience. "My people died. Vengeance and the other Avatars carry the knowledge of our war. Our fall. I carry the knowledge of all of our government, meant to create an infinite Imperial Doctrine that was to keep the client races alive. I give you this Doctrine, to ignite the fire of your species potential. May you understand all of Prothean history." She could see that her nervous system was failing. The Prothean's mind was starting to go dark in a few places. Seeing this, Liara moved closer. The easier this was for her, the better.

Emotions, memories, and everything else that  _was_  Nurek came into her. Nurek, Avatar of Recollection, inserted all that was Prothean into Liara's mind. It was like water, trying to flow through a too small tube. Liara couldn't handle the flow, but she refocused. She might be very unpracticed at melding, but this was not normal. She looked into her mind, finding something, anything to help move the massive amount of information. She found it, letting her memories of university studies fall away. It wasn't very accurate, anyways, compared to what she now knew.

"Avatar of Recollection, I name you, Liara. My people stand in your scope of responsibility. Do not fail them." Nurek then started retreating from the meld, her nervous system failing completely.

Liara was taken from the meld, pulled back to the real world. She watched as Nurek's skin flaked off her body as she started jerking. But her eyes rested on Liara, and Liara looked back. She kept her eyes on Nurek, until she stopped moving completely. "Go with the Goddess, and find peace." It wasn't appropriate, but it was the best she knew for this moment. Religion wasn't covered by the memories she was given.

She was jerked to her feet, and forced to put weight onto her injured leg. Her scream of alarm didn't do anything but let her get thrown to the floor. Another Prothean, his red armor gleaming and his arm holding a Warp that made her skin tingle as badly as when she sparred her mother stood over her. "Vengeance." She said, her memories supplying the name.

"Nurek? Did you succeed in taking over the client race?" She could understand him, now. As well as the display behind him. She tried to ignore the new information, focusing on the four angry and bitter eyes of Vengeance. Or Javik.

"My name is Liara." She said, her tongue sounding out the Prothean sounds poorly. But her background made her uniquely able to speak their language. "I am your newest Avatar of Recollection."

His lips drew back, anger on his features cleanly. "Heresy! None of the client races are allowed to become Avatars! You are not a true Prothean!"

"You have no choice in the matter." Liara said, noticing that he had put down his Warp. "Nurek was too weak to insert herself into my mind. She gave me all that she had. I would have given her my body if she asked, however."

His lips returned to normal. "Our Empire is dead. An Avatar of Recollection would only matter if we had a population to teach. Nothing remains, now. How long have we slept, client race?"

"You have slept for fifty thousand years, Javik. I am a Doctor of science, Liara T'soni. My life's work and study has been your Empire and race. We learned everything we know from your beacons and technology left behind."

"Trillions of dead, their worlds and ships left like grave markers." The Prothean called Javik said. "I hope you found them."

"Hardly any, actually. Only your beacons survived. A few remains of ships, as well as what amounted to a few items of art. Your ruins have some items, but nothing of real value."

"The Reapers would have us scramble over our old locations like bottom feeders!" Javik snarled. "Even in death we are denied all."

"Excuse me," Liara said, Javik giving her another glare. "What are the Reapers?"

Two more Protheans walked up, one of each gender. Both had matching red armor. "Our murderers. They hide, coming out and killing all in their path. Like the Innusannon before us, we were destroyed." The shorter one said, obviously female. "We need to eat, find shelter, before our bodies start going into a highly metabolic state." She was looking at Liara expectantly.

"The machine, it stabbed my leg. If you can help me walk, I will take you to anywhere you need to go." She offered. "In fact, there is already someone who gave me this location who was interested if any of you had survived."

"How did they find out?" Javik asked, his disdain evident.

"I am not sure. He is a Human, if that helps."

"The hairy creatures? A wonder that they have achieved any sort of success."

"You help me walk out of here, and you can find out about all of that." She grabbed the broken blade on the ground. "I just need to keep these. No one is going to believe me without at least a little proof."

"There will be enough proof when the Reapers return to cull you all." Javik said, picking her up like she weighed nothing. "Which entrance did you use?"

"One level down and straight across." Liara said, grimacing as Javik held her leg tightly. "This place is inside a large cave system. It will take some time to get out. Then we need to contact someone."

"Base VI. Authorize communication systems to client races." Javik said. "Contact who you need to. I pray you have some sort of subtlety."

She called the top contact number on her Omni-tool. With the base no longer blocking her signal, it went through easily. The line connected through the FTL comm buoys that littered Citadel Space, and she held her wrist up to her face. The image from her haptic screen was grainy, but that may have been from the dust on it.

"Little wing? It's very late, what is going on?" Her mother was pictured in the screen, blinking away sleep from her eyes. It was a rare moment where she wasn't wearing her Matriarchal crest.

"Mother!"

"Are you hurt? Liara, what is going on?" She realized that perhaps her mother was on a public or monitored line. She couldn't just outright say anything about the Protheans being alive. That would get every military panicking that was monitoring her mother.

"Yes! Yes, I'm hurt. The cave collapsed and I couldn't get signal until now. I was exploring a trench east of the main dig site, and we got stuck inside a cave system. My teams will take hours to get here. Even then, they don't have much equipment to be able to dig us out. Could you send someone to help us?"

Benezia smiled. "Of course." She touched a section of the Omni-tool. "House T'soni answers its own." Liara gave her a small smile.

"Thank you, Mother."

Benezia smiled. "Of course, Little Wing." The communication cut out. As she had been speaking in regular Asari, Javik probably didn't understand. He just carried her towards the exit, taking a short glance at the dead interns.

"Wait, we need to get their Omni-tools!" Liara said. The other two Protheans, who were the Avatars of Vigilance and Superiority respectively, took the tools from their wrists. They did the same when they came upon the rest, who hadn't made it more than two hundred meters down the tunnel. Daisy Dave hadn't made it farther, but unlike the others he had turned around to see what had killed him. Everyone else died from the machine. Their Omni-tools were collected and given to Liara, and then they got to the entrance.

The hole was still there, but the machine had done something more frustrating. It had seen their harness system and destroyed it, the rope and pulley gone. The Protheans simply walked over to one of the door panels and opened the doors manually, using some sort of small wheel device.

"Why do you even have such a thing?" She asked.

"Technology can always be used against you. Only when something is purely lesser-proof can you count on it. Everything we made after the Zha'til Rebellion was made with this in mind." Javik said, explaining. "As the Avatar of Recollection, you will eventually know why yourself, as the memories from Nurek become familiar."

Being carried by a Prothean was almost as good as knowing that they were real, that they existed. She would never admit to cuddling into the bony shoulder, but it might have happened as they climbed their way through the hole. Her head was starting to throb, like the back of her brain was trying to burrow into the front part. The Protheans had some sort of infrared vision, as they didn't have very bright lights on their armor or Omni-tools. It was all tinted a deep green, and only in the extreme darkness could Liara differentiate between anything.

Without Daisy Dave, it took hours for them to find their way back up through the caves. Javik didn't trust her to lead, and she could respect that decision. Her head hurt more and more throughout the process, and it didn't feel like it was getting any better. When she finally saw the local star in the sky again, she sighed in relief. It was good to see it again.

"Praise all that is, and all that will be." Vigilance said.

"Is that some kind of religious reference?" Liara asked around the headache.

"No. But it feels just, I believe, to say it." She said. "We were only meant to sleep for a few years. Once our enemies had gone we would rise up and lead the races to a glorious revolution to fight back when the Reapers returned again. Yet we were betrayed by our own."

"Quiet. We are not alone." Javik said, placing Liara on the ground. He brought up his hands, biotic energy showing. He also had stolen her pistol, and had already figured it out. Drawing it up, he strafed left and right along the bottom of the trench with it. "What kind of infidel weapon is this?"

"It fires explosive rounds that stick, and then after a couple of moments explode. It was effective against the machine." Javik nodded, turning around. Vigilance and Superiority were glowing, their bodies in Stasis. Liara blinked, not knowing how she could have missed someone throwing one of those around. Looking around, she couldn't see anyone else nearby, and neither could Javik. He started pacing, looking worried.

A dark shape dropped from above, landing on top of Javik. A biotic glow was around him a moment later, as he was forced to the ground. He caught himself on his elbows and knees, glowing with his own biotics, but was ultimately pressed to the ground. His grunts of exasperation were telling. She considered recording this for the records that were going to be made about the Protheans.

"Calm yourself! I can simply increase the relative gravity at any time. Haven't you ever fought a Matriarch before?" Benezia had leapt from above at some point to get down here. She must have assumed things were bad when she saw Liara not walking under her own power. "Little Wing, are you alright?"

"Yes, mother." Benezia turned to give her a weird look.

"Speak basic, or I might assume you are some sort of  _Tara'shi_."

"Mother! I am not a changeling!" Those were just the stuff of legends. Asari couldn't steal other sentient bodies. She focused, trying to think about how to speak basic again. It was hard to think about that through the headache. Instead, she just reached into her tunic, pulling out the piece of metal that always hung around her neck. "Please don't hurt them, they need help!"

"Alright, that sounded more like Asari. Little Wing, what exactly did you bond with? Your mind is having a hard time with basic speech." Benezia said, still holding Javik down with one hand. "As for you, do you speak basic?" Javik glared. " _High tongue?_ " She asked in Asari high language.

" _The speech of insects in the dust doesn't deserve the name 'High tongue', lesser!_ " Javik roared, still trying to get past her biotic field.

" _Charming, that you can speak so well. Liara, who are these people and why are they carrying you like a sack of meat?_ " For some reason, high tongue was easier for her mind to comprehend at the moment.

" _Mother, inside these caves is a Prothean bunker, with a working beacon, as well as thousands of pods that were meant to preserve the Prothean population until a catastrophe had passed. I erm… woke them up._   _I am also injured._ "

Benezia walked away from Javik, letting him wallow under the force of gravity. "Are you alright? Oh, where is Taeni, she had Medi-gel!" her mother said in basic. Then she made the connection in her mind. " _These are Protheans?_ " Benezia glanced back at Javik, Vigilance, and Superiority. " _Charming. Do you promise not to brutalize anyone if I let you get up?_ "

" _I am the Avatar of Vengeance! I do not bargain."_

" _But you won't hurt me if I let all of you go?"_

 _"Your spawn has promised to assist us in taking us to a safe location. You will do so. With this assumption I will not hurt you, as you will be a valuable asset."_  Javik said, still fighting the pull of gravity.

" _You're lucky that I have more patience than most people."_  Benezia said, plucking the pistol out of his hand and returning it to Liara. " _Let us all be civil and speak with respect. My daughter is not to be labeled as spawn, and I won't call you my next victim."_  She glanced up, as labored breathing could be heard. Coming from further down the trench were some of her family commandos, out of breath and shaking.

"Lady Benezia, you cannot jump down hundreds of meters like that! It is dangerous!"

"Go, prepare the ship. Taeni, stay and help Liara. She is injured." One of the commandos stayed, while the rest started walking back down the trench. Taeni came over to her, as Benezia released the Protheans. With someone talking to her in basic, the Prothean bits of her brain retreated, and she couldn't understand what Javik and the others were saying.

"Oh! That went right through your nerve cluster in your leg! This is a very serious wound!" Taeni said. "Good thing we brought this. Don't mention that we use it at all, though. If anyone asks, the scar was from an adventurous night with a Krogan." She joked as she poured the tubes of gel into the wound.

Benezia spoke with Javik for a moment, before approaching. "Little Wing, I am taking one of these odd ducklings with me. They mentioned that there is a certain object inside of their bunker. I shall return by the time that Taeni gets you back to the ship."

"But Matriarch, one of us should come with you!" Taeni complained.

"I am not some old sack of bones. I have plenty of life left in me. Take care of my injured daughter while I fetch something of importance."

"Alright, Matriarch." Taeni said. Benezia and Javik went back into the caves, going to fetch something. The other two Protheans came over and helped Liara walk with Taeni back to the ship, which was an hour's hike through the trenches. Granger Fault was not some place she planned on visiting for vacation purposes, ever. Not after today. Taeni attempted small talk with the Protheans, but their odd look kept her from asking too many things.

" _Recollection."_ Vigilance greeted her. " _Your mother is quite powerful to strike us all down in such a fashion._ " Her eyes were guarded, not revealing anything about how she was feeling. " _Do you possess the same capabilities?"_

 _"Not for another few hundred cycles, no."_  Liara replied.

" _The Asari of our time were short-lived. A good labor force and a source of … food. Perhaps seeing if they lived longer would have been a better choice for the Empire._ "

Taeni spoke up. "What's with all the temple-speak? Your friends speak it better than most noble family members I know."

Liara couldn't focus on basic right now. It was just too interesting to be able to talk to a real Prothean. She waved off Taeni's question, and would apologize later. " _Asari live nearly ten centuries. I do not know how long Protheans live for, but as we age our biotic abilities develop stronger and stronger. When we enter the last century of our lives, we enter a state known as Matria, or most wise. My mother is a Matria, and can do things with her biotics that few can fathom._ "

" _Perhaps there is hope for you and your people yet, Recollection."_  Vigilance said.

They waited at the ship far past sundown, when Benezia and Javik finally came back. Between them and their biotics, they were dragging the Prothean beacon that had been on the bottom floor of the complex. Benezia was sweating, but didn't look discomforted. Javik was dragging some harness that was on his back as well, along with what appeared to be tools and a few sacks of gear. She tried to ignore the fact that those sacks were made from her researcher's clothes.

"A Prothean beacon! The Council will be pleased, Matriarch!" Taeni said, as she came up the ramp floating the object with her biotics.

"The Council does not care for dark beacons. Someone out there, however, does. I've brought one of the dark beacons from their stores, as well as this find. Liara, why didn't you teach them basic? A shallow meld would have taught them everything they needed." Liara turned purple, feeling terrible.

"My mind hasn't been very clear at this time, Mother. It did not occur to me." Liara apologized. Her headache had gone down some, with food and water as well as a few power naps.

"This speak of insects and bottom feeders is beneath me." Javik stated. "Liara was just in not teaching this to me."

Benezia looked over at Javik with another long glance. Javik actually flinched. Only a Prothean, or someone with a Prothean mindset, would be able to notice. " _No talk like that, Avatar. Or we can have another disagreement. Would you prefer that?"_  She asked switching to high tongue.

Javik shook his head, walking over to his fellow Avatars. "Where are we going?"

Benezia sat across from them, on the comfortable hide couches that came from Serrice, on Thessia. "Another Prothean world. Something perhaps more familiar. Taeni, slave navigation to my Omni-tool and disable communications from the ship. Our next stop requires some level of secrecy."

Liara spent her journey in between headaches, explaining things to the Protheans. Javik had apparently gotten into another biotic fight with Mother, and had been appropriately humbled. Her skill and wisdom had earned some respect. Mother called him an ignorant lover of lizards, quite harsh in their language. He unfortunately knew what she was talking about, and replied with an epithet in ancient Asari calling her mother the daughter of snakes. They were no longer on speaking terms. Javik ignored Mother and Mother promised to not kill one of the last three Protheans left alive.

They spent their time in Liara's quarters, finding all of her Prothean collection something to be proud of. Vigilance especially enjoyed finding a set of small tools meant to assist in skin care. Liara had assumed that they were some sort of ornament, but obviously they were not. They had no interest in taking off their armor or using the bathrooms. They still did not feel comfortable doing that.

The ship went off of normal trade lanes, taking a route that Liara couldn't fathom. Mother sequestered herself in the pilot's chambers and locked out the crew, who still did not know about the Protheans. They knew that some sort of creatures had been found, but not exactly what they were.

* * *

It was nearly three days of travel outside of relays that they finally came to their destination, a derelict space hulk from the Krogan Rebellions. It had been some sort of Helium-3 supply base out in the deepest part of the traverse. There was another ship docked there, a standard Volus vessel that could be found anywhere in the galaxy. Their freighters were so commonplace that the Batarians had more of them in their civilian shipping fleets than their own designs. The Humans didn't, so far. But eventually the low price and high variability would sell them in Human space too.

" _Liara, bring your fellows and report to the airlock. We are taking a small trip."_  Her Mother asked over the ship's comms. She got their attention, and they all got moving for the portside airlock. They took her entire collection of Prothean baubles, with ehr permission, of course. Strangely, none of her family retainers were along their route. Only Mother was there, waiting at the airlock. "We are going to have to claim that you are missing or kidnapped in the Traverse, Little Wing."

She didn't care. She had Protheans, she had evidence of their fall. Her theories were true, and staying on a dig site to prove that wasn't worth it. The airlock cycled, and the old station pumped what good air it had left into the combined chamber where ships docked. Inside she could see someone standing alone, next to the open airlock of another craft.

"You brought me three?" Jack Harper asked. "Three Protheans? How fortuitous."

"We are not items to be bartered, lesser. We are the last vestiges of an Empire infinitely your greater!" Javik stated with some disdain.

"I've seen your empire. I've seen the memories left in your beacons. I am not impressed." Jack said. "You died like all those before you, and trusted a plan that just played into the hands of those you call Reapers."

Javik stopped. "Some among you heed the warnings, then. What have you done, Human?"

"Prepared in my own way, sacrificing my entire wealth and stature. You must be the current Voice. I am prepared to offer you a position, one which you are uniquely qualified for." He brought out his Omni-tool, displaying some squid-like organism. Liara hadn't seen anything like it before. "I need a military commander who knows the enemy. I've already seen one Reaper attack my assets. I need whatever you have, and I will offer anything that I can in exchange for your unique experience and knowledge."

"I demand that this one comes with us." Javik said, pointing at Liara. "I do not trust her snake of a Mother, but she is important to our cause." Liara felt a slight heat come to her cheeks and throat at that. Benezia made a small noise that sounded like a dismissal.

Jack Harper shrugged, his space suit concealing any body language that Liara could recognize. "Unfortunately, she is coming with us. I made a deal with her, to bring me Prothean beacons. She is coming with us to Illos."

"Illos? Surely it was overrun in the war." Javik stated. Liara's mind was filled with additional information about the place.

" _Illos. Seat of the Innusannon, tainted by their last strike against our enemy, their souls still screaming their defiance. It is not a world fit for habitation."_

"My Asari is decent, but high tongue is beyond me currently. What did she say?" Jack asked.

"She stated that Illos is not fit for habitation, something possibly religious or spiritually wrong with the place."

Jack nodded. "Admittedly, the old city is filled with piles of dust that have organic components, and the sounds that come out of it are often rather different and unique, I can agree. We have been building most of our construction underground, or near the Prothean base. Not many believe that the Reapers are coming, but your beacons were very clear on the subject. I can explain more as we travel to Illos. Though I do have to apologize, Matriarch, but I ask that you bring as few of your followers as possible. This location is still dangerous, and I will allow you an escort, but I also value its privacy."

"Do you know of Indoctrination?" Javik asked, Liara not seeing any correlation in her memories, but it triggered a deeper headache for a moment. The word seemed to trigger an emotional response from the Prothean part of her mind, which she had to shunt to the background.

"Some. No true details, though I was warned by another of your warnings regarding something of that nature. So called Prothean art pieces are the most that I have seen so far." Jack had a smirk on his face, one that Liara assumed was joyful. "I need your cipher, by the way. I stuck my head in another beacon, thinking that I would need it to open your sleep chamber."

Javik blinked, his outer eyes expressing confusion. "Who told you of our location? All involved were sworn to an oath of silence! None were allowed to communicate out, for security reasons."

Jack smiled. "My trade is not in guns and weapons. Secrets, and money and capital to turn those secrets into products. That is my specialty."

"Yet you want an army."

"I can micromanage, but I cannot win a war. I've been a soldier, and I have tried to wage war. I am not a commander of troops. For that, I need you. I need someone who won't panic when a Reaper lands in front of them."

Benezia cut in. "I hate to interrupt, Jack. I don't need more than a single escort. It will be more than enough to keep Javik in line." Protheans growling sounded like the purring of an engine, as well as enough anger in the outer set of eyes to melt paint. "I have touched the mind of the Prothean Javik, though only to give him an understanding of basic languages. The rest was as closely guarded and dark as your own."

"I'll take that as a compliment to our ability to work together. Benezia, you may get your single escort, while I give my newest guests and allies a tour. What should I address you as?" He directed at the two remaining Protheans.

"I am the Avatar of Vigilance. You may refer to me as such, until such time that Vengeance allows lesser races further rights." The female said, Liara finding her Prothean side agreeing with her statement. Her Asari thoughts found it bigoted and heedless of the consequences.

"I am the Avatar of Superiority." The other male said simply. He offered no further statements. She couldn't find anything to tell her about him from the Prothean mind within her own. She had no idea what his position was supposed to be. Of the nine Avatars of the Infinite Empire, only three had survived. Four, counting the part of her mind that felt like a tumor.

"Mister Harper, The Prothean Empire was based upon different classifications of races. Until Humanity can be declared as some sort of equal to the Prothean race, and therefore Prothean, certain things will always be outside of your reach." Liara said.

He didn't seem uncomfortable with her stark statement. "There is no Empire anymore. Only ghosts and ashes remain. You need to adapt to the times, before the Reapers find and kill your race a second time. To them, we are all equally insectile and lesser." He pronounced the words in the same tone that Javik had. "As such, I consider all that would be their victims to be equals in the fight. If you continue to think the same way that you did when your Empire fell, then history will simply repeat. It's time for a new angle." Jack motioned to his ship. "I also happen to have what is left of your attempt at the Crucible. Flawed project that it is, it might become useful."

Javik wasn't moved by his words. His inner eyes had not dilated or shown any interest. "We will not forsake what makes us live and breath. Our Empire and its methods gave you the tools to prepare for their coming. I will not forsake what gave you a chance. Adaptation is part of Vengeance. But tradition has its place. Lesser races will receive their due when they earn it."

"Quite the claim, that you alone would judge those races." Jack said. "Believe what you will. Everyone has their place." Jack walked onboard his ship, Javik only taking a minute to follow. Liara waited a few minutes longer, helping her Mother to move multiple dark beacons onto the ship. She tried to not awaken the terrifying objects.

"Little Wing, you have a Prothean in your head. No one else is qualified to look into the abyss that these carry like you are."

"I suppose that it is a kind compliment." She replied, still not taking a chance with the dark beacon she carried. "I think that enough is going on in my head right now, but I might do so in the future."

* * *

Presidium Tower, The Citadel, March 2167

Thirteen Volus and a single crippled Turian were outside the Presidium tower, holding up a large set of signs that displayed in different languages. Some simply stated "Two thousand years without full rights!" or "Racial profiling has gone on long enough!"

C-sec sent a pair of agents to investigate immediately. They got there just as the Volus were setting up a third sign, stating "Agents of Justice see these lies and challenge them!" The security agents of course started laughing at the sight of Volus doing something noteworthy.

"Excuse me," The older officer said, not completely hiding his snickering. "You don't have a permit to set up here. If you want one, you may apply to the Citadel Committee of Public Affairs. I am afraid that you'll have to disband." The Committee never approved anything like this. Their charter was specifically built to stop anything like this from happening. These Volus could go home, and stop making trouble where no trouble was wanted.

One of the Volus approached him, stopped six or seven feet away. "We are the Public Affairs Committee," The Volus said between gasps as the Omni-translators got working. "We approved our right to express our thoughts regarding the Council's shame."

The officer blinked. "I thought there was a member of Overwatch on the committee." A Turian would never let this happen.

The crippled Turian spoke up from his bench. "I approved it, Officer. The Hierarchy might replace me, but I could not continue to see the Volus be the victims of racial profiling and discrimination."

The officer didn't honestly know what to do. The normal methods of legally controlling something like this weren't working. He couldn't bring this up to the Council, it wouldn't be worth their time. As he considered this, he felt his legs get bumped. Looking down, he could see dozens of Volus and a scattering of other races gathering. Hundreds of Volus gathered behind the signs, quietly stating their purposes. A few Turians and Asari were also in the mix, and the gathering of people was starting to get the attention of news drones.

"Get me the Executor!" He yelled, pushing through to his vehicle. "We have to keep this under control!" But there was no controlling this, and not in time. Soon, the speeches started from notable Volus, especially Din Korlack, their Ambassador. The riots and talk that followed this demonstration on the Citadel were varied, but more importantly it showed that something was threatening the Council.

The Council didn't take threats lightly, and they never lost.

* * *

Author's Note:

We welcome back Prothy the Prothean from his long nap, and his few compatriots. Sadly, Javik has issues with racial profiling. Or rather the deepest disdain and discrimination for other races that could possibly exist. He doesn't trust them, and he doesn't want to trust them with his future. He didn't with Shepard, in canon, but trusted her to be 'Prothean' enough to lead him. I always found a few issues with that.

Trust is a hard thing to measure. It's hard to earn it, and the differences in racial ideology are also hard to measure. My next chapter will be dealing with the Batarians, and I don't mind if other people take and borrow the ideology. I'll be posting a set of their religious practices and cultural bits along with it. For those reading my story, I thank you for adding me to your favorite lists. The rush of people reading has been great.

 


	33. Fugue: Anger Management

Chapter 33

High Fane, Kar'Shan, July 2167

Haego watched as his priests entered into the High Fane, thousands of them standing at attention. All of them the second sons of the highest caste,  _Karem_. First sons could inherit, as could the third sons. Second sons were by birth priests. The Karn demanded no less. First sons and third sons could duel and fight for the positions of authority. The second sons were sworn to the service of their beastial gods. Priests of war, and of hope. For the only hope for the souls of the dead was by rebirth. Rebirth secured only through the just lives of those sworn to follow the cruel gods of the Karn.

Through cruelty was born hatred. Through hatred pain was experienced. The Karn demanded that all experience hatred and cruelty. When faced with hatred, how a sentient being reacts to the unfair and rough treatment determined the fate of their soul. If hatred was answered by unwavering determination, then a sentient proved its right to continue existing. It proved that it was justified in being birthed into a higher position. This was the promise of hope given to a stubborn universe. Only in birth could a soul be given a purpose. Only in death could that purpose be realized.

"As the War Priests of demanding gods, you are all expected to make this universal truth known to the galaxy! Through hatred, they must learn of the unwavering fear of death. This fear drives us towards contemplation, of our lives and of our purpose. Fear of death, longing for another life, this is just. Longing for a better life, this is also just. It is your solemn oath and your own reincarnation at stake if you do  _not_  tell this to all of the castes." All of them had heard their religion broken down before. Some were even losing focus. The energy of the room was fading slightly.

"Our people are broken by plague. Our gods have always told us that we were to exceed great challenges. To those who are frequent visitors of the High Fane, you have seen the Pillars of Strength. They are the true statement of our race. No others defied the Gods so thoroughly as us. For this, we were broken. Broken by bestial creatures of darkness. In these times, you may expect me to tell you to go out, visit the Jarem, keep them in line with religion. Instead, I demand that you do so. You will all face death, in one form or another. If you are just in your lives, and strive to be the best you can, then death shall not be a threat to your souls. Batar, the great Betrayer, who broke the Karn, had few words to say regarding plague."

Now he heard murmuring. Batar was the greatest villain in their history. He was the first Hegemon, the one who renounced the gods. Then, he bound the Karn together as one, and unified they stood in the face of overwhelming odds. The gods only laughed at him. All knew that Batar was the reason for their disgrace, for their caste system. He was the reason that reincarnation was required.

"Batar spoke of plague, in his battle with the gods." For anyone but a priest, speaking about Batar was considered heresy. For the High Priest, it was a rare thing to mention such a figure. "He broke the champion of the gods, and took the creature's golden armor. From that armor, he melted it down and poured it upon stone pillars, to forever mark these caves and Fanes as belonging to the Karn. In the deepest part of the High Fane we keep writings and artifacts of the old times. One of those artifacts are the plates of Batar, four sheets of gold written by his own hand. He spoke of a plague, sent by the god Evor."

Haego then motioned to his right. Three of his priests bore a glass case, inside of which were the plates of Batar. The bindings had long been lost. But the gold gleamed. Gold, if preserved, never lost its luster. Batar must have known this and chosen this metal to write in. When he brought the first thin sheet of gold out of the case, he could hear the awed murmuring. High Priests were not supposed to speak of these. Some of the things Batar spoke of were quite heretical. Even he wouldn't dare mention them.

"Evor smote the Haled. The tribes walked in tribulation, their skin covered in boils, and sores, and the very air they breathed smelt of death. Evor spoke to the Haled, demanding that they sacrifice their children to the fire. For ever did Evor demand the third-born of each family as sacrifice." The High Fane was quiet, one of his scribes recording on his Omni-tool the statements. "No amount of pleading and sacrifice could remove the boils, for Evor was blind to their cries. First born of the Haled, the tribe of the mountains, there arose a young war-priest. His name was Batar, of the Haled. Batar saw the sickness of his people, and was angered. Evor spoke to Batar, demanding the sacrifice of the second born, to release the plague from among them." Heago turned over the small sheet, not wanting to speak of Batar's journey among the other tribes. It was sensational, as well as odd. To speak of metal and it being implanted into arms, eyes, and hearts was heresy. The Karn avoided cybernetics as a result.

"Batar slew his brother, the second born. As he did so, Evor laughed. Batar said, 'To what of your promise? Remove your plague!'. Evor did nothing. No plague was removed. It instead, intensified." The archaic language was somewhat more longwinded, and did not carry the point well. "Batar then traveled to the holy mountain of Kar, to speak with the war-priest of Rian, Goddess of Sight. He beseeched her, saying, 'Evor, the God of Fire, has placed a plague upon my people, and I seek to cure it. Already we sacrifice our third born, and now our second born have been demanded."

"Rian, Goddess of Sight, gave Batar a token. This token of her generosity could not cure the plague, but would allow Batar to make a boon of Evor. It is this boon that I speak to you of today. Evor is our most hated god, justly so. Rian had her own reasons for giving Batar this token. For this token enraged Evor, who sent down his mightiest servant to do battle with Batar for the aforementioned token. The giant of gold and metal was aflame, as all servants of Evor were demanded. Batar led the giant into these very caves, where he defeated it and used its corpse to cover the many pillars. Rian's token then spoke to him, telling him of what he needed to write upon these pillars." The murmuring increased, some of his priests looking at him with wide eyes.

"Our greatest deceiver was also the one who contributed to our most sacred writings. He laid the framework for the pillars of strength, and in doing so was a devout war-priest. This is not a piece of doctrine for the betterment of the other castes. Batar was both our mightiest priest and our most cursed. For he dared to ignore the gods!" Cries of heresy and denouncement followed. "Rian granted him in vision the true direction of all Karn. He inscribed parts of the prophecies of Irus and Relk for a year, before Rian gave him the next piece of her vision. Batar, in his pride, demanded to see the entire vision of Rian before he would inscribe another word."

The silence was palpable. Being heretical to mention, almost all of these priests hung on his every word. Batar was forbidden territory for almost all of the entire Batarian race to mention. "Rian, finding his past to be well lived and his actions to be just, gave this to him. In giving him this vision, she ceased her speaking, leaving Batar to inscribe the vision. Batar betrayed the goddess of sight, for inasmuch as he understood the vision, he understood what Rian had demanded of the Karn. He then discarded her vision, and rewrote the prophecies to suit his own needs!" Haego waved his arms in rage. "Rian, having sojourned far to the other tribes of the Karn, returned to seek out what should have been visions of hope and pure light to all. Instead, she found the Karn divided into tribes still. Worse, these tribes were no longer equal, the victors enslaving their brethren for the first time. For Batar tainted the prophecy, stating that the gods demanded,  _demanded,_  that we enslave the rest of the Karn and all other sentients. Rian then cursed us." He did not mention the details of said curse, though all in this room wanted to know. That detail was restricted to the Hegemon and his highest religious advisor, as well as one or two secret agents who were to enlighten their replacements should both die at the same time.

"You are the same birth as Batar. For his actions, his soul was cursed to forever wander the cycles of reincarnation, to never find peace until all souls he had inflicted his lies upon had been saved. As priests of our cruel gods, you face this same fate, if you do not heed me now!" Haego nodded, and fog began to filter into the room. It was visible, and Haego let his displeasure be known to all of his priests. "We are all now infected with the same cursed plague that infects the Jarem and all other castes. There is no longer any reason for you to now avoid the lowest parts of our people. Go, bless their children, and purge your souls of any guilt or wrongdoing!" Haego pointed to the only guards allowed in the holy High Fane, the ceremonial guards. "If you decide that your soul is prepared enough to face the gods at this very moment, we can end your time with no further judgement. But the Gods rage and curse at our pride, that we believe we can safely ignore the needs of the Karn! The Karn is not simply the higher castes. It is every sentient being that we direct and control! Go! Go and die like rats or do your god-demanding requirements. I, too, am cursed with this foul plague. Now, from the highest caste to the lowest, the Karn is pure. As your High Priest, I end this meeting. May the Gods find you willing." Haego then retreated from the high altar, stepping towards the doors in the back of the room. He walked with purpose, and with some haste. The priests were likely to be angered by his actions.

He could feel the glares of thousands of second sons upon his head. But Haego was not the High Priest for nothing. The first attempt on his life had been at the age of three. It was nothing new to feel the hatred that perpetrated the entire Karn. But this was the best way to get the priests out of their temples and back to blessing the children being born. When he retreated to the innermost levels of the High Fane, he found the Hegemon already waiting for him.

"Your actions are worthy of any member of the Karn, Haego. Even I was impressed that you dared infect your priests. What happens when they start dying?"

"I lied to them. They are not infected." Haego said simply. "But the truth of the matter is that even if someone becomes infected, it is months before the lung condition sets in. Those that seek to know if they were actually infected and discover that they are instead not carrying the disease will consider it a boon from the gods themselves that they were spared. In turn, they will lie themselves and claim that they are infected, if only to not be killed by me. Those that don't immediately seek help will go to the homes of the Jarem and bless their children, and take care of what needs to be taken care of. With the priests receiving their needs, you will see the riots and unrest drop some."

"Yet, some of your priests will die. You do not seem concerned with the loss of so many sons." The Hegemon said, his upper eyes betraying nothing.

He didn't claim they were his to lose. Again, probably denying any casualties and deaths that might occur. "They will have some deaths, yes, but it will only be in their own pursuit of fulfilling their duties. None would dare harm a priest, in most cases. Some of our outlying citizens and the foreign born Jarem might feel up to trying. Death faces them, and no more will they forsake duty to avoid it."

"For a moment, as I was listening, I thought you were about to spout the deepest of heretical doctrines to scare them into action." The Hegemon remarked. "The ultimate end to this religion we have."

"Batar will never be reborn. He cannot be reincarnated!" Haego muttered. "To speak of this matter fills me with great fear."

"Why? Religion is merely a means of controlling the masses."

"I cannot accept that my beliefs are fraudulent. The gods demand we be the strongest. Batar's actions in the past have changed our people forever."

"If not Batar, another would have taken his place. According to our records, there is no proof that he slayed anything in public eye. His fights with Evor and Rian's champions were never documented or proven. He may have been lying from the start, planning out a way to commit all of the tribes to a single society. To bind the Karn to himself, even if his children never inherited."

"Only the strong forge their future." Haego replied. "This plague, my lord, it is too concentrated to be anything but a form of warfare. The gods spoke of such a plague during Batar's time as well."

"Your gods spoke, Haego. The only gods that I must harken to are the thrice-cursed Council. We are tenuously maintaining our connection to them, as they offer some small pittance of aid. Even the Humans are offering aid, now. Some of their famed medi-gel."

"It pains me to admit that it may assist us." Haego said. "Do you plan to accept their aid?"

"No." The Hegemon said. "We shall arrange for their aid to be raided by pirates. Something to give our military a target. Nothing right now would help us more than a war. I would even consider attacking Omega, if it were feasible. Aria would simply lock down the station before we made any kind of touch down. But the Blackwatch, the Corsairs, or perhaps even the Eclipse would make fine targets to leave the blame for this plague upon."

"Not the Salarians or Humans? Their claims on the Attican Traverse strike me as being the most troubling."

"We can dispatch independents towards their holdings. I already have, but recommended that the areas that are not directly aligned with the Alliance or Salarians be targeted first. We need to replace much of our workforce, and soon. We will keep them at Torfan for the time being, until the crisis is over."

Haego nodded. "What of this talk of a cure being distributed among the Jarem?" If he had heard the rumors, then the Hegemon would know the truth of it.

"I am not sure. My agents have not identified any cure, yet there are some who openly walk through the plague ridden areas. They walk without the fear of death, and when sighted quickly avoid any of the military patrols." He took his eyes off of Haego, directing his attention to the wall. "The Jarem will not work, and it is starting to spread to the rest of the Karn as a whole. The Karem refuse to leave their homes, now, except under duress. The last time I called a gathering of my Kavka, two were missing. One of them is dead, and the other is missing on Omega. In light of this, I had their closest ally publicly executed. Now, I have lost three of my Kavka."

"Your advisors in this dark time must also be bastions of hatred for our race to look up to. Otherwise the weak shall corrupt us all." Haego intoned, not actually looking up to the Kavka. They were the most ambitious of their race, and couldn't be trusted if you were at all connected to the Hegemon. Haego didn't venture far from the temple, for that very reason. He already had plenty of his own priests envying his position.

"It is the practice of the Hegemon to select family or close friends as their high priest. As such, most do not make them a member of their Kavka. There are no set practices for the Hegemon other than those required of him by the religion." He said. "When I selected you, over my own brothers and cousins, many sought your head. I am pleased that they have not succeeded."

"Your priests will follow you to the very end, Holiness. I have managed to get all of the lesser priests back out into the populace before this point. Today I encouraged those of the high priests, and with some hope they will go and do their duties. The priests I sent to the Citadel have been quiet, and have not replied to my requests."

"Ambassador Jeroth appears to be ignoring much. He was at the meeting of the Kavka days ago." The Hegemon said. "Perhaps he has reached the limit of his usefulness."

"Your next of kin? He is suitably dangerous." Jeroth was the second son, where the Hegemon was the first son. "Have you found him unworthy?"

"He fails to alert me to the plans of the Council. Nor does he answer the hails of his High Priest. But many do not answer you." The Hegemon extended a Kavka. "I do not care for tradition, except where it suits my purposes to practice it. Go, and bury this blade in my younger brother's neck. When you return, none shall doubt your courage or resolve. By slaying one of the Kavka, you shall not appear weak before the entire group. These blades were the creation of our best. Even though my brother is a biotic, you shall not have any difficulty in slaying him. Gain the assistance of your three priests on the Citadel and offer them the chance to assist you in exchange for their lives."

Haego didn't want to touch the knife. The bloody symbol of authority. "I find myself unworthy of such, Holiness. If you wish your brother dead, I will do your command. But to become one of the Kavka has never been my design."

"Haego, if anyone in this galaxy is needed on my council of advisors, it would be you. Infecting your priests with the same plague the Jarem are spreading, quietly killing any priests that threaten your own position, you are a fine example of what it means to be a Batarian. My circle of advisors needs to include you as well. You are one of the few close enough to me that I must worry about your intentions at times."

"My life belongs to the Karn, Holiness. I have no intention of taking the seat of Hegemon." Haego said, not wanting to be considered a threat.

"No priest has dared sit in the seat of power, for the fear of being declared the reincarnation of heretics." Few knew why priests rarely sat in the Hegemon's seat. Haego knew, as well as the Hegemon. Others might know as well, as those secrets had a way of showing up at the worst times. During the rise of the second-to-last Hegemon, a priest rose for the seat, and as one the highest advisors slayed him before he could raise any army or other sort of force. The old families knew, for certain. Enough secret keepers had revealed their greatest knowledge upon their last gasps. Anyone who tried to distribute that secret died, with every other member of their family down to the youngest of children. The darkest secret of the Karn was protected harshly. "I do not wish this upon any priest."

"Then silence the one who dares to try. Jeroth needs to be silenced and removed from power before he makes an attempt on my life. His largest opponents were just killed."

"A threat of that nature is more important than my own concerns. Jeroth will die, by your hand." The Kavka felt much heavier in his hand than it should have been. It was the highest symbol of authority in the Hegemony, and it should not be in his hands. But only by the spilling of blood could you lose your Kavka. The responsibility allowed no other method.

"Take anything you need with you. You can command any of the troops in my name." The Hegemon said, and then gave a short laugh. "Not to mention avoid any of the backlash of so many families that are going to lose their second sons. Their anger for you might be enough that your ceremonial guard could be compromised."

Haego nodded. "What kind of assets are loyal and untouched by the plague that I may call upon?"

"There are a few that I have hand-picked for you. Their ship is at the nearby military port. The information is on your Omni-tool, war-priest."

"I leave within the hour." Heago needed his ceremonial robes of war, as well as his armor. War-priests were meant to be dangerous. It was they who trained others on the use of Kavka. When he bowed to the Hegemon, Haego left the room.

* * *

July 2167

Illos, Chamber of Contemplation

Jack did not expect Javik to be such a dick. The Prothean, upon landing, had stormed out of the ship and declared that they were retaking the Prothean ruins for themselves. Jack had let him go, knowing that the arrogant alien would have to come back to him. If not for food and water, then for information. Liara and Benezia walked upon Illos' surface with care and concern, sharing some level of interest in Prothean architecture and the architecture of the Inusannon homeworld. For some reason, Javik and the others refused to touch any of the Inusannon objects. They were physically repulsed by them. Not to say that Jack wasn't either, as the entire area radiated death, but the Protheans avoided it like the plague.

That suited him fine. They avoided him, and he avoided them. As long as they were on Illos where the Council couldn't find them, he was fine. Three living Protheans, each an Avatar or whatever that meant. Liara was another enigma. In his memories, she had been penned up at remote dig sites for a decade before showing up on the radar. Now, she had saved the Prothean race, killed a Praetorian, albeit a half dead one already, and she had some sort of Prothean mentality now. She had the Cipher that Julia or Miranda would need in activating the Prothean beacons. Though, now that he had Illos and the Conduit, there really was no need to risk anyone's life for the beacons. The Reapers were going to come, beacon or no beacon.

He took out one of the Grizzly vehicles from the vehicle bay, and took the long drive through the tunnels and long pillars that made up the entrance to the Prothean base. When he got to the Chamber of Contemplation, as it was called, he parked the vehicle and got out next to another small civilian Grizzly. Ahead was the long walls full of cryo pods and dust. As well as hidden turrets and defenses that could blow him sky high if he walked down the chamber.

Off to the side of the start of the chamber was the first of Vigil's nodes. He had a few hundred scattered among the ruins, with exabytes of data. As that was more than the entirety of Arcturus station's memory capacity, moving or doing anything with or to Vigil was extremely difficult. With all of the issues, it wasn't a surprise to see the Grizzly with a mobile kitchen and bed set up here.

As he walked into the chamber with the node, he could see just Charles in the section, typing away at a large screen. It looked like he had to invent an entirely new font and language to program in just to be able to use the Prothean Quadrary code. His hair was longer now, almost shoulder length. The scruff of a neckbeard was also visible. Jack noted to himself that Charles needed more contact with humanity so that he wouldn't lose it.

"I almost confused you for a woman, Charles. Then I saw your neck." Jack said, entering the room.

"Gah!" Charles also seemed easily surprised. "First that four eyed bastard and now you! You can't expect me to work under these conditions."

"What did the Prothean do?" Jack asked. He couldn't remember if he had warned Charles in time.

"Four eyed bastard told me to stop working on Vigil. But I told him back that if I don't this whole place will run out of power."

"He accepted that as a reason?" Jack asked.

"Whatever they speak, I don't have a translator for it, and we payed for every language on the market. Even Volus archaic tribal languages." He muttered. "Thirty thousand credits on this Omni and it still doesn't cover the weird crazy crap you bring home. After saying something that sounded like a sausage grinder he walked away muttering." He looked up at the image of a Prothean standing behind the haptic screen. "Any idea where he is going, Vigil?"

"Vengeance appears to be going into the tunnels underneath this structure to reactivate the geothermal generators. The tunnels there have had a history of seismic induced structural weaknesses. Until the main lines can be restored, this facility will continue to depend on the attached Quarian vessel for power." Vigil reported. "I have sealed off the tunnels for their safety."

"Please," Jack told the VI. "These are the last Protheans alive. We cannot risk them losing their lives under any circumstances. Take any steps necessary to protect them, if you can."

"As a client race, your request can be overturned by any Prothean. However your security concerns have been noted and will be taken into full consideration."

"I can also offer the work force of Quarians to go down into your tunnels and fix the broken systems. As long as the Protheans are safe, we may safely transfer the risk to their client races." Jack lied smoothly, phrasing it that way as there were no Quarians in the room. Charles gave him a weird look, but then understood what he was getting at.

"Hey Vigil, if you have any work orders that the Protheans have expressed interest in that we can take over for them, just let me know. We would love to help them."

On Charles' readouts, he could see a lot of activity as Vigil considered their request. "Your offer of service has been granted. All work orders for this facility that are within your technological capacity are being forwarded to your workstation." Jack had to grin a little bit, as he saw work orders for repairs to walls, hallways, gardens, and lights appear on the haptic screen.

"Vigil, some of these replacement jobs require us to know how to make your reliable platinum alloy. Could you disclose that process to us so that we may initiate repairs?"

"Once power is restored, the foundries can create the alloy for you, client races. Knowledge of that magnitude is not released to your races." Jack shrugged. As long as they had access to the foundries, they could work around that.

"Good work, Charles. Daro'Xen is on her way here with a large amount of Quarians to work on this already. With Protheans here, this place is going to come back online. I don't expect to repair thousands of years of decay, but I do expect us to have some functionality here. Make sure that GTS defenses are prioritized. I trust the Quarians only so far. Someone is going to reveal this location at some point. When they do, the Protheans need to be able to defend themselves." Prothean being spoken for Vigil's programming to be assured that they were just simply loyal client races. In reality, Jack just wanted some security on his largest investments. Javik expressed no thanks of any kind for saving what was left of his race. "As for you, Charles, you should come with me next time I meet with the barber. You need it."

"I guess I could. Or you could supply me with an actual shaver and a pair of scissors. All we have here are computer equipment, and maybe a few exacto blades that I could use to cut my hair." He said with a bit of snark.

"No thanks for sending you research assistants to help you? I'm hurt, Charles."

"What? Who?" Charles said.

"Admiral Daro'Xen is bringing technicians to work with you. Under your direct command, they will be assigned to your project and bring their technical experience. However, the AI technology that they made was based off of branching, non central nodes. Vigil is the opposite. You are the expert on that, and I don't want to have any of them taking control of your project. You are the project lead, and not them." Charles was young, and a strong personality. He didn't have much experience in leading or commanding other people. This was going to be hard for him, he knew. Quarians were suspicious and paranoid, and didn't take being under the thumb of a human lightly. But, once Charles showed his capabilities, he hoped that would impress them.

"You realize I was just joking, right? The Quarians and I don't really communicate very well yet." Charles said. "Something tells me this is going to be a bad idea."

"Deal with it." Jack said. " _Learn Kellish._ " He told the man, in their language. Charles had to read the translation from his visor and then frowned.

"Prothean is hard enough, man!"

"I actually plan to fix that in a moment." Jack said, starting to walk back to the elevator that would take him to the outside area. "Motion detectors say that someone is coming up the Chamber. Logic assumes that Liara is finally going to take a look at the Prothean base. I'm going to ask for the Prothean language in a meld."

"Ok." Charles said. "I'll be here, not getting mind-raped." Jack snorted. Charles had a healthy sense of Humanity. As well as a healthy distrust of Asari. When the elevator made it up to the Chamber of Contemplation, he could see another one of the cheap ground vehicles they used on site rolling up to the parked Grizzlys. This one was not being driven by a Human, however. Whoever was at the wheel was out of gear, the engine screaming as it tried to go faster in a lower gear, and was overreaching on each turn, making it sound like a screeching child swerving from wall to wall. He wisely decided to take cover behind his Grizzly, as the vehicle came in too fast and braked too late, the wall taking most of the brunt of the damage.

Liara and Benezia tumbled out, laughing hard at the dented front end of the vehicle. "You most certainly do not have a chance of winning a racing circuit with those skills, daughter."

"But I can't look at the translation and drive at the same time!" Ah, that would do it. It would be hard to be able to interpret the warnings about shifting gears when she had to use translation software to understand Human english.

"No harm done, of course." Jack remarked, from his place of safety. "Those vehicles came from unreputable sources anyways. As long as it still runs and functions, I don't care how you drive it." He motioned to the long hallway in front of them. "The base VI will not allow us to go any further than this for the time being. The Protheans walked down the hallway this morning, and haven't been sighted since. We can at least access the VI and get some questions answered."

"You have a Prothean VI working?" They both asked, their eyes large. "It might know more about the Prothean civilization!" Liara spoke, looking around for where it might be. "Please, allow me to speak to it!"

Jack nodded, pointing to the elevator. "Vigil is down that hallway and in the connected chamber. My assistant, Charles, is working on him."

Liara took off at full speed, a light blue blur. Benezia smirked. "She claims she is not capable of biotic leaping. It is all a question of desire. What happens if we try to enter into the long hallway?"

Jack pointed to the hard points he knew about. "Kinetic barrier curtains, gravity based weapons, sonic vibration weapons, whatever it takes. The Quarians are powering the facility for now, but we will need a more permanent solution. I have no intention of pissing off our newest allies, of course."

"Yet you wonder." She remarked.

"Of course. What language do the Protheans use to speak, by the way? I've been meaning to ask if I can receive a light melding with such information. As I might count you a closer ally after all that you have done."

"We are not capable of it. Prothean language requires four eyes and multiple layers of eyelids to convey emotion and tense. However, they do speak the high tongue of the Asari, coincidentally. What are your plans about these 'Reapers' the Protheans are so worried about? Considering you seemed aware of them."

"The dark beacons carry a message of a very destroyed Empire. Citadel fallen, world on fire, and strange machines fighting them. I have a few clips of what those look like, and what they are capable of. I had a project that was attacked by one, and I got a few shots of a two kilometer long dreadnaught waltzing into a secure area and going faster than a cruiser in sublight." Jack said, wishing he had alcohol or a cigarette. Part of avoiding Alliance space meant not buying his luxuries. Hannah could track that. he would have to find a supplier, soon. All of the things he had to talk to people about might be happier if those involved had some alcohol.

"I'm interested in that, for certain. Though I was expecting the Protheans to be much more supportive, patriarchal, in a way. Willing to overlook our mistakes and assist us in learning how to master the galaxy." Benezia said. Her eyes drifted down the long hallway. "Instead they are bitter and jaded. They won't help us, not at this rate. Javik, the Prothean that I had a slight meld with, is disgusted by our 'cycle' in its entirety. He wants to take what they have learned and go into the dark long sleep again."

Jack felt his fingers clench. "So, use us until he can safely slip the noose, avoiding the Reapers and letting us take the fall. Having a female to repopulate his race might make him confident enough to try this."

"He is most likely not aware of my knowledge. When I had an argument with him regarding Liara's status as an Avatar, we had a short biotic duel. After which i crushed him with a gravity field and forcibly melded him. For his benefit, I taught him basic Asari, so that he can communicate with the rest of the galaxy at large. He also learned the updated version of Asari high tongue, compared to his archaic knowledge. I saw small pieces of his thought process. For them, in order to go back to sleep they will need Liara. This is not acceptable."

"Absolutely." Jack agreed. Liara was moved from possibly sacrificial to VIP. She had the Cipher, as well as Prothean memories. She also was his noose for Benezia to step into and become an ally of convenience. "Liara represents the only way we can open this entire facility. They will always keep us out of it if they have their way."

"So, do we threaten them? Because I very much enjoyed crushing Javik. He believes he is superior, the best warrior that his race has ever seen."

Jack gave Benezia a look with a raised eyebrow. "Asari Matriarchs make any kind of combat unfair."

"Not true. Historically, Krogan are rather tough themselves. And they live longer than we do."

"How long do they live, then?" Jack asked. "Galactic codexes aren't trustworthy, and they simply claim that the Krogan live similarly long lives to Asari." A Matriarch should know, as well because they were his next large project. Besides breaking the entire Batarian Hegemony, of course.

"Depending upon their healing factor, a Krogan that does not use up all of the cells they use to regenerate, as there is a set limit to the number of times their cells can come back from the brink, a Krogan can keep living for an extremely long time. Easily longer than an Asari. If a Krogan avoids combat or is not injured very much, they can live easily for more than fifteen hundred years. I know of an associate who met a Krogan who had been around during the Rachni Wars. But that was five centuries ago. If that Krogan is still alive, they are most likely hidden or dead. The old ones learn how to avoid notice."

"I'm sure. Considering that they might be old enough to participate in war crimes and genocide, the Council might have Spectres hunt those individuals. Though I might be on that list myself, if the Alliance tries to stick me with the death of the Turian Councillor."

"He died because an Asari wanted him dead. But they will never be blamed." Benezia said. "Thessia protects its own."

"I saw the one who did it. I even have a picture on my Omni-tool of her." Jack offered, bringing up a security photo of Mirala. "I used her ID to sneak one of my own agents into the party, yet she still made it inside. After stealing the ID and invitation, she still came to the party. She stopped within thirty feet of the Turian Councillor, and then the convulsions started."

"Death by brain aneurysm is a common enough death for those of Matron and Matria ages. It naturally occurs to the body at a certain point. Certain elements of our government have died in office from the same common form of death. Though the timing around said deaths has been odd, the cause of death has always appeared natural. I've theorized that a few specially trained Huntresses can cause such an effect with biotics or some other weapon developed by our government. We might not be the image of solidarity or military power, but Thessia protects itself much like the Salarians do. We just let the Salarians do most of the work. It is their preferred method of combat, while we are more… variable. We can do direct confrontation as well as indirect." Benezia explained. "Much like your own race, I might add."

"We have enough trouble being compared to each other. The males of our race have enough issues trying to decide which female he enjoys looking at without Asari getting involved." He joked. More to avoid the topic than anything else. Benezia was a tentative ally. "Liara is going to want to stay here with the Protheans, I would imagine."

"Yes." She replied simply. "Her mind is not ready to transfer the Cipher, however. You will continue to suffer from your use of the dark beacons. Of which, I brought you two of them. Considering you already have one, or have touched one, I am curious as to your needs."

"I could tell you that I am crazy, and willing to stick my head into more of them." Jack said. "But, I would actually like to see if I can get the information transfer method changed. With multiple beacons we can perhaps find out what method the Protheans used to send messages across that network, or store new messages in the beacon network. Ones that can't be intercepted or taken."

"Unless they themselves have a dark beacon and are ready to do the same. Though I must warn you that these have killed hundreds of sentients. Tampering with them is likely to get you killed."

"Vigil or Javik can alter them. They can from here, the center of the beacon network. Hopefully, I plan on making the beacons universal, accepting any of the input that we give. Not to mention taking the information out of them and making that more easily understood."

"I am giving you these dark beacons, Jack Harper. But I request updates and information. If it is not given, I will come here and find out myself." Benezia said. "Any precautions that you have taken for security are meaningless if my daughter is harmed."

"I understand." Jack said. "Liara will be under the best of care, and may have a room onboard the  _Acheron_. If she even returns to the ship from her newest focus, she will be given the best care possible."

"Your daughter is doing well, Harper. She has already started to grasp the first steps of our Justicar training. The water of Thessia provides her with strength."

"Water of Thessia?" The subtle threat towards his own daughter was something he understood.

"Our planet has an abundance of Element Zero. We do not mine it, as small particles of it are spread through the humid air around our oceans. Our animals have it, and our children and Matrons require it. To a biotic, it is safe to breath. To a non biotic it can cause infections and tumors if they choose to live on Thessia for years." Benezia said. "Miranda appears to be strengthened by the air. It is a good sign of her health."

"Ah." So, Thessia wasn't welcoming to other races. Oddly ironic, considering that its people were the most harboring group in the galaxy. "I hope that you will provide her some materials for long-distance correspondence for schools and education. As a human, her brain can handle more information that the pace at which your people go. There are a few universities that I ask she enroll into."

"As long as you pay for your daughter's expenses, I cannot complain. I understand why you do not wish to be seen by the Council or agents of the Alliance. I will not excuse you avoiding your responsibilities as a parent."

Of course she wouldn't. Jack wasn't parent material, yet Benezia wouldn't let up on this. Honestly, Jack went to a shrink when he was twelve. That hadn't done anything for him other than teach him that the state government was corrupt. Jack paid the man a few hundred dollars and he waved off the sessions after that. Then Alliance credits became a currency, and the rush of illegal banking and crediting that went along with that became his life. Julia and Miranda were his children, and sometimes he knew what to do and how to be a parent. More often than not he didn't, and he avoided them by throwing himself into projects. Julia was where she needed to be, being raised by the Office of Intelligence. That would make her a cutthroat. They would train her, make her into a weapon. She was smart, though. She would be more than capable for anything they put her up to.

* * *

October 2167

Barack H. Obama Convention Center, Virginia, Northwestern States

"Kasumi!" Julia whispered loudly. "Hey!" They were supposed to slip inside a service entrance, and get inside this convention. Of course, that was before Kasumi decided that she was going to scout ahead. Julia felt awkward, and it was cold outside. Kasumi had selected some obnoxious costume for them, apparently normal for those who were inside the convention. But they couldn't reveal their identities, so they couldn't buy tickets. Not to mention Hannah would be so angry at them.

With a crinkle of static and a burst of electricity, Kasumi appeared next to her in a matching outfit. "Hey! Sorry, I just had to get our key to the doors." She held up a wallet. "Come on! This is going to be so much fun!" They were supposed to be characters from some vid show that was very popular at the time, called 'Gundam Wing:Terminus Angel'. All of the female characters had some skimpy uniform that Julia could already tell she hated.

"For you, maybe." Julia said, scowling.

"Keep that face, yeah! Everyone loves a fiery redhead!" Kasumi said, giggling. "Let's go, Mr. Security door!" she said, waving the guard's wallet in front of the keypad. It looked like it was supposed to be fatter, but Kasumi probably got all the money and cards in it already. She didn't even remember some of the things she picked up some days. At the end of the day, she would go into their bedroom and dump out all of her treasures, cataloging and organizing them. The IDs and wallets she would return, while the money she would keep. She even gave some of it to Julia when she needed some. But with the ownership of Cerberus and her father's bank and other investments, she had plenty of money. Money that Kasumi  _was not_  going to touch.

The weird girl had started living with her and Hannah. She was altogether random. Her attention span was very limited, and anything that sparkled or was pretty she had no control over her desire for it. As a biotic, she had already given her promise to the Alliance that she would be theirs. The terms of where each biotic would serve was up to them, ultimately. You could have some control over where you went, but she would have to go. All of the kids who were in Cerberus and the Solaris program had to. Kaiden Alenko was, and he had turned out fine. He was some sort of political officer on the Citadel.

Hannah told her that the Alliance Office of Intelligence wanted her. They made an offer for training and the installation of a tactical cloak in exchange for the promise that she would stay and become an Intelligence agent. Kasumi got the same promise, as the technology in her head was some sort of illegal thing. Turns out people would kill for it, and so she was placed with Hannah for safety's sake. Hannah rarely left them out of her sight, and she was scary good at finding them. So days like today, where they could escape and get away from their babysitters, they were special. Even if she had to share them with a kleptomaniac.

She may have said no if she had been told that she was going to be breaking into a massive convention in just a leotard and some spandex. No weapons, no nothing. "This is stupid."

Kasumi nodded conspiratorially. "You're right. I should have gotten you a Yoko outfit. You would have liked that better."

"How would that make any difference?" Julia demanded, aggravated that Kasumi was not seeing why Julia had such a problem with this.

"She uses a Sniper rifle that is 1.4 meters long. She's also fourteen in the show, same age as you!"

"Sniper rifle?" Julia asked. "Sounds like fun." Wait, she was getting distracted. Guns and Warp ball had that effect. Shaking her head, she settled into a glare again. "How long have you been planning this?"

"I was supposed to perform here. Then I was saved by a cute magical girl." Julia glowered. "Ha! You do that every time! I swear, getting you frustrated or embarrassed is so easy!"

"We're getting off topic. Why are we here?" Kasumi always took them interesting places, though.

"I want to steal something!" She squealed.

"You steal things every day. What are you here for?"

She muttered something in Japanese that her translator didn't pick up. "You'll see in a moment. Cloak with me." She held out her hand, starting to shift from visibility. Julia followed, becoming invisible. Her Omni-tool showed that the efficiency rate for energy being used was very high. Higher than in a hardsuit which was meant for the purpose. Though the hardsuit offered some protection. This just rode up and got uncomfortable. Kasumi led them along a winding route of security doors, finding one that had caterers going through. They slipped through in between some carts full of biscuits.

The noise inside the convention center was crazy. People were everywhere, and she was getting jostled by hands and feet. Kasumi moved for some row of tables full of artists, drawing stuff. They dove beneath one of the tables, finding some measure of solace. When they came back into visibility underneath a table, Kasumi was vibrating with excitement. "Ok, they are pulling out the goods during a panel."

" _The Charity Auction for Hitsune Miku will now commence on the third floor."_  A voice came over loudspeakers. " _All those participating please enter the third floor auditorium."_

Kasumi smiled. She had cut her ridiculously long hair down to a more manageable mid-back length. It was also dyed black, but the blue came in on the top. How the scientists that made her gene-mods did that, she didn't know. She also discovered the secret to having perfect hair. That happened to be a team of four hair professionals. Kasumi's bed hair was something to behold. "That's us! Come on, let's go!"

"What?" But Kasumi had already ducked out from underneath the table. Julia quickly followed, seeing the black hair and leotard moving towards the stairs. Sighing, she darted forward, pushing past people in a variety of outfits that she didn't know existed, nor did she believe some people could wear. She tried to not scream as she pushed past a large tub of a man wearing a nearly identical outfit to hers. Shuddering, she sprinted up the stairs, where she encountered a press of people. She wasn't tall enough to see over it, so she just had to duck and try to identify her friend/roommate/kleptomaniac from the waist down.

That didn't work, but then she got a ping on her Omni-tool. It showed a location about fifty feet away, not even the direction of the third floor stairs. She had to push her way back through the same people she had just pushed through, getting odd looks and glares. When she finally got out of it, she saw Kasumi staring up at a large glass case. Inside was a statue of a chiseled man with gigantic sunglasses, one arm pointed to the sky with a finger extended. It was surrounded by a few hundred people, who were staring at the contents.

"What's that?"

"You'll love it." Was all that Kasumi said, her eyes taking in the sight. With her head technology thing she could do a lot.

"What about the Miku stuff? Aren't we here to steal that?"

"Nope. Decided you'll like this better. Plus, I just wanted my hair ties."

"You dragged me here for hair ties?" She wanted to pull Kasumi's hair out!

"Not anymore. This is better, trust me." Kasumi pulled her forward, to where they could see the inside of the case. When they got there, pushing and shoving, of course, she finally saw what they were talking about. The statue was of some guy who wasn't wearing any shirt, but with that kind of muscle you hardly needed it. Apparently he was called 'Kamina the Great'. Julia was part way through reading his biography when she saw a small panel at his feet. On that panel was some sort of necklace with a green drill, an incredibly long sword, and a sniper rifle. She focused on that.

' _Hiroshi Kazuo spent the final years of his life in 2056 working on making the world of Gurren Lagann more realistic. He hand carved this statue of Kamina, and then hired Smith & Wesson to custom design Yoko's sniper rifle. The sword was created by renowned sword smiths from all corners of Asia. He passed on before he could replicate any of the mecha from the series, but left us these pieces. His will dictated that they be shared with the world.'_

Kasumi pulled her away before she could read the statistics for the rifle, done in the old gunpowder weapon format. She pulled Julia over to the side. "Ok, new plan. Instead of stealing my hair ties, we are gonna get that for us."

"You're crazy." Julia said. "How are we going to do that?"

"Easy." Kasumi said. She found some other kids, and approached them. Julia stayed back, watching as Kasumi handed them a large handful of credit chits. She probably just stole all of that. When the kids nodded and dashed off, she skipped back to Julia. Skipped.

"Cameras are going to notice you talking to them."

"The kids I talked to have also talked to a bunch of girls with black hair and outrageous outfits. Plus, you and I don't have any of those ID tags that tell them how many days you've paid for."

"Why is that important?"

"They'll get arrested for trying to steal the goods."

"Just like we will, too!" Julia whispered quickly, watching as the kids all started going up to the glass to go after the sword. They pointed to it, smiling, as they started beating on the glass, finding it rather tough. So they went after the screws holding it down. Security was not long in coming. The kids were taken off by dark suited security agents, and Kasumi drooped.

"Ok, time for some of that space magic." Kasumi wiggled her eyebrows.

"I am not using biotics. That gets all kinds of attention." Strangely, she wasn't getting much attention in here. There were a bunch of redheads who had to be dye jobs walking around, one of which was nearby dressed in just a swimsuit top and a pair of shorts. "Maybe we should leave. The longer we stay here the more likely it is that the agent assigned to us will catch up to us."

"You have been gifted with the power of the gods, Julia. You can't just let power sit there! Use it!" Julia rolled her eyes at this.

"I have been over this with you. Nothing made me a biotic more than my mother getting irradiated. I am not a conduit of love and justice and space magic."

Kasumi pouted. "But I want that! You want that too!"

"It isn't ours, though." Julia reminded her. "It belongs to some museum."

"Yeah," Kasumi said, "The same one that built me!"

Julia blinked. "Why didn't you say that in the first place?" Those evil bastards. Sure, she could use her biotics to get some sort of karma back. They operated on babies to get the head technology to work. Not to mention applied gene mods to Kasumi while she was a baby. "Ok, I break the glass. Then what?"

"Then, they take the items through a secure corridor to lock them up until the glass is replaced." Kasumi said. "We nab the goods when they take them into the security wing." Kasumi then held up her hand. "But we can't start this until you say it!"

Julia groaned. "We are in public. I told you that was a one time thing!" Kasumi just pouted, and the people around them were giving them a wider berth just because she sounded more crazy than most of the people here. They would be right, if they voiced their concerns. Kasumi let her eyes water, one of the most annoying things about her gene mods. She could cry, and cry loudly, on que. With tears starting to come, Julia held up her hands quickly. "Wait, wait! Don't!" Another tear threatened to go down Kasumi's cheek, and her cheeks started quivering with the promise of a full breakdown. "For love and justice! There, I said it, now don't cry!" She also said it quietly enough that Kasumi might have been the only one to hear it.

"I'll give you a four out of ten for volume and delivery. I expect a better try next time." Was her reply, wiping her face clean. That gene mod was frustrating. Hannah threatened to throw something at her once when she made a breakdown over having to wear the brown contacts. Kasumi was just one of those people who was used to getting her way. Julia could manipulate her, as long as she herself wasn't the target of her ire. "Now, let's execute the plan!" She whispered conspiratorially.

Julia stepped out of range of cameras and behind a display. With her Omni-tool out, she made it look like she was typing a message. Once she was reasonably sure that she was alone, she cranked up the volume on her head phones. Step one to a successful Warp was to zero out the outside influences. Step two was to focus on the objective. The glass was a large pane, more than eight feet in height. It was a large box, with the statue inside.

She barely glowed as she brought up her biotics, the element zero barely holding. Looking up at some of the people around her, she lost focus and control. Her biotics faded, and she silently cursed. She risked turning up the volume again, trying to zero out outside influences. This time, she safely ignored the other people around her, the shadow of the display keeping her glow from attracting much attention. The Warp she threw was powerful, just like any of her biotics. The glass didn't stand a chance, exploding into shards. The crowd stepped back, panic evident. Security converged like a fat blue suited wave. The items inside the box were placed on a cart, and the cart was taken to the nearby security doors. Only the cart and one security officer continued through them.

With two unwanted escorts, of course. He wasn't even paying attention by the time he got to the first turn. His cart was empty before the second. Julia started booking it, the sniper rifle almost as tall as she was. But it was heavy. More weighted than any weapon she was used to. Whoever this Yoko girl must have been, she was probably a muscled amazon of a woman. Kasumi and the sword was even more comical, as it was taller than she was standing up. Kasumi already was at her maximum height of five foot three, and because of her gene mods she knew that she wouldn't get any taller. The sword had her by a couple of inches, and it was curved.

"Ok, we gotta go!" Kasumi said, the drill necklace already stuffed away somewhere. Though her other hand held the guards wallet. "We can go out the fire escape on this floor." She cloaked with Julia again, and not thirty seconds into their walking hand in hand, alarms went off. They were quiet, but they recognized a security lockdown when they saw one.

"Now you've done it." Julia muttered. "I am not getting caught wearing spandex." Julia made sure that Kasumi went faster. The final door they had to get through would throw up another alarm, and Julia could either take the time to hack it or just open the door. Kasumi, with abandon, threw open the fire escape door, and they had to rush down flights of stairs carrying the odd objects. Security was already swarming, looking for the burglars.

"This way!" Kasumi said, leading the way over to the main entrance. Julia felt a bit anxious, stepping into crowds of people. But instead of stepping into the crowd, Kasumi led them towards the street. With everyone walking everywhere, they jostled and bounced around people. But they made it to a bus stop without much trouble. "They won't arrest all these people. We should be safe." Kasumi said, using some of her stolen money to hire a taxi. Then, they just took it back to their house. Or rather, within a couple of miles of their house. It was nearby in Maryland, why it was named that Julia didn't care, in some hilly areas. It was technically owned by the Intelligence Office, and was used to train agents on urban camouflage.

Their minder for the day wasn't at his station, and was probably out looking for them. But when they got back and deposited their stolen goods on their beds, it felt like it was worth it. "How much are these worth, anyways?"

"I figure a few million credits. But they won't find out."

Their Omni-tools beeped at the same time with a message.  _Girls. If you are at all involved with the theft of multimillion credit art pieces, I will personally strangle you. Satellites report that you were in that conference center, and I want to know why. I'll be home soon, after I finish this task. If you leave the house again, even if it is for sushi, I will set every trainee in the building on you._

_Captain Constantine_

Hannah didn't often use her rank. "We are in so much trouble!" Julia yelled. "Why did I do this? This was a terrible idea!"

"I don't wanna give it back!" Kasumi yelled. "This was all your idea!"

"Are you kidding me?" Julia whirled on Kasumi. "You convinced me to go out there in this crazy getup and decided on the fly to take this stuff! In what world is this smart or logical?"

Being Kasumi's roommate/sister/friend was hard sometimes. Her emotions changed on the fly, sometimes making it hard to be in the same room with her. Fed up with her, Julia charged out of their shared room and used her hand to touch the button to close the door, so mad that her biotics would require too much focus to work. With a huff, she just glared at the closed door even harder when she realized all of her changes of clothes were in that room. Sighing, she closed her eyes in frustration. Kasumi was going to be the death of her one day, she was sure.

* * *

Authors Note

Liara fighting a Praetorian I thought would be quite a fun matchup. Not to mention give reason for Prothean sensors(which survived on the beacons, yet cannot survive in a base that still had power?) to not allow the Protheans in the stasis pods to wake up. An old, damaged Praetorian just waiting for the Avatars to awaken sounded like a fine thing to find in a Prothean ruin.

Javik has been well received, I see. I never loved him in game, and I never loved his dialogue. But he is so bitter and full of hurt that he often doesn't think before he speaks, his dogma replacing his concern for the species of the time.

 I debated for a long time naming Jack's children after Gilgamesh-era heroes, but I don't think it would bond as well as Constantine did. Emporer Constantine was one of the few who was acceptable to the Eastern and Western lines of history. Muslims don't have a problem with him, and Asia recognized him as a worthy power, and Christian based history honors him.

Thanks for reading, guys. I've been loving the train of thought that has been going on. Also, Kasumi is the weirdest muse that you can ever imagine. It's like watching an ADHD child with a microphone screaming at cats. It's great.


	34. Fugue: Diplomatic Immunity

Chapter 34

October 2167

The Citadel, Presidium Ring

Haego hated the stares he received. Most Batarians wore armor or robes instead of the jumpsuits and dresses that others wore. Females were of course favoring robes. Males favored armor or something reinforced, as there was more danger in their own race than in the Council races. Haego walked with two honor guard in full armor, having parked his ship at the nearly empty Batarian section of the Presidium ring. Only four other ships sat in the slots. It was humbling, to say the least. This was the center of the galactic community, he was sure.

He himself was wearing the cape of Rian, the all seeing. It was a vibrant blue, with four eyes trailing down the back. His armor was the armor of the High Priest, which was functional but highly decorative. Or at least one would assume. Haego had been wearing it for years, building up the strength. It was based off of the ancient armor their ancestors would wear, horned and with spikes coming off at every angle. He looked every inch the warlord, as most of the slavers based their own armor of intimidation off of that which a Batarian feared most. War-priest armor was meant to instill fear in those who saw it. From the belt hung melee weapons and two long spades. The precursor to the Kavka, the Batarian spade was meant to wound, and then slowly kill the target in agonizing pain. Their sheaths were meant to coat the blade with poison when drawn.

His helmet had four horns that curved from it. Meant to embody the champion of Rian sent to destroy Batar the Betrayer, everything about this armor was meant to make a Batarian feel fear. His escorts walked more upright, not wanting to be the target of their higher status escort. Haego was tall for a Batarian. His boots added a few more centimeters, with mass drivers built into the shins. Those were expensive. However, it allowed a war-priest to be able to replicate the Asari biotic charging ability. Additional mass drivers were built into his gauntlets.

He carried no ranged weapons of any sort. War-priests were valued because of their ability to fight at close range, and not at extreme range. Snipers were not a loved enemy. Yet those who used them often did so to avoid honorable combat. Haego didn't care for that. Only eighty thousand Batarians lived on the Citadel, compared to the millions of other species. Humans were starting to flood into the Citadel, and would soon overtake their numbers. Considering that only the middle castes were allowed to settle here, and the higher castes were of course allowed, the population here was nothing special. What higher caste Batarians did live here were quiet and avoided government. They were the worst kind of Batarian.

They only did what was barely necessary, gaining enough fame in the military to maintain their position and keep their status. Their children rarely moved up in the caste system, and they stayed secluded from the general population. Amongst the Citadel races these Batarians found comfort and basked in it. He gritted his teeth at the thought of taking advantage of such gifts. Kindness was not for the Karn.

The Batarian Embassy was next to the others. The diminutive Volus and odd Hanar had theirs next to the Batarians. The Human offices were far away, for their sake. Batarian relations were not known for their kindness. Volus were oddly the race they had the best relationship with. No emotions necessary, they only cared about income and trade value. Elcor were not large partners in anything, and the Turians had a rough relationship.

Turians provided their slavers contacts and deals, yet at the same time complained the loudest about the slave trade. They themselves practiced it, long ago. The Asari had forced them to change their ways, but unlike them the Karn demanded the caste system. Ownership and selling your children was critical to bearing the souls of ancestors that needed to live in a higher caste. Thousands of Turians were advancing out of the Jarem caste every year. Those that survived to adulthood gave higher chances to their souls and those of their ancestors to being reborn and their full lives granted.

The Asari never vocally threatened them about their culture and way of life. They simply placed economic sanctions upon them.  _Sanctions_  as a method of threat? He chuckled at the thought that economic sanctions could harm the Hegemony. The Humans knew how to fight. Sending their own deniable assets and showing the Karn that they had teeth. War-priests often asked for positions on the Human Batarian border, especially if they were the first of their line. With much to prove, it was better than going out into the Terminus. Death came often to war-priests sent there.

The Batarina Embassy was in front of him. His escorts stopped, as the guards on the Embassy doors stood in between Haego and the doors.

"High Priest! As a carrier of the plague, you are not allowed to enter the Embassy and infect those within. We may prepare you a vid screen to contact anyone inside, but you may not enter."

Hmm. Rather quaint, to be stopping him. Haego would go against his previous declaration to claim that he had been cured. Jeroth knew why he had come. He feared his own death. "I came only to speak directly to the Ambassador. My words are not for your caste or ears." Contact between priests was sacred. Honor duels between priests were considered blood sport for the masses. Haego had left behind his staff of state, as it was mostly ornamental. Mostly. The Element Zero in its head made it slightly more dangerous. It had been added after a war-priest had returned bearing a Krogan warhammer. Their Battlemasters had used them during the wars they had with the Council, and it was considered one of the rarest weapons to be found. Replacing the head of his staff with the same function was done in homage to the bearers of those weapons.

"The Ambassador refuses to touch one infested with the plague." The guard reported. "Return to your Fane, priest."

Haego glared, and the soldier hesitated. One who knew all of the steps of reincarnation was not someone he wanted to anger. "Tell me the location of the three priests I sent here. Or perhaps I may demand you return to the Fane with me, for your insolence."

"Your priests are also housed within the Embassy, High Priest. They go and perform their rites every morning for our people." Haego nodded.

"I shall return soon." Haego said, turning his back to the soldier. His escorts followed him, more hesitantly now that they knew he had the plague. Or that he carried it. All of the military feared it. They refused to touch the wounded, leaving that task to their slaves. Turians were resistant to most of the plagues, and so had become a backbone of the workforce. "You may return to the ship. I will be meeting with others that do not require the Hegemon's ever watchful." His escorts had orders to follow him, but were only too happy to be given the chance to get away from the plague ridden priest.

Haego himself took a deep breath. This Presidium was filled with the sights and smells of luxury. It sickened him. The flaunting of self and the flaunting of wealth without any military honors was despicable. He of course was given the space due his station, as his armor and appearance kept a small stretch of space around him empty. He safely assumed that as he tried to meditate and call upon Rian's eyes to see further than his own. But the murmurs and stares were all too easy to distract him. He had to restrain himself from demanding that they silence themselves.

Grunting, he stood up and approached a Batarian eatery. It was a traditional open flame broiled meat restaurant. The Batarian who was cooking appeared to be a female in her later years. On one wall was a small case displaying three black medals. Death, in the service of the Hegemon. Marej-caste specific. To have lost three sons to death, while advancing their caste. She must have been very successful.

"What will you demand, holiness?" She said in clear Batarian. She didn't meet his lower eyes, used to serving those above her.

"Your finest." He then paid the cost of the meal three times again its price. "Honor be yours, and your ancestors unborn." The female bowed, and prepared him a traditional meal of carnivorous worms from Kar'Shan, served with bone marrow soup. He chose not to check for any impurities or poisons, as this Marej caste appeared to be faithful. It was honestly the best meal he had experienced in a long time. When he stood up to leave the store, he offered a small blessing upon the doorframe, tapping his ungloved fingers to all of the edges.

Jeroth still had to die. His soldiers were loyal to him, as expected of a priest and family member to the Hegemon. But it was decidedly odd for him to not take the opportunity to kill Haego. If he did, Jeroth would then replace him as High Priest. There was no position higher in the Hegemony for Jeroth to go. Unless he felt like replacing his brother, but that would be trouble. With the riots already happening, that might cause the Karem caste to stand up en masse to kill him.

He just needed to get inside the Embassy. There had to be ways inside that were not as guarded. Or a guard that might accept his authority. Though they might be more accepting of bribes, which made him grind his teeth. His people were supposed to be above that. Perhaps there were other ways he could approach this. He could raise a small force and storm it with a group of Marej caste. But the Citadel races would likely intervene before Jeroth's heart would stop beating.

Going in alone would be an option, but that would involve taking on the entire Embassy and its hundreds of assigned guards. Twenty, he might be able to take on. That many he would need another advantage or equal numbers. Even convincing the troops the Hegemon had sent with him wouldn't even the odds. The small messenger vessel had a crew of ten. The four rated for combat could help him, but five against hundreds was still a decided battle before the first shot was fired.

Perhaps the Salarians or Volus would be a safe approach to ask. Glancing at his Omni-tool, he could see his armor's VI reporting his mass drivers at full strength. He pushed that monitoring app to the side, bringing up a list of contacts. The Volus contacts were few, but as a priest he could actually address them without a purification ritual later. He walked towards one end of the Presidium, where a long strong of Volus offices were. His contact, Digna Vol, was a Volus wearing a yellow suit and had a stall where he sold some sort of ship VI's.

"I am war-priest Haego." Haego introduced himself. "You met me long ago, on my last visit to this station."

"Kar'shan-clan." The Volus coughed. "Our business has always been good with your people. What can the Vol-clan do for you this day?"

"I need a secure method of entry into the Batarian Embassy. The Hegemon requires that a certain method is implemented, and I have been sent to make it happen. His guards know that I will be implementing this, and may attempt to stop me. They will not allow me access so far through the main entrance."

"Your request is a difficult one." Vol said. He took his time in thinking, not appearing to be out of breath but taking deep breaths anyways. "I do know of one group that has historically broken into the Batarian offices. The Batarians have done the same in return, and after both they and the Humans were proven to have broken into each other's embassies, charges and threats were dropped."

Humans had successfully broken into the Embassy? No wonder Jeroth needed to die. A stain like that on his family's record was not viable. "If Humans can get me inside the Embassy, I will not find them repulsive. My needs supercede any requirement to avoid unclaimed Jarem."

"Here is a contact number for their office. Our services end here, Kar'shan-clan." Digna said, his beady eyes judging him. Heago then walked to the darkest parts of Zakera Ward, where the Humans had their section of the Citadel. The Batarians owned parts of another section, with few places of ownership on the presidium. Humans had no caste restrictions and thereby had more owned locations on the Presidium. They also were loudly moving as many of their people who could afford it onto the Citadel as they could. Children and lessers in their culture were left behind, and many just disappeared. Disgraceful.

He sent a text-based message in Asari basic, the trade language of the galaxy, to the offered contact link. He gave the contact a location for an alleyway across the street from a dirty hotel. He received a reply for a time of day, within three hours. Humans probably wanted to set up some sort of secure location. He didn't care, so long as they could get him to Jeroth. The mad priest was much more of a threat than some humans. He did notice an increase in foot traffic near the alley, as well as a building across the street from the alley take an extended afternoon break, ostensibly for a doctor's appointment. However, he knew that they had a team of people inside. He waited until the given time, and watched as the streets and foot traffic came to a halt. C-sec was rarely in this part of the station, and he didn't see any of their patrol cars nearby. He sighed, and hoped that the Humans shot him in the chest if they were going to kill him outright.

Stepping outside, he could  _feel_  the eyes focus on him. He was a High Priest, and he did not hide in the darkness. He could, but not in this armor. He walked with purpose into the alley, where a Human female was already waiting. She had yellow-grey hair, with a military uniform. Her shoulders seemed reinforced, somehow. A harness for a pistol was not quite visible, but easily accessed. Though she was also standing in such a way that her upper back was leaning back against a wall, but her lower back was slightly extended away from the wall. Another weapon tucked at the lower back, probably. His armor would absorb that. It wouldn't absorb the rounds fired from the twenty agents everywhere else.

He walked, loudly letting his steps thunder into the alley. His armor VI reported that the Human was alone in the alley, but his sensors detected odd movement in the access rafters above.

"What do you want, Batarian." The Human female stated.

"You may address me as War-priest Haego." He replied. "I have come to demand your aid."

"You could always just ask politely, or is it your practice to offend people you're trying to get help from?" The woman said.

"In my language, to ask is to demand. There is no difference."

"Fine then. My name is Major Jones." She said, making a hand gesture towards where he knew cameras were situated. "I represent the Alliance Office of Intelligence. I have to say, I didn't expect a Batarian big name to approach us. What can we help you with?" She seemed amused. That was not how this was supposed to go.

Stepping closer to her personal space, he saw her flinch. "I am here to remove the heretic Jeroth. In the name of the Hegemon, I am to silence him."

"Your own Ambassador?" Jones said. "That sounds like a political nightmare."

"If all goes according to plan, it will simply be a method of retirement." Haego said. "Do you know what this is, Human?" He held out his Kavka, something that still filled him with dread. She didn't react, but something made her tilt her head.

"We have an agent who knows what that is. Some sort of symbol of highest authority in your Hegemony or something."

"Jeroth has already avoided meeting me directly. He does not know that I hold this, yet. I have a plan that will draw him out, something that will offer considerable risk to you."

"Tell me, Haego. What incentive are you offering that I would risk the lives of Humans for a Batarian concern?" Jones said. He didn't need to intimidate this one into accepting. She had flinched, shown fear. She knew, and so did he, who was the better.

"With the death of the Ambassador, I would fill in temporarily. I have the right to make decisions for the Hegemon. As such, I can offer this." He pulled out a Salarian datapad, encrypted beyond what his people could normally do. He did admit that the Humans were crafty and had broken Salarian encryption in the past.

"I can't speak for my government, but I can safely say that this will end up on Ambassador Goyle's desk within the hour. If she okays this, we will help you with your power struggle." Jones motioned to the shadows. "Captain, come and keep our guest company while I get this back to the Embassy!"

On a box nearby, he could see another Human female become visible. She had red hair, and a very large Asari shotgun at her side. His armor VI hadn't even sensed her breathing. Very cunning, these humans. She may have been trailing him for hours. The SIU hadn't been able to get a good measurement of how long Human stealth systems lasted or how well they functioned. His Kavka returned to his belt, and he took a sitting position on a crate that sat in the alley.

"Greetings, Human." He offered. Jones was weak. This one, she did not flinch when started at her. Not to mention she was a good choice to counter him. Invisibility and a shotgun that would tear his innards to pieces. For a close combat specialist, that was simply difficult to counter.

"What's with the horns?" She said, pointing. "Not much decorative value when they stick out of any cover you take."

"I am a War-priest. I am not a soldier." Haego replied. It was odd, that she seemed comfortable in his presence. "This armor is meant to emphasize that. Among the different castes, it is universally useful."

"What's up with that, by the way. The slavery and all that business." She had a loose posture, not threatening but not submissive. There was enough room between them that she might have enough time to get her shotgun up and in place.

"Our people have always practiced it. It is a convention that is irrevocably Batarian. You would not understand the base need for it."

"Try me. We've always been curious that you would risk going to war over slaves." She said, her lips curving downwards. Humans could sneer better than a Batarian, for certain. Their lips were wider.

"We are trying to save their souls." He said simply. Instead of the expected epithets and anger, she sat, merely questioning. Very odd. Previous times he had spoken with other sentients not controlled by the Hegemony, this had usually been the point that they started screaming at him. "By birth, our caste is chosen for us. In order to fully ratify that birth and allow our soul the chance to be reincarnated, we must live that birth well. Our actions and destiny are ours to decide, within the limits of our birth."

Haego took a deep breath, waiting to see if the red haired female would object. He could see some disgust on her face, but that was normal for them. He continued. "For all those born outside of the Hegemony, they must become the lowest caste first, to make their way up until the souls of their ancestors have been brought to their highest birth. Until all souls have been saved, we shall continue to extend the Hegemony and its saving light. As such, that makes all other races Jarem caste, and not the same station as our priests or Hegemon. It is why we do not compromise or negotiate. If we do, we are betraying our birth."

"Gods, your nuts." Was her reply. "How religiously active is your lesser castes, then? I am guessing they don't enjoy being told they can't live outside their little boxes."

"The rebellions that occur at times are put down harshly. Else we betray our-"

"Birth. Yeah, I get it." She interrupted. Heago glared. "So, you have a Kavka. Intel about you hasn't been current for eight years, since the last time you stepped out of Batarian Space. But you didn't have one before. We know that Jeroth has one, but he rarely shows it off." She paused for a moment. "Why don't you just challenge him for his spot?"

"He has an entire regiment of Hegemony guards. All free-born military caste. Their children, if sponsored and blessed, will become Karem. The highest caste. Their loyalty is to the one most likely to do that. At this time, their loyalty is undoubtedly to Jeroth. They will assist and defend him in the event of my challenge. It would lead to my death if I attacked alone in his position of strength."

"So you went to us? Why?"

"The Asari and Turians would be the most difficult to bargain with. Either I work with you or the other 'partner' races." He said with venom. "However, once Jeroth dies, I will be required to spend time here in deliberations with your people. It is likely that the other races will attempt to 'mediate' and damage our relationship further."

"I've noticed. How familiar are you with the Batarian biotic program?"

"It is the Hegemon's concern. He controls that tightly."

"Then tell your Hegemon thanks for me. I'm Captain Constantine, one of the few directors of our biotic program. Someone in your program decided to warn us about an Asari plan to sabotage our own biotic program. So, as you are probably the closest I am going to get to an official from your government, thanks."

"I accept your statement honorably." Haego returned.

"Is that your way of insulting that or your way of saying you're welcome?"

"Until we captured Jarem from other races, we did not have a translation for please, thank you, or welcome. These words are unfamiliar and unwanted." He said this in Asari basic just to prove a point. "To us, your words of freedom and equality are odd, indecipherable. To understand it is to invite the darkness of doubt to overcome our souls."

"Big talk from the guy at the top of the pyramid." She remarked. "You guys could make small changes that give your castes a bit more freedom, privileges. Something to improve their lives."

"As High Priest, I cannot do any more than continue to enforce our religion. Decisions such as that are not possible. Changing any details about our religious practices is not done lightly." With how detailed their ancestors made it, it was unlikely to be possible to change anything like what she was saying.

"Alright, touchy subject. How about I ask you something else?"

"As long as you do not seek to casually demean everything about my culture, you may ask."

"What's life on Kar'Shan like for you? What are you and your priests responsible for?" She asked, curious. He told her some of the basics. Simplistic lifestyles, eating habits, and clothes. Military service on their ships and in their cities. Bondmates, children, and social events. What their media was like, and their music. He avoided answering too in depth, and avoided any mentioning of military aspects of their life. While he was describing what Batarian music was like, Jones returned.

"Ambassador Goyle has given her vocal approval. She won't sign anything and neither will you until you are sitting down in the Embassy chair. She also thinks that Jeroth is not the most helpful individual."

"You might not enjoy the decisions I will have to make, either. While I may speak for the Hegemon, if he disagrees with my statements, I shall die also. Such is the cost of having a different opinion on state matters." He said, chuckling at his own joke. "I have a plan to draw Jeroth out." Using his armor's VI as well as his Omni-tool, he projected the basic design of his plan onto the wall.

Jones frowned. Captain Constantine giggled, a sound he had previously only associated with very small children. "Oh yeah. I like this guy." Constantine said. "I've even got a location we can do this in. Will he come himself?"

"If you notify him through public channels, yes. Oh yes, he won't resist."

"Why not? He might just ignore this."

"Because if he didn't go, his life is forfeit. His brother is the Hegemon, and much is expected of him." Haego smiled, making Jones frown. Weak. "I look forward to this."

Hannah couldn't believe her stupid kids. She was gone to the Citadel to go deal with a Batarian situation with Jones, and within three hours Kasumi had led Julia into some sort of art heist. While the fact that they hadn't been caught or captured on camera was impressive, it also meant that they used their tactical cloaking system. They were supposed to keep that to themselves. Kasumi had some sort of Collector-based technology in her head, and was a walking gold mine of tech. Julia was the galaxy's biggest ransom, whenever Jack got around to wanting to be a father again.

Miranda had been trying to send Julia messages, but Jones thought it would be unsecure. They had blocked them so far, and Julia didn't know about them. Miranda's messages were already showing signs of coming to a complete stop. Jones simply showed her the headers, and they didn't open the messages. So, after letting her anger cool down a bit, she wrote a suitably angry message and sent it. Hopefully it sounded parental. Kasumi was just not a well rounded child. She had near Stockholm Syndrome tendencies, and they couldn't decide if it was from her or from the memories inside her head. Her gene mods made her extremely unique, and her voice was loud for someone so small.

Her crazy metabolism and ADHD aside, she was a good kid. Very smart, had graduated from secondary school early. She had no plans for college other than what her acting and music career had demanded, but now was in the witness protection program. When they had tried to separate her and Julia, Kasumi had a near breakdown. She had never had a mother or father figure, and didn't respond well to authority. She shared a room with Julia for the nightmares.

Still, she was smart, and if she could balance herself out would be alright. As she had a graybox, with the ability to perfectly remember anything she saw or bore witness to, she was a big concern for Jones. She and Julia were both offered a position within the Office of Intelligence. They took it, with the stipulation that Hannah be their mentor as well as control the rate at which they received gene mods and other implants. The tactical cloaking field was safe to implement once they had grown a bit. Kasumi was already at the point she was expected to be, as she had finished growing. Henry Lawson had done the implementation, safely hidden at a medical facility on Titan. He was a permanent guest of the Agency there, studying human genes and mapping them.

Teenage girls were complicated. She was a bit messed up from there herself, having been sent to recover in the same program Kasumi and Julia were in. But now she knew who had caused that to her family, and so she had a focus for her goals. Right now, her orders were to keep Julia out of Jack's hands, and to make sure that Cerberus ran correctly. Many of the scientists and personnel had moved onto other projects, as the money they received under the table from Jack Harper had stopped coming in.

Then there was that grade A piece of work, Donovan Hock, she had to work with. Now  _that_  was a man she wished she could have killed. Slimy, despicable, and constantly leering at her and the other female technicians and doctors. Any time she could take a day off to be somewhere else was a fine opportunity. Unless, of course, you have to be called in to handle some Batarian grudge match.

Perhaps Hock might be better than this Haego nutcase. If all of the upper caste Batarians were as stuck up as this guy, they would never have a peace treaty of any sort. Easily offended, hardly polite, this guy was like a caged animal. Hock at least tried to lure you in with money and booze first. She hadn't gotten truly and properly drunk in a while. Taking care of two teenage girls had led to many nights of worrying. The last time she took a drunk break, Julia decided to take a joyride. Apparently Jack had decided that nine years old was the proper time to teach a child how to drive, and Julia took her aircar out for a spin.

Kasumi got into everything, so she kept no booze at the house. It made for a very unhappy down time. But if that was what it would take to keep alcohol from Kasumi, she could do it. A lot of people with Stockholm Syndrome like habits turned to alcohol and drugs to overcome their troubled past. Hannah was sure as hell not going to be the one to start her towards that track. So while on the Citadel she had gotten a couple of shots of some decent whiskey. The girls wouldn't know.

"Are you ready for this?" Jones asked, sitting beside her, as they looked over the warehouse at the outer edges of the Zakera ward. It was nearly empty most of the time, and it was owned by a Human shipping conglomerate, but it only ran on the weekdays. The weekends it was a graveyard, with machinery silent and foreboding. Hannah nodded to Jones.

"Are you actually going to shoot a gun this time?" Hannah ribbed her. In the years that she had known Jones, she had yet to see the woman shoot any of the guns she carried. She didn't have any tactical cloak or any other special gene mods, other than her cybernetic arms. Even those were not that strong, as she lost the arm wrestling competition that had gone around the office a little while ago.

"I am an analyst, not a soldier. The catfighting and hair pulling is your job."

"If you want a hair pulling contest, I have a couple of wigs that you might be interested in." Hannah said. "We made one from Kasumi's cut hair, so if you are feeling a little crazy, we can match the look."

Jones snorted. She hardly ever smiled or found anything funny, and inside Hannah was cheering herself on with every piece of her imagination. "If Haego agreed to it, maybe." Jones joked. It was said without any emotional inflection. As such, it sounded like a dry comment rather than a vivid joke.

"You really don't get out much, do you." She remarked. "I mean, what kind of life are you expecting to have outside of work?"

"What little time off I have I spend getting doctors to strip out infected flesh from my shoulders and ribs. Then I spend that time readjusting to whatever new medicine they have cooked up to keep my body from rejecting my cybernetics. So, I am a dead fish romantically, since my body is so damaged that I couldn't really participate. No family I care about, no children or husband in the future or past, and high stress work to keep me busy." She glanced at Hannah. "My life is here. I don't care about anything else. The Office of Intelligence is where I can do the most good. Not to mention they have the only scientists who can control my implants. I wouldn't go far as a double amputee."

"Well, now that I feel like crap for asking that question, do you have a favorite food or something I can make it up to you with?"

"My taste buds are dead. So food doesn't really matter to me much. Though some spicy foods still get through, but only the ones that you have to wear gloves and mouth protection to eat."

"Sounds like we need to have a Habañero night." Hannah muttered. "That might make Kasumi stop complaining about our food quality."

"Or burn out her taste buds."

"Oh, I don't think that will stop her. She can eat that Wasabi stuff like it's candy."

"What about Julia?"

"She can maybe take a Jalapeño. Girl has no tolerance for spicy food."

They were interrupted by a beeping from their wrists. " _Ma'am, we've got a group of squints inbound. Counting ten, Ma'am."_

"Good. Recon, any more on their way?"

" _Some suspicious aircar traffic, but could be C-sec trying to figure out about us. Goyle received a warrant from them earlier today searching for a Batarian hiding somewhere in the Human sectors of the ward."_

"Report in any time that you feel the situation changes. Overwatch, keep an eye on that traffic." Jones stated. "Allison, get down there. This show is on you, now. Jeroth is here, which means we can get that four eyed bastard his due. Then we hold Haego by the balls until he agrees to the terms of our agreement."

"Batarians have internal -"

"Figurative statement, don't be an ass. Get down there." Jones said, and Hannah decided that whatever joy or snarkiness she could get away with wasn't going to continue. She dropped down to the floor of the factory, sitting in the open next to a visible generator. It was for one of the shuttles that was used to pull larger shipping containers from big vessels. The kinetic barrier would protect her until Jeroth came down into knife range. Just in case he wanted to deploy snipers, that would keep him mostly honorable.

She had sent a package to Jeroth, demanding a fight. It was Haego's idea. Demand a fight over the Kavka. Jeroth would show up to kill her, one way or another. She didn't trust his plan at all, and had a few backups in place. Alliance Intelligence agents were in the containers, ready to rush out and kill Jeroth's bodyguards. It was imperative that Haego be the one to put down Jeroth, as that would not create a worry. Or a politically sensitive situation.

"I will take your red hair as an ornament, Human." Jeroth said, coming into the main open area between all of the crates. His men spread out, breaking off into seven pairs and securing the area. Leaving just Jeroth in front of her. He was wearing normal armor, with a pointed helmet and a cape. At his belt was his own knife in question, bound with a blue sash. He didn't draw the knife, and stood there. Haego said that Jeroth would wait until she drew her weapon, as she was the challenger.

So, she drew the knife that Haego had let her borrow. They had nothing in writing to prove that he would keep his word, but the look of distaste when he gave her the Kavka was enough for her considerations. He wouldn't be leaving without it. It was their guarantee that he would come to the bargaining table.

Jeroth didn't pull out his knife. Instead, he pulled out a large, jagged looking rifle. His soldiers didn't draw their weapons, which was a good sign. "Hey. This is a duel, not a shootout."

His laugh was without remorse. "Fool. Jarem don't make the rules. Drop the knife and I might consider letting you live."

"Hmm. Tough call." She cloaked, letting her body hit the ground. The Batarian predictably shot towards the nearest piece of cover, a shipping crate. She threw a small tech grenade at the edge of the corner, making a small flash right behind it. The kind of flash that you might expect from someone decloaking. Jeroth took the bait, running wide and coming at an angle to be able to shoot her supposed new location from a safe range of about ten feet away. She was still on the ground, and if he came close she could interfere.

Jeroth emptied his rifle towards the spot she had just 'disappeared' to. His shots struck a kinetic barrier, so he just kept on emptying the rifle at it. He held off when it was about to overheat, taking the time to try to see what was going on. Hannah's eyes widened when she saw four small cylinders rolling towards them. She quickly ran, not knowing what they were but very worried. She shouldn't have, though. Thick smoke popped out of the canisters, carpeting the entire area. It was so thick that it disrupted her cloak, but it wouldn't have mattered anyways. She couldn't see, and neither could anyone else.

But she could hear. There was the sound of a turbine of some sort warming up, coming from the direction of the shipping crate. "Jeroth." Haego's voice seemed amplified. "I find you accused of heresy of the highest order. Make peace with Rian, for your end has come."

"Wait, Haego, you are just going to get us both killed!" Jeroth screamed back, trying to move through the smoke. "The Hegemon desires both of our deaths!"

"Give me a reason as to why your brother has deemed you a Heretic. If I find your answer wanting, I will bury my staff in your neck." Haego said, his voice echoing. Hannah saw Haego walking towards her, the thick armor on his legs and arms glowing with energy. They were also the source of the turbine like noises. The larger gauntlets and boots had some sort of spinning turbines on them, all contained inside the armor. But there was air being compressed around some sort of element zero reaction. She hadn't seen anything like that before.

"Your own reincarnation has never been identified, hasn't it." Jeroth said. "Mine neither, and the Hegemon has kept the signs from us. You and I, we both are from the most ancient families of Kar'Shan. From the lines of unbroken priests."

"Stop! Speak your mind, but do not speak of things that the unworthy are not meant to hear!"

"You truly believe it. You truly live our religion, Haego. Of all the High Priests in our history, we finally have one that truly lives it. Kill me then, Haego. You can find everything I was accused of heresy for in my offices. The password is the name of my first assassin." Hannah was very confused. Jeroth was speaking, yet the man himself was shaking in fear. He started backing away, his hands shaking as he held the rifle, firing in startled bursts towards anything that he saw.

Some shots burst against her kinetic barrier, but the smoke made it impossible to focus. Or at least on anything other than Haego. The back of his boots flared, and the air contained inside slammed downwards, making her hair blow in backwash. Haego, himself, was launched forward and out of sight. Like a rocket, almost. Hannah ducked back behind a shipping container and cloaked, not wanting to get implicated or involved.

When the smoke cleared, Haego was standing over a mutilated Jeroth. Jeroth's head was a pile of mush leaking out of the now shattered helmet. Nothing was left there, other than a pile of red. The shoulders were either dislocated or the body had been thrown afterwards. His legs were about the only thing unharmed, and in his hand was a Kavka. Haego leaned down, picking up the blade. When he stood back up, the Batarians that had come with Jeroth were all giving him their fisted salutes.

"Holiness, what of the Human? She challenged the Ambassador with a Kavka!"

"How do you assume the Human received a Kavka, Commander?" He asked. "I provided a convincing enough fake model. Jeroth would refuse me direct confrontation. I forced him to come here, and I can personally guarantee that the Humans did not defile something so sacred." Hannah had to try not to start laughing. Oh, if they knew where that had been. Her old knife she had gotten from Saren had gone to every mission with her. Even to Palaven.

She had no intention of revealing any of that, however. For now, she drew back to the small command post that Jones had the rest of the agents set up in. They were all there, seemingly observing something on the vid screen. Hannah remembered to decloak, and walked up in front of the tall male agents.

The vid was showing the extremely one sided fight between Jeroth and Haego. Haego's weird turbines gave him the ability to leap like some crazy lizard, and then slam into the destination with full strength. He didn't use any weapons, really. Just his fists and some sort of turbines on the gauntlets, which made his strike shatter the armor. When Jeroth brought his gun around, it was shattered with a single quick jab, parts of the weapon spraying all over the floor. Jeroth had to go for his Kavka, and every strike that came close to cutting any part of Haego's armor was blocked by Haego's own close combat knives. They were long, triangular, and were getting sliced to pieces by the Kavka. However, Haego got in punches, the turbines glowing brightly every time his fist connected. He took Jeroth apart, until he brought down the male with a trip. The strike that crushed Jeroth's head came from the turbine on the bottom of the boot, the burst of force crushing the helmet only after his boot came in contact with it.

"Someone identify what the hell he's armed with!" Jones' voice came over the shoulders of the gigantic field agents. "He just jumped twenty feet and took someone in SIU armor apart. With only his fists and some sort of armor. Do your job, people. Figure out what the hell he's got, and let's get it to people who can reverse engineer it."

"At least the mission objectives were met." Hannah said, coming up to Jones. "Knife is secure, and so now all we have to wait on is to see if he keeps his word."

"With how casually their previous Ambassador broke his, I doubt this will be so easy."

* * *

Illos, Hall of Memories

Liara took the elevator down to what Jack Harper had told her was the location of the VI. But the Elevator continued to run past two stops, until it came out in a large darkened chamber. When it came to a complete stop, some lights turned on, trying to light up the floor in front of her. The light sources then popped and fizzled, sparking. She was left alone in the dark. Her Omni-tool was going to need a new light source soon enough at this rate. The room had a floor at least as wide as the Chamber of Contemplation, with small bays on either side of the room. Vehicles and ships, long dead and corroded, littered the ground. She started walking through the room, figuring that the VI would be contained on the other side. Everything seemed undisturbed, other than the giant water puddle that filled the room. Her steps splashed and sent ripples through the water, which with her light gave her an idea of what areas were safe to step through.

"Hello?" She called out. Her voice echoed loudly. Her breathing hitched slightly, as she was reminded of the Prothean bunker. Shaking her head, she fought to keep that memory from bubbling up to the surface. Both hers and the memory of the Avatar, watching that machine scythe through dozens of their warriors. She had to try not to focus on that, as there were so many other things she could be thinking about. Being on Illos was like a miracle for her.  _Everything_  triggered memories. Everything and everywhere she explored helped her rationalize the memories in her mind.

She didn't hear any reply in the minute or two she spent digging through memories, and nothing had moved. She was very deep underground, now. As she walked forward, she could see a long tunnel going to her left, and again off to the right. It was sized for the vehicles, of which most sat in rusted piles. "Is anyone here?" Only splashing and the echoes of dripping water replied.

She kept walking, however. There was something, some Prothean part of her mind driving her forward. She came to an empty section of wall, where the road came to a T, splitting off in both directions for vehicles to travel. She walked up to the wall, seeing some sort of panel buried under the ancient algae formations. She wouldn't have noticed it, except for the awkward shape of one of the walls almost turning her focus towards that. Abstract architectural designs, it seemed. It naturally pulled the eyes downwards. She brushed the algae off, the flaking plant matter spraying dust and dirt into the water at her feet.

It wasn't lit or powered, but Liara pushed on it anyways. It opened to a chamber, something of a bunker in shape. Much like the last one she had been inside, this one had elongated ceilings. But instead of stasis pods, these walls were filled with small green statues, all inside of glass cases and glowing with element zero or some other power source. Each was something important, but her memories failed to identify those details. She didn't dare touch them, just brushing the light from her Omni-tool over them.

Though there was a source of light at the end of the hallway. She walked towards it, feeling the air getting less humid. The dryness was actually making her skin tingle, as dry planets and weather made Asari skin crinkle. They didn't deal with it well. She moved quickly down the tunnel, seeing the alcoves in the walls filled with small green stones, tools, and small workstations. But the light at the end of the tunnel was even more interesting. It was from a large chamber, with some sort of crystals and wires set into the walls. A large workstation was set up in the middle, with some sort of haptic interface crackling. She moved up to it, removing dirt and dust that had build up around the display ports.

When the haptic interface came online after she cleaned it, she could see the shape of a Prothean, standing there. "Hello, Avatar of Recollection." It said.

"Hello." She greeted. "Are you the VI?"

"You may call me Vigil. I was designed based using Ksad Ishan's mind as a basis for my own personality."

"Where is Charles? Jack mentioned that he was down here as well."

"The lesser has spent much of his time at one of my secondary nodes. Those nodes fulfill enough functions to be informative for the lesser races. But only a primary node, such as this, can implement administrator authority and changes." Vigil said. "Your mind's status has been alerted to me, and you have been added to the list of Protheans on site. As such, I had the elevator bring you down to the research levels."

"Do you have records?" Liara almost forgot to breathe.

"Video logs, recordings, anything that would assist those who survived in creating another Empire. As the Avatar in charge of our people's traditions, you hold many of the details necessary to restoring the proper laws and traditions." Vigil stated. "You may access these rooms whenever you wish, and access any of the technologies that are stored here. As Recollection, any technologies that you and the Avatar of Superiority agree on to be shared among the lessers may be."

"Thank you." She offered. "Many people can benefit from those technologies." She refocused. "What kind of problems are we experiencing in the base?"

"A full report has been sent to your Omni-tool. Power outages, as you may have noticed, plague our lower levels. Water damage has ruined the cooling system for the backup generators. Only the tertiary solar power generators still exist, and those are not running well. The sooner that primary power can be restored, the more likely that this base can return to full functionality."

"How are we going to do that? We don't have very many people here." She said, bringing up the list of statistics and issues on her wrist.

"All those labeled Protheans have been deemed as essential. The lesser known as Jack Harper has offered the use of labor provided by the lesser races, so as to remove the threat of death that may occur to the Protheans." Vigil reported. "Vengeance has deemed this an insult, and wishes to override this safety directive. Your vote is required."

"Why mine?"

"Superiority voted towards the use of lessers, while Vengeance has vehemently refused. Vigilance has refused to vote, claiming that she is not deciding the fate of her people when her responsibilities and personal duties contradict."

"Please clarify." Liara said. "About Vigilance."

"Querying. Vigilance would normally vote for asserting Prothean dominance, however as the last fertile female of the species she also cannot discount the risk of losing her life and therefore the end of the species."

"Ah." She paused, thinking. "I personally do not wish to see them placed in harm's way. Yet, as Recollection, it would be traditionally acceptable to maintain our status as the lead race. Perhaps I should meet with Jack Harper and speak to him regarding this before I cast my vote. It would be hasty to do otherwise."

"Please return here when you feel the need to. The memories of our scientists and researchers line these walls. Great power resides here, and they would prefer that it not become rusted and decrepit."

Liara dared to reach out and touch one of the crystals set into the walls, the one nearest to her. The VI didn't say anything as she did so, letting her feel comfortable in touching it with the tip of her pointer finger. A small spark of biotics touched her finger, and slight images played across her eyes and nervous system as she came in contact with it. However, she didn't know how to navigate or control it, and reluctantly removed her finger before she looked any further.

"I will return, you have my word." She said, vowing to return and catalogue every single crystal and every single memory that could still be preserved.

"I am a VI. You do not have to promise me anything." The machine returned.

"I give it anyways." Liara said. "Even if you are a machine. I will return here. This place is not safe for the artifacts that remain."

"Protocol is in agreement with you. When power is restored, so shall be the drainage systems that will assist you."

Liara nodded, and looked around longingly at all of the crystals and tools. With a short promise that she would come back, she returned to the elevator. It had a bit of water at the bottom now, thanks to the overflowing vehicle bay. But it all drained off for the most part when the elevator lifted up and out, rising back out of the shaft. There was a small piece of comfort when the elevator rose up to the surface, and the light of day reflected along the Chamber of Contemplation. She took a deep breath, savoring the smell of ancient undisturbed ruins.

"You cannot expect us to simply allow you into our research facility!" The loud tones of Javik came over the vehicles that were parked. "It is not your responsibility!"

"But it is our responsibility to make sure that you survive. Your responsibility was partially voided when your Empire fell. Now, there are only three of you. Hardly enough to call that an Empire. Not even enough to provide enough viable genetic material to bring back your race. So, you tell me what your responsibilities are. Right now, all I see is an endangered species trying to hold onto whatever dignity they have left." Jack Harper's reply was not done in the best of taste, as Javik had a very stubborn personality.

"Insolent Lesser! Our billions of dead laid the path for your awareness! You spit upon hundreds of years of sacrifice and war! We are owed the dignity-"

"Dignity my ass. You're nothing without us. I didn't spend years studying your castoffs and fixing your mess just to let you go off on your own. You'll take our aid, and with it you might get the chance of killing off the Reapers."

"The beacons point to Ilos and the Conduit. We do not need your help. The lesser races will come to us for aid, as they always have. Your contribution to our future is no longer necessary."

Liara ducked behind the large human vehicle and peeked around to look at the situation. Her mother was sitting further back by the vehicle they had driven and crashed a bit. Jack was smoking a cigarette and standing in front of Javik and the other two avatars.

"I can take my ship and leave, if that is what you want. Then you can try to rebuild the pipes for the coolant control systems and your geothermal power systems without an Omni-foundry or power. So, sure, I could leave. By the time that the other lesser races return, they would find the mighty Prothean Empire surviving off of the grasses and vegetables growing in the old Inusannon city." Jack trailed off. "The novelty of watching the Protheans struggle with something as simple as food and water would be entertaining, possibly worth the time and money to turn this place into a zoo of some sort. Unless you feel confident in your remaining faculties and abilities, you  _need_ us."

Javik glared, glancing around at the surrounding area. His secondary eyes scanned the vehicle behind Jack, narrowing inwards in a way that only a Prothean would recognize as intent to harm. Liara quickly stepped out, getting the attention of everyone.

"He is right, Vengeance. The use of lesser races for menial tasks is necessary." Saying that in basic Asari felt wrong, but the Prothean part of her recognized it as the just thing to say. Shaking her head, she refocused. "We can't create an Empire again, Javik. All of the models and theories developed by the Avatar of Solace depended on more than fourteen hundred mating pairs." Her refocusing didn't work very well. She had meant to appeal to the part of Javik that cared about his people, and her bent and changed mind interpreted that is such.

"Our Mandate is clear. The lessers must be guided by the Empire. There is no other path!" Javik stated, nostrils flaring. "Even your partially preserved memories can tell you that much."

"What about our Empire's origins? Did we not inherit the Mandate from the Enlightened Tho'ian?" She didn't even know what those were, but her mind was filling in the blanks. "They delivered the Mandate to us, as well as the technology we claimed to have responsibility for! With that kind of logic, obviously the Tho'ian lost against the Reapers themselves. Our Mandate is not clear, not when there are other races that might challenge us and simply take the Mandate without understanding the consequences." Images flashed in her head of some large beak of a creature, with large glowing pieces of metal attached to it via some sort of tentacles. A Tho'ian, she supposed. The metal looked like the metal that the Protheans later used for their beacons. As for the Mandate that her Prothean side of her brain brought up, she couldn't make sense of the images and feelings that flashed by.

Javik said nothing in return to her. "As the Avatar of Recollection, such secrets regarding our origins belong to you." He glanced at Jack and Benezia, and switched to speaking Prothean. " _The Mandate to guide all species belongs to the Protheans. I do not value any of the lesser species. None of them are strong enough to unite the rest against the Reapers."_

Liara glared right back at him. " _You think they lack the strength? The determination?"_ Javik had said something that both sides of her brain had decided was wrong. " _I didn't spend the last century of my life searching for you for nothing! We have the strength, and there is a system that links us all together! Whether you like it or not, the lesser races that our Empire once spoke for and commanded are now the only ones who can fight. Either you accept that, as the Mandate demands, or you can get out of my way."_ Liara walked forward, Javik's secondary eyes going wide. She had him pretty surprised. " _As the Avatar of Recollection, I control our ability to bring back our own culture. If you don't back down, and share Ilos, then I promise you that your culture will never rise again."_  The Asari part of her enjoyed representing her species. The Prothean part of her, Nurek, relished the challenge of standing up to Javik.

With a tickling sensation, she blinked. She didn't have the secondary eyelids to express herself, but she still managed to get the triple blink and dilation of the eyes right. Her muscles didn't enjoy the effort, but it felt right. Javik stepped back from her, his primary pair of eyes blinking in response to what she had done. He refocused, turning away from her.

"Lesser creature Harper." Javik said in basic, coming back to the others. "Call upon your assistants."

"Does that mean you're going to accept our help?"

"Yes." Javik said, more grudgingly than a starving Krogan. "We will allow your teams to assist us in repairing Ilos. But," He reminded, holding up a hand, "This world is our responsibility, and all of the technology that resides here is under our Mandate."

Jack Harper took a long draw on his cigarette. "Agreed. Quarian crews will be coming soon. I won't be here to see them arrive, however."

Benezia snorted. "All of this effort, and now you leave?"

"Liara is not stable enough for me to receive the Cipher. Therefore I don't want to be wasting my time. Agents of Justice have to be recruited and mobilized, and the independent opinion and political directives have to be finalized. Not to mention I have a daughter to visit. Miranda I have verified is doing alright, which I thank you for again."

"Your other child, she has not tried to contact you?"

"Not yet. However she and I need to have a talk. So, I am going back to Earth. I'll drop you off with your ship, and then continue onwards. Unless you have any other concerns, Javik?"

"My concerns are beyond your comprehension."

"Simplify them or else Ilos becomes the galaxy's only Prothean petting zoo." Jack tossed his dead cigarette to the floor. "Matriarch Benezia, if you would?"

Liara had to try not to smirk at the look of anger on Javik's face. She shared a goodbye with her mother, promising to get in touch once the Prothean side of her mind stabilized. When the dust cleared and the vehicle left, she was left standing with Javik alone. " _Come, Recollection. You should receive a tour before any of the lessers pollute the walkways here. I would also desire to know of the Tho'ian. If you can recall them._ " Javik said, offering to walk her down the Chamber of Contemplation. It was oddly satisfying, to walk and be the subject of a Prothean's attention. It almost distracted her from the late period architecture that propagated along the walls. Almost.

* * *

Author's Note:

Haego was one of the more interesting people to write about. I took pieces of him from Moses, Justinian, Constantine, and Marc Antony. He is an extremely traditional person, and refuses to see any kind of action or inaction as being outside the purview of religion. He will do anything for his religion, even though it is flawed or could be flawed. So, you'll be seeing more of him as we take a deeper dive into the Batarian culture. I originally planned to have a more normal-minded character to display the Batarian viewpoint, but that didn't feel right.

Also, it's coming up to summer time. This fic is a year old now, which makes me pretty happy. A few things to shout out during this chapter. For one,  **LogicalPremise**  just came out with a new arc of his Of Sheep and Battle Chicken epic. Please go favorite that and get involved over there. His work is rivaling the Harry Potter series when it comes to length and depth in the Mass Effect Universe. You'll see his work at the top of my favorites list. That miracle worker can write 8-10k words a day. Reliably the man can pump out a lot of work. Another pair of authors that I hope you guys check out are  **Mizdirected**  and  **Azucuache**. Both of them have some amazing stories that are under-reviewed and underappreciated. Please go check them out.


	35. Fugue: Monster In Law

Chapter 35

Batarian Embassy, The Citadel, August 2167

Haego marched past the guards and into the inner sanctum, at the very heart of the Embassy. Passing under the idol of Rian looking down upon him, he felt better about the actions he had taken. Jeroth was acting against the will of the Hegemon, and for that he was silenced. Being the close friends and family of the Hegemon required even more paranoia, as his scrutiny of your actions was harsher than normal. But if he was hard on his family, then there was less chances for weakness and acceptance of dark habits.

Stepping into the inner sanctum's circular inner chamber, Haego coughed. There were Asari statues standing along one wall. A bookshelf held Asari books, and Hanar worship-stones. To the right was a massive desk, made out of some purple-blue wood. Expensive equipment and paintings filled the walls. Art from the Turians occupied one wall, all of it making the Batarian statues and relics slip into the background.

"Jeroth, how could you?" He muttered. War-priests were not supposed to enjoy any kind of ornamentation other than what Rian demanded of them. This, this was all heretical for a priest to enjoy. His first target were the nude Asari statues. Those were broken with one strike of his mass drivers in his wrists. The bookshelf he left alone, as it was not ostentatious. Only the things it contained were to be destroyed. He emptied it, and then gently placed the handmade shelves back against the wall. They were made on Kar'shan, after all. It was not heretical to preserve craftsmanship from the Karem castes and above. It was honorable to own such.

The mural was shattered, bits and pieces of sea shells flying all over the room. This was followed by all of the books and the paintings being thrown into a pile in the middle of the chamber. The Human made fiber rug he piled everything on top of, and then called for the guards to bring him an ignition switch. Under the watchful eyes of the guards, all of the material burned joyously.

The chair behind the desk was from Kar'shan, as well. The desk was engraved with the personal sigil of the Hegemon's family, which made him decide not to destroy it. However, once he had purged the room, it looked properly Batarian. The walls might have to be draped with prayer shawls, and he would request more statues be brought in. He would need the contemplation of the entire Pantheon if he was to represent his entire race. As would any other diplomat who received this honor.

He sent out the guards, content to let the heresy burn in the center of the room. Fans were activated, filtering the smoke. He was still wearing his armor from the duel, though it had been a very odd duel. Jeroth must have gotten overweight in his time here, to be defeated so easily. The Kavka that he had recovered from the man was also odd. It was reinforced with leather fibers that didn't feel like the Kavka he had loaned to the Humans.  _That_  action still made him tremble in anger. Now that Jeroth was dead, the next order of business was to report to the Hegemon of his success.

Pressing the haptic interface, the desk came alive with screens and displays. Five screens came up, almost blocking his view of the door. As he accessed the communications protocols, the system shut down. Blinking, he rebooted the system. His understanding of technology was rudimentary, as a War-priest. That was why his armor had a VI to manage the mass drivers and his needs. So when the system rebooted and started playing a video file, he stood up, prepared for some sort of bomb or poison attack.

Instead, nothing came. All that showed up was one of the SIU data crawlers. The SIU was the group that investigated claims of sedition, crimes against the Hegemony, and executed those who had been accused of High Treason. They also evolved out of the genealogical verification unit, and in the early days of their Hegemony they studied genealogy. More importantly, they used some of the most advanced computer in the galaxy to calculate and track reincarnations.

Different people had different quirks, and sometimes when those quirks showed up in the next generation or their descendants, that was classifiable. So, entire departments and sections of the genealogical verification unit were created to track this data. The Special Investigations Unit arose out of that, to verify the rebirth of certain souls. Their mandate from the Hegemon was overarching, and of course like any good Batarian they expanded their power as much as they were capable of doing. Their computer systems tracked families and souls throughout the last six hundred years.

Strange that this was on the Embassy computers. SIU reports were very important, and requesting one was limited in access. They reported directly to the Hegemon regarding anyone who appeared to have a troubled soul or family history. He had rarely requested such a thing, and only in the times for the ordaining of a War-priest. They were very personal, and few things in the Batarian religion condoned investigating someone's rebirth.

The SIU report was about Jeroth, surprisingly enough. He hadn't seen anything regarding the Hegemon or his family. Jeroth had been ordained as a priest before he himself. The report detailed that Jeroth was a class four Batarian, born to a noble family, and from a direct line of priests. A direct line going back further into the annals of history than the archives could show. Few families could claim to have been the highest caste for so long. There was a long list of black marks in his record, marking him as having won many duels and proving himself.

Lastly, his family was marked with a green bar. Haego had never seen such a thing. Families were often earmarked for sponsorship with red or purple lines, but he had never seen a green one.

" _Haego. If you are reading this, then you now know what has happened."_  Jeroth's voice emanated from the desk. " _Your file and mine both hail to the most ancient of family lines."_  Haego tapped the haptic screen, seeing that this report also had his own file. " _As such, we are both a threat. The ancient priests who carved the Pillars of Strength along with Batar spoke of something that I found interesting. They were the ones who claimed that Batar betrayed us. Yet at the same time they were afraid of what would happen if they went against what he had written."_

His own file was filled with just as many black marks. Strangely, his family line was listed as both green and red. He selected the green, finding that his mother's line connected back into the Hegemon's own family. That family line that went deep into antiquity. His father's line had a green connection to it as well, from the same antiquated family. The red was from their exploits during the last Rebellion. Some seditious slander had been spread by his forefathers. Few were spared, and only the War-priest was able to carry on the family. Three hundred years and the SIU still worried about him. He felt proud, not only to threaten the SIU with his very presence, but that they would still be so diligent.

" _Batar had two sons, who along with the families of the other priests became the fathers of the Karem. The writings of the other priests were independent of Batar's, and after they slaughtered his sons and Batar himself, they sentenced him to be reborn through the castes, just as all who commit heresy were sentenced."_ Jeroth was speaking plainly of things that he should not be. If anyone other than Haego was sitting at this desk, this could have been a monumental break in security. By Rian, there wasn't even a password on this!

" _I apologize for sending one of your priests to die for me. Dishonorable of me, yes, I know. But I couldn't let myself go quite yet. I have a glorious purpose. So do you, and one of us shall fulfill our destiny by birth. It is either you or I, and the Hegemon knows this. He intended us to kill each other, but I would spit in his eyes rather than follow his orders."_

Haego pressed the stop button for the audio file. Rolling it back fifteen seconds, he let it play again. " _apologize for sending one of your priests,"_ One of his priests. The spawn of Eruk had the gall to send a lesser priest in his place! Haego stood up, activating his kinetic barriers and picking up his staff. He rushed to the door guards, avoiding the smoke from the still burning art and books.

"There is a ship assigned to the Embassy. Where is it?" He asked the guard captain.

"The  _Tribulation of Eruk_  left for Kar'shan hours ago, holiness. Upon the previous ambassador's orders, we were to send the three priests back to Kar'shan to face judgement. They were acting dishonorably, and so the frigate was sent back to the capital." The guard seemed comfortable with the order, finding nothing wrong with it.

"They will be halfway through the Traverse at this point. Get me communications with Kar'shan!"

"Your holiness, communications are down, as part of the SIU's security measures. We may send them secure messages and they will pass them on for us." He said. "It is expected to take some time for the encrypted files to be moved. We are doing this through the communications rooms."

"Rian bless you for following protocol." Haego intoned, the guard nodding. "I must send something immediately." Jeroth was still alive. For that, Haego faced failure of the worst kind. The Hegemon had asked him to kill just one man. In that he had failed. He had gotten Jeroth's Kavka, however. Why he would part with that yet still run made him wonder. The message he sent to the Hegemon was clear, though. Jeroth was coming back to Kar'shan.

* * *

Utah Territory, American Fork, Earth, November 2167

There were certain places in the world that Jack wished had completely perished in the chaos of the 2050's. Istanbul, Seoul, and Beijing were on that list. All for the simple reason that Humanity would have been further developed if those places had been leveled. He added Utah to the same list, but for personal reasons. Everyone here was just  _nice_. Too nice, too naive. Too easily taken advantage of.

Unlike Catholicism and Islam, the area still prided itself on being a living religion. While most of the religions of the world had disappeared or had become ethnic groups, this one had roots in Asia and the Americas. It somehow survived the mess that had been the Wars during the 2050's. But the reason that it was a personal hatred of his had been because his mother was one of these Mormon nutcases. Some of them were naive, and others were the kind of people that didn't care much about the system until it benefited them. That was the kind of person his mother was.

Everything here was about family values, and had a church every couple of blocks. It was sickening. Tax exemptions used to make churches fine institutions, but now without them much of the money that was once invested into them was net loss of income. He was listed as a member according to their records, and at times the Mormon church tried to locate him. They hadn't succeeded, and he didn't particularly worry about them.

The reason he was back here in this hell hole on earth was very different. He still had a few lines of contacts throughout Alliance space. One of them was a corrupt information manager in the Intelligence Office. He hadn't used him around Hannah or Jones, and so he knew that the man hadn't been found out. Slipping through the Alliance's nets to get down here hadn't been difficult.

What was concerning was that Julia was down here. She was somewhere in this community of creepy religious people, and the area wasn't crawling with Alliance agents. Julia had gotten a tactical cloaking system, which included a tracking system that the Alliance could use to keep track of her location. A few bribes to the right man, and he had that signal and could track his daughter. So, that was why he was in this desert city.

Specifically, at the Durham Long-term Medical Care Facility. He wasn't sure what Julia was doing here, but he intended to find out. He had been waiting for her to leave Hannah's safe house for a week. Speaking of Hannah, he could see the woman in an aircar out in front of the medical facility. That made it rather difficult to go in through the front door. So, he assembled his pistol and Omni-tool, and got dressed in some slacks and a colored button down shirt. Casual clothing for an infiltration. Combined that with sunglasses and a hat for sun protection, and the cameras would have issues recording who he was.

The employee entrance was enforced with some of the weakest security that he had ever run into. He wasn't great at hacking, but something this easy made him worried about if it was a trap or not. When it just emerged into an employee locker room, he walked right past a couple of other men coming off of a shift. Finding scrubs was not difficult. Putting on a face mask and the gloves and hat made him just another faceless employee of the medical center. From there, he just grabbed a cart and moved towards the second floor. Medical scans and the long term intensive care units filled this floor, and he didn't have the clearance to get into those more secure areas. So he had to move up to the fourth floor and walk across that to get around to the other side of the second floor where Julia was at.

This area was for coma victims, strangely enough. Few orderlies moved about, and those that did moved slowly. No rush for these patients. Julia was in one of the side rooms, which he couldn't see the label. He didn't have access to the local network, and had no intention of logging in. That would clue in anyone looking for him to his position. So, like any orderly, he just walked over to the room and went through the process of looking at his Omni-tool, as if checking on a patient. Nodding visibly, he then slowly opened the door.

He could hear the  _crackle_  of someone slipping into their tactical cloak system. Julia was here, and he sealed them both in by closing the door. Now, he finally had direct contact with his oldest and most important daughter. Miranda might have been designed as a charismatic force of nature, but Julia was the one he wanted to end up with the Alliance. One of them was going to become a Spectre and fix this mess. Miranda was different, and he had considered sending her back to the Alliance. But in the end, it was safer to keep his inheritors separate.

Julia was hiding by the window, behind some of the medical equipment. The woman in the bed was a pale, gaunt woman. She had black hair and her eyes were closed. He couldn't guess her height, but it would not have been taller than 5'8". Nothing was listed about her in any of the room's decor. Some flowers and a small picture frame was off to one side, but the dust on both showed that they hadn't been touched in a long time. The flowers looked synthetic. He let go of the door, and came over towards the bed, where a chair was. He sat down, pulling off the offending medical gear obscuring his face.

"Julia." He stated. "I've been waiting to talk to you."

She didn't decloak. Or even move. He was guessing that she was in shock of some kind. He waited almost a minute before deciding to continue speaking. If she wasn't going to have a civil chat, then he was just going to talk to thin air. "I know you're here. I've been waiting for you to leave Hannah's side for a month now." He swallowed, finding this slightly uncomfortable. Julia was always the one he could predict the least. "I'm sure that you have been placed somewhere that no one will find you, deep within the darkest cover that the Office of Intelligence can put you in. As my eldest daughter, you've inherited all of my assets, meaning that they are probably making a mockery of my banking endeavors and investments. My lawyer is also someone you've inherited, and that man could bring any suit to the Supreme Alliance Court that you needed. He would love to hear from you regarding any wrongdoing that the Alliance has done to you."

Julia decloaked, standing by the window with her Omni-tool recording him. Her red hair was slightly longer than the last time he had seen her. She had picked up Hannah's signature glare, too. She didn't look too happy. "Why did you leave us?"

"After everything you've gotten access to, that's what you want to know?" Jack asked, making sure that his face showed concern. "Fair enough. I'll tell you, but only if you promise to act upon that information."

"No." Was her reply. "You owe us an explanation. Miranda is in some Asari prison or something, and she can't even contact anybody, and you are off in the Terminus Systems hiding! Me and Miranda, we both deserve to know!" He could see the hint of tears on her face.

"I've been stealing Prothean technology. Not a small amount, either. I started with the Prothean Archive on Mars. I found out about Prothean superweapons. I found out about what killed them. Worse, what killed them is still out there, waiting for all of our races to get to the right population size. Then, we will be destroyed, just like the Protheans were. So, I swore to myself that I wouldn't let that happen. I even went as far as sticking my head inside a Prothean dark beacon to figure out what they were trying to say."

"All of these things are associated with crimes and illegal actions, of course. Prothean information is considered the most important technology in the galaxy to get your hands on. It can propel races beyond their technological spectrum of understanding, and for that anyone who goes against the normal system of Asari first, everyone else later, is targeted. Like myself. I represent a person who knows lots of little secrets about how the Protheans did things. I know about their superweapons, their major projects. I know what killed them. For that, the Alliance wants me dead. I've been trying to prepare our race for these things, whenever they come. To do that, I've made allies out of some Batarians, Quarians, and other non-Council loving groups."

"I don't care much about laws, you realize. My mother taught me how to steal when I was nine. Everything from that point forward showed that following the laws, staying in the system, it doesn't do enough. Crime is profit, and profit is criminal. To consider them separate is to consider yourself unemployed. Laws are for those who we stand to profit from. Crime is evil if it lacks purpose. My purpose is to save our entire race, and so I consider that purpose to be more important than any law. For that, I was betrayed by Hannah Shepard, Jones, Hock, Dierdre, probably everyone at Cerberus. They wanted what I know. They wanted what I had earned, what I had made possible. All that I have in Alliance Space is now yours, so I offer you the same warning that my mother gave me as a child."

A third voice spoke up, interrupting him. "Never trust anyone, you stupid little boy." It was raspy, thick, and sounded hoarse. They broke out into coughing soon after speaking, bringing Jack's attention to the woman on the bed. As well as her piercing blue eyes, glaring at him through the thick folds of skin that existed on her face. He knew those eyes, and he knew them well. What nightmares he had that weren't of Shepard shooting him in the face featured the cold, cruel eyes of his mother.

"How in the hell are you alive!" Jack yelled, attention dropping to Constance Smith. "I looked for you, and you didn't even leave anything! Nothing for me to know if you were alive or dead, other than a dozen syringes and a puddle of blood!"

Her throat gurgled as she laughed at him. "You left me, you little piece of-" She broke down into more coughing, keeping a hold on herself. Her arms were pale, thin, and lacked muscle of any kind. Just as he remembered, all of her muscles had been consumed by her body in its quest to stay alive through the use of drugs. Her legs looked like chicken bones, and at one point he had compared her to a corpse with skin. She had beaten him with a lead pipe for that comment. "You left, and the money was all gone. When I started coughing up blood, I called up the only people I had left. They came and got me, and I was too delirious to leave anything for you. You, who left me to rot! Like some blemish that you couldn't kill off like the rest of your stupid tech gang!"

"You hadn't worked a job since I was twelve and paid the rent! I had my own life to live! I still do!" he turned to Julia. "Why in God's name did you find my mother!"

Amid Constance's coughing, Julia became the focus of their attention. The silence, punctuated by the sharp raspy coughs of his mother, dragged on for a few seconds before Julia broke down. "She's family! Family is important, no matter what!"

"Ha." Constance said. "Who are you, then? Come over into the light, brat. I can't turn my head." Julia stepped out, looking at the bitter creature that was his mother. "Red hair. Pretty one, aren't you. What's her name, Jack? You still go by Jack, my stupid little boy?"

Jack grimaced, nodding. "Mother, don't take out any feelings you have for me on her. This is my oldest daughter, Julia Constantine Harper." He motioned to Julia. "Her older sister is living with the Asari."

"Who is their bitch of a mother?" Julia's eyes widened. Constance Smith was one of the most hateful people Jack had ever met. Any kindness or offering was met with spite. "You never got married, either. Your finger is empty. So, was she a whore, just like all the rest?"

"Why would you say such a thing?" Julia asked.

"You'll end up just like your father,  _Julia_." She said, drawing out the name. "Sleeping around with all kinds of people, maybe even mothering your own brat or two. See how much good that'll do you. I'll tell you, it's harder to get men to come over and pay for you when you have a brat or two. Ha! Look at that, Jack, she's crying. Weak, that's what you are!" Further depreciations just went into coughing.

Julia had turned around, trying not to cry in front of Constance. "Mother, you're the one being ungrateful here. Julia found you, somehow, and decided to come visit. I decided to tag along."

"I heard your little spat. My God, she is a smart one. Leaving you two years earlier than you left me. My, my, she really does take after you. You worthless son. Leave me to die, so I have to call my brothers to take care of me. Now I can't even leave this bed, and no one gives me anything anymore. I've got nothing for my bones, and everything just aches. Ungrateful my ass. She came looking for me, and I won't entertain childish fantasies. She gets to see me as I am."

"As you are. As you always have been. Excuse me mother, but I think we need to have a chat without your intervention." He went over to her terminal, and hacked it. There was an option to directly inject sedatives. It had been used before, and he gleefully pressed it.

"You little bastard! Don't y-you d-d," His mother dropped into an uneasy sleep after that. He sighed, dropping back into the chair.

"I am sorry you had to see that, Julia. Your grandmother simply hates everyone as much as she hates herself." He noticed that Alliance datamining had jumped in the last minute. "Sadly, your handlers have noticed my work. I will see you again. Also, as a token of your sister's love, here is the passwords and a small VI that will get your sister's messages through to you, past all of the Alliance censoring. Miranda said that you haven't replied at all to the messages she was sending, so I figured that she was being blocked."

Julia was still facing away from the bed, tears plain on her face. He felt slightly paranoid, but took the time to give her a hug. "I'm sorry. So sorry that you had to see that. Next time you slip away from Hannah, I'll find you." He placed the OSD containing information on how to get access to her messages as well as being full of some basic data on the fall of the Protheans. "Stay safe. The Alliance can protect you until you can protect yourself." he pulled on the scrubs again, giving a final glare at his mother.

"Bye, Dad."

"Bye, Julia." He softly said, opening the door and watching her cloaked form dart out. Then he walked back to the orderly changing room, and changed out of the scrubs and slipped away. All of these naive, stupid, people. The Alliance wouldn't find him here. He got back into his aircar and slipped away, hoping that Julia would be able to recover from the experience.

* * *

Julia hoped that tears wouldn't break her tactical cloak. They had been coming non stop, and her heart just  _hurt_. Nothing she could do could keep that feeling out, and it just kept hurting. All the books she had read about family said that Grandma was supposed to be the kind, caring woman that raised your parents and was going to pamper you. Shower you with gifts, love you even. Constance Smith was just… just… there were no words that Julia knew that could describe her.

She hadn't even had time to talk to her very much when her father had confronted her.  _That_  was scary. Her dad could find her, no matter where she went or how far she ran away. The truth of that meant that the Alliance could too. But they didn't care about her like her dad did. She had been confused about how her dad felt about her. He loved her, or at least he acted like it sometimes.

But the fact that the Alliance was keeping Miranda's messages from her was something that he wouldn't have told her unless he cared. That also meant he had seen Miranda, too. But he still left them. He claimed that it was to keep them safe, and she had some OSD her dad had handed her. It would help her get the messages from Miranda to herself. How to reply to her, though. She was alright with technology, but the safe house that they lived at had some serious protection in place. She hadn't tried to hack it yet.

This hospital was huge, and she had been slowly making her way out of it. So many security doors that she had to wait for someone to open for her, and she didn't want to follow her Dad out. Feelings around him were just too raw.

When she finally made it out to the parking lot, she ran to the aircar that Hannah had brought, trying and failing to contain her emotions. She hammered on the side door of the aircar, desperate to be away from this place. Everyone walking around felt like they were either dead or near death, and nobody was happy. She could feel that, and it did nothing to curb the pain she had felt from her grandmother.

Hannah popped open the door of the aircar, and she decloaked and dove inside, still hiccuping and trying to stop crying.

"Oh my god, what's wrong!" Hannah spoke sharply, noticing her state.

"My grandma, she's," She tried to say, but it just made the pain all the more real to try to place a description to that woman.

"She's what? Dead?" Hannah guessed.

"I almost wish!" Julia said, but then felt bad for saying that. Family was important. "She's mean!" Julia said. It was annoying how her body was just leaking out all of these feelings, things she had no control over. "She said I would end up a whore like my mom!"

Hannah looked mad. "I'm going to go talk to her. You stay right here."

No! Grandma wouldn't care if Hannah approached her. "No! She's asleep!"

Hannah gave her a weird look. "What else did she say?"

"I don't wanna say." Julia said. "C-can we just go home?"

Hannah put her arm around Julia's shoulder. "Not going to come back?" That arm made her feel really good. The feelings of pain weren't as sharp. She shook her head in response to Hannah's question, and Hannah smirked. "Well, the way I see it there are two ways this can end. Either you go home and cry yourself into a stupor, or I help you out. You pick between those choices, and I'll work around it." Hannah remarked, keeping her arm around Julia and driving one handed. "God knows I've been through enough myself. My parents were immigrants to the Northwestern States. Their parents were dead by the time they got my father through school, when they were raising me. Then they died during the Prothean Archive attack." Hannah tapped the haptic screen, almost running over another aircar on her way out. "So, want to try my way, or do you want to go back home to Kasumi and have her try to figure out why you're crying?"

Oh no. Not Kasumi, she would never let her live it down. "Your way, please." She said quietly. Hannah gave her a nice smile.

"Alright. Kasumi will still try to pester you about this, but damn it all if I don't help you get past family trauma the right way. The Irish have a saying, 'Whiskey cures almost all ailments.'"

"Wait, what?"

"I know you're fourteen, but there isn't a better way to deal with life in my opinion."

"What do the Irish cure everything else with?" She asked, curious.

"Well, that would go into revenge and sex. Considering your dad had mistresses over all the time, you better know what that is. Tonight is about family trauma. Sex and that mess is a different kind of drinking night."

"The Irish are weird." She muttered around her aching chest. She wasn't going to mention about how their dad gave them the talk about sex. That had been awkward. She and Miranda had walked in on their Dad and some blonde mistress of his. They hadn't even noticed the girls, and they got a full example of what sex was. The question and answer session afterwards made them feel even more uncomfortable.

"No we aren't! We're just misunderstood!" Hannah joked. "Here we go, girlie. I might not be your mom, but my mom taught me how to get over this sort of thing. So, here we go." She parked in front of a karaoke bar, grinning. "Come on, we've got drinking to do!"

When Hannah woke up the next morning, puking off the side of her bed, she decided that the Irish are still weird. But, she didn't hurt anymore. At least not in her heart. Her head and body ached, and the room spun around some. But she just puked out what looked like half a river before she felt any better. Then she drew back under her warm blankets and groaned.

" _Sooooo_  glad I called top bunk." Kasumi said from above her.

"Ahhhh!" Noises  _hurt_. She clamped the pillow over her ears, trying to keep the noise down. The blankets were drawn over her face, and the light from the door leading to the main area made her flinch.

"Sh. She's not going to like your chirping for a bit. Julia, I've got the Irish cure for hangover right here." Hannah's whisper was like a horse, stomping on her head.

"Irish're weird." She mumbled back.

"Yup." Hannah whispered. A straw poked underneath the blankets. "Drink."

She did, finding the contents to be syrupy sweet, partially bitter, and had some sort of familiar aftertaste. Almost like that bottle she had drank from last night. "Whatisit?" she asked around the straw.

"Not traditional Irish fixings, but I did what I could. Arnold Palmer, five hour energy, honey, and a shot of whiskey." Hannah said. More alcohol? A little wouldn't hurt, she hoped.

"Can I try some?" Kasumi asked.

"Nope. You would bounce off the bloody walls if I gave you any." Hannah dismissed. Julia felt like everything was coming back into focus, the buzzing feeling passing.

"I don't remember much about last night." She said, sticking her head out of the covers. She did so because she had to get the straw further into the drink, to get more of the liquid that was fixing her. her hair was sticky, poking off to one side of her head. Hannah's hair was contained with a scrunchie, but it was sticking out too. Kasumi's hair hung off the side of the bed with its ridiculous length, brushing Julia's forehead if Kasumi leaned over too far.

"Karaoke bar." Hannah reminded her, pulling the drink away as it was completely gone. "Apparently we both are terrible at singing. We got told to leave after an hour or two. I won't hold you accountable for throwing the basket of fries at him."

"You threw the water pitcher, though." Julia said, bits and pieces of memories coming back.

Hannah's eyes narrowed as she thought to herself. "So I did. Huh, I'll send an apology note. Didn't some creep try to flirt with us?"

Julia remembered something about Hannah threatening someone, when they left the bar. "He asked if we were whores, I think." Hannah threatened them with a knife. "You didn't take it well."

Hannah snorted. "Nope. Good thing the VI in the car could get us home." Julia blinked, remembering being held and some sort of song being sung to her.

"Did you sing to me?"

"Yeah," Hannah said, her cheeks a little red. "I didn't remember all the words my mother used for her lullabies, so i filled it in with whatever I could think of. Sorry."

"No, it wasn't bad." Julia actually felt pretty good. "It was okay. You could do it again sometime." She stammered, feeling bad.

"Can I write you a lullaby and then you sing it to me?" Kasumi asked, eyes sparkling.

"Maybe." Hannah offered. "You two are kind of important to me. More than just my job, you know? I've requested you both being in my custody until you turn eighteen. Other people volunteered, but I felt bad if I gave up on you." She picked up the empty glass of hangover cure. "You two take it easy today. Julia got drunk for her first time, and that is something of a rite of adulthood. Funny thing is that you are pretty resistant to alcohol in the first place. Took a third of the bottle before you were good and properly buzzed. Course, took me a whole bottle to get there, so you can have that as a goal to look forward to." She waved to them both. "I'll let you clean up your mess, though. Adult responsibilities and all." She was pointing to the puke.

Julia rolled back under the covers. "The Irish are weird." Today, she was going to message Miranda and figure out what the heck her Dad gave her. She didn't tell Hannah that she had seen him, because she was being selfish. She wanted to have some connection with him. She would escape again, and he would meet her again. That, she could look forward to.

* * *

Palaven, Tussek Province, October 2176

Garrus Vakarian was a proper Turian. He attended his family rituals. He performed the migration to the family burial shrine every year. He offered his proper prayers and ovulations. He was the oldest son of a family that had lost its honor. He had a single younger sister, and an ailing mother. It was up to him to support his family, with his father murdered. Solana was younger by six years. It would be seven before she could enter into the military for basic training, and gain her first tier of citizenship. Then she could pay for the house. But not their mother's medical payments. For that, Garrus had needed to apply for a special visa in order to enter the armed forces a year early.

Pontus Vakarian's money would only cover them for a few more years. Garrus had three and a half years to get through basic and officer's training school. Then, he could pay for his mother's medical costs. But time was of the essence. So, every morning he was in the family's back yard. One of the old fortifications from the Unification Wars was decided to be his training post. Marks from his claws and marks from his baton covered the old posts, and a few plastic targets rested against the fields behind their home were filled with holes from his shots.

His father had left him an Omni-tool of high quality and a decent VI, as well as some of the best weapons that the Turian Arms manufacturers could create. He had practiced every kind of gun practice he could, and had even hung plastic targets from old signposts and field markers. Nothing was ever missed, and he rarely ever came off from his target. Ever since his father had been killed, the repetitive  _thump_  of his gun going off was his way of honoring his father's memory. Garrus the child had died the day that he had been brought the Omni-tool of his father.

" _Human._ " His father's last word echoed through him. Stupid little pyjaks. They didn't deserve to have the protection given by the Turians. Screw the rest of the Council, they should have put them down before they became another Batarian Hegemony. Even now, the Humans grasped at anything they could take advantage of, ignoring the planned expansion of the galaxy and its few treasured garden worlds. The Humans would be held accountable for their mistakes. Of that, he was certain. Once they insulted the Asari enough, they would call in the Turians to clean up the mess, just as they always had.

"Garrus, there is someone at the door for you." The quiet words of his sister came. She was young, still molting her young scales. Garrus wouldn't admit it, but he was still molting some himself. Once you stopped molting, you stopped growing. He didn't care about that, but he did care about how people viewed him. Pulling on robes of his patriarchal line, he marched towards the atrium of their home.

"Who is it?" He asked Solana, as they walked. Turians never simply walked. It was always a march. Always present your best side. A good Turian always presented their best. His father had always told him that Garrus was never a good Turian. In his memory, he had rote memorized everything he could. All seven tiers of citizenship would be his. His sister would be able to find a mate that could continue their line and their genetic quirks.

"Government official." Solana said. She was young, and didn't understand why Garrus puffed up his chest a little more, let his mandibles quiver. This was it. He was a good Turian. He would be the best kind of Turian, for the sake of his father. When he marched into the Atrium, only one older Turian was there. He wore a blue and gray robe, with another black sash around his neck. Garrus' eyes widened. This was not just an official. This was a Council  _Spectre_.

"Sir!" He saluted, as his position demanded. Only the best Turians could become Spectres. Only the best blood, the best genes, and the best combat record could ever let you come close. Spectres automatically were promoted to the first tier of citizenship, able to go anywhere and do anything. Garrus saluted, Solana following his example with gangly arms.

"Tarn Vakarian. A pleasure to meet you." The Spectre's voice was thick, gravelled. "I am here on behalf of the Hierarchy. It was noticed that you requested to be brought into the service fifteen months early. As you have previously been unknown to us, I became curious. The son of my friend Pontus would never have acted rashly."

"Sir, It is a pleasure to welcome you to our home." Garrus said. "Please, enter my home and make yourself comfortable." It was spoken out of formality, and not due to his tier of citizenship. The Spectre could enter any room of this house with proper justification.

The Spectre gave him a pleasant smile, and stood up with the help of a cane. He was older, a middle aged Turian. He had white markings, making him from one of the colonies and not from Palaven. "I am Desolous Arterius. Council Spectre and retired general. I am an old friend of your father's, from before my days as a Spectre." So, before he had become a tier one citizen and his friends had to be vetted for security and loyalty.

"Was my request granted?" Garrus asked, his feet twitching underneath the cover of his robes.

"No." Desolous said with simplicity, but not with any kind of negative connotation. "However, I decided to offer you the chance to enjoy sponsorship through one of my Sergeants. You may train privately with him, until you become of age. However, you only have two days to accept or decline. If you choose to decline, you will enter into training as all Turians do. When you reach fifteen years of age and stop molting."

Garrus nodded. Sponsorship was something done by upper tier families, to groom their children into even better officers and soldiers. becoming more and more popular were the sponsorship of engineers, creating a better engineering corps. "I accept." He said. "There is no point in waiting here for something I feel ready for now."

Desolous glanced at him with one eye. "Calm down, young Tarn. You don't have to accept now."

"Yes, I do." Garrus returned. Sponsorship would allow him certain benefits that could help take the load off of their family vault. "You're a Spectre, you know what my family faces." If he came, he had to have taken a look at everything.

"The death of your patriarch has accelerated the sickness within his mate. Without medication, she will not survive the decade." He looked at Garrus, sizing him up. "I want you to have years yet to spend with your mother. If you accept, pack your things and be prepared to leave in one hour. I must commune with the spirit of your father."

"Solana, show him the family shrine." Garrus told his sister. She tore off, feeling weird around someone of such high tier of citizenship. Garrus, as soon as the Spectre had left the room, ran straight for his chambers. he packed the bare essentials, as well as a datapad. Then he retrieved his father's guns. He didn't have armor that fit him yet, and his father's armor from C-sec rested in a case alongside that of his grandfather, and his father before him. Every Turian family had a vault full of the armor and weapons of the warriors of the past. Their care and support helped associate with their spirits, so that your ancestors could speak to you through their deeds and their memorabilia. His weapons and his harness for any armor that he could mount he rested on his own body. Sniper rifle, pistol, and Omni-tool on, he arrived at the front door in his travel robes. Desolous emerged from the vault of their home looking calm. Though he glanced over Garrus with an appreciative chirp.

"Good. You seem to have muscle fibres coming in very well. Say your goodbyes and meet me at my aircar." Desolous then hobble walked his way out the door. Garrus turned to Solana, taking her into his arms.

"Be good, alright? I'm going to come back, and take care of everyone." He told her. She was making sad sounding chirps in the back of her throat. He placed his things by the door, and walked up the stairs towards his parent's room. It smelled of medicine and dried bandages. On the bed was his mother, a haptic screen in front of her while she did what she could with her time. "Mother?"

"Garrus?" She noticed his travelling robes. "Ah, good. Some time away from home would do you well. Are you visiting friends, my son?"

"No, Mother. I have been sponsored. I am going to go with a Council Spectre and gain experience under one of his officers."

Her eyes hardened. She did not like Spectres, and had never told him why. All he knew was that she narrowed her eyes whenever they were brought up. "Such is an honor to you and your family." She intoned. As was expected. "Which Spectre graced our home?"

"Desolous Arterius, Mother." She gave a  _nasty_  chirp. He stopped speaking.

"That poisonous…" She realized what she was saying and looked up at Garrus. "It is old wounds, Garrus. No harm was done. I was almost matched to his younger brother, but thankfully your father made a more pressing bid for my hand." She gave him her full attention, he sallow cheeks firming up to give him a smile. A rare sight. "You make me so proud, my son. Your father would be proud. Learn everything he teaches you. It is rare enough that a General chooses to sponsor someone, but a Spectre as well? You have been given a rare opportunity."

"I'm doing this for you, Mother. Not for me."

His mother's halted chirping laughter stopped him from speaking again. "My naive son. This should never be for me. You may say that now, but when the bullets fly and the ships shatter, love for me will never carry you through the dark. You must harden your own spirit, become the next Tarn Vakarian in truth. Do this for yourself. Do this because it is your choice." She held out her arms. "Come, and grant me one last grasp upon you, so that my spirit shall know hope and joy."

Garrus did hug her. he hugged her for a long couple of minutes. "I love you, mother. I will return to you!"

"Your spirit will find its way home, and it better accompany your body. No more dead sons and husbands for me to bury. Return home alive, my son." Garrus nodded, stiffly walking downstairs and grasping the front door. His hand shook, whether in fear or in anxiety he didn't know. For his own sake he claimed anxiety. He took one last look around his home, memorizing it and engraining it into his mind. The blue flags of their ancestors guarding the entrance to the vault and the shrine. The scuff marks on the tiles from a childhood accident. His whole life was laid out on these marble floors.

He stiffened his mandibles, not letting them shake. This was it. His family needed him. He pushed on the door, opening it and letting the afternoon sunlight come in. He clipped his weapons into place, and muttered a short prayer to his ancestors, especially his father, that he might have their protection. Then, he got into the aircar with General Arterius. The general said little, as the aircar lifted off. Garrus just felt like his nerves were on fire. But he did have questions, once his feet stopped shaking.

"May I ask you a personal question?" Garrus asked, knowing that when you addressed someone of higher citizenship tier you had to ask permission for such things.

"You may, Tarn Vakarian."

"Did you really order the fleet to destroy the Temple of the Divine Wind?"

"To my everlasting shame, I did. My brother, Saren, had his ashes spread upon my own family's shrine as well as the Temple grounds. For my travesty I shall be the end of my line. Saren was the one who was supposed to carry on after me, but he was turned down by the female he was interested in. Enraged, he threw himself into the Spectre training program and never came close to mating again." Saren Arterius was one of the Big names that got killed during the Relay 314 incident. His brother had ordered the fleet in orbit to destroy the Temple of the Divine Wind, for reasons that no one had submitted to the public, but the Imperator had stated were necessary. Garrus was not a high enough rank or tier of citizenship to voice his opinion about it.

"That's not fair to you, though."

"The Imperator seems to think so." Desolous remarked. Garrus didn't reply to that. There was no way he could, even if he vehemently disagreed. "Your father and Saren were once good friends. Until your mother came into the picture they were the best of agents together. Saren was bred for biotics and endurance, while your father was bred along the genetics of reflexes and eyesight. Your family was always known for your knack with weapons. When your mother mated to your father, Saren broke up their partnership and took off towards the 314 relay."

"That's why you didn't ask to see my mother." Garrus stated.

"She and I do not have a good relationship, no. Forcing her to act kind in the face of my tier of citizenship would only make our relationship worse. I haven't spoken to her since your father's passing."

"I'll let her know that you aren't as bad as the other Spectres she has met." Garrus said.

"I am the only Spectre she has met." He returned. "Prepare yourself. We are landing now." Desolous prepared his cane, the aircar losing altitude. Garrus held onto his things, as the vehicle came to a stop and the doors opened. When he blinked the light away from his eyes, he saw the twenty foot high walls and barricades of Fort Victory. The basic training ground for all of the officers and highest tier citizens. His mandibles fell open, awe and shock apparent.

"Tarn Vakarian, I may have given high command a small white lie." Desolous remarked. "I run the most grueling combat school on Palaven. When I told them that I might sponsor you under one of my officers, I never mentioned which one. I believe drill sergeant Pallaka would be your newest authority figure to learn from. Welcome to basic training."

"I won't fail you." Garrus said, thanks and some guilt in his tone. He didn't deserve this. He would be pushing spurs against all of the children of the best families in the Hierarchy.

"Don't fail yourself. If you fail out, you go back home and wait for basic training. If you succeed, you'll be proving all of high command wrong, Tarn Vakarian. I do so enjoy watching them go into fits."

Garrus grinned.  _Now_  he could do it. For his mother, for his sister, and for himself.

* * *

Author's Note

I've encountered few people in my lifetime that could  _hate_  so thoroughly as Constance Smith. I've been a door to door kind of guy before, working as a Missionary. You guys have probably seen those Mormon fellows walking around and talking about God and such. I was one of those gentlemen, and I based Constance off of some of the more hateful people that exist. I've been shot at and had bricks thrown at me, had to run away from dogs.

Some of the people that enjoyed doing that to us were sort of psychotic. I had the misfortune of being under a code of honor that made it difficult to leave appointments or places where people had invited you into their home. Sometimes you would talk to people who just hated everything and everyone. So I had to pull on that for Constance. When I constructed the Illusive Man in my head, I had to create some reason for his dissonance regarding basic human nature. Meet the source of dissonance, his mother.

I love Garrus Vakarian. When I played the games, he was with me all the way. Mass Effect 1, sometimes I would just let him snipe while I watched. It was entertaining to hear his one liners go off and his witty comebacks. When I did the planning for Indoctrinated Dream, Garrus factored in heavily. So, you'll see a lot of him and I hope that you enjoy the ride as much as I do.

 


	36. Fugue: Golden Gilded Lies

Chapter 36

Bern, Switzerland, Sol System

Hannah hated ventilation ducts. Whoever decided that all of the ductwork leading into the facility here was to be shrunken pissed her off. That, along with her new waist size, had her squeezing past every turn in the ducts and the entrances. Kasumi was raised on sushi and expensive food. Julia was raised on the best of foods, and didn't have to worry about portion control. Kasumi's stomach was engineered to only contain a few calories at once, and her eating was more like watching a hummingbird come back to the same location every hour on the hour.

Julia ate, then ate more when Kasumi came back to eat her second course, and then ate again two hours later. Hannah ate with her, and it was due to this fact that Hannah's hips had gotten wider. Her catsuit still fit, thankfully. But it was in a roundabout way the fault of Jack Harper that she was eating so much, and that her hips made her nearly get stuck every time she came to a junction. When she finally got through the secondary air filters and past the kinetic barrier protecting the inner layers, she had rubbed off some of the silicate lining on the hips of her catsuit.

For years she had been calling it a stealthgently suit, but even Jones called them catsuits now. Even the male infiltrators called them that, and they wore them. So, she had made the shift after she noticed that she made it look better than the gorilla-armed Jones. So, she gently eased open the last grate and looked down into the main lobby of the Cirta Foundation. Only one person was in there, a nearly asleep front secretary.

She had planned to be here two minutes faster, but her stupid hips got caught so often. The secretary here took a reliable mail run or coffee break right around this time. She was supposed to be gone, but here the lady was, just typing away like a good little wage worker. Hannah did not have time to wait for her petite little ass to move. She opened her Omni-tool, and selected a noise generator. Somewhat old school, but the agents who had trained her were from England. They had an old school methodology that many of the other countries scoffed. Yet they managed to get reliable results with both modern and classic methods.

Having worked for Jack Harper, she knew what the most worrying sounds for anyone working a desk job were. There were a few sounds that rankled the senses. For example, any cat noises. They were indicative of someone wasting time. They were possibly indicative of a spam vidmail going rampant, or a practical joke being executed somewhere. So, the sound of something meowing coming from one of the corridors was something that set Hannah on edge.

This girl  _twitched._  She got up, heels slapping the floor as she tore towards the sound. Oh yes, she was a good secretary. Hannah popped open the ventilation hatch and dove through, prepared to roll out of the dive. That is, until her hips got stuck on the grate. She started pushing using her hands, seeing her hips go hardly any further. 'Come on, I promise I won't have another croissant!' She thought. Her hips popped through the grate after saying that. 'Well, now I feel like crap. Lying to myself was easier when I wasn't in charge of young girls.'

The ventilation grate slid back into place easily enough, and she moved past the secretary's desk towards the board room. Sirta was having its yearly review meeting, and as Julia's executor and guardian, she was supposed to be here to represent her. She had to find out through other channels that this meeting was occurring.

Decloaking, she brushed off her coat and hung it on the back of the secretary's chair. The dust ridden thing was only there to keep her business suit from getting dusty. her legs were covered by her catsuit, and a couple of brushes there got the dust off. The catsuit made her legs look pretty good, ignoring the reinforced armor section on the knees. But the skirt of the business suit covered those. She pulled her hair out of its tight bun, and gave herself a once over using the hand mirror that the secretary had on hand. Finding herself suitably professional, she then went to the board room and opened the doors.

Instead of a board meeting full of executives and department heads, all she found were three people. Two of them were in business suits and were in close conversation. The balding head of Joseph Stalter, CEO of Sirta, was easily noticed. His CFO was right next to him, and the remaining man was sitting in person across the table. Jack Harper, in person, was sitting there as if nothing was wrong.

"Ah! Good, my executor has arrived." Jack said. "Gentlemen, If you could please supply that shipment, I will refund any losses. We stand at an uncertain crossroads, and with this deal Sirta will become the undisputed leader in medical support in the Galaxy. I know that it may seem risky, but every step of this company's existence has been challenged and fought hard. Yet we succeed in the face of it all."

"We will decide on how best to execute the shipment. Risks aside, This shipment represents three entire years of our supply. We won't risk that without some kind of protection." Joseph said. "You give us that reassurance, and the shipment will go."

"Agreed. Now, If you'll excuse me, I have to meet with my executor." Joseph Stalter didn't seem to be too worried as he was kicked out of his own board room. When she was alone with Jack, she just gave him an incredulous look. "Please, sit. We have some things to discuss."

"Do you want me to arrest you?" Hannah asked.

"Depends on the manner of arrest. I don't do bondage, as a rule." Jack said, bringing out his Omni-tool and activating a function on it. "Now that we have a couple of minutes before the security system comes back on, I'm going to be straight with you. I am not here to be arrested or pay my debts. I'm here to meet with Sirta and save lives. If you want to try to bring me in, feel free to do so. But I've found out some interesting things lately."

"You still committed crimes and murdered people directly and indirectly. That implies that you need to explain yourself in a court of law."

"If everyone took the time needed to explain themselves, we would be a church. Thankfully we aren't. I would rather like to talk about what happened with Julia a couple days ago." Jack brought up a picture on his Omni-tool, one of a few red dots that were moving around. "Jones is having all of you tracked. Julia, you, and one other individual are being tracked and observed at all hours. Teams are following you, and not necessarily for your protection."

"She's protecting Julia from you, Jack. Nothing more than protection."

"Jones has always claimed to be an Infiltrator, yet I have never seen her cloak. I don't trust her, and I don't want Julia around her."

"Is this your way of saying you want to take Julia with you?"

Jack shook his head. "Not exactly. If she went with me, then she would lose Alliance connections and citizenship. She will need that. Miranda is still keeping hers even out on Thessia. If anything, I am warning you about some of the trouble happening. This new administration is looking for the old warmongers. People like Jones, Ross, some of the military. They want to stand down to peacetime protocols. When they finally reach your department, they will clean house, and Jones will throw anyone in front of herself to preserve her own position. You, Julia, and anything else you care about are expendable to her."

"So, does this mean I can arrest you so that you can be my witness when this goes down?"

"No. About that bet we had, I have a contribution." Jack said. "I just recently found a few Prothean archives that shed some light on their demise. More importantly, that their demise started at the Citadel." Jack gave a suggestive nod of his eyebrows. "Our bet still stands, Hannah. You should really pay up for your end of it."

She got up from her chair, annoyed. "That's it, you're coming in. You're being a nuisance." She brought out handcuffs, and slammed one over Jack's wrist. The hologram of Jack flickered, and then disappeared. A small directional sound device was left visible in the chair.

"Sorry, my dear. I don't feel like being tied up today. Keep Cerberus out of Hock's complete control for now. My field test of Quarian hologram emitters is complete. Consider this one a gift to Julia. It's keyed to her."

She hated that man. He was here in this building, somewhere. He couldn't have been sending that too far remotely. She reached down to pick up the hologram emitter, and the emitter shocked her with as much force as a tech grenade. Her cat suit sparked as it caught the current of electricity, and she saw that the emitter damaged her capacitors. "Bastard!" Now she couldn't cloak until she replaced those.

She turned over the emitter, seeing a secondary layer of metal around it with its own system of electrical defense. Now she couldn't stalk around looking for him, she had to get out of here legitimately. She huffed, taking the emitter and disabling its shock defense. Then it slipped into her back magnetic pad, easily being stored underneath her suit. the catsuit still worked, it just couldn't hold a charge anymore. Shocks and things of that nature directed to the small of her back and to the palms of her hands did that. It was not an unknown occurrence.

When she emerged from the meeting, she found an even more annoying thing waiting for her. Joseph Stalter was waiting with fifteen other people in front of the doors. "Ah, yes, now that we can begin our meeting, everyone please come in. Miss, you are the executor for Mr. Harper, yes?"

"Technically yes." Hannah said. "What do you need?"

"Oh, Mr. Harper said that you would be attending our yearly meeting in his place. We were just waiting for you to be finished before we begin. Please, come take a seat. We have much to report to the majority stockholder." She nodded, being polite. But inside she was seething. She could not leave and Jack was out there on the loose!

* * *

Batarian Embassy, The Citadel

Haego watched as the Humans left his offices and meeting rooms. It had taken days to burn and destroy everything that Jeroth had collected. Each room of his personal quarters were filled with more pieces of Heresy. Asari mating rituals, Elcor media entertainment, Hanar songs, as well as lewd pictures in many of the men's barracks. All had been purged, and if he ever heard the word  _Fornax_  again, heads would roll. They were Batarians, not slovenly animals. Literature meant to be distributed to all as if they were equals was only meant to shatter and break the Karn.

Then the Humans had the gall to state that they had lost his Kavka in the explosions and chaos. He didn't believe it for a second. As Ambassador, he had met with the Council and introduced himself. That was a waste of words for everyone involved. They knew he had replaced Jeroth, and they knew he had burned and destroyed anything not of his own culture immediately. Their entire conversation of three hours had been fruitless. He refused to change any of the policies of his government, not for those of lesser rebirth.

Then the Humans made demands of trade partnerships, equal citizenship rights on one of the moons in the Attican Traverse, to try to make a peaceful planet between them. But the Karn did not live peacefully. They could not afford to. He had told them off, saying that they would receive his answer when they returned his Kavka. They tried to compromise, but Haego was never known for his ability to compromise. He was stubborn, dangerous, and cunning. He would not bend to the wishes of others unless they kept their original bargain.

He met with all those he needed to, and this took days. Then, he filed a moment of leave. He had to confer with the Hegemon regarding some of the more respectful demands of the Council, or so he claimed. With communications to the interior of Batarian space locked down, the only way for him to get any word to the Hegemon was to go himself. He took one last look around the plain and unadorned chambers that he had made his office, and stepped out. The ship that the Hegemon had sent with him had left, leaving him with little choice but to take one of the Batarian military craft stationed at the Citadel to have an advanced force nearer to the Embassy. Considering that all of the high priority targets were gone, there was less risk that they would be attacked while he was gone. He took the frigate  _Doreig's Stand_  and left the Citadel, insulted at the lack of civility that the Humans showed.

A day of travel later, and he was entering the Kite's Nest relay. He was stopped immediately, after coming through the relay near Kar'Shan. As was demanded and expected, the SIU cruiser docked with their ship and inspected it from fore to aft, finding nothing wrong with them. Strangely, all of the media was silent. Only military channels were active, and they only contained short bursts of data. Haego could see mentions of a few riots, but that was normal when he had left five days earlier.

War-Priests were never generals. Their training and skills were meant for near to mid range combat, and to command small pockets of troops. They were the ones to keep the troops committed, but not in charge of overall strategy. In terms of military rank, he could command everyone but the ship's captain. But he would most likely listen due to difference in birth. Already he had hinted at seeking sponsorship from Haego. No, the man wouldn't countermand his orders.

They were not allowed to bring their frigate inside of Kar'Shan's atmosphere. They had to go to one of the orbital military stations, where slave legion soldiers were prepared to receive their ship. The fear of the plague kept all of the free born soldier caste away from the receiving and loading docks. The slave legions were happy to fill the space, finding easy and comfortable work.

Haego marched down the ramp, in full armor and with the horns of his helmet almost grazing the top of the airlocks. His staff made solid noises as it matched his steps, and the slave legions bowed in his presence. They all knew that any disrespect towards a priest was an offence worthy of death, in the hopes that your next reincarnation would not make the same mistake.

The loading docks gave way to the main atrium of the station, where only a few Batarians were out. The normally packed station was empty, the shops and food vendors gone. It was disturbing, to see a place once so vibrant to be so empty. He ignored it, walking to the shuttle bays. These were disturbingly devoid of people as well, with shuttles resting in their racks and prepared to deploy at any time.

One shuttle was ready, with two ceremonial temple guardsmen standing there. "Your holiness, your presence is requested by the Hegemon. We are to take you to him." Haego relaxed some. Finally, some good news. Honorable to his station that he would send temple guards to collect him. Perhaps the Hegemon got his message warning him of Jeroth's treachery. Either way, none of sufficient standing had approached him to speak plainly to. The guards were not the highest caste, and they had a habit of talking about anything that the War-priests did as if it was their single greatest commodity. Perhaps it was, but Haego had to remain ignorant of it. It was not heretical to speak of the priests and spread rumors of their greatness.

Haego boarded the shuttle, and it took the short fifteen minute trip down to the planet's surface. When the doors opened again, it was to the dark orange sunset upon the High Temple. The shuttle had landed in the closest spot available, and Haego rarely approved anyone landing there. The Temple's steps were meant to allow the walker time to contemplate the Gods, their demands, and your responsibilities. Especially that last. The last statue leading up the stairs conveyed the deity Gerdan. Gerdan was the God of death. His eyes remained covered, as death came to all. He then allowed the soul to leave through the upper eyes, to seek its rebirth. Either your actions would convey you upwards, or your guilt would bring you back down, to try again until your responsibilities had been fulfilled. Such was the need of the Karn.

He walked up to the Temple's doors, the guards on alert and verifying his identity. He allowed them this, letting himself be scanned. The doors only opened after he had been fully scanned. Then, he walked confidently through the High Fane. Strangely, every altar and space was empty of priests. Only the requisite guards were on the doors. There were no priests tending sacred altars, no acolytes learning the ancient language of their forefathers. Odd, and very discomforting. The guards upon the doors to the inner sanctum did not meet his eyes as he walked past them.

The Hegemon wasn't in the sitting room, nor were there any guards there. Only the ever present guards upon the Hallway of Rebirth were in his vision. He walked down the pathway, the sculptures of the gods made by those anciently still preserved along its walls. No lesser blood had been spilled in this hallway, and as long as the guards breathed, none would come near this place without being of the highest birth and blessing.

Lights were on in the innermost halls, where the Pillars of Strength were located. It was not the time for priests to be cleaning, nor was it time for the Ceremony of Rebirth or Ceremony of Unending Devotion. No one was supposed to be among the Pillars of Strength. He increased his pace, stepping past the last four guards in his path, who all gave a signature nod to him as he passed, their hands tightening on their weapons. Yet they didn't follow him inside. Nothing was normal, and everything about this was bothering him at some level.

The Chamber of Pillars had large rock formations that Batar and other priests had inlaid gold on top of. Twenty seven of these pillars were about the room, each covered on all sides by a thin layer of gold. The twenty-eighth pillar was wider, and had a single flat panel on one side that was nearly ten feet wide. It was there that the lights were located. Electricity was sent into this room through old clay pipes, and the only lights to be had were from the lights near the central pillar.

Haego approached, seeing only one other Batarian in the room. He was wearing the armor of a High Priest, the same as Haego himself wore. The armor that the Hegemon used was different, a heavily reinforced armor with built in gatling cannons. This, this was not the Hegemon.

"Haego." His voice echoed throughout the pillars. "Pledge your knife to me or burn in the fire of my glory."

"Jeroth! You didn't!" Haego yelled. Jeroth turned, his armor already fully charged and full of air. His mass driver slammed into Haego, sending him sliding into one of the pillars. The one speaking of Jarem, if he could guess. "What have you done?"

Jeroth's faceplate opened. His grin was matched by his sober eyes. The man did not seem mad, but who would dare slay their own brother for the seat of power! Much less do so as a High Priest! "Destiny speaks to us, Haego. All of the others pledged their knives or were killed. You are the last, as it should be. We are both descendants of the most holy and cunning line, Haego. The line of Batar's only surviving daughter. She carried his soul through the millennia, and we are the closest in habit and shape that the SIU has seen in five hundred years. One of us in the reincarnation of Batar, fated to end this farce of a religion!"

"Heresy of the highest Order!" Haego roared, activating his armor's VI. It would not run without one to do the computation and math involved to operate the mass drivers. "Batar's rebirth is a false prophecy!"

"Prove me wrong, then, Haego." He almost jumped at him, right then and there. But if Jeroth dodged, he would slam into the main pillar hard enough to damage it. He couldn't risk damaging the physical proof of their religion. "If Batar is never supposed to be reborn, then how are we to overcome his treachery! Our Gods would not have left us to this doomed existence, where we cannot possible save every soul, unless there was this promise to be fulfilled!" Haego rolled to the left, hiding behind the Pillar depicting the duties of the priests.

"We are cursed to this existence, and we will prove that the rebirth is for all species and races! The Karn are one!" Haego brought about his staff, slamming it towards Jeroth. Jeroth held up one arm, preparing the mass driver to stop his strike. Unfortunately, Haego had been very careful about the use of his staff in any challenge he had received in the last five years. He hadn't activated the head of it yet, where a Krogan weapon had been installed. Call him slightly heretical, but borrowing weapon designs from other races had been a standard practice.

The element zero core within the staff fired after the mass driver did in Jeroth's gauntlet. He hadn't had the opportunity to test the weapon yet, though the results were explosive. The flash of dark purplish blue light was followed by tremendous forces of gravity, creating rents and tears in the platinum of the mass driver. His staff was a lost cause, the first half of the haft all that was left. He backed off, pulling the remains of the staff onto his leg's magnetic strip.

Jeroth only laughed. "And I bet you loaded the staff with aerosol poison. Hah! Figures you would just get a big knife rather than something truly cunning." Haego did notice that the right arm's mass driver was gone, and was visible leaking parts onto the floor. The very nicely and perfectly swept floor, he might add.

"I knew about the bet for years!" Haego replied. "Poison is too good for your tongue, though." The Pillars of Strength were too important to risk using anything that could go through his armor, as well. His cases of acidic solvents would have to wait until he could force Jeroth out of this room. That left less options. He could use his mass driver system, but he would most likely damage the Pillars if he did so. That left the use of Kavka and his usual knives. Those wouldn't pierce his armor, however.

"Fortunately for you, I planned for poison anyways!" Jeroth roared, bringing his gauntlets to bear. Extra lines connected from below, and he could see some sort of launcher mounted beneath the gauntlets. The lines fed through the arms of the suit and into the thick portion of his back.

A ball of fire launched out from the gauntlet, Haego ducking to avoid it. Strangely, it was easily dodged. Most war-priests were decent with ranged weapons, considering close range weapons to be their forte. When Haego straightened, he could feel heat from behind himself. Through his armor, even. He ducked behind a column, as more fire splashed rampantly around the Pillars. Looking up, he could see rivulets of gold melting off of the carved stone.

"Our people's history is being destroyed! Cease this madness!" Haego yelled. "Jeroth! You'll destroy it all!"

"That's the idea, Haego. One of us is by destiny supposed to burn all of this. To fulfill our destiny, and through rebirth finally prove Batar's code no longer constrains our people!"

"Did you kill your brother for this? Millions will die in the chaos, Jeroth!"

"The only way that you can preserve Batar's broken religion is to face me, Haego. Either way, one of us shall walk out of this temple the victor, and the Hegemon. All foretold shall be realized, Haego. Our people will be free from the mistakes made so early in our past!" Haego stuck his head out to yell back at Jeroth, but only felt heat. The pillar he was hiding behind had been ignited, and there were only twenty five more. He had to close distance and stop Jeroth from burning even more.

The only weapon he had left that could do so was the Kavka. If he did harm Jeroth with it, win the fight with it, then he had staked his claim on the throne of the Hegemony. Haego didn't want that. He had too much to worry about just simply as the High Priest. Snaking his head around again, he could feel a shot strike one of the horns on his helmet and melt it off immediately. But he got a good view of Jeroth. He had sprayed more of whatever was melting everything on every pillar he could find. The gold was coming down in rivers from the pillars, the ground pooling with golden puddles.

He could feel the rage. Anyone would, seeing thousands of years of culture and direction burn like a campfire. He activated his mass driver units on his legs, launching himself around the pillar and directly into Jeroth. The madman was still launching fireballs with abandon.

The Mass Driver had been an Elcor invention. It created a burst of force that mimicked biotics. With so many slaves that were Asari, some of them were capable of biotic charging. The mass driver as a weapon had been developed by the Hegemon's special weapons units, to seek to find a more effective solution to Asari vanguards. They had created a solution, but it was most likely the most heinously expensive armor in Hegemony Space. It cost as much as a frigate to make one of these, and they were jealously protected.

It contained a small cylinder of element zero around a small airtight space. This space could open forwards or backwards, propelling or sending force at an object. Haego had a lot of experience jumping around a battlefield like an Asari, landing upon his foes with great justice. Jeroth was wearing one as well, though. He had never fought anyone else wearing mass driver armor, due to their rarity. Jeroth had, and he put this to great use. Haego was nearly to Jeroth when he rolled, slamming his feet into Haego's stomach and firing the mass drivers located there.

Haego held in his grunt of pain as the drivers crushed his abdomen armor layers. The damage was far reaching, the pain going all the way through his body. The more drastic effect was that Haego went flying into another pillar, the gold cracking and stone shuddering. He rolled immediately, as fire followed him.

"I killed my brother and cousins already, Haego, why do you think a straightforward charge will work!" Jeroth said, casually launching fire at another pair of pillars. "Come at me with your Kavka! Challenge me and prove your soul's rebirth!" Both of their armor had melted gold caked onto some of the shoulders and legs, Haego had cracks running along his abdomen, and Jeroth's right arm was mangled. By drawing his Kavka, he would be stating his intent to challenge Jeroth as Hegemon. He couldn't do that lightly. There was a reason that the High Priest and the Hegemon were two separate entities.

"Your family only knew of Batar's potential rebirth, then. You, Jeroth, might not be aware of the secrets that the High Priest takes with him to his grave. Until the next High Priest finds the books and scrolls. The Hegemon was warned of Batar's rebirth, yes. The High Priest was told the circumstances of that prophecy!" He ducked behind the second thickest pillar, dedicated to the worship of Rian. Flames followed, and he could feel the heat even more through the damaged armor of his abdomen.

"Enemies and fire quake at his coming, and the weapons of war strike in places most dear," Jeroth muttered, quoting the prophecy as he knew it. "Batar rises from the old lines, his daughter's blood still unscorned. Plagues of terrible portent come down from the stars, and the people mourn from their homes. Dark is the day and black are the moons during Batar's realization." Jeroth stated. "Plagues there are many and dark is the day. All castes hide their faces and despair."

"The more publicly shared prophecy you are aware of. The High Priests share among themselves the complete version, so that if Batar is ever reborn the Hegemon and the High Priest shall both extoll the prophecies." Haego said. "Batar must defeat his old enemies again, and prove again to Eruk and Rian that he is more powerful than their great champions. He will take upon himself the failings of old, and cause a rebirth of fire to come upon his laws, bringing the new law from amongst the old. All shall rejoice and find salvation in his actions, and then shall Batar be buried, his eyes remaining apart to observe the future of all his inheritors. For he shall be the salvation of all, yet shall be denied the right to rule forever after. He shall be content with his salvation, and the uniting of the Karn as one voice." Haego intoned, stating from memory the prophecy passed down among High Priests. "There are no champions for us to defeat here. It is not our destiny to be Batar, or his reincarnation. Jeroth, you only lead us to Heresy!"

That was why he was not going to take the throne of the Hegemon. He knew too much. He was supposed to be the balance for the Karn. The Gods would only curse them if Haego became Hegemon. He leaned around Rian's pillar, seeing Jeroth shaking with rage. "Be that as it may. I shall declare myself Batar, and end our religion that forces our people to be in servitude for half of their rebirths!"

Haego's armor VI reported that an Omni-gel layer had been completed over the cracks and fractures in his abdomen and was rated for low atmospheric situations again. He picked up one of the gold panels that had fallen off of Rian's pillar and gently picked up the thin piece. "Ancestors, hear my prayers. Prove us this day."

He attached what grenades he had to the gold panel and threw it. Jeroth assumed he was using mass drivers to jump, and starting shooting wildly. The gold panel was struck, and melted immediately onto the grenades. Those exploded, showering Jeroth with glowing hot chunks of gold and shattering some of the front of his armor. Haego was right behind the grenades, leaping above Jeroth. As he came down, he grabbed the horns of Jeroth's helmet, pulling them back as Haego landed behind him. Jeroth panicked, as this exposed his throat to Haego's Kavka.

He jerked his head forward, using his remaining mass driver in his arm to blast his own helmet's horns. He rolled away with large portions of his helmet sparking and exposed, and Haego had to dive backwards again as fire and flame occupied the space. Roughly half of the floor and the columns that made up the pillars had pools of fire on them, and his footing was unsure. "The battles against the champions were metaphorical anyways!" Jeroth said. "Nothing in the prophecy claims I must face the same as Batar!"

He had to run behind the main pillar, entering the side of the room that hadn't been burned too badly yet. But the ambient temperature of the main stone pillar was heating up the opposite side's golden paneling. As he leaned against it, the paneling fell, crumpling over the top of him. Some of the pillars were made with high purity gold alloys, while other parts were made with lower purity alloys. This paneling had always been trouble, as it had the least purity in the room. Just the ambient temperature was melting the edges and making it come out of its housing.

Rubbing the gold chunks off of his head, he got up to see Jeroth standing right next to him. He jumped back, expecting the Kavka to finish him, when he saw that Jeroth had not moved. He wasn't even looking at him. He was looking at the stone behind the paneling. Haego risked glancing behind himself, and found his attention overwhelmed. Behind the panel was a flat piece of stone, with carved writings in the ancient language with a few pictograms. The largest pictogram was of a large creature, some fish shaped creature with five legs arrayed out from its mouth, along with four eye shapes, and the rest of the body like an enlarged crab gone lengthwise.

Jeroth had moved up to the exposed stone. "Hold, Haego. I was not told of the existence of writing behind the Pillars of Strength. We must see what this states before we continue our challenge."

Haego nodded. "I was unaware of this. Electrical scanning equipment does not work in the holy sanctum." They moved forward, warily coming within a few feet of each other to read the script. Jeroth appeared to be sounding out the words, having trouble.

"Read it, Haego. I am out of practice." Jeroth demanded. He did so, but not out of respect for Jeroth.

" _These are the records of Batar, after the victory of the Karn against Rian's worshippers. Rian is a lie, a creature made of metal and darkness. She turned us, used us, and left mockeries of flesh and bone and metal behind to direct us. We killed her worshippers, and found her champions in this very cavern. No weapon could kill them, and no wound bled. We tied the abominations down and covered them with melted gold, to be sealed away until someone can kill the creatures. Rian has controlled us for a thousand years, and no more will we be the slaves of a creature from the darkness of the furthest moon. I am Batar, and I have broken our people._

_Without some form of religion, we will fracture and become tribes, losing the connection that holds us together. I, along with my allies, will create something. This warning is done by my own hand, to warn those who follow me that the champions of Rian and Eruk still live. They are buried in the golden tombs of this chamber. Rian shall return, and when she does, the Karn must be strong. Her call must not corrupt us again. She is as large as the mighty mountain this carving rests in, and her four eyes can enthrall any who dare match her glare. Her fire is as the fire of the hottest volcano, and she may call it upon any who challenge her. Fear, my descendants in the Karn. Death comes, and you must be hard, hard enough to match that threat."_

Haego stopped talking. There was no more here. Just this warning to Batar's followers. "Which panel rested here to hide this warning, Haego?" Jeroth asked.

"The panel that states that a child must be sold to another to move forward among the castes. It was one of two written by the other priests that Batar was killed by. The ones who named him Betrayer."

"Odd. Why they would hide something of such significance. This proves that the Gods of our religion were based upon false ones. Or at least upon a religious system that we all once followed." Jeroth traced his hands upon the stone, the creature that was carved there. "This looks like... I've seen this before. These aren't creatures, however. Harper showed me these, yet he said these were ships."

A crash was heard from the side of the room on fire. Haego and Jeroth noticed it, and both turned to each other. "Did you break a pillar?"

"You did, more likely, with your drivers. I only melted the outer layers." Jeroth said. "I assumed they would survive anything I brought to fight with."

"Assumptions are-" Haego was knocked to the ground as something landed on his back, and he could hear metal being torn open.

"Abomination!" Jeroth roared, his mass driver firing right above his head. Haego felt a weight leave him, and rolled to a standing position. His armor was reporting deep cuts into the reinforced back plating. Some of the gel layers had been pierced, and his armor was no longer rated to go anywhere. With the gel layer pierced, Omni-gel couldn't easily fix this. He would have to get out of the armor to fix anything more damaging now. Haego glanced over, noticing that Jeroth was in a position of defense, and wasn't acting threatening to him at all. "Eyes forward, Haego! This creature came from within this chamber!"

Haego turned, seeing what appeared to be a Batarian skeleton with weird growths attached to its arms. Long claws dragged against its knees, and its four eyes glowed with what appeared to be cybernetics. "By the Gods!" Gold coated it, molten and hot. It didn't seem to care very much, its skeletal structure more like a mechanical beast than a complete Batarian skeleton.

"The Gods have sent their champion, Haego. I believe we should show them a token of our defiance!" Jeroth yelled, the skeletal beast not reacting. "A truce, until this abomination is put down."

"The Holy Sanctum must not be defiled any further. In that, we are in agreement." Haego said. "I will close distance." Was all the warning he gave before he fell upon the beast with all the power his armor would carry. The creature appeared to be Batarian in origin, and so Haego came down onto its skull with both wrist mounted mass drivers, after launching across the floor using the boot drivers to create thrust. He  _bounced_  off of it, the armor faltering as it came within striking distance of the creature. He dented the thing's skull, but his armor VI wasn't responding. All that his HUD told him was that it was rebooting. "It scrambles technology!" He warned Jeroth.

"Noted." Jeroth said, bringing his flames to bear on the beast. They ignited it, but didn't seem to do any real damage. The creature didn't seem to care that it was near one thousand degrees celsius, and just ran over to one of the large pillars and hugged it. The golden paneling melted where the creature touched it, and it just pressed into the holy writings without a care in the world. Haego charged up behind it, knowing that his armor was still scrambled. But he plunged his normal knives into the creature, the blades not piercing the creature's bones. But they did crack some of them, and he wedged the tip of one of his blades into the shoulder pad, peeling back the remnants of skin and bone like they were a ripe fruit.

Blue wiring exploded from the wound, digging into his blade and cracking the tip. He drew back, not expecting that kind of reaction. In response, he pulled out what remained of his staff and slammed that through the crack in its skull. The broken end of the staff buried itself in about a foot before he saw it pop out the bottom of the skull, trailing a few broken wires. The beast casually used one of its arms to throw Haego off of itself, and Haego slid to a stop a few feet away, even with the weight of his armor. The beast had strength that was not apparent in its bone-like arms.

Jeroth, behind him, stopped using his flame burst launcher. "Curious. They appear like mechs. Yet my armor does not register an electronic signature. I wish I had saved this for you, my friend. However, this merits the use of some surprises." He brought out what appeared to be a bandoleer. "Distract it for a moment, and I will guarantee it will never defame anything with its sight again."

Haego nodded, coming in with his remaining knife and his Kavka. The creature used one arm to hold him off, while Jeroth walked over and tied the bandoleer around the creature's neck. "Hah! Get back, Haego, this is going to be good!"

The bandoleer was made up of small bricks of what looked like plastic with thin metal plates on it. Haego backed off, thinking that Jeroth had some serious plastic explosive in here. That would be bad, considering that this chamber had to be preserved as much as possible. Instead of the expected explosion, he could see bright red sparks erupt from all of the string of bricks, and thermite melted through the skeletal creature's body. It actually screamed, the metallic grinding noise actually echoing inside of his helmet.

The remaining chunks of the creature fell to the ground, its head completely separated from the body. Blue wires stuck out of the gold coating in places, sparking and dying as the remnants died. "Well, then. That must have come from inside one of the pillars, then. Look at all the gold its covered in." Jeroth said. "The thermite would have been entertaining, would you not agree?"

"Not terribly. Considering how my armor would react to it."

" _Worms, you reject us yet again!"_  The severed head started speaking, in old Batarian. " _The immortal guardians of your ascension will rid you of your ignorance! Know true fear!"_ The pillar that the creature had been working on melting starting melting. " _Behold the guardian of the Karn!"_  A glowing hand burst through the gold paneling, and the entire pillar started coming apart.

"The Gods have their champions, Haego. Your prophecy only proves that they were here the entire time. The Pillars of Strength were never a religious structure. They were a prison." Jeroth laughed. "Brilliant of our previous incarnation to have concealed their prison inside of our most holy structures. Does your soul sing, Haego? Do you not feel the call of war?"

"I only feel the sorrow of knowledge lost, Jeroth. None of this pleases me." As they spoke, the creature buried within the pillar of Eruk burst free, revealing a much better preserved Batarian champion. Skin glowing with blue wiring and cybernetics, and arms fully reinforced. This champion wore armor, archaic and constructed of the ancient iron and steel of their primitive ancestors. When the creature opened its mouth, showing a working tongue and throat, Haego gulped. Their most ancient threats spoken of in prophecy, scripture, myth and legend had been proven to be all too real. The champion of Eruk had been much more preserved compared to the first champion. Worse, he could already feel the electronics in his suit shutting down.

"It forces us to fight on its terms. Come, Haego! This day we are brothers in blood and in soul!" Jeroth activated the purge function on his armor, letting the helmet and outer layer of armor come off. It would be too heavy to move without the VI and mass drivers assisting him. Haego did so as well, leaving only a Kavka and a regular knife. Weapons wouldn't work on this creature, either. Anything electronic was being affected, and the lights that kept the pillars lit went out. Only the light of the fires and molten piles of gold revealed anything of the creature they were fighting. Left only with knives and his undersuit, Haego let himself tremble slightly.

Their gods were real. But the same gods were false. Batar had used this place as a prison for that which he could not kill. Even now, with all of the technology they had, they might not win. The trembling only convinced him further. Fear was a natural reaction to the unknown. For Haego, his entire life had been a known quantity. He was a war-priest, and he would father children and move to the highest position of authority possible. He would detail and follow through on every responsibility. There had been no questions, no guilt. Until now. The Gods were real, and they wanted him dead. "If I am Batar reincarnated," Haego stated, "Then it is my solemn responsibility to send you to the darkest abyss I can find!"

"Haego Dvoragk, if you survive this, I promise to leave you alive. This is too important to be shared by the voice of one alone." Jeroth said, hefting his own Kavka and that was all. Then, he shot forward, and battle was joined. Eruk's champion waited for Jeroth to come within range before swinging its clawed hand at him. Jeroth laughed, catching the claw on his Kavka and watching as the metal flaked and one of the claws came off. For his trouble his arm was covered in scratches, the undersuit not slowing the beast down. Kinetic barriers would have done nothing, as the beast's arms attacked so slowly compared to regular shots.

Haego flanked it, coming in and cutting at the beast's face with his Kavka. It didn't even flinch, sending its own arm to try to capture his wrist. He blocked with the other knife he had, which was shattered by the claws and they kept going, grasping onto his good wrist with enough strength to crush the bones. The only consolation was that the creature was slow, and had the weight of armor and gold coating keeping it down. He tried to get away from it as it casually broke his wrist, the claws digging in and going deeper and deeper into his wrist. His knife dropped, and attempted slashes with the Kavka only caused superficial cuts. The steel armor was giving enough protection that the kavka couldn't cut through enough of the creature's wrist to free his own. Tendons being snipped did nothing, and the pressure increased on his wrist until a wet  _pop_  sounded, and Haego watched as his left hand flopped onto the floor uselessly.

He kept back any scream of pain as he was amputated. Jeroth stabbed the creature's eyes, all four of the blinking blue constructs going dark as it was distracted by removing his hand. Haego fell back, grasping his wrist tightly as lifeblood poured from it. He had seen such wounds before. He had roughly five minutes at best before he would bleed out and die. He had to stop the bleeding, and soon. Jeroth could not win this without his aid.

Speaking of the man, he was inside the champion's guard, slicing up tendons, ligaments, joints, eyes, throat, anything that he could. But he was breathing hard and blood was flowing from scratches across his face and body. Haego glanced around, seeing an option to return to battle quickly. There was a small puddle of melting gold next to him, and before he could fully realize the consequences to his own body he shoved the bleeding stump into the molten gold.

He screamed, as the nerves at the end of his arm screamed out with him. But now, there was no chance of bleeding out. He would deal with the rest of the damage later. The remaining right hand held his Kavka, and the left had molten gold covering it. grimacing against the burning pain, Haego moved towards the creature again. It didn't seem to care about him, and was just carving up Jeroth. Jeroth was laughing as it tried, having taken off two more of its claws during the time that Haego had burned himself.

Coming in at a run, he saw the abomination grasp Jeroth in a strong grip, on the wrist that held Jeroth's Kavka. Yelling baseborn epithets, Haego swung and solidly removed its hand with a swipe of the Kavka. One of the blades was bent, however. Kavka were notoriously hard to damage, being multilayered monomolecular blades. This creature must be made out of something troublesome.

"My thanks!" Jeroth said, coming in to target the remaining hand. He then dove right back under its guard to hack at the creature's shoulder. The joint of the old steel plated armor popped open like a can, and underneath the exposed wiring and bone writhed. Haego tried to attack the other shoulder, it being the arm missing a wrist. He thought it would be safer, but as he approached the stump got in his way, long blue wires extending from it and grasping him. They tore into his skin like barbs, and Haego was tossed away from the fight.

He got up, rolling to his feet and cringing as the exposed skin from cuts was further exposed to molten gold, some of it seeping inside his hardsuit. Like water on fire, it got into the joints of his shoulder and knee. Groaning, he tried to think of a better strategy. Batar must have defeated them somehow. He defeated both of these champions with only steel weapons and luck. Not to mention he did so without blinding them. Though that didn't seem to slow it down very much if at all.

Jeroth was slashing at it, when he realized that the other arm had become dangerous again, and was wrapped up in the barbs. They dragged across his face and neck, and Jeroth cried out in pain as they pierced his skin at different intervals. Haego stumbled forward, stabbing his knife directly through the creature's neck. It didn't get far past the steel neck guard, but it caused it to flinch. It let go of Jeroth, and raised its one remaining good hand. A small ball of energy gathered there, and with a huff it was released into Haego. He had been hit by a biotic warp before, but not like this. Never like this. The gold vibrated on his cooling left hand it was so furious.

Still, Haego plunged the Kavka into the creature's neck again and again. Until the abomination started coming apart, in fact. The glowing was spreading at an abnormal rate, the skin burning up. It tossed him aside and let Haego roll into more of the gold, his body aflare with pain all over again. It was much harder to get up this time, and took what he could focus on to just get to ground not covered in molten metal.

Jeroth, on the other hand, had been grappled by the creature, and as it was coming apart it was stabbing him with its long blue lines of metal and barbs. He was twitching as one plunged through his neck, trying to wildly slice at the abomination. Haego's muscles refused to act, and he was only able to watch as the creature cut apart Jeroth, the barbs slicing into him with abandon, until the creature fell upon its knees. The glowing had spread throughout its body, and he could see its feet flaking to pieces. Jeroth was dropped like a sack of food, as the abomination opened its mouth a final time.

" _Flesh fails once more. In time more flesh shall pledge itself to my cause, and the eyes of Rian shall once again be seen in every settlement of your pitiful people. I, Rian, shall return to you, and guide you back to your proper path."_  It's throat cut off before any more could be said, as the entire abomination became simply particles. Haego laid back, just breathing as the last of the biotic warp faded.

"What have we done?" Haego muttered. "Rian is a lie. What have we done?" Everything that was supposed to be fact was possibly wrong. His life had been lived fulfilling oaths to a broken religion, where the gods were only dedicated to death and pain. He was a war-priest to those gods, and the reality of his responsibility now was unclear. The policy of rebirth and reincarnation, was that too a lie? All the effort to save the souls of the galaxy, was that all worthless?

He cried. He cried for his faith, broken and defiled. He cried for his Hegemon, a good friend and someone whose atheist tendencies would be the greatest of comforts in this troubled time. The tears were few, and the room was too warm for them to stay on his hide of a skin for long. But somewhere in this despondency, Haego snapped. Pain no longer registered. He was no longer part of reality. He withdrew into his own mind, reality too hard to bear.

That was how the temple guards found him. Unresponsive, unknowing, and hardly making a noise as he was hefted onto a stretcher and taken away.

* * *

Author's Note

For the fight in the Pillars of Strength, I listened to Linkin Park's "The Catalyst" for some inspiration. I did a lot of thinking for the Batarians, and what kind of culture they represented. Stark, hard truth expressed through statues and other religious relics, with filtered scripture and prophecies that controlled their daily lives. To many of the Jarem, the lowest caste, a priest was just someone who reminded you that if you don't complain, the next time you come back it will be better. They come and bless your child and put their names into the system.

In effect, the Batarian culture of my design is one where the military and spiritual governments are intermingled and have controls over one another, yet their directives are what controls the society. Military personnel make sure that the lowest caste of slaves work, while the priests do all the counting, census work, and create a secondary need to succeed at the job you were born to. The castes are limiting, and control who and what go where. It worked for the subcontinent of India for thousands of years, and it works here as well.

My beta would like to thank you all for reading and commenting. The excitement has kept him busy. Unfortunately for him, some days I write more than he has time to read. So this had to wait a little bit until he gave it the ok. His name is Robotecha, and the poor fellow is not an English major, but he is one of the people from my pathfinder group. He is good people.

I hope that you guys have enjoyed the deep focus on the Batarians during this arc. I want to make sure that everyone knows that they are capable of good, and that some of them are just honest people trying to make a living. Their culture is a wee bit oppressive, and that creates a lot of issues. Good thing the only doctors for each caste are female, then. I don't think I have mentioned that in the story yet, but Haego purposefully does not think or consider thinking about the females of his race. There is a reason that I haven't mentioned Batarian women yet, especially if Haego is the one driving.

In the upcoming chapters, we will finish up the Pre-ME1 arc, and then finally dive into actual game canon timeline. But before that happens I will take a few days and clean up all the chapters and timeline. I was planning on doing it before I did this chapter, but then I got distracted with Haego vs. Jeroth. Thanks again guys for all the good press. A special shoutout to  **DarkDanny** , who is another great author out there and writes a very heavy and dark AU universe. His work is especially enjoyable, and I hope you guys dig in. It's a rare find and he does the story justice. Enjoy and have fun next time!


	37. Fugue: Gentleman Caller

Chapter 37

Purgatory Bar, Omega, February 2168

"You are giving me what?" Charles asked from his side of the booth.

"Lessons, training, whatever you want to call it. A few hundred years ago men like me trained men like you how to function in society." Jack Harper said, across from him.

"You pulled me out of the first tests on my Prothean linker to teach me how to be a gentleman?" Charles said, surprised. "That's a terrible idea."

"Well, consider this the speed version. I'm not going to go through etiquette with you, nor am I going to go over how to eat like a gentleman. The only thing you need to care about regarding that is how to present a drink in the correct manner." Jack Harper had pulled him from his computer in front of Vigil to come to Omega, of all places. Then he put him onboard one of the normal ships that the Quarians had lent them. When they got to Omega, Jack had given him a nice suit, pants, and decent boots with kinetic barrier generators installed in the belt and lapels of the suit jacket. He also had a biotic barrier, albeit a weak one.

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea. I'm a programmer, not a gentleman."

Jack gave him a level look. "You're also brilliant and with a little bit of training you can mimic any profession that anyone else can do. You have excellent memory of conversations as well as visual prompts, and it is nearly criminal to have had you locked up at our base for the last couple of years. You need to learn how to socialize again, and most importantly present yourself in such a way that you can act as an equal in any exchange."

"Like you and Javik and your epic pissing match." Charles said. They had been near to blows on one occasion, and only Liara and the other Protheans kept them from devolving right then and there.

"Not so much. In that exchange, Javik needs someone to slowly grind down his arrogance until he realizes that his ego is only hiding a desperate barbarian of a warrior. Once I wear him down, we can have a professional relationship, but until then I'll match wits and threaten to turn his place of living into a zoo." Jack sipped from his drink, something that had smelled so bitter and foul that Charles had avoided it. Though he was trying something called Yekyub. It was a Salarian alcoholic drink that also included a mild hallucinogen. It apparently gave you weird dreams when you slept. But it also tasted like a sickly sweet candy bar that had been blended with jello. To him, it was awesome. It didn't look awesome, but it tasted pretty good.

"It's still really entertaining when you guys start yelling at each other." Charles said. "Is this whole trip for me or are we meeting with anyone scary?"

"We are here for business, yes, but not for another couple of hours. During that time, I am going to be teaching you certain things that you'll appreciate and need. First, posture and the art of holding a glass." Jack motioned to his own cup he held in his hand. "Posture and positioning convey confidence, even if you are terrified you can show that you are willing to stay at the table and not back down. Fear reactions will occur as normal, and you can predict your body reacting to certain stimuli. For example, a raging Krogan." He pointed out of the booth.

Down on the ground floor of Lower Afterlife, there was a small fight breaking out between two Turians and a Krogan. Only the Krogan could be heard above the hooting of the crowd. "Yeah, no." He watched as one of the Turians tried to punch out the Krogan, and was picked up and body slammed by the Krogan's cowl. "I am allergic to pain. Let's not go start a barfight, eh?"

"No can do, Charles, no can do. Part of growing up is to prove yourself in a fight. So, the first thing I am going to teach you is how to gentlemanly beat the hell out of someone else." Jack pointed to a Turian at the bar. "That one. You can beat him, most likely. He's an older one, and doesn't see so well with his left eye. Use whatever method you can, but beat him. To be a gentleman about it, you have to introduce yourself first."

"Why the hell would I want to start a fight with someone?" Charles said, horrified. "I'm the guy in the background, not the kind of guy who just goes looking for trouble. We are on Omega, too, where just fighting with people gets you killed!"

"I picked that Turian because he is well known to be a punching bag. Go, pick a fight with him, and then get back here. I'll back you up, if you need it." Jack said, leisurely sipping whatever brandy he was drinking.

"Great." He drawled. Sure, he had to go pick a fight with some Turian. Jack was being weird. He got up from his seat, and walked down to the bar where the Turian was located. He was sitting alone, and didn't have a visible weapon on him. Even if he did, Charles would be able to just jam it or overheat it. He approached the bar, and sat down with one barstool as a buffer between him and the Turian. "Evenin'." He said, not sure how to introduce himself to some guy he was supposed to beat into the ground.

"Stupid pyjak." The Turian spat. "Hasn't your race done enough damage to the galaxy?"

"Well nice to meet you, too." Charles returned. "I was just being nice and introducing myself. You didn't have to be an ass about it."

The Turian glanced upwards, the black and yellow markings on his face showing bewilderment and surprise. "I killed a few of your kind over the years. Now, I don't have a ship anymore and all I had was stolen from me. Because of your people. How kind of you to mock my pain!"

"Mind if I ask you a couple of questions?" Charles interrupted, before the Turian could froth over. The Turian, surprised and possibly a little drunk, nodded. "Did you participate in the way against my people?"

"No, I'd already left. My third tier of citizenship had been denied, and I didn't want to be a deep mining equipment operator anymore. I wasn't going to wait four more years before I could apply to actually buy property, or own a home. So I left. No home, no family, not part of the military beyond what was required when I was young." He glared at Charles. "But what do you care about me, eh? Your pirates did plenty."

"Were you on a mining ship?"

"Yeah. Just going to nearby systems and mining platinum and copper. Me and my crew were making an honest living out here, and we had money coming in real nice. Then one of your human ships came in and shot us up, took our cargo, took our ship, and dropped us off on Omega. Now, I've got nothing, and it's all your fault."

"How is it my fault, I was born only nineteen years ago." Charles stated. "If anything, the fault lies with your government that you already hate. I mean, what kind of law makes it legal to go to war against people just trying to explore and find friends in the universe?"

"What do you mean?"

Charles used his arms to demonstrate his emotions. "We were just searching for other life, you know? Go through the relays, find aliens, allies, trade partners. We didn't know about the law against opening relays, and we didn't know about the Council. In your people's courts, you can't be tried for a law that you weren't aware of, right?"

"Technically true." The Turian said. "But they make you aware of all the laws long before you reach adulthood."

"So then, answer me this," Charles said, arms in front of himself. "How is a race supposed to search through the universe without opening a relay?"

"Well, uh, I'm not sure. It would take decades to get anywhere." He mumbled. "You'd have to be an Asari or Krogan to travel anywhere."

"So you could claim that it would be normal to try to talk to people and help them understand that what they did was wrong?" Charles made a calming motion with his hands at that. "How about just showing up and shooting everything in response?"

"Admiral Caedus was an idiot to do that, I can agree."

"You can blame him for our piracy, then." Charles said. The Turian turned to him, confused. "Look at it this way. We were taught that violence is the answer by none other than your own people. Who were taught that by the Krogan, to the Rachni, and so on and so on until you go back to the Asari and Protheans. Really, humans and our violent tendencies are just a byproduct of how we were treated by the Turians. A cycle of hatred, yeah?" He had listened to Liara enough to get some of this down.

"That's surprisingly logical of you." He said. "My name is Verran." He offered his hand. "You're the first Human i've met that I don't want to kill. Now, get out of my face. Talking to you doesn't make me feel any better either."

Charles hesitated. He really didn't want to hit this guy. Not after all the stuff he just tried to prove wrong. But then again, the guy was being nice. They had introduced themselves, they had argued, and then said their goodbyes. Charles decided that he was well within his rights to not start a bar fight and get killed. So he scampered back up to the booths, and rejoined Jack Harper. Who had refilled his drink while he was gone.

"Good job." Jack said. "Proving his argument incorrect without spilling any blood. That old Turian usually starts fights with Humans without much provocation."

"So, you expected me to get attacked?"

"Yes and No. Turians are an honor bound people, and by introducing yourself you make them feel extremely guilty if they don't offer the same honors. I made you introduce yourself to see if you could start a conversation with him."

"So, to be clear, I wasn't supposed to start a bar fight." Charles said.

"Correct. A gentleman doesn't start fights, but he certainly finishes them." Jack said. "I don't have any sons, and I don't plan on having to do this with any of my sons-in-law, well, who knows what Miranda might bring home. Julia I am reasonably sure will bring home a male in some form. Either way, those men will have gone through this and I won't have to do it again." Jack motioned to the Asari dancers that populated the area. "A gentleman is always capable of hitting on any female at any time. As you are a human, you are considered attractive to enterprising Batarians, psychotic Elcor, Quarians, Asari, Turian Separatists, and other Humans. Lucky, lucky."

"Is this another mind game?" Charles asked, a bit afraid. Women were sort of not his thing. He wasn't great at dealing with women and women confused him easily. "I don't like where this is going."

"You and Kaidan would have done this eventually too, I am sure. Kaidan appears to have some success with women anyways." Jack said. Charles knew that Kaidan was having success with women. It was all over the net that he had slept with some model who had been visiting the Citadel. "Either way," Jack said, taking up his attention, "I'm going to teach you a few things about women."

He waved towards an Asari dancer, who immediately came over. Some of the dancers here were red sand junkies who just wanted their next fix, while others were just maidens who were in economically difficult situations. Omega made them grow up fast. She sashayed over to their table, Charles glancing at the exposed skin and Jack carefully meeting her eyes. She looked like a predator, approaching them. Good, someone with experience.

"Uh," Charles started.

"Good Evening, hostess." Jack told her in Asari. Charles didn't know or bother learning Asari. He just used his Omni-tool and his visor to translate everything. He had to leave it behind on Omega, as it would just bring attention to himself. "My friend here is experiencing his first coming of age. I was wondering if by chance you might be able to teach him a few basic things about what women prefer and how they are to be treated." A credit chit rolled off of Jack's fingers like a bouncing bauble. Charles decided that rolling a credit chit like that between the fingers would be pretty cool to learn. "Without a bonding experience, please."

Rella, or whatever her name really was, sat and talked to him for almost thirty minutes. Every time she looked bored, or ready to stand up and go back to work, Jack would roll another credit chit into her hands. So she stayed, and mentioned that women liked men to stare into their eyes, tell them what they liked and hold their hands. Not to mention how to spend money on them. That section was heavily edited by Jack, who offered a voice of reason to some of the things that Rella was mentioning were expected costs. Like paying for the girl's apartment if you liked her enough. He could see that, maybe. But only if she was living with him or something. Then she got into the gritty details of sex, speaking so plainly of it all that Charles had wide eyes and red face long before she finished explaining what Asari like compared to Humans or even Batarians. The amount of detail involved was immersive, and when she got to Drell Jack even took notes.

When Rella left, it wasn't with a lap dance or anything, but she let her hand linger on his leg for a good six seconds and flared her biotics to let him know she noticed he was one too. He couldn't flare his biotics, though. He barely had enough strength to bring them forward, anyways. He was out of practice.

"I thought that would be a lot more embarrassing." Charles admitted. "I totally thought you would have just had her do all kinds of other stuff."  
"I considered it." Jack said, "But then I noticed that she actually knew more than the average Maiden. She might just be someone closer to Matron age, and knew enough to enlighten you. Asari don't care too much about the physical side of sex. Really, they don't. They don't feel anything, and anything that isn't fiddling with their eezo nodules or nervous system is more like tickling than anything sexual. They care only about the emotions invested into the relationship. The glances, the emotion-laden actions, all of that is what matters to them. Salarians, in the unlikely chance you have an interest in that, have no pheromone system and nothing to trigger emotional responses."

"What about Quarians, you know, since we are working with them," Charles quickly added the last bit. Whatever, he was allowed to be interested in other things that resembled Human curvature.

"Quarians require a significant amount of time to adjust to another creature's immune system. There is a few medications out there that can trick their system into accepting your goods for a few hours. Expensive, Salarian made, but very good. I understand that they were considered another group for the Asari to express interest in when their race first came to light. Beautiful people, but the constant medication needs make it somewhat awkward. Especially once their body adjusts to the dosage. It is far safer to spend the two or three years slowly exposing them to your immune system pieces and then having them adjusted to you. But yes, I can see where you would see some attraction." There was a couple of Quarians in lower Afterlife. Both were male, though. "Now, are you ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"Well, I didn't just spend a couple thousand credits for you to sit here and feel enlightened. Go test out what you have learned." Jack motioned to the bar. "But avoid the Krogan. Female Krogan are some of the most brutal lovers the galaxy has to offer. Though you can probably get that female Elcor's number. She is wearing Eclipse armor, right there." Sure enough, at the bar was an Elcor. She, if it was a female, was sitting with a few other Asari and drinking a pitcher of brown-green liquid. "Or perhaps some of the single Humans and Asari that are around. The Humans are probably here to bum drinks off of people with Asari fetishes, and the Asari are here to bum drinks and look good. Oh, and as always, do not let yourself get mind-raped. Asari are sneaky like that. But then again its what they get off on. Go on and try out some of what you've learned, or else any time you talk about women you'll sound like an old professor talking about 21st century feminists."

Jack had a point. But these people would kill other people if they felt threatened. So, he pulled his shirt back into place, and took a deep breath. Then he got up out of the booth and ran smack dab into a plate full of drinks. They went flying, and the serving girl carrying the drinks screamed as twenty glasses went over the railing and dumped over more than a couple of patrons. Including the Elcor at the bar.

"Start running, Charles. Bylaka there is one of the most dangerous creatures you could ever insult." Jack said from his booth. "She is one of the Eclipse Warlords."

Charles looked over the balcony, seeing the Elcor covered in alcohol slowly turning around towards him. " _ **Exasperation. This is my newest armor. Bring me the one who did this."**_  Charles gulped, and pulled back from the balcony as he saw two Eclipse sisters start moving for the stairs. Charles looked around, seeing empty booths and few patrons around. There was only the serving girl there in the balcony with him, whose clothes and drink platter had scattered. Though she didn't look like the rest of the servers, who were for the most part Asari and Batarians. She got up, some sort of shawl or head covering revealing a black face plate and a slim body encased in a suit.

"You stupid pyjak! Now my drinks are all over the place!" She exclaimed.

"A woman scorned…" Charles started saying, trying to remember what Rella had told him. He couldn't remember in time, as the Asari came up at the far end of the balcony. "Uh, I don't remember the rest, Sorry!" He started walking away from her, trying to decide where to hide. The Asari, on the other hand, asked the patrons who spilled the drinks. One of the Batarians was only too happy to help them, pointing directly at Charles.

"The Pyjak there did it. Knocked over the Quarian, too. Filthy creatures don't respect anyone these days." The needle toothed, four eyed jerk said. Well, that answered a few things. The Asari pair moved forward, pistols out. The people in the booths crammed inwards and took cover. Charles himself moved to the end, where he could jump down into the next row of balconies.

"Get 'em both. She'll want to have something more than just one bloodstain." One of the Asari said. Charles stopped, almost ready to jump down and start running.

"Girls love it when somebody can prove they're strong enough…" He muttered, turning around and grasping his weak biotics. His pull was low to the ground, and hit the Quarian girl right in the torso. She was slowly backing away from the Asari, and went sliding along the balconies and into Charles' arms. Unfortunately, that moment where the guy is supposed to smoothly catch the girl and escape didn't happen. "No! Programmer arms!" The Quarian was way too heavy for him to hold easily. His musculature that he had enjoyed at Cerberus had decayed, and with that, they both went tumbling over the balcony and into one of the empty booths.

Thankfully, he landed on something bench-like and soft. Looking around, he saw that they had landed on a bench in between two tables. The Quarian was heavy enough to have knocked the wind out of him. Just wearing a suit meant that a weight of around one hundred and fifty pounds impacted his stomach. She took her sweet time rolling off of him, too.

"Uhh." Was all that came out when he tried to speak. He just had to breathe.

"Come on, you stupid bosh'tet, Bykala's going to be all over you!" The Quarian yelled. She dove under the table, opening up one of the floor panels with a small tool that emerged from her gauntlet. "You save me, I'll save you, come on!"

Charles rolled, and right after he did the table came apart like a bomb had gone off. He rolled again, chunks of plastic and metal lining raining all around him. Looking up, all he could see where the table once was happened to be the side of a glowing blue Elcor. The Elcor that he had last seen stationary by the bar. Oh gods, that was a Vanguard. An Elcor Vanguard. He rolled, wheezing, falling the four feet into the open grate. He coughed, feeling his swiftly bruising stomach hit a pipe.

The Quarian was already moving through the pipes, ducking over and under the pipes and supports that held up the balconies full of booths. "Wait!" He gasped.

"We're even!" She turned around, facing him. "Try not to get crushed!" Charles angled his wrist towards her, launching a tracking drone as she started moving away. He just dove under the nearby pipes as a massive Elcor fist slowly started reaching through the hole he had just dove through. He didn't have to move fast once the drone attached. She would show him the way out. So, Charles waited until he had caught his breath, and then moved through the pipes. He could hear the Asari from earlier coming into the area after him, but they were going to have trouble in here.

The pipes and supports were haphazard, and didn't follow any rhyme or reason as to why they supported the construction. There was even a couple of bodies down here, which smelled quite terrible. He didn't know where he was, but with the Quarian leading him, he knew where he was going. Her movements were marked on his Omni-tool, so he just followed the red line and didn't have to guess anything. The pipes eventually let out into some grimy alleyway, connecting to a water main and air filtration system. The Quarian had stopped moving up ahead, and so Charles just carefully moved forward, the supports and pipes giving way to catwalks above a massive water filtration chamber. The walkways were somewhat rusted and dark, and there was a large operations theatre style box on the uppermost walkway. That looked to be in better condition, but didn't connect to the lower walkways.

The sound of water churning covered his footsteps, and at the far end of the chamber he could see a few panels of the walls missing. His drone led him right to it. The panels of the wall had been removed, and a small ductway was behind the wall. Inside he could see wrappers and water bottles standing end upon end, and a small artificial heater. Next to it was the Quarian, who was going over her suit with her Omni-tool, probably doing a check of its systems.

The suit had a few cuts and marks that had only been patched up with medical tape. She didn't even have any Omni-gel for that. As he watched, she applied more medical tape to a long patch of the suit, one with wires openly visible from the left wrist. Quarian suits often had integrated Omni-tools, and Charles couldn't see one on her. That would explain why the suit was in such bad condition, if she couldn't even read her vitals.

"Hey." He said, seeing her jerk and press herself against the back wall.

"Ahh! No!" She yelled, holding her hands up. She was unarmed, on Omega. No gun, no knife, not a thing to protect herself. No Omni-tool came up with defensive programs or kinetic barriers. "Wait, its just you."

"Yeah, I followed you out because I thought it would be the easiest way out."

"There isn't a way out of here. This is all a sealed block, Afterlife itself being on its own power and water. I can't get out of Afterlife through any of here. Plus, where would I go?"

"Well, at least you're employed."

"Hah! Employment contracts don't exist on Omega. A few like me just facilitate drinks. We get orders, pay with our own credits, and then demand a higher figure from the table to get our cut. The bartenders don't care, and Aria doesn't mind the service improvement. Nor when we screw up and die, she doesn't have to care about the labor being out of her personnel."

"That, actually really sucks." He said. "I work with a bunch of you guys, and I know you're resourceful, but this is pretty bad." He motioned to the food wrappers and empty water bottles. "You're not surviving very well here."

"You don't have to be judgemental about it. There used to be three of us, working the balconies and saving up money for our Pilgrimage. The other two were killed and dumped in the water treatment plant and all that we had was taken." She sighed. "So, are you gonna rob me too?"

"Nah, not really. I was thinking of paying for you to go to Earth or something." Charles said. "They're always hiring engineering and tech positions for you guys."

"You're even more of a bigot than I thought.  _That_  is the worst stereotype that is going around these days. Everyone assumes that all Quarians know how to fix anything, work on anything electronic. Not all of us have those skills, you know."

"So, what are you good at?" Charles asked, sitting down on a small pile of bottles.

"Do you really care or are you just doing this?" She had her arms wrapped around her midsection, and a small cloth wrapping around her shoulders like a shawl.

"Well, if you're on your Pilgrimage, I would prefer it if all the Quarians possible make it home. So, you helped me escape from certain Elcor death, and in return I'm willing to help you out." Charles said, "No matter what skill set you have."

"I like to sing." She said. "I came to Omega to work for the Pan-Terminus vid-station. But they wouldn't hire me unless I paid fifty thousand credits up front to cover the costs of my training."

Charles brought up the group in his Omni-tool, which she was looking at with no small amount of envy. He had a spare, but it had TartarOS and it wasn't safe to just hand off. Information on Pan-Terminus came up, with their four all hours all species vid-entertainment channels. They did news, music, and even had a Krogan history night every month. They brought in an old Krogan to come and talk about his exploits, something that he did that was entertaining. Whether it was true or not was a matter of debate.

"Sounds like they were scamming you, then. There aren't any Quarians on staff, and they have a strict no hiring policy for Turians and Quarians."

"Figures the only place I want to be is like that." She said. "The Humans don't have enough hearing to appreciate our music, and the Citadel hates it for the most part. So, I'm not allowed to work there. What do you plan to do about it?"

Charles looked at the company. They didn't seem to be too well off. "I think I'm gonna buy 'em out and make them different."

"This isn't the Citadel, where you can just go and buy out a company. You need to go take ownership by force if you want to do that. The Terminus systems don't recognize anything else this far out. Maybe on Illium, but not here."

"My name is Charles, by the way." He said, offering his hand in the Quarian method.

She took it. "Buy me an Omni-tool and bring me some Omni-gel and I'll tell you anything you want to know."

"Well, that's easy enough. I'll just walk back through that maze of pipes and somehow find my way out of here." This seemed accurate according to Rella for what you were supposed to do for a woman. "Er, got a map?"

She waved her empty wrist. "You're on your own. But I can show you the way, I guess, if you throw in a pistol or something."

"Sure, you got it." She led him back through the old pipes and supports and brought him up right underneath Jack's balcony. Not specifically his booth but definitely his level. Things had filled up in the time since he had ducked underneath, and most of the booths were full. "Thanks." He mentioned.

 _Hey boss, are those Eclipse sisters still looking for me?_  He sent to Jack Harper. From under the floor, they didn't have a great view of anything other than the underside of people's feet. They couldn't see the main bar where Bykala would have to fit her massive weight and mass.

_Of course they are. Asari are patient. Without a good distraction they stay focused on their task and with a boss like Bykala they have plenty of reason to stay on task. What's going on? Are you still on station?_

Jack didn't appear to be worried about him at all. Figures, he had to maintain a low profile.  _Yeah, actually. I'm underneath the floor panels. But you can't get out that way. It's all sealed off. I need to get past their observers._

No message came for a few minutes. He and the still unnamed Quarian sat still, waiting for Jack's message.  _I'll be taking a short romantic liaison with a few Asari for a moment, my friend. Please courteously do not send me any messages for an hour._  Charles coughed. "Uh, I think we are clear."

The Quarian nodded, coming up in one of the booths and sitting in the seat. "I'll be here, then. I don't have any way of re-entering the bar if I go outside."

"You've been living on bar food?" Charles asked, horrified.

"That's most of what I spend credits on, yes." She said.

"Yeah, no." Charles handed her a few credits. Around fifty. "Go, get some food and water. You sound tired." She looked at her hand, curious. "Well? Go eat, jeeze!"

Charles watched as she made for the bar to go order food, and Jack sitting with three Eclipse sisters, holding their attention completely on himself. He was able to leave Afterlife with just a head bob to the Krogan bouncers, and he safely avoided the Batarian brute squad that tried to hassle anyone coming or going from Afterlife.

He bought a standard VD-55 Quarian model Omni-tool from the market, a bit used but still workable. But it was the best model that had connections to become integrated that he could find. Then he bought some food, Omni-gel, and a new battery for her suit. He couldn't buy her more than that, since she would probably need a clean room to use anything else. These all fit in a small bag, and he wrapped that up and put it in a greasy fast food bag. No one cared that he carried that. Human fast food didn't interest anyone but Krogan, and the few fast food joints here used synthetic vegetable oils and meats. It made all the meats taste weird. Different, of lower quality.

He found the Quarian girl working the upstairs balcony, picking up drink orders and carrying them to different tables. He chose to sit down in one of the booths there, waving her down by using his flashlight function to reflect light off of a credit chit. Jack told him it would get any girl used to getting money over to him as fast as she could run. She wandered over after finishing putting down some drinks, and he motioned for her to slide into the booth.

"Well, I got what you needed. Mind taking a short break and telling me about yourself?"

"Um," She muttered. "I didn't expect you to actually come back."

"I'm a human. We're nice like that." Charles said. "So, I have an Omni-tool for you and fifty grams of Omni-gel. Then I also picked up some dextro nutrient sticks for you, with paste and ground mixtures."

"That must have been expensive." She muttered, eyes focused on the small bag he brought with him. He opened it, and she immediately attached wire leads to the Omni-tool, integrating it and bringing it online. It started booting, and she applied the barest hint of Omni-gel to the wire leads to fix their exposed ends. Her suit came more online, and he could see more lights turning on, as well as temperature control units. "A new battery, too? How much was all this?"

Charles considered for a moment. "A Prothean doohicky, some bubble gum, and a fast food run. Didn't spend hardly any credits." All of those things were different kinds of resources. Charles was if anything good at haggling. He was also rolling in Prothean knick knacks. Javik threw out old parts all the time as they repaired things, which were sold again to bidders for big money. The black market for those things was already out there, and they meant more credits and more buying power. Ilos was a gold mine, and Jack Harper was slowly building up something out there. A couple hundred Quarians now swarmed over it, eager to learn anything they could. The Quarians had their own beacon, back when they had a homeworld. With the help of Vigil they were finally researching new information for the first time in hundreds of years.

"Wow. This is some high quality food." She remarked. "I'll be right back to answer all of your questions, I promise. But I need to get this table, this guy always tips well." She slipped out of the booth, and Charles settled in to wait for her. Or at least he planned to until a large Krogan in armor walked up to his booth alone and sat himself into it. He was shorter than the normally towering Krogan that Charles was used to.

"Hi there." Charles said. "How can I help you?"

"You're the human in the suit that came in the Quarian frigate." He said. "I am to meet with you regarding business." The Krogan brought out his Omni-tool, bringing up some files. "I am Ganar Grunt. Son of Ream, son of Okeer. My untainted line of ancestors screams in my blood." Odd introduction, that. Worse, this guy thought he was Jack. What the heck would the boss do?

"I represent certain elements that do not share a love for my home government." Yeah, Jack said that a lot. Charles didn't know what it meant, but Jack said it a lot when introducing himself. "What did you bring me?"

The Krogan gave him some sort of look filled with teeth and rage. Or happiness. How the hell would he know? Their faces were like leather and bone. This guy had a smaller forehead-thing than all of the other Krogan he had met. It was smoother, less triangular. It was also black as night, and made his pale skin stand out. He brought up his writs, the ham hands gently settling on the table. "You expressed interest in Collector technology. My clan leader wanted to know where you found out about our connection. We need to feel secure before we can do any sort of business with your ilk."

Well. Crap. "My contacts are not to be bought and sold like cattle. If someone reported your interest, that is harmless. I don't know anything about any sort of specifics, only that you are a contact for the Collectors. Or rather a good source of information." This lying and going on about what they had and didn't wasn't going to last forever.

"Ganar Speaker." Jack Harper's voice came from behind them. Oh thank whatever god that was listening. Jack settled in right next to him, taking a seat at the table and leaning forward with his elbows squared towards the Krogan. "My body double here was only supposed to be meant for the initial contact. My apologies in waiting so long."

"Your security speaks well of you." Grunt said, unconcerned. "Yet I bring the same question to you. How do you know of our connection? Why do you approach the ancient house of fire?" This Grunt fellow liked his epithets.

"You sold technology to someone on Earth. They got caught and now people are getting killed over it. I want you to cut your contacts and talk to me if you need money or funding. Human concerns are my concerns, and I don't like being left out of the loop when dangerous technology goes unnoticed."

"You are just one varren pup in the pile, Human. The runt of the litter, as well. Others have been at this for centuries, and still we wait for them to become proper trading partners. You can climb that ladder like all the rest." The Krogan seemed unconcerned, his hands remaining loose and away from the gigantic shotgun located on the beast's back.

"If Okeer wants to play that game, we can. That's fine, so long as his dangerous technology does not destroy my people." He shrugged. "Your Human industry paid its price for our assistance. Two strong biotics, traded to us for our needs."

"I helped establish the biotic training school. Those children were kidnapped." Jack said, anger sounding through his voice. "Their parents still hold a grudge. Should I tell them you bought their children?"

"Heh. Go ahead. Yet another blood feud forgotten in the ages. Clan Ganar has forgotten more blood feuds than any other. We are the oldest, the strongest left in the galaxy. A Human declaring blood feud would only grant us another drop of blood in the great line of history. Your biotics were part of an important study group. One that will affect our grand design. I don't care and neither shall those who follow me. If you want our understanding and science, you will accept our blood price like all the rest." The Krogan settled them with a glare. "Your questions suggest that you have some interest in Collector technology. I speak for my clan when I offer this price." He held up the Omni-tool on his arm, and the image of an Asari. "I need three of the Asari genetic quirk called Ardat-Yakshi. The first to bring us these shall be rewarded with their current desire." The Krogan stood up. "This exchange is at an end. Contact us  _if_  you dare." He stomped off, his footfalls going towards the stairs.

"Cheerful fellow, huh?" Charles remarked.

"Bastard. They have Jennifer Gosling and Jacqueline Louis, two of our best biotics. They were taken during that mess with Ricardo." Charles shuddered a bit at that. That had been a bad day at Disneyland. "Took me three years to find out, no wonder they couldn't be found. More than likely they aren't even in one piece anymore."

"Um, what's an Ardent-Yakshahbab?"

"Our. Dot. Yak-shee." Jack corrected. "Asari vampires, effectively. Rare, usually sequestered in monasteries where they can't be out of control. The free ones are pursued relentlessly by an ancient knight order of Asari called Justicars. Getting three of them is going to be near impossible." Jack took a sip of something clear and held an ice pack up to a reddening mark on his face.

"What happened to you?" Charles asked.

"I told her that she bonded like a child. It's sad, that I am used to Matriarchs and their tender touches. Maidens just feel like a blast of tear gas, coming into my mind and trampling around. They took offence to this and returned to the bar." Jack motioned to the booth. "Someone had taken my old booth, so I had to find out where my contact was sitting. Thankfully you did well. Saving my business is an admirable skill."

"Are you leaving?" They both looked up, seeing that the spot the Krogan had just vacated was now filled by his new Quarian friend. Or moocher. It remained to be seen.

"Well, that was what we came for. Sorry I couldn't do more for you."

"You've done more than anyone else here. I was wondering if you might be able to give me a job, though. Waiting tables for food just doesn't seem like it will keep me alive forever."

Jack gave her a close look. "What's your name?"

"Tesai nar Saerinlas." She answered. "I've been here for five years, so far." Her suit looked to be falling apart a bit. No wonder it looked to be in poor condition.

"What can you do in terms of skills, then?" Jack asked.

"I can sing. The old way. Dance, as well." She said, and Jack waited longer to see if she would talk more. "I also know how to take care of customers, tables, my regulars. Um, I think I could run a drone or two?"

"I think I can find something, Tesai." Jack said. "I happen to have a place that might take you. Song and dance might be more important in the Migrant fleet in the coming future."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they are building a new Live ship." Jack said. "Come with us, we need someone that isn't a programmer."

"What?!" She stammered, jumping out of the booth. "How?"

"You're making a scene, Tesai. We can tell you all about it on the trip. But for now, consider yourself part of a project." Jack said. He gave a glance at Charles, and then at the Omni-tool she was wearing. "Charles, next time you buy a girl an Omni-tool, don't buy her a male version. Kellish is gender-disparate. Reinstall her OS with the proper Kellish on the trip there."

"Right." Crap. He knew a bit of Kellish, but not much. "So, how do we get out of here if the Asari from earlier are looking for us?"

"By taking the route that leads to more dangerous paths. Come on." Jack led them down the stairs and towards the door that led to Upper Afterlife.

"Why are we-" Tesai started

"Shh." Jack said. "Aria knows who I am, and if she chooses to see me, then the Eclipse won't bother you. Bykala is up here, anyways, so you're going to have to keep your cool. We don't need any more reasons for booths rated for Krogan strength to come apart on us." The pathway to Upper Afterlife was filled with graphic images and ads, and small hallways leading off of it led to kitchens and storage facilities. Then it turned into a gently sloping carpeted ramp leading into the upper deck. This area was managed, and really nice. Why Jack didn't meet up here bothered Charles slightly, but right behind that worry was the way his visor went crazy with the number of signals and hacks that struck his systems.

"Wow. This place is nice. Sorta like New York Arcology." Jack got that, but Tesai didn't. She just stayed right behind them, looking somewhat afraid. New York was a bad place. A really  _bad_  place. Where you always felt like someone was sighting a rifle on your back.

"It's nice enough. It lacks some of my favorites, but those are hard to find even on Earth." He walked towards a platform mounted in the back of the area, where a raised area sat observing all of the booths. It looked more like a throne in some arena rather than the comfy place it was supposed to be. The ramps leading up to it were guarded by a mixture of Turians, Batarians, and a couple of Krogan. Jack approached one of the Batarians, and greeted him in that rough language. " _Greetings. I demand a visitation."_

" _She doesn't want to see you. Leave a message and get lost."_  He replied in the same. Looks like he wasn't impressed by Jack's ability to speak the language.

"She might want to hear about a few things that I know. Profit margins, intelligence." Jack said.

"I told you Human, get out. You aren't even flagged as a threat. Leave."

Jack shrugged, and started walking out towards the exit to Afterlife. Charles stayed with him, and Tesai was about as near to his back as possible without touching him. They stayed far away from Bykala, who was hard to miss at the center of the first floor. They made it to the exit, Charles thanking whatever deity gave him protection, and Tesia muttering some Kellish phrases. "We might have to start meeting new people on Illium." Jack mentioned. "I keep on making all of these friends. Charles, get us an aircar and get us out of here. Old friends are following us."

The two Asari from earlier were walking behind them, casually keeping pace with them. Trundling along behind them at the far end of the entrance hallway was an Elcor, the flames of the hallway's haptic screens making it seem like a demon from the depths of hell was following them. Charles started walking faster, but Jack's hand kept him from going too fast. "Calm in the face of danger."

"If that walking tank hits us, our bones are dust before we hit the ground." Charles said, quickly doing the math in his head at his likelihood of surviving while wearing a suit. "Not to mention we can get Singularity'd by those Asari like its nothing." Charles said.

"Or we just take the air car and go." Jack said, pointing at a couple getting into an aircar, Jack pushing the Turian couple into the vehicle and passing them a hefty credit chit. Charles pushed Tesai in, finding her armor to give in quite a bit. She felt malnourished rather than sexy when he pushed, though. She made some chittering noises at the action, but he was right behind her as they piled in. "Docking bay G4 please, as fast as you can!" Jack stated.

The Turians shrugged, looking at the pile of credits that had already been dropped and drove. Charles kept looking out the back window for anyone following them, and he breathed a sigh of relief when they got to the G docking ring. No one was waiting for them to try anything, and only a couple of Salarian juicers were around. Their ship still had its standing guards, and Jack slowed his pace as soon as they entered the actual dock. Tesai, beside him, froze.

"That's one of ours!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Jack was the one who provided your people a new shipyard and the deal that gets them a new Liveship. So they're helping us out."

"No, you don't understand! I'm not done with my Pilgrimage yet!" Tesai said. "I can't return, not yet. I have nothing to offer my people."

"Good thing we aren't heading back to the fleet, then, huh?" Charles said happily. Tesai didn't seem to be perked up by it, only becoming more morose. "Come on, you can help me with some of the mess. Where we are going, it doesn't matter what you bring back. Anything you pick up is worth more than five years of saving anything at this station."

"If my people trust you, then, well…" Tesai said, rubbing her fingers together. "I can try."

"Good." Jack said, interrupting them. "Javik and his ilk need to have a liaison that can do customer service. Everyone else is either in awe or socially awkward. She fits what we need perfectly." Jack looked her over closely. "Perhaps after she gets back to a more healthy state. She will need some level of patience to survive all this."

"Come on, I promise that we won't go back to the fleet." Charles offered. "We're going to someplace so much better than that."

"Anything's better than here. Thanks, Charles." The way she said Charles was almost as if she was speaking around some sort of twist in the tongue. It could have been disdain, or it might have been her trying to pronounce his name. He hoped it was the second one.

* * *

Author's Note

Bykala is the Elcor vanguard that is among the Eclipse. She's a bit irritable, a bit focused, and very much enjoys violence. Sociopath, completely nuts, and well worth any investment to keep her. Bykala left one of Dakuuna's colonies to join up with anyone that would let her fight. The Asari decided to teach her how to use the muscles of her back to allow her to create biotic impulses, therefore charging and a few other nasty pieces of business. Bykala likes being able to move around as she pleases, or over other sentients.

Grunt. Grunt is a bag of crazy and hormonal that I had a hard time deciding on at the start of this story. I never liked Grunt as a squad member when I first played Mass Effect 2. It had been my introduction to the series, and when confronted with a teenage Krogan, I thought I was about to get Krogan history 101. Names, dates, who and why. Instead I got carnage and slaughter, and no visible change in Grunt's attitude. With everyone else's loyalty mission, you got some sort of attitude shift. Thane got his family connection back, something to live for after the suicide mission. Miranda had Orianna, and was generally less of an ice queen. Jack became happier(ish). Garrus got a bit back to his ME1 snarkiness. Oh how I do love my snark.

My version of Grunt here is part of an attempt to apologize to the character. When we went through the Collector Base, I had one casualty. That was Grunt, and boy did I feel guilty. I hadn't talked to him since we got back from Tuchanka, and I felt sort of bad that I just watched him get carried off by bugs to go die in some pile. Or more likely when I fired the neutron purge. His regeneration would have kept him alive long enough to experience that kind of hell. So, when I wrote this story I decided to make Grunt a happier life. This is my apology and format for that. I hope you enjoy him better here as well.

I also felt that Aria doesn't care too much about someone like Jack Harper. Or at least not yet. He hasn't gone on her radar because he doesn't really leave a huge trail of bodies to follow. So yeah, getting shut down by Anton is realistic. Not everybody gets to see her, and even Jack needs to do something pretty heinous to get close. Thanks for reading guys, and have a great end of semester and such. Also, everyone please give the Anon reviewer  **Lucas**  a hug. The man faithfully checks over every chapter and lets me know how he feels. At the end of this I might have someone pay homage to him or something. It's that awesome to have fans like that. You guys make me feel pretty well loved, and that makes writing that much easier.

Also, funny note, I thought about breaking up my story into arcs, and labeling it with an acronym. Then I realized what the acronym would be for  **L** iving  **a** n  **I** ndoctrinated  **D** ream.  **LAID**. Awkward, yet awesome. So yeah, that's happening. Unless you guys prefer I keep it all in the same story block. Tell me your thoughts.


	38. Fugue: Et Tu, Brute?

This one is one of my favorite chapters that I have ever written. I hope that you guys enjoy this as much as I did.

Chapter 38

Krazran Palace, Kar'Shan, February 2168

Haego hadn't eaten. He hadn't ingested food since the disastrous fight inside the holy sanctum. An IV was hooked up to his arm, intravenously feeding him. He couldn't bring himself to care. For the last four months, he had remained in fasting and prayer, waiting for the Gods to send him a sign. Something, anything. They had been silent. Silent as always, and perhaps if Batar was right, silent from the beginning. There had been no religious awakening of the Karn.

He had just been a man. A man that fought and killed creatures that couldn't be killed with their steel weapons. How he did that, Haego wished to know. All of their advanced armor and weapons failed to do anything to the beasts. The champions had proceeded to take them apart. Glancing down at his wrist, his reattached hand twitched. Some of the nerve endings had not been restored, due to them being burned out by his dip into the gold.

The gold. All of the pillars had melted, when the fire had spread to the old oil lamp system that their ancestors had installed. The temperature inside the chamber became too hot for anyone to enter, and some of Batar's message had been covered by a new layer of burn marks. Only the pictograph of Rian still existed. It was half covered by soot, but its cruel eyes still bore down upon the entrance to the sanctum.

Standing up, he rose after spending his morning hours in meditation. Some of their greatest high priests had become wise and intelligent after meditation, but anything Haego did to honor them now left a poor taste in his mouth. He had defiled their religion. He might even be the great Betrayer himself. That thought disturbed him the most.

He had declared a year of religious mourning, and his priests were only too happy to don the black and yellow robes of office and collect the taxes. When a Hegemon died, often there was a month of mourning, and the priests had to work with the local governments and audit the empire, to investigate the goings on of everyone in preparation of presenting that information to the new Hegemon. Jeroth had claimed that he would be crowned by Haego, as soon as he came out of his meditation.

This left him in a difficult place. If he left the palace, then Jeroth might be crowned the day he did so. If he stayed, Jeroth had time to audit and reorganize the government. Haego knew he was up to something. He had been quietly moving troops and such around, and making changes to the government offices. Some of the more recognized members of the old Kavka had been removed from their offices, and had gone into quiet retirement. One they were not expected to emerge from.

With Haego inside the palace being reclusive, Jeroth had control over both the priests and the military in totality. None could question him and none had the support to try. Until Haego emerged from his isolation, no one would dare. Haego was the only one left who hadn't pledged his knife. Once he did, Jeroth was Hegemon in truth.

He sighed, not seeing a way to preserve his people. No truth in his religion meant that when he revealed all of this to those who followed, they too would become disillusioned and experience the feeling of loss as he had. They would be lost and without guidance, and any teachings of their religion they tried to impart would be done without conviction, and at their core lies and falsehoods. It would be only a few generations before their religion would be buried under the dust. Sure, the practice would go on, if only to perpetuate the culture. Yet the rituals would be hollow, and the priests would become corrupt without feeling guilt for failing their responsibilities.

He was brought out of his musing by the sound of his door opening. He gripped his staff with his main hand, his left too weak to do anything. His nerves and muscles were still bonding, and he might not get the same functionality back once he was fully recovered. Standing to his feet and disconnecting the IV, he prepared for anything. He was wearing his black and yellow robes of mourning, ostensibly to mourn for the old Hegemon. He rarely occupied his thoughts, and Haego doubted that he would have cared if their religion was dead.

Into his room came a temple guard in armor, as well as another priest in the black and yellow robes. The guard took position by the door, his weapon resting at ease, but not in readiness. That was good, and made him feel somewhat safer. More secure in the knowledge that if this priest was there to kill him, he was going to be doing so alone.

The priest drew back the hood of his robes, revealing it to be Jeroth. "Haego, I've been waiting for you to come out of here for weeks!"

"So you come under the guise of a priest?" He normally would have given him a speech about how it was heretical to be anything other than what your responsibilities demanded of you, but he couldn't muster the concern. "Feh. You know that the moment I leave, I seal our doom as a race and culture."

"Unless you declare me to be Batar reborn." Jeroth said. "Consider it, Haego. With that kind of declaration, we could do what he did. Reshape our religion to what it needs to be. Turn it into the system that allows our people to be free from this farce!"

"It still wouldn't be true." Haego muttered. "That is all I ever wanted, Jeroth. To find truth, and to live it. My father raised me to seek our truth, and then live like you believe it. He truly believed in Rian and the gods, even though he was not a priest. I spit upon his memory and all the others of my line when I lose my trust in the Gods."

"The Gods? I'll show you what the Gods are, Haego. Do not blink, for this is truth if you have ever seen such before." He pulled up his Omni-tool, and activated the display feature to show across one of the large stone walls. "I obtained this from a Human, someone that I hope to introduce you to eventually. His name is Jack Harper, and he convinced the Human corporation Sirta to ship us enough medi-gel to supply us for ten years. Charged at half price." Jeroth gave him a look. "When we needed it most, the Humans shipped us this, and Harper supplied a cure to the diseases of Human origin."

"The plague came from the Humans?" Haego seethed.

"No. Plagues came from Salarians, Krogan, Asari, and Humans. They simply synthesized versions that would fix the plagues that devastate our lungs. It was… a kindness I did not expect from them." He pointed at the wall. "The plagues are not your concern. This is."

Against the old stone wall, a haptic image displayed. The first was a recording of the  _Eye of Rian_  removing an old ship from the detritus of a moon. He gasped, seeing the size of it, and then finally the strange, crustacean like shape of the ship. It was odd, broken, and dead. Long limbs extended from the lower part of the ship like tentacles, or weapons. "This looks like a Hanar dreadnaught." He said. Jeroth didn't laugh, though.

"Here is a live one. The  _Eye of Rian_  had its cargo stolen, and later it was stolen again, but this time by another one of these things." The vid image shifted, to the old wreck drifting in space lazily. Pieces of the ship filled the area around it like some sort of broken bones. Then, dominating the background was another one of the ships. Yet this one was complete. It came forward, pulling the pieces and parts of the old ship with it, and then flying off at increasingly impossible speeds with its cargo intact.

"How large are those ships?" He wasn't sure if they were even possible.

"Two kilometers. Each."

"Rian is one of those?" Haego said. "By the…" He stopped himself, as he was about to intone the gods while swearing about the said things. "What do we do?"

"Not the issue. You can't stay in here much longer and we cannot afford to have you in meditation for a year. Some of the outlying colonies are stabilizing, and in time they will threaten us if we do not take action to restore the seat of the Hegemon. So, I have a plan."

"What can we even do? Our religion is dead, and nothing will bring it back."

"Then you are going to craft us a new religion. Just like Batar did. Just like Rian did to us. You are going to fix us. So, put on this guard uniform, get to a ship, and go and seek out the religions that you'll need to pull information from. It would be terrible if you left a path on our computer systems here that could paint us as heretics."

"You expect me to just go out and  _find_  us a new religion? Convert?!" He spat the word. There was no such word in the High speech. Only in the speech of Jarem could the word by used. "That is heresy, no matter what kind of Batarian you are. The Karn are One!"

"As Rian envisioned." Jeroth said. "Their champion said that to us. The origin of that saying is rooted in a religion that is meant to control us."

"Be that as it may, we cannot separate. We cannot lose our cohesion. Our people cannot function apart." Haego stated. "Yet if we continue our current religion, the Karn will fracture for certain."

"You have four weeks to return." Jeroth said. "That is all that we can spare. Where will you go?"

"Earth." Haego said. "The Asari are weak. The Krogan lost from any singular path, and worshipping ancestors and Protheans sickens me. The Humans will have something inspiring, and if not I shall go to the Quarians. They had some sort of religion that we can pull details from that will not be noticed by the other Council Races."

"Excellent. My soldier here will replace you." He motioned to the temple guardsmen, who had removed most of his armor and was down to his undersuit.

"I cannot hide what I am!"

"Heresy is a definition to be decided by yourself, Haego. Live a little."

He wasn't Hegemon yet, so Haego glared into his upper eyes. "I will live, and I will do as I am expected. Give me the damn armor."

* * *

Rome, Central Italian States, March 2168

Hannah Shepard was good at flying shuttles. She was not so good at speaking to air control authorities. She was forced to land by one of their shuttles, and the police officer made her call the air traffic authority involved.

"What do you mean my flight path is not authorized? My Office is supposed to be doing oversight for this visit!"

"Call your superiors, ma'am. Your Intelligence Office already sent us all of their shuttles and vehicles for this today. They're escorting a VIP into Old Rome and back out of it. You and your shuttle are not on my list. If you come near my airspace again, I'll have you arrested, and I don't care who you are." She then received a flight plan that went directly out of Italian airspace and back into orbit.

She responded with an affirmative. She didn't want to talk to that guy any longer. So then she called Jones. She got connected within moments, as she was also nearby. "What?"

"Traffic control claims that my flight path wasn't filed. You told me that we were going to be fine!" In the back of the shuttle were her two fifteen year olds, who were dressed as tourists and dressed for winter. They hid the catsuits rather well, and the outfits were warm. Her own was feeling a little tight. But she couldn't resist gelato when Kasumi and Julia could eat the stuff every couple of hours. There were just too many flavors to try!

"My department was told that we need to kill this Batarian that is visiting. We can't afford to let him get near the Pope and kill one of our valued religious leaders." Jones said. "Go in on foot, then. At the Augustine Hill, I have a package for you to pick up. It's for if the Batarian is as dangerous as he was on the Citadel."

"That armor of his had some sort of wicked gadgets. He took apart the Ambassador like he was nothing." Hannah remembered. She still had his knife, too. She was supposed to return it, but no one had contacted her about it. So, she kept it. Though she was trying to convince Cerberus to invent monomolecular knives for their agents. Hock didn't care about that, and was instead pressuring Markov and Toyoda to produce armor and weapons of higher quality.

"Well, I hope you're prepared for that. He needs to be stopped before he makes the Vatican." Jones said. "Team two is trying to force him to land further away from the location, give you a shot." Hannah nodded, motioning to the girls. Kasumi tucked an SMG into her lower back, and had her hair pulled into a bun. Julia was bundled up like a snowcone, a long white jacket around herself. She also was actually cold, though. Kasumi had enough sugar in her system that she couldn't care less if it was cold or not. Hannah and the girls were team one. They could sneak through crowds without much difficulty. Team two would be a bit more loud, and team three included Jones and someone with a large sniper rifle. Each was going to try their chance at the same time. But if he wore that armor, it was unknown if they were going to actually damage him with a car crash or with a sniper round. For them, it most likely would come down to explosives or collapsing some of the square and burying him in rubble.

So, they left the shuttle and walked towards the tramway to St. Peter's Basilica. The train system allowed for near instantaneous movement. Trains left every four minutes, and after the mess that took apart Italy in the 2050's, there was hardly anything left. Most of the old cities were rubble, and when everything was rebuilt, Italy made a new train system that had tram stations in more locations. So, they arrived in St. Peter's with a few minutes to spare before the operation. "Kasumi, take Julia and go to Palantine Hill. Go look for our friend over there."

"Ok, Mum." Julia and Kasumi started calling her that as part of their cover. But to date, she didn't think they meant it. Kasumi butchered her pronunciation of Ma'am, and Julia had authority issues. So her using the word Mum didn't carry any weight. Except that for her it did. Sometimes it made her feel a bit happy that they called her that. Other times really quite pissed off. She had wanted to be a mother, and for years that dream had been gone from her life. She had lost a lot of her reproductive system when Jack raided the Prothean Archive. She paid millions of credits to have it rebuilt, using tissue cloned from her remaining parts. That was what some of what Jack paid her went into. The rest went into her  _Jek-Jek-Tar-Tek_  and some investments.

So, she shelved the feelings of anger and annoyance at the word Mum and took a walk towards the basilica. This entire area had been rebuilt after the Christian Spring, when the Pope had declared a Crusade to get Rome back. That was brutal enough, but before the Christian forces restored order the churches had been leveled and the basilica halfway broken. It took twenty years to restore the church, and ever since then tensions had been rough between the Islamic nations of the Alliance and the Christian ones. The Islamic nations had issues, and were willing to go to war over it. The Christians played defensive up until they lost something big. Then they got offended and acted on it. Honestly, religion was something that was great and now wasn't. She didn't care about it.

However, other people did. Thousands of people were walking around the basilica and looking at the preserved columns from the first basilica, as well as the blackened monument in the middle of the atrium there. Everyone got pictures in front of it, with their families. She turned from that, sending a short message to Jones to report that she was in position. Then, she settled her beret and smoothed out her coat. It was time to wait and check over the area for existing security.

* * *

Haego had come into Alliance Space immediately following the declaration by Jeroth that he needed to find a new religion. How by any stretch of the imagination could anyone create a new religion? It just felt wrong, to the very center of his reincarnated soul. To state falsehood was against the core nature of being a war-priest. What was real could not be stated otherwise.

What was false must be revealed. This, too, tore at his soul as he considered their broken religion. The gods were worse than being false, they was a layer of truth to their existence. A truth that someone wanted to control their people and wasn't willing to let them think for themselves.

The Alliance was not amused that a Batarian War-priest wanted to come and tour Earth's religious sites. He had met with a 'Catholic' archbishop of the Arcturus Diocese. Whatever that meant. All he knew was that the man had some sort of religious authority. He was supposed to be able to speak regarding their religion, but he also claimed that there was still a higher religious authority for the Catholic Church. So, Haego asked to go and meet with this authority.

The Alliance sent him in lavish style and much pomp and ceremony. Leather seats, the best of foods, and the best of the best locations. He  _hated_  it. He would purposely find the simplest things on the menus, and sleep on the floor. The pomp and the ceremony would have been acceptable if it had a religious reason. Yet it lacked even that.

"Tell me of this Roma place." He stated to his guide, tired of being alone with his thoughts. "You told me that it was a capital?"

"Yes." His guide was some Senator, or whatnot. His name was Hock. He had soft hands, untouched by military service. He despised the weak, and this Hock bothered him. "It was once the capital of our ancient world. Their temples and roads covered half the world at one time or another, before it fell apart."

"Show me what remains. I will meet this Christian afterwards." Haego said. So far, what he had read of this Christ had bothered him. It went against all of the natural responses that Humans and Batarians had. It couldn't be a truly effective religion if the people didn't actually follow this Christ figure's example.

"The Pope has a busy schedule, and we are trying to honor his sacrifice." Hock said, sounding both apologetic and rude.

"Spare me the impudence. I will arrive and speak with him regarding this Christ. I also want to see this Rome. Did they also follow this Christ figure?"

"Yes, they did. Until they were conquered, they worshipped Christianity, and before that, their own form of Paganism." Haego leaned forward.

"Tell me of their original religion. I am seeking what is lost and forgotten among your people. Religion is more important than history to me now." Hock nodded.

"I know some of their religion. They had temples dedicated to the burning of offerings to their gods, and their Senate would often meet only when their priests told them to. The names of their gods are based off of a religion in Greece, that was lost to history before the Roman Empire had finished expanding. All of the Pagan religions, outside of some in Asia and Africa, actually, were conquered and defeated by Islam and Christianity."

"Yes, Islam. That one sounds more interesting than most of what I read. Take me to the old temples. I wish to feel them in my hands." He glared at Hock, who shrugged and called someone on his Omni-tool. The shuttle dropped down in altitude, coming to rest on some sort of low hill. Hock got out of the shuttle first, with the few suited guards. They had real armor, that was colored and made to look like a normal set of clothes. Haego also despised that.

But when he stepped out of the shuttle, the hill he emerged onto was different. It felt reinforced, defensible. He took his glove off, and dragged his fingers into the dirt. It felt real, hard packed in places. Ancient feet had tread here. He let Hock ramble in the background as they walked through the old ruins. The old stone walls here almost felt like an old priest, filled with stories of old glories and old enemies.  _This_  was what he craved. He walked among the old temples, sniffing the plants and the smell of ancient dirt and stone.

Then he felt a feeling in his gut. He stood up, looking around. Hock and his two escorts were behind him, mostly at ease. But the escorts weren't looking as closely as they could have been. Looking around, he put all four of his eyes to use. One thing about Batarians that made them better than other races was that they could focus each set of eyes on different targets. Their minds were prepared to receive more than just one source of input. So, he scoped the area around him, and could see two disturbances in the dirt. It was subtle, but he could see scuff marks and pressure upon the dirt right next to the path leading to the last temple.

He walked forward, as normal, one set of eyes boring into the scuffs in the dirt and seeing how the cloaked person was standing. If they were there to escort him, they would be moving in a secure fashion, forming a perimeter. If they were there for other reasons, they would move closer or remain silent and still. So, with all the grace of a predator, he walked forward and slammed his fist into the cloaked person.

A slim Human female was revealed, with long black hair and somewhat short. He grabbed her by the neck, raising her off the ground and scanning her for weapons. Her move to pull a weapon was late, and his other hand slapped the weapon to the ground before it could orient on him. "Hah!" The woman squirmed, choking. "Your world is not as peaceful as you have me envisioning, Mr. Hock." There was no response. In fact, it was odd that all of the visitors here had disappeared in the last minute.

Turning, he saw Hock and his escorts on the ground twitching and convulsing as a small tech grenade sparked in between them. No sign of what got them remained, but his gut told him that there were others here. Still holding the squirming Human, he brought up his full kinetic barriers rather than just the basic ones. His armor VI extended the basic helmet, covering his forehead and the back of his head with a thin layer of armor. Not much better than an undersuit, really, but his helmet would have gotten far more attention than necessary. He should have worn it, and not denied its necessity.

"Whoever you are, you chose the wrong priest! This will only be your end!" The girl in his hand brought a knife down on his arm, and watch with horror as it didn't pierce his thick armor. The priest robes he wore were concealed the mass drivers, which had been fully capable after his fight with Rian's champions and a good hard reset of the armor VI.

"Let her go." A voice ghosted from somewhere. It sounded like it came from three places at once, making it difficult to tell where the owner was. But it sounded like another female of the species.

"Make me." Haego replied. The girl in his arms was even more pale, as blood flow and air were being cut off to her head. He saw no movement other than a small gust of wind. Hm. Perhaps the female needed more reason to care. Humans were sentimental and did not deal with the loss of life naturally like Batarians did. Enemies and friends would be reborn. That was fact. Haego gave a grin, and increased the pressure on the female in his arms, making her gurgle and cry out. "Her neck will snap before much longer."

His answer came in the form of an entire stone edifice slamming into him. At least one ton of rock struck him, and he hadn't even heard the stone coming. He grunted, the force of the stone denting his armor and draining his kinetic barriers. He could see fracture warnings coming from the left arm, along the driver coils. His mystery attacker seemed to still be cloaked, judging by the lack of anyone visible around him. Besides the empty stone plinth that the edifice had come from, this battleground was quiet.

He didn't like this. There was no way for him to get out of here without  _Human_  help. That was not good. He hated depending on others. Yet it would be a grave insult to his government if they killed him. Perhaps they wanted that. He grunted, lifting his arm into the air higher so that the girl in hand could be higher off the ground, and brought his left around to her stomach. She had on some sort of armor, and should survive losing airflow for a short amount of time. So, he left go of her neck and fired his mass driver directly into her stomach.

The small female slammed into the side of one of the old temples with enough force to shake the dirt from the top of its broken pillar. Yet it didn't even budge. Excellent craftsmanship. Now, without the hostage, he could finally focus on fighting the other person here. Her voice had emerged from multiple locations, hopefully meaning drones. Sometimes families of Batarians who had twins or triplets trained them to fight in tandem. Humans might be capable of such, and if that was what he was against it did not look good.

"Come out, and face me then. You were already planning on trying, why wait any longer?" He heard stones shift to his left, which looked like an older building with a circular back and some sort of inscription. He rushed to its entrance, just walking. No sense in revealing his mass driver-assisted propulsion yet. Though this trip was feeling oddly fulfilling, now. A good fight to get his blood pumping before he engaged in a religious debate about Christianity. What a day to be alive.

The inside of the small building with a marker that translated into, ' _Thus unto Tyrants'_. Of course, the weapon inside blasting him was completely rude. Inferno grenades from Tuchanka, if he could guess. He had to throw off his robes, and wipe some of the acidic substance from his face. More scars, once he put down this pest.

"Nice Armor." He heard. He tried turning around, but some red haired female was already right behind him. She emptied her SMG into his armor, shots pinging and redirecting all over the place. He swung around with one hand, trying to come close to disarm her. Enough shots in the right place and this armor might break. She leapt back, coming to a semi-kneeling stop a few feet away next to the temple where he had thrown her ally. "Looks like you need a softer touch."

The female had red hair, and her appearance looked to be the same as the female that had taken his Kavka months ago, minus some marks of age. His armor identified her as being near the same weight and body shape as the last redhaired tactical agent he had run into. "Well, I certainly did not expect you. Did I kill your mother when things got interesting?"

He did not expect the Human to focus on him. She ignored his taunt, standing up and giving him a cold glare with her blue eyes. He could feel her analyze him, looking for the most effective way to kill him. He relished it. "You hurt Kasumi. We were just watching you, and you hurt her."

"Do you expect me to apologize? Pay for some doctor to heal her, teach her that attacking a War-priest of the Karn is acceptable? No law holds sway to my mandate!"

"I expect you to die." She said with venom. She didn't appear to be an adult yet, though she had on some sort of armor that disrupted his armor's scanners. An agent of theirs for certain. He started laughing, finding the idea of being killed by a female of such stature and young age to be hilarious.

Then the biotics hit. The weight of his armor didn't matter, or didn't even slow down the Throw. He got picked up, and carried deep inside the building that the trap had been inside of. The trap didn't fire again, thankfully, but he rolled around and experienced the feeling of being thrown into some sort of stone plinth. His translation functions got to work as he tried to stabilize himself.  _Here Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by-_  He glanced up, ignoring the old inscription, seeing the still glowing biotic walking slowly towards him.

* * *

Julia knew  _Hate_. She had never felt her biotics so well in her life as she did right now. It had been so hard to use them before, taking all of her concentration to perform just the simplest of actions. Singularities were easiest when in a room completely dark and devoid of light and sound. But today, she had seen this Batarian casually try to kill Kasumi and she just snapped. Her visual angle of the whole thing made it almost look like he was holding up Miranda. Her heart had hammered, thinking that the Batarian was holding Miranda. Screw orders to not engage, she snapped.

Now, she couldn't feel anything. Her emotions were buried beneath a cold heat that she could feel at the core of her hands and feet. She wanted to bury this guy. The small mausoleum here was the Temple of Caesar, dedicated to the tyrant-leader Julius Caesar. Her dad had taken her here once. He had taken her to this small temple and saluted a small altar, saying that even in death the man who conquered the world demands respect. She had spent a few minutes next to the altar, as her dad talked to her and Miranda about the role of the tyrant in saving Humanity from the fall of civilization. After learning Greek and reading some books, she could believe that her father just had a very extreme opinion regarding Caesar.

Fitting, that she Threw this Batarian into the Temple of Caesar. His armor looked heavy so she used a bigger Throw than normal. Unlike normal, there was no faltering, no weakness. Odd that shouldn't feel anything either, even being in this place with so many memories. "Mum, He's here. Package did not succeed."

" _What?! Jones, He's in the Forum. Julia, get a tag on him and then get you and Kasumi out of there."_

She could see the Batarian standing up now, some sort of visible heat being displaced by his enlarged gauntlets and shins. " _Ten minutes from engagement zone. Coming by ground car."_ Jones' voice came over her receiver.

"Roger. Engaging." She said, starting to run forward at the Batarian. She knew by now to avoid his palms and wrists. The Batarian male couldn't pivot as fast as she could, that was certain. But he also weighed more than her. With his knives, wrist gauntlets, and whatever ranged weapon he had, this guy was going to be tough to take on for any of them. That armor resisted the thermal grenades that had been planned to be the backup if the sniper rifle failed.

Meaning that all she had left that could even hurt this guy was biotics. All that any of their team had were biotics. If she disengaged, the Batarian would live and get away. They would fail their mission, and that was unacceptable. She decided that right after seeing the Batarian start giving off more heat along his feet, the dust kicking up and obscuring the boots and the area around him, and then he  _jumped._  She had no time to react, before his fists impacted her biotic barrier. Then the fists fired some sort of burst of kinetic energy, the same kind of thing that was used on Kasumi. She buckled, her biotic barrier weakening and shattering, and her kinetic barriers taking up the slack. He didn't get through those, but he drew back his arms to go at her normally.

Her training kicked in, ducking and dodging his fists. She rolled past his feet, hearing the hum of whatever was in his armor as her head passed by his foot. Then, from behind, she brought her biotics to bear on his arm. It was impossible to miss with a Warp at this range, and she could see the right arm of his armor glow with the force of her Warp.

She got blasted again, however. This time her kinetic barrier went down, and she was blasted back inside the Temple of Caesar. Apparently he could fire whatever was on his wrists forwards and backwards. She skidded to a halt just barely inside the doorway, a burnt hole going through her outfit and revealing a few cracks along her ribs. Glancing at her Omni-tool, it would be at least eight or ten seconds before her kinetic barriers came back online. She couldn't stay here.

The Batarian had drawn long serrated knives, rather than a gun. That in itself was odd. But then again, with armor that thick he could afford to go up close. Most people were terrible at fighting up close. Hannah wasn't, but she wasn't here yet. Julia leapt upwards, slipping through the gap in between the tarp above the Temple and its decaying walls. Behind the wall was an overgrown section that used to be part of the Temple's housing, but now was just a jumble of stones. She took cover behind them, and focused on her biotics for a long moment, letting her barrier restore.

"Do not think I would allow you to escape so easily!" She looked up, seeing the Batarian now standing on top of the Temple of Caesar and glaring down at her. "I come for a religion that claims peace, yet the assassins come out of the woodwork! Excellent! I knew this Christ had a backbone!" Julia didn't care for what he was saying. Her mission was clear, and that was to bring down this guy. No one else could, not without air support. They couldn't do that.

Though already the tourists had run off screaming. Police or something should have shown up by now. The odd quiet that pervaded the place made her think clearly, without any trouble. " _I'm out of the engagement zone, but Red's still in there!"_  Kasumi said over their radio. She sounded winded, or coughing her way through her words. Definitely still injured.

" _We are being detained. We can't get there in time._ " Jones said. " _Team alpha is already detained, as well. Team Charlie, are you on site?"_

" _I'm right_ Here!" The sound of a sniper rifle went off, and the Batarian staggered, falling back into the tarp and ripping it. Julia saw something land right next to her, the glittering knife that Hannah never put down. "I'm not going to keep up with him in close. You get in there, cut his gauntlets. He can create artificial mass effect fields with his armor. It lets him mimic Asari Charging and Throws, but only in close." Hannah was standing on top of one of the low buildings, her fur coat and designer outfit covered in mud and dirt.

Julia picked up the knife, not sure about it. But she had seen Hannah carve through palladium blocks without encountering friction with it. Hopefully it could get through this bastard's armor. All she could feel, even with Hannah there, was rage. It still coursed through her like some sort of heat, and that was all that she needed. She cloaked, her armor at full kinetic barrier and her biotic barrier all the way recharged.

Instead of leaping directly through the gap and into the room with him, she ran around to the right, hopping over the small chain divider fence to keep people out of the stone ruins. She appreciated the slight lift in height that this catsuit gave her, as she was able to barely see over the stone etchwork that reinforced the corner. It was unlikely that the Batarian could see her cloaked, but Hannah said that there were some people who could notice them. The Batarian was standing up, having collapsed part of the original stone wall that made up the Temple.

He was deploying something from his back, a large staff unfolding. "I knew you were alive! You brought your daughter to return your lost honor, then? Perhaps my knife, too?" He shouted, yelling at Hannah. Hannah just walked forward, her rifle smoking from its shot still. His kinetic barrier and armor must have been too powerful for the large Markov cannon.

"I'd rather keep it, to be honest!" Hannah yelled back. "Do you even carry a gun?"

The Batarian growled. "War-Priests are only to use such if they are denied the ability to close range or call upon lessers for support. I do not need that to remind you of your place." Then he loaded some sort of spear tip onto the staff, and leveled it at Hannah. She fired her rifle, and started to run for a closer roof. But while her shot didn't go through, the Batarian's did. The spearhead had a line of cable connected to it, and the spear was buried into Hannah's torso. She screamed as the spear retracted, long prongs extending from the tip to prevent its removal.

He almost leisurely walked around the side of the building, the spear pulling Hannah off of her rooftop to fall twenty feet. She landed on her shoulder, the gun spinning off and away from herself. The Batarian stopped just past the corner, letting the fifty feet of cable retract slowly. Julia froze, holding herself up off the ground by balancing herself between the stone reinforcement and one that stuck out a half inch further than the rest. The slightly raised heel allowed for her weight to rest easier, as well as letting her jumps get a bit more distance. Some sort of small element zero generator that decreased your own weight when you jumped. She didn't understand the science, but she knew that whenever you put more than walking weight on your heels, they lowered your relative weight for your muscles to push off of. She was throwing her weight onto the heel, and as such could maintain this cramped position for at least another minute.

The War-priest scanned the area around him, his sets of eyes always scanning two things at once. She noticed he was checking the ground, patches of dirt, lots of unlikely spots. He was probably looking for her. Good thing Hannah told her to never touch the ground if you were stalking someone. Motion trackers, weighted panels, floors were the easiest to get caught on. She watched as Hannah slid to a stop in front of the bastard, and unloaded into him with a pistol from her left hand. Her right wasn't moving. Julia still only felt rage, and her biotics seethed under her skin.

So, she leapt. In air she prepared her biotics, which hardly resisted her effort. An odd feeling, still. She cut with the knife, going through the line and burying the thrumming blade inside of his knee. This time, he was the one to cry out, jerking back from her and send the knife tumbling into the bushes. Hannah stopped getting dragged, giving a short cry of pain as she slid to a stop.

"Hah!" He stated. "Use your weaker allies' sacrifice to wound me! Your cunning is showing truly, for a child." He dropped the staff, the spent wire now spinning and coiling uselessly. Not so uselessly for her, though. "Your tenacity and audacity know no bounds!" He brought his right arm around, whatever his armor did to create a mass effect field whining like a ground car engine. She brought her hand about, biotics aflare, and slapped his wrist with her hand.

The Pull grabbed his wrist and gauntlet, slamming it downwards full force into his already damaged knee, whatever force that was supposed to slam into her splashing loosely through the air and cracking some of the stone wall behind her. This destabilized him, making him fall down. But he didn't stay down, firing off his boots and gaining some distance from her and Hannah. Hannah just stayed down, her good left arm holding her right arm, which was still hanging loosely.

"Keep up the pressure!" Hannah groaned out. She had pulled out her Omni-tool, and was dialing something on it with her broken hand. It was going to take a while at that rate. Julia ran forward, the Batarian priest already on his feet and prepared for her. So she gave him something to worry about. She feinted a Throw, making him flinch and roll to the right. She concentrated on her barrier instead, and dove forward to try to use an Overload function on him. It was a basic function on her military grade Omni-tool, and she didn't know how effective it would be.

Pain blossomed in her vision when The Batarian used his gauntlet to suddenly accelerate his fist, smashing into the side of her head and knocking her down. Her barriers were low, and some of the force had been carried through. Hardly the worst moment in her life, she rolled, avoiding the crushing kick that followed. The centuries-crusted dirt shattered under the strike, hardly any dust rising from the compressed particles.

"My Asari teacher hits harder than you!" She spat, which was technically true. Nyra was very painful to spar with. She was sure to have a black eye from all this, as well as severe bruising. But she was still  _winning_. She had disabled his staff, and kept Hannah and Kasumi from being lost. When she came out of her roll, she was facing the bastard and could see him getting ready to do another one of his jumps. She released another Warp, this one ineffective and just sticking to his left arm. She braced herself, expecting him to slam into her and send her flying. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and gripped her in a sadistic hug, his gauntlets firing into her back. Pain, loud and hot, flashed into existence in her lower back, and she could feel her clothes burst in back and the armor underneath buckle. With him gripping so close, her kinetic barriers couldn't do anything.

"How was that, little creature?" He taunted, bringing his head forward to slam hers. She just reinforced her head, focusing on her barrier, and matched him. He was the one sent back from that, his head not breaking through the biotic barrier that she focused so hard. BUt he still held on with a death grip, and started to crush her in it. The feeling of being crushed was odd, the pain not necessarily increasing as much as the feeling of pressure increasing. Discomfort rose as her ribs were placed under strain, and her stuttered breathing made her barrier flutter.

She grasped the only thing she could, her biotics, and just  _lashed_  out. She couldn't move, couldn't trigger and abilities bound to muscle memory. The element zero in her body had nowhere to go, yet she just pushed it out. It felt like some kind of explosion, tearing her up along with the Batarian priest. But she felt like she could keep going, the energy not running out immediately.

Keep going with this release she did, until the Batarian bastard let go and went flying off in front of her. She fell down to the ground, concentration dimming and her nerves on fire. She collapsed in a fit, just trying to breath and get blood flow back to her body. Slumping forward, she saw that the Batarian was still up on his feet, and was walking back over to her. How? She had hit him with everything that she could! He shouldn't be moving, or even bending!

The Batarian coughed some sort of bile off to the side of the dirt path, and brought himself up to full standing by grasping an old pillar. "You're quite the damn Human, girl. By the  _Gods_ , I have never felt so old." He came to his full height, heavily favoring one leg. "I want to gut your teacher and spill her entrails upon the ground. Teaching a Human so much. Hah! Our biotics rarely are powerful enough to emulate that."

Julia tried to get her body to move, but it failed to respond. The nerves were screaming, and her back was burning. She could achieve some shaking movement, but that was all. Her biotics were just burned out, she couldn't feel them. The tingling was just too much. Not to mention the nosebleed she was suffering from overuse of her abilities. She noticed that the Batarian's armor was cracked and pitted in the front, especially his knees and gauntlets. The right one sparked, its containment field ruptured. "You don't look so good." She said, making a show of looking him over. "My allies should be able to stop you now."

"Be that as it may, you are the one who broke my blades and armor. My knives are shattered, and my armor refuses to fire. You did this without a ranged weapon, and for that you have my respect. As Ambassador of the Batarian Hegemony, I will grant you whatever form of death you desire. This is my respect."

The Ambassador? They were trying to kill an Ambassador? "What?" She just asked.

"Wait!" A highly cultured voice said. "Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" Both she and the Batarian looked over, seeing eight Alliance soldiers and two Intelligence Office agents looking over them. Their guns were trained on  _Julia_! Not the Batarian! A man in a nice suit covered in dirt ran up, holding his hands up between the two of them. "Ambassador Dvoragk, we apologize for this insult to your honor. We-" He came closer, to look at her. "Julia?! I thought you were dead!"

"Her name is Julia?" The Batarian growled.

"Ambassador Haego Dvoragk, may I introduce, officially," He glanced at their obvious damaged appearance, "Julia Harper, the daughter of Cerberus' founder, Jack Harper. She is one of our best students and biotics."

"Hah! So you sent her to test my mettle?"

"No, we did not. In fact, we would rather like both of you unharmed and alive. Are you alright?"

Haego coughed up more blood. "Perhaps a small dose of your Medi-gel and I shall be fine." Liar. He was leaning heavily on one side, and his armor had locked up on his left leg, immobilizing it but allowing him to still walk. Heavy armor could do that. Her lighter armor couldn't.

"We certainly have that. Rodriguez, get the lady medical attention and give the Ambassador whatever he requests. Get the shuttle over here, we are going to extract the Ambassador."

Something was wrong here. There were two Intelligence Office agents here, and they were answering to Hock. She couldn't say or do anything, not without revealing her involvement. Her orders were clear. Kill the Batarian, no further details required. Yet Donovan Hock was on the Senate, and part of the command structure that all parts of the Intelligence Office had to report to. She decided to stand on her own power, and then fell down as twin sources of pain flared in her lower back. "You may want to remove those knives before standing, child. You broke off the hilts when you threw me off." Haego stated.

"You stabbed me?"

"Didn't seem to stop you, felt like the right decision at the time." Haego said, shrugging. "It means I respected you enough to stab you. Quite the honor."

She let herself be picked up by the Alliance soldiers. Her legs dangled, pain spiking in her back where those daggers must be buried. She tried to keep herself from crying out, but the pain made her release some groans. Hock had her placed in some sort of armored shuttle, and had the Intelligence agents watch her while he took Haego somewhere else. Looking around, she couldn't see Hannah or Kasumi, or any sign of them.

" _Don't worry. Alpha actual will get you out of there."_  Came over her channel before she was fully in the shuttle. She smiled at that. Jones was usually timid with the details, but she kept her people safe. As the medics started working on her, and she felt herself fall asleep, she thought she felt comfortable knowing that she was with the Alliance, and not out in some colony where there was no support.

* * *

That Night, Tartarus Station, Luna

Hannah sat down with Jones and the rest of their team as they all escaped permanent detainment. Her stomach had been patched up, and her dislocated shoulder had been popped back in. Ribs had been treated, but now she had to wait with medical patches keeping her taken care of in terms of the bruised ribs. Bastard hadn't even hit her directly and she still suffered from the worst injuries she'd sustained in five years. His blasted spear had been VI assisted for sure, there was no way he could have predicted her movements that closely.

"At least Hock had Julia sent back to a hospital." She said. Kasumi had been treated here in Tartarus, and she was in her room recovering. The Japanese girl's body had thick grey-purple bruises at the neck and along her torso. She fractured ribs when she slammed into the stone pillar. So Kasumi went to bed in between tears and numbness from pain pills. The poor girl was completely inconsolable, Julia not being here and being in such pain herself. She had never hurt herself before, and her previous incarnation's memories didn't have any major injuries.

"Hock knows who she is. He won't let go of her any time soon, not when he can use her to get ahold of the rest of Cerberus' funding and stock index. With Julia, he now owns more than sixty percent of the foundation."

"If he can convince Julia to sell her shares." Hannah reminded Jones. "If I remember correctly, Julia refused to let you anywhere near them."

"Yet you failed to get control over anything that Jack Harper had controlled as well." Jones returned. "Julia has been considering you her mother figure, and I made you her guardian so that you could take control of her inheritance. She turns sixteen in months, and we lose control of that chance to stop Jack Harper from hijacking any more of Humanity."

"Is that what you fed Julia?" Hannah snapped. She immediately regretted saying that, as Jones narrowed her eyes upon Hannah. Challenging her word, and therefore the word of the department heads above them, was strictly seditious.

"Julia represents Jack Harper's weak point. Jack Harper controls all of Sirta, a company which the Council, as well as our government, are holding under a lot of scrutiny. If we simply let him continue to ruin our foreign relations, then we run the risk of an unpredictable madman starting a war!" Jones leaned slightly forward. "The last time he created something on the scale of Sirta, the Quarians became Humanity's next parasite. Now, anything they do reflects on us. You had one job, Allison! One job, and now Hock has Julia. He won't let her go until she has either signed over her inheritance or is dead."

"So what, the fact that her childhood and upbringing created a paranoia and manic distrust of authority figures is my fault? I'm the one at fault for trying to work past whatever messed up shit her father taught her?" Hannah didn't care right now. She  _liked_  Julia. She wasn't anything like her father. She cared, she liked people.

"Yes. You failed. Now Julia fought a prepared and dangerous foe, and lost. The Batarian filth is still inside of Rome, meeting with the Pope as we speak. Our mission failed. He's alive, and possibly plotting to kill our most important religious leaders as we speak. What do you think is going to happen because of this?"

"Well, team charlie obviously isn't combat ready. You can take the rest of the department and make another run when he's on his way to Mecca?" Hannah snarked. "If he's hitting up the Pope, then he will most certainly check out Islam. Or do you think he is going to Judaism next?"

"You're off the rest of the mission. Stay here and keep out of trouble. We'll talk about your effort with Julia when we return. Don't contact Hock." Jones then saluted her, requiring a salute back. Hannah returned it, but not without her own feelings on the matter. Jones and her remaining teams left and walked out of Tartarus, leaving her alone.

Frustrated, she turned on the news. The top story was, of course, the attack and battle in the middle of the Roman Forum. As she sat and fumed, she saw that multiple civilians had turned in Omni-tool footage of the battle, and could see and identify some of the people involved. For example, a redhead with a sniper rifle and a smaller redhead that could cloak. They were cross referencing the images and still shots with known government agents, and weren't getting far.

Until  _They_  came on. Commander Yugoslav Goryodovich. His superior, Rear Admiral Adrian Dawson. The Civilian oversight to the Alliance Office of Intelligence, Donnel Vasquez, was also on the report. They all looked grim. Vasquez had a smile, but not a friendly one. Goryodovich just looked like most Russians did, grim and determined. Dawson just looked reserved. As soon as the three men sat down, a reporter started a round of questions.

" _This question is to the board in general. Was this an action to stop some sort of Batarian outbreak? Or some sort of bio weapon?_ " The reporter started, her smile vainly showing how interested she was in the morals of all of this.

Dawson answered that. " _This Batarian is here on official Council and Hegemony business. He has been invited to Earth, and has refused escort of his own guards during this time period. He trusted our own security forces with his protection_."

" _So, then, why did we have a brawl in Old Rome? The damage to the Roman Forum is quite extensive, and the riots in the city have taken on a new shape._ "

" _The fight there was not planned by any loyal members of the Alliance Office of Intelligence. Rogue elements decided to try to kill our escort so as to incite war with our allies on the Council._ " Hannah felt bile rise up in her throat. She stood up, wincing as this pulled at her bandages. Running, she got to Kasumi and Julia's room and pulled out an emergency medical gurney from the wall.

"Kasumi, I'm sorry. So sorry, but we have to go." Kasumi had taken painkillers, and wasn't responding to her. Sighing, she pulled the girl out of her bed and lowered her onto the gurney gently. She still skewed her face in pain. "Sorry, sorry." Hannah muttered, ruffling the girl's black hair and pushing the gurney towards the door. She picked up the small bag that held all of Kasumi's earthly goods, which was of course packed to the brim. Out of habit, she checked the wall safe that Kasumi and Julia had access to, and her jaw near about dropped. There were credit chits upon credit chits here. Hundreds of them above the one thousand range. She threw those into her own pouches. She grabbed her own travel bag and medical care supply bag, and threw those over her shoulder along with Kasumi's.

When she re-emerged into the main living area, the news report had taken a darker turn. " _We have long been aware that there was another group within the Office that was stealing personnel, tasks, and resources from the greater whole. Today, after a full investigation and audit that occurred, we discovered that retired agent Julianne Jones had faked her retirement and was instead running operations that ostensibly were under the Alliance sanction, yet fulfilled her own goals. We were only able to confirm the identity of two of her operatives, and one of them has so many aliases that it is impossible to locate her. So far, we have identified the entire rogue department to report to Jack Harper. Jones masqueraded as his representative through intermediaries and the control of his daughter, whom we took into custody and saved from the organization._ "

" _So, what actions are being taken to thwart this kind of threat? Shouldn't the Alliance be aggressively removing this group of terrorists?_ "

" _We are. Agents have been dispatched to all of the old locations that were frequented by Harper, who has been proven to have been a seditious element. The only personnel that we can confirm are members of this group are Jones herself, as well as her second in command, whom you see in the video attacking the Batarian with a long range rifle_." Goryodovich stated. Hannah felt blood pool at her feet and hands as her face was shown, of course from the worst angle as she looked like a cold blooded killer.

They were on their way here, for sure. Tartarus would be at the top of their list. So, she took Kasumi into the maintenance tunnels. They were old, and in some places rusty. Only bots came through here these days. But she had master codes that Jack had given her to run Cerberus. These were all on a closed network, and she couldn't see any other signs of Humanity in the deck plate's dust. She pushed the gurney along, walking as fast as the wounds in her side would allow her.

The docking bay was always full of people, and she would have to be completely in the open in order to reach any sort of shuttle or her own ship. The  _Jek-jek-tar-tek_  was parked here, and had been rented out to different agents at times as an element of Cerberus allied forces. When she emerged from the maintenance entrance, the dock was mostly empty, with the technicians only clustered at the far end. Only one man in a suit waited in front of her ship. She didn't bother cloaking. She just walked towards the ship, the gurney following after her with its own VI systems.

"Hock." She spat.

"Constantine. Shepard. Whatever you call yourself." He returned. "I just wanted to talk to you before I go."

She didn't slow her pace. "So talk. You obviously know that I'm going to be hunted."

"Yes, yes. My department under Jones and Ross failed. You've been in the rogue department from the very beginning. My dear, when I started your department under Runya Ross, I intended it as a way to protect Humanity from its own selfish desires. You've never had a government salary in your life. You, my dear, are mine. Just like Jones. If you want to continue to serve Humanity, as they do, you can go to these coordinates on Bekenstein. Don't worry about the feds. They will be here in a few minutes, and I have already scheduled this ship to travel to the Citadel." He walked over to her, placing his hand upon her shoulder. "You've always been one of the best agents we had. Don't give up on what you've built for yourself."

Lies. All bloody lies. She had sold Jack out, sold him out to Hock. She numbly took the coordinates from him, written on a business card. "Thank you." She ground out. "What about Julia?"

"Oh, her? Don't worry about her. I had to turn her into the actual Alliance Office of Intelligence. They will be content to keep her locked up for as long as it takes. I gave my word that she should be kept far away from anyone she knows until she gives up all of her rights to inherit. All of that wealth makes her just a very vulnerable target, you know." He patted her on the shoulder again. "But she is no longer your concern. Get out of here, and join up with the rest of the agents at Bekenstein."

"Yes, sir." She stated. By rote memory, she trudged on to her own ship. She had to remind herself that she bought this from Jack's money, and not the money she had gotten as part of her job. As soon as the doors shut, she got Kasumi off of the gurney and into the medical suite. But she was fuming. She had been used, used from the very beginning when Ross took her away from the Prothean Archive. Ross had placed her inside of a false department. Jones had perpetuated the lie, and without Ross the legitimate connection to the rest of the Alliance was gone.

Which meant that Jack was right all along. Her eyes trembled a bit, and she considered going for some of the whiskey that she had stashed here. But that wasn't right. None of this was right. She started her ship, setting it on a course to take it through the relay and to the Citadel. Before she hit the relay, she had dialed up a comm relay line on her most secure encryptions.

The connection took a long moment to connect. When it did, the face on the other end was grainy, the connection extremely weak. "Well, well, well. I left this number for you to contact me just in case." Jack Harper said. He looked haggard, his hair longer than normal.

"I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. For everything. So sorry. Now, Hock has everything. He has Julia, he has Cerberus, and it's all my fault." She kept herself from falling apart in front of the screen, but she felt the warmth that threatened deeper emotions. "I never should have trusted them so blindly."

"What happened?"

"We tried to kill the Batarian Ambassador to the Citadel." She said. "Civilians saw the battle and sent in their recordings. Julia was injured, stabbed, but she nearly took him down on her own."

"Haego is in the top ten for most dangerous close range combatants that I know of. He's a bit of an odd duck, even for Batarians. Most of the upper caste call him a zealot. A high priest who is unafraid of anything. Julia was recorded?"

"She was recorded beating the hell out of a Batarian in some sort of advanced armor in the middle of the Roman Forum." Hannah said. "But that's not the worst. After that, the real Intelligence Office came forward and denied any connection, and claimed that you created and ran that entire show through Jones. You're getting framed for all this."

"Not bloody likely." He spat. "I have to give Julia some style points for location and skill. Now, though, is a rather complicated time. Charles! Take care of things, I've got to go save my idiotic race!" Jack glanced up and away from the Omni-tool's screen when he said this, and then turned back to her. "How did you find out it was Hock?"

"He told me so. Told me to come to Bekenstein with the rest of the agents."

"Oh! Perfect, I've already tapped that house." Jack said, grinning. "You go there, and collect any evidence you can of wrongdoing and connection to other criminal elements, while I work on having some sort of press conference. I know just the place." Jack grinned. "Revenge is sweet, Hannah. I'll meet you at Bekenstein soon. Harper out." The line went static, and Hannah drove for Bekenstein, feeling ten times better about herself.

Haego watched as the Sacrament was blessed and brought to him. The bread had been a nice symbolic ritual, yet this, this blood ritual, this was much more acceptable. 'This is something I would prefer. This Christianity preaches of weakness, yet many of its rituals are related to the use of blood as a foci. Yes, this is perhaps a fine example of what I could use for a religious background.' He wrote in his journal of religious searching. This Sacrament business was highly telling of the religion. The Pope himself performed the ceremony, making it especially telling. From High Priest to High Priest, he understood what kind of statement this made regarding the openness of a religion. After this ritual, he rested in the Papal apartments in Rome.

Thus, he spoke with this Pope for two days. They exchanged so much information regarding religion that Haego actually felt slightly like one of his scribes. Yet it was the most fulfilling talk he had experienced in a long while. There was nothing here that was taboo to speak of. The entire religion was an open book, in which you could plumb its depths without fear of being killed for asking questions above your station. That had always bugged him, yet he understood now how important that was, with the champions still being hidden amongst the Pillars.

"Show me this Hinduism. I must learn more of the polytheistic religions." He was using medi-gel on his destroyed knee and damaged body. The cartilage in his nose was nearly destroyed by that little girl. As was more than a few of his bones. He had stabbed her in the back, and was trying to hold on while she had fired off that biotic burst. That was a mistake. She managed to break every single weapon but his Kavka. She had dropped hers, which meant that he wasn't about to draw his own. But to go up against him in close range combat, that was impressive. She had been inexperienced, for sure, but that was going to be something he remembered. Humans were just so entertaining, in so many ways! They knew just how to make him feel welcome. An assassination attempt here, some religion there, it was all quite the hospitable visit.

* * *

Author's Note

I had to take some time on this one, because I had to do a few things right. I had a trip to Europe recently, and on the trip my wife and I went to Rome. I had a blast, as you might imagine. She realized that taking a fan of Assassin's Creed to Italy was a terrible decision for her. Many of the visits to impressive buildings ended in geeky comments and conjecture. Though it was completely awesome at the same time, we had very different vies on art and architecture in general. So, when I went through the Roman Forum I planned out this fight in detail, stepping around and seeing where everything went. My wife was not amused that we spent two hours just pacing around in the Forum.

Take a look at the Wikipedia page for the Temple of Caesar, and you'll have some idea of how small of an area they are fighting in. There are rocks, stones, old pillars everywhere around it. Right across from it is one of the old temples with a marble base and a few pillars left standing, sunken into the foundation. That's what Kasumi was launched into, and that is some of the toughest rock on the planet.

I took some liberties with the religions of the world, and I don't feel that my guesses are too inaccurate for what might be a possible future. If you have issues with religion, that is all well and good, but that is one of the biggest, if not the largest, reason for cultures to change and develop. Our political structures and racial practices also center around it, and so for this story you'll see more religious references than in other Mass Effect stories.

Thanks for waiting, everyone. Enjoy the show and let me know what you think about the continuing trouble that is stewing!


	39. Fugue: Warp Tour

Chapter 39

Bekenstein, Widow Cluster, February 2168

When Jack arrived at Bekenstein, he was ready. Better yet, he had a few other friends with him. His ship, a nice little Batarian sleuth, attracted little attention as it pulled into the port city there. They had turned a large cliffside into natural hangar bays, and Jack walked out with two Asari he had on loan from Benezia, as well as a few mercenaries. The kind that made for cheap thrills and cheaper costs. But he wasn't here to kill anyone, not yet. No, he couldn't afford to have any more bad press by killing anyone.

Nor would killing Donovan Hock do anything of great worth. Sure, the bastard would be dead, but then the ensuing chaos that would follow from the power vacuum would benefit no one. Perhaps if Jack was still semi-legal, and Hock hadn't set him up with an entire false department of the Intelligence Office, he might have killed him and solidified his criminal connections using the floundering remains of Hock's. Instead, he had been played, and played well. Hock created an entire fake department, just for his own needs. Jack hadn't considered that option, and generally avoided any government intelligence groups. They had a habit of being persnickety.

Still, Hock was a politician. That meant he had some vulnerability to media outlets and his constituents. There would always be another snake to replace him, however. That next sentient may or may not be Human, and was an unknown quantity. Keeping Hock in place was keeping someone predictable in place.

He walked away from the ship, coming to the main port city. A few hundred thousand inhabitants were in the area, and there was enough infrastructure here to support quite the nightlife. Enough that Hannah could meet him. So, she chose the place this time. She told him to meet her at a local hotel. She had a room and everything reserved, a double room at that. He settled down in his room to wait. He was here as some Walter Skorzeny. Germanic descent, here for a vacation where he could find Asari to flirt with.

It was a hotel room that connected two rooms through a set of doors, and if both sides unlocked their doors they could share rooms. Family style, apparently popular among alien styles of hotel as well. Turians had semi-large families. Volus travelled in packs, and Asari liked to keep everything in the family.

He waited for hours. Hannah didn't show up until half past three in the morning, her ham-fisted hammering on his door waking him from the nap he had decided to take while waiting for her. He waited a few seconds to take in his own appearance and make it look immaculate, and then opened the door. When he did, he tried to keep a snorting laugh in and failed. Hannah had a black eye, and was wearing a partially ripped dress.

"Don't laugh at me!" She whined. "I barely got out of that cell!"

"Alright, before business, this I have to hear about. What happened?"

She sighed, pushing past him to sit on the chair he had just vacated. She halfway snuggled into the warmth left behind, and then once settled looked back up at him. "My cover was going to be to find a date and give them a roofie or something, take them up here and let them sleep it off. But then by some case of luck I manage to get a Dawn member who religiously does the same to all of his dates, so we both ended up in jail and in the same cell." She huffed. "That of course ended in the fist fight of the century, but I got him before he could get another nasty uppercut off. So, once we were let out for using drugs on other sentients, which apparently is common enough here that they don't police it too heavily. They were more worried that the bar might gain a poor reputation. Pah!"

"So, your plan was to bring back someone that you had drugged, as cover for a romantic moment? Excellent choice, Hannah. Excellent choice. Then you selected a hotel that makes it a practice of not installing cameras in rooms for privacy purposes." Jack applauded. She didn't bother saying anything, and just wrapped herself in his room's blanket. Cheeky. "Now, tell me about Julia. Did Jones order her to engage Haego?"

"No. She decided to try to engage him, and keep him busy until secondary teams arrived. That armor, Jack, nothing even touched it. It had kinetic barriers that could stop a Markov Serporov IV. Phasic rounds, didn't even pierce. Then it has some bullshit ability to mimic an Asari Vanguard, along with reinforced plating to stop any kind of small arms that get through. Julia's biotics were the only thing that slowed him down."

"Batarian War-priests rarely have armors like that. My contacts in Batarian space claim that only the oldest families can afford to make and maintain those pieces. Batarian State Arms doesn't even have access to their blueprints, its something that one of the old families makes on their own. My contact didn't tell me very much about them, save that to see them on a battlefield was something that inspired any Batarians to fight onward. Apparently, their war-priests lead from the front. They don't deploy with slavers, however, much to our benefit."

"Well, this guy could have killed anything that Earth has to offer, and Julia was probably the only one who could have hurt him. She shattered that armor of his, but he stabbed her after doing one of his charges. So she isn't doing well. They took her to some special hospital in London to fix her up, and put her under guard. All of the agents that were once loyal to Hock that surrendered to them are being tested for their previous actions and forced to report what they did. So basically the entire Intelligence network is tearing itself to pieces over all of this."

"Yet here I am, not in Alliance Space using the chaos to extract my daughter." Jack said. "I need a plan, and I need to destabilize the hold that Hock has over all of this. He benefits anytime someone goes belly up in this business."

"You don't have a plan to remove him?"

"Oh no, I don't want him removed. He isn't the biggest fish in this complicated little ocean we are in. He is at least Human. He has interests that center on us, and that is not something I could say about some of the other groups interested in this mess. Right now, I know what Hock is after, and where most of the eggs in his basket are. He wanted Cerberus the whole time. Julia owns all of the original capital and all of the patents involved for augmentation and the different Alliance special operations upgrades. Hock may own some of the weapon and medical contracts, but he wants the right to sell the intellectual property associated with Cerberus. All of which is controlled by Julia  _and_  Miranda."

"Miranda?" Hannah said. "How does she control any of this?"

Jack smirked. "I was never told who was born first. Their birth certificates have multiple versions filed at the local, state, and federal levels of the Northwestern States and French countries. Then I never filed for which was correct at the Alliance level. So, if anyone falsely claims that Julia has given them rights over her inheritance, then I will bring up Miranda's birth certificate in France, and they can fight with the American lawyers and whoever is claiming the inheritance has to get involved in something that will take years, much longer than it will take for my daughters to reach the age of maturity."

"Well, that explains a lot. Do they know this?"

"Not by design. Richard Hyde does, of course. But that man keeps secrets for me and dozens of others. He wouldn't bring it up until the courts got a hold of it. That's just the first layer of protection around what they deserve to be able to use. I won't tell you the other measures, as that is something else entirely."

Hannah took a deep breath. "So, in the event of your death, how many people are going to die because you planned out every bloody detail of it all?" She sighed. "You are way too obsessive over all this. It's like you have a death craze going on in your head."

He scoffed. "I just overthink all possibilities and stuck my head inside of a Prothean beacon that made me see a lot of terrible things. I've got a few of them, if you're interested in seeing what the Prothean extinction actually looked like."

"That sounds like a terrible, terrible idea." Hannah said. "Did that do much for you business acumen?"

He smirked. This was why he liked Hannah. "It did a lot more for my charisma than it did for my acumen. Now, about Hock." He reached for a glass reflexively. It was unfortunately, empty. But the habit was still there. "I need your help. I need to prove a few things, and I noticed that you have a young Asian girl in your custody. Do you feel comfortable asking her to do something?"

"She can be bribed. Usually with Swiss drinking chocolate or the like. But watch your pockets. She doesn't even realize it when she pulls credit chits from people."

"Perfect. This is what I want her to do." Jack said, holding out a datapad. "She can be creative in how she does this. But it is critical that these orders specifically be followed. I'll be here in port arranging the other individuals, but I will need Hock nailed to the wall on this."

Hannah nodded. "Where's my whiskey?"

"Budget cuts, my dear. You should know, as you cut me off from the refined society so fully." Jack said. His fingers ached for a drink right now, as he was sure that Hannah's did. "If I bought any of your brew or any of my wines that I enjoy, then I would have been flagged and found immediately. So, the only one to blame for missing out on that luxury is yourself." Oh yes, he enjoyed it when Hannah gave him a glare.

* * *

Kasumi was not a very happy japanese idol turned sidekick of a magical girl. No, not happy at all. She really liked Julia, and this was the first time since she had been rescued that she had woken up alone without her. She was the first room mate she had ever had, not to mention the first real friend her age. Previously in her life, she had been kept separate from her adoring public by her security. Now, she lived among people who kept her safe from her security, and she got to live with her personal magical girl hero!

Except that those same people made her come into contact with the crazy Batarian villain dude. That was supposed to be some sort of magical experience, where they would fight the evil guy and win. Except, she got taken down so quickly that even when she used her graybox to look at the memory it was limited. There was a flash of a moment between her being safe and invisible, and then the big bad Batarian grabbing her by the throat. Her gun did nothing, of course. So she just swung there, useless in his arms. She still had swelling on her throat, and she was not allowed to bend.

A medical brace across her entire torso was keeping her from damaging herself after some of the Cerberus doctors went in to fix some of her ribs. That was the most annoying thing. She didn't have Julia there and she didn't have the ability to jump around like she was used to. It was just so boring here now.

"Oh, good! You're awake." She turned her head, seeing Hannah walking into the room. She had a black eye and looked like some bruising on one arm.

"What happened to you, Mum?" Hannah was nice enough, for a caretaker. Her older self in the box in her head had a mother at one point, but the memories were not very strong. Only the memories that corresponded to becoming Hatsune Miku were considered paramount. All others were filtered. Though her previous self also hated everyone, and did as much as she could to jeopardize the project. Like include as many sexual references as possible. She had a full understanding of sex long before she hit puberty.

"My date and I decided that we didn't like each other. We got thrown in jail and I only just got back after kicking his ass." She immediately dug into the medical cabinet, which was right next to the medical suite that Kasumi had been placed inside of. "Yes, beautiful medicine!"

"That's whiskey, Mum."

"It's exactly where its supposed to be." Hannah replied with a stiff motion to her chin. "This stuff here is hard enough to take the pain right out of everything. As well as being slightly chilled." She held it up to her eye. "Oh yes, nothing truly takes care of me like whiskey does."

"Mum? Please use some medi-gel. You're being a little loopy." It probably wouldn't help, but Hannah really was a nice lady. She kept them fed and she somehow found a sushi place here on Bekenstein for her. She loved that stuff. Any Asian food was in her palate. "It would help you out some."

"Remember what I told you on our way over here, Kasumi?"

"Yes? The thing about not touching your stashes of whiskey or the part about how we are being lied to?"

"Actually, right now both are particularly important. I don't have any more supplies of whiskey out here, and so the four bottles I have left are critical. As for the lying, yes, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Remember how I told you that we were working for the government, trying to keep it safe?"

"Yes. We are going to be part of the Alliance Intelligence Office, and protect everybody." She said from rote memory. "Is that a lie too?"

Hannah nodded. "Yes. I only just found out yesterday. But the person who was lying to us the entire time about it all was Jones. She knew that we weren't working for the government, and instead was giving us orders from Senator Hock. You know him, right?"

"He's got the creepy voice, yeah! The back of his head has a weird little tuft of hair that looks like a duck's butt!" That was what the old geezer with the creepy voice was like. Julia didn't like him at all. They had always discussed possibly pranking him, but had never tried anything.

"Duck's butt…?" Hannah said, glancing at the whiskey before looking back at her. "Alright then. Well, I've decided that he needs a good wakeup call. Can you do something for me?" She handed her a datapad. "If you get this done, we can protect Julia from anything that he tries to do."

"I solemnly swear to commit this mischief." Kasumi said, holding up one hand.

"No more Harry Potter for you. You get weird ideas. Then again, you really don't have a baseline for what's normal. Julia is the daughter of one of the weirdest Humans ever conceived, and isn't a very good judge of normal either."

"You're more normal then?"

"Ah, no. My parents died when I was seventeen, and we were poor. Since then I have been stuck as a spy and intelligence operative." She said, looking up at the ceiling. Her red hair looked a little messed up, now that Kasumi took the time to notice. "So, I am not really that normal either."

Kasumi took that datapad, and then started giggling as she read it. Oh yes, this was going to be awesome! "Sugoi! You're a genius, Mum!"

* * *

A few hours later, Kasumi implemented her evil, evil plans. So evil that she wasn't sure that Mum was the one who came up with them. She approached Senator Hock, who had come to visit and meet with all of the agents that he had subsisted away from the Alliance. After a short speech telling them that the work they were doing was too important to the Alliance for them to officially sanction them, he ended the meeting and made to go back to his rooms.

Kasumi intercepted him, dressed in one of her more civilian outfits. Being herself, it was obnoxious and Japanese to the utmost. She ran up to the suited man, Jones at his side giving her a curious look.

"Mr. Hock?" She asked, triggering her gene mods. "Do we have to fight that scary guy again?" Tears flowed like water, a feeling that she was used to and could replicate with all of the wave-like emotions that followed.

He gave her a winning smile, and knelt down to her level. "Miss Goto, I can promise that you will not have to fight him ever again. My deepest apologies for all that you have suffered, and please, let us know if there is anything that we can do to help you in your recovery." He glanced at his Omni-tool in a practiced motion. "Now, please get better. I shall see you again soon."

Hock held her shoulder a bit, giving her a supposedly reassuring squeeze. Kasumi slowed the tears, and nodded as Hock walked away. When she returned to her rooms, she saw Hannah cackling at something on her Omni-tool, her weird five bladed knife working on the top of her whiskey bottle. "Did you plan that out? That was perfect!"

She showed Kasumi the picture, taken from a camera drone on a wall behind her. It could clearly show Hock touching a child with obvious choke marks and injuries, and Hannah was already cackling. "So, I did ok?" Kasumi asked.

"More than that. With this, as well as some racy pictures from Tartarus Station's parties, we can get this started. You've been sleuthing around there for the last few months. You have anything more that we could use?"

"Yeah!" Kasumi dug around into her bag of stuff that just showed up. She sometimes found things in her pockets, or noticed things in other people's pockets that belonged to her. One of which was an Omni-tool that had belonged to Jones at one point. She dragged it out, and pulled up the image files. "Here. See?"

Hannah looked down at the files. "Oh my god! She's sleeping with him. How did I not notice her getting away with this!" She looked closer at the image. "Is this in Jack's old office?"

"Looks like they're all over his old desk, too. Ooh, she likes-"

"Kasumi!" Hannah turned off the image. Oh right, it was bad to be that kind of interested. Well, she blamed her old self. She had the bright idea to go and sleep with half the directors. And get into all that cash, oh wait Hannah was talking. "That kind of thing is not what you should take interest in! I don't want to see anything more like this unless its for an operation. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Mum." She said, rolling the word so it might be interpreted as Mum or Ma'am. "No naked pictures of anyone else unless you like them. Got it."

"Kasumi… I'm gonna put this one in writing."

"Damn."

* * *

Edinburgh, Earth, March 2168

Ashley Williams laughed as she was swung around by her grandfather. The top of his head reflected the sun into her eyes, so she twisted away from it and giggled. "Faster!" She yelled, feeling his arms tense as she got swung around fast enough to make her vision swim. Then, all too soon, the spinning stopped and she was set down on the ground. She might be almost twelve, but that was always fun.

"Yes, what is it?" Her grandpa asked. Ashley turned, seeing a man in the uniform brown of the DemandGo package delivery services. He was holding a slim brown package, about in the shape of a datapad.

"If you'll just sign on this, sir." The man said, looking bored. "Then I'll be out of your way."

Her grandpa didn't actually touch the package, not before he ran some sort of Omni-tool function on it. She herself didn't have one yet, but that was okay. She'd get one before they moved to Terra Nova when Dad was going to get his next posting. She watched as he dragged his Omni-tool over the package, and nodded to the delivery man. He went back outside the gate to their front yard.

Grandpa Williams lived in Edinburgh. It was nice, but often it was rainy or cloudy. She and her sisters got to spend a few weeks of the summer with them while Mom and Dad moved all their stuff to Terra Nova. She watched as he pulled out the package's contents, a datapad and a handwritten note. She noticed that the header for the datapad's contents was simply ' _Sex Offender Ring on the Moon!'_

"Grandpa, whats a Sex Offender?"

The datapad was jerked out of her view immediately. He looked flustered. She was about to giggle when she saw the muscles of Grandpa's neck tighten. "Ash, a sex offender is someone that is worse than a chicken shit Turian, because they screw over their own people. They hurt kids like you, and people like me despise people like them." He stood up. "By God, I'm gonna kill 'em."

"Lee." She could hear the disapproval in Grandma's voice. "What's wrong? Did Davies throw something over the fence again?"

"Well, Dearest, look for yourself." Grandpa gave her the datapad. Grandma gave it a once over and handed it back.

"I'll get the shuttle started for you. Lee, go murder those sons of-" Ashley didn't get to hear the rest, but Grandma looked  _so_  mad. Grandpa made her hold her ears until Grandma went back inside the house, red faced and madder than any time she had ever seen her. When she finally went inside the house, Ashley felt her ears uncovered.

"I learned how to swear from your Grandma, kiddo. Don't emulate that. Pretty girls don't swear."

"But marines do!" Ashley said. "I wanna be a marine!"

Grandpa gave her a wide smile. "Well then,  _Private Williams_ ," He said with a gravelly tone to his voice. It didn't have the bite that showed he was angry or anything, just serious. "Your first mission with me is to come and assist in armament for an operation. Come on." He tousled her hair, leading her into the house. She could still hear Grandma going off about some buggers. Then, she got to open the case that contained the old guns from the War that Grandpa fought in.

Best. Day. Ever!

* * *

Hawking Eta Cluster, March 2168

Hannah connected to the comm buoy after coming out of FTL nearest to some abandoned system that had an old Helium-3 station. It had been abandoned for decades, and for some reason she was supposed to meet up with Jack here. She had left Hock's base, taking Kasumi and as much wine and whiskey that were of appropriate quality that she could fit into a duffel bag. Sneaking with a duffel bag full of wine was difficult. Eventually she just gave up in the hallway nearest to the  _Jek-Jek-Tar-Tek_. Kasumi spent most of her time in the medical suite, playing up her injuries and faking being hurt. After her artful performance with Hock, she had snuck into his bedroom and taken a few more pictures next to an unmade bed, along with stealing quite a few things.

Their ship escaping had been a close call. The doors to the hangar bay barely closed behind them as they flew off, and she thought she saw a ship tailing them from the Widow relays out to the Hawking Eta system. Once she went to FTL, however, they lost them. She set her ship to come into the old station and dock with it, having her VI take care of the approach. There was enough debris around the old thing that she was sure that she would scratch up her ship if she tried to fly it in manually.

Once that was set up, she checked the estimated time of arrival. Three hours, fifteen minutes. Great, that gave her plenty of time. First things first, she had to reapply her medicinal patch to her stomach region, then go through the process of rebinding her stomach and then getting dressed again. Once done with that, she downloaded the comm updates to her Omni-tool. There was a lot of them. So she queued up the Alliance News Network, rather than BBC. BBC was one of the original news sources that survived the trouble of the 2050's, and with its biggest competition in space being the ANN and Westerlund News, and the Terran Star Networks. BBC also had a rather conservative touch to it, where Westerlund was extremely liberal. The ANN had evolved out of some American company called CNN, and was rumoured to be partially owned by the Alliance. It was mentioned in the charter at some point. So it always had news that was most partial to the Alliance, while at the same time the least damaging to it.

The top story that was evolving was red hot, and she tapped the link and paid the requisite two credits for the premium story content. She let that queue up and then continued to clean up her catsuit from all of the mess she had made recently. too much dust or lint could change the way your cloak worked, and so it was critical to be able to keep the catsuit clean. As it was sensitive technology, that had to be done with dry cleaning sources. Liquid cleaners were damaging, and stuff like lint rollers were too weak or not specialized enough to clean the material. Cleaning and maintaining these suits was more complicated than any gun or ship she had worked on.

" _Today's top story on ANN, Trouble in Cerberus, with David Fletcher. David, let's talk about what went wrong and why we are only noticing this now. David?"_

She didn't have to look at the Omni-tool to see, she was a participant in providing most of the material, after all. " _The Cerberus Foundation, founded by suspected terrorist Jack Harper, has harbored a number of misdeeds for years. Our government established the foundation with Harper back in the 2150's to produce weapons to fight the Turians during the First Contact War. Kassa Fabrications, a weapon manufacturer that centered around illegal manufacture of guns, was also appropriated into the growing Foundation. Now, just in, we have had reports of complete depravity within Cerberus, and with the removal of Jack Harper from its leadership, the foundation has only gone downhill. Now lead by a small group of investors, the foundation keeps many of the same scientists and weapons manufacturing engineers as when it first got started."_

_"Are you saying that there are war criminals that we are just allowing to run free, David?"_

_"That's exactly what I'm saying, Bob. Kassa Fabrications isn't even the worst of it. Released to ANN and other news stations hours ago, it was shown that there is a sex trafficking ring onboard Cerberus, with a complicated system of sexual favors and bribes maintaining the loyalty and cohesion of the foundation's chief scientific staff. Apparently the entire foundation's scientific staff for the last few years have received millions in bribes."_

_"Aren't the biotic children being trained at Cerberus?"_

_"They are being trained at a neighboring base, under the Solaris Foundation. It is still being examined for any wrongdoing, and being examined very closely. An audit is being performed on both foundations, but the tipoff for all of this was a group of selfie shots, taken by some of the sex trafficked women. There are incriminating pictures of at least half of the project leads, and documents passed around through vid-mail and Omni-tool records are revealing drug abuse and fraud. The head of security was found to have four different houses in Europe, paid for and maintained by a system of favors as he allowed visits from minors and prostitutes."_

_"Sounds like a right mess, David."_

_"You've got that right. The Alliance has already locked down the area, and will be conducting a full investigation of everyone involved. I wouldn't be surprised to see arrests made within the hour. Here it is, folks, the picture worth one thousand words."_  Hannah leaned over, seeing a picture of Kasumi from behind, standing next to Hock's bed with the bruises of being choked clearly visible. It was perfect, and she could almost sense the outrage from parents and military men in the Alliance. The general public would be outraged for a little while, but soon forget. Strangely, though, they didn't mention Hock at all.

* * *

Jones finished tying up the third and final member of the information dealer's cell and let his feet dangle, ignoring his pleas and begging to not be hung. She just kicked the chair out from under him, leaving just the information dealer himself. "Is this all that there was? Is there anything else in here, anything else you were going to send?"

The Hispanic man babbled, shaking his head side to side. "No, no more! We didn't send the stuff on the boss! We didn't!"

Jones leaned down towards his face. He showed no normal heart rate or bodily signs. His fear appeared to be real. "I believe you." She said, pressing a small box of metal onto his head. "But I also am a professional." She fired the overload, the magnet for the tech ability on the man's forehead bringing his brain directly in contact with the electric charge. His body smoked, as his men kicked their feet uselessly above them.

"No witnesses, Ma'am." Her support team reported. "Shuttle is clear."

"Good. This was the last one. The Alliance will cover the rest as just rumors, without concrete evidence of wrongdoing." Jones smirked. "Allison thinks she is so good at the betrayal business. She has no one to turn to, and few places to hide. Keep me informed if her bank account so much as twitches."

* * *

Hannah pulled herself back into her catsuit just as they arrived at the old helium-3 station. It had been deep cleaned of any blood or nastiness and the hole patched. She wanted it as space worthy as possible for this next bit. The VI took its sweet time parking the ship, but she didn't hear any scratching noises or trouble as they locked into the airlock. The Salarian design had a super efficient oxygen converter, yet this one took almost ten minutes to cycle before the doors opened. Inside, she saw that there was an empty chamber, minus one thing, a string tied to the ceiling, with a small chinese fortune cookie hanging down.

Hannah gently pulled it off the string, and cracked the cookie in half. The paper inside was thicker than normal, and she tossed the cookie pieces to the side and grabbed the paper. ' _Great wisdom is often hidden behind plastic explosives'_  She blinked, flipping it over to see a list of coordinates. She had her Omni-tool scan them, before realizing that the paper was changing temperature. Explosives.

"Bastard!" She yelled, dropping the paper and sprinting for her airlock. She slammed the button, the airlock doors cycling shut and letting her back onto her ship. She heard a small explosion rattle the door behind her, and she fumed her way back to the cockpit. Kasumi was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, and grinning.

"What happened?"

"Jack Harper has a love of turning plastic explosive into mundane items. A small reminder that he usually has his Omni-tools and OSDs partially built with that to guarantee the protection of his information. Try to not steal from him, Kasumi. That will do all of us a favor and keep you out of trouble." She pulled up the picture on the Omni-tool, and saw that the only thing on it were a list of headings to follow. A very roundabout path, as well. Too bad she sucked so badly at navigation and math that she couldn't calculate where all these headings ended up.

Following the path left by the fortune cookie took them in a widening spiral, and then directed them to pass through a thick helium cloud. Her ship reported some damage by doing so, but she figured it was to scrape any unwanted pests off of her ship. She had locked down all communications from her hull as she travelled, but there was always the chance that they would be able to place a bug on her ship. She didn't have a shuttle bay or anything like that on this ship. Unlike the big old space yachts that could afford to send shuttles down, she had to risk her entire ship to foreign access.

So, after the helium cloud came a long empty area of space that had some leftover debris from a comet, as well as what appeared to be some sort of extremely large object. She angled towards that, having no further headings to follow. The object was revealed as a Mass Relay, and one she had seen before. She spun up her core and jumped through, almost positive she knew what was on the other side. So, she just leaned back as she transitioned, nearly one hundred and twenty six kilometers off of her jump goal.

After which point she had warning alarms from every scanner on her ship as it was painted by an entire fleet. She jumped to the controls, bringing up the kinetic barriers to full strength and engines to full speed.

" _Attention Salarian Ship. You have entered a restricted area, and will submit to a full scan. If we do not find you threatening, you will be spared."_  She brought up the scanners, looking around and finding sixteen frigates and cruisers surrounding her. They had a large patrol area in front of the relay, and covered all of the angles leading from it. Hannah was, of course, right in the middle of all of those ships.

"This is Allison, and I am here for Jack. My ship is labeled as Salarian because it goes anywhere."

There was a pause, and yet none of the locks on her craft disappeared. " _Please verify your identity."_  They sounded like Quarians. Well, that must mean they were in touch with Jack.

"Tell him that his egotistical ass wasn't worth saving on Shangxi for this much trouble." She said, and then thought of a better idea. "Though feel free to ask if the confirmation code is the number of women he has slept with."

" _This is simply a challenge-answer format, Miss Allison."_  The Quarian responded. " _Jack's challenge is what was your first alias that he gave you?_ "

"Answer: Allycat." She said, not feeling all that bad.

" _Challenge accepted,_ Jek-Jek-Tar-Tek _. Please follow this heading and land in the directed area. Any deviation of course, heading, or landing zone will be responded to with lethal force._ "

"Understood." She clicked off the microphone, and looked over at Kasumi, who was paying rapt attention. "Looks like Quarians are even more trigger happy than Batarians. They were ready to paint us with every single gun they had."

"They just have issues about their stuff, just like everybody else." Kasumi said. "Jeez, it's like we've already broken a rule by just looking at them." The Quarians sent a pair of frigates to fly on either side of her, guiding her to the landing zone. That was just where she remembered, a gigantic Prothean city by an ancient sea bed. Right there, she could see two more Quarian ships, both appearing to be cruiser sized shipping freighters. Right next to them was the  _Acheron_. It didn't look any worse for the wear, perhaps a bit dusty. Her landing pad was two hundred meters from it, and a couple of Quarians were waiting for her. They were armed, and one of them waved her down, making her park using her manual instruments. There were no beacons or laser guides for a VI to follow. She bounced as the landing gear touched the ground, and then scraped a little bit when she came down again. "Nice, Mum. You make the best first impressions on people."

"You get to come out there with me and present yourself. Come on." Hannah got up, brushing off any dust that had gotten on her from sitting in the chair. She got up, and then helped Kasumi get up without bending her body. "Did you get that reapplied yet?"

"Ah, No?" Kasumi said. "I sorta just slept."

"I'll do it later. We will be back at the ship as soon as we meet up with Jack and figure out the plan to rescue Julia." That made Kasumi jump for a bit of joy. "Thought we would just let her sit in jail? We're going to get her out of there, and then most likely go after Hock. The news stories didn't even say anything about him, so that means he's got some sort of insurance or coverage on the news stations."

The door to their ship had a small ramp that could deploy, or a ladder. Considering that the terrain was an old seabed, she went for the ladder rather than awkwardly bending her ramp over the jumbled terrain. Kasumi had to be let down by rope, and she was able to climb down the ladder. The Quarians just looked on, one holding a gun and one unarmed.

"Hello, and welcome to Ilos." The unarmed one said. "My name is Tesai nar Saerinlas, and I will be your guide and minder while you are here."

"I've been here before. We don't need a minder. Just take us to Jack Harper." Hannah said, not amused. The Quarian had an older looking suit, more haphazard. Her armed escort didn't seem to be too forgiving, however. His rifle was trained on the ground in front of them, and that was slightly offsetting. "You, with the gun. Put it away, we were invited here."

He didn't, nor did he even grace her with an answer. "We have a vehicle prepared for you. Come this way." Tesai said, motioning to them and ignoring the soldier. Kasumi and Hannah were right behind her, and once out of earshot Tesai sighed. "I apologize for Tazza. He's just paranoid."

"Paranoia is where you have four snipers trained on our position and a bomb under my parking spot. He was just being rude." Hannah said. "Where's Jack?"

"Director Harper is inside the Chamber of Ratification. Or whatever that blasted place is. This base is enormous, and extends down into the crust. Entire vehicle bays are contained under our feet, and each layer has a Prothean meaning to it. The upper levels are all about mental state, and as you go deeper it gets more physical. Though the Chamber of the Eyes is probably the weirdest thing I have ever seen."

"Chamber of the Eyes?"

"The place they stored their medical technology. Fifty thousand years ago it was a chronicled location for medical experiments and innovation. Thousands of cryo pods contained the medical records of races. Now, it's just row after row of preserved corpses, frozen and dead. Unfortunately, it's the secondary path to get to the power nodes. The primary path collapsed, so you have to walk through all of that to work on the power generators." Tesai shivered. "If Superiority wasn't so screwed up in the head I wouldn't have to go in there so often looking for him."

"Superiority?" Hannah asked.

"You haven't met him yet. Out of the three, he is the creepy one. Vengeance and the sole female are easier to talk to, though Vengeance has his moments. Oh, right! Gotta start this beast the old way." She was about to tap her Omni-tool, but instead had to go inside the piloting compartment of the vehicle. It was a large Alliance one, a Grizzly. It seated them comfortably and had a heater, which was entirely necessary on this planet. It wasn't snowing or anything, but it was cold. Tesai wasn't great at driving, and so Hannah took over after the first bump into a wall. She didn't complain, and Hannah handled the Grizzly like a champ.

Tesai directed her to drive to some sort of longer hallway past the place that they hadn't gotten past before. "When did the VI open that up?"

"Last week." She replied. "Charles was beyond pissed when he found out that he had spent more than a year of his life trying to effect programming changes from a secondary node. Apparently the nodes here were all secondary ones, where nothing can really be done to change the VI." She shrugged. "It doesn't make that much sense to me, but hey, that's what those tech idiots want to know about."

"What's your job around here, then?"

"Political relations." She said without any kind of joy in her words. "It is a thankless job when you have to facilitate between Humans like Jack Harper as well as Quarians and  _Kris_  knows what else. Here, up ahead. Stop here."

The Grizzly came to a stop next to four others, as well as two Salarian models of ground vehicle. All of which looked aftermarket or cheap, covered in dust and grime that could not have come from this planet. Nothing here was blue. Or a weird color of orange. Clamoring out of the space inside, she saw that there were some tents set up to one side of the giant hallway. She walked over to them, finding one larger than normal tent that had a Quarian on guard in front of it.

"Harper, you better be in there!" Hannah yelled, tired of being lead around like an invalid. The guard let them pass, and what she thought was a tent was actually a deployable airlock, and secured an entrance into the base. It had some sort of Quarian secure shelter, with kinetic barriers and some sort of secure lab section. Two Quarians were working on some sort of Prothean equipment with a welder and an Omni-foundry. She walked past it, coming to the doorway leading into the Prothean base.

"Hannah, so glad you could make it." Jack Harper emerged from another room within the tent, carrying some sort of long piece of metal. "You aren't going to shoot at me or stab me this time?"

"Well, considering I was acting upon orders from a rogue intelligence agency, I don't think I'll be following those anymore. So, I can safely promise that I won't be trying to kill you for any reasons from before. You'll have to come up with better ways to offend me if you want me to try that again." Hannah snarked, seeing Jack flinch for a moment.

"Alright then. Well, first things first. You should come with me to the Chamber of Secrets."

"Wait, what do you mean?" She started following him into the base. "Chamber of Secrets?"

"We converted a bathroom and utility storage room into something. The Protheans won't be using them, so we coined it our Chamber of Secrets." He walked down a hallway, taking a right into a room where power cables were taped to the walls and snaked through the door. Inside there were three glowing green pillars, all angled towards the center position. "These are sort of important, and as a measure of my trust, I offer you the knowledge contained within."

Hannah felt a pull, and her feet dragged on the floor until she was sliding into the room, towards the pillars. "What the hell?! What are these?"

"Prothean Dark Beacons. Welcome to the club!" Jack said jovially, as she got lifted off the ground by whatever these green pillars were. "When you wake up, I'll introduce you to your new psychologist!"

"Asshole!" She yelled, right before the pillars lit up, and her mind was assaulted by images and the feelings of a dead race. Protheans. Oh, God, they all died? How? Wait, what? What the hell were those things! Wait, she's seen one of those before!

_Reapers. Reapers. Reapers. Ilos holds the key. Do not fall to the Reapers_

* * *

Joseph Stalin High Security Penitentiary, Mercury, Sol System, March 2168

Julia waited in her cell as the lunch crowd passed by. She didn't like it here, and she didn't like the way that all of them leered at her. She was still injured from the fight with the Batarian Ambassador, and the surgery to remove the two knife blades from her back was done by the prison's surgeon. The bruised ribs and overwhelmed immune system she received a few painkillers. Other than that, she had been left alone in the cell. She didn't know how long she had been here, and they had confiscated her Omni-tool and all of its contents.

The door banged, and she ignored it. A lot of the inmates banged on the door, just to get a reaction out of her. She reacted the first few times, but the last dozen or so she hardly responded. None of the men here could scare her. They could attack her, yes, but she hadn't been questioned yet. Hannah and Jones had taught her about how to go through an interrogation. But all that they talked about was about misinformation, acting desperate, and buying time.

When her door opened, she stood up, arms glowing and ready. She hadn't eaten much in here, and her body ached for food. She saw four guards, all in sealed body armor, airtight and reinforced at the neck. All of them were wearing some sort of reinforcement along the arms and legs, and they had some sort of shocking batons in hand. It was unlikely that she could disable them with the batons, as their armor was too reinforced for it to be affected. So, she let them handcuff her. It was not like she couldn't break the cuffs.

They led her out of the cell, and into one of the public meeting rooms. She was sent through a full body scanner, and they apparently found some metal shards remaining from the knives. When she used whatever biotic attack had thrown him off, it had vibrated the knives and broken them from their hilts. So apparently there was some of the broken chunks of them still in her lower back. They labeled it as shrapnel. Once she was sent through that, it was to the most secure guard hall.

Then she exchanged her prison guards for even more heavily armored goons, all in Alliance blue and white. She didn't want to try anything with them. They had integrated cannons inside their suits. There was no way to disarm them or use that to her advantage. So she let them take her into some other secured chamber, this one having actual windows. She hadn't seen where she had been taken, but if the windows were any indication, she was out in space somewhere.

"Miss Harper." A voice knocked her out of her reverie. Looking forward, she could see a small cafeteria with ten more armored goons and a woman, who was also wearing a hardsuit, though this one was obviously meant for defense. She had a clear visor, and behind that she could see that the woman had a slightly aged face. She didn't recognize her.

"I changed my name to Constantine." Julia said.

"Never went through officially. It would have changed your trust fund and your father's will." The woman motioned to the table in front of her. "Please, sit down. We have a few things to discuss."

Julia sat, though she sat at the edge of the table. She could feel that the people in this room were wary of her, the tension thick. She hadn't ever felt like this, the target of so many people. "Who are you?"

"My name is Dierdre Scott. President of the Alliance. I'd like to talk to you about your situation." Julia felt her stomach drop out. The President was here. Why was the President here talking to her? She didn't remember much about Alliance Law, but she remembered that the President didn't have as much centralized power as Presidents of sovereign countries did in the past.

"Are you here to give me to the Batarians?"

That got a short, barking laugh. "Oh, goodness, no. He actually wanted to convey his respects to you. But we will get to that in a moment. This is regarding a small data packet on your Omni-tool, something that has very sensitive data on it."

"You mean the blackmail files." Julia said. "Dad gave me those, but I think he keeps copies of it all." She hadn't even looked at them. None of them were for Jones. That's the only person who bugged her, really.

"Yes, well, I received a message from him recently. A few years ago, your father and I worked together on a number of small projects. Due to that, he has some incriminating information that I hope you can delete for me."

"Dad took pictures of you sleeping together, right?" Julia asked. Dierdre didn't even budge. "Or were you one of the ones he went more crazy around?"

"I just need you to delete the files. We can't access the archive without your authorization, and he might throw this entire administration into scandal. The Alliance can't have this kind of trouble right now."

Julia nodded. "I can delete it from here, but I don't know if he has other places." This was the President of the Alliance, and it was within her orders to follow hers. Theoretically she could order her to do anything, and Julia, as a member of the Office of Intelligence, would follow it. Dierdre nodded to one of her men, who brought over her Omni-tool. It was enabled, and just the files that she had been told about were selected. Julia gave her credentials, and accessed the file system.

The Omni-tool stopped, and a small vid-message appeared. " _Julia. I've noticed that you are accessing the files on Dierdre Scott. This is a recorded message, obviously to warn you that making any attempt to blackmail a higher member of government is rather dangerous. This warning noted, Dierdre is an old friend of mine, and I have done a lot for her and she for me. There really isn't anything in this folder other than one old recording, and for your sake choose wisely when you will use this."_

The vid-message shifted, becoming an image of a piece of paper. " _I, Jack Harper, being of sound mind and body, do affirm that I spent an ungodly amount of money getting Dierdre Scott into office. I also affirm that I spent more than four hundred million credits from SuperPACs and other investment political firms to get her a leading position inside the Navel Committee. This binding legal statement is to be released if then-Senator Dierdre Scott does not perform for me one favor, no conditions attached. This favor cannot be sexual in any way, nor can it be fulfilled by-"_  Scott reached over and turned off the message.

"That doesn't sound very bad." Julia said. "I can delete it now."

"No, I just wanted to confirm that he still had that favor. You see, you acted against the Batarian Ambassador to the Council. Against any kind of orders given by my offices, your rogue group tried to kill him. Upon further investigation, we noticed that your group was made up of mostly British based agents. Years ago, about twenty two years, there was an attack on the Prothean Archive. It was orchestrated by a collection of British Intelligence agents who had joined the Alliance Office of Intelligence. They conspired to take information for themselves from the archive, and their attack went sour. When the dust cleared, Our Russian based agents had discovered the breach and had fought off the British ones, and we had to reorganize the Office. You were being lead and controlled by the remains of the rogue British agents, lead by one Julianne Jones. We aren't even sure it is her real name, or her real face. So, anyone associated with her is facing the charges of Sedition and Treason. What we have uncovered on them so far has led us to believe that they were going to try to take my life. We only have one member of their department in custody, and the route that is supposed to be taken is rather muddy."

"Me." Julia said. "You're here for me."

"Yes. I'm here for someone who is a minor facing sedition charges. What do you think I need at this point?"

"You want to know about Jones, and about everyone else." Julia said. "They made me swear an oath, when I joined. The same oath that all other agents swear. That I would be loyal to the Alliance."

"I am not doubting that you swore an oath. I doubt your officers told you their plans. But I need to know if you ever practiced or attempted anything that might be construed as betraying the Alliance."

"I was under protective custody, most of the time. We were up at Tartarus, but other than that we had a safe house in Old Virginia. We went to some conventions, a few places on Arcturus, but I was just supposed to stay out of the way. Allison Constantine didn't really get to be part of anything either, but that was normal too. She was close to my dad, so she wasn't really trusted either."

"She is still one of the few confirmed members of the cell, and might have been lying to you regarding anything she said. We are going to get to the bottom of this, and I am not going to go crawling back to those KGB bastards to have their 'loyal' staff investigate. I'd rather we even used the Italian Officers."

"Are you going to just keep me in jail, then?"

"Oh, no. I've got loads of politicians telling me to feed you to the Batarians for your attempt on their Ambassador's life. Unfortunately, I can't do that with my current issues. Your father called me, about you."

"He did?" That was suicide for him. "Did you try to arrest him?"

"I didn't. He asked for one thing, calling in that favor that was recorded in the Omni-tool. Can you guess what it was?"

"He probably asked for you to pardon him from his crimes."

"He asked me to pardon you, actually. I've got an offer for you, Miss Harper, as I believe you're just a victim in between all of this. So, I'm actually considering pardoning you for any crimes that you've committed, but that does not excuse you from your requirement to serve in our military." She grinned. "If you want me to pardon you, I'm going to need proof that you can be someone the Alliance can trust. So, I will pardon you after you go through one small mission for me."

* * *

She didn't hate the Alliance. She didn't love them either, but they were Human, and they had a government. The Krogan and the Quarians lost their governments and their planets. She didn't want to lose theirs, and she didn't like the idea of leaving. Her Dad left, and that just made the entire situation feel like she was running away. She was a biotic. She promised to serve in the Alliance for their effort in training them. Though that was only technically true, as Dad owned all of the contracts that allowed for them to learn at Solaris.

The shuttle doors opened, and she wrapped her facial shawl more securely around her face. The hangar building here in Mecca didn't have much in the way of cover from the sand. Security was light in this section, and they were Alliance more than local security at this juncture. The massive city spread out before her, high towers and minarets everywhere. When she walked past security, she brushed off her robes and shawl from any sand buildup, and then checked her built in boots in the catsuit to see if there was any sand there. Her cloaking system hated sand. It was a large problem.

The entire section of the hangar bay had been locked down, Alliance security guards going over every surface. In the middle of them was a figure in armor, an armor that she recognized very well.

"I am impatient. I have waited four days to meet with this Imam. Why must we wait further!" The Batarian Ambassador was here. His armor looked like Omni-gel had been very liberally applied to all of the joints and surfaces. She smiled a bit at that, knowing that she had seriously damaged it.

"You have one more layer of security coming, just in case someone tries to kill you again while you're in Mecca. They won't allow you to enter with more than three guards, so we have selected them very carefully." One of the men in suits said. Thankfully Hock wasn't here. That man gave her a bit of the creeps.

"Yes, you brought in the meatbag here, as well as the cybernetic assisted individual. Who else!" The Batarian sounded impatient. At his side were two people in armor, one of whom looked like a mixed hispanic and caucasian man, standing around six foot five. His shoulders were massive, and the grenade launcher on his back looked dangerous. Julia was only five foot six, and knew she was going to be craning her neck soon. The other man in armor was an Engineer, his jump harness folded around his torso and a shoulder cannon poking up on the left shoulder.

She walked forward, flashing into invisibility and back out of it within ten feet of them. "Hello again." She said, wary of his reaction. That armor could jump, she reminded herself. But the whining hum of the system that did that wasn't heard.

"Hah! You!" The Batarian started laughing harder. "Very well, then. You can bring the one sentient you have that has hurt me, and I can be assured that she won't try to hurt me again, eh? What is your name, girl?"

"Agent Constantine." She still didn't want to go by Harper. It just  _felt_  off now. "I've been assigned to protect you from anything local. My fellow agents have orders to gun me down if I so much as prick you with a needle."

"You change loyalties so quickly?"

"My orders never changed. Just my superiors." Julia told him. "I am here to protect you. Please don't make that difficult."

He laughed, and then grinned with his teeth. Their needle points were not that intimidating after the few groups of Batarians she had met. "I promise to defend myself. You shall accompany me as I speak with the most scholarly of these Muslims, and then we go on to the crater that was once Jebbashlem."

"Jerusalem." The hispanic-caucasian man corrected. "We aren't actually entering the nuclear crater, we are just going outside of it to talk with some Rabbis. Lieutenant Anderson, Agent. This is Lieutenant Davies. You'll be working with us for this mission."

She nodded. "Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant. I'll be under your command for the duration of the mission."

"I saw the clip of you fighting this guy. Those knife wounds still affecting you?"

She shook her head. "I'm fully capable." Lying wasn't a crime, but she couldn't afford to be benched here. She was going to get that pardon. Sedition before she turned fifteen was sort of a bad mark in the record, and it wasn't one that was dismissed when a minor became an adult. "How is the knee?"

"I spent much of my time in India with Buddhist and Hindu teachers on my back, thanks to you." He smiled. "Their religions were not united enough for my tastes. You sprained my wrists as well, and broke half of my weapons. I expect you to make up for that lack of defensive power."

"Ground car is ready!" Davies yelled. "Let's go!"

"Ambassador Dvoragk, please enter the vehicle. We will be driving for you."

"Batarian vehicles have their own VI's. All under a central control, we don't have to deal with imperfect driving."

"Humans aren't trusting of each other enough to do that, Ambassador." Anderson said. "Now, we are going to al-Hiram, the big mosque in the center of the city. There are going to be hundreds of people everywhere we go, all of them on their little pilgrimage. The police won't be of any help, and landing a shuttle is nearly impossible. Extraction will be on foot or by the roofs, but even those are rather packed. We get to meet with one of the big hats in there, and he talks to the Ambassador for as long as he wants. Then, we leave, heading the opposite direction to the other airport. Are we clear?"

She nodded. She had to succeed here. Had to. Her Dad used up an unlimited favor with the President of the Alliance to get her out of jail. That had to mean something. Maybe he cared about her more than when it was convenient. Right now, she had a chance and her Dad gave her that chance. Next time she saw him, she would offer him the same chance. Maybe try to not arrest him.

* * *

Author's Note

So, this is the second to last chapter leading up to Mass Effect 1 Storyline, or rather 2183. You guys have seen my whole buildup, and all of my changes I have made. The next chapter will take a bit more time as I go back and clean up all the previous chapters. I'll wrap up all of these storylines, and then we dive into the second Arc of the storyline.

Thank you guys for being part of the buildup, development, and success of this story. I've loved the reviews, they are basically like fuel to me. I always love that little 'ding' that comes and I always take a look. A big thanks to  **5 Colored Walker** _ **,**_ **DarkArmor, Useful76,** and all of the other reviewers. Lukas and TAS are up there.

In terms of development, we finally see Hannah thinking for herself. She doesn't care anymore about the Alliance, or loyalty, so long as she knows the truth. She won't tolerate anyone controlling her any more. Jack is just trying to get her all of the answers, and we get to see a lot of that in the next chapter. A lot of the fanfiction authors haven't been updating lately, probably because it's finals and everyone is just sort of dead. So, to reward everyone for finishing their school year(Or just now looking at the end), here is another chapter. Enjoy and good luck.


	40. Fugue: 40 Year Old Virgin

Chapter 40

Ilos, Chamber of Reclamation, March 2168

Hannah came to, bleary eyed and feeling distinctly hung over. She blinked, some kind of garish green light piercing her eyelids and making her groan in pain. She blinked again as the images that struck her mind returned, making her open her eyes wide to avoid seeing the nightmarish images.

"Oh good, you're awake." She could hear Jack Harper say. "Julia is safe, now. She won't be joining us, but she is safe."

"Wait, I-" She felt a straw placed in her mouth.

"You'll want this, those images are quite vivid the day after." She supposed that Jack Harper wouldn't need to drug her again with an alien artifact. She sipped the drink, which happened to be her favorite way of getting over a hangover. Irish whiskey, honey, and a five hour energy. She could taste some other bit of content, and smacked her lips, trying to figure it out.

"Mango juice and a double shot?" She asked, not exactly finding it perfect.

"Had to make due. I'm not actually great at mixing drinks. I hire other people for that. Out here, though, I've gone without a lot of my normal comforts." Jack said. "Julia received a pardon of all crimes from the President of the Alliance, and is back in the good graces of the government. Though it took one of my best aces in the hole."

The room came into focus as the energy drink and alcohol hit her stomach, and her deep breaths brought everything into focus. She was in a circular chamber with long bed-like objects, and she was laid out upon one of them with a thermal blanket on top of her. She was still wearing her catsuit, thankfully. Looking around, she could see Kasumi out on top of one of the beds and Jack the only other occupant of the room.

"Is she okay?" Hannah asked, noticing that she had drained the entire cup. Huh. She didn't remember drinking that so quickly.

"I assume so. I have to get a new Omni-tool contact ID so that I can call around to my contacts. Now, I must apologize for throwing you into a Prothean Dark Beacon. But you needed to know what was inside of them."

"You could have asked if I wanted to have my mind put into a blender!" Hannah growled at him. She still felt a bit off, and so didn't try to get off the bed. But that didn't stop her giving him the middle finger. "Now, what the hell is downloaded into my brain?"

Jack grinned. "Those beacons tell the story of how the Protheans were defeated. Wiped out by a sentient race of machines called Reapers. You saw all of the cybernetics, right?" Vague images of teeth being torn out and replaced with glowing blue wires burned through her mind, making her flinch. "Reapers take the organic populations and transform them into converted soldiers. They can do this with living and dead tissue, and the Protheans had a large empire where guns were a controlled resource. After one single industrial centre fell, they had enough ground troops to overwhelm any military installation that they had. You saw what the Reapers looked like?"

"That looks like the ship we stole from the Batarians!"

"It also looks like what came and stole it back from me." Jack said. "Unfortunately, one of the side effects of sticking your head inside of a Prothean beacon is painful death. Fortunately for you, I have a doctor for that. Javik, your patient will see you now."

Then, in through the door walked a Prothean. Real, living, and pissed off Prothean. "Oh my god!"

"Gods didn't save my people, Human. They won't save yours either. Your mind is in a fragile and broken place with Prothean memories trying to attach themselves to unfamiliar neural patterns. I will fix this for you, Human. My name is Javik, and I am the commander of this base. I am no Doctor, and this is not going to include any kind of pleasant feeling of understanding."

"Jack, are you sure this is the best method of fixing me?"

"Relax, I had him do this last week. You'll feel right as rain." Jack said. "There is a slight feeling of discomfort, but it's not at all like when an Asari tries to get inside your head. More importantly, He is going to show you how the Reapers got here. Then we can resolve our little bet." Jack glanced down at his Omni-tool. "Javik, I'll be back in a couple of hours to see how she is doing. Hannah is one of the most capable people we have, so be gentle and patient with her."

She swore that Javik made a rude noise in the weird slits of his nose. They flared out to the sides, and he stalked over to her bed. "Give me your hand, and we shall begin. Your primitive mind will not take long to repair."

Hannah nodded, trusting that a Prothean would be good at this sort of thing. When his hand touched hers, it was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped inside of her skin, and she could feel the icy-cold feeling spreading towards her mind. As it went up her neck, she shivered and felt her nerves go dead as it passed. Then, she lost her eyesight and her mind became her only place of feeling as the ice spread to the top of her head.

 _Calm yourself, Human._  The Prothean's words echoed inside of her head.  _This is difficult enough with you panicking at my very presence._  Hannah tried to stop panicking, but it was hard when your extremities were freezing or burning or going nuts. But she didn't move or pull back her hand. She let the feeling of the coldness pass into her head, and then she felt like she was in someplace different.  _Keep your outer eyes closed. Only use the inner eye of the mind for what I am to show you._

Whatever the hell that meant. She felt some kind of tugging on her mind, and then she could see some sort of images. Oh, they were being ordered and put together right rather than being a weird mix of images that didn't go together. Now she fully saw a picture of what Protheans in armor looked like, fighting a losing battle against cybernetically augmented versions of themselves. The memories shifted to that of Protheans in the middle of being augmented, their teeth and organs being shifted out of the way or removed to make way for cybernetic enhancements. With context, she watched as a still screaming female Prothean cried as the top of her head was calmly removed while she was still alive. Blue metal filled in her eyes as she died, screaming vengeance and hatred as she went.

Then the images shifted to a picture of Ilos, warning anyone who received this that it was safe. More importantly, that Ilos had done something to fight back against the Reapers.  _Those_  images were worse. Dozens of the ships emerging from the shadow of a star, creepily floating towards her. Almost lazily, but they were so much larger than any of the Protheans or their ships and worlds. Larger than life,yet quiet. She felt the images settle inside her mind, no longer pressing and pulsing against her brain with the force of a hammer.

_There. Now you can view our warning in its correct form. Your primitive mind could not comprehend our memories and feelings, and now it will._

"Can you answer a question, while we are here?"

_So long as it does not involve useless prattle of peace or cultural developments of my people. Such is not within my purview._

"Great." She had that bet with Jack, and that  _Acheron_  of his looked very unique. "When the Reapers attacked, where did they come from? Jack Harper and I have a bet going to that revolves around the source of your demise."

_I do not care for petty rivalries. The Reapers emerged from Dark Space, and arrived at the Citadel in a single horrific moment._

"But, they didn't originate from the Citadel? Or rather the reason they came didn't originate at the Citadel?"

_The Citadel was just a beacon for them to jump to. The entire station is just their private mass relay, after all. It is not the source of our problems._

"Thank you. This means that I win the bet, as well as Jack's ship."

_The Citadel is technically a Reaper construct, and most likely is the source of much trouble on its own, however._

"So, we're both right?"

 _Petty concerns. For your purposes, yes. I do not detect any other abnormalities inside your mind. This exchange of information is over._  She came back to reality as the icy cold feeling went back down her face, through her shoulder, and back through the arm and into the Prothean hand touching it. She shivered, and not due to the cold. It just felt odd to have something else inside her nervous system.

When she blinked up at the Prothean, she saw him taking deep breaths through his nose, and his hand shaking slightly. "You alright?"

"This is not easy for us to do, you realize. This was the function of our Asari servants. But I am the only one of us that is a natural biotic left. I am, admittedly, no doctor. Fixing the mind is difficult. I am just a soldier, given a second chance."

"Well, thank you." Hannah said. "My mind feels clear. I'll pay you back some day."

"For both our sakes, let us hope you use this knowledge against the Reapers. Primitives and their favors will not win us any battles." Javik then left. He was a bit of a prick, for a Prothean. Everything she was told about them made them seem like benevolent inspiring people, trying to uplift the other races. She was willing to give him a chance, though. He did just go out of his comfort zone to fix her mind. She wouldn't have needed it fixed in the first place, if Jack hadn't decided to let her join the club. Of course, this whole Reaper business made all of Jack's actions have a bit of sense, now. If he was scared of these things, then there really wasn't anything that Humanity could scare him with, other than threatening his daughters.

"Kasumi, I need a favor." She pointed at her bag. "Get out the object in the second pouch."

"Sure, Mum. Plan B, right?"

"No plan involved, going by the seat of our pants. You got it." Hannah didn't like over planning something. Then again, action was her specialty, not planning everything ahead of time. So, she just cloaked and hoisted herself above the doorframe, using the magnetic strips on her wrists to grip the upper parts of the frame. Kasumi laid down on the bed in her place, taking out a blanket and covering herself with it. She made it seem as though she were asleep, something that the girl had trouble with. She definitely had some issues with having too much energy. So when the sound of designer shoes came up, Hannah grinned.

She swung, her open hand hitting cheek and sending Jack staggering to the left, while she did a small pirouette in the air and landed lightly on her feet. Coming to a standing position, she flipped her shoulder length hair back and prepared the most arrogant look she could.

"My face!" That wasn't Jack, that was Charles. He was sitting on the ground, her large red hand mark covering his stubble and his face, red from ear to chin. "Ow!" He pulled himself back up, glaring at Hannah. "What the hell was that for?"

"I thought you were Jack." She said, honestly feeling a bit bad. "Sorry." She said, as Kasumi popped up from underneath the covers giggling.

"Nice shot, Mum. He'll want some medi-gel for that."

"What?" Charles said, feeling his face and pulling back his hand like it stung. "You got some kind of gorilla gene mod in there?" He stood back up, brushing off his jumpsuit. "I don't really blame you for the trying to go for Jack, but after Javik nearly blew up at him he's been avoiding confrontation. So he sent me here to get you."

"My apologies for your face, Charles. I have some medi-gel here if you need it." She offered him the small plastic tube, which Charles took immediately.

"Apology accepted. Come with me and let's hope we don't have to deal with any more physical violence." Charles led them down more creepy green glowing tunnels, vine covered hallways, and then surprisingly to an area that actually had white stone. The smell of antiseptic and cleaning product still filled the area, showing that it had been reclaimed from nature. Quarians were all over the area, setting up terminals and making this place into a command center. "This used to be their command theatre. But it got flooded and the windows were blown out by something. So we are going to get it running again, not to mention its a primary node into the system. Jack's waiting for you on the command deck."

He then whistled a catchy tune, heading towards one of the computer networks. "You going to need my help up there?" Kasumi asked.

"No, I won't. Stay out of the way and out of trouble, though."

She nodded, and laughed as she approached Charles. Once Kasumi was right next to him, she started singing the lyrics to the song that he had been whistling. This made the unfortunate man jump sideways into a wall in fright, and Kasumi's giggles echoed through the large space. Hannah smirked and just walked up the stairs and secure ramps up to the command deck. Three Quarians, one Prothean, and Jack himself occupied a large table in the middle.

"The Conduit is functional, but the housing for it has degraded. If we wish to use it again, we will need to reinforce the foundation. If it forms a zero-mass tunnel with its opposite on the Citadel, it will destabilize the foundation and the power grid connecting it to the base. We would be staring at an impact crater a half-mile wide if it loses cohesion."

"Alright, Superiority. We can assign work crews to rebuild the foundation. But I still want access to the Foundry of the Ancients."

"Vigil will not unlock that function without the authority of all remaining Avatars. We are not in agreement regarding that Foundry's use."

"We need that metal in order to reinforce the foundation! Just using local materials to shore it up isn't going to be enough!" One of the older Quarians said, a big gruff looking one. The other two were females. One of them was Tesai, who looked almost poor in comparison. Her suit was not the same level of quality compared to theirs.

"While true, Vigilance and Vengeance are of the opinion that the Foundry must remain sealed. The secrets regarding the production of armor of that scale would allow you too much freedom." The Prothean replied, unperturbed by the Quarian's words.

"By Freedom, I assume that you mean ability to conquer other races. Though to be fair, the only thing they would be conquering would be the Geth. With your armor technology, they would be able to have a homeworld again." Jack noted. "Not to mention we could arm the different races to fight the Reapers more effectively."

"This armor did little for our ships and it will do little for yours. The best it can do is simply allow your primitive race to conquer others. The period of warfare would only weaken you as a cohesive group, and then the Reapers would destroy you all the easier. The Foundry will remain sealed for the time being."

"That is a possibility. Just as the current most powerful races lead from the top, and they do so with your same cyclonic barrier technology, eventually they may discover the armor technology anyways." Jack stated. "Though the same chance of that happening is lower than the chance of them finding this technology through Reaper sources, and that would be intolerable."

"Such as how you operated not five years ago?"

"I had reason to believe that the Batarians had found a Prothean dreadnaught. Or possibly your Crucible project. So, I stole it. The Alliance is currently developing the Thanix, a cannon that mimics the effects of Reaper main guns, on a much smaller scale. If I remember correctly, you were able to bring that scale down to handheld weapons."

"Also a technology we plan to share on our timetable. Not yours." The Prothean said. Hannah waited a short distance away from the table, when Jack noticed her.

"Ah, may I introduce a new ally. Hannah, welcome to the War Room. Everyone, may I introduce Hannah Shepard, who shall be in charge of our Scouting Divisions. She just recovered from exposure to the vision, and she is the most capable Human stealth agent in existence. Hannah, this is the Avatar of Superiority, the Prothean contingent. Tesai nar Saerinlas, Public Relations." Poor girl. "Admiral Daro'xen vas Moreh, in charge of Quarian research and design for their fleet. Next to her is Yorin'Lak vas Moreh, the construction supervisor and Security team leader." Jack then motioned her forward to the table. "Hannah Shepard will select a department staff and will be caught up to speed regarding all developments."

"Javik states that you recovered from the vision faster than anyone else on the base site. Congratulations." Superiority said without any emotional inflection. "We shall rely on you to find and detect Reaper intrusions and compromised agents, and then remove the contamination."

"So, same old thing, just actually searching for the bad guys." She grinned. "Does this include Hock?"

"Sadly, the man is only vain, instead of under the control of the Reapers. But his criminal network represents a significant source of trouble. We might have to take action. Considering our old enemies, silencing them before they fall to the Reapers and reveal what they know would be a rather good idea, then."

"Good. Jones and Hock both know about your old super ship. If they find another one, they might find out too much." Hannah grinned. "I don't have much in the way of resources, but I can do my best. Where do we start?"

"You'll need crew, ships, and agents that we can safely augment here. I'll do what I can through non profits and the Agents of Justice to recruit some people of mediocre loyalty."

"Mediocre Loyalty?" Daro'xen asked.

"Truly loyal people don't walk along every day. They also stay true to their first love, so to speak. They don't just grow on trees. You have to settle for the downtrodden, misguided, and religiously apathetic. Then you give those people a cause, and then they become slightly more loyal."

"We Quarians are committed to this venture as an entire race. You have no cause to fear anything from us."

Jack nodded. "For now. Soon, you'll see companies in the Terminus rising up to be led by Quarians with a lot of money and connections. Quarians that see profit exist, and separated from the community for long enough and we will start seeing them as powerful entities within the criminal community. I've been paying attention to that, as you might imagine."

"We can, actually. Now, we've met the new department head. Javik gave his word of trust, and that means much more to us than yours."

"To be perfectly fair, everyone at this table has their own goals. Superiority would rather we find a superweapon that wipes out most of the existing sentients in the galaxy so that we effectively starve the Reapers. Daro'xen probably wants to take Geth apart and play with their runtimes until they start exhibiting emotion. Yorin just wants to have a Quarian Dreadnaught in the air, and I just want to see my daughters safe and sound. Of course, we all have our own motives. Trust is our currency, and the more of it that we have the better that we work together."

"A noble speech. Yet your history is clouded by strange judgement. We will withhold any other statements of trust. All of you wish to have access to the Foundry. It will remain sealed, and even if it is unsealed, it's use shall be extremely controlled."

"Well, here I was hoping that we could just replicate the systems that you left on the Quarian beacon. File XV-FH12." Jack said, bringing up something on the haptic interface on the table. "This is something the Quarians already understand, and something we want to implement in our hunt for the Reapers."

"Ablative heat dampeners? These are basic technologies." Superiority said.

"Yes, but we don't use integrated nanotube structures in our ship designs. What we need this for is for a stealth system. Thermal detection is used primarily by the Reapers to find their prey. Vigil confirmed this for me."

"Yes. We used to use frozen water comets as cover for some of our observation posts. The Reapers also detect the usage of Element zero, and so approaches to mass relays or the discharging of magnetic buildup is noticed immediately."

"My thoughts are on the use of the heat dampeners and the heat containment shields to be built into a stealth drive, one that we can sell the technology to certain governments to for loyalty."

"So long as the Quarian people benefit first, I am happy with the idea."

"I recommend we use the  _Acheron_  as a test bed for the technologies. It is by far the newest ship, and it has plenty of room inside for us to install any upgrades or new pieces to it. I left some room for the cannons I thought the Alliance was going to develop from the Reaper guns by now."

"Miss Shepard." Superiority said. "I am letting Vigil know that you are to have access to the level two armory. Prothean kinetic barriers and EMP shielding. Armor and weapons will be released when a consensus is reached between all the Avatars." He motioned to her. "The agents of the Reapers often short out any equipment that functions based off of existing technologies. Their cybernetic augmentations target Element Zero power supplies and systems, taking them out of commission. We have allowed your department access to the EMP shielding necessary to operate near their agents."

She thought back to the Turian augments. When she had fought them, they had been extremely hard to kill and shorted out her weapons and equipment. "I've got a few pictures of different things that might be Reaper in origin. Want to take a look?"

"There is no shortage of their bastardization of good technology. Simply add it to the library." Superiority said. "Is there any other requests of this body?"

Head shaking went all around, and Superiority left without another word, Tesai following him and taking down notes. Yorin just shrugged and walked towards the work crews, while Daro'xen and Jack stayed at the table. "Jack, you've been talking about this woman for a year now. I am pleased to meet you, Miss Shepard. Jack has only had the best of compliments to say about you."

"Did he now?" Hannah asked with a smirk. "So glad you talk about me so often, Jack. Especially when I was so committed to arresting you months ago."

"He hasn't done enough at the Citadel level to get real attention, yet." Xen muttered. "Try joking about taking down that big VI of theirs during your pilgrimage, and then see how they react."

"Xen, did you really say such brash things?" Jack asked, amused.

"C-sec held me in custody for six months. Then they dropped me off on some mining colony that wasn't connected to anyone. I had that place's security and mech defenses upgraded within days. They gave me a good vessel in exchange. Ah, yes. The upgrades to your  _Acheron_  are still on schedule, then?"

"Yes. New barriers and guns will be ready by tomorrow."

"Don't you mean the  _Handsome Jack_?" Hannah quipped.

"If I recall my Dark beacon induced vision correctly, the Citadel was the source of the Reaper invasion." Jack said. "I hope you brought my payment." He raised his eyebrows.

"Javik clarified that the Reapers originate from beyond the Galactic rim. The Citadel is just their entry point, it is not their source." Hannah remarked. "Bet's on you. Rename the ship, Jack."

He stood up to his full height. "Vigil, your Prothean super weapon, the Catalyst, was built to stop the Reapers, in their entirety?" From the table, a small image of a Prothean in more of a jumpsuit rather than Superiority's armor appeared.

"Theoretically correct. The weapon is untested, and was taken from an Inusannon data storage device. It is compatible with the Citadel, yet the design is unfinished in its current form."

"Theoretically, why would this device be built to connect to the Citadel?" Jack asked.

"It is assumed that there is some sort of central network that the Reapers operate through the Citadel. Accessing them as an entire group was theorized as possible from the Citadel."

Jack grinned. "More than just a giant backdoor into the galaxy. There is much more to it." He pointed to the VI. "They knew it, and they did something to the Citadel before they were wiped out. The Citadel is the big key that keeps all the Reapers working, and all of their technology running. Mass relays, comm buoys, trade centers, they are all commanded and directed from the Citadel. The Reapers made that to lure us in." He put his palms flat down on the table. "Otherwise we would be something like the old Star Trek idealistic society. We would have evolved our own methods of FTL travel."

"But that's all theory. Correct, Vigil?"

"This is correct, Director Shepard." The VI replied. "Few facts have been confirmed about the Reapers other than their use of advanced technology and their habits of harvesting races at a certain point in their evolutionary state. Their ships are constructed using an unknown method, and no shipyard has been found so far. No method of supplying their forces or repair was discovered, other than the harvesting of drones and soldiers from our populations."

"So, I am supposed to look for agents of a group that has no need for supplies, ships outside our combat capabilities, and apocalyptic tendencies?"

"Our bet remains unresolved." Jack said. "There is more to the Reapers that we don't know yet."

"I've spent long enough working with you to know that you're stalling." She muttered. "I have half a mind to call the bet finished and rename your ship myself." She grinned. "But first you'll have to let me borrow your ship. The  _Jek-Jek-Tar-Tek_  will be noticed anywhere, and it is lightly armed and armored."

"I've been preparing to come with you and see about us working together again. I can only do so much from Ilos. So, I'll be with you in my ship, but you will have operational direction." Jack offered his hand. "Agreed?"

"Yes." She said. "When do we get Miranda and Julia back?"

"Not until I can guarantee that they are safe from Reaper agents. Benezia and David Anderson will be able to watch over them for the time being. I'll keep them safe and separated from me until they are grown up and able to protect themselves. Right now, if I bring them out here they will just get exposed to this Reaper business early, before their minds have fully matured and they need to form their own view of the galaxy first. Taking them away from all that will just ruin them. Coming to a dead world is not something for them to experience."

"I disagree. They would want to be with you no matter what. They are your kids, Jack, not resources on the board. They aren't some stock or investment that hasn't matured yet. They want to be with you, and more than anything it would make them happy."

"I don't make children happy, Hannah. I've left them with those that have parental instincts. Mine died the moment my mother discovered that I understood English. I've read the hospital records, I know that you went to go meet her." Jack gave her a long look. "You saw what kind of parental figure I had as an example."

She nodded. That woman had been a nightmare. "I've rarely met anyone that could hate so eloquently."

"She graduated from NorthWest with a degree in English. Her grammar was always impeccable, unless she was shooting the harder drugs. Such a shame that I had been born, though. Ruined her net worth." Jack laughed. "Now she can only torment nurses."

"She had Julia quite messed up. She wasn't up to talk about it before we left on the mission to go after Haego, and she didn't like talking about her problems before then, unless her father was there to talk them out." Hannah pried. "That's why I think you should go in and rescue her. She needs you, Jack."

"Too bad." He said. "This is not up for discussion. I can't recover Julia."

"What about Miranda?" She asked. "Isn't she just with the Asari?"

"I told you, this is not a topic for discussion!" Jack reiterated. Daro'xen had slipped away in the middle of their argument, and Jack slammed his hand into the table. "I am not a parent that they deserve. I am not the parent that they need. You've come closer to Julia in your time watching her than I did being her biological father!" He looked down at his hand, noticing for the first time that he had possibly hurt himself. "Being a good parent is a pipe dream for someone like me."

"Your girls were some of the most promising of their generation!"

"That's due to genetic engineering developed by Cerberus!" He retorted. "Their bodies are slightly more fragile than others in their class. Julia element zero nodules are only partially connected to her brain stem. They need the medical technicians that are available in Citadel Space!"

"I didn't mean physically. I meant mentally." Hannah said. "I had great parents, Jack. You killed them, which gives me every right to tell you that you are not a bad father. You raised your girls damn well for how much time you put towards them. God damn it Jack, look at me!" He had started looking away when she mentioned her parents. A guilt reaction, good. "You're not a deadbeat. You're one of the most terrifyingly effective Humans that are alive, and the entire Alliance government quivers in fear when you are mentioned. Your daughters deserve to be more than fodder in a game between you and the rest of the galaxy!"

Jack just heaved, red faced and eyes glaring. "You aren't the judge of me. This is all just a dream, anyway. A fool's dream." He blinked, coming out of some sort of thought process. "Shut up, Hannah. You know nothing." He paused, taking stock of the situation and pulling on the bottom of his suit. He took a deep breath, and then faced her again. "I'll see you at the  _Acheron_  in four hours." He pushed past her, giving her an icy glare. His designer shoes echoed on the stairs as he walked outside, leaving Hannah at the table alone.

Kasumi joined her eventually. She had a bottle of water in her hands, and approached decloaked. "Mum, you said the right thing. I want Julia back, too."

The small Japanese girl cuddled into her side. Hannah was surprised, but let it go. "I'm not a very good Mum, am I." She stated. It wasn't a question.

"I didn't have one to compare to, Mum. So I say that you're great!"

"Please don't lie, Kasumi. I don't need that right now."

"But I'm not lying! You've been nice to us, and when Julia was crying in her sleep you took care of her. I cry sometimes, you know. You make me feel a lot better, though. I've got these memories in my head, of the old Hatsune Miku. She killed herself not long after I was born, but I can remember her memories just like they were my own. Especially about her Mum. You're much nicer. You don't hit me, and you make me and Julia do good things."

"But it's my fault! Julia's gone, and it's all my fault!"

"Mum, you had a four foot spear through your thigh. You couldn't have saved her." She still had quite the ugly scar from that. Stupid Batarian designed weapons. "But we can save her now!"

She sighed. Kasumi didn't get it. There was no saving Julia, not without help at every level. "Not without Jack Harper. He's the only one that knows enough people to get her out."

"So? Convince him, Mum! You've got the power!"

"This isn't some vid-show where I can just use some magic powers to fix everything. Jack Harper is one of the most dangerous men out here, and as much as I don't like it, he's doing the right thing. I don't want to mess this up for us, not when we have no other options."

Kasumi gave her a grin, her electric blue eyes glimmering. "Mum, you're a woman! Seduce him and convince him to go save Julia!"

"Kasumi, that's a terrible idea." She sighed, "Come on, let's get back to my ship. We have to pack."

* * *

The High Fane, Kar'Shan

"I am Haego Dvoragk, High Priest of Rian, for all those of you who have not been graced with the visitation to the High Fane. Over the last five months, we have seen some heretic actions of the highest order." Haego was wearing his full armor, along with his helmet. "Let all lies and rumors be quelled at this moment."

The crowds had piled into the High Fane this morning. It was rare to have more than each family's priests invited to the High Fane. More importantly, the altar and speaker's bench were filled with the most powerful government officials that hadn't gone against Jeroth. Jeroth himself was in his custom armor, sitting at the head of the bench. Haego was the only one to not yet turn over his Kavka, and out of respect Jeroth had not demanded his head yet. The crowd was made up of the noble and highest birth, those of the Karem caste. Almost a whole tenth of that population was represented here, and only the most bold of ancient families ignored the summons to the High Fane. It was rare to see a Hegemon stripped of his birth and name, and given the responsibility over all of their people. The Fane was packed with the sneers and glares of eight thousand adult Batarians males.

They all fell silent at his statement, as they should. This place was sacred. "Five months ago, Jeroth and I decided to settle our differences regarding the seat of the Hegemon in single combat. The location we selected for this was within The Sacred Pillars. As all of you are required to know, this is the same location that Batar himself fought for supremacy over the Karn. Then, he betrayed us, corrupting our practices and giving us a culture that is unfinished, incomplete." Some of the priests started shifting uncomfortably. Talk of Batar in any fashion around those not inducted into the ranks of the priests was somewhat dangerous. Priests were the ones who maintained the cohesion and control over all levels of the population, after all. Religious secrets and the threat of being killed for heresy kept everyone on their toes.

"Today I will speak plainly regarding things once held as secret. To my priests, I promise you that this all has bearing on our current predicament. No one shall be killed for heresy regarding this. More importantly, what shall occur today will be a matter of religious debate for every generation following us."  _That_ got his priests muttering to one another. But to make that statement now weakened his position, making the solidarity of the Karn, of their religion seem at risk. "Jeroth and I discovered the true reason that Batar fought for the Karn in the pillar chamber. He fought against the ancient champions of Rian and Eruk, and defeated them. This is publicly known. The creatures themselves had once been Batarian, one of the Karn. But they had been altered, changed by the Gods. Their bones and skin had been filled with metal harder than steel, and none of the weapons Batar had could injure them."

"So he drowned them, tying the champions down and burying them in molten gold, as they could not die." Painstakingly, the remains of the champions had been collected from the room after it had cooled, and Haego held aloft the severed head of the second champion. It was the best preserved, and its mockery of a Batarian face was clearly visible from anywhere in the room. The secondary skull ridge for the eyes was plain to see, and though the chin had given way to more wires and claws, it still had the proper shape. "To conceal their location until they could be slain, He carved the pillars of our faith and constructed a prison that would not be disturbed until we had either cast off our religion in fulfillment, or his soul reborn to finish what he had left undone."

"Batar was slaughtered by his allies, claiming that he had rewritten the religion of our forefathers. This was true, considering that the Gods had been able to corrupt one of the Karn so forcefully." He set the blue-cabled head on the altar. Ironic, yet appropriate. The same table they performed sacrifices and rituals to the deities held the severed head of their champion. "His single surviving daughter carried his spirit through the ages, until gifted to one who would be Hegemon and priest. The fear that once clouded our religion has been revealed as heresy in itself!" None of the SIU would be able to refute him. Not without Jeroth disagreeing as well, and it was in his best interest to not die.

"When Jeroth and I fought inside the chamber, it was revealed to us that the Champions were still encased in their prisons. Due to their unholy nature, they recognized the soul of Batar in the room, and emerged from their prisons to kill us. Millions of pilgrims have touched the pillars in the thousands of years since their forming, but not until this year was it revealed that the Pillars of Strength were the prison of unfulfilled promises. Most importantly, those that killed Batar also covered up his writings regarding the Gods. This entire religion was not the instrument of Batar, but rather our culture was the product of greedy priests, who sought the wealth of the world, and who sought control over all others."

"Batar had written upon the walls of the chamber his intentions. The foremost being the destruction of the need to enslave others. As of now, with the truth of our religion revealed, the sale and capture of Jarem must end. Or else we spit upon our own reincarnation. Over the last five months of meditation, I have discerned the truth of Batar's words. His soul rings true in the heart of the man that we call Hegemon this day. For when we fought the champions, I was ignored, and Jeroth was the target of their ire." Lies and embellishment were the key to success. Especially with these people.

"Jeroth unlocked the secrets of our religion. It is to him I present the last piece of authority given to me by the last holy leader of our race. Yet I, as High Priest, have more to say before his name is sealed, and his divine purpose fully realized." Murmurs had begun to fill the hall. To hear of this was causing rifts. The Karem felt threatened, as they should. They were supposed to feel threatened. This was, effectively, an end to their way of life. "The caste system of the buying and selling of sentients was devised so that Batar's killers could take control of the Karn. His vision was much different."

"Batar envisioned a Karn where none of us would be owned or sponsored. Where caste was not a requirement, only your actions. Batar, seeing that his fate was sealed and his life forfeit, spun his soul into the cycles of reincarnation until he could return, and fix our broken heritage."

"Blasphemer! Blasphemy!" Rato Regdorak, One of the other High Priests yelled. He stepped forward, rage clear on his face.

"You challenge me now? As I sit in the seat of the High Fane!" This was why Jeroth had all of the government leaders and political challengers here. "I shall face you as I fought with Jeroth. Join me or face dishonor of the highest order." Haego stepped down from his seat, letting his armor release him. He stepped out wearing just his robes of state, which he promptly hung on the exposed open arm of his VI powered armor. Underneath he wore a simple underlayer. For a weapon, he selected his Kavka and the severed head of the champion. "Face me as I am, or forever let your soul be forgotten!"

The priest stood in front of the thousands of Karem, all of them silently relishing a proper battle between priests. No armor, just knives. No guns, no tricks, just the bloody work. In honor of the duel, they kept their whispers to themselves. All Batarians loved bloodsport, and duels between priests often were the highest viewed events. Haego eyed his challenger, Rato, and watched as he abandoned his armor and advanced weaponry. Rato was one of the younger priests, but he had risen through the ranks quickly. Mostly due to being more underhanded and subtle than his peers. But rather than let him use whatever advanced weapon was going to disable his armor, he dragged the fight out in the old way. He would need his armor later.

"I come for you, blasphemer!" Rato yelled, his friends and allies jeering at Haego. Behind Haego, only his allies in Jeroth stood with him. But that was it. The only way for Jeroth's enemies to steal the government away was to defeat Haego for his Kavka. Rato charged, his swipes cruel and meant to disable. But he was inexperienced. He swapped his Kavka for the severed head, and held it in his strong right hand. His left still had a ring of gold around it, all of the molten gold that had been pulled from his wound forming a bracelet. Priests were not often allowed to have any kind of adornments, but this was gold from the sacred pillars. That was the weight of responsibility.

He kept his Kavka in his weak left hand, the ligaments forever shortened from his injuries in the sacred chamber. When they reattached the hand, it was so damaged that his arm was now two inches shorter. With his right hand, he blocked all of Rato's strikes. He needed to humiliate him, rather than just kill him. Prove that this head was actually made of the material he said it was, as well as prove that Rato was incapable. The boy swung wildly compared to the longer serving priests, his strikes odd. He was used to using his oversized armor.

Rato moved forward, his strikes containing many of the tricks he had used in the past. But Haego knew his style, as he learned it himself as an initiate. All he did was use the skull, slamming around his left arm and the poor guard that Rato was putting up, slamming the hard metal into Rato's chin. "Feel the truth! I strike you with my supposed Heresy!" He didn't get the chance to strike again, as Rato rolled to the right. The uppercut came, Haego bending back uncomfortably to avoid it. His lower eyes went cross eyed, the tip of Rato's knife inches away. His upper eyes watched Rato, though. As the boy shifted his grip, Haego met the knife with the skull. The knife was good, and the wet surface showed that the poison on it would certainly end his life. The skull and knife got stuck together, the blade buried in the open mouth of the skull. He grinned, deciding to use that to his advantage.

Haego swung his arms hard, his Kavka severing Rato's knife while the skull held it in place. Rato fell back, disarmed and eyes shifting wildly. "Hah! Young pup, do not declare blasphemy unless you know for certain the claim is true. Otherwise, the Gods would not have deserted you." Haego walked away from the idiot, staring into his upper eyes without any worry. Of course, when Rato charged him again with a hidden weapon, Haego was ready. The boy had a horrible habit of taking offence poorly. Haego rolled forward, taking one of the staves from the temple guards. Then, he administered the beatdown of Rato's life, leaving him with a clearly broken leg on the stairs leading back up to the altar. His screams echoed through the chamber, and only silence greeted him. By leaving the boy still alive, no one could challenge him until he was unconscious or dead. Rato was too stubborn to die, but he also couldn't get up when his leg had bones sticking through the skin.

He walked back up to his armor, and placed his robes back on. The armor he stepped back into and clicked back into place, the only sound other that Rato trying and failing to get up the stairs. When he stepped back up to the bench, he held the complete attention of the crowd. "The soul of Batar has finally been reborn, to complete the task he left unfinished. Jeroth, of the house Drogk, shall be no more. He is Batar, Hegemon without equal! As the Hegemon, he will command us all, and we are expected to follow. More importantly, He is the reincarnated Batar. His soul has the authority to change any aspect of our society and culture that he sees fit. The SIU has confirmed to me that his soul matches existing records."

"Challenges to Jeroth once he becomes Hegemon will have to wait until he has finished his divine mission. We do not want to wait thousands of years again for our religion to be restored." Haego saw Rato finally make it to the top of the stairs. He marched over in his armor, and placed his boot over the exposed bone sticking out of his thigh. "But make no mistake. The Karn are one. We always shall be. Most importantly, weakness shall not be tolerated." He let the room hear the whining of his mass driver turning on, Rato's cries barely heard over it, before he brought the boot down hard, causing blood to spray out from the wound. Then, he fired the driver, watching as Rato cried at a pitch reserved for most females as his leg was destroyed from genitals to knees. "The weak shall be culled as always. The Karn will be held to its exceedingly high standard." Rato's blood spurted out across the steps, as his life burnt out on the stairs of the Fane.

After watching Rato's brutal death, no one wanted to challenge him. Or at least, no one dared. Rato was still bleeding out, his chokes on the stairs punctuating his words. "We shall now begin the ritual of rebirth. Please prepare yourselves for the ritual by removing head coverings, helmets, and shoes." Many had left their shoes by the door, as this was holy ground. Priests were the only ones who were able to cover their feet here. The poor initiates would be scrubbing for days after this. It would be good for them, to do so.

The ritual went well, and only one assassin tried anything. The temple guard were surprisingly effective, removing the running male before he got within fifty feet. Others may have tried, but the guard were out in force, along with the guards of House Drogk. The old guard of the Hegemon were guarding the outskirts of the temple, and couldn't be trusted perfectly. Jeroth himself received cries of approval from all those who were in attendance, as the audience was carefully selected. Only the priests could have been questionable.

Only the priests would have been able to challenge Jeroth. With Haego making a single declaration, the only way to challenge them now was to kill everyone at every level of government. That would be harder, and wouldn't be Haego's problem. Or at least not his major problem. As he sat down, presenting his Kavka to Jeroth, now Batar reborn, he smiled.

The message of their religion might be false. He could deal with that truth now. But the new religion that He and Jeroth had pieced together had something the old one did not. Hope for a better future. "All Hail Batar, Hegemon above all others!"

"I am Batar." Their new Hegemon said. "I forsake all names and titles and take upon myself the blood and sweat of all of the Karn." They had chosen to change the oath, as well. "I take upon myself the responsibility to save our people, and I vow to create a new society, one that we will expand and thrive under." Batar was what they should have had a long time ago. "The changes shall be gradual, so as to allow our population to adjust to our new society. Do not be concerned with the loss of slaves and such worth. With the loss of slavery, we gain opportunity elsewhere. The details of our glorious change shall be kept among the Karn for now. Our borders shall be sealed for as long as necessary to transform our Empire into what it should have been from the start of our existence. The other Council races will wonder and guess at our intentions, but they will find us to be far different and grand when we emerge again."

Batar would replace the Gods. Rian would be forgotten within four or five generations, and Batar would replace her as the object of their religion. The keening within his heart was thick, at the thought of removing their deities from their place of honor. Yet Batar had told him that it was necessary to change the caste system. The faces in the crowd yelled and saluted, but make no mistake, these would be the most difficult to work with, and the Marej were the descendants of the same priests who murdered Batar in the first place.

He would have to thank the Pope later for his inspired idea to make Batar a recurring figure. Ah, yes, his Christ claimed pacifism but when it really got down to it, Christ was as stubborn as anyone else. Humans were uncanny, that was for sure. He kept a chuckle to himself as he considered some of the other changes that Batar would make. He ignored the speech, having helped him write it. Expand the Empire, secure power for the Marej, spit in the eyes of their enemies, stop slavery and trading with those that captured them, and finally, end the reliance on the old caste system.

Glorious day. He clapped with everyone else, as the sun rose on a new Hegemon and a new Empire.

* * *

Parking Spot B-22, Ilos

Jack sat at his desk, not actually doing anything but hiding. He didn't want to look at anyone right now. Not after that dreadful conversation. His daughters were in a happier place without him. His part in their childhood was over. They would get the parenting and lessons they needed to from the Alliance and Benezia. He wasn't the parent they needed or wanted. Julia made that abundantly clear. She didn't trust him anymore, and he hadn't been able to secure her trust for years. Miranda trusted him more naturally, but that may have been because he had isolated her from peers and loved ones.

A pipe dream. Really, all that he needed to do was give them the childhood that taught them how to be hardened and tough. They would need it, to be the hero to stop the Reapers. Miranda as a backup plan, of course. But thankfully Julia was dangerous and people knew it. If he removed her from the Alliance at this juncture, she would never be what Shepard was to his memories. Odd, that he felt admiration for both of them. He just hoped that everyone else would, as well.

Hannah wouldn't understand what he had seen, or why this reality just didn't apply the normal rules. Hell, this could all just be an extremely complicated simulation that the Reapers were running in his head. Perhaps not only his head, but in the heads of all of Humanity. Theoretically, they could all just be inside of a Reaper, constantly repeating their struggle over and over until they broke.

It all seemed real, yet the reality of it was that the Reapers were still playing to win, while no one seemed to care. Shared dreaming or shared consciousness should show some other signs of resistance, or at least a level of subconscious knowledge. So far, he had seen nothing. He had shown the clip of the Reaper stealing the old Reaper corpse to a few people, and only those who had looked into the beacons had recognized them. Thankfully that process was being streamlined at this point, and Javik was becoming more patient with those that had to recover from the use of the dark beacons.

His Omni-tool beeped an alert at him, making him turn. Brooding time had come to an end. He sent it to his desk's haptic display and let the call through. It was Charles, sporting an ice pack on his right cheek. " _Sir, I just wanted to give you a status report."_

"Go ahead, Project lead." The Quarians and Protheans gave Charles a grudging level of respect.

" _Vigil is actually responding to the code strings I am sending now. Since we now have a primary node to work with, I can access the Prothean data links. My compiler and linker can send data to Vigil, now, without some trap blowing up in my face. I can't access the logical process query archives, nor can i access their faults, but that will come soon. Superiority has given me some codes that should work._ "

"Your team isn't finding anything odd or troubling?"

" _Vigil won't be replicating itself or becoming a supernetwork of Geth any time soon. Aasimov's three laws or some equivalent will keep him in check. Once I can get down to his command layer, then I can implement some real changes. Or rather, if I can get him to look at his own command layer, create the conditions he needs to evolve._ "

"A good choice. Your progress is sounding hopeful. Now all we need is the Alliance on board with our offer, and the Protheans to go along with the engineering requirements. I'll be leaving with Hannah to gather support for our cause and possibly recruit some new members." Jack noticed that medical adhesive was strapped to the edges of the icepack. "What happened to you?"

" _Director Shepard decided that she was going to slap you, and so when I walked through the medical bay doors, I got hit with a sledgehammer. Or her palm. Don't tell her I said this, but she hits like a gorilla._ " Jack smirked, chuckling a little bit. Then, he got a notification that motion sensors detected one person entering his ship. Cameras reported nothing. His bar reported the theft of a single bottle of wine, one of the best ones.

"Speak of the devil and she will appear. Looks like she is coming over early to meet with me. Odd, for her." Jack glanced back at the screen. "She will be here soon. Does that conclude your report?"

" _Well, sir."_ Charles looked away from the screen for a moment, looking a bit worried. " _I agree with her. I think you should get your kids back._ "

"Your opinion is noted. Goodbye, Charles." Jack ended the connection, feeling more than a little annoyed with him. Charles had no right to intrude into his personal life. No one did. Especially those in his employ. He stopped that line of thought, finding it too much like the messed up mentality he had inside of his memories. When he was Indoctrinated. He couldn't become that kind of jaded being again. That still meant that people weren't allowed to butt into his personal life, but he had to be nicer about how he dealt with them.

When his hallway cameras captured Hannah on video, he turned to the haptic interface. She was walking towards his room, looking very determined. Her sweatpants and sweatshirt looked like she was ready to just lounge somewhere, but the sound of her heels made everything different. Hannah didn't wear heels. She wore her catsuit almost all of the time, and he couldn't remember the last time he had seen her wearing heeled shoes. The clicks given off by her feet came closer and closer to his room, enough that he could hear it without his haptic interface sharing the camera view. He turned it off, and faced the door.

Her shoes were black, and made out of real leather. Tasteful, and rare. Faux leather was all the rage, and much more affordable than buying some signature Italian leather shoes. He was unsure of her intentions, now. The sweats and sweater concealed everything else quite effectively, though her hair was hanging loosely down. She gave him a wink, at which point he noticed that she was wearing makeup. Not normal, even if she wanted to impress. Then, she cloaked. He could still see her, of course, as her silhouette could clearly be seen with the brand of lights he had installed. Her heels made an indentation into his rug, and he was simply surprised by this.

Then she walked towards him, and her sweatpants were left behind on the floor, the cloaking field releasing them. They were one of those comfortable sportswear brands, that could automatically tighten to fit. The combination yoga pants and sweatpants were very popular among women. He could assume that the sweater was the same brand, as the material looked the same. That ended up thrown over his coat rack, sitting next to the desk. She walked slowly around the desk, coming around behind him.

He started to turn around, but her hands on his shoulders stopped him. "Ah, ah, ah. No looking until I say so."

"I very much hope this isn't you wanted to tease me again." He remarked, feeling her leaning into his back. She must have been wearing quite a bit of support for her boobs to press into his back so much. Either that or a boob job, but he had noticed earlier that she was the same size as she always had been.

Her hands decloaked, the field disappearing like a zipper rolling across her limbs. They were wrapped around his shoulders, and one of them was on his desk. She had nothing covering her arms, and so there was no clue to her current attire. The hand on the desk dropped a small laminated object, one that he recognized. "Where did you find one?"

"Donovan Hock apparently found one of the remaining outfits. He didn't report it, of course, but it's net worth was somewhere in the billion range. So I took it."

He tried to turn around, but she held him fast. "You know, the entire point of this was so that I could see it. The last one you wore I didn't get to see in its entirety."

"Well," Hannah said, "Javik told me that we were both right. So, this is my way of saying that I am meeting my end of the bargain."

"Then you know that I'll see it eventually." He said, considering pulling on her arm to pull her over his desk. But she was also the best close quarters combatant on Ilos. Doing that might get him thrown.

"Turn your head and I'll cloak." She warned, before he even got a few inches away. "Not to sound bad or anything, but my ass is bony. No one wants to see that." That just sounded like an excuse.

"Tell me how you expect this to work, then." Jack said, amused. It had been a long time since he had been with anyone. Hiding from the Alliance meant that his regular clientele didn't meet with him. "Because at this point, I am sensing some inner conflict."

Her hands shook a little bit. "Um, yes."

"You've never done this before, have you?" Her silence after ten seconds was answer enough. "Didn't you experiment when you were a teenager?"

"My parents were deeply religious. You know, the actual church attending kind. So I had a curfew, and chaperones to any event. It was not very pleasant." She hugged his back a little closer, the sound of satin rubbing against his suit jacket giving away the reason as to her pressing cleavage. "Then, after the attack on Mars, my insides were so damaged that any sexual activity would have reopened the wounds. I just didn't get the chance." She was whispering, obviously afraid.

"So, you're a virgin." Jack remarked. "Quite the surprise, but thankfully, you've chosen a very skilled operator to fix your problem." He gently pulled on her left arm, until she took a step forward with her left foot. Then, he gave her a sharp pull, twisting his chair to the left. She fell right into his lap, his outstretched right arm catching her and pulling her into a near sitting position. With her heels resting on the floor, and her arms holding onto the armrests of his chair, he saw her in full. The signature bunny suit was a matte black, the satin shiny and preserved. She fit into it well enough, but only her muscled abs fit perfectly. The nylon made her legs look amazing, and the lack of fat on her legs made them go on forever.

Her boobs filled it out, but didn't look like they were barely fitting like a bunny girl was supposed to. That military lifestyle, it kept everything so lean. Though she was sort of correct, her ass didn't do the suit justice. It was a tad bit bony. The bunny tail gave him some support, thankfully. Her face was all red, and the blush went from her hair to her collar, and her shivers could be felt with her so perfectly in his lap. That may have also been due to him slowly drawing the zipper down in the back. "Don't worry. I'll take care of you." To convince her, he pulled her closer with his right arm and brought her face in towards his. She didn't resist or pull away, and so he decided to show her what this whole business was all about.

Oh, he did. Most of Jack's workout routine was to keep him in shape enough for his lovers. Not for any great sporting events, but for the very sexy events that created real memories. Hannah lay on one side of his bed, her suit carefully hanging from the end of the bed and everything else laid out next to it. He lit a cigarette, taking in a deep breath. He felt much better, his mind more clear, and his body felt at peace.

"Pilot," He said into his Omni-tool. "Set course navigation for Thessia. Permits will follow within the next eight hours." He could think clearly again. His defeatist attitude was clearly a result of his habit of having sex falling by the wayside. Glancing over at Hannah, he realized that she now represented another layer of support for his sanity. A very curvaceous layer. When he picked up Miranda, he would have to make sure that she didn't freak out over her father possibly committing to a long term coupling.

"You're going after Miranda?" Hannah asked, rolling over. She was smiling, not too concerned with the effort of rolling over. "I thought you said you weren't a good parent."

"Consider my viewpoint updated. Julia just got a presidential pardon, so it would be in bad taste to try to save her at this juncture. Miranda, however, will be happy to finish her time with Benezia. Let's hope she learned enough to prepare her for the next stage of biotics. Javik will be teaching her some of the lost Prothean arts. Miranda is the best that Humanity can produce, let alone field, in terms of biotics. Others will follow, but she is what we have. Not to mention a bit of parental support would do her well."

Hannah smirked. "Kasumi and Charles owe me money, now."

"You've learned well. Profit whenever you can." Jack saw her grab one of his cigarettes and light it. "So, am I renaming the ship?"

"I finally looked up what Acheron meant. I like that much better than  _Handsome Jack_ , to be honest. The river to the underworld fits you much better." Hannah remarked, not even coughing as she smoked. She must have picked up the habit after he had left Alliance space.

"Handsome Jack makes my ego feel all fuzzy and bright, though." Jack replied. "We can create false tags just for when we park at the Citadel next." He shrugged. "Not like that will prevent our arrest anyways."

* * *

Arcturus Station, June 2182

Thirty four crew members entered into Arcturus' most secure hangar bay, suffering through complete decontamination protocols. This included ten combat personnel, ten bridge crew, and fourteen engineers. The combat personnel were all in Alliance armor, though the models of armor differed from person to person. Of the ten in armor, five of them wore the standard Alliance gear. They hadn't bought any of their own armor yet. The remaining five all stood a little bit apart from the others.

David Anderson was in front of the entire crew, and he looked memorable. Thick armor protected him, and his Salarian-made sniper rifle rested with the handle sticking up over one shoulder. He walked in front of all of the standing men and women, and the small group of Quarians that also were along one side. One of the Quarians was among the bridge crew. Odd, to see that.

"Combat Team Officers, sound off!"

"Battle Duty Officer, all personnel standing by!" A man with black hair said, looking like he was of mixed Eastern European descent.

"Lieutenant Jenkins!" The man stood at attention. "As you are. As for the rest of you, Why does the Alliance Office of Intelligence have so many agents on my boat?" Jenkins had a long red streak going down the right side of his armor. It looked a little sloppy, but then again, custom paint jobs were not illegal. The armories just refused to do them for you.

"Intelligence Officer reporting, Sir!" A redhead of decent height said. "Agent Constantine, reporting." The agent was not wearing armor, and was instead in the catsuits that all of the Infiltrators wore. A light coat preserved any modesty and whatever weapons or gear she had stowed. She had her hair in a tight bun, and held herself in a disciplined fashion, unlike many of the Intelligence Office.

"I haven't seen you in years. Your file is empty, Constantine. Mind telling me why?"

"Classified. Need to know basis, Sir. I was assigned to keep technology secure." Julia Constantine Harper hadn't changed a bit. Completely professional in public, he wouldn't get anything out of her until they were in private and she had debugged the room.

"Hmph. Well, at least they sent me someone I can trust. At ease, Agent." Anderson moved down the line. "I didn't order an armored vehicle Specialist."

"Lieutenant Halmadad, Sir. I was just told to show up." Halmadad was a beast. He looked like he could lift a ground car with those shoulders. "Combat Engineer, Sir! Just got back from Mars." Mars was one of the premier places to serve as a soldier in Alliance Space. The last line of defense around the Prothean Beacon. He had it easy, and his tanned face showed it. Though he was smiling like he had won a lottery.

"Bridge Officers, Sound off!"

"Lt. Moreau, Flight Officer, Sir!" Moreau looked to be on crutches, but Anderson had read his file. He needed that boy on the ship. He was one of the top rated pilots for eezo shifts and course calculations.

"Sargeant Kalin'ren vas Moreh, Communications and Armor specialist." The only Quarian not in the engineering crew said. His file had so little on it that Anderson had been worried. But command said that there wasn't a Human rated for the armor, and he was also a comms officer.

"Lt. Pressley, Sir." The oldest Naval officer he had seen was next, with a bald head and leathery skin. "Navigation Officer, proud to be here." That man's file went back to the First Contact War. He had experience with every form of technology the Alliance used, even pre-element zero technology.

"At ease. Engineering Officers, Sound off!"

"Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, all personnel accounted for!" Anderson had to grin at this one. The first Quarian to pass Officer's Candidacy School, this Tali girl had completely outdone all of her Human competition, and set new records even though she had less fingers. She had earned her place on this ship. Most of the other Quarians were those who had signed on as engineers while they were on their pilgrimage. She had committed to six years in the Alliance Navy. It was a new program that the Alliance was trying, allowing aliens to enter their armed forces.

"Damage Control Team Captain Corporal Yervf nar Rayya, reporting for duty, sir!" That had to be the shortest Quarian he had ever seen. Hopefully that would be helpful.

"At ease!" Anderson said. The hangar was empty other than them. "You are now assigned to the SSV Normandy. She is an experimental vessel, one that the Alliance has built with the aid of the Quarians. We will be the crew that takes this craft on its shakedown run. Ship VI, decloak the ship, please."

Everyone's eyes went upward, as the slim dark metal of the ship appeared, almost appearing out of no where. Like a zipper, the ship emerged from some sort of cloaking field and hung above them in the hangar bay like a bird of prey. A few of the Humans let out expletives and the Quarians joined in. A few had seen this before, and didn't react. Kalin'ren was one of them, as was Anderson. He had the rare treat of seeing Julia Constantine express real emotion, a look of wonder crossing her face.

The ship had a long thin body, with two prongs sticking out from the nose and providing another layer of armor around the bridge. The small wings that came off from the sides of the bridge had engines that could maneuver any direction, with circular constructs around each of the ports. With those, this ship could dodge anything. The secondary wings started near the back, made more like an Alliance standard ship. But those too, could pivot. The dark black paneling that covered every surface was capable of displaying any image of the opposite side of the craft, just like the stealth catsuit that Julia was wearing. It mimicked it, limiting sound and sight. The armor somehow contained all thermal expressions from the ship, making it invisible from sensors, visual sight, and ears. The STG would die a little bit inside if they knew the Alliance had this kind of technology.

"Oh keelah! It's engines have been running the whole time!"

"This is the first Quarian-Human prototype stealth vessel, the Normandy class. It's every function is restricted. You will be its first crew. As the best in your fields, I trust you to not judge it too harshly. The technology aboard this ship is the most advanced that we have, and you will treat every panel and piece of wiring like it costs more than your entire career. It is likely true." He saluted them. They saluted back. "Ship VI, please lower the ramp. All aboard, we have work to do!"

* * *

Author's Note

So, this is the end of the first arc, Fugue. Thanks for the ride so far, we are now in Mass Effect 1. It is coming a year earlier than scheduled, due to some of the advances that have been occurring. Timetables have shifted, and great things are yet to come.

Had to take some time to get this right, people. Writing this chapter covered a lot of bases, and I had to completely rewrite one of the areas. One scene was just not flowing and so it had to go. It'll be referenced in a flashback. I don't enjoy using flashbacks as a literary method. If I do choose to do one, it will be no longer than a couple paragraphs.

Also, sorry for the massive time skip, but it fits. The Batarians, Humans, and Quarians had their introduction, and the Turians, Salarians, and Asari will get theirs in this arc. I can write a good or bad Turian. They are pretty straightforward. Salarians and Volus are awkward mental states to think in, but they aren't bad either. The Asari I can think of like the Chinese Han and Qing dynasties. Long-looking, long-lived, and long suffering. Independent city states making up a planetary government, that just screams indecision at the lowest and highest levels. Imagine the different rules of the road when traveling cross country! Gah, its like driving through the Balkans. I don't recommend that, by the way. Much easier to fly than go through that complicated road network.

 


	41. Lucid: On the Edge of Paradise

Chapter 41

Arcturus System, June 2182

"This thing handles better than any of the simulations!" Anderson could hear the flight lieutenant yelling. He grinned, watching as they slowly emerged from the dock and left Arcturus Station without anyone but the single naval observer manning the dock controls knowing. This ship was quite secretive. He didn't even have enough clearance to know about the full functionality of the ship. He walked over to the bridge, a Quarian design where there was a small raised platform behind the pilot's seat where the communications and navigations operators had their seats. Sunken areas that dipped into the walls were for the other three members of the bridge crew. Secondary seats existed for others to come in and support them. Anderson decidedly hated the Quarian designed seats. There was only a thin layer of padding on the chair, and his butt would fall asleep if he sat in it for long.

So, he took to walking. He came up to Lt. Pressley, who was observing their planned route to the relay. "XO. I believe it is time for the ship to begin its first trials."

"Aye, sir. What did you have in mind?" Pressley wasn't phased.

"Simulate a loss of power to the gunnery station first, then a cascading loss of power that starts going towards the hangar. We are silent running, and so ship communications are disabled. If the damage control teams don't react in time, simulate a fire on the bridge." Anderson brought out a cigar for emphasis.

"Aye, sir. Executing in ten seconds." Pressley entered the commands, and Anderson watched as panic went across the faces of all of the bridge crew outside of their hearing range. Alerts flew across screens, and frantic yells for status reports and communications were heard everywhere. When the alert finally ended, the damage control teams had rushed up to the bridge to find Anderson tracking their time with an Omni-tool and holding a lit cigar.

"Four minutes. Disgraceful. Corporal Yervf, why were your teams late in reaching the source of the problem?"

"We've been on the ship for ten minutes, Sir."

"Run it again. Go back to the Engineering pit and prepare for further trials."

Yervf left looking a bit shocked. Pressley started queueing up further tests, looking amused. Kalin'ren, right beside him, muttered something about youth and inexperience. He was at least twenty years older than the other Quarians. He wasn't even part of the Alliance command structure, he was an officer on loan from the Quarian Migrant Fleet. "XO, I want them run so ragged that when we get to Elysium leave will be the furthest thing from their minds."

Pressly looked at the clock. It was almost fifteen hours to Elysium. "I'll start with boarding actions and move to evacuation procedures. Don't worry, Captain, I'll have these boys doing this in their sleep cycles if they don't get better."

The alerts and alarms did not stop or let up until they landed at Elysium, and there were a couple of injuries. Joker fractured a finger when they simulated their first evacuation from the cockpit, and one of the marines slammed a door on his squadmate. Lt Jenkins had him for lunch. The berating of that marine, Corporal Lang, could be heard everywhere in the ship. When the SSV Normandy ceased its silent running and landed at the orbital docks, Pressley was still running the ship through airborne contaminant drills. The shambling zombies that were his crew all lined up in the hangar bay, next to the mooring anchors for their vehicles.

"I hope that all of you enjoyed our first day of service on the Normandy. The experimental craft is not built like anything that we are used to, and we still have one of my favorite drills to simulate." Anderson grinned. Half the crew had coffee in hand, provided by Doctor Chakwas. She was the medical officer for the Normandy, and had some experience serving on Alliance cruisers that fought Turian Blackwatch and Batarian slavers. Though after their revolution there were a lot less of those. Not to mention everything that happened at Torfan.

"Captain, the results are within specifications. The last drill was within acceptable parameters." Pressley reported, his eyes a bit bloodshot but still standing tall and not holding coffee. "Orders?"

"We are not releasing you for leave. We have arrived at Elysium to pick up our combat drop vehicle, and take on spare equipment. We will get this all loaded, and then pick up a few other temporary crew members. The Council has decided that our ship merits their own observers." A few members of the crew, the Quarians especially, seemed uncomfortable at that. "Their orders are only to be followed with my approval. The technology on this craft is classified at the highest levels, and the Office of Intelligence strongly discourages any sharing of that knowledge."

Agent Constantine gave everyone a look, her blue eyes holding no mercy for anyone that sold Alliance military secrets. She had hardly spoken to anyone so far, simply remaining on the bridge and observing from one of the secondary stations. Anderson wasn't able to see her login credentials in the system, but he wasn't worried. He had been sent some of the best that they had. Another AOI agent would have just made him uncomfortable. Not to mention sending Julia was a gross allocation of resources.

You did not send a highly ranked Infiltrator on a stealth frigate. Not unless you planned on needing one to kill someone or something potent. She hadn't mentioned any targets to him, and nothing from command suggested that they were pulling off any kind of removal. But then again, command only let him know about orders when it suited them. The Normandy was a ghost, able to go anywhere and do anything. Deniable operations seemed likely, with it.

But assigning Julia here meant that the Normandy would be doing some sort of nasty business. Infiltrators ostensibly were called out to deal with threats to the Alliance. Or they dealt with traitors and seditious members of the military. It made him feel worried. His crew was supposed to be hand picked by the Alliance, and right now he felt like perhaps he was being slated for something worse.

His tired crew managed to load the MAKO tank and insertion vehicle, as well as the Javelin torpedoes, Ryker deep space mines, and countless drones. Those would be loaded wherever they had space to fit them on the small frigate, and they ended up running out of room before they could load all of the drones. Some of the laser-directional communications drones were left behind, for another batch of torpedoes. Another odd decision from command, but it just made that uncomfortable feeling all the more strange.

The worst were their temporary charges. One was a Doctor Reyes, from the British Museum. She was placed on their crew regarding their mission, the orders of which would only be unsealed once they had left port. The other charge was a Turian, one Nihlus Kryik. Nothing in his orders told him that the Council was sending a Spectre to observe things. The Alliance didn't know how many there were exactly, only that the Spectres were made up of the top three races, and there was less than two hundred of them. To send one of those was simply overkill, unless someone wasn't telling him something.

The Spectre took him aside immediately, requesting the use of the Communications Room. "You may request it, but Alliance Command has very strict rules for this ship. Communications are sent in disposable packets and bursts until this ship is publicly disclosed." Which was supposed to be never, if his orders were followed.

The Spectre nodded, and walked over to Kalin'ren vas Moreh. The Quarian sargeant scoffed at the Turian. "You may not use the Comms."

"I am a Council Spectre. I demand to know why I cannot use your comm systems."

"Classified. Take it up with an Admiral."

"Which Admiral, Quarian?" The epithet was said with a slight hiss. "I have every contact in Hierarchy Space willing to take my call!"

"Admiral Daro'xen vas Moreh is the approval necessary for a Council Spectre to use Quarian developed equipment. Our technology and its protocols are classified to those outside the Alliance Command Structure." The Quarian didn't seem intimidated or flustered by Nihlus. "Until you can get her explicit approval, You can't touch  _bosh_  on this ship." Kalin'ren just matched the Turian's glare.

"Unlock the comm array, we are anchored at a port!"

"This comm array doesn't operate under the same principles that your normal arrays do. To interface with it you need to have specific software installed onto your Omni-tool that allows you access. I can't simply give that to you. I also can't explain how it works. Classified." Kalin'ren just shrugged at the angry Turian. "You can call someone when you disembark."

The Spectre went back to Anderson, looking frustrated. "We can't be out of contact with the Citadel. I need to uplink with them immediately."

"This ship operates silently. Messages will be dropped by disposable drone. To do otherwise would go against orders. The Council does not command this ship."

He could swear that the Turian muttered something about time and future tense, his Omni-tool didn't pick it up completely. "I would like to meet with a few members of your crew, along with yourself. You and your crew were brought together because I asked specifically for the Alliance to bring all of your together."

"What?" Anderson grunted. "You wanted the Alliance to bring this combat team together?" A Spectre wouldn't be interested in anything else. He didn't know about the comm array and its specific software requirements. He didn't care for the Quarians, and the engineering secrets of the ship was something he was ignorant of. He was only interested in the combat team. Now his promotion and placement in command of this vessel seemed even more odd. All of it stank of someone up high. This was the first joint Quarian-Human designed ship, and a lot of people from the Council's side of things hoped for the entire venture to fail.

He had been given strict orders by Admiral Hackett that this venture was to succeed, and that if at all possible he was to make sure that the crew survived and the ship's secrets were not uncovered, even if they failed mission objectives. The Turian made him uncomfortable, with that in mind. It spoke of Admiral Hackett not being directly overseeing the Normandy. The ship wasn't even assigned to a fleet until it finished its first run.

"I didn't  _want_  this combat team. I  _needed_  it. Your Alliance was only too happy to provide us all the opportunity. I will explain more at the meeting." Nihlus looked at his Omni-tool, and sent out a small message. "I will see you in ten minutes."

Anderson felt even more ill at the thought of Nihlus possibly taking control of the Normandy or her mission. He decided to open his command packet immediately, rather than it's intended time later.

* * *

Julia didn't like the way this Turian seemed to look out over the crew. She had tailed him, cloaked, to make sure that he wasn't approaching any of the sensitive materials that were just simply laying around while the crew loaded the MAKO and the other goods. He didn't touch any of the terminals, and he avoided the haptic interfaces. That was good of him to do so, as she was keeping a close eye on him. Her orders were clear. Protect the secrets that this ship held at any cost. It wasn't the first time she would have to kill someone over the Alliance's dirty secrets.

This ship definitely held some. No one understood how its armor worked or was even made. The Quarians installed the armor, the cloaking system, and the communication array. The weapons were something from the Alliance, something that she had only heard described as the Hades Cannon. She didn't know what it was, but the gunnery officer was under constant surveillance as well, from a planted agent. The Hades wasn't even supposed to be fired unless approved by Admiral Hackett. Thankfully, the Turian didn't walk over by the gunnery controls. He just meandered to the armory, pulling out four chairs and setting them down in a circle.

Anderson and Jenkins, both trustworthy, emerged from the elevator. Lt. Halmabad, one of her problem cases, also walked over. The man was of mixed Israeli and Syrian descent, and he practiced Islam. Any of those practitioners that joined the Alliance were put under low level watch. After the fall of Italy in the 2050's, that religion just became somewhat awkward to follow. Halmabad had been selected for this mission for some reason, though. He was one of the highest rated Combat Engineers that the Alliance had, and his record showed that he had been stationed on Mars. Officially, he had been placed where he could do major harm to the Alliance if he wanted to. Instead, he improved security and developed a new form of tank warfare, testing the MAKO tank and showing what it was capable of. She herself was rated to drive Grizzly's but not the MAKO. It was meant to be a circling predator, able to go wherever it wanted and dominate any battle it entered.

They all sat down at the circle of chairs. The Spectre also sat, though he kept looking at the empty chair with some form of expectation. "Agent Constantine, please report to the meeting in the armory," the voice of the pilot, Moreau, said. Ah, the empty chair was for her. Well, no sense in letting them know she was observing them. She carefully walked over to the elevator, calling it down to their level. When the doors opened, she decloaked and walked like she had just used the elevator.

She could feel eyes on her. The leers from the marines she was used to. The catsuits left little to the imagination. They were most efficient that way. The men got the worst end of that deal. Male infiltrators often got more looks than the female ones. For good reason, too. She was used to the looks. Now that she wasn't wearing her jacket from the Office of Intelligence, she could cloak nearly indefinitely. Though the odd tingle built up if she stayed cloaked for a few hours. Not like a biotic tingle, but a weird tingle like your limbs were about to fall asleep.

The rest of the looks she wasn't used to. Anderson and the Spectre both were giving her critical looks. She didn't know why. Anderson had wanted to talk to her from the moment they got onboard, but they had both had their duties. She met their glances with an ice cold stare. This didn't phase either of them. Anderson knew her. Knew her too well. This Spectre had probably fought Alliance Infiltrators before. Or he just wasn't worried. She sat down, crossing her left leg over the right and watching as Jenkins and Halmabad followed the motion with their eyes.

Anderson didn't, and the Spectre didn't even look directly at her at the time. "Thank you all for coming. I wasn't told what ship we would be given for our purposes, only that I would receive the best individuals in four categories. I only asked specifically for two of you, and the others were the result of your superior officers hand picking you."

"Hand picking us for what?" Anderson asked, not adding a sir. Good, he wasn't pandering.

"Every race on the Citadel is evaluated for their effectiveness. At one point, during this evaluation, the race is evaluated for Spectre training. The Elcor, Hanar, and Volus are being evaluated for the same at this time, with Spectres going to their best people and investigating and evaluating them. You are the Humans selected by the Alliance that they feel are capable of surviving as a Spectre."

"We tried to get a Spectre before, though."

"No one could have guessed what happened to them. It was regrettable, but this time The Council has decided to train a pool of candidates rather than a single one. So, all of you are considered to be my candidates. The Council wants to see what you're capable of. I asked for the best Soldier of command rank, as well as the man who survived the raid on Helios." Everyone looked at Jenkins. He didn't react well, grimacing about the memories. Helios has been a giant problem from its founding as a colony. Founded in the same system as a colony of the Reds, it was given a token Alliance presence to defend it. When mining rights in system were in dispute, the Reds had pirates come in to raid Helios. Helios was nearly leveled, and the 'pirates', all of them actually Reds, landed to loot the place.

Jenkins was the last able bodied soldier on the colony, and he released the Thresher Maws that they had been studying, and watched as the Reds had to retreat to the very colony they had been trying to destroy. He engaged them alone or nearly so for four days, until Alliance reinforcements showed up. Helios was abandoned after that, and the Reds settled it just so that they couldn't come back. It had been Jenkin's first deployment. His loyalty to the Alliance was not in question after that. Ever since, he had served with distinction.

"Why are we included, then?" Halmabad asked.

"I also asked for the Alliance to send me one of their Intelligence agents and one other member that seemed appropriate." The Turian shrugged, mandibles parting slightly. In her studies of other races, she knew that this meant that he was trying to be as open and honest as possible. "Whatever the Council told them, they seem to be taking this seriously."

"You could have gotten a lot more of the higher ranked members of the military and special forces, though." Jenkins said. "Anderson is the only one of command rank, here."

"We groom Spectres to be loyal to the Council and its paramount laws as much as we do their own member races' governments. It was actually the fact that you don't have a command rank that made me want you all more." Nihlus noted. "Choosing a good Spectre is difficult. You must be a good example of your race, low enough rank that you can still learn new things, while high enough rank to command troops. By the time I finish training with you, you will have all the skills necessary for the command structure of the Spectres and the Council. There are some rules that are more malleable than others when it comes to enforcing Council Law, and still more that are only known by Spectres and the Council.

"So, you requested this group to train us as Spectres?"

"Yes." Nihlus said. "I believed that you were ready. Few of the other Spectres think so, after our first attempt in training one."

"Well, let's hope you don't start another Torfan." Halmabad muttered. The room got quiet, the marines and engineers in the room all going sullen. That word echoed whenever anyone said it, and it was one of the few things that made Julia scowl.  _Those_  were memories that she didn't like touching. Not without a bottle of something strong. She leveled her glare at Lt. Halmabad. He flinched, noticing that not only Julia but also Anderson glaring.

"It is not my intention. We are going to go after Council marked targets in the Traverse and other places for a few months, capturing or killing them depending on the need. We will be working together, I as your advisor and Anderson as your commanding officer. I assume that we will be working together for a period of six to eight months. After that, I will be taking you to the Friess Station, where the trials will begin."

"Isn't that the Asari high secure prison?" Julia asked, knowing only a few things about it. The Alliance didn't have any criminals bad enough to go there. Except for perhaps her father. A couple of years ago, some Salarian doctor had been caught making some form of illegal cold for Humans, selling the cure as a profit. When they brought him in, his files included data on every major sickness and plague in recent history, and included detailed records on the deployment of specific plagues into Batarian space. Dr. Saleon, he claimed his name was, released them on orders of Jack Harper. But no one had seen him in years. He had been entirely too quiet, but some things happened out in the Traverse and the Terminus that might be him.

Saleon disappeared and was taken into Spectre custody. The Batarians oddly didn't riot about the plague. But then again they had been odd for the last decade. Completely peaceful Batarians had moved into the Citadel. Some Turians that had once been slaves identified more with the Batarians than they did their own race, and called themselves Karnists. But for once in history, Batarians were being extroverts. It was making everyone panic a little bit. Nice Batarians moving into Citadel areas and being outwardly friendly? It was just throwing people off. Julia hadn't met too many yet, but a lot of them seemed happy. Well, unless you count the ones at Torfan.

"Friess Station has some of the galaxy's worst, yes. But it is also where we track and maintain the overwatch network that monitors the rest of the targets. There you will go through your final evaluations and if you pass there, then you will be confirmed as a Spectre. That's how this process will go for all of the new candidates. The others are only taking one or possibly two candidates. I asked for four."

"I'm not sure if I should thank you yet." Anderson said. "But if it will help the Alliance, we are going to support you as best we can." He grinned. "My sealed orders stated that you had our first mission, and that we would go off of your information."

Nihlus blinked. "Well, I have some of the information. But I can't connect to the Citadel communications network onboard. All of my signals get scrambled."

"That goes for everyone." Anderson said. "We can't risk the Normandy being revealed too early. She's a prototype vessel, one we built with the Quarians."

"I was able to infer that, yes. Your comm officer doesn't seem to be the sort to allow much of anything."

"He isn't supposed to." Julia noted. "Otherwise he doesn't get anything out of this. He's on loan from the Migrant Fleet." She nodded to Anderson. "He is under observation."

"You Alliance types have issues with proper hierarchy, I believe. But perhaps that is for the best. We need a little bit of shaking up right now." Everyone waited for him to expand on this. "The Spectres have been stagnant lately. Hardly anyone chosen, their peacekeeping duties keeping them busy, yet it feels like more and more we are giving away our duties to other groups. The Turian military now operates our listening posts. The Asari state of Water-Flowers-Signing-to-Scarlet-Stars has taken over our exploration and scouting duties. Small changes like this are slowly but surely marginalizing our usefulness and effectiveness. More and more we are depending on other groups for our basic information and supplies. Some of us believe that the Council doesn't like some of the Spectre policies. They want us more controlled. So, I, as well as others, came up with the grand idea to include some of the younger races. That way they will have a say in the matter and want more control."

"So, not only does this help the Alliance, but it keeps the Spectres strong?"

"Yes. I'm explaining all of this to you now, as you might find it offensive if you found out later. Our first mission is a simple one. We go to one of the Prothean dig sites in Alliance Space and pick up a shipment of artifacts bound for the Citadel. We will practice some maneuvers and squad functions there. Spectres often work in teams, to take down targets, though it is not unheard of to send single members down to do jobs."

"Well, that sounds pretty cool. Human Spectre. Is that a title that goes before or after my name?" Jenkins asked. "Because it's already pretty long in my opinion."

"Spectre is your job, and doesn't come with a title. You carry your military rank as your only title, and serve as a Spectre until you are too injured or incapable of continuing. We don't have the best survival rate, and we don't have a pension. That is covered by your governments."

"In that case, I hope I die fighting." Halmabad was saying. "Pension isn't something my local government pays for."

"Don't wish for that. I am not training soldiers. I train Spectres." Nihlus intoned, holding his hand up. "I'm not the best kind of Turian, I know full well that I won't be completely justified in pay or time off for what I do. But when I bring in a warlord or a slaver, or even a drug dealer operating out of some no name colony, I feel a little better about everything I do. My goal is to just take what you already know and turn it into something better. Then, I'll teach you methodology and Citadel Law as we go forward. I want to see if you have the mentality before I describe the job, if that makes sense."

"Sounds good." She noticed the damage control team running past, the wall alert showing a fire in the comms room. "Looks like Pressley decided that he didn't want to wait any longer." Anderson stated. "Welcome aboard, Nihlus. We look forward to working with you. We need to get to our stations and get this ship underway. Dismissed."

Halmabad and Jenkins moved towards their teams, Halmabad to the MAKO and Jenkins to the armory bench. Julia moved to get up, ready to go upstairs and check on the pilot. But she felt the Turian looking at her again. "What do you want now, Nihlus?" She asked.

"I read your file. The Alliance let me read it for a moment, before I left that base." He said. He waited until Anderson had gotten onboard the elevator before saying this. "I need you to answer a couple of questions for me."

"I can answer them, so long as it doesn't involve Alliance secrets." She could hide behind those. Or perhaps he was asking about her childhood. Most of the people who read her file asked about that.

"I wanted to know about your background. Trained by Asari, trained by Krogan, and you have experience in corporate law. I was surprised they sent me you, of all the people they could send."

"So, you aren't just interested in my father or with my more recent accomplishments."

"No, no. I've met your sister." Julia perked up. "She told me enough about your family that I don't need to go any further."

"Where did you meet Miranda?" They messaged each other still. Always through non-standard methods and as encrypted as they could make it. It was months or weeks between messages, but they were still in contact with each other.

"On the Citadel, a few years ago. I was investigating the company she was set on buying out. She was quite the interesting speaker."

"My sister and I rarely get to see each other." Julia said. "We have a lot in between us that keeps us apart." Government, upbringing, and distance. But mostly it was because things got awkward fast when they spent time together. Things needed to be said, but those same things were on subjects that both sisters had decided to not talk about for the sake of their relationship.

"I was not aware that she had a sister." Nihlus said. "Your connection is not easily found. Your file listed quite a few accomplishments, ones that would normally merit a command rank."

"I am a Lt. Commander, according to the Naval ranking system that you recognize." Julia said. "But I am only listed as an Agent when onboard this ship for secrecy purposes. That way we don't have to worry about where we fit in the command structure and we can just do our jobs."

"Your family makes your success not as well recognized." Nihlus said. "My father was a Blackwatch Turian. Not recognized by the Hierarchy and my citizenship was forfeit unless I join the military for  _perpetua_. The longest period of time on a contract that a Turian can commit to. Twelve years of service. I was determined to prove my father's record wrong. When I saw your file, I saw the same determination." Nihlus made a slight purring noise. "Don't prove me wrong."

Julia didn't like that at all. " _Attention crew, ship is now silent running. We are making for the relay and are en route to Eden Prime. Drills shall resume in six hours. Make the most of it."_ Anderson's voice came over the comm. The Quarians all rushed back into the engine room, setting up hammocks and slipping into them. Sleeper pods were not meant for them, and those were hot bunk pods anyways. Some of the crew would be sleeping at their stations, and Julia had one of the tiny Officer rooms on the second level of the ship. No more than a bunk bed for her and Pressley, and a small foot locker. But it was enough. She didn't have much here, most of her things she kept elsewhere. She didn't need much in the way of clothing. She just needed her tools to take care of her gear and her weapons.

She did a final check over the comm systems and the flight lieutenant's haptic display. Both were acceptable, though Lt Moreau seemed to have a few personal files that did not match Alliance standards. No worse than what she found on most marine's Omni-tools, but for him to store it on ship-board computers was unacceptable. A small piece of malware was queued to install into the file folders and corrupt the data over the next week. She didn't even have to use her special cocktail of viruses.

* * *

Eden Prime, 18 hours later

Eden Prime was a verdant jewel for Humanity. It was one of the only places that had a garden world and matching atmospheric density to Earth. So naturally it was a gigantic food producer for the Alliance. Elysium was also a garden world, but it lacked the density of atmosphere to support trees so far. Few places could, and there was one planet in Alliance space that accidentally spawned super fauna as a result of someone jumping the gun during the terraforming process.

Nihlus  _liked_  them. They fought like vermin, using anything they had to to win. They scared the Council, they scared the Batarians, and they scared the Salarians. He liked that. They kept some of their scientific discoveries to themselves, unlike the Turians. All of their research firms had been bought and co-opted by the Volus and the Asari. Everything they researched came from them instead of the Turians. Most of the Hierarchy was alright with that. They believed their job to be simply police work and keeping the peace. That was what their race was supposed to do, and nothing could be more important. Being self-sufficient was not something they worried about.

He wasn't a very good Turian, from their perspective. They sent him into the Spectres because he proved he could take everything they threw at him. But when he was given the mission to evaluate the Humans for any Spectres, he had been chosen in front of dozens of more experienced agents. It was definitely meant to demean him. One of the Asari had tried to work with the Humans last time, and she had been sent to a desk for a decade since. All of the other evaluators were young, and had some experience.

Except for Nihlus. He had experience on the truly terrible missions. Either they were so easy that a normal agent could do it, or they were suicidal and he got false information. That happened every so often, and usually just bad intel or someone not communicating the problem. His luck was usually the latter.

Still, he had hopes for this initiative to get more Spectres from the other races. The older Spectres all reminisced of the time that they had enough authority to make diplomatic deals for the Council. That as well as being able to command fleet elements of any of the races, and not just their own. Over the last century, the Council had weakened the Spectres, and only the older Asari ones still talked about it. Everyone else considered it business as usual. They were in peacetime, and with the Batarians ending their slavery practices, the Attican Traverse was safe for the first time in three centuries. It made sense to scale down the Spectre program. The Terminus Systems were still a wide expanse, but at this rate the Asari were thinking about expanding into the area. Their section of space bordered the Terminus, and they had been making noise about taking more territory. Perhaps they already had and were just giving it credence.

The Turians were so pinned inside of Council Space that they had little to no options for expansion. They had been exploring towards the Traverse in the hopes of finding some sort of colony world for the coming population boom. Unfortunately, Nihlus' generation was looking at little to no options for owning land, and the Blackwatch colonies out in the Traverse and Terminus were looking more and more profitable by the day. He tried to keep his background there hidden from the other Turian Spectres.

" _SSV Normandy, transitioning through relay, now._ " The pilot stated, and Nihlus hardly noticed the shift. He wasn't allowed up on the bridge. Any time he left his small room that was given to him, he noticed that someone followed him. The moments where no one was following him he suspected that Agent Constantine was observing him. He never found her when he wanted to, while the others he was evaluating he could find any time. In the day he had been onboard, any time he had approached a terminal or screen, she had appeared to tell him not to touch it. So, that was the most convenient way to get her attention.

Nihlus was no great hacker. He wasn't going to try anything. But he needed to get to know these Humans. He needed to know if they had the right mentality to be a Spectre. He walked to the hangar bay, finding Jenkins and his marines engaging in some sort of game. They had laid out some rags to mark the edges of an area for sports, and two hoops had been hung from either side of the hangar bay, the solid bumping of the orange ball they were using getting his attention.

"What is this?" He asked no one in particular. Six of the marines were out on the court, and two were sitting at the armory bench.

"Basketball." Halmabad said. "Popular in some places of Earth. My specific branch of Humanity are not known for their ability to leap or jump, and we don't much enjoy this sport."

"It looks haphazard." He remarked. Turian sports involving balls all involved riding upon the old mounts and trying your best to hold a ball or trophy for as long as possible before being unseated. That made sense. Here it seemed as though the ball was just an excuse to get hit or attacked by the other players.

"It's not my thing, I shall admit. I don't much care for sports in the first place." Halmabad remarked. "I study engineering with my time."

"Did you see that? Huh?" Jenkins yelled from the court, having put the ball through a circle in the hoop. "Schooled all of you!"

"Yeah, yeah, Martha. Only your chronic lack of height gave you an advantage there." One of the other marines said. Nihlus did not understand why they were using that name.

"Martha?" He asked.

"Hey, it's part of my name, don't hate!" Jenkins said. "My mom was a nurse working at Shangxi when my dad showed up. His name was Zaeed Massani, apparently some mercenary bigshot. Some bastard had blown up a ship full of Eezo and my dad had been near it. He had somehow survived the explosion, and made it to her hospital. Nine months later they had me. My dad wasn't really going to last much longer, so he named me. Leeroy Martha," Chortling laughter erupted from the rest of the marines. He just took the ball and put it through the hoop right in front of them. The laughing slowed. "Massani Jenkins. Martha is the name of my grandma. I'll keep it proudly."

"Your dad actually named you Leeroy?"

"Oh yeah. It's why I became a marine. First one in, last one out. Fits the name."

"Do you have any effects from the Element Zero?" Nihlus asked.

"I dunno." Jenkins said. "If so I haven't spent enough time in a hospital to be studied." He shrugged. "After Helios, I didn't really like spending any time in hospitals."

"I'm surprised you aren't a biotic." Halmabad said. "You could have been like that Alenko guy. Superstar and a member of the military."

"Yeah, not my style. I kick ass and take names, but not really meant for the cameras. That guy can take his million dollar haircut and go yap at some other news feed than ANN." With that, the game started back up again.

"To most Turians, to carry the name of their grandmother would be very honourable."

"To us it's a little insulting to have a gender identifier that doesn't match. Jenkins has a couple of sisters, I've ehard him mention them, so he doesn't care too much about the name. We Humans enjoy a good ribbing and joking around at someone's expense. Next week it might be me." Halmabad shrugged. "How do Turians handle humor?"

"Unfortunately, most Turians keep their humor directed at other species. Other branches of our military, but never one's branch or any member of your squad. It is considered bad form, and takes away from the spirit of the unit. So to most Turians this would be shameful. A good thing I am not like most Turians."

" _All combat officers, to the comm room. Spectre Kryik to the comm room._ " A female from the bridge crew reported. Sometimes he had to remind himself that they weren't Asari. He got up, Halmabad and Jenkins also getting up. Jenkins grabbed a towel from the side of the court, and his jacket.

"I still won, can't stop the meanest and the greatest!" Jenkins yelled back to the other marines as he loaded up into the elevator with them. "Woo! I feel great!"

"We're coming to Eden Prime. Mind telling me about the place?" Nihlus asked.

"Not much to tell. My mom and sisters live on the orbital refinery. I just got to look through a window at the planet. I went down for my senior class trip, but we got stuck in the arcology because of some sort of allergies that some of the kids had." Jenkins shrugged. "I'm a Spacer. One of my marines is actually from Eden Prime, but hasn't been planetside in years. I've got nothing for ya." Nihlus nodded, in thanks. So no one knew much about this place. There was a small note of worry about this planet. Doctor Liara T'soni had gone missing from here years ago. She had been working on a Prothean dig site, and one day didn't report in. She was supposed to be out investigating some caves in the area, and had disappeared with her entire team. She was the daughter of some big Asari name. A legitimate name, not like the Dantius family.

The elevator let them out next to the comm room, and Nihlus walked next to Jenkins and Halmabad as they approached. Jenkins was shaking his shirt out from the bottom, perspiration covering his face. Halmabad just had his black hair and eyes focused on the door. When it opened, Anderson was waiting for them inside. He had Constantine with him.

"Welcome, everyone. We wanted to go over some of the information that we have been given from the Alliance. Nihlus's information turned out to be on the mark. The Alliance has taken the whole system into high alert. Rumormill says that pirates were around, but it all sounded like piss and vinegar." Anderson stated. "The real deal is that the Prothean dig site finally found something working. Prothean beacon, possibly. Alliance has locked down the site and a specialist on Protheans has been sent from the University of Serrice on Thessia."

"What's the mission, then?"

"Security. We protect the beacon and make sure that it stays safe." Anderson said. "Alliance patrols are sticking to the outskirts of the system, and a couple of cruisers are maintaining orbit above the arcology towers and the dig site." He made the haptic screens display the colony. "The Prothean find is somewhat deep underground, and there has been some tectonic activity in the area. As we speak the scientists are attempting to get whatever they are going to be able to before a seismic event occurs."

"Seismic events? Isn't that part of Eden Prime older and filled with dead volcanoes?" Jenkins asked.

"Supposed to be. There was a few large sinkholes in the last couple of years. The area that has the most trouble is in the Granger Fault. The Prothean ruins go deep into the area next to the fault. So we have some reason to worry."

"We aren't packing for deep diving or that kind of mess." Halmabad said. "Are we supposed to go down into the tunnels?"

"Not unless the local forces are incapable. The Alliance just got a massive weapon shipment to their garrison here, along with new armor. All of that was delivered in the last couple of days. We are going to operate as oversight. One team will be down on the ground with Nihlus, and we will rotate out. First up, we will be sending Jenkins, Constantine, and Bermann. You three will accompany Nihlus down there, and meet up with the local garrison forces. Connect with them, figure out what you can do. Investigate anyone that might be troublesome, figure out if anything has been sabotaged."

Jenkins nodded. Nihlus spoke up. "Jenkins is the one in command?"

Anderson nodded. "Bermann was a cop before he joined the Marines. He'll follow orders and understand why you are asking him to do things. Agent Constantine will be on site, but on her own. If you experience a combat situation, she is under orders to support you."

"Alright. My Council Directives state that I should just observe from afar, but I think I will take it under consideration. I'll be right there with you, and will support as best I can as well. If there really is a Prothean Beacon down there, we can't take the risk of screwing this up."

"The rest of the Marines and crew stay up here. They're still getting used to the shifts onboard the ship still."

Jenkins chuckled. "More like Pressley is riding them so hard with drills that they can't sleep for more than four hours before something 'goes wrong'."

Anderson nodded. "He's making them work for it. This is supposed to be a shakedown run, anyways. We'll be running this bird as hard as we can to simulate anything that might happen. Hopefully that doesn't interfere with your schedule, Nihlus."

"Oh, it will just add a layer of needed panic. Distraction, something to work around. Not a problem." Nihlus said. Anderson ended the meeting soon after, and Nihlus took the elevator back down to the hangar bay. He was wearing his armor anyways, so now all he had to do was talk to Halmabad to get his weapons unlocked. The ones that he actually turned in, that was. He always kept a couple of tech grenades and pistols concealed somewhere. No sense in completely disarming yourself on an alien starship.

The Normandy had a couple of those under budget Alliance shuttles for going planetside. Apparently they were slated to be removed and replaced with something better when the shakedown was complete. Jenkins had one of the marines rated to pilot the shuttles take them down to the area. Of course, on the way, he activated his Omni-tool's communications functions.

"Oh yeah! Finally, we get some news!" Now that the man was off the Normandy he was no longer under a communication blackout.

Nihlus turned on his Omni-tool, but didn't turn on his communications protocols yet. He wasn't in a secure area, and he didn't want to type in any passwords near Agent Constantine. She was supposed to be quite good at breaking into accounts. "Anything happening on the local news?"

Jenkins squinted at the screen of his cheap Omni-tool. "Nothing much. Looks like some sort of super cockroach infestation is in the Arcology. As well as the space port. They've been digging through the cheap polymers that make up the walls. Other than that, some panic about the high alert. People think it has something to do with the Reds."

"Sounds perfect for a first mission. Hopefully we just sit back and watch as they pull out this Prothean tech." Nihlus said, sighing. As the shuttle landed, he made sure that he wasn't letting Constantine see his Omni-tool. Then he logged into his communication protocols. "Jenkins, are you getting any interference?"

He poked his Omni-tool's haptic interface. "A bit, yeah."

"Agent Constantine?" he asked.

"I've lost connection to the local satellite net. Something is going wrong here." Constantine muttered. "I can still connect to alternate sources, but they are being blocked out slowly but surely. Something is causing a comm blackout."

Nihlus grinned. "Well, let's assume they weren't ready for the Normandy. She's still stealthed, right?"

"She can't be seen by the naked eye and can't be detected by any scanner on the market or otherwise. Unless a member of the Admiralty board talked, we should be completely unexpected." Constantine grimaced at something on her Omni-tool. "Someone just tried to send up a red alert. The blackout is making it impossible to find it."

Nihlus nodded. "Jenkins, you go towards the dig site. Take the squad. I'll go towards the spaceport and try to get a signal through using their arrays. I'll be monitoring you and looking over your data later." He gave them an open-mandible grin. "Show me what you're made of."

Jenkins activated his helmet, as did Bermann. "Oooh-rah!" He motioned towards the nearby line of hills. "Let's go kick some ass! Army boys own this rock, let's see how far they've got their fingers up their asses!"

* * *

Author's Note

Welcome to the New Arc of the story, my fellows. This new arc is called Lucid, and will focus on the events of Mass Effect 1. The Normandy is a bit different, and more about that ship will be shown as time goes on. From Anderson's perspective, it's a stealth ship. He doesn't need to understand everything about how it works to trust it. He's a glorified grunt with a good head for strategy.

To all those who are looking for more applications of Hard Science, well, I am not a scientist. The closest thing I could be to that would be a political scientist. I will include some hard science, but I have a friend who is in charge of my physical science moments. You can thank him for my story sounding logical and reasoned well. He is a chemist with a background in material science and applied physics. He also loves guns and we live in a red state. So we make the most of our time together.

This arc will have a more general focus. We have a lot more characters to pull from of their experiences and their thought process. I am so excited to hit this point. I've been writing for a year on this project, and it feels amazing to get here. Next chapter we break 450k and hit Eden Prime. Thanks for all of the attention, and I just wanted to give a small shout out to  **Logical Premise**. That poor guy just found out why his back and legs were hurting all the time. Two herniated discs in the lower back. Let's hope he pulls out of the pain and possible surgery.

Also, in media, Pitch Perfect 2 and Avengers were amazing. My wife likes to show me the world of independent movies, so I like to go check those out when I can. I don't really have any love for the Witcher series, but I do love the studio that makes them. I'm still pissed as all hell at EA, and in honor of the new Battlefront coming out I am doing a LAN party with all my friends to make up for this crappy game that people are so excited about. Once my friends all get used to space combat and the amazing quality game that was, they can go try the new battlefront and cry their wallets and spent money to sleep.


	42. Lucid: World On Fire

Chapter 42

Granger Fault, Eden Prime June 2182

The first arcology tower to fall sounded like the hammer of an angry god. The entire team turned to the arcology towers, watching in abject horror as thousands of civilians died in an instant, the tower listing and falling sideways onto the colony. Julia was already looking for signs of combat, anything to suggest that this was an accident.

When she saw the next tower in the line explode near the bottom, her heart started beating faster and her mind started working. Bombs, planted at critical junctures along the base of the arcology tower would create that effect. Or something impacting with enough force to break the same supports. She watched, ignoring the swearing of the other marines in their squad as this tower collapsed in onto itself, the upper floors falling down inside of itself. She tried to clinically remove herself, to keep from feeling remorse, but it still hit her like a brick. Her squadmates were feeling enough hurt and anger that she was picking up on it too.

Communications were still down, but she had access to the DarkNet. Hackers and techies hated being on the same network as everyone else, and in established places like Eden Prime, they had hidden infrastructure that could be accessed. She hooked into that immediately, just as a massive explosion hit the spaceport. The kind of explosion that was caused when a ship's drives went critical. Being a biotic and the owner of Cerberus, she knew what those looked like.

The DarkNet was still up, but was having trouble sending any large amounts of data. She just had to send a text message to the right message buoy.  _Eden Prime under attack. Most likely terrorist actions. Arcologies falling. Thousands dying or dead. Red alert._  She started to send it when she noticed a flicker of bluish light next to the spaceport, almost like someone was triggering an FTL drive in atmosphere. Then, in the next moment, the FTL containment field collapsed and a massive explosion erupted from one of the nearby Arcology towers. Then, the DarkNet went down. Her message never got sent.

"That was from a ship! Someone is suicide bombing the towers!" Jenkins yelled. "We gotta move!" They weren't anywhere near the towers, but the dust from the spaceport explosion was rapidly covering the area. Julia grimaced, knowing that all of that dust was going to just stick to her catsuit and make her cloak useless. She pulled the tactical hood over her head, letting the breather go over her mouth and the goggles go across her eyes. Everyone else got to wear helmets, but she didn't get to wear a full set of armor. Before the wave of dust hit, she triggered her biotic barrier and kept the worst of the wave from messing with her systems. It would still take time to clean her catsuit, but not the hours it would take if it was coated in that dust.

When the cloud rolled over everything, it was soon joined by the cloud created by the towers falling. Visibility dropped, and scanners from the Omni-tools could only go out a measly thirty feet or so. After that the signals got cluttered. "Jenkins." She had to yell, to have her suit's speakers be heard by his. "We need to investigate the dig site! This is all just a distraction for something!"

It had to be. This was too far outside of pirate territory to do anything or hold. No invasion could do enough, and all of these explosions didn't cripple the economy or create a hostage situation. The only strategic use for all of this would be to distract from something else. She had a sinking feeling that it was this Prothean artifact. "I agree!" He yelled back. "Double time, follow the GPS!" the downloaded maps still worked, and they all ran through the dust clouds that covered everything. As they came to the lip of a nearby hill, they all flinched as another loud  _bang_  went off, somewhere close.

"I hope Nihlus is going to be okay!" Jenkins yelled. "Poor guy must be lost in all of this mess!"

Nihlus crouched, his predator's instincts telling him that he must be patient. His target was clear, and did not notice Nihlus coming towards it. The blackout of communications was most likely something of a drill or a scare. Part of this high alert state. While he had been walking over the hilltops towards the spaceport to see what he could do or simply just get out of the blackout zone, he had come upon his current target.

Like all Turians, he had natural predator tendencies. This looked like a safe mission, so he let himself go a bit. With a leap and a roar he jumped on top of the floating creature that was munching on the grass. It… Did not smell good at all. Yes, a helmet the next time he was going to ride one of these 'gas bags'. The locals called them that, and with good reason. Their skin was like a leathery piece of vinyl. It also couldn't support his weight, its long appendages swinging around in panic as they both slowly sank to the grass.

Giving a small predator call, Nihlus let go of the gas bag and got up, laughing to himself. Turians hated being alone, and he came up with different things to do to mitigate that awful feeling of loneliness. The creature popped right back up, and quickly sprayed the area with so much of the foul smelling gas that Nihlus had to stop laughing and retreat. Unfortunately, his armor was covered in it. He coughed, wishing that this had not gotten into his plates.

"So, the prey has a form of defense. Well played, little-" Anything else he was going to say was cut off by the sharp  _bang_  that drew his gaze towards the six arcology towers that made up most of the housing in this area. He opened his mandibles in horror as he watched the tower go down. "No!  _Skivva_! No!" This mission had gone from bad to worse. Terrorism, or some form of attack. It had to be. That was when he noticed the second tower get hit. When the base of it exploded, he noticed the blue-tinged explosion. The amount of Element Zero going around was going to be deadly. He activated his helmet, ignoring the smell left behind by the gas bag and focusing on the towers. Something was hitting them, and whatever it was they had Element zero cores.

Too large to be space side bombardment missiles. Too small to be a shot down military vessel. He unfortunately had enough experience with explosives to know that much. Then he noticed that there were ships in the air by the spaceport, with flickering fields showing around themselves. Regular civilian shuttles and small haulers. It was odd, until he noticed that they were trying to go to FTL. Within a gravity well and within atmosphere. The drives overloaded, unable to fight the pull of gravity and overcome the atmospheric pressure. One large older vessel simply detonated, right above the spaceport. Others successfully managed to accelerate, right into targets on the ground and in the arcology towers.

He gritted his teeth and mandibles. Someone was hitting Eden Prime. Someone that could take over multiple civilian vessels and override their systems. Hackers, or worse. The waves of dust coming up from the explosions was flowing towards him, and concealed his view of the skies. This comm blackout and this attack would make local law enforcement and military elements take drastic decisions.

Starting a loping run, he ran towards a nearby hilltop. Even there, he couldn't see completely, but he could hear the explosions continuing. From his pack, he pulled out a long-distance drone. It could deploy and move for hundreds of miles, and right now that was what he needed. He grabbed hold of the drone, making a couple of route calculations, and opened up its recording function.

"This is Nihlus Kryik, Council Spectre. A terrorist attack is in progress, this is an emergency. Send any and all ships and troops to assist. The arcology towers are falling, I repeat, the arcology towers are falling!" That sounded legitimate. He sent the drone off, the glowing mechanical servant disappearing into the dust on the far side of the hill, as it flew towards the east. It would get far enough away that it could send out the signal, and then just repeat it. He looked at his Omni-tool, noticing that he had been travelling through some of the overgrown areas in between their landing zone and the spaceport. Orienting himself towards that location, he decided that it would be best for him to go there and stop whoever was hacking these computers.

His Omni-tool also chimed with an alarm, his motion sensors going off. He couldn't see anything in this dust, but apparently something else was out here. His drone made a happy chirping noise as it crested another hill, able to see out of this soup and get readings. All of the signs on his motion tracker started moving towards his drone, one of which passed within five meters. His eyes or helmet couldn't even see whatever it was. The dust was too thick. But something was out there. Through the limits of his hearing and the helmet's transmitters, he thought he could hear a deep chirping noise. But that passed, and he oriented himself on the spaceport. Nihlus set off at a run, hoping that Anderson could at least see what was going on.

* * *

Anderson gripped his seat, watching as an explosion consumed the spaceport. He had just barely left the hangar, making sure that the rest of the ground teams were ready for deployment. "Joker, give me a status report! What the hell is blocking us!"

"I don't know! Ask the Quarian!"

"Kalin'ren!" Anderson was not used to dealing with him.

"Something on the planet is blocking communications on a wide spectrum band. Very powerful, very rude. Our secondary comm systems are still operational."

"Secondaries?"

"Point to point laser technology. Your Alliance craft are all programmed with it. It's old, but reliable." Kalin'ren was moving his fingers across the screen with quite amazing dexterity. "The two cruisers are answering hails from some civilian craft that just went dark. There are at least four craft that are in orbit that just went dead in the water." He tapped the screen three times. "Two cargo haulers and some passenger craft. One of them is full up, sending out signals anywhere. Look at this."

A small chunk of text appeared on the readouts. The bridge, being a Quarian design, was slightly cramped and the captain's chair was only a few feet behind Joker's. The sides of the ship were full of seats for the rest of the bridge crew, and the rest of the upper deck was the gunnery deck. Torpedoes and GUARDIAN lasers were controlled and manned from roughly thirty feet behind him. The lower decks had a secondary gunnery deck that controlled their restricted weapons.

 _Lost all control. Engines are still powered, but do not respond to commands. Please help, we are in a decaying orbit_. Anderson gave it a long look. To assist went directly against orders. "Ignore the hails. Focus on connecting with our people on the ground. We need to get a hold of them. Kalin'ren, get me whatever signals are actually making it through the blackout. I need eyes down there."

"Yes, Captain." He said, without any spiteful tone. "I've got a few people on the point to point bands asking about the arcology towers. But those are just going down, from some sort of explosives. Either that or a large amount of force at the right angle. I've got multiple contacts requesting aid, and those two Alliance cruisers are on their way to the different ships. Of course, no one is sending us anything."

"Deploy one of our point to point drones above the dig site." He understood that they were expensive. "Make sure that we can recover it later. Keep it in orbit over the dig site and have it display Alliance codes. Just in case those cruisers don't like it." They could choose to display codes or not with their drones, as part of their stealth protocols.

"Captain!" One of the sensor technicians yelled. "Look at the London!"

He turned to his large screen, an image of the old Geneva-class cruiser coming up. the  _SSV London_ , an older cruiser that hadn't been on the front line in years, had come closer to one of the haulers to assist, extending its airlock to the ship. It, as well as its sister ship the  _SSV Seoul,_ had both hooked up to the nearby haulers. The hauler attached to the  _London_  exploded, and within the kinetic barriers, the explosion ripped through the aft side of the ship. The command deck was exposed, and she flickered, the explosion having damaged the craft.

"Oh my god, the  _Seoul_!" Joker yelled. Anderson glanced, watching as the  _Seoul_  managed to disconnect their airlock before they suffered the same fate. But the other hauler exploded, sending shards of metal and debris directly into the port side of the  _Seoul_. She was a more modern cruiser, and was more armored in that area. She was staggered, but not broken. "Captain, that passenger liner is reorienting itself towards the  _Seoul_. Permission to break stealth?"

"Denied, Flight lieutenant. Our orders are clear."

Kalin'ren huffed. "There are five hundred pyjaks on that liner. I can detect a large buildup of energy in its FTL drive. Two minutes or less until they reach a critical charge."

Anderson gritted his teeth. Two cruisers out of commission. One recoverable, but only if they gave it time. "Kalin'ren, any chance we can disable its engines?"

"I'm the comm officer. Guns are not under my control." Pressley stood up, looking grim.

"Captain, this ship is armed with all of the new weapons. We can't shoot to disable something that cheaply armored."

"What do you mean, Pressley? I haven't even looked at the specs on our guns." He wasn't supposed to, yet. They weren't going to even use them until they were in an unnamed system where their tests would be unobserved.

"Our guns shoot some Prothean designed weapon. Came out of the R+D folks. It's rated to blow right through a cruiser in one shot, a dreadnaught in two." Pressley said, glancing at the passenger liner. "All of our weapons would go through that ship like a knife through butter. We're not rated to disable a non military vessel."

"What about boarding it?" Anderson asked.

"It'll go critical in charge on its drive core in less than two minutes. You won't be getting those people out of there." Pressley said. "It's trying to get closer to the  _Seoul_  and the  _London._  We can stop them."

"How?"

Pressly looked uncomfortable. "We can fire upon that ship. If we can damage the drive core, it'll automatically vent its charge into the nearby atmosphere. If we aim correctly, we can cut the power to it and not hit the main passenger chambers."

Anderson couldn't do that. Willfully firing on a civilian vessel went directly against the oath he swore to the Alliance. But if he didn't fire, those people were dead anyways. "GUARDIAN lasers only. Bring us within spitting distance, Joker. We can't miss here." He turned to Kalin'ren. "Get me blueprints on that ship, scan it. Find out if the Helium-3 lines are in the firing arc."

"Yes, Captain." Kalin'ren said. "Scanners report that the FTL drive is mounted directly to the engines on that craft. It's against code, but they most likely moved the FTL drive into that compartment so that they could fit a few dozen more people each trip. I've got life signs in every cabin and in every compartment."

"Captain, the liner just started accelerating. It's not headed for the  _Seoul_. It's headed for the  _London_." Pressley said. That ship would be even easier to completely destroy. It's barriers were down and he could see that they could barely maneuver. "Captain, that ship will destroy her if she hits!"

If he shot, the civilians died. If he didn't, they would still die and the  _London_  would die as well. One hundred servicemen in addition. "Guns! I need lasers to rake that ship, take out its engines but preserve the bridge and pilot's seat. The Alliance is going to want that black box."

Pressley nodded, and typed in the commands himself. Anderson grimaced as he watched the bank of four lasers reach out and caress the passenger liner. Then, one of the poorly maintained fuel lines blew, as did the engine. He felt bile come up his throat as he saw the ship split in half, passengers and bags spewing out into space. As they were in a decaying orbit, and the passenger liner was still not fully away from the planet, all of those people were dead.

"Get the shuttles ready. Something here stinks. Kalin'ren, find out where that blackout is coming from and give me a target. All of the other Alliance vessels are at least an hour out." The pair of frigates that were supposed to patrol the mass relay were already on their way, but they would only be able to offer maybe twenty personnel. A drop in the bucket compared to what they needed. "Are any of the other cities under attack?"

"Yes, Captain." Kalin'ren said. "I don't want to write the casualty report. Those towers your race uses are being taken down in each city, angling to crush or knock over other buildings. Something is hitting them, or they're just blowing up. Whatever is going on, this had to have been planned. It's too directed to be otherwise."

Anderson gritted his teeth. The garrison would be completely useless. "Are we getting anything from our laser comm drone?"

"Negative. There is enough dust in the air that I can only see a couple hills. Wait, I've got a Turian hiding in a tree." His screen zoomed in on a Turian in black armor, who had climbed up a tree. "Making this my screensaver, a Turian hiding from something by climbing up a tree." Kalin'ren actually did that. "Connected, Captain."

Anderson clicked the open comm line. "Nihlus, do you read me?"

" _I hear you! Hang on, these things are getting restless!_ " Nihlus fired his assault rifle down towards the base of the tree. " _I was heading towards the spaceport, and Jenkins was heading for the dig site._ "

"What is happening down there?"

" _I don't know, but I can't see what has been chasing me for the last mile. Something big. Could be mechanical, I've recorded some sounds of chirping."_

"Nihlus, we are going to drop on your position. Put a beacon down someplace we can set down a shuttle."

" _Alright Anderson. I appreciate the save. Hang on, something's_ " Nihlus cut out, as his tree was cut down from under him. He disappeared back into the dust cloud. Anderson shot out of his chair, running for the stairs.

"Combat teams, suit up!" Anderson roared. He was still in his command gear. Well, he had lots of practice in getting into armor. As well as getting out of it.

" _Sir, should I get a shuttle ready?"_  Pressley asked.

"No! Prepare to drop the MAKO, low orbit if possible. Try not breaking stealth." Entering atmosphere would give them away totally. But the MAKO was rated to drop more than 50,000 feet. "It can jump above the dust cloud to give us a chance to communicate."

" _Roger. Lt. Halmabad, prepare the MAKO for drop. Combat teams, prepare to drop. Bring heavy weapons. Equip MAKO with GTS missile launcher._ " Pressley said. Heh, good thinking. Just in case any of those ships tried to hit anything else. He hit the bottom of the ladders and got to the hangar, instead of using the elevator. The Quarians insisted on sets of ladders that went from deck to deck in addition to the device. He was grateful for that, as it shaved a half a minute off his time. He had stripped and was in his undersuit in the next thirty seconds, and the already suited up marines helped him get into his heavy armor. Once his armor was sealed and his helmet was on, he grasped his Illegal pistol and a couple of rifles from the armory. Standard gear would work well enough for now.

" _Approaching drop point. Hangar bay, report secure?"_

Engineers were rushing across the space, sealing every open locker and free object. Anderson and Halmabad got into the front seats of the MAKO, with four more marines in the back. " _Hangar bay secure!_ " Lt. Nar Rayya said.

" _Roger, Captain. Dropping in ten seconds. Opening hangar bay doors._ " Pressley said. " _You have control, Captain._ "

He nodded to Halmabad. "Take us in." The dust clouds spreading all over the colony below them made their jump almost a gamble. But thankfully they picked the best officer in the Alliance Navy in handling a MAKO to drive. Halmabad didn't just jump out of the hangar, he went at full speed. Wheels squealing, he left black marks on the deck as he shot out.

" _XO Pressley has the ship. Have a nice day._ " The ship VI reported, as they left the hangar. Halmabad engaged the element zero core, making gravity relative to them. The yelps of the marines in back who weren't able to see the front window panel were cut off as they came back to their seats. The MAKO flew like a brick. A slightly aerodynamic brick. Small panels emerged from the sides of the vehicle, creating small wings that angled the nose downwards. Halmabad overlaid the GPS system data over the dust clouds, and marked a point next to where Nihlus had been.

"Landing in five." He said, beginning to engage the thruster system. With a heavy feeling, they engaged and pushed against the frame. The MAKO didn't even rattle, it just came towards the dust cloud layer like a flaming meteor. They landed on the left side first, almost rolling the lightly armored vehicle. "Welcome to Eden Prime, sir. GPS says there's a gift shop a half a click from here."

"Nihlus went down here, apparently to hostiles. His last known position was here, less than three minutes ago." Anderson marked a spot on their map, one hundred meters away. "Go in there slowly, we will check by hand if need be. Recovering the team member is first priority."

"What if he doesn't hear us coming and we run him over?" Halmabad asked.

"Well, this thing has speakers, right?" Anderson said. He nodded back. He hooked up his Omni-tool to the systems. "I've been feeling a little melancholy." The electric trumpets and saxophones of Blue Molley blasted out of the speakers, drowning the area around them in sound. The sensors showed nothing moving, so they trundled forward. At the next hilltop, He could oversee Nihlus's old position, a couple of trees still standing. Nothing was moving, though. "Jump and get a status update."

Halmabad engaged the helium-3 thrusters on the light tank, making the MAKO jump above the dust cloud. They received a data burst update from the orbiting drone, nothing new from Nihlus. So, they cracked open the MAKO and out came the marines. Halmabad stayed in the vehicle with one marine as a gunner. Anderson charged down the hill, the dust making his visibility drop to almost nothing. When he got to the bottom, he could see the marks of many pairs of feet. The ground had been torn up, like there had been at least twenty people surrounding the tree. There were a couple of smoking burn marks on the ground as well, nothing that he recognized.

"Sir, I've got tracks!" The marine pointed towards a ravine that went towards the tramway. "Everything went this way!"

"Halmabad!" Anderson yelled. "Halmabad!" There was no response. "Back to the van, boys!" They double-timed it back to the tank, as comms were down. If any of them strayed off they wouldn't be able to talk to anyone. That meant he couldn't deploy his men outside of the range of his own voice. "Follow the ravine until you get something on the motion sensor!"

Halmabad gunned it, moving up the ravine at a breakneck pace as soon as the back door on the MAKO was halfway shut. Anderson was nearly to a seat when he was slammed into it, grunting. "Sir, the dust is getting into our everything." Halmabad said. "It's interfering with comms, sensors, everything."

"Are we going to have to walk the tank forward?"

"Well, the metal detector and ground scanners have been screwed up since we landed. If we hit anything-"

The metal frame of the MAKO  _banged_. Anderson twitched. "Let's go! Marines!" The back door slammed open, and the marines thundered out. They found someone clinging to the top of the tank. Blue blood splattered the side of the tank on one side, and following the trail they found Nihlus, leg at an odd angle and huddling against the side of the MAKO. "Medic!" Anderson yelled. Medi-gel wasn't going to fix a crushed leg. "Get him into the vehicle!"

The marines extracted Nihlus into the MAKO, three of them scanning their surroundings for anything out of place. Nihlus' helmet was cracked, and his left leg was missing a spur. It was also bending the wrong way, and the knee looked flat. Turian bones were slightly more fragile than human ones, though their muscle fibres were more reinforced. To shatter that badly was a bad sign. They pulled his helmet off and used one of the benches to support him. "Where to, Captain?" Halmabad asked.

"A hill we can get a clear signal to! I need to confer with the CMO!" The light tank started moving, and Nihlus blinked up at him. "Nihlus, what happened?"

"Tree broke my leg. I locked my armor and kept moving, but they followed me. I could barely see them, but they looked almost like flashlights. Flashlights moving through the shadows, chirping and driving me mad."

"What happened to your helmet?"

"Some sort of tech ability. Cracked it right open, got something on my plates. Nastiest Incinerate I've ever seen. Burned through shields, armor, got through my visor. Everything else managed to hold, though." Nihlus said. "I shot at some of them, but I don't think I killed any. They tried to stay out of sight."

"You're done for now, Nihlus. But since we are down here, lets go to the spaceport."

"It's a tomb at this point, Anderson." Nihlus said. "All of these larger explosions are sending eezo dust everywhere. The survivors aren't going anywhere, and someone caused this. They wouldn't be causing this unless they had a plan."

Anderson grimaced. Yes, there was something going on out here. But he had just ordered the deaths of five hundred civilians, and that was hanging on him like a dead weight. "I see your logic, but I'm still worried about the colony."

"If this was just a distraction, then you'll do a better service clearing the comm blackout so that emergency services can come back online." Nihlus said. "You don't have the manpower to save the colony right now. But you do have enough to find out where this comm interference is coming from."

" _-ome on you skivving pyjak! Oh, wait, I've got him on comms!"_  Kalin'ren's frustrated voice came over comms.

" _Captain, we've got a location for the thickest of the comm distortion._ " Pressley's voice came through, now. They must be on top of one of the few hills tall enough to avoid the dust cloud. " _It's about a mile east of the dig site, though you won't like the next part._ "

"I have a Council Spectre and seven marines, XO. Not much will be slowing us down." Anderson remarked. "What is the problem?"

" _The signal is bouncing all over the exposed Prothean ruins. Someone has either turned on a Prothean jamming device or they are routing it through the ruins. The source of the signal is going to be six hundred meters underground._ "

"How do I get there?" He asked.

" _Colony records state that two tunnels were dug down to the Prothean site. An old lava tube was found and expanded to allow vehicles to get down there. The scientists also have a set of elevators that go down, with different elevator shafts on each level. It is thought that the ruins might connect to other cave systems in the Granger Fault, but they haven't been explored very well."_

"Well, does this vehicle entrance support a MAKO?"

" _Yes sir. Entrance and security codes are now on your Omni-tool. There is also a waypoint for you to follow. Good luck, Sir."_

"Any word from Jenkins?"

" _No sign yet, sir. But we saw some sort of large explosion by the dig site. Could have been them."_

"Tell Chakwas I need medical support information for Turian leg wounds. We might need the shuttle to do a medivac. Keep on station. Those cruisers aren't going to be able to help anyone for the time being."

" _Roger. Good news, sir. The_ SSV Seoul _appears to be fully functional. It is on station and managing some of the emergency service shuttles._ "

"Understood. A-team out." Any team that followed him was the A-team. Alpha team, Anderson's team, it made some sense. "Halmabad, take us to the waypoint. Step on it."

"You got it, Captain. This ain't no medivac, so my apologies if the road is a little bit bumpy." It was certainly bumpy. Halmabad drove through a hab-unit, sending the polycarbonate walls and cheap plastic windows all over the place. There wasn't any road to follow and the dust made it impossible to see. They passed a couple of air cars that had landed, but all of them were open, empty and quiet. Anderson didn't give the command to stop, and they hit the ridgeline that led to the dig site in no time. They switched the music over to someone else's music files, set to some movie trailer music. Big band, loud noise, it was sure to get the attention of anyone around.

* * *

Julia noticed the trouble before Bermann or Jenkins did. Her eyes had been modded by experimental gene mods. Her armor was lighter, which meant that her goggles were closer to her eyes. They had the larger Alliance standard issue helmets. They had arrived at the dig site, and found the blood trails. All of the bodies were gone, though. Drag marks didn't go far, yet there were some sort of scrape marks all over everything. The walls and the edges of the buildings were covered in them. Especially the areas around the blood stains.

"Where did all of the scientists go?" Bermann asked. "I've got nothing on my sensors, but I feel like something's out there."

"Maybe that comm blackout jamms our sensors, too." Jenkins said. "Check your perimeter, and stick together. How big is this research camp, anyways?"

"One hundred eighty people lived and worked here, Lt." Julia answered. "Some them had pre fabs here for a decade." She noticed that there was some sort of armored pre fab building up ahead. "At our two o'clock!" She called. The doors were still sealed shut. But the holes in the roof and walls were telling. She rushed over, finding it uncomfortable to not be cloaked. But in this dust it wouldn't have mattered.

The door opened once she used her AOI override. Jenkins and Bermann came in, Bermann about facing and covering the door. Here, the bodies were still in place. They were gruesomely ripped up. "Someone is using illegal ammunition." She noted. All of the marks in the dead had burnt edges. Or melted ones. She looked at one of the armored people in here, noticing that the entire front part of his armor had been caved in. By something  _hot_. "This wasn't done with any weapons used by the Alliance or the Turians. Perhaps even by Separatists."

"You'd know best on that, Ma'am." Jenkins said. She glared back at him, and Jenkins had the good sense to duck his head and look through the bodies for anything useful. Bloody Torfan always coming back to haunt her. Or Eidos. Rome. Omega. Could be anything that he heard about. "I'm not seeing any survivors." At least he stayed on task.

"Whatever ammo was being used, I've got low levels of radiation on the shots. They must be heavily armored so they don't get contaminated themselves." Radioactive ammo. That was some real heavy illegal stuff. Even Krogan balked at using that kind of ammo. It was the kind of thing that got all kinds of attention. "Not to mention they had mining gear and something heavy enough to go through the armor on the bunker, here."

"Looks like this was part of the 212. Training legion, they call it." Jenkins looked around at all of the walls quickly. "This wasn't a standard defense maneuver. They got overrun before they could get anywhere." The bodies in the room were equal parts civilian and marine. She dug into the back, and found a set of armor that looked a bit more expensive.

"Jenkins, I found the CO." She said. Well, most of him. His head was a pulped mess. HIs helmet looked like a tech grenade and an incinerate had gone off  _inside_  his visor. "His Omni-tool is still operational."

She pulled it off his wrist, sliding the OSD into a slot on hers. Skipping to the most recent day's logs, she brought them up.  _06:30; standard patrol has turned up nothing. More of the odd holes and seismic distortions, though. Once they subside I'll have the geo-mappers go back over this area._  Nothing odd there. The next was simply a picture of the base camp, and a large sinkhole that collapsed on the side of one of the habitation shelters.  _14:05; Another sinkhole showed up today. Sucked up some of our medicine supplies and half the medical shelter. There are a few of these things popping up. Mining drones don't report much in them, but the water table has been screwed up recently._  She didn't like this at all. The next was another message.  _14:32; queued message; Hey! I can't get any message through! We're under attack out here! These new weapons don't even work on the bastards! Oh God, here they come again! Hold the line, men! Help is on its way!_  No further messages were stored. Logs were empty. Helmet logs were unavailable, due to lack of helmet to take data from.

She pulled out the man's weapon, finding it to have an odd ammo block in it. She pulled it out, seeing that it had quarian script over it. "Jenkins. The garrison was using disruptor ammo blocks. Apparently they didn't work."

"What do those specialize against?" He asked.

"Synthetics." Julia answered. The CO's OSD revealed that the shipment had been for every marine on base. "And kinetic barriers." She slid the ammo block into her belt, and picked up the man's side arm. It had the same ammo block mod. She tapped his Omni-tool, bringing up his kinetic barriers even though his vitals had hit zero. Then, she fired the pistol once. The barriers nearly dropped, meaning that the ammo was still effective. "He claims the guns were ineffective. I'm not seeing how."

"Do they penetrate armor?" Jenkins asked. She turned off the barrier, and fired once more. The armor sparked, but the shot didn't penetrate at all. She shook her head. "Then maybe the guys they were fighting had thick armor. These rounds wouldn't pierce heavy armor."

"We aren't going to get much else from here. The only other thing that was fortified in the dig site was the tunnels. That should be our next stop." She told him. He was still in command of the mission.

He did seem slightly uncomfortable. "Well, let's go." He stepped outside, and Julia followed. She felt goosebumps spreading down her arms underneath her catsuit. Checking her Omni-tool, she couldn't see anything on the sensors. She refreshed them, just in case. Still nothing. But try as she might, she thought that they were being watched. Being only able to see maybe fifteen feet in front of you made it impossible to notice anything. The dust was only growing thicker, as well. Muffled booms in the distance told her that someone was causing big explosions somewhere nearby. This was kicking up dust still.

What a mess. Still, no clues and no survivors here. The only good sign was that the camp had not been bombed. That meant that something here was important. "Jenkins, the only locations that have any significance here are the caves. Unless there is some other entrance to the Prothean ruins."

"Well, people die in the caves every year. Some of the original dig team died down in the trench, and they had a guide. There might be more entrances out there, just not mapped yet." Jenkins moved forward, one hand on his weapon trigger and the left holding his Omni-tool up higher. His fingers were clenching and unclenching tightly. He was spooked. His shoulders were set, and anytime he made a step he quickly swiveled in the direction that he could face.

"Fifty meters to the tunnel entrance." Julia told him. It just made his left hand clench faster. "Lieutenant?"

He twisted to face her, eyes searching the dust cloud around her. "Yes, agent?"

"This isn't Helios. You aren't alone. Don't lose focus."

Jenkins shuddered. "You obviously aren't up to date on your pop culture, Ma'am." He gave a short laugh, still glancing around. "Last year's hit horror movie was called Dust and Echoes. I swear, if this ends with flying squid-leeches, that's it. Game over." Their Omni-tools were still quiet.

"You lived through all that and you still like horror movies?" Julia asked, her interest piqued.

"I love horror movies. Old, new, even the old 2D stuff. My therapist called me an adrenaline junky. I don't agree." They walked slowly, keeping to one side of the road that vehicles would travel on. The habitat buildings were empty, painfully so. "There is the entrance." Jenkins pointed.

It was a secure entrance into the mountain. Doors meant to secure and support in the case of tunnel collapse were torn open. They had been burned. If she could say anything, it was from something hot like plasma. The burn marks didn't look quite like any weapon or bomb she was used to, though. The inside still was powered, and the airlock was trying to cycle the dust unsuccessfully. It was being spewed out as fast as it entered, making it impossible to see what the inside was like. Or what was waiting for them. But there was a noise, somewhere.

It was almost like a rhythmic clicking. Or chirping. It didn't sound quite mechanical, nor did it sound perfectly organic. She held up her hand, getting Jenkin's attention. "Going quiet, Lieutenant." He turned and she kept eye contact with him as she activated her cloak. It barely engaged, flickering at the hands and at her feet. She moved forward, coming to the edge of the blown open doorway. Sticking her head in, she saw a ruined and broken airlock containment system. The walls had been burned and broken, and the ceiling was untouched. The air filtration systems were still trying to filter the dust, but with the rents, tears, and burns it was impossible to seal the chamber.

Curiously, the kinetic barrier systems were still functional. But they had been disengaged. During this kind of storm, or any event that was against the normal ecology, they should have engaged to protect the dig site. She didn't like that. She shoved a tech grenade into the main emitter and set it to close proximity. If the kinetic barriers engaged, the tech grenade would go off and break the barrier. She didn't trust her hacking to be a permanent solution to get her out of here.

The other side of the airlock had been ripped open, this time by what appeared to be explosives. The burns were more widespread, and long cracks went over the floor. The explosive had been positioned along the floor, which took more effort to place. Still very odd. She shoved another tech grenade into the main emitter there, sabotaging it as well. Sticking her head past the edge, she could see a large empty hangar. There was a tiny bit of movement, near the arching roof of the hangar. Might be a drone or something.

She backed out of the airlock, and came back to Jenkins and Bermann. She decloaked, coming up to them. "Possible hostiles inside. I think we've found the objective."

He grinned. "Sounds great. Bermann, you're on rearguard. You deploy as you need to, Ma'am."

She nodded. "I can take point." With a burst of concentration, her barrier came up all the way. The purple field coated her like a blanket, the kinetic barrier making the biotic field all the more bright. Normally she ran her biotic barrier at a lower level, so that it didn't attract attention. Now, though, she turned it up all the way and stepped over to Jenkin's left side. "Whatever's in there, I can take it."

"An infiltrator and a biotic. Dayum. Ma'am, if I knew we were packing this much heat, I wouldn't have been so jittery." Jenkins laughed. "Let's go see what killed our ground pounders."

"I saw a drone moving around. Might be an enemy unit."

"Wait!" Jenkins yelled. "I hear something!"

The loud dulcet tones of the Asari-Human shrieker death metal band Expel 10 came over the buildings. Thundering screamers, in her opinion. She preferred Asari opera. "Take cover!" She yelled, hearing some sort of engine in the background. Jenkins and Bermann hid behind an exposed doorway. She took more sure cover behind a refrigerator. When the armored vehicle came through one of the pre fab tents, nose digging into the ground, and thrusters firing uselessly as it just pushed itself into the dirt.

"Is that the MAKO?" Jenkins asked, dirt all over him and Bermann. She was untouched by the spray of dirt that had covered everyone within ten feet. "Hell yeah! That's our MAKO!"

Said MAKO continued to dig itself into the dirt uselessly. The back doors popped open, at an almost thirty degree angle from the ground. Marines started rolling out from the vehicle. First one, and then three more rolled out like insects. "Halmabad! I thought you said you had that!" Anderson yelled.

"GPS told me that this hill was stable!" The speakers blared. The music stopped, sparing them from anymore grungy Asari and Human singers.

"It's from sinkholes, Sir. Lots of them are cropping up from the seismic distortions." Julia said. "Glad to see you on the ground, Sir."

"Constantine? Jenkins? Bermann?" All three of them saluted quickly. "Good, I was hoping you'd be here. The comm blackout's source is underground. Most likely inside the Prothean ruins."

"So, we go down and in?" Jenkins asked.

"Halmabad! Get the MAKO out of your sinkhole! Constantine, your team takes the elevators. Hopefully any survivors would have gone to ground and taken cover in the tunnels. I'll head to the vehicle entrance tunnel the company dug, take the MAKO down the secondary tunnels. We'll take it both ways." Anderson tried to transmit the information to her Omni-tool, but the jamming kept it from making it. So instead they had to trade an OSD to her so that she could get the information. Her information updated his, on the location of sinkholes from the 212's CO. She noticed that the details on the jamming signal were from a source deeper than the limit of what the 212's CO knew that the scientists had explored.

"Sir." She said. "Is Nihlus alright?"

"He's in the MAKO. A little banged up, but he will be alright." Anderson said. "We found him hiding in a tree like a scared cat."

"We haven't found any bodies except for the 212's CP. It was jammed wall to wall."

"Cause of death?" He asked, interested.

"Heavy Incinerate tech, radiated ammo blocks, and most definitely illegal tech abilities. Another indirect cause of death was whoever supplied the entire 212. They had been shipped new ammo blocks, all of them disruptor rounds. Useful against synthetics."

Anderson groaned. "We only use those for fights against Eclipse Salarian groups. Who in their right mind would send anti-synthetic ammo blocks to the entire garrison?!" He huffed. "Any of our marines out there are going to be useless against anything organic. Or heavy armor."

She pulled out the ammo block she had recovered. She pointed out the quarian Kellish markings. "These aren't cheap, either, Sir."

"Or they were about to run the ground regiment through some sort of drill with mechs."

"Someone had bad intel, then. Quarian ammo isn't easy to get." Julia said. Looking past him, she could see the loose dirt spraying all over the marine team, all of whom were uphill from the MAKO and pulling on the ropes it had deployed. With the vehicle's ability to reduce its own mass, the marines themselves could pull it out with their armor and some elbow grease. Her catsuit had taken enough of a beating today, and so she wasn't going to help them. Dirt clods added ten minutes to her cleaning job later. At the best onset.

Anderson couldn't sit still. "I know that your Omni-tool is probably the best one we've got. Anything on your sensors?"

She shook her head. "No, sir. Though I feel that the closer we get to the jammer the more that our functions will fail. What about the MAKO's sensors?"

"Military bought the cheapest provider. It's no better than our wrists at this point." Anderson watched as the front of the tank started clearing the sinkhole. "But with a bigger gun."

"I feel like something is out here with us, sir." Julia said. "Like they're just waiting for something."

"Well, they wiped out the garrison. Don't know why they aren't after us." Anderson said. HIs weapon wasn't far from his hand. "Take Guiterro with your team when you go down into the tunnels. He has a missile launcher."

"Tell Jenkins, Captain. He has command of the mission."

Anderson huffed. "Your regulations about not revealing your rank unless it is relevant are killing us right now. That kid hasn't seen enough combat or had enough time leading a team of marines for this kind of situation. When you finally do get to take command, please do so. As much as I like our BDO, he isn't the right man for the job when we are going into a massacred colony. I would rather you had Halmabad leading you, even though he hasn't had enough time in command either." His eyes drifted over the rooftops, while hers drifted over the entrance to the tunnels. "I don't like this place any more than you do, Constantine."

"I don't like our entire mission, to be fair." Julia said. "But it's not my call."

"Nihlus isn't here just for you, you know. The world doesn't just revolve around you, Julia." She gave him a sharp glare. "I haven't had the chance to talk to you yet. Don't mind me for taking the time to talk now."

"If you haven't noticed,  _David_ , I'm here on orders and not out of preference." She stated, making sure not to apply any emotion into her statement. "We get finished with this, you and I will have that chat with you on the Normandy."

He nodded, and then shivered. "Halmabad! Let's go! Every moment we waste is more people dead! Guiterro, You're with Jenkins as they go through the elevators. As soon as you all get that MAKO out of there, we're leaving!" He bellowed. Though he was obviously uncomfortable. "We'll talk later, Constantine."

She nodded. She didn't like any of this. Whatever had attacked had massacred all of those marines and scientists within minutes. It had taken Jenkins roughly eleven minutes of walking to get to the dig site. They hadn't heard anything in that time. Whether it was the dust cloud keeping the sound down, or just that they died that quickly, she didn't want to guess. No one died easy, here. Drag marks were everywhere, and she noticed with some discomfort that many of the drag marks went inside the airlock.

She was brought out of her musings by Jeknins, covered in mud and dust. "You ready to go? MAKO is free." He looked like he had been bombed by a mudpile. The joints of his armor were covered in dirt and caked clods. Then add dust on top of that, and you had Jenkins. The two mud-marines with him were Bermann and Guiterro. The large shape of the GTA missile on his back gave her some comfort.

"The bodies around here were dragged into the airlock, Lt." She said. "If anyone's alive, they're inside the tunnels."

Jenkins shook his head. "Well, that's not creepy at all. Nope, not a bit." He shuddered. "Gah! Alright, maybe a lot creepy. Take point, Agent. Let's go in there." She did, not cloaking and keeping her barriers at full power. The inner scientific bay had been where much of the funding had gone. Lab chambers and quarantine bays littered the sides of the room. Oddly, she could see shapes inside of the labs. Human shapes. She pointed at them, and then noticed that the room just seemed off. The air was being cycled correctly, and there was some dust in the area, but not enough to disrupt their complete visibility. For the first time in ten minutes she could see further than five meters. It didn't bring much comfort. Every wall surface had been covered in some sort of mechanical arms, and on the end of those arms were human corpses.

"Sir, I've got movement. Vents, whatever it is, it's in the vents." Bermann said. They still had to communicate vocally. "Orders?"

"I'd say that I don't like hostiles in my neck of the woods. Take bursts at the vents. Mark!" She released a few pistol shots at the vents, shooting one shot per six foot section. The others fired longer bursts, Bermann hitting something. It made a long chittering noise, and then thumped away inside the vents. But the sound of mechanical gears was clear. "Okay, people, that sounded like a drone."

Long, almost human wails started from the laboratory areas. She twisted, seeing all of the bodies that were stuck to the walls pulling themselves off, electric blue eyes glowing in the darkness and dust clouds. Not electric blue like Kasumi had, but a darker blue that belied programming rather than human intelligence. Worse, each of the corpses had arms that belonged on bodybuilders or professional models. Their legs were much the same, and some of them were wearing the armor of the 212. "Lt!" Bermann yelled, also seeing the few dozen corpses getting up.

"Yeah, not funny! Fall back!" They all ran for the airlock, when the kinetic barrier emitters turned on. The closer one, the inner layer, was destroyed by her tech grenade. The other somehow survived the explosion and managed to activate, sealing them inside with the corpses. "Okay, shoot to disable!" Jenkins ordered, firing bursts at the legs of the corpses. They didn't even flinch.

"They aren't responding to pain, Jenkins, shoot to kill!" She yelled. She knew more than most how Humans responded to someone shooting at their knees. These things didn't even seem to sense it, still running at an uneven lope. One of the nasty creatures howled, blue wiring extending from its mouth in the crude shape of a tongue. That's when she noticed that her pistol stopped firing. Her kinetic barriers shorted, and she could hear the panicked yelps of marines as their weapons went offline too. Their Omni-tools crackled as they shut off, their sensors not even going off once. Hers, though, was EMP shielded.

"Oh God!" Someone behind her yelled. She steeled herself, and let loose a Singularity. The approaching creatures didn't exhibit any sense of strategy, all of them running into the bubble of gravity. They all got sucked into a ball, though they had another dozen or so of their fellows coming up behind. They were too many in number to all get sucked into her Singularity.

Activating her Omni-tool, she fired an Overload and the remaining two tech grenades into the pile of blue wire and corpse. Chunks of arms and legs, and sprays of hydraulic fluid went all over. Blue wires sparked as they were disconnected, and only a couple of the two dozen or so corpses survived the explosion. They were already getting back up, and Julia could see them shaking themselves off of any fluid or gore from their fellows. They had no sense of comradery. No sense of moral judgement. Higher brain functions did not exist.

One of the survivors only had one arm left and its head. It was still moving. "Assume zombie protocols. Aim for the heads!" The Alliance actually had such protocols, thanks to over philosophical military leaders.

"With what? Our guns are jammed!"

She pulled out two long knives. "Close range combat, boys. Engage!" She leapt forward, her singularity having burnt itself out with the number of zombies it had picked up. The first zombie she went after was one still staggered from the overload and destruction. He kick shattered it's nose, yet the thing didn't even stagger. It just let its nose get broken. She followed up with an uppercut, the knife plunging from the underside of the mouth and into the brain cavity. The knives she had were rated to damage a Krogan. After fighting Haego the First, High Priest and Ambassador of the Batarian Hegemony, she upgraded her knives to be able to go through most things. Her guns were the special kind of illegal that the Alliance saw a use for but decided not to notice when she brought it up. Then again, it wasn't like the STG didn't produce most of the illegal weapon mods themselves. Each government looked the other way when they needed to.

The corpses had some sort of augmentation. But at the end of the day, the brain was still a squishy bundle of mass. Her knife went through the cheek and up into the brain. The brain seemed to have bundles of blue wire connected to it, but had all the same vulnerabilities as normal. That, she could work with.

Giving a small grin, she cloaked. Nothing happened. Okay, this EMP business was definitely pissing her off. She felt her biotics return, so she used a Pull field on one of the large pieces of lab equipment. It obediently came out of its lab enclosure and fall into the crowds of zombies, letting her take a leap towards two of the stragglers. They were strong, sure. But they were slower than she was. Experimental dexterity and reflex mods had been installed into her, and their movements were like a brawler. They weren't defensive in nature, obviously, as zombies. So two knife thrusts and she had two dead zombies.

The marines were not doing as well. They had chosen to go after some of the creatures that were moving in a small pack, and Bermann was being dogpiled. Bermann threw off two of them, but they recovered and were back on top of him immediately. The zombie's fingernails had extended, making them into wicked looking bluish claws. These dug through the standard Alliance armor like it wasn't there. Jenkins was better off, using his rifle as a mount for his knife. Bayonet style, if she could remember her history right. Guiterro was curbstomping the armored head of one of the 212, the helmet shattering and the head breaking.

She used a Throw, sending the pack in front of Bermann off to the far side of the room. She picked up a dozen of her own zombies in the exchange, attracted to her and surrounding her like a pack of wolves. Limited intelligence, then. She had no tech grenades yet, as her Omni-tool's mini fabricator was busy. Neural shock wouldn't help too much, it would only take one out of the fight. Her armor was even thinner than the marines. She couldn't take any hits. So, she avoided the real fight. With a short leap, her armor's functions making her actually have to put effort into it, she jumped on top of the lab enclosure nearby and watched as the zombies followed. She killed three there, and then threw a couple of Warps, watching as the human flesh came apart easily, while the blue wires seemed to resist the damage. She would definitely need a sample of that for later.

Jenkins saw her stuck on top of the lab enclosure, and pushed back the cordon of zombies facing them so that he could support her. Bermann and Guiterro were left fight six of them, and Guiterro was using one of the exposed chunks of rebar like a hammer. It was unorthodox, to see marines in advanced armor take on these things in melee. Jenkins stupidly got the attention of the nine following her, making him realize what kind of mistake that had been. One Pull and he was safely removed from the rampaging creatures, and then it was like playing a game of whack a mole. The creatures would try to climb up, and Jenknis and her feet and knives met them.

Underneath them, the lab enclosure filled with a couple of the zombies trying to find another way up to them. She ignored them for now, looking over at Bermann and Guiterro. Bermann was pushed up against the wall, but Guiterro was the one fighting four of them. She threw a ceiling light fixture at them, crushing the entire area. Guiterro, in his armor, would be fine. His yelp of surprise did give her pause as she watched the whole gang get stuck under the light.

"Bermann! Get out of there!" Still more of the creatures came out of the far side of the room, lab spaces being hammered on from the inside as they tore their way out of the plastic walls. They were like a hive of insects, and Bermann was too close. As he wrested his arm away from the one he was fighting, another reached through a hole in one enclosure and grabbed him. Julia watched as Bermann was pulled inside the plastic sealed area, and a dozen of the zombies followed, their claws glittering.

They couldn't help them yet, though, as the next wave came after them on top of the enclosure. Guiterro and Jenkins were kicking them off, as the enclosure was not stable enough to quite crush their heads. Jenkins could stab them with his knife, but Julia was the one who killed them. The enclosure was thankfully secured to the walls and ceiling of this place, and after a minute, as well as the wave of zombies that came out of Bermann's last known position, the lab area went quiet. The howling moans came to an end when she found and killed the last survivor of her tech grenade and Singularity burst, still trying to vainly crawl towards them with one arm.

"Guiterro! Go check on Bermann. Constantine, help me secure the room!" He wasn't doing so well. But he still was a marine. He dutifully checked every enclosure, and found every solid wall full of some sort of creepy technology. It had been sealed to the wall with some sort of white glue. Each looked like a horizontally facing flag pole, except instead of a flag, it hoisted bodies. She killed the few zombies still on poles, and one that looked like they were still being converted over.

Jenkins took off his helmet as they got to the last room, and puked. "Fucking zombies!" His hands shook against the rails that support the enclosure. "This is so much worse than Dust and Echoes!"

"Room secure. There should be an elevator at the end of that passage." She pointed, trying to remain on task.

"Did your HUD go dark?" Jenkins asked. "I lost everything the moment those things got within fifteen feet."

She nodded, just to placate him. "I'm an Infiltrator and a biotic. Bad matchup for them."

"Yeah, thank God. Thank God we had you, Constantine." Jenkins said, still a little green. "Let's pick up Bermann and Guiterro, and lets keep moving." When they caught up to Guiterro, they found him trying to pull Bermann off of one of the weird devices. Bermann was freaking out, and his mouth was open but he made no sound. Guiterro had pulled his helmet off, and Julia watched with horror as blue wire started sprouting from his skin, coming in behind his eyeballs. Jenkins puked again, not able to look. Guiterro almost followed, his hispanic face paler than any caucasian's.

The wires had already gotten to his mind. He was done. Julia threw her knife, sending it through the eye not filled with blue wire and deep into his brain. He stopped moving, though the blue wire didn't. The machine he was stuck on continued to do its work, his muscles spasming as they were forcibly changed. Julia had to look away as the blue wire started coming out of his nose. She just pulled her knife out by hand. Stepping out of the lab enclosure, she found Guiterro and Jenkins huddling in the brightest part of the bay.

"We gotta get out of here, Lt!" Guiterro said. "No one would have lived through this! No one!"

"Yeah." Jenkins said shakily. "Yeah, we gotta get out of here. We got lucky this time, but if there are any more of these, we're screwed. Constantine, dos this camp have any shuttles?"

"Are we abandoning the mission, Lieutenant Jenkins?"

"We're a man down, Constantine. We need to get reinforcements and heavier armor before we come back in here and clear this out. Not to mention heavy explosives for all these ... _things_." He motioned to the devices that were visible.

"Denied, Lt." She stated. "The Office of Intelligence has deemed this mission to be of greater importance right now. Reinforcements can follow us in, but right now we are engaging in a flanking maneuver on a signal jammer. This is a civilian world, and they are depending on us to clear that signal so that we can actually help them. If you cannot lead us, then I will."

"Are you calling me insubordinate? I'm saying that we need to get out of here before anyone else dies!"

Julia took off her helmet to give him a level look. Jenkin's eyes were wide, and his vitals were all over the place. He was completely compromised. "My name is Julia Constantine. As of now this is a critical operation to the continued peace of this colony. My rank, as given by the Office of Intelligence, is Commander."

"What?" Jenkins said, trying to process that.

"On your feet, Jenkins. I'm taking command, just as Anderson warned me that I might have to do. You are still needed, marine. This is your homeworld, isn't it?"

Jenkins got up, red faced. No one liked being dressed down for doing what they thought was the right thing. "Ma'am." He saluted. But it wasn't a happy salute.

"Jenkins. If we weren't mission critical, I would agree completely with your decision. But right now Anderson might be going up against the same things. The systems on the MAKO are more shielded, but if those things got inside, then Anderson will be in just as much trouble as we are."

Jenkins took that a bit better, and he and Guiterro were up and standing, though not at 100%. Large cuts ran across their armor, from the claws of those creatures. Guiterro picked up his missile launcher, and slung it across his back. They walked forward, coming into the next area of the labs. This area seemed to be mostly storage, but Julia led them forward forcefully, not breaking stride or slowing down when faced with discomfort. She checked her surroundings, not liking the sounds she wasn't hearing. Fans, ducts, nothing was moving. The elevator was sitting open and ready to accept passengers.

"Rappelling gear!" she stated. "I've got money that's been sabotaged."

Oh, it was. She remotely told it to go down to the next level. It went down, bypassing all safety regulations and slamming down into the bottom of the elevator shaft. Speeding down, the entire thing crashed into pieces at the bottom, and from four hundred meters up she could see blue figures crawling all over the wreckage. "Guiterro!"

"Ma'am?"

"Our friends deserve a gift. Zombies don't like missiles, right?"

"Is this shaft reinforced enough for that?"

"If they made it to code, yes." She said. "Fire."

That felt better. Nothing was moving after that. She attached her rappelling hook, and leapt into the void, heat pushing against her biotic barrier. But she slowed her fall and got down to the level that the elevator shaft ended at. It was a mess, with some sort of burn marks everywhere. One of the walls had collapsed, dirt and mud everywhere. Combining that with the firestorm that was the remains of the elevator, and you had quite the environment. Her breather activated, and Jenkins and Guiterro landed right next to her.

"Looks like someone had a party without us." The damage here wasn't just from their missile. Someone else had been here, and did damage. "Orders, Commander?"

"Search for survivors, but make it quick. I'll get the attention of any of the zombies that are around." They were just glowing blue cybernetic zombies that were created from technology that she wasn't aware of or had no idea about. They had cybernetics that were applied without anesthesia or any form of painkiller, and were more complete than anything she was aware of. She owned Cerberus and all of its patents, and that was top tier as to the possibilities of cybernetics. The depth that these  _things_  had cybernetics went above and beyond what Humans were legally and physically capable of. More importantly, making cybernetics work relied on a deep understanding of the Human genome. These were invasive, and she hadn't heard of anything like this before.

The zombies shouldn't be physically possible. No technology existed that should be able to do this, yet here it was. Worse, it could convert the subject in minutes. This all had to be locked down and secured. Hell, everyone on this ground team would have to go through level three decontamination. The Normandy was equipped to handle that, thankfully. With all of the Quarians onboard the two airlocks were meant to handle that. One near the cockpit and the other at the hangar bay. They would be able to get themselves checked out.

The room had nothing moving. There were a few zombies in pieces on the ground still, but those she made sure were dead. Though there was one room that was still locked and sealed. She hacked it, and found a dead scientist inside. He was covered in cat-sized cockroaches. She  _hated_  cockroaches. She kept herself from squealing, but it was a close thing. "Jenkins!" She yelled, keeping herself under control. "Get your bloody pistol over here!"

He jogged over from his area of investigation, and pulled out his rifle. "Jeez, commander, it's only a couple of bugs." He ran into the room, kicking one of the cockroaches off of the body and making the rest scatter. "Odd, they usually run off when there's lights on. Guess their size makes them not as worried."

"Must be those roaches that the news was talking about. Someone changed them or something." She shuddered. "Gah, I hate roaches."

They had all run off, leaving the body alone. It had bite marks all over it, making its face mangled beyond repair or identification. His name tag said Dr. Manuel, and said something about how he was from ExoGeni. They had a stake in this dig, yes. He might be one of their doctors. His Omni-tool had gotten some sort of contaminant into it, or it might be those creepy pieces of machinery that made zombies interfering with yet more technology. The data was mostly corrupted, but he talked about how they had found the largest and most controversial Prothean site in history.

It better be worth it. Humanity was going to be torn apart by all of this. She got away from the body, and didn't see any of the mutated roaches anywhere. They must be hiding in places. "Jenkins! Let's go to the other elevator."

"Rappelling again, Ma'am?"

"Yeah. But this time, we fire the missile after we start rappelling. The next stop is the Prothean ruins themselves. We can't risk destroying some piece of information that could later be a bunch of technology we could use. We fire only if there is a legitimate threat."

"Aye, Ma'am. Can't get much worse than zombies."

She shot him a look. "Take. That. Back."

"What?" Jenkins said.

The mechanical sounding chirps came back, starting to echo from all around them. "Murphy Damn it!" She rolled to cover, bringing her gun to bear on the lab enclosure that she just checked. Behind the plastic door she could see a single glowing light approaching. Then two. Then four. Then eight. Her hands tightened around the weapon stock, ready to unleash hell on whatever was past that door. What made her feel more than a bit frightened was that her Omni-tool didn't see any motion at all. It still was empty.

* * *

Author's Note

Eden Prime was always an odd mission. I didn't think the whole thing made sense until after I had dug into the details around it. Then I read some of  **Erttheking**  and  **Mizdirected**. Plus, for all that the Geth were talked about as being super dangerous, I always thought that they didn't act like a giant networked supercomputer should. I always thought that the Geth should have better spent their time finding ways to disable the basic technology that people used against them.

Writing this was fun. My poor beta doesn't like scary movies in general, and this just made him uncomfortable. I hope that you guys feel the same way I did when making this scene. Plus, the Geth have had Rannoch for 300 years. Rannoch also had a Prothean Beacon on it. Who is to say that they didn't learn anything from that in their time there? My thoughts are that the Geth should have been ten times harder to beat and ten times more terrifying. They can read and create events that make any kind of sentient react in ways that provoke primal responses, and as such defeat their enemies that way. Machines don't have moral standards, and so bombing a colony is basically not that bad to them.

Also, I have always hated how husks were terrifying back in ME1, yet in every game they got weaker and weaker. Well, no thank you. The Reapers always used what they had efficiently. Human husks aside, I can't wait to show you some of the other reworked husks that come out. Have fun guys, and get ready! Next chapter we finish Eden Prime. Then things get fun. With Saren dead, that opens up doors to a whole new ballgame.


	43. Lucid: Under the Dust

Chapter 43

Eden Prime, Granger Fault

Anderson helped Nihlus to the front seat of the MAKO. "Halmabad owes me a new mandible." The Turian muttered. When Halmabad had hit an apparent sinkhole, Nihlus had slid off the bench and slammed head first into the armored plating of the cockpit. Everyone had ended up on top of the Spectre and Corporal Harris, who claimed the unfortunate title of being the lightest member of the squad. He and Nihlus had both been angry about things, Nihlus more so due to his helmet being off at the time of the crash. He was shaken up, and moving him to the co-pilot's seat was the safer call.

"He might, but he didn't know that the road had been sucked into a sinkhole."

"He's sitting right here!" Halmabad shot back, "Though it really is odd, the water table here is supposed to be perfectly fine. There shouldn't be sinkholes."

"The seismic shocks must have damaged the water table and caused them, Lt. Don't feel too bad that you ran our vehicle into one." Anderson said. "How is our entrance looking?"

"Should be fine, but I've been moving more carefully. Not to mention things in the colony have been going crazy. The entrance tunnel has a couple of defensive options that the local garrison could activate if they needed to. A couple of entrenched turrets and a barrier curtain that they could set up, act like an airlock for anything that needed a quarantine protocol." Halmabad was pointing out some of the data that had come from Anderson's Omni-tool. "Not like it'll be hard to dodge anything in this soup."

The dust cloud had thickened, and the MAKO was making poor time to get around to the tunnel entrance. "Stop before the tunnel. We'll send out a team to go check it out, see if the curtain or turrets are operational."

Halmabad came to a stop for a different reason, though. "Captain, there is another sinkhole right in front of the tunnel. It's too large around for us to drive through easily. If we have to take the MAKO through it, we'll be sitting ducks as we try to jump over the soup bowl."

Odd. That area had been driven over by heavier construction vehicles, and there had been no mentioning of a sinkhole or even structural loss of integrity in front of the vehicle entrance tunnel. Anderson got out with his marines, and went around the buildings towards the tunnel entrance. It was quiet, just like the rest of the dig site. Drag marks were on some of the hab units, and all of the doors had been hacked open.

The tunnel doors themselves had been sealed over by some sort of white covering. It was like a paste, and it still looked wet. Even more odd was the large blocky object sitting on top of the tunnel entrance. It wasn't Alliance, but it looked partially cannibalized from a Terminus system source. Two long cannons stuck out of a body made from a Salarian cargo crate. Armored, most likely EMP shielded. He got out of there before it could turn to him.

The MAKO was waiting on the corner, and had no idea. Rushing back, he got Halmabad's attention. "We've got a problem. Someone sealed the doors shut, and placed a reinforced turret on the top of the armored tunnel housing. Too well reinforced for small arms."

"So, we use the missiles that Pressley had us mount before we launched. No biggie."

"The only angle you'll have on that turret is right in front of it. Do those missiles lock on with a laser?"

"That's old technology, Sir. But maybe they can be laser guided." Usually the missiles would just get a set of coordinates and lock on to anything moving in those coordinates, if they were made with a cheap VI. Most missiles the Alliance used were that way. The ones on the Normandy could lock onto any source displaying signals. Once they picked up a signal, they would emit signals and false ID's to spam the target and jam any defenses it might have. Then, it would hit and spray miniature missiles when it got too close to the enemy sensors. "I'd bet the thing wouldn't be able to take a hit from the big missile."

"That would destroy the tunnel. No, you'll have to use the main cannon on the thing. We can give you supporting fire, keep the turret off of you for a moment."

Halmabad nodded. "But to get the shot I'll need to get right up under it." The dust cloud was too thick to do anything else. "You're going to die out there if I don't get there quick."

"Risks we will have to take." Anderson said. Left out was the fact that the marines would be firing blindly to be at a distance to have cover. "I'll spread out the men. Go in thirty seconds."

Halmabad nodded, moving the MAKO back a distance. He didn't know how far, as the dust cloud sucked in around the MAKO. Anderson didn't waste any time and started to run forward with the marines, flanking him. He pointed at two habitat units, and split the five marines up. One with him and three into the other building. He took Harris with him, hopefully the kid could handle the heat that was coming.

At the twenty eight second mark, Anderson opened fire with his LMG. The rounds were larger than normal, and the Lancer rifles spraying rounds ineffectively around the target. The turret woke up fast, though, and Anderson activated his shields. He was a Soldier class, with the now-defunct Cerberus Foundation upgrades. Those were now supposed to be standard issue for Alliance marines, but the reality was that they had invested in the least expensive bidder to supply their marines with gene mods. So when the rockets hit the hab units they had taken cover in, Anderson was still standing. Harris went flying back as the support pillar he took cover behind shattered, the rocket aimed at them exploding on the side of the hab unit that Harris had taken cover in.

Anderson was staggered, but he didn't let up on his fire. He saw that Harris' vitals dropped, and instantly knew that the kid was going to be either crippled or dead. He went through the back wall of the hab unit, and the other team member's vitals also showed a loss of kinetic barriers, and he knew why immediately. He saw their hab unit go flying through the air, and through the window frames could see the marines tumbling like they were clothes in a washing machine. Guns, men, and the lone female marine in the squad went flying. He had gotten a mod on his rifle from a Salarian dealer, extending an Omni-tool's deployment range to more than just the wrist.

He fired a tech mine, and then saw another hab unit in motion. Except that this one wasn't going away from the field. He blinked, watching as the MAKO pushed the hab unit from behind and keeping it in between it and the turret. Smart, for Halmabad. The turret immediately took offence to the MAKO's presence, and fired at the moving hab unit. As an afterthought, Anderson also saw another missile spat in his direction.

He fell back, letting the missile hit the pillar he had taken cover near. Knowing what had happened to Harris, he let it shatter. Once the pillar broke, Anderson jumped. His hab unit flew back, now completely knocked off of its supports. He jumped through the broken windows, his gene mods and HUD keeping his focus on the turret. His gun barked, still shooting even though his building had been launched.

The MAKO continued forward, even with half of its mobile piece of cover shattered. But he saw with a bit of a grin that its main cannon stuck out from the shattered polymers. It returned fire, but the shot got stopped by a brightly glowing kinetic barrier. Halmabad, not to be slowed down, fired the secondary machine guns at the turret. Anderson kept his fire locked on the turret, and he could see the kinetic barrier barely being effected. The tech mine wasn't even angled right, and it exploded against the face of the rocky outcropping the turret was strapped to instead of the turret itself.

It's next volley actually hit the MAKO directly, knocking it back a distance. Halmabad could finally see the turret, and decided that the main gun wouldn't be enough. The MAKO jumped upwards, jumped directly on top of the turret. Using the element zero core, he reduced its mass and kept the nose balanced on the turret while he took his sweet time aiming the gun. He must have hit something sensitive, as the explosion of parts and sparking energy was fabulous.

He released the Overkill mod on his gun, letting all of its heat finally vent. He held it far away from him, the red hot barrels spraying Omni-gel over the areas that needed cooling. That was the price of going full auto like that. You could disable to venting process on a gun for a moment, and depending upon how well reinforced the gun was, the rain of fire would last longer. Once he was sure that nothing else was shooting at them, he ran back to the marines. The hab units had flown back, and his had rolled up the hill behind them. He found Harris first, who was brushing himself off. Blinking, he looked up at his squad tracker. The signals from the rest of the squad had flatlined. Yet here Harris was, getting up on his own.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Captain!" Harris said. "Woo! I flew like thirty feet!"

"Sync your Omni-tool to the squad channels." Anderson said. "I'm getting off readings from you and the rest of the squad."

Harris did so, but his readings didn't update. That was bad. If the squad channels were not just jammed, but hacked, then the enemy had their active location. "Man, I am so glad those buildings were made to code!"

"They weren't." Anderson grunted. "Otherwise the supports would have actually been dug into the ground instead of just piledrived in. Those were supposed to be able to take a little punishment." He pulled Harris to his feet, the man groaning in pain. The thirty foot flight must have shaken him up a little bit. "Let's regroup. Look for the others."

Harris nodded, and he limped his way to the next thrown hab unit. That one had ended up further down the road, and had scrape marks all over it from where it had ended up. It was directly on top of another unit, awkwardly sprawled across the top and the open end of it sticking out over the street. "Marines! Shake it off!"

The reply took a longer moment. Someone crawled to the edge of the hab unit, helmet on and looking shaken up. His visor had been scraped and he had a long scratch across one shoulder. "Captain, we can't get the others out. Some of the frame collapsed on top of the others."

Anderson nodded. "Drop your rappel line!" The marine's gear still functioned. Anderson grabbed the line, and secured it to the street. Then he started trying to climb up the line, but the entire structure shifted as he pulled on it. "Wait, all of you secure yourselves. I'm going to pull down the unit."

"Roger, Sir. We're ready!" With the help of Harris, they yanked the rappel line so that the hab unit would tilt. Tilt it did, letting all of its contents come tumbling out. The three marines all came out like bowling pins, one of whom had a crumpled bed frame wrapped around them. The groaning was enough that Anderson had each of them checked over by the squad medic. All three of their armors had been scratched, and their barrier systems were overloaded. They needed to have their armor checked out or fixed.

Removing the bed frame from Corporal Reddin was accomplished quickly, but she didn't enjoy the ribbing from the male marines about being taken advantage of by a bed. She was not happy about it. Halmabad showed up with the MAKO after he sent Harris to go get him. Reddin had to be strapped in right behind Nihlus, and one other squad member was strapped down to the walls. Only Harris, Halmabad, and Anderson himself were still at 100%. Harris only because he was claiming that and the squad life sign function was not working. Anderson would normally call for another batch of marines for support. Humans could fight well, and fight long, but their equipment was sub par compared to every other race. He would have pulled back most of his team for damaged armor and dangerous conditions at this point. Eden Prime had become a tomb for anyone and anything that was out in the dust cloud. Marines had been armed with the wrong ammunition, and now were just as vulnerable as the rest of the colony's population.

But the cloud was too thick to jump the MAKO out of to do laser-burst communications. There was no way to communicate with the Normandy to get them extracted. The local area had been hit by invaders not twenty minutes ago. Only after the comm jamming had gone up could this attack have taken place. To be able to wipe out a colony so fast, though. The indignity of not being able to defend any of the people who had died already. It all was a lot of feeling that was going through him.

"Halmabad. Whatever is on that door looked like a spray-sealant." He said. "We need to bust open the doors."

"Way ahead of you, Captain." He said. "The chemical thrusters cooked it all off,it's why i took so long in getting to you."

"I have to commend you, Lieutenant Halmabad. Jumping on top of the turret did not occur to me."

"Well, I was pissed at it, and it was for sure not going to die unless I used one of the big missile on it. So I went at it from another angle."

"Is this what you were teaching on Mars?"

"Damn right, Sir." He said proudly.

"Glad to see it being put into use here. Just let me know if you plan on attempting anything that risks lives." He looked up ahead, where the doors had been closed. Now they stood barely open. Dented, but open. "Did you do that?"

"Uh, couldn't really get to the last patch of sealant without basically jumping at it."

"It was like watching a Volus mating ritual from the first person." Nihlus moaned from the side seat. "I'm wishing I could unsee that."

"If you're eyesight is like the MAKO's cameras, I would get sick too." Halmabad returned. "The doors won't take much more to break open, I sort of bent them. Though that could have been when I shot the power box for the doors, that had been powering the turret. They won't be opening for us anytime soon."

"Or getting hacked." Anderson said. "All of this suggests a lot of preparation. Too much for this to be executed without inside help."

"You have a splinter government, those 'Reds', correct?" Nihlus asked. "Would they try something like this?"

Anderson creased his eyebrows in thought. "They wouldn't try for a major colony without being able to take it over first. The Reds are mostly just criminal elements within Alliance Space. They don't have many colonies that are outside of Alliance control, but it is possible." Eden Prime is on the edge of the Terminus Systems, and was a symbol of Human advancement into the troubled area. "Halmabad, blow that door. We're going down there and getting rid of this jamming signal."

It took two shots from the main cannon to damage one side of the door enough to let the MAKO through. Anderson made sure he busted open both doors, so that they could retreat through them if necessary. But it only took another minute. When the doors sat bent open after the MAKO had rammed them a couple of times, Anderson said that Halmabad could move forward. "Everyone in there will know that we're coming, Sir."

"Can't be avoided today. That turret had to be constructed somewhere close. They didn't have much time to mount it." Anderson said. "At least in the tunnel we will be able to see further than fifteen feet. Go in there assuming hostiles."

"You think so?"

"The best place to stop a vehicle from getting down there is this entrance. They already fortified it with the turret. If I were them, and I am not much of an engineer, I would have sensors and cameras piping information from it to whatever their command post is. The next best place to contain us is on the other side of that door or somewhere inside the tunnel. If there are more turrets inside, we won't have room to maneuver."

"We've got room, sir. Those tunnels were dug to code, which means that we have plenty of room to jump or dodge to the sides. We should be fine." Anderson nodded, and Halmabad jumped in. The area near the breach had filled with the dust cloud, and more was pouring in. When the lights of the MAKO played across the tunnel, Anderson saw lasers paint their vehicle. "Jumping!" Halmabad warned, seeing them at the same time.

Their vehicle cleared the dust, and Anderson could see a long tunnel going down into the depths of the earth. Nihlus let out a gasp, seeing the four targeting lasers of further turrets in the tunnel. Halmabad wasn't intimidated, finding and destroying the power couplings that they were attached to. This had the added problem of plunging the entire tunnel into darkness, as the lights and air scrubbers turned off. The only source of light was now the MAKO.

"Why do I get the feeling I shouldn't have shot those…" Halmabad muttered. "Sir, I can probably fix up one of those power couplings. It would take some time, though."

"We don't have time to wait." Anderson warned. "We have to get down there and get rid of this blackout. Then we can evac our people and pick up any marines that are stranded out there."

"Not to mention all those people who rely on cheap VI's to drive their air cars for them." Halmabad started going down the tunnel at a slow pace, turning the lights up to full power and angle. Anderson looked at the rear camera, and thought he saw a couple of lights in the rear camera, but it could have been reflections from the bright lights on the MAKO. "Sir, up ahead, we've got something."

The tunnel sections ahead started showing signs of damage. A GRIZZLY had been taken out, and fire was pouring from its engine. It looked half melted from some sort of high energy shots. A lot of them. It's main gun was pristine, though. He didn't want to know why. Corpses had mysteriously disappeared, though. Drag marks showed that they had been taken into some sort of side chamber up ahead. The tunnel curved in a U shape up ahead, going downwards into the Prothean ruins. A security post had been maintained here.

Wall paneling and ceiling chunks had fallen down from combat and other damage here, exposing some of the dark grey and brown dirt. Some of it looked freshly churned, or had drill marks in it. Anderson pointed that out to Nihlus, who kept the secondary guns locked on obvious holes. The Turian didn't seem to have any trouble adapting to Human vehicle systems.

"Sir, do you want to check that security point?"

"Yes, I do. It still looks sealed." Anderson motioned to Harris, who quickly put down the Omni-gel they had been smearing on Reddin's ruined leg armor. He grabbed his rifle, and took up position near the door. The other marines angled weapons out the back door, and Anderson slammed the button to activate the large door. Rear spotlights activated, painting the closest fifteen meters of tunnel in a little bit of light. The marks of blood or fluid of any kind were concentrated on this doorway. "Harris, with me. Halmabad, I want the main gun on that door. Bring the fire if I need it."

Anderson and Harris got to the door, and it was already unlocked. With a single press of the small haptic field, the door slid open. Inside, he finally found bodies. Something to be proud of. They filled every crevice of the room, and their bodies were all facedown and not breathing. Most likely dead, but he finally would have answers. He motioned for Harris to cover him as he got to the first body, a Human woman in a jumpsuit. He picked her up, moving her out of the security station.

He did not expect her to get back up, or hug him. He hugged her back, to comfort the poor woman that had survived. "Excuse me, Miss," He started to say. Then he noticed her face. It was blackened, the skin dead and flaking. Her eyes were gone, replaced by glowing blue pits of circuitry. Her mouth still had teeth, which she used on his visor. He tried to pry her off, but her muscles looked larger than his. Then, she gave an unearthly howl, his armor and suit biometrics cutting off. All he could see was just the other side of his visor, where glowing blue teeth and empty pits instead of eyes pressed against his visor.

Then the creature was kicked off, Harris' boot catching it in the face. Anderson rolled, watching as Harris tried to fire his gun but it did nothing. The woman zombie thing was already getting up, cybernetic arm muscles rippling as it pushed to get up from the floor. Anderson pulled out his illegal sidearm, modded to be EMP shielded. It worked fine, blowing the zombie creature apart into giblets.

His HUD almost came back for a moment, but then he could hear more howls from the security room. It died right after that, as more of the surprisingly able bodied corpses started pouring from the chamber. "Halmabad!"

The machine gun answered, giving him room to fall back to the MAKO. His HUD gradually came back, booting up and slowly coming back online. But it died again as dozens of the creatures started running forward en masse. The main gun barked, and the center of their position exploded in chunks of blue and black flesh and wires. Anderson's rifle was still dead, so he used his pistol on the horde. It had to recharge after five shots, though. His LMG wasn't even responding. These things must be putting out fields that stopped everything.

But they died quickly. Anderson glanced behind them, up the tunnel, and felt his heart slow down a bit. At least a dozen more were flanking them, digging themselves out of the dirt walls. The fresh dirt had been digging marks, yes, but now they allowed the creatures the chance to pincer them. Anderson kicked the open button for the back of the MAKO, letting the marines inside fire up the tunnel. They appeared to be effective, as their guns were still working.

He, on the other hand, didn't just sit there while waiting for his pistol to cool. A tech mine helped destabilize the mass of enemies, while the main gun barked yet again. Beside him, Harris was furiously slapping his rifle, trying to get it to fire. Anderson grimaced. He wasn't doing anything helpful. "Harris!" The kid turned to him. "CQC!"

The first creatures to get to them met Harris' rifle and Anderson's boot. He tripped his and crushed its torso, which didn't even slow it down. Chest missing vital components to a human, the corpse got back up and started moving up his leg, buried in its circuitry. The elbow that crushed its head stopped the creature. But that let two others dogpile him, forcing him to have to fire the pistol at one while grappling it, and throwing the other from his back onto the ground to be able to repeat the process.

Another gun joined them, as Nihlus limped out of the back of the vehicle and started firing his Turian rifle, the gun tearing apart the creatures. Writhing torsos and twitching hands and feet remained on the left flank, as Nihlus destroyed all of the creatures approaching from the upper part of the tunnel. Halmabad decided to put the MAKO to good use, deploying the expandable metal plates that assisted in the gliding through atmosphere. Then he charged, crushing dozens of them on his way to the U-turn. Harris and Anderson were left alone for the moment, as the creatures tried to follow the biggest target. They moved in a mass, and Halmabad jumped the MAKO on top of that mass the moment it was far enough away from them. Nihlus and Anderson kept shooting, picking off stragglers.

But they kept coming from the chamber, more than a hundred now. Halmabad was still running them over, but his barriers had died. Long scratch marks started showing up on the MAKO, and Nihlus' gun overheated. He appeared to have used an Overkill function, and he dropped that gun onto one of the writhing torsos, letting it handle the venting heat. He switched to a vicious looking hooked Batarian shotgun, which barked short bursts at the corpses. Harris backed up behind them, long scratches all over his armor. Anderson was sure that he looked the same, but he kept on swinging. As a soldier, he had been given complete control over his hormone and adrenaline reactions. He could inject extra adrenaline into his bloodstream, boosting his reaction time and strength in his muscles for a short time. He abused this, punching the creatures out whenever they came into range.

He liked to box. These creatures liked large sweeping strikes that were telegraphed and easily avoided. Though their claws just shredded anything. So his strikes knocked them over or he would sweep their feet. If he got the chance, he would use the butt of his rifle to crack heads or his boot if he could get away with that. But for the most of the fight, he boxed and tried to disable or trip the creatures until his pistol's four shots were ready to fire again.

Nihlus wasn't moving, but he was doing more damage. Harris was having trouble against just one of the things, having lost his rifle in the madness and was in a wrestling match with the zombie. He got kicked, the corpse's mule kick launching Harris onto his back. Anderson paid back the earlier favor, kicking the zombie off of him and finishing it with his boot. There was blood on the inside of Harris' visor. "You alright, marine?" He yelled, getting ready for the next wave. Another dozen or so had unburied themselves from the exposed walls of the tunnel, and three dozen more were scattered near the MAKO, climbing all over it. Halmabad jumped, the top of the vehicle scratching the ceiling. Some blue chunks were left behind, and he freely landed in the midst of the creatures again, his wheels grinding several under their treads. The main gun wasn't firing, but the secondary cannons were. the rapid fire small arms cannons were cutting apart the creatures, but it wasn't enough. Still more were emerging from their hiding places. "NIhlus!" He yelled, once Harris gave him a nod.

"We need to cut them off!" Nihlus said. "I wish we had a Krogan right now!" He let out with his rifle again, cutting down a few but not nearly enough to dull the horde.

"Harris, do you have any det-packs?" Anderson asked, and grimaced when Harris shook his head.

"Reddin had two, Captain!"

He watched as the MAKO jumped again, its back door sealed again and just the exterior cannons firing. There was no way he could get Halmabad to deliver those det-packs. Much less charge through the rush of zombies. He felt his muscles spasm as the adrenaline rush wore off. Now the creatures would have the advantage on him. Halmabad burst out of the throng, driving up the tunnel past them. Leaving the entire horde staring right at the three standing sentients daring to exist.

Harris threw one of the corpses back at them, while Nihlus and Anderson threw tech mines and gunfire. The horde didn't even seem remotely depleted. That was when the main cannon's strike hit. The MAKO had taken position roughly twenty meters away, and was blowing entire chunks of the zombie horde apart. Secondary guns picked off anything headed for Anderson and company.

He knew it was over when his HUD came back online, and after the use of another adrenaline boost. Nihlus was huffing, his mandibles open and his plates wide on his nose. Harris was shaking, as he made sure that each zombie on the ground near him was dead. His guns came back online, giving him some relief. "Sound off!"

"Everyone here is ok, a bit banged up." Halmabad said, sounding level headed. "What the hell were those things?"

"Let's call them zombies, though they have cybernetics keeping them working. Reddin, blow the hell out of that security checkpoint. There might be more in there and I don't want to be delayed any further." Anderson sat down, letting his body cool off from the use of his gene mods. Harris slumped against the wall, breathing hard and just staring at the field of bodies.

"Oh my god," Harris muttered.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but these are not what was chasing me outside." Nihlus said. "Spirits of ash and blood, someone out there is a right bastard. Sorry about your people, Captain. I didn't know anything about a possibility of an attack."

"I'm not going to blame you, Nihlus. Just keep shooting whatever these things are. You've got the only other guns that are EMP shielded."

"I would, and normally this would be fine if my leg wasn't crushed." He said. "But I've never seen or heard of anything like this before."

"These things aren't intelligent. Otherwise they would have been using better tactics." Anderson noted. He felt the wave of heat and massive explosion as Reddin tossed her det-packs into the security station, simply leaning out of the MAKO to do so. It drove away, taking her to safety and letting the security station explode with a blast of sparks. Anderson sighed in relief, watching as Harris checked over each corpse and made sure that their heads had been crushed. One tried to jump on him, but a precision shot from Nihlus kept it down. It didn't even show any signs of life until Harris had come within steps of the creature. Someone had programmed these things to be ambush predators. Or at least able to use stealth when necessary. At times they showed intelligence, but then at others they did not. Very odd.

"Sir, pile in. After this turn we can go down into the ruins and get back in contact with the Normandy." Anderson nodded, helping Nihlus limp over to the MAKO and hopping in the back with Harris. All of the other marines looked just as scratched up as they were. "Alright, Captain, you'll want to see this."

The next part of the tunnel, now that the MAKO had moved, was a bit more worrying. All of the tunnel's wall and ceiling panels had been pried off. The debris sat on the ground, exposing the dirt and stone of the tunnel and tearing out all of the lights. It was dark, just like the rest of the tunnel. But the ground had been set up with barricades, filling the base of the tunnel and making large trenches. It all was recently moved, and the sounds of activity further down the tunnel showed more trouble.

"Can you jump us the entire length of the tunnel?" Anderson pointed. "Go over all of this crap and get us to the bottom?"

"I'd be jumping blind, Sir."

"We're going to get bogged down here, and we can't take much more extended fighting. Going section by section and fighting more of these zombies is just going to whittle us down. Arm the missile launcher, we should have a clear shot once we reach the bottom."

"Aye, Captain. Jumping." Halmabad judged the distance involved, and gunned the MAKO. The chemical thrusters carried them over the barricades and debris, but the tank had no undercarriage cameras to give him an idea of what they were jumping over. There was none of the plinking noise that would indicate anything shooting at them, nor any of the eerie howls that the zombies gave.

They drifted for a long six seconds, the chemical thrusters firing consistently to keep them in the air, and the mass of the tank reduced. When they finally came to a halt, Anderson finally breathed. Out of the front of the vehicle, they could see the Prothean ruins. The elevator shafts came down up ahead, but the vehicle bay entered into one of the long hallways that the Protheans loved. It was not in the best of shape. One part of the wall had collapsed, and water had spilled over the floor.

But at the end of the tunnel he could see a glowing green pillar, one that made the cameras fuzz out. All of the sensors were being overloaded, and Halmabad turned them off, the white noise of the noise detectors getting piercing in its tone. "That it, Sir?"

"Yes. I don't feel like trying to detonate it from up close." Anderson said. "Take it out from here."

"You got it, Sir!" He pressed the button to fire, but the MAKO didn't respond. "Aww crap. The internals are being interrupted by the crap out there."

"Fine. Harris! Get up on top and fire the missile manually." He glanced around. "Reddin, get on the turret!" He went outside with Harris to give him cover. As he did so, he noticed that the main gun was rotating slowly. Some of the metal had been scratched by the zombies, and the gears were not shifting as fast as they needed to. Harris got on top of the MAKO, while Anderson activated his armor's flashlight. The walls made out of dirt didn't reflect the light like the panels did. But he noticed something that seemed in motion.

The walls hadn't been untouched. Small strands of white adhesive or sealant had been placed on the rocks of the walls, and didn't seem to show up or reflect light. He poked the walls, finding the sealant to be hard and cool, not feeling like it had been applied in the last day. This looked like it had been applied weeks or months back. The rock walls would have been behind the wall paneling, as well, meaning that whoever did this had drones doing something odd behind the wall panels while the base was under Alliance control.

The sealant looked almost like resin. Or some kind of thick paste. It went all over the walls and looking up, he could see that it went up to the ceiling. It was hexagonal, almost wrapping around the larger boulders in the walls. "Halmabad!" He yelled, running back towards the MAKO. "Move!"

He thought he saw something further ahead of them in the ruins move, with a glowing eye of some sort angling out of the galleries. Flashes of light started moving down the walls, moving in a hexagon pattern up and towards the ceiling of the tunnel. Halmabad tried to react, driving backwards and jumping the vehicle. The ceiling collapsed right above him, though. The MAKO was dragged down to the earth by a boulder that collapsed twice its size. The tank glowed blue, its bulk mass increasing just as they hit the ground. It was a good choice, as the boulder crushed the back of the MAKO first. It crumpled, and Anderson thought he saw Harris slide off the top of the MAKO, and then get covered by smaller rocks.

Anderson took cover, just as the walls around him collapsed. Seeing the path of the collapsed rocks, he took cover behind one of the wall supports. It held, barely. Dust and rock fell all around them, and fell down all the way up to the U-turn. The sound was thunderous, and Anderson was pressed up against the wall by the debris. He waited until the shaking stopped, and then pulled himself free. His armor was scraped up even worse, But he couldn't see the MAKO.

It was completely buried. But he wasn't the only one in the rock. "Jenkins?" He asked, seeing the downed Lieutenant among the rocks. "How the hell did you end up here?"

"Sir, I don't know about you, but I have no idea. After those bugs attacked, things got a bit crazy." He pointed up at an exposed section of duct, sticking out from the rock. "I came out of there."

"Wait, what bugs?"

Jenkins blinked, his helmet looking partially melted. "The ones that have the weapons and the tentacles. They can dig their way through the walls, I think. They sabotaged the elevators, and we had to rappel own. Crap, Uh, Sir, we got more of them coming!"

Anderson turned, seeing the light from before returning. With a few dozen fellows. Each looked to be around six feet long, with two long tentacles that rose above the creature's main body. Their heads were long, and nozzle-like, with glowing eyes on either side of their heads. Four legs kept them standing, but that was not what made them terrifying. In their tentacles they held weapons, of a design that Anderson was not familiar with. Their body was covered by a carapace, and along their legs and joints he could see some sort of armor covering them.

"What works on them, Lieutenant!" He barked, bringing out his rifle. His LMG would be for when they got closer.

"They're bugs, sir. Just shoot. Though these bugs sort of shoot back."

* * *

Julia rolled away from the door, blasts of energy, and not normal rounds, taking chunks out of the floors. There were four of them, all of them around the size of a horse. The glowing beads at the heads of their guns were what she had confused as eyes. Their real bodies clawed their way across the floor, four armored legs stretching across the tiles. She didn't know what they were, but they definitely weren't friendly.

Jenkins took cover behind one of the support posts, but rolled away from it after one of the tentacles sprayed the area with some sort of spit. Jenkins rolled away from it, smoke rising off of his armor where the spray had landed. Acid. These bug things could spray acid. As well as shoot high energy guns at them. Even better.

She stuck her hand out, launching a tech grenade that latched onto the front of the creature's face. It was large, and that was easy to hit. The explosion consumed its entire head, and the body and weapons slumped to the ground. The bleeding wound dripped fluid all over the floor, which started to smoke as well. Acid blood. Great. Some species had that, like the Klixen. Though those were only larval creatures themselves. If someone was arming and training Klixen for war, that was a lot of effort.

Three more of the horse-sized creatures pushed through the lab enclosure's door, and those little cockroaches from before also poured through. Those creatures picked up the fallen weapons, and in teams of two started holding them up and angling them at her. Well. Worse. Looking back at Jenkins, she noticed only a hole in the floor.

"Jenkins!" She yelled. "Guiterro?"

"Bugs! I can't-" Guiterro was pierced by the sharp points of the creature's head, while the tentacles sprayed acid and shot him relentlessly. All while they had his leg trapped in their jaw. There was no sign of Jenkins, as the area he was in was getting covered in the bugs. She couldn't save Guiterro, and she wasn't armed to handle a whole hive of insect invaders. With a grimace, she cloaked. She jumped up to the top of the lab enclosure, and slowly moved down the poles towards the entrance to the Prothean ruins. She turned down her suit's input, as she heard Guiterro's screams get louder and louder.

Jenkins was just silent. She didn't know what to think. He got pulled under the floor, where some of the ventilation shafts went. That was certainly going to be filled with the bugs. Jenkins wore the same armor that Guiterro did, and it wouldn't stop anything those bugs were doing. She wasn't wearing enough armor by far, and the catsuit's main defensive ability was cloaking. One shot from any of those guns and her kinetic barriers would drop. Biotic barrier might protect slightly more than that, but the acid spray would pass right through all her barriers. Guiterro's armor was two inches thick, and her catsuit wasn't even half that. One spray of acid and she was gone.

Shuddering, she moved silently into the Prothean ruins. The walls were filled with exposed circuitry, and long tubes that connected to long pods that extended from the walls. The walls were at least two stories tall, with three pods and their support systems stacked on top of each other per wall section. The walls and pods had been exposed, Human designed terminals connected to some of them. She ignored them, seeing instead the marks of acid on some of the Prothean metal. The marks of the creatures using the Prothean designed power networks and lines of cords as a highway. Julia could see that they were moving behind the walls, the smaller ones running along the old pipes the Protheans had.

She kept walking, her suit keeping her quiet and stealthed. She drained a couple of the terminals for power, and kept walking until the hallway opened up larger. The larger hallway opened up into a bigger space, one that had been dug out by the Alliance. It looked like it had once been an underground cave, but had been expanded outwards and revealed a large Prothean command bunker. At least, that is what it looked like. The big edifice had a large ramp going up to the inside, with guard posts and reinforced plating in places that allowed infantry to take cover behind. Old weapon emplacements also were present, but the Prothean technology had long since been stripped from the site.

There was a large Human tunnel that had been dug off to one side, going upwards at a steep curve. Most of the wall paneling had been stripped off, turned into a large pile of discarded metal in the middle of the road. She didn't understand that at all. But there were bugs moving around here, staying in the ventilation areas that the Protheans built and the Humans later connected to rather than simply construct their own. It was simpler, yes, but now it was letting these bugs go anywhere in the base.

The rampway leading up to the bunker was unguarded, or at least seemed that way. She could see the small bugs doing something to the control mechanisms for the ramp. She made it past the bugs with hardly any noise, the creatures absorbed in doing something to the hinges for the ramp. Inside, she could see the Prothean terminals all dark, nothing turned on. A large piece of machinery in the front was on, however, hooked up using some spindly white cable to a power source. Again, the bugs were all over it. It looked like a bright green glowing metal spike sticking up into the air. Her Omni-tool flickered the closer she got to it. The source of the jamming, no doubt.

At least ten of the small bugs were crawling all over that, and she didn't want to disturb them. Stealth was her defense now. She walked forward, coming to the actual secure part of the bunker. Here, she saw something that if her devices weren't jammed, she would record. She saw an even larger bug, almost the size of the MAKO. It had an Asari in it's tentacles, holding her against some Prothean odd shaped pillar. The pillar was glowing, and the glow extended to the Asari. Looking past the pillar, she could see a pile of broken limbs. Asari, Human, and one Turian body slumped in the pile.

Another Asari was held in the arms of another one of the creatures, sitting off to the side. She was slumped in the hold of the creature. She had her eyes open, at least. She struggled slightly, but the creature's hold on her was tight. Everyone else they had seen was either dead or undead so far. Curious, she sat down to observe the creature and what it was doing. She set her Omni-tool to record, knowing that being this close to the jamming device would make any recording a broken file. But it would be something. Some still shots of the Asari in the tentacles of the horse-sized bug. Then she took some stills of the Asari being pressed up against the odd Prothean pillar.

The pillar stopped glowing, and the Asari pressed up against it cried out, blood leaking from her eyes and mouth. The bug pressed the Asari up even closer, the Asari going quiet. Without any fanfare, the Asari's body was dumped in the pile with every other sentient. Julia took some still shots of that, and watched as the bug turned away from the pillar. It walked quickly, head bobbing as it moved past her and down the ramp. Still shots of its head, covered with armor and with some sort of visor, she gladly took. The MAKO-sized creature left the bunker, the horse-sized one following closely. The Asari groaned as she was carried away, the only survivor of this entire mess.

Even the little bugs left, the bunker going silent. But in the distance, she could hear another sound. A rumbling, something that she had heard before. Moving nearer to the pillar and the large bay windows, she could see the twin spotlights of the MAKO come to a stop at the bottom of the tunnel. Oh, good. Someone could help her. Then her stomach fell, as she saw the missile turret on top of the MAKO line up a shot for the Prothean bunker. Those anti-ship missiles would reduce this place to slag. No wonder the bugs started moving out of here.

She put her feet back on the floor, and started quickly walking back to the ramp. BUt as soon as her feet touched the ground, she was pulled towards the pillar, now a chilling green light emanating from it and reaching out towards her. She tried to use her biotics to resist, but that only made it drag her there faster. Kinetic and biotic barriers did nothing against it, as she could feel something icy reaching across her hands and then up into her skull.

 _Do not panic._  She heard just as her mind was pulled to some other perception. She was standing in a weird circle, and she could see four figures standing around her.

"What the hell is this?" She yelled, her voice oddly carrying in the empty space. It was both real and not real.

_You are Human. You have inherited all of our failures. We are the Protheans._

Her head hurt, when they said that. "Let me go!" She yelled, seeing what had happened to the Asari. She didn't have anyone to pull her off of this, and the MAKO was about to missile this position.

 _You must see our failure. Heed our warning. Or die as we did._  Small bubbles rose from the edges of the circle, coming nearer to her.  _Touch and see, experience our memories._  Wait, what? She saw one of the smaller bubbles, and something yellow within it. She reached her hand out, touching the bubble.

_The final Sunset upon our glorious homeworld. The fires of billions of dead and dying as our atmosphere is burned. All of our great cities are laid to waste, and our people are only fodder before the invaders. The few that can survive board their ships, going whatever direction is safe. But we must remember the homeworld. Before it is but ash and dust._

She pulled back, oddly not hurt by the experience. The headache had even lessened. Three more bubbles surrounded her. She poked the next largest, one that showed some sort of battle. She didn't even know what the hell was going on, but something about this made a lot of sense.

 _Our weapons were derived from their own. While effective, theirs were more so. Our legions were many, but they could do little when the weakest of us could be turned into the strongest of adversaries._  Images flashed past her, of their armies and formations and vehicles, all being systematically destroyed by even greater numbers and firepower on the ground.  _Conventional warfare was ineffective. Any gains made with it always resulted in failure elsewhere. Learn from our fate._

Then she was back at the circle. "What do you want me to see?" She asked. "There has to be a point to this!"

Only one bubble remained.  _Your mind must seek out other answers. A Human can only see but a few things before their minds cannot accept any more. The Avatar of Vigilance requests that you see this, and know of our enemy. Of your enemy._  She saw that the bubble was black, and seemed dark. Just coming near it made her head ache. But she was Julia Constantine. She wasn't weak.

The bubble exploded around her, and she saw Eden Prime.  _See our enemy! Know it's face!_  Her head hurt more and more, as she tried to follow the memories. The emotions were like nails being dragged underneath her fingernails, and made her want to cry and rage and yell, all at the same time. They were alien, and some part of them just simply did not make sense. She tried to look up at the enemy they were speaking of, but the pain became too much. All that she could make out was a large triangular body, and four glowing eyes.

Then, the pillar released her and she dropped to the floor. She didn't even know that she was floating. She slumped to the ground, just breathing. She was decloaked, and her arms and legs felt asleep. She dragged her left hand around, seeing that the Omni-tool had gone into its screensaver mode. She had been here longer than five minutes.

She had to use one of the chairs to stand up, her legs shaky. Her Omni-tool booted back up, noticing her no longer unconscious. She looked around the Prothean command center, bleary eyed. Nothing moved and nothing was on fire. In fact, she couldn't see anything very well. A quick drink of water from her pack and splashing some of it into her face helped, and twisting the chair helped bring her to the window. The outside area of the tunnel was dark, and there was no sign of the MAKO. But she could see glowing lights, the same as the bugs gave off, moving around the floor and looking for something.

Hopefully Anderson was able to get to a safer location. She still was capable, though. The huge spike that went through the roof and seemed to be jamming everything was dependent upon a power source. The Prothean jamming device would be worth more intact, so that the Alliance wouldn't suffer from this in the future. The bug's power source would also be worth saving, and so she focused on the cables that connected it to to device. They were made out of some sort of thick mucus-covered wire. A small tech grenade modified into a det-pack was all that was needed. The wires were resistant to her knife, and she voltage might shock her if she was exposed.

She set a timer for two minutes, and then made her way out of the bunker. The ramp looked like it was wired using the same mucus covered wires to another small box, this one seemingly tied to a small detection system on the area leading to the ramp. Definitely a trap. These bugs liked those, and didn't act mindless or sacrificial. They valued their dead and the dead of their enemies, and they showed some measure of familiarity with Prothean-based technology. She took some still images of that, and considered where she would go. She didn't want to trigger this trap, nor did she want to lose the chance to study their power sources. The Alliance would love to have that kind of knowledge.

So that left climbing up on top of the bunker or going underneath it. On top seemed more helpful at the moment, as there were many of the bugs down below her. Alternatively, she could get some distance from this place, and guarantee her survival and get the intel she had back to the Alliance. But with the two minute timer, it was unlikely that she could get too far. She also had to let her cloak recharge. There were no terminals that she could drain power from within the bunker.

That left to roof. She was able to get up there, with the help of her boots and a little bit of biotics. The roof of the Prothean bunker was weathered from age, and a couple of lunch wrappers were still up here from when the workers removed the old defensive emplacements. That was a good sign. None of the bugs were up here, either. She looked down at her wrist, staying decloaked for the moment. When her bomb went off, the wires were cut and the jamming device turned off, the lights in the bunker dimming.

Her Omni-tool turned on, and the local channels came back online. She was too far underground to communicate with the Normandy. But she was close enough to hear the sound of someone that she did know.

" _Nihlus! Hold down that side! Hold it, they're coming through!_ " Anderson. He was okay.

" _Comms are back up!_ " Nihlus said back. " _But we're still buried here!_ "

"Sir!" She said, interrupting the conversation. "I've disabled the jammer. Secondary objective complete. I also have found whatever the scientists were trying to dig up. I have it observed but not secured." She tried looking around, seeing hardly anything in the large cavern.

" _Constantine! We saw Jenkins, He's alright. We sent him and the wounded back to the surface. You should head back up yourself. These things are going to wipe out any kind of resistance that we can mount._ "

"Where are you, Anderson, I can come and support!"

" _Buried in rock. The MAKO is buried under a few tons of rock. Nihlus, Halmabad and I are holding the attention of these creatures for now. You aren't heavily armed or armored enough to extract us, Agent. Get back to the surface, that's an order._ " Anderson was breathing heavily. " _Get support, we can defend ourselves for now._ "

"I've got information on them. But they might notice me if I move."

" _The longer you stay in their patrol routes the more likely that is. Get yourself and whatever intel you've grabbed out of here. One of our teams fulfilled their objectives. The other now has to make sure you get out of here. The tunnel is clear, for the most part, and whatever method you used to get in here might be clear. Take that path and go."_

" _Constantine, I'm sending everything I've picked up with you. Data packet inbound._ " The hammering sound of something big and heavy firing came in, and the screeching of the bugs. " _Just in case we don't make it."_

"Understood." She replied. "You better make it, David."

" _After everything, you think some bugs are going to be the end of me? No way, not going to happen. Get out of here, Julia._ " Julia frowned. " _Bring the reinforcements._ "

She jumped down from the bunker, and started running back towards the elevators. Here she had to They were closer to the bunker than the tunnel was. Bugs still crawled along the walls, inside of them. Julia's skin crawled at the thought of any of them even touching her. Freaking cockroaches. She stayed cloaked, picking up some power from one of the transmitter boxes on the walls leading back into the lab enclosures. Her suit was functioning at only 45% efficiency. Barely enough to really maintain a cloak. Her boots were leaving marks, and her fingers were fuzzing out. Her feet, too. The cloak was not efficient on her extremities.

So, she moved slowly, moving carefully past any of the exposed pods. She couldn't see if the creatures were moving past the area, but she didn't linger either. The rappel lines she clambered up quickly, using two of them at once to climb faster. "Is there anyone on this channel?" She asked, as she moved up the first shaft.

" _Ma'am?_ " Jenkin's voice came over the line. " _Glad to hear you made it._ "

"Where are you?" She grunted, pulling herself up another section of the shaft.

" _Walking past a zombie nest. I can hear one of them howlin' up ahead. Gimme' a minute, Reddin, I'm going to go fix that._ " Jenkins' voice went off and away, and he apparently forgot to turn off his input. " _Come here! Yeah, you, with the ugly mug! It took a nuke to make my old dad bleed, you think your little manicured hands can hurt me? Huh!_ "

Julia groaned as she got up to the top of the elevator shaft. What she saw made her heart beat a little faster. Some of the zombies that she, Jenkins, and Guiterro had injured earlier had gotten back up. Including Bermann. They were wandering around the area, dragging the bodies of the dead into the corners, pushing them into vents and disposal units. They were seemingly following orders, moving in an organized fashion. She took some stills and recorded images of them all.

The Alliance would prefer that they had this kind of intelligence. She took a picture of the devices, too, catching her breath as she prepared to get through the room. These creatures put out a field that disturbed her cloak, at a wide radius. She didn't think she was going to get through without the zombies killing her cloak.

So, she wasn't going to care. If there wasn't a way to avoid them, then she was going to confront them. Pistol out, she trained it on Bermann's head. It wasn't the first time she had killed a human, or aimed at one from outside their range of sight. This time, though, was the first time she didn't feel any regret. Bermann wouldn't be making these kinds of decisions. Only one other zombie had any armor, and it was carved up quite a bit.

The shot went right through Bermann's head. He dropped, blue fingernails dragging on the floor as his body dropped. She was already locked onto the only other armored zombie, and as it turned its head towards her, her second shot pierced it through the eye, blue wire splashing out across the floor. The five others that were still standing turned, howling their cries. Each of them received a shot, except for the last two. While her gun was cooling she let them have a Throw, picking up one and throwing it into the other. The only one that survived tried to get up, but her knife took it in the jaw.

She walked through the airlock, and back out into the dust. "Jenkins, let me know when you get up to the surface." She switched to an open channel. "This is Commander Constantine, Office of Intelligence. Is there anyone out there that knows about these damn bugs?"

" _This is Lt. Commander Ashley Williams on the_ Seoul. _Where are you, Commander? We've been getting nothing but dead air here!_ "

"I need every marine you've got and any assault vehicles in your hangar dropped at these coordinates. Bring heavy armor and EMP shielded gear if you have it. The bigger the guns, the better. We've got intelligent bugs down here, and they've taken over the Prothean dig site."

" _Aye, Commander. We'll bring the thunder._ " Julia grinned, and carefully moved through the hab units and empty shelters. Dust covered all of the windows and surfaces, now, blocking out any light to the interiors.

"LZ is hot, Lieutenant Commander."

* * *

Anderson shot through the hole left by the broken backdoor and into the body of another of the larger bugs. Though with his Omni-tool attachment on the front of the gun he fired a tech mine at one of the exposed holes on the lowest part of the frame. It exploded soon after, a splash of acid spraying at the area. "Nihlus, how are we doing?"

The Turian had blood covering most of his face, but apparently he was alright. Turians and Humans had a lot of blood vessels in their heads, and head wounds bleed profusely for both races. "I think they're tunneling under us. I've still got a drone that we can deploy. With the comms back up we can actually see what is going on out there."

"Do it. Halmabad?"

The only one still with them that was alive, Halmabad was suffering from a crushed foot. He requested to stay, as he was the best operator that they had for the MAKO. "I can jump start her, but It'll take some juice. I'm taking the batteries from the others and making a jump start pack, but it'll only be good for one shot. If the engine dies again, she's done."

"Sounds like our ride out of here."

"Well, about that." Halmabad started saying. "The frame can't turn anymore. The bearings in the front are almost gone. We have wheels but they'll tear themselves apart if they try to go anywhere. Chemical thrusters are out, that function is so haywire with the back half missing that I don't even want to try."

"So, how far will she take us?"

"We can punch through the rocks and go in whatever direction we're pointed until the wheels give out. Though we can't stay long. Containment on the Eezo is starting to fail. Bugs busted the casing. Well, the rocks busted the casing when they crushed the right side. If I jump start this tank, that core is gonna put out a lot of energy. Hopefully it'll just burn out and die, and not go into an overloaded state. But I've never seen a tank killed this badly, sir."

Anderson shot another tentacle with a glowing weapon on the tip as it tried to extend into the vehicle. The bug screeched, its tentacle pulling back. "We'll need one of those weapons, for study."

"Step on the next tentacle that comes through." Nihlus said. "Or I will. The Council will want some evidence of wrongdoing."

"Evidence?" Anderson bellowed, leaning to one broken area of the MAKO and blasting apart two of the smaller bugs. "Thousands of people are dead and they want to look at this like it's nothing?"

"They always have." He said, calmly shooting out of the broken holes in the visor of the MAKO. "They won't take a threat seriously unless multiple pieces of evidence are presented. Even then, since the Krogan rebellions they won't let more than three Council races get involved. The Volus used to have a real military, back during the Unification Wars. The Hanar had one on the way, but the Asari forced the Turian Hierarchy to take over their security needs. The Elcor have a few cruisers, but they were told to not try. Personally, it's all a method of keeping the Turians under control. Keep our fleets so busy protecting everyone else that we don't have the ability to expand ourselves."

"So what do you think about the new Batarians, then?" It had only been fifteen years since their Glorious Revolution. But there was nothing glorious about it.

"Promising. They removed the slave trade from their empire, making their GDP go up. But while the earnings are more spread out among their people, their growth has been limited. Even with their changes, the Asari still won't trade with them." Nihlus started glancing around. "The bugs are up to something. They just pulled back from my view."

Anderson risked a glance outward. He saw scurrying feet and the bugs retreating. "Halmabad! I need to know what they're doing!"

"Sensors, coming online! You'll have a few seconds." Halmabad was wiring one of the mashed together packs of shield batteries and Omni-gel to the sensor package on the MAKO. Anderson brought up his Omni-tool, and saw that all of the smaller signatures were moving away from the tank. But one larger signature was moving closer. Size being around the same as the MAKO, if she was fully repaired. "I think we need that jump start, now." Halmabad said quietly, his eyes glued to his own Omni-tool.

"Please." Anderson said. "Nihlus, get us some pictures from that drone of yours."

The Turian nodded, groaning as he had to shift position to launch his drone out the broken visor. He launched his drone, the white orb shooting up and into the air. The picture they received was of an even larger bug than all of the rest, with glowing blue tendrils and thicker armor. "Spirits. Does the main gun still work?"

"I've got nothing on the main gun. I can get us out from under the rocks, though."

"Do it. That thing will crush us like a tin can."

"You made things out of tin?" Nihlus asked. "Why waste such a useful metal?"

"What did you use it for?" Anderson asked, helping Nihlus strap down to the seat.

"It was rare on Palaven. We used it for Jewelry." Nihlus said, muttering something as Anderson finished strapping him in. "Looks like my drone just got taken down. The big one uses some sort of high energy cannon. Pulse, large radius explosion. Fires from the center of its chest. Probably has the same acidic blood as the rest."

"Where are the others?"

"Gathered behind it."

"Halmabad, we need to move." They didn't have sight on the bug, and it had a heavy weapon that could take them out very quickly. "Now!"

The MAKO made a loud whining noise, as the core re-engaged. The layouts and haptic screens only sputtered, but the commands that the tank was supposed to follow were already set into place. The wheels engaged, and the mass effect core made the tank weigh more, pressing the boulders out of the way and the sharp nose of the craft pushed past the pile of rocks they were buried in. The wheels squealed in resistance, and the tank tore, its back half coming off and all of the dead marines being left behind in the pile of rocks. Halmabad rolled out the hole, not able to strap down to anything with all of the damage. Nihlus and Anderson landed with the MAKO, right next to the left wall of the hallway. The Prothean metal seemed to hold up well against the tank, not even scraping or showing signs of scratches from the vehicle impacting.

"Halmabad, stay in cover!" Anderson said into his helmet comm system. Nihlus was up and out of his chair, more shattered glass from the visor sliding off of his lap. His locked armor made his run more of a hobble, but he and Anderson stepped out of the MAKO to look over at the bug. It was… large. Larger than the MAKO in size, but apparently near equal in mass. Two large glowing blue tentacles rose above the creature, and the thick armor almost formed a solid carapace around its head and beak structure. The four legs looks like tree stumps, tipped with large claws.

The main cannon in the center of its chest started glowing, making Anderson dodge to the left. Nihlus moved right, hobbling and running to take cover behind a large rock. The rock shuddered, a wash of heat that Anderson could feel even from fifteen feet away. New life goal, don't get shot by the ball of plasma. Anderson's LMG thundered its response, the rounds striking against a purple barrier that didn't seem to shrink even though his rounds were some of nastiest that he could afford. "Shit! It's biotic!"

Nihlus let loose with a sniper rifle, the round not even bending the biotic barrier. He kept firing, until his gun overheated and he tossed it to the ground, instead letting his Omni-tool aim something at the creature. The tech power fizzled against the bug's barriers, but the canister that Nihlus pulled out of his belt didn't. It exploded, sending chunks of metal raining upon the creature's armor. It was like a biotic explosion, except with just tech. The bug reeled back, barriers finally showing signs of weakening.

But that damned cannon on its chest was ready to fire again, making Anderson run across the open ground for cover. Some of the smaller bugs tried cutting him off, and he killed two cockroaches with a tech mine and the larger ones with bursts from his LMG. Nihlus had the bug's attention, and the rock he was hiding behind was glowing red hot on the side it was struck.

A few rounds struck from inside the rocks the MAKO had launched out of, Halmabad firing his rifle. It was hardly effective, only getting the attention of some of the smaller bugs off of Nihlus. He killed a few of those, but ended up getting chased into the rocks by two of the larger ones. He couldn't cover him right now, not with that big one running around. That one needed a more personal touch. He triggered another adrenaline boost, his world speeding up and his muscles burning as they were forced to go past their limits again. Alliance standards stated that you should only use the boosters twice a day, with two hours in between each use. Anderson was going on his third in less than twenty minutes. His heart was burning like it was on fire, and his legs felt like the lactic acid was trying to kill him.

He ran past a couple of the smaller bugs, and with a running slide he got in front of the big one. Even standing, its torso was lower to the ground, only coming up to fire the big cannon. It twisted, quickly seeing him coming and trying to stomp him with a claw. He blocked it with his rifle, the casing cracking under the pressure. Powered armor, very nice. Except that it was trying to kill him. The remains of the rifle he shoved into the plasma cannon, crushing the parts into a blockage. Then, with only inches to consider his actions, he punched the bug. It's head didn't even budge. That wasn't going to work. But it got the bug's attention off of Nihlus. Or so he thought. Almost like swatting a fly, Anderson was taken off of his feet by its tentacle.

Nihlus took that moment to unload on the creature, using what was left of his rock to stabilize his rifle and shotgun, the shots spraying purple-blue glow through his area as they impacted the bug's barrier. Anderson had to keep rolling, running over one of the smaller bugs on his way. The bastard exploded, spraying its acidic blood everywhere. He kept rolling, noticing that it's acid burned some of the armor on the larger bug too. Not enough to pierce through, however. A tech mine sounded perfect, though.

The creature was turning around, its strikes slower than he expected. Or he was just juicing on too much adrenaline. His heart was on fire, so that might be it. Consequences of juicing were as plain as day, for people in the Alliance. Just using the adrenaline boost was life threatening in the first place. They didn't like to talk about it, but many of the people that used them had heart problems within four years.

Anderson was not expecting to live to a great long life. He was a career soldier. But he also had the Cerberus gene mods. Impossible to get now that the foundation had collapsed, but the doctors that once worked there claimed that they could pass on the very same gene mods. Too bad he knew the truth. Julia had sole control over the gene mods that represented the peak of Human possibility.

This bug was big, and slow. It seemed like it could move fast if it wanted to, but hadn't needed to. With a barrier so thick, it was easy to see why it moved without much worry for itself. He rolled under its thorax-like behind, making it have to decide again between him and Nihlus. It glanced back at him, and gave a single chirp. Five answering chirps came from nearby, the other horse-sized monstrosities edging forward to kill him. He grinned, thinking that they wouldn't be able to hurt him while he was underneath their larger cousin.

Then, the larger one simply left. Anderson didn't have time to see where, as its fellows jumped on top of him. His shotgun answered, the sprays of acid melting some of his armor and a bit of his visor as he brought down each of the large beasts with single shots to the head. They didn't have very thick or powerful kinetic barriers, and Anderson could space his shots out between each rampaging bug. The last two required his pistol to fire, the heated metal shots doing far more damage than his shotgun. It only could shoot five rounds before it overheated, though. He ignored the smaller bugs, even though around a dozen had started swarming around the bodies of their horse-sized cousins.

His barriers flashed, as the small bugs recovered the weapons mounted on the tentacles of the larger ones, and one would hold the gun in place and another would operate the trigger. They weren't accurate, but it showed a level of complex thinking in the smaller bugs that seemed unnatural. But then again, there was nothing natural about these things. He still ignored them, as their shots weren't as accurate and they didn't control their shots to maximize usage before they had to cool off.

He turned to face the larger bug, finally seeing Nihlus. The bug had Nihlus in its claws, the Turian firing his weapons at close range. Anderson triggered his tech grenade, an explosion claiming the left tentacle on its back and scorching some of its armor on the left side. It turned again, glowing brightly with biotic power. He had seen Julia do this a number of times, and it always followed with a biotic ability aimed at a target. He braced his feet, and turned up his kinetic barriers all the way with a command. That was all he had time for, as a glowing white ball with a black interior shot out towards him, and then hit him, ignoring his barriers and hitting his body directly.

He froze, unable to move. Even with the adrenaline, he couldn't move a single muscle. His body sat, unwilling to move and unwilling to act. His heart still beat, and he could still feel pain from all of the wounds and aches of the day. He simply couldn't do anything. The bug, satisfied that Anderson was dealt with, turned to Nihlus and continued its assault. Unlike Humans, Turians did not enjoy close range combat as much as other races. With their inset vision, they did not have the greatest radius of eyesight. Nihlus, with his armor locked around his crushed knee, couldn't maneuver. It was over quickly, as the bug plunged a claw into Nihlus' armor, not puncturing the first strike but certainly on the second and third. Blue blood spilled out, making Anderson try his damned hardest to move his fingers, but there was no answer from his body.

Nihlus dropped, and the bug followed this up with a biotic Warp, followed by a spray of its acid. It made sure that Nihlus stopped moving, before turning to Anderson. He couldn't even close his eyes, as he saw it bring it's Plasma cannon to bear on him. It's one remaining tentacle also waved, starting to glow with biotic power. Anderson tried to take cover, do anything, but all he could do was watch as the creature threw a biotic Warp at him. The plasma was sure to follow, but then he remembered the rifle he had jammed into its plasma cannon. There was some satisfaction as the plasma detonated inside the casing of the cannon, making the creature's chest burst open. Green blood burned the ground, but it was not enough to kill the creature. It was the size of the MAKO, and one small wound on the chest was not enough.

Anderson could see the smaller bugs finally catch up to him, using their own acid to eat through his armored legs. Still frozen, he fell down and saw the biggest one moving over to him with its one remaining tentacle raised. He saw some sort of laser paint downwards onto the creature's torso, right where the plasma cannon had left a hole. Then, there was an explosion of heat, and he knew no more.

* * *

The explosion from an M-920 Cain is a beautiful thing to witness. It even creates a small mushroom cloud. She had been in stealth for ten minutes, waiting for the bug to drop its barriers. He catsuit was fairly different from the standard Alliance one, with more sophisticated armor plating along the shoulders and thighs. It was also more efficient. Apparently it was a gift from the Avatar of Superiority, after he had seen the function of the Prothean stealth suits and found them less efficient.

" _Did you silence it?_ " Hannah heard from her headpiece.

"Yes." Hannah said, cloaking again as soon as she fired the massive cannon she had. "I thought that I had been exposed there for a moment. Apparently we weren't the only ones trying to fix the communications problems."

" _Where the hell are the Geth?_ " Jack Harper asked. " _We saw the movement from the Perseus Veil, we resupplied all of the garrisons, where the hell are they?_ "

"Obviously not here. Jack, I have no ID on these bugs. But they're everywhere. They're in the walls, and in the trench. Your path that you sent me on was full of those bugs. They had a Volus freighter, too. Old, I've got the codes forwarding to your system." Hannah took a deep breath. She just watched that bug take apart a team of Alliance marines, along with that one Turian. "I think I'm the only one alive down here now. Anything else before I go?"

" _Check on the beacon we planted._ " Hannah stepped down to the ramp, trying to not poke any of the bug's weird wires made out of resin. She came into the bunker's main room, finding the Prothean beacon just the way she left it when she and Javik delivered it here secretly a couple of years ago. She opened her Omni-tool, plugging it into the systems that were still running in the bunker. The haptic screens had been disabled, but the underlying systems still had some power. The Protheans built their tech to last.

She saw that the Prothean beacon was online, but had disconnected from all systems. "Someone used it." She said. "It's locked out of the system here."

" _Shut it all down, then. Figure out who accessed it._ "

She came over to the beacon, walking around to the backside so that it's sensors wouldn't pick her up and assume she was a willing subject. The beacons only recognized people when they approached from the front, and if you came from the back you could access it. She knew how to, thanks to being shoved into the dark beacons. She placed her hand on the beacon, requesting a mental image of those who had accessed it. She got a long line of Asari, all of whom looked the same to her, or she just sucked at telling them apart due to the fact that they were a different race. Then a couple of Humans, but the device only registered them as partly alive. There was no emotion or feeling tied to any of these people. There was even a Turian in the pile. Grimacing, she realized that it also corresponded to the pile of dead sentients right next to her. Though there was one more person who had accessed the beacon. She was wearing a catsuit, and had on a helmet, but the mental image showed a rather curvaceous girl with red hair and blue eyes.

"Looks like Julia accessed it." She told Jack. "She was here, and I didn't even notice her."

" _Lock down access to her alone. That way she will get all the information we need her to. This beacon can't go into a vault somewhere. We didn't reprogram the damn thing for nothing._ "

"Oh, I know, Jack." She said, tapping the series of commands that would lock the beacon down to a single user. "I just find it odd that Julia showed up. Wasn't she supposed to be investigating Red activity on Thermopylae?"

" _Supposedly. But I don't trust my contacts in the Alliance very far. Once you lock it down, get out of there. Make sure that your shuttle is clean before you hit orbit. Something is hacking vessels and forcing their FTL drives to overload in system. The military is not pleased._ "

"Alright, so I guess I go back to Omega?"

" _No. You have a delivery on the Citadel to carry out first. These bugs are a lot more dangerous than the Geth are. They show a greater familiarity with Prothean technology than I would like. They somehow got that jammer to work._ "

"Without thumbs, too." She snarked. The beacon beeped, letting her know that the user system had been locked down to the last person who had accessed it. "When will I see you next, Jack?"

" _Not yet. I have to find out where these bugs came from. Their weapons and armor are far too advanced a design to be the work of anything in the Terminus or the Separatists. Get to the Citadel and make your delivery. Try to get me some eyes in the Presidium Tower, if you can._ "

Hannah almost whistled as she walked out of the bunker, heading back through the caves and into the Grangar Fault's largest trench. The bugs used this entrance, but she found hardly any of them moving around any more. She didn't see any of them until she got to the trench itself. Three shuttles were being loaded with Prothean gear, being moved by teams of smaller bugs. She set her Omni-tool to record, noticing that none of the larger bugs were here. Only the small cat-sized ones were. At the seat of one of the shuttles was an armored Asari. Hannah took some images, but the unmarked helmet and armor was some of the heavy gear, the stuff that Asari usually avoided. Right now it was frustrating because it offered the Asari anonymity. She tagged the shuttle with a tracking beacon, and queued it to activate in ten hours.

There was Asari working with these bugs.  _That_  was bad. Hannah groaned, however. She now had a four hour hike to get to the gully she had parked her shuttle at. That was without this giant dust cloud that had covered the area. It was thinner here, but the trench had its own fog problems. "Jack, I need you to run some scans on some shuttles. This just got weird."

* * *

36 Hours Later

SSV Normandy

"Final tally, Ma'am. We found trace particles that belonged to Anderson." Dr. Chakwas said. She was still covered in dirt and dust from the ground, as she and the medical team from the Normandy were the only ones still rated to leave the ship. "He was completely burnt up by some sort of high explosive. As was that larger specimen that you mentioned."

Julia Constantine was now in command of the Normandy, following the protocol given by Alliance High Command. She was the highest ranking person onboard. She also had no idea how to run a ship. She was an Infiltrator. She was not a front-line officer. Her record might be generous in that sense, but she was not trained as such or prepared for that kind of work. "What were those bugs?"

"Alliance analysis shows that they were some kind of species that can survive on far less oxygen particles than we do. Tests are still out, though. The city of Gilderland, on the other side of Eden Prime from here, still is completely infested with them. Apparently that is their main nest on the planet. Tunnels are being uncovered all over the place."

Julia nodded. "Do we have any marines ready to deploy?"

"Surprisingly, we could field a team. Jenkins survived, against all odds, unscathed. His armor was dented and his weapons needed work. He and Reddin are alive and capable." Chakwas tapped her Omni-tool, bringing up the reports for the others. "Halmabad will require surgery soon. I can't take care of him much longer. Someone needs to fix the shattered pelvis." Julia nodded, wincing a bit in sympathy for the man. "The other wounded are going to be too expensive for the Alliance to be able to fix. They will discharge them, rather than try to get them combat ready again. The collapse of the MAKO destroyed much of their bodies. Even with medical support, they won't live outside of ten years."

So, she had two marines left. Just two out of a compliment of eight. The 212 garrison didn't even exist anymore. Thousands of dead and missing, and the dust from the collapsed buildings and damaged cities still clogged the air. In Gilderland, the bugs hadn't been bothered by the dust clouds. The Alliance was waiting until the dust cleared in the next two days so that they could go into the city in force. The entire system was on lockdown, and the Fifth Fleet had showed up in its entirety. Nothing was going in or out.

"Thank you, Doctor." Julia told her. "Take care of them for now, we should get clearance to use the relay soon." Chakwas left the conference room, leaving just Pressly, Kalin'ren, and Tali'Zorah. "Engineering, report."

"Cloaking system is generating a lot of heat. After remaining on station for eighteen hours, we had to dump heat in the atmosphere. But the core is still stable and the heating vents works as promised. GUARDIAN lasers recharged, all systems operational, Ma'am." The Quarian pronunciation of Ma'am sounded like like they were saying 'yam' instead.

"Comms?" She asked, looking at Kalin'ren.

"Too much to skim through coming from the planet, I wasn't able to find anything that could point us towards anything. Shuttles and ships are screaming about wanting to leave atmosphere all the time. Once they get up here and go on lockdown, they start screaming about food and water supplies for their ships. The Fifth is getting run ragged just keeping this blockade up."

"We are not allowed to assist yet." Julia said. "XO, anything troubling?"

Charles Pressly had a leathery bald head. But right now he just looked tired. "Just ready to go at any time, Ma'am. Once we get the command, we will leave system."

"Thank you all. Dismissed. Kalin'ren, get me Admiral Steven Hackett. I've got wounded." Julia hadn't been on ship for more than ten minutes, her catsuit still brown and covered in marks and dust. She had gone back into the Prothean ruins with the 107th, or at least part of the 107th. They went in with four GRIZZLYs and eighty marines, and they lost half of them to the bugs. A couple of zombies remained, and using the engineers they destroyed all of the devices that made them. It was decided on the site that it was more dangerous to try to preserve them for scientists to study. Then, they found Halmabad. He was stuck under rocks, and was in great pain. They extracted him, and between her and Jenkins they found all of the other dead marines and got them loaded. Then they went back for the 212. All of them would have closed caskets. If the family even paid for that instead of cremation.

Julia was ready to drop on her feet, but her day wasn't over. She had taken off most of her face covering, and regretted it. The dust from her suit now covered her face, and she would have to clean it up. The reasonably-sized haptic screen turned on, however, barely a minute after she had told Kalin'ren to get her that connection. She turned, saluting the screen.

" _This is Admiral Hackett._ "

"Sir! Agent Constantine, currently in command of the  _SSV Normandy_."

" _Normandy. Where is Anderson?_ "

"Dead, Sir. Along with the Council Spectre."

" _Did you recover their remains?_ "

"Just a few chunks of skin for Anderson. We found one of Nihlus' boots. Whatever Nihlus used, it wiped out a large area and left a crater a few feet wide. Very much illegal, according to the Firaxen treaties. No trace of the bugs, their blood is acidic and breaks down quickly."

" _That's what my marine commander has been telling me. I didn't know that you were in system. The other Admirals mentioned that the_ Normandy _was going to be doing trials and testing for the next month._ "

"Someone jumped the gun. Office of Intelligence sent me here. Now I'm the only command officer left."

" _You'll need to go talk to the Spectres. They'll want to know that one of their own is dead. Bring footage and edit out whatever is not meant to be shared. Use one of the FTL-capable shuttles, and not your ship._ "

"My ship, Sir?" She was hoping he would replace her.

" _Your ship doesn't exist yet. I don't want it connected to any official report here. There is enough trouble with this mess. Heads are going to roll, and yours won't be on the table. You have command of the ship. Go park it and keep it hidden, and take a shuttle into the Widow system._ "

"Yes Sir." She replied. "We're down to two marines."

" _You and every other ship here. I've stripped my airlock detail to get more boots on the ground. You'll be resupplied when we can get you the boots. Also, a word of caution. Please do not antagonize our Ambassador to the Council when you go to the Citadel. We do not need more trouble._ " Hackett was the Admiral that Anderson reported to, and therefore knew about her.

"We can go, Sir?"

" _You are clear._ " He said. "Hackett Out."

She turned off the interface, and queued up Pressly. "Set course to one of the asteroids on the belt. Prepare Shuttle one for a trip through the Widow relay. Team members Jenkins, Zorah, Chakwas, and all injured personnel are to prep for deployment." Tali'Zorah was a good engineer, and the closest thing she had to a tech analyst outside of Kalin'ren. But  _that_  Quarian was not allowed to disembark from the ship. He was not expandable. With a nod to herself, Julia went back to her quarters to get a cleaning tool. She was going to clean this catsuit before they had to go to the Citadel.

* * *

Author's Note

The Rachni were by far my favorite race among the enemies you can fight. Though they also didn't have as much depth or as many numbers as the Geth. There are reasons that I chose the Rachni to invade Eden Prime, though as I was writing this I made the mistake of watching the latest Carbot Animations. If you haven't checked out that Youtube channel, go do so. It's amazing. The  **Starcrafts**  series is hilarious. The problem I have is that right when I was describing the Rachni Brood Warrior, I watched Carbot's infestor episodes. So I accidentally wrote four thousand words and then went back and realized I had written the Brood warrior as a Derp. So, I had to rewrite that.

Now that it is June, I am happy to be fully in the summertime mode. I do apologize for not having Jack feature in this chapter, but Julia was a bit more important to show what was happening. We will see more of him soon. Now, on to the Citadel.

I also have renamed all of the previous chapters and have gone through looking for grammatical errors. If I miss any, many apologies.


	44. Lucid: A Fancy Gift for the Lady

Chapter 44

Zakera Ward, The Citadel, June 2182

Anderson was gone. She didn't want to face that, not yet. David was…  _something_  to her. She had a mixture of emotions when she thought about him. He was a friend, he had been a superior, and he had been a lot more. She had only slept with a couple of people in her life, and Anderson was the first. She had trouble connecting to other people, and it made intimacy hard. Not to mention her job made any kind of trust issues hard. But even that was up in the air now.

She hadn't cried since her time with Mum. She couldn't let herself cry. All feeling was dead, all emotions were just a hindrance to her state of balance. That was why David broke up with her. It wasn't the intimacy or the scheduling, but the lack of feeling.  _He_  wanted her to show emotion. She refused to allow anything to be felt. It was not something she wanted again. Now, though, he was gone. She didn't honestly know what to feel. She wasn't feeling anything, and for some reason that made her feel as though she should.

She was sitting in the pilot's seat of the shuttle, as they approached the Citadel. It was a large space station, but she had been there before. She had killed people there. "Look at that thing! That ship is ridiculous!" Jenkins was pointing towards the Destiny Ascension, the Asari flagship. The thing had been flying since the Quarians had lost their spot on the Citadel, and represented some of the best qualities of any ship currently flying.

"They made it right when we made our Liveships." Tali said. "I believe they felt threatened by someone else having larger ships than their own." Julia started listening to the conversation in the compartment behind her, finding it more interesting than considering David. Or at least more helpful to keep her mind on.

"I haven't seen any of those. Didn't you guys build one over Elysium or something?"

"Yes. In exchange for the services of our young people, we built a new Liveship. Our population could only be so large with the ships we had, and now we can finally expand our numbers. We named it the  _Eden_ , after going to vote six times in the Conclave. Our first name was somewhat offensive, and so we had to choose something more acceptable."

"You guys harbored that war criminal guy, Harper, right?"

"He is not a war criminal." Dr. Chakwas said. "Jack Harper is a known member of human trafficking circles and a participant in incidents related to AI creation. Among other things, the Council placed sanctions on him for supporting the Quarians. It is in very bad taste that you would portray him as such, Lieutenant Jenkins." Thank goodness for Chakwas. Someone had to say something.

Jenkins didn't respond for a moment. "I'm sorry. Sometimes my mouth runs off and I don't really think about it. Hey! Do Quarians think that Humans are assholes?"

"What?" Tali responded. "My Omni-tool labeled that very differently. We as a race like you better than most, which is to say we tolerate you rather than train our guns on you when you aren't looking. I'm the first Quarian to serve as an officer in the Alliance, which is part of the deal that we signed in order to have you build us a new Liveship. We need to send some of our Pilgrims on pilgrimage to the Alliance Navy. We serve a stint in the Navy, and they helped us finish the Liveship. Now, though, we are going beyond the first fulfillment. If we can prove our worth as officers, then the Alliance might agree to build us other ships, too. Or perhaps agree to help us with other needs."

"My mom always thought that you guys were here for money, not favors." Jenkins said. "Though I haven't really seen too many of you." Julia made not to meet with Jenkins later to talk about what to bring up and what not to bring up when talking to Quarians or other aliens. He was being completely out of line.

"That's okay. Most of us work in the engineering pits, and work overtime to bring back more for their Pilgrimage. The Migrant fleet sends out its young people to go and bring back evidence of our adulthood, or proof that we are a worthy member of the community. Most of us work here until we can afford to send back a lot of raw materials, or possibly team up together to buy an old ship and renovate it. Bringing back a new ship is considered a real boon, so most of us do that. I am planning something a bit larger, though."

"Like what?"

"Before you Humans came around, we had to work a lot harder to bring back anything for Pilgrimage. So I'm going to prove that we can do more than just go out and come back. I want to help with getting our people a place to live. Most of the older generation want our homeworld back. But the newer generation have started picking up Human culture, and might feel different."

"Oh." Jenkins had all of the charm of a rock. "That's great." He said without enthusiasm. "So, how come that other guy on the bridge is an officer?"

"Oh, him?" Tali had a bit of emotion when she said that. "Kalin'ren is a bit of a  _Rayada_." The name translated into Julia's Omni-tool as 'one without birthing'. "He has a rare condition that requires him to eat different food than most Quarians. In the fleet, sometimes this shows up in children, though we are trying to breed it out. It's a recessive gene, but anyone who receives a dominant gene is not allowed to procreate."

"Is that why he's so….." Jenkins chose to filter his words for the first time in his ever-shortening life. "Rude?"

"He also works in research and development, which makes him have to work under our most demanding people. Without any chance of passing on his knowledge to any children, and unable to eat our food or even attempt any kind of intimate relationship, he's basically a dead man walking." Tali said, sounding sad in her description. "If we had a home, it wouldn't matter if he had a food disorder. But with the fleet and the rules the way they are, Kalin'ren is going to die childless and alone. No one will be able to take his ashes to our burial craft."

"So that's why he hates everything and everyone?" Jenkins asked.

"Lieutenant! You can't just say that about an officer that the Quarian fleet allowed us to borrow!" Chakwas said, interjecting her thoughts.

"No, he's right. Kalin'ren hates everybody. But he does a good job." Tali amended. "He's the one who installed all of the armor into the ship, as well as applied the paint and composites that allow the ship to cloak. As chief engineer, I get to see some of the files on that. Though the comm system is still an unknown to me."

"Tali." Julia spoke up. "Does anyone know what the  _Normandy_  is capable of? Everyone I have talked to knows only about their station. With Anderson gone, I don't have any idea what the ship's actual specs are."

The crew in the back of the shuttle turned to her, surprised. "Well, I don't know if we are even supposed to know the specs. The installation of core systems was done by Quarian techs somewhere, and I don't know how to contact them. Kalin'ren was present for that, but the weapons and hangar were all put in at Arcturus. Engines at Elysium. Armor was supposedly made at the Migrant Fleet. Gyroscopes and Thermal vents from the Lucky Break, the shipyard we have, and the haptics and wiring from Earth. I can't find specs on half of those things. Similarly, the weapons officer hasn't even shown up yet. So we don't even have main guns that are properly calibrated. They've been installed, but they won't be accurate yet."

"Swell." The Normandy was toothless. "No one of flag rank is on the Citadel, either. "We are landing in a few minutes at the Zakera Ward docks. Tali, stick close to Jenkins. Chakwas, take the wounded and get them to the hospital. Jenkins, walk to the Presidium embassies, get in contact with the offices. See when the Ambassador is available."

"Uh, what about you, Ma'am?"

"I'll be right with you, although I will be invisible."

"Shouldn't you be the one to present our incident to the Ambassador?"

"I have a bad history with Citadel Ambassadors, Lieutenant. The first one I met stabbed me with two Batarian State Arms serrated daggers. I shattered his leg, and he has walked with a slight limp since. Our own Ambassador was at one point under investigation for corruption, and I was the lead agent in his case. He will not be happy to see my face again."

"Roger that, Ma'am. Not mentioning you."

"Your commanding officer is Anderson. His death hasn't been officially announced yet. Use that and do not mention my name yet. After you go to the Embassy and make an appointment, you will then go to the Office of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance to meet with their people. They'll need to know about Nihlus and will want to be there when we present at the Council."

"Will I have to speak?" Jenkins asked carefully.

"Yes." She said. He was going to not make an ass of himself, if she had her way. "If you need a prompt, a political officer will be assigned to you." The Citadel had those on hand. "Tali, you'll be coming with us. You are an officer, and anything you have to offer will be valuable."

"Agent, I hope you understand, but my people have not officially spoken to the Council in over two hundred years. If I address them, our cause will look worse for it. With your permission, I would like to be dismissed from the Council meeting, if there is one. For your sake, Ma'am." More likely she felt uncomfortable at the thought. But they needed someone technical to be able to show what happened to the ships in orbit.

"Denied. You have experience with this that Jenkins does not. I need you there." The shuttle was finally cleared to land, as the queue got shorter and a slot opened up for her to land. The shuttle was unchallenged by the dock authority when it landed, and the medical transport was on call and waiting for them when they landed. The wounded were moved, Julia making sure that each of them were not carrying potentially damaging information, and then they were released into the hospital's vehicle.

Jenkins and Tali walked towards the Presidium ring, not far from the Zakera docks. They walked carefully, Tali more so than Jenkins. She was looking at any of the Turians and Asari, who were giving her dirty looks in return. The Alliance blue lapels on her shoulders didn't seem to give her any protection, either. Tali walked close enough to Jenkins that her shoulders brushed his. Julia was right behind her, and made sure to keep any onlookers from getting too close.

The Presidium was worse for Tali. Jenkins, too, as he looked like a tourist on their first trip to the Citadel. Julia put her cloaked hand on Tali's shoulder, letting her know where she was. The large bridges going across the plant and garden spaces were tightly packed with travelers and tourists. People felt that they could freely jostle Tali and Jenkins, especially the Turians. She took pictures of each incident, at one point having to balance herself on one of the railings to get the shot.

Reporting this to C-sec would be necessary, but any time Humans or their military personnel got hassled on the Citadel it was their job to deal with it. Her images would go a long way towards building a case. Especially towards the one Salarian who had a company logo on his shirt. That one she could leverage against his company.

When they finally got to the Human Embassy, she remained behind, and didn't have to balance on any of the railings to follow Jenkins and Tali any further. They made it to the Alliance offices, and were greeted by the woman of asian descent working there.

"Can I help you?" She said with a hint of politeness.

"I need to meet with the Ambassador. I've just arrived from Eden Prime and need to debrief him regarding what's happening there." He said, actually using his brain for once. "It's time sensitive."

"The Ambassador is very busy, Lieutenant. He will see you when he sees you." She said, dismissing him. The woman was giving a look at Tali as she did so. Julia sighed, and came out of invisibility. The woman jumped, as did Tali and Jenkins.

"The Office of Intelligence would like you to contact the Ambassador regarding this situation immediately. The information is part of a developing situation that concerns the Alliance and its relationship to other races. Call him, please."

"Ah, yes, Agent." Finally, someone did something right. Jenkins just looked uncomfortable and sheepish, while Tali looked somewhat more comfortable with her visible. She pressed a few buttons on her haptic interface, and a vid call window appeared.

" _Yes, what is it?_ "

"Sir, Some people from the Navy are here about Eden Prime. They want to see you."

" _I'll make time for them then. Send them up, and notify me if any Admirals are en route to the Embassy. I will be expecting them._ "

The vid call ended and the woman had the decency to lead them to the Ambassador's door. It was red, but her Omni-tool's signal unlocked it. When the door opened, Julia held herself back from cloaking. In the seat facing the Ambassador was Councillor Tevos, the Asari representative on the Council. She hoped that they had not been interrupting anything. This whole mess was already damaging enough for Humanity.

Ambassador Donovan Hock was as refined as ever. No wine glass decorated his hand, but there were two on the desk. They were still full, but the chill going across the glass showed that they had been poured for longer than a minute. Hock dragged his green eyes across them, scanning each of them in turn. "How kind of you to come. Julia, such a pleasure to see you. Councillor Tevos, may I introduce a dear friend of mine, and a business partner at one point in our history. This is Julia Constantine, one of the best Humanity has to offer."

Tevos turned, her pale eyes scanning her. There was no pity or emotion in those eyes. The Asari just judged her, looking her over and not finding her impressing. Tevos' eyes narrowed at the sight of Tali, and Jenkins evoked no response. "Charmed." She replied. "I see that you have guests, Ambassador. Perhaps we can reconvene at a later time?"

"You may find our information to be important, Councillor." Jenkins spoke up. "These things could attack any of your planets just like they hit ours."

She finally gave Jenkins an actual glance. "So long as your Ambassador agrees, I shall partake in the sharing of information." Hock of course nodded his assent. She shuddered, at the very thought of him.

"Of course. Were you assigned to the Fifth Fleet?"

"No, Sir. We were assigned to a Scout flotilla craft that was passing through. When Eden Prime went dark, we investigated."

"Went… Dark?" Hock said. "Explain." Eden Prime was the closest Human colony to the Citadel, and represented the direct trade lane back to Alliance Space. Losing that would break any kind of market strength they had. Julia was worried about the same thing, and she could see Hock's mind realizing the possible damage.

"Comms got jammed, right away. We came in and could only talk to other ships through laser tight beam and old school Morse code using blinking lights. Ships were being hacked from somewhere, and their FTL drives were being forced to overload within atmosphere or inside the gravity well. They were being forced to go to FTL without any stability, and targeted cities, other vessels, anything. The orbital facilities got hit first, thankfully the Helium-3 refueling stations weren't hit. The patrols were able to protect them by shooting down the hostile vessels."

"What kind of hostile vessels did all of this? We had the entire system in a cordon!" Hock said. Tevos was a lot more interested now.

"We haven't been able to find out. Intel is working on it, with some of the black boxes recovered. The hacked ships were labeled as hostile after the New Moscow station got hit. Anything moving without direct authorization of the Navy was declared a standing threat. It was worse on the ground, where the hacked vehicles took down arcology towers. We didn't get an idea of casualties beyond the basics. At least a quarter of that colony is dead or at risk." Jenkins then put up a picture of the dust-covered dig site. "Our team was sent in to reinforce and secure the Prothean ruins. Scientists had made a discovery, and the team requested the military to shut down the system and get their discovery out."

"Which we did. Did your team make it to the ruins?" Hock said, impatient.

"Yes, sir. My mission cam will show you our way in." Jenkins displayed his mission cam, along with his loose mouth, which she now regretted showing. But she didn't want to show any of the surveillance software on her Omni-tool with her recording of the mission. "We saw the arcologies go down," Jenkins said, illustrating that. Hock had his mouth open, in shock. Tevos' eyes were wide, seeing the wide scale destruction. Then it went into the dig site, and the bunker. Then Jenkin's recording started getting some static, and froze on the image of one of those zombies turning towards him, clearly not fully Human anymore. "We encountered a device that turned corpses into cybernetic shambling zombies. I am not joking, sir."

Hock had a look of incredulity on his face. "Do you have proof?"

Julia held up one of the ripped off heads of the creatures, which had already started to break down. The blue wires and blue chunks of cybernetics were the most noticeable thing left. "Their heads contained much of their sensory options, and the entire detail regarding these zombies is going to be debriefed later. They had some sort of area burst EMP. Weapons, armor, Omni-tools and lights went out when they were actively trying to kill us. Their claws also could tear up armor." Jenkin's armor had many spots filled in with Omni-gel and not painted over in Alliance colors yet. The long scratch marks that had been filled in were evident.

"You went with them, Julia?"

"Agent Constantine, Ambassador." She reminded him. "The zombies were not the worst part of this mess." She brought up stills of the turret that had been built at the doorway to the vehicle entrance tunnels. "The zombies were just another level of distraction, one that tore apart our infantry."

She queued up the pictures of the bugs that she and Jenkins had fought, and then showed Jenkin's helmet cam as he and Anderson had to fight off a wave of them. Hock was looking at the images, his frown set in stone. Tevos had wide eyes. "Athame herself would weep to see this day." Jenkins paused his recording to turn to her, as everyone else did.

"You know what these are, Councillor?" Hock asked, oozing politeness but also looking ready to kill someone. Julia had Jenkins open a second box that they had been carrying, this one sealed and secured with additional layers of quarantine functions. Inside was one of the smaller bugs, still scratching at the inside of the case. Small acid burns showed on the innermost layer of containment. She had captured one while cloaked, to bring back evidence of the things.

"The Rachni are back." Tevos muttered. "I thought we killed them all. We burned their world, destroyed all of their nests…" She seemed shocked. "The Rachni are different, now. They never used to wear armor."

"They have more advanced weapons, as well, Councillor." She said. She brought up a picture of the largest specimen, with its gigantic cannon built into the chest piece of its armor. She also showed the image of the Rachni trying to access the Prothean beacon. "And they were after the Prothean beacon discovered in the ruins."

"Irrelevant, at this point. The Council will need to convene. Immediately. The Rachni could destroy an entire world given enough time. Days, even. If they are only a single jump away from the Citadel, then we must act soon." She tapped something on her Omni-tool, and she nodded to them. "My apologies, Ambassador, I am afraid we shall continue our discussion later. Please come and attend an emergency meeting of the Council in thirty minutes."

"Of course." The Councillor stood up, leaving the room with a gracefulness that Julia couldn't match on the best of days. All of that while wearing some Asari dress with a headpiece that almost touched the sides of the Citadel doors. Julia felt a small amount of envy for her movements, even though she herself might be curvier.

"All of you, with me." Hock said. "We have a situation that we might be able to turn to our advantage. We have minutes before crowds are going to fill the Presidium. We need to capitalize on that."

Julia returned to cloak, no longer having to be the authority figure. "Ambassador, thank you for receiving us." Tali said, being at least polite with him. Julia wouldn't, not after their history.

"Of course, Lieutenant. I was not aware that any of the Quarians in our military had made it to that rank."

"I'm the first, Ambassador. I graduated top of my class at the Solaris-Scott Engineering Academy." That was the top academy for Engineers in the Alliance. It was built in the old Tartarus area on the moon, and even though the Solaris school was still running, the rest of the area had been modified into training areas for the Engineers. "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, Sir."

"Zorah?" Hock said. "Any relation to Rael'Zorah?" At her nod, Hock gave her one of his winning smiles. "I had the pleasure of meeting your father when we officially signed the  _Eden_  into existence. He seems like a reliable man."

"Thank you, Ambassador. He is."

"Lieutenant Zorah, if you ever face any kind of scrutiny, you may come to me and I will assist you. I owe your father that much." Julia would have to see what kind of connections Hock had with the Quarian Admirals now. Great. Her job got ever more complicated by the minute. As they walked out of the Alliance Embassy, Hock took them over to a small building set off to the side. His quick steps were measured to appear as if he was walking calmly, but not slowly. When they arrived at a nicely carpeted lounge, complete with chairs and workstations for twenty or so Humans, Hock glanced towards a group of men and women in Alliance uniforms. "Politiburo! I need you all to switch gears!"

Four men stood up, their hair well groomed and their military uniforms looking spotless. "What about the Housing boom?"

Hock waved his hands. "Small business, now. I need every venue of social media to get numbers in front of the Presidium Tower. Alenko, get your team ready, there will be a press conference. Get as many of the smear reporters and the good ones in a room together, we will address them within an hour. The Citadel is about to make a large shift, and we might be able to benefit from it. Get as many people as you can, and hurry. The last time a race had this opportunity, the Turians received a seat on the Council!" So that was his play. Humanity versus the Rachni. If they could prove their worth against the Council's old enemy, then Humanity could prove what the Turians did, that they could be a positive contributor.

"Yes, Sir." Julia gulped.  _That_  was Kaiden Alenko. She wished that she wasn't invisible right now, with this kind of opportunity. She maintained few hobbies after going into the Office of Intelligence. Warp ball was her one weakness. She hated missing any of the games and recorded all of the training events, too. She felt a small bit of emotion at the thought of actually being able to talk to the man, but then Hock was already leaving, with Jenkins and Tali in tow. She sighed, turning around and following them out and back into the Presidium. Four Alliance marines joined them, forming a protective cordon around Hock. Tali looked far more comfortable now, with four burly marines flanking her.

* * *

Most of the time, Catalyst Protection Services landed him in safe locations. Most of his jobs were simple escort duty, with short stints of assassination and removal of standing threats. Bounty collection was nice too, sometimes. But Catalyst didn't participate in drugs, alcohol, or slavery. The slave trade had lost a lot when the Hegemony split and became two separate groups. The Hegemony and the Loyalists both had some slave traders left. The Hegemony just didn't have complete control over their territory yet. Some of the darker elements still traded in flesh. The Loyalists still bought slaves, but didn't have a high enough market value to really support the entire trade.

Slaves were no longer lucrative. Drugs were now the money making crop, as an entire civilization could now buy them. The Hegemony was now a single caste, and the new members of that group were open to the evils of the galaxy for the first time ever. Drugs were entering the Hegemony in previously unknown tonnage, making supplies elsewhere more lucrative to go after. Catalyst didn't ever go after drugs, even though some of their members used them. They had to keep their hands clean.

Why a Terminus System security merc outfit had to stay clean was beyond him, but Catalyst had a small set of offices on the Citadel. Worth the few thousand credits a week it brought in. It also had better couches to sit on, once he had arrived. He had been sent to Eden Prime with the rest of the A-Team, and those couches were near about the only thing he was looking forward to. It had taken hours of checks and scans to determine that their shuttle was safe to go through the relay.

Oh yes, that couch was so his. As soon as they landed, he stretched, tired of being confined to this tiny shuttle. Henry stretched his arms, feeling his mechanical shoulder joint pop slightly. Allison Gunn, their employer, stood up in her custom armor and motioned to them to leave the shuttle as soon as it landed. The unremarkable piece of crap had no headroom, no space, and being cramped with a Krogan and a Drell made the place stink something fierce. Allison had told them that they were insurance, for whatever mission she had been assigned on Eden Prime.

Gatatog Don got out of the shuttle, his hump brushing up against every ceiling tile of the shuttle, groaning as he bent over to get out, his heavy bag of gear bouncing against the floor. "Economy size piece of crap." He muttered. "I hope someone stocked the bar back at the office."

"Keelah, yes." Their Quarian member got out, his bag much smaller but made out of better material. "They have much better dextro here." Henry didn't know what hole Don pulled Shev'rash out of, but he was crazy. Some biotic.

Allison waited for Henry and their last member of the team, a Drell, to get out. Kreana was an odd duck, from what he understood. She had followed and protected a Hanar from childhood, but the Hanar passed away from natural causes just after she had sworn to protect them. She rarely spoke to others, and often would fall back into some sort of memory induced socially awkward state. She didn't talk about it, either. But he could not deny her abilities. She had been hired onto the team when she sent in a nearly empty resume, just claiming that she was good at cleaning out low level issues. There was only a single sentence describing herself on the resume, and it was the subject of mockery, enough that Allison decided that she would interview the girl and see what she really was like. Henry had studied some Quarian martial arts, but whatever Kreana knew, she never lost against him. She was good with mid range weapons, and absolutely devastating with her biotics. More than him, anyways.

"Alright, all of you. Mission isn't done." Henry fought the urge to groan. They had spent four days cramped in a shuttle waiting for her to possible need them already. She was their boss, but sometimes he felt the need to complain.

"Ma'am, as much as I enjoy working with you, please say that we are just shooting someone and walking away."

"We're splitting up. I saw something on Eden Prime that needs investigating. Don, Shev'rash, you'll be tracking these two shuttles. I'll take Kreana and investigate two more." She pointed to a large case, one that was lined in silver and locked down with enough encryption that its haptic interface showed three red rings. "Henry, you have a second job. We are getting paid six hundred thousand credits to get that case to an Alliance officer. Her file was too encrypted for us to see much, but the last name is Constantine. Find her and deliver that case. The case is from Ariak Medical Solutions, and they need the shipment to occur today. Another six hundred thousand credits to us once they confirm delivery."

Henry blinked. What the hell was in the box that a medical company would pay that much for a delivery. "Should I be expecting trouble?"

"C-sec will most likely want to open it and examine it for being rather 'dangerous' material components." Allison said. "You don't have the authority to open it, and it was previously passed through security on delivery to the Citadel a couple hours ago." She handed him a datapad with the information, but it didn't seem to completely check out. It lacked a few C-sec touches.

"So C-sec would really be angry if they found out I was delivering illegal materials?"

"An illegal auto-doctor VI drone with increased amounts of heavy metals would be bad for them to find, yes. Get the case to the recipient. They are not expecting it, so you'll need to convince her to accept it if you want your cut of the six hundred thousand." Allison pointed again at the box. "Meet back up at the office after this."

Henry nodded. He was not a grunt, he was a sniper. Sending him with this instead of Shev or Don meant that he was going onto the Presidium or someplace where a Human wouldn't stand out. Kreana was a Drell, but she was also quiet, and unlikely to be able to find a Human with so little to go on. Allison avoided anywhere that might end up with her under a camera. She was paranoid, though he was sure that she had her reasons. She also didn't like going out of her way or talking when it was unnecessary. So, sending him to go and deliver some package made sense. It just bothered him because he had been looking forward to taking off his armor for at least a day. Not to mention that beloved couch.

He didn't show any kind of discomfort, though. "Yes, Ma'am. Good luck on your task."

"We might need it." Allison replied. "Try not to start a firefight on the Citadel."

He laughed at that. This wasn't Omega, and you couldn't just use the threat of violence to solve your problems. Much to Don's and Shev's discomfort. Allison probably assigned those two to the most simple job with the least risk. When everyone split up, Henry grabbed the case. It had a roll cage, with wheels set into the bottom. It was four feet tall, and had to weigh at least a couple hundred pounds. He grabbed the handle, and started walking into Zakera ward. The mixture of Humans and Batarians were an odd group, but it was alright. Zakera was undoubtedly the cheapest and least affluent of the Citadel wards, and so that is where Humans and Batarians settled. The Quarians used to own a lot of it when their people were here, and stigma had left much of it still empty when Humans showed up on the scene. Otherwise they would never have been able to establish a presence on the Citadel. Shev'rash liked to remind him of all the things Humans owed to the Quarians.

Henry liked out drinking Shev'rash, rather than trying to claim that the Humans had done more for the Quarians. They were both biotics, and while Shev was by far the better biotic, they both had high enough metabolisms that drinking contests were quite fun. He didn't like bringing up anything that made Shev angry, because then he became an angry drunk. Lots of property damage resulted, especially if he pissed off someone else in the Terminus. He mused on this as he approached the ramps leading up to the next level. These were less likely to be filled with any C-sec officers who might scan his package. He only saw one of them, on his way up the six floors to the nearest transport hub. Zakera docks were 48 floors from the Presidium. He wasn't going to waste time going up all those ramps, nor was he going to risk the elevators. Those had some strong passive scanners that would give him trouble. So, he had to go through the trouble of getting an air car or riding a public transport.

Public transportation took a lot longer, and he had to sit next to an Elcor. It politely did not participate in conversation, but the smell was thick. He was quite glad to get out, right next to the Human Embassy. Right next to it was a small barracks for the officers that were assigned to the Citadel. He stopped there, coming inside to find everyone in a rush of activity. No one even noticed him, they were in such a rush. He tried to wave one of the officers down, but she just gave him a glare and kept doing whatever it was she was doing.

One of the officers, though, he recognized. Who wouldn't, really. Behind all of the Alliance ads, at least one out of ten featured Kaiden Alenko. He knew him from before, though. Before the Alliance military, before they got out of boot camp. Henry had been in a different class, but knew him from their time at Solaris. Kaiden was the superstar then, too. He figured that he might be able to help him out. "Hey! Alenko!" His nickname back at Solaris was Princess, but Henry would be nice and not use that where the rest of his unit could hear. Military types would use any advantage they could get, which included friendly and not so friendly ribbing of their fellows.

Kaiden turned, seeing him, and seemed surprised. "Gunn?" Henry liked his last name. Allison just stole it, in his opinion. She had the name of Gunn, but she didn't seem to care about it or list out some prestigious heritage behind it. Though it might be an alias. Oh well, it didn't really matter to him that his direct boss didn't use her real name. "Henry, right? What are you doing here?"

"Trying to deliver this package. I've got a couple of ideas on who it is supposed to go to." He looked around at the almost panicking officers. "Figured this place would be a good spot to start looking. What's going on?"

Kaiden looked thoughtful for a moment. "Tell you what, come with me and I'll help you as I go. We've got some sort of civil disturbance in the works. Give me the details, and I can work around it as we walk." The rest of the officers were also getting up. "Take some of the team and get the message out to Zakera Ward markets, get the vid screens there on the Council meeting, and send the rest to the Human owned businesses around the Citadel."

So, Henry ended up walking to the base of the Presidium tower with Kaiden. By the time they had gotten there, a crowd of at least fifty Humans had gathered at the tower, with a couple dozen other races also gathered near. Some Volus from the ever present Agents of Justice placed their signs to the side and came over to join the throng. Kaiden had been typing into his wrist the entire time, and Henry noticed that of course it was a brand new top of the line military brand. One of the new Sirta models that had come out last year.

"I can't find any record of a Constantine here currently. Some groups don't always check in with us when they get to the Citadel, though. She might be spec ops or something."

"Well, you're making me worry that she is. Finding those people is rather difficult."

"I have a list of two hundred and fifty independent vehicles that parked on the Citadel in the last day that belong to the Alliance." Kaiden offered. "Though I really shouldn't be handing out that kind of detailed information, I can help point you in the right direction." The man was still as nice as he was all those years ago. It was a nice thing to see.

"Well, then I think I'll go check out some information broker." He said, eyeing the C-sec officers starting to notice the abundance of Humans gathering towards the Presidium tower. "This area is looking a bit more packed than I would prefer."

A large screen deployed from the tower, and vid screens everywhere were being changed to the channel that handled Council business. It was usually boring, unless you were a Volus, Asari, or an Elcor. Today, it was anything but. The Council were standing there, the Turian wearing armor, as well as the Salarian. The Asari, whose name he didn't care to remember, was wearing Commando armor.  _That_  was a surprise. The Turian and Salarian both looked like they wore their armor well. The Asari looked decidedly out of place. Henry decided to sit and wait for this to finish.

" _Citizens of all respective governments, and beyond. This day we address you with news that fills us with great sorrow._ " The Asari stated. " _In a time greatly distant to some yet remembered by others, we were once at war with a race known as the Rachni. For half of an Asari generation we fought them, losing millions of lives. We had thought that the conflict had ended when we purged the Rachni from their homeworld of Suen. It is with the greatest of sorrows that we announce the return of our most ancient and hated of enemies. The Human world of Eden Prime, one relay step from the Citadel, has become infested by the Rachni. In the hundreds of years they have been gone, we have been at peace, and not assuming the threat. To all those who are sentient races, we announce a standing call to arms. The Rachni will not be defeated by anything less than the full might of all of our species."_

" _This call to arms extends to more than just the races of the Citadel. To those in the Terminus Systems, we shall assist you in your struggles with this hateful enemy._ " The Turian councillor said, picking up where the Asari left off. " _These wars were what defined the Turian's position on the Council. At great sacrifice, and the loss of twenty percent of our population to war, my race proved our worth against the Rachni last time. This time, we are proud to stand with the Systems Alliance and all other fellow races in their fight against this menace._ "

The Salarian councillor stepped forward, looking solemn. " _We offer standing rewards to any who have seen Rachni or signs of their whereabouts. Terminus or Council Space, we shall reward any who give us a target well._ " He grinned. " _When we fought in Rachni Wars previously, individuals from each race were selected to perform acts of considerable courage. High risk, low chances of survival. Few survived the war, but those few were the backbone of the Office of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. This Office has in the past only been confined to Asari, Salarian, and Turians. Today, we are happy to announce the training of candidates from many other races. They are here today, to present themselves to us, and will be deployed against the Rachni threat. The Council stands in respect for the sacrifice their people have offered us. They have sent their best, and we shall honor them._ "

The image panned left, to where a few sentients were standing. Two Humans stood, one a standard looking marine, and the other was an Infiltrator. A real one. She had the catsuit, even. Those things were some of the most expensive armor that was possible to buy. She had red hair and curves that could speak for themselves. Then he and Kaiden saw her face, as it zoomed in on her. "Shit." They echoed. That was Julia Harper. Everyone from Solaris knew what she looked like. It had been whispered between biotics who had the massive biotic breakdown on the first day, and how she had disappeared soon after her father did. "Double Shit." Henry said. Her name read as Constantine when the camera panned on her.

"She's your delivery?"

"There is no way I'm getting close to her after this."

"Unless you assist me with her press conference." Kaiden offered smugly.

"I regret ever calling you Princess." Kaiden flinched.

"Don't bring that up, please. I've done enough work burying it over the years."

"Thank you, Alenko." He said, not bringing up how much his styled hair made him want to call him that again.

The image, as they were talking, panned over a Drell male, in full armor, as well as two Batarians. They seemed to be wearing normal armor, though one of them had an odd symbol on his chestplate. "Oh, a Fist. Those guys are not something you throw around." Fists were the Hegemon's guards. They trained from birth for that position. Sending one of those here meant that the Batarians meant business. But sending one of Humanity's few Infiltrators from the Office of Intelligence also spoke of how serious they themselves were. The last in the line was a walking tank, an Elcor male that barely fit on the platform. His cannons and armor looked downright dangerous.

"I'd rather get shot by the Fist, than by that. Thank you very much." Henry said, eyeing the ship-rated guns on its shoulders.

"I bet I could block his visor before it shot me." Kaiden shot back.

"No bet." Henry returned. "I've seen you on the field." Everyone had. Alenko didn't miss very often, and an Elcor was basically a stationary target.

"Alright, looks like the Ambassador wants to have that conference soon." Kaiden said, his Omni-tool blowing up with messages and alerts. "We need some more servers and nodes if we are gonna do that, though." Before Kaiden could continue, the Asari Councillor had taken up the screen again.

" _It is with great sadness we ask that the mantle of war be taken up by our member races. Some of you have remained untouched by it, and we, as survivors of the last war, did not adequately remove the Rachni. We accept responsibility for the attack on Eden Prime, and are sending our militaries to assist in the retaking of the planet. We stand with the Systems Alliance in their struggle. We are united in their fight. Our reasons are their reasons. It is in this spirit of unity that we defend our allies in this crisis. We will fight, and we will win, just as we did previously. Even if millions of Asari may die protecting the other races, we shall not balk. As a Councillor of the Citadel, I commit my own people to this responsibility._ "

" _The Salarian Union looks forward to defending our younger races._ " The Salarian Councillor offered.

" _The Turian Hierarchy holds its honor. Our people and our ships will answer the call, just as we did twelve hundred years ago._ " The Turian Councillor iterated. He seemed eager, unlike the Asari and Salarian. The image then ended, and news stations took over, wild speculation and demands for information on the Rachni threat running rampant. The Humans in the crowd went wild, yelling and shouting for anything they could demand. Most of them sounded worried about Eden Prime.

Kaiden kept his promise, though, and had Henry come with him to the press conference. He got to come backstage, as they were getting everything set up. Ambassador Hock seemed excited, and was standing right next to the regular marine Spectre candidate. They posed for pictures, and Henry could finally see that the odd marks in the guy's armor looked like claws. He had been torn up, from whatever he had been through. Then, finally, he saw Julia Harper. She was a real beauty, that was for sure. But her face was ice cold. She marched right up to him, looking pissed off.

"You." She said, making him feel like he should pull out a weapon. "Your device is putting off signals that mark it as somewhat illegal. Explain it or be evicted from the premises."

"Delivery, Ma'am, to you." He said, offering her the small datapad. She scowled, and then took the datapad.

"From who?"

"Anonymous. They're paying more than a million credits to get this to you, though. Medical technology." He paused, seeing her giving him a look. "I also need to thank you, personally."

"For what?" She said, holding her Omni-tool above the case he had been pulling.

"For shoving a tampon in my shoulder on Torfan. Kept me from bleeding out."

She gave him a softer look. "Glad you survived. Not many of us did." She motioned to the corner. "Pull it over here. I'll open it away from the press alley." Hock was dominating that, they could see. The case was heavy, and the medical symbol on it did nothing to make the situation less awkward. She looked up at him expectantly, as soon as they got over there. "Open it."

"I can't," He started saying, seeing her frown. "It's got some serious encryption on it. Keyed to you, personally, somehow."

She tapped a button on her Omni-tool, letting her glove retract from around her hand. The list of advantages of the catsuits that real Infiltrators wore got longer. She placed it on the haptic interface for the case, and the first layer of encryption unlocked. "Julia Constantine." She said, and the haptic interface flickered. "Julia Constantine Harper." She whispered, barely audible. The encryption turned green, and the case opened up. So did his Omni-tool's scanners, which were saying that whatever was inside the case ranked as a weapon that he  _did not_  want to get hit by.

When the case opened, he whistled. Inside was a large weapon with a radiation symbol on it. It was painted matte black, and the nozzle for its rounds was larger than some anti-fighter cannons. "I was transporting a Cain?!" Henry goggled. "These things are worth more than a million credits in the Terminus!" Few people supplied weapons from the Rachni war, or ammo for them. "Look, you can see the carbon scoring from this thing's age!" He pointed towards the containment ring, looking for the telltale markings of something that had been made hundreds of years ago. There were none. "Or this is new."

The case shut, and Julia was grinning. "Well, I guess sometimes it pays to have friends in dark places. Tell your employer that they can send my thanks to the supplier. Just my thanks." She pulled the case behind her, and stood up with a smile "What's your name, again?" She directed at him.

"Henry Gunn, Miss Constantine."

"In this respect, call me Agent."

"I very much owe you a drink, from those years ago." He offered, feeling like he could finally have something happy result from his past. Or at least something that didn't make him want to drink it all away to avoid thinking about it all.

"Give me your comm address. We're leaving, and investigating some of the leads that have been generated. I'll consider it." He gave it to her, not going to say no to that kind of beauty. Though soon after, he was evicted from the premises by the same woman. Apparently what was going to happen next she didn't want him near.

Once he got outside, he commed Allison. "Package delivered. Please tell me that they paid the other half?"

" _Payment has been received. Your cut is of course accounted for._ "

"She wanted to have us send her thanks to the big wig." He replied. "She knows who really sent that."

" _Then we need to be leaving this station. We'll be taking a transport to Illium later in the day. You have four hours to clean up and be ready for the next job._ "

"I'd much prefer getting a real night's sleep." He said sarcastically.

" _Too bad. There's a War on. Lots of money to be had, and lots of people who need extra security._ "

"I'd feel alright with that if I hadn't just transported something that shouldn't have existed." No one made those old things anymore. If Don hadn't talked so much about the old weapons, then he wouldn't have known how to look for age marks. But there was no signs of age, no signs of carbon scoring from anyone firing the weapon. He also hadn't seen any kind of serial number on it, but he hadn't gotten to inspect it very deeply. Shrugging, he looked around for a good coffee shop, and got ready to pull another uncomfortable day.

* * *

Author's Note

I recently went through a Colon cleansing run, which I both recommend and don't recommend to any of you guys. Holy  _crap_. Meant literally. Mucoid Plaque(Google at your own risk, it's more scary than Elcor-Hanar porn) is scary stuff. This chapter is a little bit short, but we are getting somewhere.

A few notes on Lucid: This is primarily the story focusing on Julia. If anything, Jack and Hannah will be making short appearances here and there, but this part of the story is more effectively introduced and illustrated from Julia's perspective. A few new faces will show up, but the main cast will remain the same.

A few of you have made some remarks about Anderson. I'm no George R. R. Martin, but I don't feel like just because a fan favorite exists doesn't meant that their life has to be saved. Logical Premise is much harder on their version of Anderson, and there are some things that happen with my version of Anderson that will become important later.


	45. Lucid: Pax Romana

Chapter 45

Ilos, Command Bunker, June 2182

Charles was having a good day. The coffee tasted right, the Protheans hadn't bothered him at all yet, and the Quarians were all reporting good progress in all projects. There was the usual griping on the comm channels about the hydroponics lab making tasteless food, but that wasn't the goal there. Nutrition was, and efficiency of space. The more efficient of a growth rate and nutritional value of a plant, the more Quarians that could be supported with the space on all four of their Live Ships. It was sort of the big botany project right now, but way outside of his purview.

So, he took the rare moment to make himself a nice sandwich. More meat and cheese than clinically recommended, and definitely more sauce than recommended by the base doctor. Cackling madly, he returned to the command bunker's seats and settled in to enjoy his masterpiece.

" _Captain Archer?_ " Someone said in Kellish on the open comm. " _Sorry to bother you, but we have something coming in that you need to see._ "

He continued munching on his sandwich, not willing to give up his food. The comm relay that they had at Ilos was carefully routed through the Citadel, through the Conduit relay. Since the Citadel was the center of the comm network, it was easy to just attach a signal to the mini-relay and bounce it all over the other relays in system before finally catching the link to the comm relays of the Citadel itself. There was a slight delay, which was just a sign of how many times it had to bounce around to get back to them. The news channels were blowing up about Rachni this and war that, which was new.

"The 'ek?" He muttered around his sandwich. "Shumun gimme a 'ink to 'EPS!" The Quarians working the area around him looked at him carefully, not understanding. But his sandwich was more important. "evermin', I'll 'o it." He plugged in the command chain, and got the connection started.

Hannah wasn't on the other side when he connected. Her Drell, Kreana, was. "Yes?"

"Eh! 'ull 'ut 'Anna on, eh?" Too much cheese and sauce in the sandwich for normal English. Dang. He gulped, and watched as the Drell didn't know quite how to respond to the gibberish. "Put Hannah on." He finally said.

"She is unavailable." Another issue with the Drell was that she was as descriptive as a sloth. No details, but damn good at her job.

"I need mission reports then. Send them in."

That would take hours. But with the bouncing of comms, it kept their security. "We shall. Please contact us when the reports have been processed." Then Kreana unceremoniously turned off the feed. He was used to that, though. She didn't waste time, and she didn't waste time talking. So, to wait for the data to come in he turned on the news.

" _Human world of Eden Prime under attack by Rachni swarm! Thousands are dead in the chaos, and Systems Alliance forces have called upon the Turian Hierarchy for troops and aid!_ " He changed the channel away from Hierarchy Inquiries, and over to Westerlund.

" _Tragic deaths of thousands as the Council failed to kill all of the Rachni in their war with them hundreds of years ago! Their old enemy has devastated Eden Prime, and civilian deaths are mounting! Do we lay the blame at the hands of-_ "

"Ope' surmish." He muttered around his sandwich filled mouth. He twisted the dial over to the next channel he could tolerate, BBC.

" _Just minutes after the press conference given by Alliance Ambassador Hock, we are proud to share a message from the Luna Titans. All still active in the Alliance military, they have all been deployed to the Citadel and Arcturus over their careers. Enjoy the exclusive story, as we go over this after it is aired."_ The comm station shifted over to a small room, where the full Titan team was in armor and facing the cameras. Kaiden was at the front, as current team captain. He had taken one year off for a bad injury a few years back, and Andrew had been team captain until he came back.

" _My name is Kaiden Alenko, and I hope you've been paying attention to the news lately. In light of what has been happening on Eden Prime, the Titans have requested that we be placed on the front lines. The Rachni are extremely powerful, and very dangerous. We will be keeping up with correspondence and news clips like this one, to let everyone know what is really happening on the ground. The Titans will not be joining the Warp ball championships this year, as we work with the Alliance Navy to save lives._ "

"Oh! ooh ooh!" Charles yelled. "Gimme comms to Alliance Fleet Command! I gotta send these guys somewhere!" He owed Kaiden a few favors, anyways.

* * *

Tayseri Ward, The Citadel June 2182

"Come on, old man, wake up already!" Garrus pounded on the door, hearing rumblings from inside just as he had for the last ten minutes. "We have places to be!"

"Five minutes, Spirit's sake!" Someone yelled from inside. So they had heard him pounding. Garrus waited, stewing. They were supposed to be at a damned press conference, not sleeping with Asari. Spirits, he hated this. The Rachni were back, what a mess. The Krogan were going to be angry. Not only were their ancestral enemy back, but they had been badly mistreated by the Turian Councillor's speech. The Krogan defined the Rachni Wars, but the Turian Councillor was just going by the bias that many of those born on Palaven in the upper tiers ascribed to.

'History is written by the victorious' was their moniker. In Turian history, they had been around when the Rachni had fought, and had contributed. Not as much as the Salarians or the Asari, and far less than the Krogan. Sadly, only once he was a Spectre could he finally see what the real numbers were, and realize that their education system raised Turians to think of all Krogan as reprobates. Worse, the Krogan Rebellions were just written in as an extension to the Rachni War, as it started within ten years after the conflict. His Councillor was just pleasing the upper tiers back on Palaven with that speech, and not winning favor with the other species. Sparatus was always a bare-faced Turian, but this was even more insulting. His words would incite a reaction from many of the different races. Especially the Volus. They had been quite adamant about equality lately.

Still, this was an insult. To the Asari and the Salarians it would just be viewed as the power play, but to the other young races who might be well informed, they would take this the wrong way. Right now they needed solidarity in the face of the Rachni, not more bickering. He pressed his fist into the wall, frustrated.

The door opened, releasing General Arterius. "Spirits, Tarn Vakarian, you don't rush a man with two of the Consort's maidens!"

He hadn't realized that his fist had gotten the old man's attention. "We're late." Garrus glanced into the room, his sensitive nose getting assaulted with the thick smell of Asari wines, Turian brandy, and sex. Lots of it. "Perhaps we should run you through a decontamination filter first, though."

"Spoils of war, Vakarian. I'll smell like this and they will think I am not as xenophobic." He reeked of Asari. As well as everything else.

"Or that you are a washed out old General, fit for nothing other than useless advice."

"Keep your teeth down, young Tarn. You're making me feel angry, and after what I just went through that is not what I want to be feeling." He sighed wistfully, leaning heavily on a cane as they walked towards the Human and Batarian dominated Zakera Ward. "I heard some of the news."

"It's bad. But our job is worse."

"How so? I left my Omni-tool off after that damned speech."

"The Human candidates were being evaluated by Nihlus. He's gone, the Rachni got him." Garrus said, seeing Desolous' mandibles open wide in pain. "He killed a brood warrior in melee range, though. Quite the feat. We are supposed to take over for him"

"He wasn't even finished getting his life together. No children, no mate." Desolous said wistfully. "How long until we have to be at the Human docks?"

"We're late by fifteen minutes." Garrus noted.

"Another thirty minutes won't hurt. Come now, young Tarn, we can find you a young female in estrus, and get her pregnant if you're lucky. That way you won't leave this world without any Spirits to carry yours on."

Garrus glared at the old man. "Spirits, no!" He did not want to imagine that possibility. "Imagine the abuse of power case that could be built against that!"

"Lighten up, Vakarian. We're about to go into new territory for the both of us. I haven't been in Human space since the 314, officially, and you aren't trusted to be in Human space."

"That is not what I'm worried about."

"Of course it is! You still wear that old Omni-tool like a badge of remembrance!" Garrus moved his left arm further away from Desolous, not wanting to think about that. "Think about this! Why would we, two of the most anti-Human Spectres, get called to evaluate them?"

"Someone is engineering this to fail."

"Or to get us both killed. Who inherits if you and I die?" Garrus didn't even want to think about that.

"My mother, and my sister. She is courting some upper tier male of appropriate station."

"That male happens to be related to the Jalius." Garrus hissed. "Yes, now you see. It is important, young tarn, that you do not die. Me, well, I just had sex with two Asari. I can die quite peacefully today. You, not so much. You need to go and plight some lucky female, court and mate her and beget lots of little Tarns before you can risk dying yourself. My inheritance cannot go to the unworthy."

"My mating habits are not the ones in question here. If I remember correctly, we wouldn't be having this conversation if you had managed to find Turian females attractive."

"Yes, that would simplify matters, wouldn't it." Desolous mused. "Too bad they don't have the right hip structure for what I crave." The smug humm of his crooning made Garrus uncomfortable. "Life is filled with uncertainty and regret. Oh well."

Normally the old man was crotchety and bitter. Post sex, he was pleasant, if altruistic and caring. That was the part that made it odd and uncomfortable. He only acted like a father when Garrus needed it least. His father had been enough. "Some of the Humans that were being evaluated died or were injured."

"Both good and bad for us. Nihlus was always smart, though. I trust that boy picked a few of the pyja… Humans that will listen." Desolous shook his head. "This is going to take some getting used to.

"You're going to have to do more than just that. We will also be working with a Quarian who has been admitted into the Alliance Navy." Garrus read off of his Omni-tool. A female Quarian had been present when the Council had made their presentation, but the cameras had carefully avoided her, being the first time a Quarian had been inside the tower in over two hundred years. Negotiations with the Quarians had always been on their terms. They never came to you.

"Well. I can appreciate the hips wiggling around so much more. I'll keep a civil tongue, so long as I am treated kindly in return."

Their walk was quiet, and they were a full twenty eight minutes late when they arrived at the docking bay they were supposed to. It was empty of any Alliance vessel, or a military vessel of any kind. There were only a few beat up shuttles in the docking cradles. Hardly anyone was moving, and no one here looked happy to see two Turians, even though they lacked any kind of C-sec armor. This was one of the cheaper areas of the ward to dock at, and attracted the kind of people that Garrus normally liked to hunt down. A Spectre had to have a hobby for their off times, otherwise they would go crazy. His was high class security as well as C-sec investigations on the side. They enjoyed having him work with them, and his security clearances.

"Did they already leave?" Garrus asked Desolous.

"Well it would be your fault if they did. You could have done  _me_  a kind service and picked me up later. You could have shown up on time and left me to my joyful reunions." The old man replied.

"There. That shuttle." Garrus pointed. "It matches the codes I was given." The door was locked, but when they tapped on the hatch, no one answered. "Unless they just left this here for show."

Desolous twisted, at a speed that his cane and old age did not suggest was possible. His pistol was out of its holster, and his Omni-tool was angled at their rear. Garrus turned in time to see a Human female behind them, her weapons angled at the both of them.

"You are the Spectres I was told would be here, correct?" She said, in a tone that Garrus did not quite identify. It could be considered threatening, especially that shotgun she had trained on the back of his fringe. For Desolous, she had a knife angled at the lowest part of the back, where the armor was thin around the joints. It was considered very dishonorable to aim there. Desolous had his mandibles in close, obviously not happy to have this woman near him.

"I could smell you, Human. Old men don't appreciate threats to their poor knees."

"Yes, we are the Spectres." The Human was one of those stealth ones, those that their government had created to be killers and dishonorable removers of threats. Not that it was a bad thing to remove a threat, but these agents the Humans had made him uncomfortable. "Are you Constantine?"

"Agent Constantine." She replied. "Lt. Jenkins is onboard. But before you can come with us to our ship, you'll need to sign NDA forms."

"We are Spectres, Agent. We do not need to sign these forms." Desolous said, seemingly calm but still quite agitated.

"Nihlus signed them before he received the information on us, and accessed our most secure systems for information. Our ship is not very conventional, but it is still part of the Alliance. Some security conventions are required in order to allow you access."

Garrus was intrigued. "We will sign the release forms, so long as the Council is allowed to remain in communication with us."

She gave them a frown. "That's the problem. Our ship goes under the radar, out of comms and out of contact. Nihlus agreed to this, and so the ship and the candidates were all put together with him. You'll have to sign this before I let you onboard."

Desolous was looking through it. "Your ship requires that we do not report to the Council about its capabilities?"

"It's important. But once it is revealed by the Alliance later this year, you may file reports to the Council about all the things you don't like." She offered. "It's going to make some waves, no matter what you say or report. The Council will be very unhappy with us."

"Your ship is illegal?"

"In the same way that making something more powerful than the Destiny Ascension is illegal by technicality." Constantine said. "Our ship is very new technology and will not be embraced by many on the Council."

"What's this about being accountable to all governments involved?" Desolous asked, reading some of the fine print.

"There is another government involved in all this, and by signing that you do not disclose their secrets as well. Part of the agreement."

Garrus sighed. Humans worried about them far too much. Not to mention the moment these contracts came up the Council would declare them void, and then Garrus would be able to report on exactly what the Humans were doing wrong. He might even treat this secret-keeping as a small hobby. As long as it did not interfere with his active duty of helping the Humans survive in the harsh reality that was Spectre business.

"We will sign it. We're here to help, and your race is the first to be attacked by the Rachni. We shouldn't waste any more time."

She waited patiently for them to sign the NDA pads, and then opened the doors of the shuttle. Inside, there was the male Human that they would be working closely with, as well as a female Quarian. She had Alliance markings on her shoulders and neck, which was odd. They allowed them into their military, which was open to more than just their own citizens. Some of their cast offs, like those 'Reds' often had to get citizenship through military service.

Or other methods. Turians were rather simple in earning their tiers of citizenship. Service, service to the state, and service to the Citadel. C-sec was popular, as was Citadel Management Services. It took twice as long to work your way up through the tiers, but it was a nice value. All of the jobs that the Keepers did not do, Turians usually did as a way of getting higher in citizenship without much risk. Garrus had acquired his first three tiers, in the short time he had been Spectre. They had been wary of giving him more tiers, simply due to lack of information. Or that he was learning from Desolous. Probably the latter.

The shuttle was cramped, once he got aboard. In the back, he could see another Human, this one next to crates of supplies. She had the markings of one of their doctors, and looked older. The Quarian was going over something in her Omni-tool.

"Tali." Constantine said, making the Quarian raise her head up. "Scan them."

Garrus huffed. More security, more paranoia. "They're clean. No biocontaminants or bugs that the airlock won't deal with. Weapons have proper levels of EM shielding for what we are going up against."

"It's good to see that you care more about parasites than you do our weapons." Desolous remarked. "Makes an old man feel welcome. My name is General Desolous Arterius. I've been pulled out of semi-retirement two weeks from my appointment with the Consort to come and make sure that you don't ruin everything the Council is trying to save. In other words, keep you from dying from whatever plot my idiot Councillor decided to add me into."

"I am Captain Garrus Vakarian. Active duty Spectre and glad to be here." Mostly glad. Somewhat subdued. He was working with Humans.

"Glad to have you. This is Jenkins, and my name is Agent Constantine. I am in command of the frigate until the Navy sends a replacement." At least the Humans were rather no nonsense. "My Engineering Chief, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, and the ship's doctor, Chakwas. She is fully rated to operate on Turians, Quarians, and Humans. Tali, send them the mission reports."

Their Omni-tools filled with information regarding the Eden Prime data, and Desolous finally took something seriously. She gave them an hour to go over the data, and then brought them back into the conversation loop while the shuttle waited for clearance to enter the relay leading to Eden Prime. "Looks like the Rachni didn't have their normal troop compliment." Desolous remarked.

"There was only a couple dozen of their warriors and a couple hundred of their workers. Along with the one brood warrior." Constantine said. "No sign of a Queen from anywhere on Eden Prime yet. But Gilderland is seeing thousands of the bugs."

"That is the kind of numbers I was expecting to see." Desolous said. "But you said they sent in just a small force, and used hijacked turrets?"

"Yes. That actually gave us our first lead. Those turrets were made of a large amount of parts, but the cannons themselves are standardized. They were made and the rest of the parts are simply aftermarket additions. The foundry it came from is a bit more dangerous, though." She brought up the serial numbers. "Those turrets were produced at Torfan."

Jenkins frowned, and Garrus tightened his mandibles. "Were these taken from a third party?"

"Not likely. Tali tells me that these are all from the same series. Some of them are within single digits of each other. These were bought all at once."

"You've got teeth, Human. You want to send someone to Torfan? After your people strung up all those Batarians?"

"Hey!" Jenkins said. "No one ever gave orders to crucify them! High Command never authorized that kind of torture!" So that was what they called it. Dozens of Batarians had been strung up by the Humans in their offensive after the Batarians decided to start killing slaves in plain sight. It was rather gruesome. Apparently a Human tradition in ages past had been to impale the limbs of a sentient to a pole with a crossarm. The victim died from suffocation, as their body built up fatigue and killed itself painfully. The process could take days. The Batarians were similar in build to Humans, enough that they too suffocated from the treatment.

It was the main reason that the Separatists had a warlike state with the Humans. Bombs had been strapped to the victims, and not a single one had been saved. Their screams had been sent across open channels for days, and no attempts could be made to save them or else the bombs went off. The case for war crimes was a strong one, and many lawyers were waiting for the Batarians to readmit the Separatists just so that the Humans could be forced to investigate the mess. It would not make him pleased to see the Separatists returned to grace, and wasn't a price he was willing to pay to see the Humans knocked down a peg or two.

"Torfan is not a subject for debate." Constantine retorted Jenkins. "But we are going there. We are going to investigate this, and find out where those turrets went. No other serial numbers or leads on anything else the Rachni had. Armor was made by some really in depth foundry, and that brood warrior had what appeared to be a plasma cannon."

"I think I can help with that." Tali said. "Some of the weapons look a lot like weapons that were designed by Quarians three hundred years ago. We tried to make contained plasma weapons and the Council tried to impose sanctions on those weapons. Some of the basic designs seem to match what we were researching so long ago."

"Are you saying that there are rogue Quarians supplying the Rachni?"

"No, I am not. There aren't enough people willing to fund Quarians these days for that to be possible. But if the Rachni somehow got a hold of our research materials, they might have been able to replicate our designs."

Constantine frowned. "You have permission to call anyone in the Migrant fleet that you need to, Tali. Find out where that information was stored. If I need to go to Rannoch to find out, I will."

Garrus shuddered. The Perseus Veil was extremely dangerous. The few ships that the Turians had patrolling that direction always reported Geth patrols near the edge of the Veil. Big ships, big guns. They avoided each other, but verified the other's presence with active radar sometimes. Very rarely did sightings occur. "That sounds like we will need something to distract the Geth forces in system."

"You'll see." Was her response. "Coming up on the Normandy now."

Garrus didn't recognize the name. "Is that what your ship is called?"

"The  _SSV Normandy._  She's a stealth frigate."

"Stealth…?" Desolous said. "What, did you put armor around a enviro-cube?"

"Something like that." She pointed to the front of the shuttle. "You're welcome to observe us as we approach the ship." Garrus nodded his thanks, and sat in the awkward seat in front, next to her. He had to stretch out his legs, and not let them rest comfortably. He could hear Desolous asking questions in the back, regarding the Shangxi developments and about the Eden Prime mission. Garrus didn't care about that.

"You know why they sent us with you, right?" He asked.

"I assume that you're here to assist."

"They want Desolous dead. Have been for years. He's a disgrace to the Hierarchy. I'm," He paused. "Not exactly friendly with Humans. They expect us to not help you. They expect you to die."

"You wouldn't be telling me all this if you meant to follow your orders."

"In some ways, I'm not a very good Turian." Garrus admitted, mandibles opening a bit wider. "But you're up against the Rachni and the jaded opinion of the Council. I don't agree with some of their policies. I also believe that Nihlus had his spirit in the right place when he pushed for Spectre candidates from the other races."

"This was all Nihlus' idea?" She asked, interested. "He never mentioned that."

"He's been trying to make this happen for eight years now." Garrus said. "It would be an insult to his memory to see it fail. Not when we need it most."

"The Council took down the Rachni before. With their leadership, we can do so again." Constantine said. "We've never experienced anything like this before."

"Yet the Rachni went after you first." Garrus noted. "The strategic advantage of Eden Prime is good, I will admit, but there is hardly any solar radiation for them to hide in. They wouldn't have gone after you if they didn't worry about Humanity. They could have started this on Thessia, for all we know."

"They were after the Prothean Beacon. Nothing else." She reminded him.

"Ah, that may have been one of their goals. But what worries me is that they settled in large numbers in the capital. They aren't there to raid you for technology or information. They're here to take the planet. By going after you first, they force all of your allies to act. The Rachni were fond of subtle tactics. Traps and treacherous terrain, fighting space battles in dangerous areas, they were fond of that." He noticed that the shuttle was going into one of the smaller asteroid belts. There was nothing out there. "Where is your ship?"

"Parked on a planetoid. You'll see her in a minute." She said, smirking. "I don't know who designed it, but it suits our needs quite well."

"I haven't commanded any ships, but if you think so I can't help but agree." Garrus had been given ships temporarily for the use of the Spectres, but never commanded them. They slowed, approaching a planetoid. They even came to a complete stop, but Garrus couldn't see anything on radar or visually where they had stopped. The shuttle rocked slightly, as something connected. "Did you put engines on a planetoid?" He shook his head. "This is going to be the slowest frigate ride since the Unification Wars."

"Five credits says that you'll be surprised."

"Don't take that bet!" Desolous yelled. "We don't get paid enough to take bets!"

"It's just five credits." Constantine said with a small grin. "I thought Spectres got paid well for their services."

Garrus shook his head. "The Hierarchy pays you according to rank. It means that a Spectre has to be political, mingle, and get married right in order to get paid anything meaningful. Nihlus didn't have much, due to that. The Asari get paid more, but they all have fashion to worry about. They also have hundreds of years to regret financial decisions. It allows them certain privileges. Salarian Spectres have odd spending habits. They get paid by their Dalatrass for representing them." The airlock on the shuttle showed a green connection to something. "I'll take your bet, though. Show me this asteroid with wings."

The airlock did not open to a rocky cavern, much to his expectations. Instead, he was looking at a large hangar bay. It had a wheeled ground vehicle, as well as another airlock across the hangar. Decontamination was very thorough, and he had to take off his armor and do it again. Everyone in the shuttle was feeling frazzled and had gone down to their undersuit layer. Garrus opened an energy bar, the tough material crackling as his jaw crushed the bone shards and meat. It tasted good, and felt better than the food that this place was likely to have.

The hangar bay had a large door, but why they had that but kept the shuttles outside bothered him. In a Turian vessel landing shuttles were kept safely inside, where the ship's barriers and armor would protect them. The space inside was rather limited, and if they were using rock, it would maintain their cover if the shuttle did not emerge from the interior of the asteroid. Shrugging, he stepped past the hangar bay and saw the reactor housing.  _That_  was not something for an asteroid. It was larger than some cruiser's cores. Perhaps even larger than some dreadnaught cores, but Garrus had not seen any of those.

"This isn't an asteroid."

"This frigate can do  _this._ " Constantine emphasized, turning invisible using that stealthsuit the Humans prided themselves on. She came back out of invisibility by the doors to an elevator, his hearing not having noticed her moving. "It can remain cloaked and keep its heat contained for up to eight hours safely. Then things start to cook in here, as the thermal vents can no longer store any extra heat. Gives us roughly two more hours to decide our fate."

Garrus did the math. Ten hours, with no heat signs or visual signature to give away their position. "What about laser detection? Won't that just bounce off of you?"

"The ship can keep the laser from refracting, and even send out signals mimicking the laser's path. All forms of detection that the Council races use we can ignore or be ignored by." She grinned. "You'll be kept on this deck and the deck right above this one. The bridge is off limits, and your comm systems will not be available until we return to Council Space. I trust you won't get into too much trouble here?"

Garrus gave her an answering smirk. "Trust is a word that implies expectation. Not a model Turian, remember? I'll try to keep my hands from wandering, but my eyes might not be so well contained."

"I'm old, young Tarn. I claim first-rights on Nihlus's sleeping nest." Desolous of course had something to add. "I'll stay out of trouble, so long as I have a few good meals." Garrus shrugged. The old man was much more capable than he was when it came to getting information. It mostly came down to if he  _wanted_  to at this point.

Constantine took that for what it was. "Joker, we need approval to leave system. Get me on the line with Hackett."

* * *

Julia sat in the comm room, not quite sure what to make of her newest assets. Both of the Turian Spectres seemed like good men in a fight, but also important in other ways. Spectre Vakarian was perceptive, taking in everything about the ship. Hopefully he wouldn't go running to the Council the moment he was back on the comm network, screaming about a Human ship that could sneak onto Thessia whenever it wanted. The older one, she would have to look into.

" _This is Hackett._ "

"Normandy reporting in, Sir. We have a lead on finding out where these bugs came from. The Council was pleased to have our report."

" _Damn fine job, Constantine. We lost a lot of people. Already Turians are landing on planet and applying their tactics. We might have to level the city, though. Even with soldiers pouring in from all sides, the numbers of bugs are increasing. Thankfully the armor they are wearing appears to only be in limited numbers._ "

"But that means that more are spawning."

" _We've confirmed that there may be up to three queens on Eden Prime. It's not a pleasant thought. Getting enough bodies to get in here and fight them is proving to be difficult._ "

"I can pursue this lead, but I need a few things before that can be possible." Hackett nodded. "I am going back to Torfan."

" _Good God, is that where your lead is?"_  Hackett looked furious. " _Are you going to crucify another hundred Batarians? The last time you left Torfan, I stuck my neck out for you. Is this going to be another Inhumane disaster?"_

She winced. Hackett had stood up for her back then. "No, I'm just there to get information. But my team is so undermanned it hurts. My weapons officer isn't even here yet. Without Anderson the ship isn't even fully operational. He had all of the codes to unlock weapons. Not to mention we need another flag officer for this ship."

" _As it so happens, you're in luck. I have a few officers that are available to me. None of them flag officers, unfortunately. But I already found a solution to that. Commander Constantine, please take your operational rank at this time. The Alliance Office of Intelligence has released you to the Navy for the duration of this conflict._ "

"You're putting me in the official chain of command?"

" _After you were presented on the Citadel, yes. PR and the current administration both agree it will look better. Jenkins, if it wasn't for inexperience and his careless mouth, would be on his way to the next rank. The_ Normandy _is yours, Commander. I'm also sending you a couple of new faces for your marine compliment. As well as a War Correspondent."_

She hissed. "Sir, this is a stealth frigate. That defeats the basic purpose of this craft. Not to mention the secrets involved."

" _He's a Lieutenant, Commander. Fully qualified and dedicated to the Alliance. I've got coordinates for you to pick them up at. The gunnery officer I have for you requested the 'hottest shithole you've got.'"_ Hackett smiled. " _Everyone I have for you is rated for N2 or above. It's a lot of force to apply to a single frigate, but right now you'll need it._ "

She gave him a smile. "Alright, Admiral. Thank you for the support."

Hackett nodded. " _Welcome to the official chain of command. Don't forget to check in regularly._ "

She saluted. "Aye, Sir." It was odd. She was finally official. After years and years of work, and a fluke made her official. Many of the Infiltrators were, but a few were kept unofficial just in case a more subtle touch was needed. Or a deniable asset. The Salarians used their STG teams like gigantic bludgeons, applying them in large numbers and then denying their existence. But everyone knew better.

" _Good luck, Commander. Don't do anything too drastic. Hackett Out._ "

She sighed. So much for anonymity. She exited the comm room, and walked out onto the bridge. Pressley stood at attention, his eyes showing no pity or carelessness. "XO, please set course for Torfan." That made his eyes widen.

"Command has allowed this?"

"Yes. I understand you were there?"

Pressley nodded. "My frigate had to land on Torfan itself. We picked up some of the marines and escaped slaves through one of the surface defense bunkers when we finally broke the cordon." He didn't look happy. "We're going back?"

"Not with a fleet. Those turrets the Rachni had mounted were bought there. As a complete set, so it's a place to start. The Normandy will stealth in, and park somewhere on the surface that I can access. I as well as a team will be inserted in and recover the data regarding the transaction."

"Alright, Ma'am. What are these secondary coordinates?"

"Where our new marine compliment is. Pick them up, let me know when they've arrived onboard." Pressley nodded, and around him the bridge crew got to work. She kept walking, up to where Joker and Kalin'ren sat. "Kalin'ren. I need to know if those damn bugs have tried to communicate off planet."

He twitched, turning to glare at her. She glared right back. "Well. If you must know, they made a couple of attempts during the jamming, but they were already so garbled that it was impossible to figure out what they were even saying. Screeches, mostly. Nothing else from the planet has seemed remotely alien. Just lots of screaming idiots."

"Joker, we will be on approach to Torfan. In the Alliance Academy, I am aware that there is a simulation that takes pilots through the Torfan raids. As well as the failed fleet action."

"Yeah, that piece of work." Joker muttered. "That thing could break the President of the Alliance's marriage before anyone could win the conditions." He turned around in his seat. "They phased that out from the required courses, though. Only those going for top accreditations had to run that."

"I hated it." Julia told him. "I didn't perform well in the first place, but my target was going into the simulation and they needed someone observing them at all times."

"Oh-ho-ho!" Joker said. "Someone is a flight jockey, too?"

"No, sadly. But I could act like it." Julia said. "But I remember someone at the simulation doing something stupid, but it worked. They took their frigate wolfpack in so close to Torfan's surface that the defensive towers risked shooting their own hangars. It made the VI have to restart the simulation, even though the wolfpack survived."

"You were there." Joker said. "Holy crap, you were there when I got reamed out by every single officer in the building."

"I was there when you did it again just to spite them." She said. "Think you can handle going into Torfan on a real run?"

"You certainly take us to all the scenic places, Ma'am. With stealth, I can drop us off on the edge of the asteroid, but the time it'll take will make it impossible to hide anywhere else in system. They had every large planetoid and planetary body secured when we came after them last time. You can bet my salary they'll have maintained that security net."

"Torfan has been developed since we hit it. The environmental systems still pump excess heat out of the asteroid. The Normandy can hide in one of the thermal vents, and vent its extra heat while you wait for the team to come back from the station."

"We have a couple feet of clearance on both sides, if the old specs are still true."

"Separatists are cheap. They won't have reworked the entire system. You just get me there, and then we can get out. Who knows, maybe you can send the current information to the Academy as a new form of extreme test."

" _Ma'am, new arrivals have just been picked up._ " Pressley said. " _You'll be happy to meet them._ "

She tipped her head at Joker, and then turned invisible. She wanted to see what they sent her before she made her official introduction. She even took the tiny stairways on either side of the elevator. The hangar bay was getting a little packed, with all of the supplies that had just arrived. A new MAKO was in the hangar, and climbing out of it were a few people. An entire team of marines, all of which were wearing some Onyx brand armor. Expensive stuff, all of it looking well used. Broken in, too. That was a good sign. Whoever these people were, they were much better equipped than the average marine. At their head, there was another marine, this one wearing a Thracian armor. A bit old, but it was the best of the best ten years ago. The older line was still popular all over the Terminus.

The one in Thracian armor had taken off her helmet, the armor almost thick enough to make her appear male. But the black hair, brown eyes, and grin on her face identified her as the marine captain that she had met on the ground. Williams, her name was. Her weapons were all very nice, decent mods. She watched as the rest of the marines took their helmets off, and Julia felt floored.

Kaiden Alenko was here. Along with the rest of the Titan's front line. The other four were his main lineup, the players that were the best biotics that Humanity had in Warp ball terms. She knew all of these people by heart. She knew how fast they recovered, how quickly they could get into position, and how to move around. She knew their barrier strength, too. Body weight, capabilities, she could not have asked for a more well balanced team. Hackett knew her too well, she now realized.

Julia allowed herself a small smile, at the thought of working together with them. Hell, she might even try some Warp ball moves. She didn't realize until too late that she had let herself giggle at the thought. It came out as her signature giggle. A chirp, with three octaves. The marines all turned, looking for the source of the noise. She stopped herself from laughing further, and moved towards the elevator. Calling it, she waited until the doors opened and then decloaked. She mustered control over her features and calmed herself. Off to one side, she could see Spectre Arterius busying himself with one of the terminals, and in a conversation with Jenkins. Garrus sat next to the armory, going over all of their weapons and making Jenkins have to alternate his attention between the two Turian Spectres.

The incoming marines all saluted, and Kaiden recognized her. All of them did, most likely. They were all in Solaris with her anyways. "Attention!" They all stood at attention, their booted feet tapping in step. Perfectly in step. "Good to see you, Williams." The woman nodded, looking pleased. "Why in God's name are the Titans on this ship?"

"War Correspondent, Ma'am. The Alliance wanted a friendly face on the ground for when we sent in the news. With the Rachni coming back, command felt that biotics would be the best answer to the bugs." Kaiden said. "We've brought Onyx armor for you marine compliment and Aramax Arsenal guns for everyone. Sponsorship goes both ways, Ma'am." Alenko had sponsors all over human space. The entire Warp ball team did, and it was a nice gift at this moment.

"For your information, AOI has decided that I am to be transferred to the Navy's command structure. I am Commander Constantine. I have not held a flag command before this time, so I will be leaning on all of you heavily to fulfill your posts. This ship is a highly secretive vessel that the Alliance has not revealed to the public as of yet. I have been assured that you all will maintain this secrecy until it is time to reveal it. If you do not maintain this, you will be placed within a penal colony that also does not exist until such time as secrecy is secure. I am technically part of the Naval command structure, but I am also an officer within the Office of Intelligence. I will not tolerate any insecurities. On this mission, I care more about that than I will any other rules in the book. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"Good. We're hunting Rachni. They bought some turrets out of the Terminus Systems, and we're going to go investigate the producer. So, whatever you think you've signed up for, this is going to be worse. Williams, were you ever part of the raids on Torfan?"

"No, Ma'am. Wished I was, though."

She gave the marine a glare. Williams matched it. "I know the Warp ball team hasn't been off the Citadel unless it was for photo ops and public events, so that means it's just me. We're going to Torfan and investigating who bought the turrets. Then, we follow the rabbit hole wherever it leads."

Williams whistled. Kaiden and the other members of the Warp ball team looked a bit more worried. "Stow it, Williams. You signed up for the hottest hellhole there is, and you're getting it. Command sent you all with me to hunt Rachni. You'll need to read through the mission reports and examine the acid samples we have on file. We also have two Spectres onboard with us, to assist us with our hunt for the Rachni. Treat them with respect." She glanced at Kaiden. "Lieutenant Alenko, please come with me."

He followed her to the elevator, still perfectly professional. "Did you change your name while we were in Solaris?"

She frowned. This was not supposed to get personal. Enough personal crap had been going on recently. "That isn't important or relevant for you, Lieutenant." She turned to him, eyes as cold as she could make them. "I need to know if your team can willingly injure a target. I know you haven't seen any true combat."

"I'm a Political Officer and correspondent. My job is to make sure that you can do yours. Public events, speaking, that is all my specialty. As for combat, well, bugs aren't sentient beings, and don't stress any moral codes. We will be able to kill as many of them as you need us to. How heavy are the smallest ones?"

"Eight kilos." She answered. "More or less about half the weight of a Warp ball. Though there is a difference between each bug. Some are in their later stages of growth, others in the newer. It changes the weight and density of the carapace. The armor is thick, too. The armor we were able to recover was forged in an Omni-forge with large capability, and the ability to adjust the armor over bugs in different life cycles. The armor is two inches thick for the regular warriors, but gets to about ten inches thick on the Brood warrior. That was what the files have."

Kaiden furrowed his brow. It was sort of funny looking, to see the normally perfect looking man so out of character. "Do we have a weight for the Brood Warrior?"

"No. It was atomized by some sort of surprise weapon that Nihlus used in close combat. Some seriously illegal bomb that he must have been saving for something nasty."

"Well, I can guarantee that we can take out the little ones in our sleep. Use them against each other. The warriors don't weigh enough to stop us, either. Even with armor, we can keep them off their feet. A couple of us can use singularities on them, as well." Kaiden gave her one of those winning smiles he gave for every press conference. "We are also accurate enough to knock those guns of theirs out of their tentacles. We'll be ready when it comes time." She had always assumed that smile was a fake. It might just be real.

"Good." She heard herself say. "I'm taking one of the Turians and Williams down to Torfan with me. Unless you can pull of stealth as well as showboating?"

"You'd be surprised, Ma'am. Most of us have experience outside of the arena."

* * *

Torfan, June 2181

Julia slipped the enviro-suit over her catsuit, checking all of the seals. To her right, Garrus was doing the same, the Turian's armor apparently good enough to regulate incoming heat. Not in extremes, but enough. Williams was also in an enviro-suit over her armor, looking for all the world as though she needed it.

"Suits are sealed. Normandy, are you in position?"

" _Tighter than an_   _Asari's_ -"

" _Yes, Ma'am!_ " Joker said, interrupting Kalin'ren. " _But we won't be able to get out of this shaft quickly. We'll have to be extremely careful._ " The shaft was small, yes. Barely fit the Normandy, but it also allowed them to vent heat and not break cover. So it kept her crew alive. The system had been updated with sensor nets worthy of a capital planetary body. The patrols were thick, but the Separatists were hardly expecting a stealth frigate.

They hadn't been seen on their way in. Or at least no alarms or frantic messages had occurred on approach. Kalin'ren had assured her that he was familiar with Batarian comm protocols. She had to trust that he was. She sighed, hoping that this was going to be a mission that went smoothly.

"You know your part?" She asked Vakarian and Williams.

"Watch the vents, yeah." Williams was in charge of securing the exit. She wasn't stealthy or capable enough to go where she and Vakarian were going. "Bring the Missile launcher and set it to remotely start targeting their sensor control tower if things go poorly."

Spectre Vakarian grinned. His armor was unmarked, with no rank or any kind of sign that he was affiliated with any group. He wasn't going to follow the stealth route. He was going to go out in the open. Turians were allowed on Torfan, so long as they were not affiliated with the Hierarchy. "It's not my first time in the Terminus, Commander. It's my job to just get the doors open. Then take a public transport if I get lost."

"I'll be right with you if things get dangerous." She said. "I've been here before."

"I'm counting on you to guide me, then. My Batarian isn't exactly civil." The Turian said, and Julia could swear that he was giving her a smirk. She made a mental note to bring Vakarian into a game of cards at some point. She had to figure out his tells. He was odd, for a Turian. Nihlus had claimed to be different, but his mannerisms were the same as all the rest. He had individual thoughts, but Garrus acted differently. He walked like the other Turians she had met, but he had a swagger to his walk that made his stance change.

"You probably should talk to as few people as possible." Julia said. "For both our sakes."

"I guess I really am that unattractive. Go figure." He remarked. The airlock door finally finished cycling, and the three of them hustled out of the airlock. They all jumped the five meters to the wall, activating their mag-boots. Hers were the most unwieldy, as she was wearing an extra layer above her catsuit. Vakarian walked with confidence, even though he had no layout or visibility with all of the steam passing them by. The air here was sealed, so they all had breathers or helmets on. Williams landed on the wall awkwardly, carrying three missile launchers. She cursed, as she had to rebalance herself twice on the way to the airlock.

She was late in getting there, and by the time she got out her Omni-tool to hack it, the door was already open. Spectre Vakarian looked suspiciously as though he had hacked it with just that eyepiece he was wearing. She was going to find out about that later, though. The airlocks here were just as bad as she remembered. Traps, sensors, and cameras. Along with some Batarian razor wire. That stuff was really just thousands of tiny barbs on tension strings, where if the strings were broken the two magnetic ends would snap towards each other, wrapping thousands of diamond tipped barbs along the string around their target. She was very careful as she snipped those.

Normally she would slip by without breaking them, but Williams and Vakarian were not that good. Or at least she thought they weren't. The cameras were more annoying than anything else. A few seconds of jamming and they would flicker and return to normal. Or she would loop their feed if she could access them without going into their line of sight. That got Garrus and Williams through the outer layers of the asteroid. Torfan was one of those super asteroids that almost classified as a planetoid. The inside had only been mined out to around five percent of the mass of the asteroid, and the asteroid was around eighty kilometers long and more than two hundred wide.

It was a natural base. The Batarians used it and stabilized its orbit. Hollowed out some of it. They just needed air filtration systems and helium-3 to keep it running. People crammed inside of it kept it warm. The rock was thick enough that it didn't let out any of the heat or gasses. This also meant that they had to go through multiple levels of security. Since they were coming out of one of the heating vents, where heat was ejected from the asteroid, there was less security. There had to be, in order to keep the flow of heat. But the winding turns were bad. To remind themselves of the way back, Julia was painting symbols on the walls, using an invisible ink. Directions to get back to the ship, just in case they had to leave in a hurry. It would be visible to a few of the extremely sensitive eyes of some species, but for them a blacklight would be enough.

It took six minutes of walking to get through the winding passages of the asteroid's outer layers. She had shed her enviro-suit after they had gotten through the heat dispersal layers. But now that they were here, they had to deal with actua patrols. The first was a guard room, over the entrance to the air filtration plant. They avoided that, and went further down the maintenance tunnels to the next exit. This one was guarded by a pair of mechs. Also nonviable.

Williams was visibly uncomfortable moving around like this. She was the type to shoot first and ask questions later, but someone decided she was worth making an officer. So she had some layer of professionalism. Spectre Vakarian, on the other hand, was good. He hacked a few of the cameras that she had trouble getting to. That visor of his was really something. "Is your Omni-tool's receiver in that eyepiece?"

Vakarian chirped, a short laugh. "My visor has a secondary receiver keyed to my Omni-tool, yes. It helps to be able to see. Among other things."

"I'm slightly envious."

"Says the woman who can turn invisible whenever she wants."

"But I can't wear heavy armor as a result. You can take a missile or two before you go down. I have to worry about small arms fire much more than you do." She held up her hand, and then pointed to another hatch some of the way down the tunnel. "I remember this one. Hopefully my things are still here."

The tunnel had a camera, but not one that seemed to be working too well. Water vapor had filled some of the tunnel, and the wiring had corroded. The walls of the asteroid material were tougher here, made of more dense materials. She positioned her legs into the splits, and rose herself up to the uppermost part of the tunnel. A small nook was there, and her small fingers reached in and grabbed the supplies she had left there years ago. The MREs were expired, probably. She took them and placed them in her pack. The other things were more useful. An emergency beacon, disabled, as well as some pitons for tents.  _Those_  were the things that she wanted to get rid of any further evidence of.

"I expected to see a gun, honestly." Williams said. "What did you use all that for?"

"Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies." The pitons were placed in her pack, as well. She had many other nooks where she had stored items, and a lot of the other Alliance survivors had been doing the same thing. They hadn't known when anyone was going to come and save them. Or if that would happen. Many of them stashed food and supplies, ready to hide until kingdom come. "We won't be needing them, but every piece of Alliance gear we recover now is less of a chance that the Alliance is dragged into a legal battle later. I don't know how many stashes there are, but I personally left a good two dozen."

"How long were you on the station?" Vakarian asked. They were now approaching the entrance that she was familiar with. The real reason she had a stash here. This had all been Alliance territory during the later days of Torfan. The contested territory started out past this door. Waste Reclamation and Recycling. The Water Treatment plant was further inside the asteroid. It had been under their control as well.

"Twenty four days. I landed with the first wave." Her mission had been simple. It had taken her all of those days to accomplish it. The Batarians had been extremely paranoid in their protection and security. Especially on the asteroid's defenses. "This leads to the Waste treatment plant. Lightly defended, lightly armored. Not a strategic objective. Vakarian, you'll be inserting yourself into the populace here. I'll follow you and walk with you to the objective. Williams, this building's roof should be secure from sight and sound. Set up the rockets and use the edge of the roof as a launch point. Auto-loaders and everything else. Scratch out identifiers and serial numbers. I don't want them tracing this back to us. Vakarian, let's go."

By 'let's go', she meant that he should walk through the doors and out of the plant. He used his visor exclusively, and she drew power from the walls of the treatment plant to give her a boost. She didn't expect to find any power conduits for a while. Coming outside the waste treatment plant, she emerged into the urban sprawl. The lowest caste of society lived and worked here, where the fighting over the area had been the longest. Some of the damaged buildings had been barely refurbished, and not even with Omni-gel. The street lights had been repaired, revealing all of the Batarians that filtered into the bottom of their society. Slaves, and those too poor to own much of anything but their own lives.

The Separatists supposedly maintained the ancient Batarian culture. They didn't number too many, but they had controlled a larger amount of the military than expected when they broke off from the Hegemony. They had ships and guns aplenty. The result of this was a large group of people that were forcibly kept at subservient levels. The middle castes had barely moved to join the Separatists, and so they lacked craftsmen and merchant class.

The slums gave way to actual streets, and real walls and businesses. Vakarian walked with a slightly more submissive gait, now. Like a Turian normally would when alone in dangerous territory. Julia followed him, noticing that he picked up a couple of observers as soon as he walked along the main road.

"ID and helmet off, Turian." One of them said, and Vakarian turned around slowly.

"Of course." He said. He brought up an ID on his wrist, and took off his helmet for them. The ID passed, and the Batarians offered to guide him to wherever he was going to go. He walked with them, acting pleased that he had escorts. The escorts started walking down the road, at which point she saw the monument. It was one of the broken chunks of building that she had used so long ago, and a copper statue of a crucified Batarian hanging from the anchor points remained on it. "Honor to his spirits." Vakarian offered, "I trust he was buried with honors?"

She remembered this one. This piece of debris had hosted a number of her kills during the twenty four days. She had impaled the wrists of the Batarians, and then stabbed out their upper eyes. They couldn't be buried that way, and it made those who tried to rescue them more terrified as they pulled them down. Wiring bombs to them, and setting their comm channel to open and one-directional made their cries of pain and suffering go out across the rest of their forces. But they deserved it. They had been strapping children of different races to the front of their large shields, and the babies to their chest plates. They strapped explosives to other civilians and 'released' them back into the Alliance's custody. With no hope of rescue in sight, and the depravity of the Batarians getting worse, she decided to use tactics outlawed on Earth. Castration, maiming, crucifixion. She found that it was the most effective. They never doubted the resolve of Humanity after that. Though a rush of anti-Batarian sentiment as well as anti-Human sentiment on both sides rose soon after Torfan.

"All of those who were impaled upon the metal like this had their eyes clawed out first. They could not be buried with their ancestors." The Batarian escort said. "Their souls will seek rebirth in their caste, to try again."

"My condolences for their rebirth and life." Vakarian offered. "Is it customary to leave a token offering?" At the foot of the monument there were a few small bits of debris. Though that might be offerings or religious tokens. Julia didn't know.

"Only if your family is trying to guide his soul back to its proper place. Though your respect brings those families assistance. More so, if you kill the one responsible for taking their eyes."

Vakarian gave a dark laugh. "Hopefully, the defenses I am going to buy help with that. My company has enough trouble with pyjak infestations as it is." The Batarians gave Vakarian a grin, and they started walking again, this time with a bit more space given to him to walk.

The walk was not as slow, now. The Batarians took them right to the Batarian State Arms dealer. The real Batarian State Arms supplier operated out of Hegemony space, and this was just a front company for the Separatist proxy company. His observers followed him closely, just to make sure that he was following all of their rules.

The dealer seemed to find Garrus's 'supply run' excuse valid. Garrus bought two crates of illegal ammunition, explosives, and high grade depleted heavy metal tech grenades. He seemed very jovial, and the Batarians seemed pleased at the amount of credits he spent. All in all, not a bad thing. Julia went further inside the building, finding hundreds of slaves at work making different pieces of equipment. All of them save a few were chained to their place of work. Objects of punishment rested on the wall next to the door. She clenched her teeth at that. But she couldn't extract any slaves now. Damn all bad Batarians, but she couldn't.

Upstairs she found offices, and of course their server network terminals. She let her pre-programmed viruses and trawling programs do the work for her, getting into their servers and downloading information. User data, shipment data, all of it would be useful to have. It would filter its way out of the systems here. But from what she could already see, she had the identity of every major user in the system. With Batarian systems, there were few listed users and lots of permissions. It made navigating their systems easy if you could access their users.

The one who owned this factory was Narok Klem. He was on their reports as one of the more dangerous nobles that were left. She left her trawlers in the system and started up the stairs to the executive offices. She planted a small locator beacon on the bastard's office doors, and then retreated back downstairs and out of the loading docks. Right about that point, things started going to hell.

" _Tuchanka! Tuchanka!"_  William's voice came across the channel. They had no idea if the Batarians would be able to pick up their transmissions in the clear or partially. But they had always been subtle and sly when they needed to be. That was the signal that she had been discovered.

"Three." She said in Batarian. Ashley was going to retreat into the tunnels. But first she would fire off the missiles. Julia gave a small grin as she activated the homing beacon on the executive office, and ran for the lower levels. She made some noise, as her feet slammed on some stairs. She blamed the shoddy construction practices of the Batarians. As well as their paranoia for not making emergency exits. Vakarian had left with his purchases a minute or two ago, and was walking his way back towards the docks. She was able to catch up to him, just because he was walking. He still had his two observers, but the streets were beginning to show signs of slight panic. A couple of extra squads of enforcers had come out, heading into the slums. Without his helmet on, Vakarian wouldn't be able to hear their comms.

She heard rather than saw the missiles launch. The ground shook slightly, as two of the three missiles struck the comm center, and the third struck the facility they just left. That got everyone panicked, even Vakarian. Explosions on an asteroid are always considered a terrifying thing. The second wave of missiles hit towers and the comm center again, and the third and fourth waves aimed at the government building. It had its barriers up by that point, so none of the missiles caused damage there. But there was fire and panic spreading through the station.

The doorway to the docks sealed, ending any thought that Vakarian had towards escaping. She frowned. Since he was walking, now standing in place and looking panicked, she was able to run ahead and pick up an old bottle. Perfect. This, she threw at her Turian Spectre with all of the strength she had. His focus shifted, as he twisted to face the new threat. His watchers did, too, their focus on the alleyway that she had thrown the bottle from. She ran down it, kicking the pile of debris at the end of the alley. She was already back in the slums, after just one row of buildings to give the streets some measure of respect.

She could hear the heavy boots behind her, as all three of the angry males chased after the bottle thrower. She jumped upwards, using the mass effect generators in her built in boots. She gripped a window frame, and then focused her concentration. Her biotics came to her in a small rush of adrenaline, and she gathered a barrier. Then, she waited. Vakarain came through first, his pistol out and his eyes searching. His visor moved along the different pathways, scouting out for enemies. He was as likely to shoot her as the Batarians were, at this point.

They spread out, looking in door frames and along the walls, weapons out and their focus on that. She let the Turian walk past, and then allowed the two Batarians the same privilege. Then, she dropped down. Her knife passed through the barriers of the Batarian in back soundlessly, gouging through the eye and into his brain. She had a lot of practice on Batarians. His buddy started turning, noticing that his partner's vitals had dropped. She hit him with a Throw strong enough for something twice his size. The unfortunate bastard struck Vakarian, knocking them both over. But the Batarian's barriers had dropped low enough that her next shot with a pistol ended his life.

"Biotic, too." Garrus said, pulling his face out of a pile of rubble, wiping off white dust from his scales. "You pack quite the punch."

"We have to get moving. The entrance with those mechs is over here." She pointed towards the back wall, where a security station had been placed. It was nearly empty, as most of the Batarians were on their way to the waste treatment plant. The missiles had stopped flying now, but they were still riled up. "Get your helmet on, I'll need your help to clear the mechs."

"What about the one manning the terminal?"

"Leave him to me." She smiled, draining the batteries on the armor of the Batarian that she had used her biotics on. It would seem like a tech ability that killed him, that way. Their Omni-tools were also of value, and stripping them and their weapons took all of ten seconds.

"Good practice, as a Spectre in training." Vakarian noted. "You'll need to form some sort of lucrative side business in order to afford ships, mercs, gear, and intel."

Julia snorted. She had enough money. She  _owned_  everything there was to own about Cerberus, as well as the stealth suit program. She had the income needed to be a Spectre, and the Alliance knew it. Vakarian would once he read her files. Perhaps that's why Nihlus picked her instead of Major Toullessei. The French bastard, everyone called him. But he was a natural with languages and made everything work well. He didn't work with non-humans very well, or any Human that wasn't from France.

"Intel is my specialty, Vakarian. What I find difficult are usually of the male variety." It was easy to make small talk with the man, she decided. He traded banter well, and seemed to be effective at his job. "What's your specialty?"

"Directional Mayhem, usually. Followed by explosions and political cover-ups." He pointed to the guard box up ahead. "I count three of them in there."

"You any good at stealth kills?"

He pulled a large Turian Kishok Sniper rifle off of his back. "Batarian helmets are thinner in back. Not that this will be stopped by anything produced by BSA. You kill one, and I'll get the other two. Unless you got to third first."

"Deal." She cloaked, enjoying the look on his face as he tried to trace her steps. That visor of his might not be able to track her while she was cloaked, which was probably good for any agents they had observing Turian targets. She approached the Batarian security station, normally enough room inside to fit ten or so, it only contained three right now. One was further back, sitting and working at the comm station. The other two were observing the slum, cycling through camera views and making sure that the lesser caste population stayed in their homes.

All of them were wearing helmets, which meant they had barriers up. She couldn't use her knives to kill any of them. So, her shotgun made an appearance. The Batarian had only a moment to consider his life before the nozzle of her shotgun was pressed past his barriers and into the back of his neck. He sucked in, and was ready to cry out when her shot took his head clean off in a spray of composite ceramics and organic matter. His fellows turned, shock turning to conditioned responses, their weapons rising upwards. The left one's head got punctured by some sort of sniper round, the sound echoing through the empty slums.

The right one ducked, making her smile as she had the only angle on him. She advanced with her shotgun, putting two shots into his barriers. Some of the shots scattered, but not far. She had to wait a moment, for the shotgun to cool a little bit. If she fired now, then she wouldn't get a fourth shot and be able to end his life. Then, from the dashboard behind him, a shot rang out and went through his chest. Vakarian's rifle echoed again, and she poked her head up, looking annoyed.

"How many meters can that gun pierce?"

"This little rifle? Not too many, just 2. I keep it for gunships, usually." Vakarian didn't even look uncomfortable. "Now, let's get this door open. I think that someone heard us."

She went over to the security terminal, and disabled the cameras in that sector. She also disabled the turrets for one minute, and reset their targeting codes. Someone would get that little surprise soon enough. She booked it to the door, where Vakarian was already waiting. Turians had a top land speed greater than Humans, and he abused it. He opened the door, and they were off at a run.

The first corner they were going to turn left, and then run down that corridor to the air filtration system and then to the right. That was the plan, of course. With the docks sealed, Vakarian couldn't find a ride out of here the non suspicious way. Though anyone would be under suspicion at this point, with missiles and explosions and gunfire.

They stopped at the corner, taking the moment to angle a small hack towards the cameras. Those that were in view could be hacked via the visor that Vakarian had or her Omni-tool, though it would take a moment. Batarian systems were on high alert, and the protocols had changed. She noticed that blast doors, kinetic barrier curtains, and new links of razor wire had been deployed automatically. She groaned. This would take too long to get through.

"Ren?" She asked, over the comms. It was breaking protocol, but right now she was not going to get back to the Normandy with these defenses in place.

" _Yeah._ " Kalin'ren answered. " _Sounds like some fun is happening somewhere._ "

"Did A make it back?"

" _No. It's been all quiet._ "

These doors must have sealed the moment the panic started. She slammed her fist against the wall. "We aren't leaving yet. Stand by and stay on station."

" _What?_ "

"You heard me." She turned off the comms, and then turned to Vakarian. "Williams didn't make it back to the ship. She's somewhere on this station and has knowledge of the ship."

"So, a rescue mission?"

Julia nodded. "Or a silencing mission. If we cannot extract her, then we have to make sure that the Batarians don't get anything out of her."

"You know the Turian military has the same doctrine yours does about not leaving anyone behind?" Vakarian asked. The answer was obvious. "We'll save her."

"The Batarians use nerve clips, right into the brain stem. Williams has until they insert that before she's ruined. Those will cause her reaction times to slow, and ruin a lot of the nervous system's signals running through the body. We will extract her. Dead or alive, we will try. But if we can't," She left that hanging. She liked Williams, she really did. But if Alliance secrets were on the line, then they had to be preserved. No matter what.

"We will." Vakarian said. "How long until that turret switches IFF protocols?"

"Back to the waste treatment plant." She ordered. "There is only one place they would bring her. Central Command and Control Center. It's also the only place that took twenty days of effort to break into last time."

"I can help you." Vakarian said. "My visor can act as a mobile camera. I can type into my Omni-tool, use it to hack things while you're out there. I can do that and be your cover."

She nodded. "Right now, that might be more useful than I can admit. We get Williams, and somehow get off this rock." She shuddered. She was on Torfan, again. This time, she didn't have any backup or Human safe areas to fall back to. Docks and tunnels out were sealed. So, she had to find a way out, and then find Williams. If they could rescue her, they would. If not, well, Julia would preserve the Alliance. It's secrets were more important than a couple of lives.

* * *

Author's Note

I'll explain some of what Julia experienced regarding sexuality and what she saw in her formative years. She was raised in an environment that did not include many friends or peers her age group. She and Miranda were raised with accelerated schooling, and both could apply for Universities at the age of 14. More importantly, they did not spend any time with their peers of the same age during their schooling. Until their time at Solaris, they barely had any social contact with anyone that they could consider romantically.

The only people they saw were business magnates and business partners that their father introduced them to. They only had that as a template of what success was measured by, what maturity looked like. So they emulated that. As to why she attached herself to Anderson, she saw him as a man that had success and was a badass. He was mature, and he was older. After being introduced to all of the older men, she thought that he was the right age and the right level of maturity.

Of course, she was exposed to people at Solaris that were the same age. The only person that she was impressed by or moved by was Kaiden, and that was only because of the Warp ball fixation. Asperger's have fixation issues, as I can fully attest. Julia has fixation issues, and the fact that Anderson was a pick for her isn't surprising.

To clarify some of the bit from last chapter, the Turians refuse to acknowledge the Krogan government, due to their inability to recognize the laws that were established by the Council. If the Krogan had tried to control themselves the Turians would have recognized them as a government. As such, and the fact that history is written by the victors, the Turians are responsible for saving the Council from the whole troubled mess with the Rachni and the Krogan. So yes, I meant to write things that way, not historically accurate. Humanity would of course look for what really happened with the rise of the Turians, and anything that made them look bad would be on their list of things to teach their kids about in regards to galactic history.

Also, regarding the ME1 storyline. I don't plan on following it. Eden Prime was required, and Jack will talk about why soon. For now, our adventure takes us to Torfan. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Also, I'm getting some hate mail as private messages about Anderson dying. Now I understand why Bioware didn't kill him when they originally planned to. Fans got pissed about it.


	46. Lucid: Plumbing For Profit

Chapter 46

Torfan, Jun 2186

Garrus Vakarian was distinctly uncomfortable. He believed in what Nihlus had worked on. He trusted his choices. But this Human was already willing to end the life of her squad-mate and risk her ship for the sake of secrets. Williams had been on the Normandy for all of twenty three hours before they got to Torfan, and she had been spending the entire time just getting used to the craft and the drills. She also was the official gunnery officer for the craft, which entitled her to read some sort of manuals.  _If_  they existed. The craft didn't even include a ship VI that could answer questions. The VI was code locked to only answer strings of data, only specific questions. It was worse than trying to go through the tax filing VI's for the Hierarchy. His Omni-tool wouldn't interface with it, either, so it had made any kind of data retrieval nearly impossible.

Now he was on Torfan. His cover wouldn't last past an in depth inspection. Right now, with everyone on alert, they would be facing no shortage of those. He still had the bag full of his purchases from BSA, some of which might be useful. The explosives and the illegal ammo, certainly. Plus, he needed to restock anyways. Finding this stuff and requesting it through the Spectre suppliers was always hard. They had to go to places like this and buy it and then ship it back. He was just saving himself some of the trouble this way.

He didn't like the plans that this Human was coming up with. He was a Spectre, for the Spirit's sake, not a beast of burden! She had him carrying lots of their gear, and climbing through the waste treatment plant's pipes. It was not very elegant. He had a large barrel of water with him, as well, to wash all of their gear off once he got through the pipes. How she knew where all of these went inside of the asteroid was beyond him. There was enough buildup of crap in here that the only way she could have mapped out these tunnels was by travelling in them herself.

She claimed this one would empty out somewhere 'empty and rarely patrolled'. He had been crawling through this …  _s'kak_  for almost an hour now. He was sure that from his spurs to his neck he was coated in slime and other debris that he did not want to name. The sewer grates down here had corroded in many places, but they were uniformly placed every forty meters. Or whenever another pipe connected. He had to peel the grates apart wide enough for him to slip through, and then keep pushing through.

There were even half-decayed bodies in some places. None of them had been armed or even equipped with any technology. Slaves or lesser caste, most likely. He didn't do anything beyond a cursory check of each. He had to spend time cleaning his visor often, and he was pleased when he finally emerged from the tunnel into a larger sewer area. Of course, with enough room to stand, there were also cameras. He wiped off the front of his helmet and hacked the damn thing before it could see him crawling like a small prey animal. He could feel the amount of material stuck to his armor, and figured that if anything he could take cover in the sewers.

Looking down at himself, he figured that the only thing about him that didn't look out of place was his clean helmet. It didn't reflect light very well, but it would be alright. He settled down right underneath the camera, where it couldn't cycle very easily, and then settled in. His Omni-tool was brought out, the light not reflecting off of the walls. His model didn't put out a large amount of light like the Salarian and Asari based ones. It was somewhat illegal, just due to the fact that most of the people that bought these were using them for unlawful actions. Figures, that the Turians finally design a good Omni-tool brand and the Council decide its illegal. He supported the floundering company as best he could.

A Batarian patrol happened by, and he made sure that his legs were tucked inside a pile of fecal matter and his torso was half buried in another. It broke up his bodily profile, and the patrol barely touched anything with their hands or weapons. They just wandered, checking over some of the grates and the other exits. Hatches and thermal venting was checked. They didn't look too closely at the piles of feces or the grates that were mostly covered by them. Garrus laughed inside of his visor. Turians would never let their sewers get this bad or corroded.

His Omni-tool beeped on his helmet HUD. It was a simple text message.  _Where are you now?_

He grinned. Looks like the Human was having trouble.  _Activate my visor and you'll get directions._  He typed back, and waited for the feed to come up. He had given his extremely expensive Omni-visor to Constantine, and was still linked to it once she activated it. His HUD was overtaken by the feed. She was hanging upside down, somewhere.

* * *

Julia tapped the visor she had over her left eye. She had borrowed it from Spectre Vakarian, so that he might be able to help her with any hacking or security systems as she stealthed around. But the big brute was really meant for combat. At any range, with that loadout of his. Though he might need a couple of hours to clean all of the waste off of his weapons before he could cover for her. She didn't want to get to that point. '

She saw the visor zoom in onto the soldiers in front of the Slave Processing Center. All of them had clean armor, with heavy weapons. All of them had heavy armor for basic troops, more than what the usual Separatist soldier was equipped with. That was what got her attention in the first place. The normal guards that were here when she came six years ago were only equipped with medium armor. Separatists didn't believe in light armor, as it was against their combat doctrines.

Vakarian didn't get the message. She took cover on the opposite roof top, and typed out her message to him.  _I need to know what they are saying. Hack their comms._  She sent this, and could see it go to the visor she had as well. Damn useful piece of technology.

 _Sure, sure. I can get you their comms, but they might notice. Right now you're next to a very powerful jamming signal, one that makes it hard to get past. It'll take some time._  She nodded, the visor losing its target and zooming back out to full distance.  _Please don't do that. The visor uses a laser to send comm bursts._

She waited for a couple of minutes, evaluating the squad of four. This was only the back entrance, rather than the front. Then, the visor lit up with lines of code.  _I'm into their security systems. Going to have to pay Jondam a terribly large sum of credits for this virus he wrote._   _I have access to their cameras, now. Can't turn off the security entirely, but I can scroll through all of the available feeds. I think I've found Williams. Or at least a Human that looks like her._

She typed quickly.  _Show me._

_I can't show you, not with the visor's function already transmitting to me. It can only send it one way. But Williams has brown eyes and a dark fringe, with blue clan markings?_

She blinked.  _Fringe and clan markings?_

_Ah, hair. You Humans have follicles. You also have markings around the eyes and mouth, but in Turian society it indicates your home colony and clan._

Turians had issues, she decided.  _Williams doesn't use any makeup that I have seen so far. What kind of blue markings?_

_They might be bruising. Would Williams bite in self defense?_

Julia grinned.  _Oh yes. Give me a location_. The visor pointed towards an interior wall, and she could almost see the lines of the building that showed a hallway. She just had to get inside. The roof was easy enough to jump across to, from her position. Then, she had to perform a series of light jumps, keeping away from the system of laser detection systems and pressure plates. Razor wire wrapped around the door access platform, and more traps obviously were in that doorway. She had no intention of going that way.

The ventilation systems were easiest to access. She just put her hand on each of the housings and used her suit's vibration and geothermic functions to test for voices. Lots of Batarian could be heard, in all of the vents. No Asari or Human, or even the trilling Turian sounds that they made when they were panicked. She didn't have an easy way in here. She might have to go in violently.  _Find Williams's armor and Omni-tool. The information will be important to keep down._

 _Not in the building that I can see. But the system also connects to the rest of the Conclave building._ Was his response.  _I think I can get you in through the kitchens, though. The slaves have an entrance there. Guarded, of course, but I think you'll have a good chance of entry there._

The kitchens were guarded by two large turrets and two guards. They were 'outdoors', where the heat could be directed into a vent near the walls. Or at least as close to outdoor as you could be inside of an asteroid. The walls were still all around them, but they could at least look up and see the distant ceiling with its vents and long halo-shaped light rings. They didn't do a great job of making the place feel liveable, but they did confer some comfort. The kitchen area also had a small reinforced entrance into the main building, which these slaves would have to walk through to get back out of the building when their shift ended.

The guards didn't care much about the door, so long as the slaves kept working. Or at least not purposefully ruining the food they were making. Thier focus was not on the door, or not enough to notice a stealthed Human entering the doorway the next time food was delivered. They had some sense, a laser for detection purposes along the floor to count how many pairs of feet went past. She stuck to the wall and moved carefully into the corridors. The visor was helpful, mapping out where hallways were and which direction she had to go. Vakarian also provided small hints as to which security system was where.

Williams was in their secure area, for certain. Metal detectors, scanners, bolted vent covers, gas emitters, full helmet areas. They had learned since she was here last. The gas emitters and helmets were annoying, but she could work around that. It was the metal detectors and checkpoints that were difficult. But Batarians were never impatient. They had a belief system that made them take everything seriously.

The metal detectors she had to time her swings through when the Batarians themselves went through, and her torso had to be at the same height as the Batarian's helmet. That made things awkward, sometimes. But hey, those gymnastics lessons that Kasumi forced her to go to were worth it these days. Kasumi could do everything so easily, it wasn't even fair. Julia had to worry about her hips taking out something if she moved wrong. They were just inconveniently wide. Useful to get the attention of a male or Asari, or even a Turian target, but other than that they got in the way.

She swung through two layers of metal detectors, another layer of heat sensors, at which she had to tighten her biotic barrier so tight that she couldn't breathe, in order to get through. Thanks to that visor of Vakarian's, she had to be careful at metal detectors. Everything else in her body was sheathed in plastic and jamming devices, to keep from being detected. The surgeries to put all that in had been her 17th birthday. The months afterward had been recovery time.

Keeping pace with the Batarian that she could safely vault past at every metal detector, she couldn't communicate anything to Vakarian. She just had to scuttle around on the walls, and then swing whenever he was getting scanned at each checkpoint. But she finally was on the level where Williams was being held. The visor was telling her that she was within fifty meters of the camera in Williams's room, now.

She could hear shouting in a couple of the rooms as she passed, each occupied one guarded by multiple black-helmeted Batarians. She grimaced when she finally saw the hallway that she needed to get to. Ceremonial guards decorated both ends of the hallway. Their dull orange armor made most Batarians careful, almost fearful. Julia hadn't seen any outside of vids. Supposedly these were temple guards, meant to protect sacred sites and priestly caste members.

There wasn't a temple on this asteroid. Batarian Temples had to be exposed to the stars. They tracked the patterns and inferred from them the answers to prayers. Haego Dvorak, the High Priest, had spent fourteen days talking with an imam. She had to remain at his side in some abhorrent outfit with a veil the entire time, making sure that he was protected. You didn't protect someone for fifteen days straight without picking up a few important details.

That meant a priest was here. Priests were trouble. The guards were not looking for a cloaked assassin, they were looking for other Batarians trying to get through. She brushed past the gap, the two guards not reacting as she stepped between them. It didn't feel good, though. This entire situation was a bad one. It looked more and more like she was going to have to kill Williams, and then somehow get out of here. There was so many layers of security here that it would be extremely difficult for her to get out. Williams didn't have the right Omni-tool software to be able to steal a set of armor and slip out of the building in plain sight. The scanners would get past most layers of defense if you didn't have bio-signature maskers or some burrowing virus already in place.

There was no way to get her out of here. The best that Julia could hope to do was escape herself. She had Vakarian, but he was unlikely to help directly. Damn it all, she hated Torfan. The visor printed out a few words as she approached another door, this one with the uniform of one of the Batarian SIU agents. They went in groups of four. Not all of them would be in the same room, but there were always four of them in a squad. They functioned as detectives, investigators, and justices of the peace.

They weren't combat specialists like many others of the higher castes, thankfully. But they did have squad tracking devices and the best tech abilities of any Batarian group that she had come across so far. Overload, tech damping, all of the things that would seriously complicate any benefits her Omni-tool's bio-signature software and tactical cloak could give her.

Glancing at the visor, she could see that Vakarian had made a faint marking indicating which door Williams was behind.  _Two in there. Be careful_. Now she just needed a way in. Two Batarians in there with Williams. One SIU member at the door, and every Batarian here had their helmets on. She couldn't deal with that very easily. She liked using her knives, but once you had to account for getting through Armor, things got difficult. Kinetic barriers could be surpassed easily enough when you moved slowly. Too slow to be a bullet, but fast enough to get a blade through. Of course, a helmet stopped that entirely. Kinetic barriers stopped her from moving fast enough to do any damage, or move fast enough to pierce the gorget of the armor.

She typed into her Omni-tool, the keys not showing up. She had to type from memory of where they hovered over her wrist.  _What are they doing?_

 _Aggressive questioning._  The visor listed.  _She's bleeding._

 _Terminal injuries?_  She typed, not seeing any movement from the temple guardians and the SIU agent at the door.

 _She's not dying. But she isn't doing well either. Bruising in the face. Bleeding from nose and ears. One of her eyes is looking swollen._ The visor listed.  _Better yet, I've found the area of the sewers directly under your position._  The visor was empty for a moment.  _Looks like the floors are reinforced._

Of course they were. In an asteroid, multiple layers of protection for the highest levels of authority was expected.  _I need a way in._

_Working on it. The security layering here is very odd. Different castes have different limits on what they can access. My current login only has access to the lowest levels of the security network. But it's the only one that won't be noticed if an extra user is online. Trying to send commands gets noticed, and I'll be locked out of the system. No guarantee that the command will even reach the room._

Not viable. If Vakarian failed, it would bring attention to them. The walls here were featureless, with few breaks in the plating. Only the room across from them was even close. It was sealed, the symbol for it dark.  _What about room R24?_ , She typed.

 _It has a subject inside. I think they're wearing rags._ Solitary confinement, or some form of torture. Not useful. Biometric locks, and it looked like the door function was controlled from somewhere else. The other doors in the hallway were closer to those ceremonial guards, and she didn't want their attention. So she sat, waiting in front of the door. She could hear the sounds of yelling inside the room, and at one point could hear Williams cry out. She tried to sit there, patiently, but it was hard.

 _They're opening the door._  The visor stated, and Julia stood up from where she had been crouching. The door opened, and another Batarian in SIU armor stepped out, his gauntlets covered in some red marks. Could be blood. Julia vaulted forward, slipping inside the door just as the Batarian stepped out. The room inside was circular. Small, with one darkened steel chair and one other Batarian in the room.

Williams looked terrible. She could hardly see out of her eyes, they were so bruised. Her cheeks were one massive bruise, going across the entire face. Nose looked broken, and she was bleeding from the mouth and one of her eyes. Just from a cut above the eye, thankfully. Julia had to duck to the left, underneath the watching camera, as the other SIU agent walked in with a large knife. Nothing special, but it seemed as though Williams was resisting the interrogation so far. They were bringing in heavier materials to hit her with. An empty syringe sat off on a side table, with an obvious entry point on her arm. These Batarians had missed the vein, however. Some of their little poisons didn't require a vein to work, though. The kind that destroyed muscle tissue and fibre, meant to damage a potential slave's ability to fight back.

Julia moved around the chair, looking at where Williams's hands were secured. Some of those were broken, starting with the pointer finger. She wasn't going to be able to fire any weapons if she did get free. With only the scraps from her undersuit, Williams had no barriers and no ability to defend herself, if she did get free. She was a liability. Julia then looked up at the SIU agent. He was shorter than Williams, and so his armor was out. The priest had ballistic armor plates along his arms and his chest. Possibly along his legs as well, but a set of ornate robes covered him.

Julia sighed. Williams wasn't getting out of here. The Batarians would eventually break her. She gently pulled her knife out of its holster, and angled in towards Williams' wrists, which were stuck in the manacles. She could slit her wrists, and in her delirious state they wouldn't notice her bleeding out until it was far too late. A safe way to die, even if the foul play would be obvious. A tech grenade to the back of the neck would be enough to burn out her brain, easily enough concealed. Williams's tight bun of hair hadn't been undone, yet. A single grenade to the back of the head, concealed in her bun, and it would all be over.

Williams, while she was deliberating, had been threatened with the knife. Julia tried to not flinch as the knife descended into her thigh, Williams flinching but not even grunting. But from her position behind the chair, she could see Williams tightening her fists together. She was still resisting, even though there was little to no chance that she was ever going to escape. Julia could respect that. Williams was loyal to the Alliance, and had been in Batarian hands for hours.

Perhaps she deserved a chance. Rather than going quietly into death, perhaps she deserved to go down fighting. It was child's play to unlock the manacles holding her wrists, and slip her boot knife into Williams's hand. Williams gripped it, trembling a bit. But unlike most people when given a weapon, she didn't immediately lash out. She waited. Even with the Batarians in her face, yelling at her in broken English, she was waiting. Julia grinned a little bit. She patted Williams's hands and moved underneath the camera, placing a small tech grenade in its housing.

Williams was going to need medical help soon, though. Medi-gel could only do so much. She was being threatened with a knife near her face, now. The priest was the one threatening her, while the SIU agent was calmly waiting for results. Julia moved up behind the SIU agent, and position her knife very carefully behind his head. Then she channeled her biotics, very slowly. The tech grenade went off, causing the camera to go offline, and the SIU agent to twist around, his kinetic barriers dropping. The priest turned around just in time to see her knife exit the other side of his agent's skull, her biotics strengthening the strike enough that the blade was able to plunge through the eye and brain matter, sticking out the other side of his head.

He was about to cry out, when Williams's hands wrapped around his head. Williams most certainly had strength gene mods, as she watched the priest's head turning red under the pressure. The door flew open, and the SIU agent there came in just in time to receive her shotgun's blast to the upper torso.

 _I think I have a way out ready for you. But you have a few dozen of them coming in at you._  The visor read, as she pumped her second shotgun shot into the injured SIU operative, putting him down. Or at least he should be down. His intestines and organs were leaking out of the holes in his armor. She slammed the door shut, knowing that there were more coming. Turning around, she saw that the priest had taken a knife and stabbed Williams in the forearm, causing her to let go of him. Then he turned to Julia, as Williams was still mostly restrained in the chair.

"Assassin!" He yelled. "I shall cut off your unworthy hands for what you have done!" Then the bastard glowed purple. A biotic priest. Julia gritted her teeth as her barrier absorbed one of the strongest Warp attacks that she had ever felt. She still had a couple of seconds on her own biotics, and so she simply leapt forward, her knife hand leading the way. The priest's barrier stopped her blade, and she had to jump back after a second. He had longer knives, as well as a pistol. She couldn't stay in close, not when her barriers were so low.

Williams wasn't slowing down, though. Her blood was flowing, and she was working at the restraints across her chest and legs. Good. She was going to be an asset in this, not a liability. The priest had to die, though. Julia gave him a grin, before giving him her best Warp. His eyes widened in surprise, and he staggered back, his barriers dropping low enough that Williams was able to stab him in the shoulder. Julia followed up with her knife to the Batarian's temple, the point slowly pushing through the biotic and kinetic barriers.

He shot his pistol at her, and Julia could feel rounds piercing her abdomen. She gritted her teeth, and just brought the knife closer to the Batarian's eyes. Williams Williams then came in, her knife entering by the bastard's ear cavity. He screamed, losing concentration over his biotic barriers, and Julia's knife plunged through his upper eye and into the brain. The priest's had shuddered, another round entering her stomach, and then it was over.

"Vakarian, you better have a way out of here." Julia muttered. She had a tube of Medi-gel, which she immediately handed to Williams. Her armor had already sealed tightly around the wounds in her abdomen. She needed to close the wounds on her arm. "We're not going to be leaving the normal way, I don't think."

" _Good news! I found a structural weak point. It just so happens to be right where the camera is mounted down here. Such bad luck. My visor should mark where exactly this is going to go off. If the math I did is right. It's hard to trust Batarian-made explosive gels, of course._  The visor highlighted the floor directly underneath the priest, in between the chair and the door. The door was being opened, however.

Four guards in ceremonial armor stood in the doorway, looking rather irate. Their helmets were angled on the dead body of the priest, still bleeding out on the floor. She threw a Singularity at them, the glowing orb picking up the SIU agents and the priest as it rested in the doorway. The guards pulled back, one of them getting caught in the force of gravity. He was pulled out of the way by his fellows, leaving Williams and Julia taking cover behind the interrogation chair. "Anytime now!" She yelled.

The explosion was so close and so powerful that it caused the doorframe to collapse. Julia felt her barriers stressed by the pressure wave, and her ears rang from the blast. Williams was holding hers, and looked like she was in great pain. The floor was blown open wide, though. Nothing here was flammable, but down below she could see flames. As well as flame retardant foam dropping down upon all of the fecal matter. She dragged Williams towards the hole, looking down for wherever Vakarian was. She found him, trying to stand under a foam sprayer as his armor was on fire. Or rather all of the crap covering his armor was on fire.

"We need to move!" She yelled down to him. Williams was not able to focus, her eyes bruised and her body damaged. Her balance was off, and the woman could barely walk. "Vakarian!"

"A moment!" He yelled, patting his arms as he tried to put himself out. Julia noticed that the Turian had blasted through at least two feet of solid material. All of that was expensive stuff. Those explosives must have been damned powerful. Williams wasn't going to wait any longer. She put pressure on the heels of her boots, and could feel the weight on her lessen. Using a little bit of the Singularity's altered gravity, she jumped with Williams in her arms down to the sewer level. Everything here was on fire, with foam quickly filling up the space. She handed Williams a breather, and made got it on the marine's face.

"Vakarian! Back through the tunnel you came through!" The flaming Turian started walking back through the foam and plaque-like material. Williams limped her way forward, her leg covered in Medi-gel from where she had been stabbed with the knife. Her face had open wounds, as well. "You need to pull her through."

Turians had amazing bodily strength, and long legs. With his armor, he could focus on moving through the mess, while Williams could just focus on keeping her body clean. Moving through a septic drain with open wounds was inviting trouble. Years of bacterial waste and viral mess were down here, and Williams was unlikely to get out of here without some of those getting inside of her wounds.

"You'll push her from behind, I would imagine?"

Julia shook her head. "I've got to disengage those security doors so we can get out. There is only one place that I can do that from once this place is on lockdown."

"This is starting to sound like a great Turian story-poem. But in our culture, great heroes usually die for some great cause. Let's try to not be very traditional, today." Williams couldn't even see what was going on, as Vakarian held her to his chest to be able to keep her head above the fluid and muck.

She nodded, and started running. The foam was starting to dampen out the fires, but it was also expanding enough to fill the chamber in some places. She had to work her way out of the sewers the hard way, leaving foamy footprints everywhere. Batarians in full armor were pushing through mountains of foam, looking for anyone and anything suspicious. They were down here in force, making sure that the invaders did not escape. But Julia had sealed the entrance tunnel herself. She still had Vakarian's visor, so he probably could see what she was doing as long as he had signal.

The only place she could lift the security lockdown was inside the same building she had just come from. But this time, she had to go find the one in charge. Only one of the Karem caste could unlock a lockdown. That was how it was last time, when they tried to lock down the Alliance Marines and the slaves that they had rescued so far. Her original mission here had been to take down the commanding officer, and this time she was going to have to do it again. Without a month's preparation to get through all of the existing defenses.

The structure was easily enough scaled. Climbing up it while invisible was easy. Her old entrance that she had used years ago had been made when a missile had struck a porch on the upper terrace of the building, and the security network hadn't replaced the walls during the ensuing combat. Now, they had. There were guards up there. More security doors. BUt the guards seemed at ease, or at least at ease enough that they were calm. Not worried about their lives being on the line.

That wasn't good. They would only be worried if their superior was actually on site. If they weren't panicking for their lives, then their boss was not in the building. She swung back over to the edge of the building, and gently let herself back down to the ground. If she was a commanding member of the Karem caste, where would she be?

Wherever the chance to prove your worth was. After a fiasco like this, there was nothing better to do than to find a scapegoat or capture the person responsible for the mess in the first place. She wasn't going to find him cowering in the palatial building here. He was out and about. Probably because she killed a priest. There were few of those in Batarian society, thankfully. Only one son of every family could become a priest, and they were only born to the uppermost caste. Killing one of the Separatist priests would do damage.

Her Omni-tool beeped, letting her know that the virus she had planted into their systems had finished finding the information she wanted. Information on buyers and their locales started flowing across her Omni-tool. She entered in the serial numbers for the turrets, and the search brought up an Asari. An Eclipse sister, actually. Neilana T'y'tella. Shipped the turrets on her private vessel, information listed as the  _Lerok's Quintessence_. Batarian-made ship, Batarian turrets, and an Eclipse supplier. She grinned. Finally, something that went right finally.

"Kalin'ren." She said, making sure her channel was encrypted. With her virus in their system, she could actually tell if that were true. "Sitrep."

" _All quiet here, Ma'am. Had a couple of them stick their heads out, but they didn't see anything. All is still secure, here._ "

"Trying to get the security doors open for extraction is proving difficult."

" _Oh, I can help with that, Ma'am._ " Kalin'ren said excitedly. " _If we just shunt the hot air through their tunnels, they will have a heat build up. With the heating systems obviously in distress, there is a chance of the reactor here being close to going critical._ "

"But we don't have any access to that."

" _But we can mimic the alerts and alarms that will create that kind of panic!_ " Kalin'ren said. " _Make the squinters panic a little bit._ "

"Won't they see you?"

" _Not if the vent is still putting out the same amount of residual heat. If the area around it is overheating, then we can trigger a reactor alert._ "

"Ok." She said. "We've got injuries. Williams will need immediate medical attention. She's been injured. Vakarian is inbound, but I need to get those doors open."

" _Gimme a distraction, or something. We need them to be focused elsewhere._ "

"I think I can do that." She said. "I know just the place." She simply walked towards the main street, seeing no one out and few things moving. Everything was under lockdown, and no one was by the monument to the fallen Batarians in the raid. The crucifix made out of two pieces of steel, she had made with the help of a team of marines. It was nailed into the ground, sealed down with concrete. One Warp tore apart the foundation, and a Singularity a few seconds later was enough to barely lift the metal out of the ground.

She pushed the floating cross to the street level, and before it lost the lessened weight, she hit it with a Throw. The large object, with the Batarian in a permanent look of agony, flew. It flew hard, going over rooftops and into the side of the same building that she and Vakarian had just released Williams from. The cross crumpled, the bronze statue falling off, and the metal folding around the broken edge of the building. Julia grinned one more time, as she started the countdown timer. She had left a small present, a nice box of the explosives that Vakarian had bought, except that he had already used them. But the detonators were still useful. Not to mention they put out a signal that would set bomb alarms off all over their citadel.

She dove into the slums, cloak re-engaging and the waste reclamation plant just ahead. It was empty, with Batarians looking all over for attackers coming from the Citadel part of their base, and the breached wall she had just made. Not to mention searching the foam filled sewers for escapees. If Williams's face showed up on any camera, the VI would flag it, and send their location back to the command rooms. She carefully walked through the slums, though, as their systems here were keyed for motion and sound. Too much noise, and the alarms would be sent out. So she walked carefully towards the waste plant, and found it wasn't empty.

Batarians were in there, watching over the location and scanning every surface. Vakarian hadn't gotten here yet, or if he did he wasn't making noise or wasn't near the grates. She couldn't walk around in here without leaving footprints on the wet surfaces, like the Batarians were leaving right now.

The visor she had on glowed.  _Oh good. Nice that you could finally drop by._

 _Where are you?_  She typed in, not amused.

_Waiting for these guys to leave. Williams isn't doing well._

She could save everyone. They all could make it back. She just needed to wipe out a squad of six Batarians.  _Get ready. We need to kill all of them._

The visor winked twice, highlighting two of the Batarians in the middle of the room, sitting at a command console. This device was damned useful. She would have to find out where he got one. Then the visor highlighted two of the others at the table in different colors, and the remaining two that she could see were marked in green.  _Two for each of us._  She grimaced, hoping that Williams could see out of her black eyes. The swelling could not have been helped by moving through all of that sludge.

She nodded, letting Vakarian know that she agreed.  _45 seconds_ , she typed, setting a timer. Williams would just have to be trusted this time. Not to mention putting her life on the line without any kind of armor or protection. While Vakarian and Williams moved forward, she set to working on her two targets. Though, just in case, she was prepared to take out the two that Williams had highlighted. Her first target just received a patented tech grenade to the back of his armor, not even attached. Simply wedged nicely into the heavy collar of the armor. The second one received the same gift, but he looked more like an officer. He also received the dubious honor of shotgun aimed at him from close range. Planting grenades on a target was like playing with a really powerful magnet. They wanted to quickly attach to something, and that usually lead to noise. The  _clank_  as something metal or polymer attached to something else metallic was a sound that trained soldiers knew to look for. So, she had to match movements with the enemy, slow down her hand's motions so that it didn't create any rippling in the kinetic barrier, and slowly let the magnet attach.

That took most of her time. She took position far enough back that the tech grenades wouldn't harm her, and then leveled her shotgun happily at the Batarian furthest from the grate. In the grate, she could see Ashley, or at least her body profile, moving slowly through the muck. She had Vakarian's rifle in her hand, and was taking aim through the mess on the two Batarians in the open. She couldn't see any sign of the Turian, until she noticed that Williams was sitting on top of another rounded figure. Two guns were poking out of the muck, but more importantly Williams could take cover behind his kinetic barriers.

Ingenious. She waited until the counter hit zero, and then triggered the tech grenades. Stripped of shields, she unloaded her shotgun into one, and used a Pull on the second, his unshielded body flying towards the bore of her shotgun. His four eyes widened as the shotgun focused on him, and she ended his life without a thought.

She twisted around, ready to go after any of the others, but they were all down. Spectre Vakarian's grime covered armor had risen from the waste collection pool and had sprayed rounds from his assault rifle into the two Batarians who had been walking around. They had died quickly, one to a three round burst through the visor, the Overload still sparking between his fingers. The other Batarian had at least a dozen holes through the upper torso, leading up the neck.

The two behind the console had clean shots through both visors, one shot kills. Ashley had taken those shots, eyes blurry and unable to see clearly. She stood up, with the help of Vakarian.

"This is one damn fine rifle, Vakarian." Ashley stated, holding it like it was a pet and not a tool. "I could use this all day!"

"You probably could buy an entire house on your homeworld for just the price of this weapon, you know. But if you want to clean it for me once the mission is over, I might be amenable to you borrowing it on occasion." Vakarian said, wiping grime from his helmet. "I would take back my eyepiece, but right now my heightened sense of smell will probably kill me before I can get the helmet off all the way. Good thing, too. I wasn't able to see anything without it being on your head."

"We're not out of this yet. Williams, can you walk?"

"Hobble, yes." She vainly was trying to get some of the grime off. "I triggered a God damned laser strip along the roof access when we first came in here. Figured I was screwed. Sorry for firing off the missiles early, Ma'am. Decided to fire them anyways, when it looked like I wasn't going to be able to stop them."

"That was a mistake, Williams." Julia said, making the Lt. Commander flinch. "We succeeded in our mission without the missiles. They were a possible, optional distraction. By deploying them, you made our mission inordinately more difficult, and caused our exit to get sealed. Not only that, but your armor and Omni-tool were taken by the Separatists."

"My Omni-tool wasn't taken, Ma'am. I clipped it onto one of the warheads so that they couldn't get any of the codes from the ship." Julia sighed in relief.

"You did one thing right, Williams. But do not compromise our operation for a diversionary tactic again. Next time we might not be able to extract you."

"Thank you for that, Commander." she said, looking cowed. "I'd love to get back to the ship now." She didn't look good. Medi-gel had helped, but it did nothing to prevent infection.

"We're going to have to move quickly. Vakarian is going to need his hands to hack the cameras and I'll be getting turrets. The security doors are going to come open so they can vent the extra heat in their system through here. We'll have under two minutes before Williams is dead from the temperature. Williams, if anyone catches up to us, it's up to you to stop them. Clear?"

"Yes, Commander. I'll do my best." She had conviction, even though she had no barriers to protect herself. Julia was starting to understand why this girl was a Lt. Commander. Fearless, she was. Julia hadn't even vetted her file yet.

"Vakarian, take the rear. I'll be variable, and make sure that Williams is in cover."

Julia advanced into the exterior tunnels, the lights still in lockdown. Security doors had dropped down between each section, each of which had a local locking system and a remote controlled system. "Kalin'ren! Flood it!"

" _You got it, crazy pyjak."_ Came the voice. " _I'm using the barriers to make the vents get shunted into all of the surrounding passages. There'll be lots of activity headed your way soon._ "

Julia didn't have to wait long. These tunnels were also built to deal with heat overflow, and the moment that the heat vent stopped pumping it out of the asteroid, the security doors were overridden. The heat was already washing through, and the temperature went up by five or ten degrees immediately. She started running, seeing the cameras coming alive as technicians were trying to figure out what was happening over in this sector. When one of their patrols wasn't reporting in, they were going to know. They would send everyone they could here.

She saw Vakarian's visor hacking the camera, requiring her to keep an eye on it. Though she continually moved forward under stealth to get near the turret guarding the next hallway, which would kill Williams if she didn't get it down. When she got to the corner, she noticed that there were already two dead Batarians on the ground, and the turret was offline. Looks like they had discovered her small hacking job earlier. Two were dead on the floor, but there were signs of footprints here.

"Turrets down!" she whispered, loud enough that Vakarian could hear and Williams would follow. They all moved forward, the tunnels and their blacklight markings guiding them back to the vent. It got hotter by the second, and Julia's thin armor was nearing the point where its thermal capacity was being passed. Williams was keeping up, barely. She was limping along, liquid of all kinds one her body. It almost looked like camouflage, except for the parts of it that were obviously fecal matter. Vakarian wasn't much better. You could tell that he was vaguely Turian, but his body profile could be Krogan from a distance, with all of the buildup.

Left, right, down the long hallway, and then finally they were next to the Heat Ventilation Shaft. It was getting warmer, and she could feel beads of sweat rolling down her face, underneath her mask. Williams was breathing hard, the air in here getting to the point of dangerous for Human use. Her breather was being overcome, which meant she had maybe a minute before her own would start failing as well. One more right turn, and they would be able to get to the ship.

That was when the shot hit her in the hip. She had been stealthed, and as she was spun into the wall, she saw that Vakarian was running forward with Ashley slung over his shoulder. Whoever just shot her, they were aiming at the Turian. "Sniper!" She grunted, seeing blood coming out of her hip. The round had definitely bounced around.

Vakarian shifted his grip, sitting Williams behind his head, and dropped his shoulder. He charged, letting out some sort of bird like cry as he came around the corner. There was a crash of armor on armor, and Vakarian yelled again, gunfire following. Julia started to limp towards the ship herself, her hip making a popping noise, and her armor sealing itself around the wound. The round was grinding in between her joints as she moved, and Julia had to slow down.

Up ahead, she saw a Batarian thrown into her section of the hallway, a shattered rifle falling to the floor in pieces. The Turian leg that withdrew from from the dented armor was most definitely Vakarian's, and it looked like he had shattered the rifle, and had carried on through into the Batarian. There was a lot of foot strength in that. She limped forward, seeing a far door open, and more Batarians tumbling out into the already cramped hallway. She tried to move faster, but all that it did was drive the round deeper into her pelvic joint, making her body tense up and fall over.

"Stop the Turian! This one is mine!" She heard. Julia looked down, seeing her tactical cloak had failed. There was a Batarian in heavy armor above her, holding a shotgun towards her. She reflexively Pulled him, the weapon going off against the wall as he fell on top of her. His arms came around, trying to hit her solidly. Batarians liked to box, and with their four eyes they had excellent depth perception and response times. She took one hit to the side of the head, the heavy polymer gauntlet making what was left of her barriers flutter and die. She returned with a punch of her own, but he must have had at least double her mass. It barely rattled him.

He returned with a heavy overhand strike, which she rolled with and took in the shoulder. Jarring, but better than the thin layer covering her face. She tried a knife next, swiping towards his visor. But he still had his damned kinetic barriers. She couldn't roll out from under him, not while he was pinning her with his legs. He wasn't fighting to kill, here. He was fighting to capture. Arguably worse considering her position.

She couldn't keep herself from completely crying out when he shifted his weight, one of his knees digging into her wound. Then he grabbed her by the wrist. But fortunately for her, she could feel the tingle of her biotics ready to go again. With her biotics, Julia rolled them both, using a Throw on him. He maintained his grip on her wrist, the bastard. She rolled with him, her hip getting wrenched into the wall. The flash of pain made her lose control over the Throw field, and the force of the biotic ability faded, now with her on top of him. His shotgun had rolled to the right, and was out of reach. her knife hand was in his wrist, and her knife had been dropped in the confusion.

She needed anything, anything that could break through his barriers and kill him. The temperature was rising enough that her goggles were starting to run their cleaning program, to deal with fog. She needed to be out of here, now. Before the heat rose any higher and got her killed. Williams was about to have to make a jump out of the airlock here and into a vacuum, in order to get back to the Normandy. Her suit was breached, as well. But Williams would have to be jumping out with her eyes exposed. That was dangerous.

The Batarian under her tried to knock her off of him, trying to sweep her legs with his knee. She blocked that, her knee impacting his thigh before he connected. Then she rolled her weight onto her good leg, getting to a position where she could use her hands more effectively. He had a pistol on his belt, with a biometric lock. She knew from experience that drawing that would just lead to her getting shocked.

She settled for strikes to the throat of his armor, trying to punch through the thin frame there. He was good, she had to admit. He blocked most of her strikes, using his thicker gauntlets to great advantage. She kept up her strikes, just to keep him off balance and on the defensive. But she could feel his barriers slowly recharging. She did have one weapon still at her disposal, though.

She let him get one good hit on her shoulder, as she reached behind to her bag, releasing the worn spikes. She made a big show of an overhead swing with them, which the Batarian brought up his arms in a cross position to block. The point was well away from his face, and she let him know his mistake when she started glowing with biotics.

"Get her off me!" He yelled.

She glanced to the right, where another Batarian was angling his rifle towards them. He had a clear shot on her. Instead of using her biotics to kill the one she was fighting, she focused on her barrier. The other Batarian opened fire, her barrier soaking up the shots like a sponge. One that was slowly shrinking back down to her skin. She had to abandon this position. She started to get up, to leap back up the corridor that Vakarian had gone into, but found her hands held.

The bastard was holding her down! She tried to peel herself out of the position, but there was no way she could compete with the heavy armor's grip. So she reversed the force, pushing the spike forward again. The tip pushed past the glowing layer of kinetic barrier around his helmet, but stopped before touching the glass. When she jerked back again, he was still ready for it.

Then something struck her and the Batarian hard. She slammed into the wall next to him, a force propelling her even though her barrier was still up. She was jarred, but shook it off. Rolling, she came to her feet, and was prepared to fight both of the Batarians. They were both on the ground, their heads at odd angles. One had the spike she had been holding driven through his faceplate of his helmet, while the other had a massive hole through his entire helmet.

"Come on, Human, we don't want to leave you behind." Vakarian's voice echoed through her comm channel. She groaned, setting her weight on her good leg and limping forward. All of the Batarians here were dead. All with bullet holes through their heads and bodies.

"What did you do?" She muttered, catching up as fast as she dared.

"Concussive Shot. My visor said that his barriers were down, and if that spike in your hand impacted, he would die. Sorry if you got thrown a little bit. It's meant to use on biotic criminals." Criminals like herself, if she ever 'stepped out of line'. Spectre Vakarian just moved up on her list of possible threats. If he could ignore her biotic barrier like that, then she would have to rely on other methods.

Her knife she used a light Pull to retrieve, and they moved up to the airlock. Her suit reported that it did not have a clean seal, and that her hip was exposed. Julia looked over at Williams, who was looking like she wasn't excited about all of this. "Williams!" She called. "Take this, I can focus my barrier." Theoretically, she could focus her barrier tightly enough to contain air. Although she had never tried to do so before.

They traded the breather for her helmet. Williams pulled it on, and Vakarian gave her only a glance as a warning as he activated the air lock's cycling function. She pulled the breather on, focusing past the rush of air as the area depressurized, trying to create the tightest biotic barrier she had ever made. It was a thick purplish blue haze around her, and wouldn't be capable of stopping anything.

She could feel the pressure starting to pull at her body, and she could see the loose armor pieces by her hip flapping as the air in the compartment was sucked out. The breather was only rated for low oxygen environments and for filtering gases. It would hold a couple of breaths of air at the most. As the air was sucked out, she took a long breath and held it. The moment that the air finished cycling, they ran. Gravity was still in existence with a rock this large. It just was focused on the interior of the rock, rather than where the element zero generators said it was.

They all had zero gravity training, and it showed. Vakarian jumped forwards, his gun sweeping for any threats that might be out here, when they were at their most vulnerable. Williams was right behind him, her feet already orienting on the lower gravity surfaces. Though Julia could see her leg wound had opened back up in the fight, and small blood droplets were coming out of it.

Some of the fecal matter was also sloughing off of them as well, and Julia had to grimace as she stepped through a cloud of the debris out of the airlock and towards where the Normandy was sitting. She could feel the air here wasn't of extreme temperature, considering there was no atmosphere to contain it as well. She rolled to the last turn, and angled herself towards the entryway. Or where it should be. She used a small Throw just to be sure. The small bubble of gravitic force went into the heat dispersal cloud, and disappeared. Julia took another breath, and jumped.

She ran into a very solid armored gauntlet, and was quickly shuffled to the inside of the airlock, when Vakarian and Williams followed them in and were also caught by one of the Onyx armored Titans. A spare helmet was brought down over her, and she gratefully took it. Once Vakarian and Williams were inside, the airlock cycled. Then it started a decontamination process, thankfully with air involved. The systems detected a larger amount of microbes and viral components than normal, so everyone got hosed down with the sprays of whatever the systems were primed to use. Julia just figured that this simply meant that she was going to spend more time getting this out of her catsuit.

"Report!" She stated, as soon as she felt like she could breathe safely.

"Ambient heat temperatures will start cooking someone in armor within two minutes. They'll be unable to see anything inside the vent, now that we hacked their cameras." Alenko said, standing next to her. "Once this round of disinfectant spray is over, the ship's doctor is going to come in here and get you both on stretchers."

Julia shook her head. "I just need Medi-gel and a very large cup of coffee."

The airlock cycled, and in waltzed the extremely agitated Dr. Chakwas, who gave one look at Williams and Vakarian, and then at Julia's exposed hip. "The lot of you, to medbay!" She pointed at Williams, who was gently placed on a gurney and levitated back out and towards the elevator. "Vakarian, you have two suit ruptures along your lateral arteries. You'll need to strip and get up there yourself."

"As long as your interests are purely medicinal, Doctor." The Turian chuckled, removing his armor piece by piece with the matter spraying everywhere.

"Commander, you're needed on the bridge, but afterwards you need to do a full checkup. I've got one suit breach, possible second degree burns, and I'll have to dig shrapnel out of you." She made Vakarian strip down to the Turian's underlayer, a blue tinged suit that closely wrapped around his arms and legs. Then she made him get onto a gurney, carried by an extra tech, and had him taken up to the medbay. Julia kept a hand on her exposed wound, and used the elevator to get up to the bridge. The round that was still inside of her hip dug painfully, making her decide to use the gurney Vakarian was on as a support.

The bridge was calm, to her surprise. Though that might have been due to the glaring eyes of Pressley, daring anyone to do anything wrong. "XO, report!"

"Ma'am! We've got a fighter screen investigating the thermal vent, as well as a cruiser. Forces in system are starting to take notice. We've set a course that takes us away from the relay, towards the far side of the system, and then we can loop around and go after the relay after we have discharged our drive and let the ship cool a little bit. Currently, we can only achieve four hours of complete stealth. The thermal maneuver has allowed the thermal vents some ability to release the pent up energy, but there is still a lot more to release."

"Kalin'ren, what are the Batarians talking about?"

"Assassinations, slave revolt, general panic." The Quarian replied. "Someone knifed one of their half-mad priests, apparently. He was supposed to give some big speech, but now he's dead. Apparently he was going to handle some noble-born marriage and that now has to be rescheduled. Hah. Serves the cross eyes right."

So they weren't talking about a Human raid. Good. "Joker. Take us out of here. Let the vents flow normally again. Get us running silent and leave nothing to suggest that we were here. The most that they will assume was that we spaced ourselves to deny them evidence."

"You got it, Commander."

What followed was a different kind of adrenaline rush. Watching a hostile fighter pass within one hundred meters was always a scary thing, but even more so when Joker had to take them between another frigate and a cargo hauler. They almost came close enough to make the engine plumes from the cargo ship flash their barriers. But Joker stayed in the perfect location, until the frigate had passed. Then he calmly brought them out into the open space away from the asteroid belt, and flew towards the nearly empty gas giants orbiting the system far away from the relay.

Only a couple of processing stations were here, and Julia felt confident enough to allow them to vent heat and discharge the FTL drive. Once she gave orders to that effect, she went down to the medbay, using walls and other places to the best effect. She even cloaked, in order to keep the crew from seeing her injured.  _That_  was something that was emphasized to all agents. Don't let them see you fall. Don't let them see you be Human. Don't lose your position of superiority.

* * *

Chakwas absolutely clucked at her when she decloaked inside the door. She was in the middle of operating on Vakarian, stitching his left leg back up. "Get on the table, Commander. Those Batarian bastards use irradiated rounds. You've been sitting there with a possible injury for over an hour. Lt. Commander Williams will be alright. She is higher than a kite right now, with the amount of painkillers and antibiotics she has. But she will make a full recovery. You? Sit." Vakarian had started making motions to escape, as soon as her attention shifted to Julia.

"To be fair, Doctor, any bacteria that are used to living in Batarians would not be able to survive in a Turian body. Our internal temperature cooks almost every other form of bacteria and virus."

"But they have Turian slaves, correct?"

"Technically true." Vakarian offered. "Alright, I'll submit to your tests."

Julia was sat down, and Chakwas spent two hours repairing her hip. Apparently that little grain-sized round had gouged her ligaments and her tendon. She was then wrapped and set up in a medical gauze mess, and her armor was sent down to Jenkins to clean. She knew that no matter how good the boy was with Omni-gel, she was going to have to go over his work. She was supposed to remain in here for eight more hours, as well.

"Commander, while you are here, you can go over some of Captain Anderson's personal belongings. He had a large stack of datapads that weren't ship logs and copies of orders and news feeds. They're encrypted, but I thought you might be able to find out if this is supposed to be sent to his family or not."

"He doesn't recognize his family. They were on Eden Prime, anyways. Hopefully they made it, but right now I doubt they'll want some datapads." The doctor nodded, and left Julia with three datapads. The encryption was actually difficult, which was odd. David had never felt too protective of anything. It took her a while to get through, and her programs had to find the password for her. She typed it in, not sure why he would pick 'Shepard' as a password.

The datapads had an odd content list. One was a section of receipts and messages from a Psychiatrist and a clinical mental health specialist. It also covered medicine prescriptions strong enough for Dementia patients. Odd, that David would ever have those. He usually slept hard, whenever they had been deployed on a mission.

The second of the three was a section of poorly drawn pictures, all of which were filled with a lot of fire and death. Including one of the Citadel, as well as some other pictures of giant…  _squid_. Decidedly odd.

The pictures were labeled, but the titles didn't make sense. She went onto the third datapad, which had the most interesting contents.  _As required by my doctor, I will record the details of my recurring dreams. Ever since my co worker and I broke up, I have been seeing images, of places and events that couldn't have been possible. Almost all of them feature in London._

_Every dream starts out with a name. Shepard. I'm shouting it, or talking about it. No matter what viewpoint I stand at, the odd dreams start with that name. Sometimes a face, or a person is associated with it. People that I know. Mostly it is people that I don't recognize. I took a drawing class in order to improve my ability to record what I see, but I don't feel very impressed. Looks like a young child went crazy with a laser-marker. But the doctor says its important. Like it is all supposed to balance the mind and make me sane again. Sleep normally again. The anti-Dementia pills don't even keep them out._

_Each dream starts with a lot of people running towards some glowing blue and white beam of light, taking cover in the wrecks of armored vehicles that haven't been invented yet or that have not been publicly released. I would know if the Systems Alliance had hover tanks, like the Turians. The guns and armor were better, too. A lot more punch, a lot more resistance. Medical suites were standard. I saw a soldier get stabbed right through the gut, which as we know it now is certain death. Or at least certain to end with you going to bleed out and die. The armor sprayed medi-gel on the wound and kept him in the fight for a short time._

_The first dream, I was on the Citadel. Flash-bulb headed mechs were everywhere, gone wild and shooting anything that moved. Lots of people dying, and I was stuck protecting some pompous prick. Olive skinned, balding, has a sneer in his voice. If I ever run into the guy I'm liable to kill him. Though I couldn't say why. He kept me from going somewhere, going near some gigantic ship. I've tried to draw it, but thinking about it makes my head hurt._

She tabbed the next page, which was listed as two months later than the first entry.  _Captain D. Anderson, in confinement for assaulting a civilian. I thought that these dreams were fake. Worth nothing. Then I met the sneering Italian bastard. Wears a chip on his shoulder about the whole sacking of Rome thing. Hates aliens. Works in some low level section of regional government for the Alliance. All that I remember is just running into him at a bar on Arcturus. Then, nothing. Turns out I put the guy in the hospital. Now I'm under investigation. My doctor wants to have me take these dreams more seriously. He recommended that we go and talk to an Asari "priestess". The Alliance said no, as I've 'got too many secrets in my head'. I just want the dreams to stop. But every night they keep coming back._

_The most recent were still on the Citadel, digging out the Council Chambers. Black metal was everywhere, with glowing blue wires sticking out of every surface. I didn't care about that, or how they related to anything. I just had to find her. I was digging with my bare hands, whatever it took._

_Then, as if my efforts didn't matter, she came crawling out of the wreckage._ She _is beautiful. But she looked like she had just gone nine rounds with the devil. Had some sort of Turian skull still attached to her arm, with more of those blue wires attached to it. The smell was like that of burnt flesh when she approached. When the hell do dreams convey smell?! I didn't seem to care about her medical state, I just needed to know that she was real._

 _But she's too much like Julia. Except that Julia's eyes are dead. Her body language was meant to radiate fear, or aloofness. The woman in my dreams is far more alive than Julia ever has been. She's expressive. She acted almost nonchalant about the skull attached to her arm, and laughed it off. Julia wouldn't have cared. Julia doesn't hug people, doesn't even fake enough emotion to assuage my own. This woman, though, she gave me a hug in my dreams, and everything was better, for just that moment. I would trust her, trust her with anything. This_ Shepard _. I've got to find her._

Julia poured over this more than anything else she had ever read from Anderson. She knew that he had been frustrated with her lack of feeling, but not this frustrated. Looking at the date of the entry, this was right around the time that they had both decided to call it off. Julia had seen it coming, could feel him becoming more distant. But this made more sense now. He was chasing after someone else, as she had correctly guessed. But she didn't really exist. Or if she did, Anderson had never mentioned her.

She queued the next entry. finding it to be less than two weeks after the previous one. Right after their breakup. Or at least the vid call that ended with awkward silence, where they both agreed that they needed time to sort things out.

_I don't even want to write this. Dear god, this day can't get any worse. Julia called, wanted to talk about how I've changed. I wanted to talk about why she hasn't. Still cold, still as unfeeling as ever. She wanted space, so I gave it to her. I've been trying to find this woman I have been dreaming about. If this Udina fellow exists, then she must also exist, if I follow the same rules. I've started getting distracted, looking up and seeing faces, wondering if I've been dreaming or if I am really seeing these people. Sometimes someone looks physically the same as someone from the dream, and everything comes into focus. Like I am in between reality and dreaming. God, the dream._

_That night, after Julia told me she needed space, I slept. I slept, and in the dream_ She  _died. Not that I could see, but the ship cameras sent to me were as plain as day. No one survives atmospheric re entry. I saw her burn up, catch fire as she hit the lithosphere. I couldn't see any more, and I woke up, feeling something real for the first time in years. But, God, now it's over. She's dead. Both of the women I am trying to understand died, or left. I don't want to admit this, but I cried that night. Don't think I've ever felt so betrayed. God, Doc, I'm done talking about this._

No wonder Anderson got weird. This felt like Dementia. Or something else that was horrifically bad. For the next six months, she had been sent into deep undercover operations, making sure that certain political elements did not gain too much power. When she came back, Anderson had been deployed to the Traverse, and was busy. Too busy for her to catch up with him. When she finally did see him, it had been almost two years. She had been on assignment, and he had seen her, from a distance. She had been investigating Hock at the time. She hadn't been able to afford any kind of distraction on the subject. he had tried to approach her, and would have blown her cover.

She had avoided him. The next entry was right when she met him again. When he tried to talk to her, but she blew him off in favor of keeping her cover with Hock.

_Haven't had any dreams for couple of years now. Thought I was done feeling it. Searched through Alliance records, couldn't find any records of the woman I'm looking for. I found a criminal, some Hannah Shepard. But she doesn't match the woman I've seen. The pictures on file talk about an assassin, someone who has no loyalty to the Alliance. All of it led to dead ends. My doctor has even counselled me to give up on it._

_I did. I thought I was done with it. No dreams, and I was finally feeling a little bit normal. Then I saw Julia. She was on the arm of some politician, looking like one of those runway models. I never asked her to dress up for me. But I would admit that she looked quite nice. Seeing her ruined my date that night, once I admitted that she was my ex. Kahlee left, and I haven't heard back from her. Longest relationship I've had in the last three years. Lasted maybe four weeks._

_That night, the dreams came back. This time it was Montreal. Everything was fine one moment, and then on fire the next. Admirals and Captains I've known my entire career died in some wave of fire that came through heavy kinetic barriers, reinforced polymers, and a secondary layer of plexiglass. Just a shockwave, but the force behind it was beyond what I know anything capable of._

_Shepard. I could see her again. Red hair, lithe body. Tall enough to take a Turian in melee. Red stripe down the arm, and the N7 rating. Apparently broke all of the damn records I set. But I checked, and no one has done that. They are still set in stone. The confusion that I am experiencing is beyond what the damn quack can identify. Elements of reality, blending with facts and truths that are so off that even I can recognize it._

_We fought across the rooftops together, running together, and then we called in her ship. Then I let her go! Why, after all that, did I just let her go! God damn it all, I can't win, not in my dreams, and not in reality either. I tried to talk to Julia, to get her to talk to me, do anything. See if we could make it work again._

_She turned me down, no surprise. Then, the dreams stopped. For some reason, they are connected to her. I can only see this_ Shepard _when I'm around Julia. Command has an idea, something about trying to get Humanity a couple of Spectres. He asked me for a short list of a few people underneath command rank that I had worked with that might work. Said I was on the list of potentials._

_To my shame, I put down Julia's name. They didn't like it. They threatened me, actually. But I said that there was no one better in the Office of Intelligence. She would be the very best we had in terms of a Spectre. Even though she didn't have an ounce of emotion, she understood the political ramifications of decisions better than anyone else they had in the field. She spoke Turian and Batarian, and basic Asari. Turns out that decision was a political pitfall for anyone that backed it, but Hackett went ahead with it anyways. He says that he has a special ship for us to use, too._

Anderson picked her! He wanted her here? She fought the urge to call Hackett immediately. It would be terrible to bring Anderson's name down in the dust over this, considering that the mission was being led by her. her recommendation had come at Anderson's expense, and he had died believing in that. Or at least he had died. Whether he believed in her or this figment of his mental issues was another thing entirely. Only one more entry existed.

_The mission has begun. We've brought everybody of note. Jenkins I've worked with before, not that the kid realized it. But as a private he ran into a hot zone with some Asari syndicate members with no fear. I thought he was coming back in a body bag, but the kid has instinctual reflexes for dodging biotics. He took out a squad of three Asari on his own. After that, I put him on a short list for promotion. Kid's smart._

_Halmabad was picked by the other members of the board. He's some big hier from the Al Sad family. They want some good press for him. Not my choice. I don't much care for him, and he's a bit of a daredevil._

_Then, of course, there is Julia. She didn't give me much of a chance to talk, and refused to meet me privately. There will be a chance later, I guess. But at least we are working together for the moment. I can trust her to lead a team of marines without trouble. She isn't rated for larger team coordination, but Julia is rated to command a ship. Unlike me. This ship is something else, I will admit. When I agreed to this, I did not expect to receive this secret project. I knew about it beforehand, but didn't expect this. I can't talk much about that here, as this is supposed to be a mental journal._

_Unlike most nights, where my dreams just show death, destruction, and giant squid, tonight was different. I was on the Citadel, in a chamber that I didn't recognize. I've looked. But that place is a warren of tunnels, sometimes. I haven't found anything like this room, although I haven't searched for this. Perhaps next leave._

_Shepard was there. We both were, she was injured and burnt, but still had that winning smile. Her armor was melted to the undersuit in some places. The dream was a mixture of words that didn't make sense. Names and words that brought other images on, but it only served to confuse me more._

_Then Jack Harper was there. With some kind of creepy blue glowing eyeshadow. Odd fashion statement. Looks like he cried a lot of it out, too. But he was talking about something else, something I don't understand. Controlling something, and he also had some sort of other weapon. Used some sort of creepy mind powers to take control of us, make us not kill him as he talked to us about things. Then,_ She _shot me. Then she shot him. Things went pretty dark after that. But still, Shepard shot me. Waking up wasn't much better, as Julia basically gave me the cold shoulder. I don't understand what my mind is doing to me, but I swear if I get any more creepy images of giant squid things, I'm going to start using my gun on the next plate of fried calamari. Hope this all helps at some level, Doc._

Julia set down the datapad, wondering what the hell went wrong. He thought that she was the cause. Worse, he manipulated the Admirals just to get her close to him again. So that he could  _feel_  again. She would have to investigate everything that her father had ever said to David. This latest dream was just decidedly odd. He had names on the datapad, of people and places and dates. Events that were supposed to happen, events that had happened, and then events that he claimed he saw but did not happen according to the history that she had. She would have to look into that. All of this bore looking into. Except that she had to command this mission. This farce of a mission.

Vakarian was in the bed next to her. He was also awake, reading something on his Omni-tool. "Hey." She said, getting his attention. "Got a minute?"

"Thank the spirits." Vakarian said. "You can only study Volus trade language for so long before eyes start bleeding." He turned off the Omni-tool. "What can I help you with?"

"I've just looked through Anderson's files. He personally selected the candidates. Some of the choices were based on emotional attachment rather than what was right. I'm worried about our chances out there."

"Nihlus verified all of the choices." Vakarian said. "I don't have access to all of the files, but I have access to his notes that he uploaded before getting on the Normandy. A few short words about each of you."

"Would it be alright if I saw those?" She asked.

"Only if you tell me what your real name is. Nihlus lists a lot of aliases and fake names here. Around eighteen of those."

"That's a bit of a problem." She admitted. "My father changed his name illegally, and so our birth certificates are based on his fake last name. So I suppose that I should have the surname of Smith, but the name that my father went by was Harper. During the fiasco that was my father's career, he ran off into the Terminus systems and apparently formed his own mercenary organization." She saw no reaction from Vakarian. He might already know about her father. "So I've gone by that, Constantine, Harkin, and Nelson. First names change as fast as the weather. If you're wondering what to call me, then you can call me Commander Constantine when we are on duty. Off duty, I prefer Julia." It was the only thing that hadn't changed.

"You can call me Garrus." He offered. "I worked the case where the Council tried to take down your father's mercenary group."

She glanced at him, letting the Turian know that she was surprised. "Wait, what?"

"We haven't exactly shared this information with the Systems Alliance. Very sensitive, and all that. But I figure that if I can keep you alive long enough to make Spectre, then you deserve to know about this. We called it Operation Cadrae. But it turned into a mess pretty quickly. It was my first stint as a Spectre, too."

Julia settled back into her pillow, content to listen. Garrus decided to trust her. Or at least extend enough trust to give her restricted information. He would probably judge her actions based on if she reported it to the Alliance, then. See if her loyalties extended that strong. Perhaps she was supposed to report it, to prove that she was loyal. Or not, and see if she could be personally trustworthy. The Council was ambiguous enough that the answer there was hazy.

"I'd like to hear about it. Considering that Chakwas has us locked in here for the next six hours anyways."

"Well, it all started with a Quarian pop idol." Garrus said, grinning.

* * *

Author's Note

 

Thanks to you guys for all of the reviews lately. I know that we just switched gears pretty hard for Lucid, but we are going to be getting back up to speed as we get going towards the rest of my altered Mass Effect 1 storyline. As to those who have worries that Kasumi is going to be a little different, don't worry. Her habit of pickpocketing is just simply going to evolve into something else. I just figured that people don't start out their lives with the natural tendency to take what isn't theirs. Kasumi had to start out with a reason to ignore the established rules on conduct, especially as a product of Japanese culture. Those people are almost completely ingrained against theft, and about going beyond your social norms. Kasumi had to have a very unique childhood to be able to have the view she does. Not to mention we still have so many fun characters to get into. Keiji, Wrex(Oh goodness, I love the guy, but he is going to have such a fun intro), Mordin, and then a lot more of the background players. Salarian Dalatrasses, Asari Matriarchs, and Volus Magnates abound in the coming chapters.

 


	47. Lucid: Racially Biased SAT Questions

Chapter 47

Zakera Ward Docks, The Citadel, June 2182

The older shuttle they had attached to the Normandy pulled up to the Wards, the paint chipped in a couple of places. When it landed, everyone started to pile out of it in a large group, giving Julia the chance to cloak and slip out. "Alright everyone." She said over the team's comm channel. "We have our orders. This is not leave. LT. Jenkins, you need to go pick up our injured that can go back on active duty at the hospital and get Lt. Chakwas her supply of Antibiotics and medical supplies. Williams will probably appreciate not dying from Batarian Blinding Fever."

"Aye, ma'am." He whispered.

"Lt. Zorah, supplies and ammo. Lt. Alenko and Corporal T'au will be with you for legitimacy and to keep eyes off of the rest of us." Andrew T'au would be able to take on most things short of a full frigate. He was the biggest Titan, and sending Alenko and her Quarian officer together was a test. To see if she could get Tali'Zorah to step out of her shell a little bit.

"Aye, Ma'am." Her response was curt, and in the appropriate tone. She also kept her mouth shut rather than speaking her mind. As the Chief Engineer, that was a bad thing.

"Vakarian, Arterius, you're with me. We've got a few places to visit."

The older Turian rolled his neck, cracks resounding from the action. "I'll have to belay that, Commander. One of us has to report to the Council regarding our actions, and considering how much you pissed off the Separatists I think they should get some warning from us. I'll go bicker with them, as they love me so much more. You two can go get real work done."

With that, she lost her older 'advisor'. Garrus huffed, his mandibles tighter against his face. "Well, I doubt he is going to the Council."

"Oh?" She didn't want to show up on camera, and had to settle for just letting Garrus talk to empty air.

"He loves the Asari too much. We'll find him in the Consort's lounge or something before the end of the night." The Turian sighed. Or at least a high pitched release of breath that seemed to equate it. "Of course, right now you share that problem."

She blinked. "What are you implying, Vakarian?" She stated with a bit of steel in her voice.

He grinned. "Both of you are hunting down some kind of Asari for something or other. Don't take it personally, but I find the whole process rather disgusting."

"Is there a point to this?" She asked, interrupting him.

"Yes, actually. While Desolous is the shameless corruptor of Asari virtue, he also happens to know the best people for finding them." Vakarian keyed his Omni-tool. "Desolous, who would you recommend to talk to if we are looking for that Eclipse Sister?"

" _The Shadow Broker might have the best line of information on her, in my opinion. Take the Spectres in training and show them the agents that we can trust most people with._ "

Vakarian nodded at Desolous' image. "Alright then. First stop, follow the money." He brought them to an aircar terminal, and took them to the Presidium. Connected to the structure were high class hotels, Volus banks from every clan, and corporate headquarters for Asari companies. No one else had the time to build up enough wealth to get one of the Presidium's pieces of land. Salarians might be able to, but they preferred to be away from all of the limelight.

Vakarian took her inside one of the Volus banking institutions, lined with investors meeting inside circular meeting rooms with the small Volus. The walls were raised, making the entire bank seem more intimidating. Or mathematically efficient.

"Welcome to Von clan Banking enterprises, Palaven-clan." Vakarian was being addressed by one of the diminutive Volus. "How can we assist you?"

"I would like to meet with Barla Von, at his convenience." Vakarian offered, making the small Volus plug something into his Omni-tool.

"Our esteemed banking associate Barla Von will meet with you in his office. He welcomes you back to this institution and wishes you great return on your investments." The Volus snuffled out his reply. He was being polite, more so than he would be for any human. But the Volus were a client race to the Turians, which made the added politeness make sense.

Vakarian walked back into the part of the bank that contained more private offices. Here the ceilings were still very tall, but not so much so that it made it seem imperious. An Elcor could walk down these hallways without worrying about taking up too much space. Perhaps even two side by side. The second doorway led to a small private office that had haptic screens across every wall and every desk.

The Volus behind the desk had a much nicer suit on than the greeter had. It even had some improved sensors near the head of the suit, powerful enough that he noticed the disturbance in the room when she walked in.

"Tarn Vakarian, Palaven-clan." He offered. "And guest." He sniffled. "How may I assist you?"

Vakarian nodded in her general direction, and she waited for the door to close before she decloaked. "Nice to meet you, Barla Von." She offered.

"Earth clan. A pleasure, under most circumstances." The Volus seemed to stand up to his full height and made a snuffling noise. "With Tarn Vakarian and his Spectre in training here, I can expect that this is about your state business?"

"Yes, Barla." Vakarian said. "I'm here for your services related to the Shadow Broker."

The Volus snuffled happily. "You know well that my rates are high, but my information is always good." He tapped on his desk, and the amount of anti-decryption software that went across the area could be felt. "Now that we are secure, we can begin. What are you in need of today?"

The Turian nodded to her. She brought up the details on the Asari, Neilana T'y'tella. "This Asari bought five turrets that were involved in the Rachni attack on Eden Prime. We need to find her or find out how the Rachni managed to get familiar with our technology enough to hack things, jamm signals, and steal ships. We can't have more civilian craft going on unwilling suicide runs."

Barla nodded. "Investigations are pending on the infected craft. From the black boxes that have been found, so far, core systems had been subverted directly. There was no hacking or reprogramming. Systems like the FTL drive and navigation were directly controlled at the source the entire time." That was chilling. Something physically had to get onboard the ships. "The Shadow Broker is also worried about the Rachni and the threat they pose. As such, this information comes at the steep discount of being free of charge."

Vakarian laughed. So did the Volus, and that left Julia looking more than mildly uncomfortable. "What business did you lose, Barla?" He asked

The snuffle that came before the Volus spoke was a bit deeper. "The bugs had the audacity to destroy insured colony habitation towers developed by my people. The Von banking enterprise has lost millions in the first days to insurance claims from the survivors. We do not agree with giving you this information for free, but we do agree that you must wipe out the Rachni before they infest other subjects of Volus banking enterprises. For the good of all people and all credit accounts."

"Alright, help us find this Asari and we will certainly write 'Von Banking Clan investment' on each of our ammo blocks in your honor." Vakarian said, still joking. She didn't really get the joke at all.

Barla chuckled still, and snuffled out his reply. "This Asari has no records on Thessia, by our network's records. That leaves her as clanless or worse. No banking records inside Council systems, although the network does see that she has some activity on Illium. The Shadow Broker does not allow me to see what is happening within that financial system, so as not to make me too dangerous."

"You don't know anything?" Julia asked, impatient.

"I know of her. I know her most likely places to spend her credits, and I know her financial institution. That is not insignificant." The Volus stated. "I will update your Omni-tools with this information, as well as with a contact within the bank that might be able to help you. In addition, I also have information on other Rachni sightings out in the Attican Traverse. Your government is getting them as we speak, but the Broker has had them for almost an hour now."

This was why the Alliance did not like the Shadow Broker. He didn't play by any rules but his own, and didn't care about consequences or repercussions to his organization. "We won't need that then. But we do thank you for the information you've given us." Vakarian said. "I may come in later to discuss my holdings, however. Perhaps a visit that deals with only a personal account."

Barla nodded, rather gracefully. "We will have much to speak of. Until the next time, Tarn."

Julia cloaked, and the door opened. Though she typed out on her Omni-tool  _What does Tarn mean?_  She was familiar with most lower forms of Turian, but it was a word that she didn't recognize.

"You know, talking to yourself in Turian society has all kinds of bad stigma attached to it. Do you always stay stealthed?"

They were still in the Volus' office. This was not the place to be having this kind of discussion. "It is protocol. You get few looks as you walk around. I can't afford to be seen. Or have anyone establish a pattern of behavior about me."

"Are you worried about people outside the Alliance or within it?" He asked. She didn't know if he was adding concern or faking it.

"I have no intention of speaking about this here. We can discuss it somewhere secure." Hopefully never.

Vakarian nodded. "Follow me then. There are more than a few places here we can go to." Vakarian walked out of the bank alone, and took her to a public transit location. The air car arrived speedily, and Garrus started going counterclockwise up the Presidium. He then aimed for one of the uppermost areas of the Presidium, opposite the side that the tower was on and at extreme height. "This is a small access port for C-sec to be able to get to Taseri Ward. Headquarters is up spin a ways, but this is one of the older depots that they maintain."

There were few air cars up here, and Vakarian parked theirs in a public spot and set the car to remain here instead of being called to another traffic terminal. She followed him, still cloaked, as he walked into a nearly empty C-sec office with only a sleepy looking Turian at the front desk. He nodded at Vakarian, recognizing him, and pressed a key on his console to open up one of the hallways for them. Old, unmarked doors were on either side of the hallway and had no nametags and no active signals. One was green, which Vakarian walked towards.

The office that was revealed was simplistic, with cheap mass produced Turian furniture and a decent desk. He sat behind it, brushing off some of the dust here. "There's no cameras in this old place. No one comes here unless they are keeping a witness safe, these days."

"What is all this, then?" She asked, trusting him enough to decloak.

"This was my father's office. He didn't like the Executor, and so switched his desk out to here so that people would bother him less. He died in the line of duty when I was still just a child." He took off his eye piece, and set it down on the desk. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Yes." She quickly answered. "But you can ask. If it goes against protocol I won't be able to answer it." That should give her enough leeway to answer easy questions, but nothing personal and nothing about the Alliance or the  _Normandy_.

"Your people have rules of engagement, Commander. Yet you were prepared to leave Lt. Commander Ashley Williams behind. That would have been bad press, the granddaughter of General Williams being killed by Batarian Separatists." She grimaced. That was not in her brief on the marine. A political landmine of a marine, now. Williams was going to be staying onboard ship during anything truly dangerous from this point forward. "I just wanted to know why you were perfectly willing to leave her behind."

"Protocol for the Office of Intelligence is different than that of the Navy. If your mission is compromised, then you are to abandon the objective and retreat. Officers that cannot retreat are either silenced or recovered via other methods." She answered simply. "She thankfully got rid of her Omni-tool before the Batarians got to her. Other than her lost armor, we have no evidence pointing to our raid."

Vakarian nodded. "That isn't exactly a valued rule of engagement for Turians. I wanted to counteract your order, back there. I wanted to see if you had it in you to go save her, rather than kill her."

"You wanted to test me?"

He chuckled. "I  _am_  supposed to be evaluating you. As well as stay out of your way. Let you make decisions for yourself. But even now, after being a Spectre for five years or so, I've been constantly tested. With Asari Spectres and evaluators, that's normal. They don't trust you until you get to be Desolous' age, and he has become more of a byword than anything respectable. Nihlus was one of our best, but he's gone now. My people don't get very many Spectres, you see."

"You send your best, right?"

"We send our worst, actually." She blinked at that. "The Turians least able to get along with the group, the ones who are the most individual, and the most self-serving, are often chosen to be Spectres. The ability to function without a unit of Turians around you for months at a time is an important trait, one that our government does not try to breed true. Unfortunately for them, I'm a  _Tarn_."

"You send the ones that can actually think outside the box." She said to herself. She didn't know if she considered herself as such. For her, the protocols were the most important things to follow. Anything less than complete complicitness regarding them was not an option for her. "What does that mean, by the way?"

"It means Last. Last heir, last male in a family line. It is not a moniker that is acceptable among my people. We are known to have large families, and  _Tarn_  is not a great title." He seemed to think for a moment. "My childhood before my father died was still tenuous, as I have no male cousins and no secret brothers to declare. So the government wanted to place me somewhere safe, like Logistics or such. Thankfully my father had a lot of old favors to call in. Desolous Arterius owed him a lot, as it turned out. So he taught me everything he knew, until I was standing before the Council and swearing my oaths."

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked.

"Because I know next to nothing about you. All that I know, and that is stretching it, is that you are a professional spy. You know how to commence warfare, and you are great in combat, but outside of it I remain confused. So, I just told you all about my sensitive childhood, and I hope that you might enlighten me regarding yours."

"Is this about my father or what?" She asked, feeling defensive.

"Having met the man, I can safely say that I have my own issues with your father." He said. "No, I am just wanting to establish some kind of trust here. Every time we go back to that frigate we are all business. You don't like talking to anyone and trying to find you to talk to you about subjects is impossible."

She took a moment to evaluate this. It technically wouldn't break protocol to tell Vakarian about her history. He was supposed to look for himself at some point anyways. She didn't feel comfortable telling him, but at least this way there would be no chance of him misinterpreting her information. "Alright. I'll tell you a few things." She tried to feel comfortable enough to talk to him about anything, but Julia just hated anything about herself being discussed or mentioned. "We trade information for what we want."

"Alright. I've mentioned what I believe makes me qualify as a Spectre. I'd like to hear what you think of your own qualities."

She kept her lips tight, not enjoying this question. After reading Anderson's journal, she was somewhat sure that she was chosen just because he was psychotic at some level. "I have two theories." Two theories that she had just come up with on the spot. "The first being that the Alliance made a secret deal to allow the Council to gain access to my technology and kill me in secret, allowing my patents and intellectual property to default to their interests. This would also give them the ability to allow the Council a chance to look at Humanity's more invasive cloaking technology."

"A dark view, if I say so myself. The second?"

"The Council would like to have a Human capable of cloaking and assassination for their purposes, and I am the most powerful biotic Infiltrator. There is no better option, not to mention my mission history." Vakarian seemed to lean forward, curious. "You know that I was at Torfan, and that I was the one who killed Givn'k Dvorak there." Her main mission objective, the one that had taken almost the entire month. "I've also been deployed to Sidon, to deal with an illegal AI development lab, but most of my career has been spent investigating business leaders and political agendas. Some of them died of old age very suddenly."

"But you stayed within parameters?"

"Protocol is clear. I do not break protocol."

"Through all of that, you never mentioned why you yourself believe you should be a Spectre." Vakarian said. "Stop over analyzing the situation and tell me why you would be chosen over the millions of other Humans. If you personally do not believe you should be a Spectre than say it." That was the problem. She honestly believed that Anderson had set her up. She wasn't as good as the other choices.

"Salarians have stealth nets, but they aren't as powerful or as complete as the designs that we use. They would want an Infiltrator. Someone who could do a deep insertion better than a Salarian could."

"I was told a few things when I received Nihlus' files. He wanted you to be on our list, no matter what command told him. He wanted the  _Roman_  to be one of the Council's agents. Someone who can access Batarian Separatists casually, and then string them up without regard to Sentient Treatment laws is someone that we want."

She was the Roman. That was what she was labeled as for her trip to Torfan. All of the mission reports claimed that an unidentified soldier, codenamed ROMAN, for her protection. They had to, after she killed over a hundred Batarians with tactics not used on Humans since the mid 2050's and the Islamic crisis. Crucifixion was brutal, but removing eyes, toenails, and fingernails went beyond that. Poisoning their medical supplies with enough blood thinners to kill was probably the thing she regretted the most. Batarian physiology did not take to blood thinners very well. That killed mostly innocent slave caste Batarians, rather than her targets in the upper castes. "You wanted that?" That didn't make sense. The Council had plenty of killers already. They didn't need another STG-like agent.

"The Council tries to represent every good thing that all of the species create together. Their Spectres are their instrument to keep it that way. We like to be called a peacekeeping force, but in all reality we exemplify the very worst that each race is capable of. The people that stand to be the biggest threats against the galaxy are going to be people like us. They'll think like we do, and be willing to kill anyone that stands in their way. Our species naturally produce individuals that act like this. As such, we want those that have loyalties to their governments that express these traits, so that we can field a force that can think like these outliers." Garrus leaned back in his chair. "That's what Nihlus wanted. The most dangerous individuals that have guaranteed loyalties to your government. People who would be willing to fight for the galactic cause, and not just their own species'. He picked you, the full details of what you've done I don't know. But I recognize a cold-blooded killer when I see one. The only thing that is keeping you on the side of the law is a loosely defined protocol that your Intelligence Office acknowledges."

He kept talking. "We're one of a kind, in that. I would imagine that if I hadn't become a Spectre, I would have becomes some sort of vigilante or obsessive killer, and eventually come across you for one reason or another."

"You don't want a diplomat?"

"We have plenty of those airheads to last a lifetime. Anyone can run their mouth. The only difference between a diplomat and an idiot is range of vocabulary."

She chirped, her three octave laugh filling the old office. "I'm sorry," She quickly amended, not remembering if Turians reacted to Human laughter well.

"Spirits, you're mortal." He chirped back, the standard Turian laugh almost sounding like an echoing cry of a bird. "That's another qualification, by the way."

"Glad to know you're mortal, too." This was all still a test, though. She was sharply controlling her reactions now, she couldn't let her guard down again. "But you were saying? You don't want a diplomat, someone who can talk people down?"

"I'm sure that you could do that. Most people can, with a little coaching. That's not what we were looking for. We need people who can predict the kind of tactics and schemes that people like Scaevus Raedian and Matriarch Arrana Dilnaga come up with."

"Along with anything my father comes up with." She added. "That's why." She sighed. "You need me to stop him from doing something."

Vakarian actually laughed about that. "As much as I despise Humans, I do agree on that. He's been a sneaky one the last few years."

"You mentioned in the med bay that you'd run into him at Omega." He'd mentioned a lot of details that had never shown up on Alliance reports. "The Alliance hasn't let me know much about what he has been doing lately."

Vakarian sighed. "His ship, the  _Acheron_ , has been part of a piracy ring. It's been going after Prothean artifacts, and he's been quite successful. The Volus have been hurting, enough to ask for Turian patrols to accompany their shipments. Funny thing is, that hasn't stopped him."

Spectre Vakarian turned on an old haptic projector, having to brush it off first. The image it displayed was of a Turian flight recorder. It came from the rear ship in the patrol, and clearly showed a smaller, black colored craft coming in above the Volus frigate. None of the Turians even noticed. It came in unchallenged, and deployed some sort of grappling arm onto the Volus ship. Then, without further ado, the Volus ship slaved its navigation to the  _Acheron_  and jumped to FTL.

"They must have already had the virus on the freighter." She said. "There is no way they could have hacked it so quickly."

"Checked the black box. Wiped clean, no idea how they did it." Garrus replied to her statement. "More importantly, the Turians never saw it attach to the Volus freighter. The only reason they noticed it was when they watched the after-action footage."

"So my father has stealth technology."

"Apparently the Quarians have stealth technology. They somehow developed it during their exile. The  _Normandy's_  abilities are remarkably similar."

It was similar. Except that the  _Acheron_ couldn't actively camouflage. But it seemed like the Normandy had the same technology. "You're going to report the Normandy to the Council."

"Not yet. Hopefully we won't have to." Vakarian intoned. "We need to prove that it is a Quarian technology, and therefore their intellectual property and patent before we can report anything regarding the  _Normandy_. As such, I don't think I'll be mentioning it until we go somewhere like the Migrant Fleet. Which I recommend we don't."

She breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't have to silence a Spectre. "What about Desolous?"

"The Council prefers to talk to me. They only brought him out of retirement because of the Rachni. Otherwise they would be happy to let him drink himself and whore himself out to the lowest bidding Asari." He tapped his talons on the edge of the desk, seemingly in thought. "But back to what we were talking about. Your father has been after Element Zero, Palladium shipments, Prothean artifacts, and cultural artifacts of the Batarian Hegemony."

Some of those would merit investigations later. "Some of that has just got to be a smokescreen for whatever he is really focusing on. Or backup plans to acquire what he needs. What kind of artifacts has he gone after?"

"He's looking for working artifacts. Computers, Omni-fabricators, any kind of data crystals." Vakarian said. "I need you to look at this list and please help us out. I don't know what he's doing with all of these resources."

Thousands of tons of Element Zero. Hundreds of thousands of tons of Palladium. Thousands in Aluminum and Copper as well, along with processed Silicates and Mercury. Some Gold and Titanium as well, though the report surmised that more had been stolen from the other mercenary companies. "How much of this has gone back on the market?"

"Not enough. The Prothean artifacts go back on the market, but the working and more interesting ones do not come back. Still, there is enough Element Zero there to make that core that your ship has. More than just that. More than a single ship's worth by far. But I haven't gotten clearance to check to see if your Element Zero core is made up of the amount of Element Zero that he has taken."

"I won't rule it out. Ask Lt. Tali'Zorah very nicely and she will tell you the actual amount of Element Zero in the core." He had a legitimate reason for requesting information. Protocol allowed that much. "I apologize if I can't be more helpful than just glancing at the information."

Vakarian shrugged. "Extra eyes on the subject help. Your race has changed more in your time in the galactic space than any other in comparable time ranges. It shows a certain amount of skill, as well as recklessness."

"You've asked questions about my father." She pointed out. "Please tell me about yours." Somehow this related. This was the older Vakarian's office.

"He had a younger brother, and a cousin. He wasn't a Tarn, like I am. They died in the First Contact War, both of them serving in different areas of the fleet. My father was pulled off of the front lines due to being a member of a threatened bloodline, but they were unable to pull his brother in time. His cousin was injured during the war, and passed away later, leaving my father as the only remaining male heir. He wasn't given the title of Tarn, though, because he was not an only male child. I was the only heir, so I received that title at birth. He didn't like that. My father went into C-sec so that he wouldn't leave my family bereft of his support. The military had soured him."

Vakarian sighed. "He was efficient, and a spirits-touched investigator. He was able to solve crimes that others had given up on. That got him killed by someone, through a matter of circumstances and vid camera footage I've found to be Human."

"What happened?" She asked, curiosity at some level rising.

Vakarian leaned forward in his chair, judging her again. "He was killed by an aerosol poison. His lungs had a mixture of Alluminum, ammonia, and-"

"Mercury Nitrate particles." She finished.

"They teach you how to kill Turians in your Intelligence Services?"

She nodded. "That mixture is the standard method for killing a Turian. But all of the races have weaknesses that can be exploited." She learned that one from Mum. Apparently she was good at killing Turians. The First Contact War had a lot to do with that. "Did you get any kind of evidence or form of identification?"

"A Council Spectre submitted the blood sample collected to the Systems Alliance, but nothing came of it. They called them a rogue agent, and apparently they were working together with your father to kill or conspire to kill Councillor Sparatus, may his spirit not seek vengeance."

"I can try, but the central administration wouldn't like it. I've been removed from their command structure until I am either a Spectre or I drop out of this whole mess." Security reasons. She still followed security protocols established by the Alliance Office of Intelligence, but acted through the command structure of the Navy. "I was trained by an agent that went rogue. It's one of the reasons that they were so happy to throw me at the Council, considering what happened to the last Spectre candidate."

"We never found his body, and even though an official investigation was called for, I don't know if the Human's death was premeditated murder or simply a mistake." Vakarian said. "My father didn't even have a clue on that one. I am sorry to ask a personal question, but did your father ever mention why he went out into the Terminus?"

There were lots of theories. Lots of possibilities. "No laws to constrain him, though he still seeks to control the Alliance economy, or do what he can to purposefully keep the Alliance trade routes from falling under. It was odd, that he would leave Council Space and then work so hard to invest back into Multi-species companies."

"Like Binary Helix?"

She nodded. "He also invested a small portion into Synthetic Insights, on Noveria. But that area is so secure that I haven't been able to get out there to investigate."

"Noveria is a tantrum ridden child. I wish we could just clear the place out, but that would be unacceptable losses for many investors." He stood up. "I think that is enough of this stuffy office. You know what kind of qualities that we look for in Spectres. Now It's up to you to decide for yourself if you fulfill them."

"Isn't that your job?"

He chirped a bit. "Oh, you know. Desolous has his Asari, I just care about my toys. Guns, ships, and armor are my big worries. We both know that in the end it isn't our decision. We're just small playing pieces on the board between our two governments. As much as I may have my opinions, and you yours, all we can do is just try to be worthy of our titles, no matter how dirty our hands get."

"Ah." She said. There wasn't much else she could respond with. It made sense, even though Spectres were supposed to be above their governments.

"You can call me Garrus, by the way. Just calling me Vakarian makes me feel like I'm about to get shot at."

"You can call me..." She started to say, reflexively, before she realized that no one got to call her by her first name. Miranda, yes, but she never got to see her. Kasumi, but that girl had disappeared. Her father, but that was not a subject she wanted to think about. Then of course Hannah. Hannah could call her by her first name, as could David. But all of them were gone now. But would Garrus Vakarian be offended if she didn't offer the same courtesy in return? Logic said that he would. "Julia. I won't mind so long as you don't use it in front of the crew." He turned up his mandibles and showed his teeth, making her almost reach for a knife. Turian faces were somewhat terrifying. Especially when they tried to emulate a Human smile.

"Alright, Julia. You hungry? I know a place that serves food to all races." She could eat, but that would be a public location. Her portion size and visible face and teeth could be compared to records and intelligence analysts could figure out who she was even if she used a temporary dye.

"I'll be fine. I might buy some takeout on the way back to the  _Normandy_." Safe. She had to be safe. Not just for the sake of the Alliance, now, but herself.

Garrus nodded. "Well, why don't you come with me to the Spectre offices? I don't like the crowds when I investigate things, but down there we should be able to take a look at some of the resources that the Council allows its Spectres to use."

That made her smile. "You said Spectre offices? That sounds fun." She might be able to data mine the more insecure areas. She blinked, reconsidering that thought. That may not be the best of ideas.

Garrus nodded, leading the way out of the office. "Oh yes. Lots of toys to test and shoot. Perhaps you should get a better pistol than that Stiletto." Her Stiletto pistol was heavily modified, and was quite silent. She hadn't found much better. Perhaps the Spectres would have that.

* * *

Zakera Ward, Mayanmar Shipping Company, June 2182

Tali hated shopping. Why she was even given the job of fetching goods was beyond her. Oh sure, send the Quarian to go do things. Things that get her in trouble. Everyone hated Quarians, and took whatever chances they could to keep them down. Her father told her to expect nothing but treachery. So far only a few Humans had been kind to her. All of them had been either teachers or those under her in rank.

She was the highest ranking Quarian in any mercenary group or military outside of their own. She couldn't look weak. She had an image to uphold. The shoulder markings on her suit had been stuck on with chemical adhesive, and removing them would be impossible without some form of chemical spray. Some of the people she had met had tried to remove the markings of her rank, and so she simply attached it to herself permanently. She was an Alliance Lieutenant. Only a military officer could take that away from her, and only on charges of negligence or failure to follow orders.

Every check, every test, and every order had been followed through with perfection. She lost sleep, and double checked the work of anyone that she had the slightest doubt in. That included herself. Every single project and piece of work she had accomplished in the Alliance had been perfection. They had no choice but to award her with OCS.  _That_  had been hard. She had been one of three Quarians to qualify, and by the end she had been the only one to make it through.

Top graduate of her OCS class. First Engineer to graduate at the top for physical and mental expectations. First Quarian to make officer. First Admiral's daughter to spend her pilgrimage with the Humans. So many firsts, and so many expectations laid on her shoulders. The other Quarians onboard the  _Normandy_  talked about her in hushed tones. She wasn't even able to be normal among her own people. All of the Quarians here on pilgrimage were like that. Except for that old Kgjer Kalin'ren. He was trouble and poison. They had all learned to avoid him in the public areas of the ship. His Kellish was rude, and filled with more curses than anything formal or cordial.

She was with two giant brutes as she went to go and fetch supplies. One was a dark skinned Human who didn't look like he even fit into any of his clothes. The other had dark hair and dark eyes, with lighter skin tone. But he also was a lot smaller. Tali was tall for a female of her species, but Lt. T'au was gigantic. He stood so high that she could walk behind him and be completely hidden. Perhaps even jumping wouldn't get her enough height to be seen either. Alenko was just tall enough for her to hide behind. Sadly they walked along with her, letting her walk in front of them.

"I've got your shipment." She was brought back to her current objective as she saw a few men come forward with a large crate of goods. "I added in some newer ration packs for you guys. With those Rachni out there you guys better keep your strength."

She bowed. "Thank you. We appreciate the offering." A bit of extra food. Well, for a Human that might be a small thing but for a Quarian that was another thing entirely. Food was always rationed. It had to be.

"We also have an order of food for you and your crew. We figured you guys might enjoy some hot food, so we all pitched in and got you a gift card to the local Chicago's Pizza."

Tali took it with care. "I'll make sure that the crew gets some of this 'pizza'." She didn't know what it was, but if they thought it would be a good gift then she was certainly going to get it for her crew. "What kind of food is it, anyways?"

The look of horror was plain on some of their faces. Lt. T'au also looked horrified. "It might be better to just show you, Lt. Zorah." Alenko said from behind her. "Pizza is made from a mixture of ingredients on top of a flat wheat or flour cake. You then add toppings and bake the product until you've browned the flour and sufficiently cooked the meat."

"All of our food comes from nutrient paste anyways. I can see the basic ingredients translating from my Omni-tool, but I don't know what it would taste like."

"Food is one of the most important parts of being alive! We have got to take you someplace that serves Quarians. You guys live on protein shakes and vitamin water, ugh!" T'au slammed one of his giant fists into his chest. "That's it, we're finding a place that serves a dextro pizza!"

Lt. Alenko grinned. "To the extranet!" To which they spent the next thirty minutes finding out that there was in fact no source of dextro 'pizza' on the Citadel. Or any kind of food other than Quarian nutrient paste that she could eat. Even the Humans at Myanmar Shipping got into it, trying to find her some sort of food.

"Turian brandy?"  
"A good step, I think. Drunk Quarians dancing just got added to the bucket list."

"Turian coffee shots! We gotta get you some of those!"

She tried to stop them, but they eventually took her to Manae Courier Services, a Turian company that specialized in same-day shipping of Turian supplies. They had access to supplies from all over the Turian Hierarchy, and could ship them anywhere, if price was not a problem.

"What exactly do you Humans want?" It didn't help that the service provider at the front desk didn't recognize her presence. "If its weapons you want, you can go down a level to this big supplier."

Lt. Alenko held his Omni-tool up to the table. "My fellow officer here is requiring a supply of quality food. Perhaps you would not want to refuse her business."

"It's a Quarian. Those suit rats don't have enough money to order the cheapest item on our list." The Turian said, shrugging. "Take your business elsewhere."

Alenko frowned. He was about to say something, but Tali tugged on his sleeve. "We can find other people to get what we need. Let's not make a scene."

Lt. Alenko and Lt. T'au waited until the doors shut before pulling her aside. "Why you lettin' all them trample all ove' ya?" T'au said.

"I'm a Quarian. We don't get to have any rights in Council Space, compared to the other races. The Krogan get more respect than we do." None of the Turians were calling for C-sec or anything else yet. But she was definitely agitated. "Your race at least has a place. You know that at the end of the day, the other races will still trade with you, or protect you if you're threatened. Well, we don't have that. The only way to avoid the trouble is to just be honest, and stay out of the way."

"That doesn't lend them any good examples to stop doing what they are doing, though." Alenko added. "If you let them continue to think that mistreating you is alright, then of course they are going to keep doing it. You've got to stand up for yourself and your race and prove them wrong!" More responsibilities. More firsts. Well, as long as she didn't hack Avina like Daro'Xen did, she should be alright. But on the other hand, she didn't have to do this. She wasn't required to.

"You know what?" She said to the two of them. "I'll try it. Let's go back in there and get that food." She took a deep, shaky breath, and then started walking back to the Manae Courier Services store. *face

Ten minutes later, she, along with her two fellow officers, were all in the back of a C-sec van headed back to their headquarters. She was escorting her fellow Lieutenants, who were both restrained to the seats. Across from them was the Turian who had been working behind the counter, sporting a gigantic Human hand shaped mark across his face. He was also restrained, and the only one not in cuffs at the moment was Tali herself. Along with the C-sec agents.

"Thanks for calling this in, Lt….?"

"Tali'Zorah." She answered. "I was just doing my best service as a citizen."

Oh yes, no demerits on her records. Showing a level of cooperation with the local authorities would go a long way towards making Quarians look better in the eyes of the law, as well. She hummed a nice rhyme as she sat in the C-sec van, happy that she at least was making progress in becoming a more exemplary member of the Alliance.

* * *

Illium, Nos Astra Market District, June 2182

"Maybe we should get one of those Asari fast attack shuttles while we are here. I mean, it might work better than the old clunkers that we have to use." Julia was quickly regretting taking Jenkins on trips outside the Normandy. But he was also a Spectre candidate, and had appeared on the vids with her. Lt. Halmabad was still recovering, but had been able to be transferred to the  _Normandy_  for the duration of his recovery time. Ashley was down with so many anti-biotics and infections in her body that she wasn't even lucid enough to respond to questions anymore. The hospital on the Citadel was overflowing with acid burn victims. Keeping her on the  _Normandy_ at least guaranteed her some measure of comfort and safety. As well as secure from her mentioning anything she shouldn't in her lucid state.

She just turned to face Jenkins, making the man cringe. "That would be a poor decision. Think about how that would look, and more importantly think about how much publicity we would get by having one of those things." She pointed at the graceful wings of the craft. "We would be the only Alliance vessel with an Asari-made gunship. We would be identified the moment it was sighted."

Jenkins nodded. "Well, I see your point. What about one of those Turian Mantis gunships? Everyone in the Terminus has one of them, and it wouldn't look out of place if we wanted to have a deniable asset."

She was about to yell at him for it, but found his logic alright. "I won't spend our budget allotment on a gunship. Command will not be happy about that. But if we do acquire one on a mission, I'll reconsider your request."

"Awesome! Alright Commander, you've got yourself a deal. I'll capture a Mantis at next opportunity." That was not exactly what she wanted, but those gunships sold for a pretty penny. Some money for other costs might be good to have.

She wasn't wearing her catsuit today. It needed to go through a deep cleaning, with everything that had happened to it. It was going through a treatment cycle with Lt. Tali'Zorah. She trusted the Quarian to get the suit back up to 100% capability, just as her record showed she was capable of. When she first took a look at her chief engineer, she was very suspicious of the perfect scores, the perfect record.

So today she was dressed in the same outfit that Jenkins and all of the other marines dressed in while they were off duty. She didn't like it very much. Her hair was styled into a tight bun, and dyed black. A layer of makeup also added to her disguise, and her Omni-tool was keyed for one of her aliases. She was going to take precautions towards people seeing her in public. Even though she could still cloak, it was only for thirty seconds now, and the only way that she could charge her systems was long buildup of static electricity or grasping a power socket with her wrist.

"Jenkins, if you can steal a Mantis without getting the comm codes for it I'll pay you a thousand credits." Garrus offered. It was Garrus, now. She could trust him to not betray them, for now. "Perhaps we should set up a betting pool for who steals one first."

"Count me out." Julia told them. "I have the best chance."

Garrus smirked. "You want to bet money on that?"

Julia stopped walking. "Only if I get to add a stipulation. Only pistols can be used to capture it." No rifles, no problem. Both of them men grimaced.

"Fair point. Jenkins, you in?"

"Hell yeah!" The marine said, waving his fist in the air. "This is like all of my drinking money, though. Commander?"

She sighed. "I suppose I will steal all of your money." She wired the credits to a credit chit, and handed it to their one of the two accompanying team members. Desolous looked at the chits dropped into his hand, and then dropped his own into the pot.

"You expect to best this old man? Hah!" He handed the chits to the final member of the group. Tali'Zorah simply looked at all of them through her visor, and took a pose.

"A gunship would be quite the nice pilgrimage gift, you know." She said. "I'll hold the money, as I don't bet what little I have. But I'll try to steal the gunship ahead of all of you." The chits disappeared into one fold of her envirosuit that Julia would normally identify as a food intake valve.

"So long as you don't get members of the crew arrested this time, go ahead." Julia remarked. Tali looked a bit bashful at that. "Desolous, where is this contact? We're attracting too much attention as we are."

Desolous chuckled. "We're here." He pointed across the marketplace, where large skyscrapers lined the area. "Her office is inside those buildings."

"That area looks a little troublesome." Tali'Zorah said.

"It's just a few bars and some creepy cafe's, Lt." Jenkins said. "A little skin showing never hurts anyone."

"Unless Desolous is involved." Garrus said.

"I have a reputation for being a very strong lover, young Tarn. Don't confuse that for depravity." Desolous grinned, his mandibles wide on his face. "My contact is right in the middle of that district. So keep your eyes out for trouble. Mine certainly won't be." He chuckled.

The old Turian led them through the equivalent of a red light district, or at least Illium's version of it. Bars and worse crowded the streets, until they emerged into a smaller courtyard with a landing pad.

"We could have landed here if that's where we are going." Tali said. "Instead of walking past that disgusting mess."

"Naked female Turians are scary, Commander." Jenkins admitted.

"Agreed." Desolous said. "We walk because this route has less security and less people care. Parking right in front would be a mess. A word of warning, though. Raelya does not like any kind of prudishness. She lives here for a reason."

"Is that a building owned by Fornax?!" Jenkins said, surprised.

"That's Fornax's headquarters!" Garrus said, his visor probably feeding him information. "What did you do to get into here, Desolous?"

"I haven't been here before. She usually meets me elsewhere." Spectre Arterius actually looked uncomfortable. "She requested we meet with her here."

Julia grimaced. This was worse than going through Disney Corporation's dirty laundry. Their contact was inside of here. "Makes me wish i brought my normal party tricks."

The front lobby of the Fornax headquarters was… as bad as you might expect. There was an entire wall of live feeds. Some of them were what you might expect. Others were stock market indicators, galactic news, and so on. The receptionist desk had two Salarians manning it, probably as their race wasn't interested in jiggling shows. The two males saw them come in and gave them questioning looks.

"Yes, how can we assist you?" The left one asked, his haptic interface surprisingly not relating to pornography.

"We are here to meet with Raelya Dantius." Desolous answered clearly. "We have an appointment."

He tapped a few buttons. "Yes. Please leave your weapons in a collection bin and take the elevator to the correct level." She had her biotics, and Tali and Garrus were certainly dangerous when unarmed. Desolous was himself, and Jenkins was hopefully good enough to be able to fight anyone unarmed. Julia presented all of her weapons, not very worried. This was a business, not an armory.

Desolous didn't seem too surprised when the elevator arrived, another Salarian inside of it as a waiter or host of some sort. Or just another layer of security. He was a cheerful sort, trying to lure them into small talk. She avoided that, and kept herself between Jenkins and the Salarian. Desolous and Tali could talk to him.

"Floor 33, Krogan-Hanar stage and corporate offices!" The Salarian announced happily. Julia pretended to be unaffected by that statement. But her mind tried to consider how that was even possible. You couldn't just hear that and not consider how a jellyfish and a toad like species attempt that.

"Thank you…?" Jenkins said, also unsure of how to respond to the jubilant Salarian. The doors closed, the amphibian humming some sort of song as the elevator shot back down the inside of the building. "This place is insane…"

"I think i'll turn down the focus on my optic filters." Tali said. "For the Hanar's sake."

"You should worry more about the Hanar propositioning you." Garrus said. "It's technically safe, as it doesn't have any organisms that can live at your specific body temperature."

"Yours might, though." She returned. "Where are we going?" Desolous was leading them past the stages. They were thankfully empty and dark. She kept her eyes straight ahead and moved forwards. Her Omni-tool would alert her to motion or laser guided targeting on them. The stages gave way to large office spaces, some of them lit and others dark. The largest one was at the end, and had two secretary desks. Both were filled by Asari in complicated looking outfits.

Julia could probably pull it off herself, but she liked her anonymity. She didn't get many chances to dress up anymore, and she didn't mind that. She felt plenty feminine in her catsuit. Desolous spoke with the secretaries for a moment, before the three layers of circular doors opened like the petals of a flower. Very Asari, in this office. Everything was done in threes.

There was no desk in the office. Instead, there was comfortable furniture everywhere. She could see another two secretaries inside, both lounging near the edges of the room. They openly had large weapons on the couches next to them, however. Both of the Asari looked them over, glancing at each of them as if trying to find weapons. Both sets of eyes zeroed in on Garrus. Good, focus on the young Turian with the concealed pistol. Don't focus on Tali or Jenkins, or Desolous.

"Welcome to Fornax, Desolous." A melodious voice told them, as part of the windowed skyline twisted around, the cameras and projectors keeping an image of the skyline over a secure desk. Sitting at the desk was another Asari, this one showing signs of age. She was wearing a nice dress, if a little short. Her skin was better looking than most older Asari, and didn't seem mottled or darkened in patches. "Normally I would have met you elsewhere, but you brought such  _glorious_  companions."

A wave of biotics went over each of them, and the weight of the biotics made her barrier ruffle, the purplish aura making her body flare up. Everyone else didn't have a biotic barrier, and were all caught up in the wave. It barely moved them, and was barely noticed. But the Asari's eyes centered on her after the biotic wave. The barriers of her two bodyguards also flickered.

"What was that?" Tali asked. She looked a bit worried. Quarians, if Julia remembered correctly, did not trust biotics and liked them and their effects less than Turians did.

"My way of saying hello." The old Asari said. "Raelya Dantius, Owner and CEO of Fornax. My grandmother passed the company down, and you  _Humans_  make such fantastic sources of inspiration." The old Asari's eyes never left Julia. "The Shadow Broker mentioned that you were looking for a certain Asari. An Eclipse sister."

"That's right." Desolous said, trying to get her attention. "Neilana T'y'tella. She bought turrets from Batarians, turrets used by the Rachni in Eden Prime. We need to find her."

"The Shadow Broker would be happy to provide that information. For the price of two million Citadel credits." Vakarian and Arterius hesitated. That was a lot. Barla Von wasn't that expensive.

"Done." Julia said. "So long as the info is good."

Vakarian and Arterius gaped. Of course they thought she was poor. She didn't flaunt her wealth. But she had the only Quarian-Human interest bank in Council Space. The wealth of an entire race passed through her hands. Managed by others, for the most part. But she had millions of credits to blow. Never without reason. Quarians never took loans unless they were being matched by the bank. Humans took loans frequently. Other banks wished they had that kind of trusted lines of credit.

"It is. The Shadow Broker is aware of your intentions to find the location of the Rachni. For the promise that he is the first informed, he shall assist you as best as possible." Raelya offered. She stood up, swaying over to them. Jenkins seemed overly defensive, but a hand on his elbow kept him from making any sudden moves. "We have her current location, for you. As well as a small virus that has gotten into her navigation systems that we can activate for an additional fee."

Julia closed her eyes for a moment to consider. "We will have a line of credit open to activate the virus if we need it. But we will pay the credits. Current position, financial history, extranet browsing history, comm channel digests, transcripts, anything. Whatever I can get."

Raelya looked her up and down. It felt worse than any of the businessmen who had ogled her in the past. "You'll have it. Though my Human advisors tell me that the female Spectre candidate had red hair. Apparently a very rare gene that occurs, considered very desirable."

"My personal details are not the subject of today's meeting. If you want a redhead, go find a wig or a bottle of hair dye." She stated. "Info, then payment." She didn't like Asari. They wanted to touch her, feel her biotics, and just in general grope her with them.

"Business, and then pleasure?" The Asari still wasn't paying attention to anyone else. She held up her hand, and her Omni-tool appeared. It was blue, and shapely contoured around her arm in a way that the universal Salarian models or robust Human and Turian ones never could. Data flows started being sent to all of their Omni-tools, the signal strong. The data was clear, but her decryption software was detecting levels of encryption on the data that would destroy it if money was not forwarded in the next four minutes.

Awkwardly, everyone's eyes dropped to Omni-tool screens to look at the data. Julia looked over details on the location that this Asari was hiding. It was a base on a planetoid in the system, called Teukria. There were a large amount of iron and nickel mines on the small planetoid, and all of their security was done by Eclipse. As a result, Eclipse owned a large chunk of the planetoid' undeveloped region, where it had a large airbase. Neilana had been sighted there, and her Batarian junker was parked in one of their hangars. As were three frigates and a cruiser.

Financial and Comm data seemed legitimate. She didn't have enough time to verify that. Browsing history seemed to be mostly pornography. Batarian, Human, and Asari combinations. She saw some other details, but that would have to wait. She didn't like throwing money around, but this seemed trustworthy. A couple of taps and a vocal statement was enough to transfer the money, as well as a call from her financial manager to verify that it was really her. The encryption on the data released, and people awkwardly looked down at their wrists again. Desolous tried to talk to Raelya, but she only answered in small questions. Her focus remained on Julia.

Julia did not return any of her subtle touches on her barrier. Especially when the Asari was rubbing along her lower back. Her barrier lit up from that, the subtle caress making her tighten up her barrier enough that her light biotic touches were making the barrier glow. "Miss Dantius." Julia finally said, distracted from her checking of financial data. "We thank you for this transaction."

"So formal. The Shadow Broker also thanks you for your willingness to come to my place of business. If you ever have need for any kind of favor, please return. Already our data feeds have requested look alikes and stand ins for Humanity's first female Spectre candidate. I would imagine that they would pay millions for the actual sentient on screen."

"No, Thank you." Julia declined, shuddering. "I don't think I would be interested."

"I would wager fifty million credits that your interest could be piqued. Triple that if you became a Spectre." She grinned. "Spectres are always so desperate for funding, aren't they Desolous?" She finally paid the old Turian some attention.

"I paid everything back. With interest." He responded carefully.

"But the Shadow Broker doesn't forget. Neither do I. Nor will my three daughters when I pass this company on to one of them. Spectres, all of them, always look for alternate means of income. I am simply making my offer to this delicious morsel." Julia felt the finger-like biotic touches return to her barrier. "You'll think about it. If you choose to come back, we will both be that much richer."

Illium was not a place she wanted to make any kind of business agreements. Especially when she was being publicly groped during the 'interview'. "I will let you know if we need the navigation virus. Again, we thank you for this transaction."

Raelya had a smooth smile as her barrier glowed along the outside of her thigh. "You'll be back. You'll need my help at some point."

"I certainly hope not." Julia said. "Goodbye, Miss Dantius." Julia then retreated as fast as Humanly possible with Jenkins and Tali right behind her. Garrus and Desolous followed more stiffly. The walk back was filled with awkward silences, and no one wanted to look at each other. Or the now full stages of Hanar and Krogan. Along with more Krogan. They tried to filter what was going on as they boarded the elevator, the same jaunty Salarian from before wildly grinning as they boarded.

"You all look like you need a drink from our complimentary bar on the tenth level." He remarked. "Would that be agreeable?"

"No, spirits. No." Garrus said. No one wanted to know what the bar would be featuring. Or at least Julia wouldn't be. "Just take us to the lobby, please." Julia wanted to cloak so very badly. The awkward feelings rolling off of her allies made her feel the same way, and as soon as they emerged onto the back walkways, she cloaked and found a safe awning to climb on top of.

"Just head back to the ship, people. Desolous, air car. Vakarian, cameras. Tali, work on any kind of bugs that were left in that data."

"There are a lot of them, Commander. It'll take some time." She replied. The girl was already prepared and working on that. Commendable. Now she just had to find out if the girl was any good when the shots were flying all over the place.

"Good. Jenkins, look through your data and find out if this place has any gunships. Force numbers, armaments, anything that might help us."

"You got it Ma'am." He said, seemingly happy to focus on something else. "Permission to speak freely?"

"So long as you aren't recommending I do whatever she is asking."

"I've never really seen much about Asari. Other than you know, the bar girls. Did she just try to have sex with you?"

"Oh yes." Desolous said. "If the Commander had her barriers down for any of that, Raelya would have been in her mind. She's taken an especial liking to you, Commander. You better keep your guard up."

"Fifty million credits for a Human?" Garrus said. "What is this place coming to?" he said as if the galactic credit was losing value.

"I'd buy it." Desolous said. Tali's eyes widened as they focused on the old Turian.

"Alright, stow the chatter!" Her command made all of them quiet down.

Suffice to say, the walk back to the shuttle was long and dull. Completely silent. The awkward silence extended to the shuttle ride itself, and Julia gave the crew four hours to prepare for the strike on Teukria. They had to act on this soon. It would take a few hours to napproach the small planetoid. Then the  _Normandy_  would have to get into position. This time, on this airless rock, they could actually use the frigate as backup. She could finally employ Naval tactics instead of just commando techniques.

 


	48. Lucid: Big Red Button

Chapter 48

Teukria, Tasale System, June 2182

Julia had the  _Normandy_  following their cheap rental of a shuttle in full cloak. Desolous and Jenkins would be in charge there, Desolous simply because he was a veteran of decades of Naval warfare, while Jenkins could make situational calls when necessary. Pressley would also be there to help him make those decisions. But she was in the shuttle with the most rag tag team she had ever come up with.

A visit to the markets of Nos Astra had netted her three sets of Eclipse armor and gear. All of it was sized for Asari, of course. So she had every female on the ship rated for that armor suited up and ready to go. Along with them she had Kaidan and Garrus, who were both in unmarked armor with standard weapons. Garrus had a small bag full of credit chits, and Kaidan had some Asari delicacies. They would be in charge of bribing the guards. As well as whatever officer they ran into.

The cheap shuttle had actual clearance to deliver goods to Teukria, some food supplies. With that and the shuttle's occupants, there was hardly any room to sit. Ashley had been given her own seat, as she was still recovering from some of the antibiotics she had taken. Dr. Chakwas had not wanted to release her, but Julia was positive that Ashley could handle things. She needed someone solid in the fire team and Rahna was not a great officer. She was a political officer, specializing in logistics inspection. Her biotics and her being the only other person rated for Asari armor made her the squad's third member. She needed Williams to hold this squad together if Julia decided to cloak and disappear.

Garrus was wearing his unmarked armor and would have Kaiden with him, whose armor didn't have Alliance markings. She was thankful those didn't take long to remove. Rahna and Ashley were just trying to get used to Asari armor, which was catered to the female form much better than any Alliance armor ever did. It also meant that it catered to the natural heat dispersal methods Asari used to get rid of excess heat. Their head tentacles were lined with sensitive pores, meant to release heat from their body in a way that Humans normally used sweating for. Asari didn't sweat from their skin, they had evolved without that trait. Instead they pushed heat out of their lower back and head tentacles.

So the helmets had fans built into the back of the head that controlled the temperature there. It also had the bad habit of catching any loose hairs and getting them jammed up in there. So all of them were wearing balaclavas over their heads to keep their hair from getting stuck in the fans. The standard bun wouldn't hold under that kind of stress.

" _Shuttle Elkoss-Streass, please send identification and cargo manifest._ " The base, codenamed Archer, had finally seen them on their sensors. The challenge had come in basic Asari, and Julia cleared her throat to reply. The base had some Asari name that corresponded to a compound bow, but was hard to pronounce. So she labeled it Archer base.

" _This is Shuttle Elkoss-Streass, identification and cargo manifest coming now."_  She said in clear Asari, with that lilt of being from their core worlds rather than the rural colonies. It was expected that anyone who spoke that way had better education and bearing. She sent the files forward, all of them provided by an Eclipse vendor who didn't care about how their food was shipped, so long as it made it to the base. Mercenaries didn't like milk runs, she supposed.

" _You are going to land in the block Arae hangar. Come in slow from above. If you deviate from the given route you will be fired upon."_  The voice replied, still being polite.

" _Understood._ " She replied. After that, she keyed in the route into the shuttle's navigation systems and leaned back in the chair.

"You speak Asari very well, Commander!" Rahna said. It was clear that she was impressed. Kaiden nodded his assent as well.

"I learned how to speak Turian, Asari, and Batarian from many sources. The original translation software for Turian to Human languages was developed by someone I knew in my childhood, and he tutored me on that one. The others came through training." She left out her knowledge of Volus trade language and Salarian. She couldn't speak their language, but she learned certain keywords just in case she needed to understand them. Or at least understand if they meant to kill you.

"So you'll know if Desolous is flirting or just being depreciative?" Garrus piped up.

" _With certainty borne of justice._ " She said in Turian back to Garrus. He was chuckling at her pronunciation, she was sure. Human females simply couldn't hit all of the undertones as well as males could.

" _Mercenaries don't know justice._ " Kaiden said, his Asari very forced. He had definitely been tutored on it. But it was a skill that hadn't been in the reports.

"Are you fluent enough to flirt with them?" She asked bluntly. Asari appreciated that kind of thing.

" _As well as the stars and moons shower me with their light and advice, so do I speak of harmonious connections between souls._ " Kaiden said carefully. "Not well enough to have a normal conversation and slip it into it."

"That line came right out of speaking Asari for dummies, I think." Kaiden had the decency to look away. "Considering that line was the cheesiest thing I've ever heard in Asari, let's not have you flirt with them. Don't want to have Humanity's best face of the Alliance be a terrible flirt, now." She gave Kaiden a small smile. "Let Garrus flirt with the Asari. He learned everything Desolous knows, apparently."

Garrus made a sound that was between a trill and a hiss. "I do not share his obsession with blue skin and squishy bits!"

Rahna and Ashley just started laughing at that. She didn't check to see what Garrus was expressing, choosing more to focus on Kaiden. He was a political officer. Could he handle full combat? His face was skewed up, snorting a bit as he laughed at Garrus' expense. His armor was the best that he could field in, and his guns were decent. But his biotics, those they needed so very desperately.

"Why didn't we bring the old fart, anyways?" Ashley asked.

"He's with Jenkins, who has the backup team."

"You trust Lt. Jenkins with the rest of the Titans?" Ashley scoffed. "That kid-"

"Lt. Jenkins has more combat time than anyone on our ship barring the Spectres. He also has the good luck and sense to always bring back every member of his teams, and never has taken an injury that incapacitated him. He always knows where he is supposed to be, and he performs all of his duties without fault." She interrupted. Jenkins was the only other Spectre candidate here. She had to make sure that he was looked up to, even though Ashley outranked him. "His mouth might run, but that  _boy_ ," She emphasized, "Could be Humanity's next Spectre. We will support him as best we can, because where we are going we will need that kind of luck."

Ashley nodded slowly. "So what kind of backup are we getting?"

"This little ice ball often has crap sucked into its orbit. Jenkins and the Titans are coating four of the Javelin torpedoes with ice, and then using their biotics to launch them if necessary to give us distractions and cover. Not to mention that the Eclipse have four capital ships at dock. One torpedo for each. With ice over them, they won't be detected as anything other space junk. Hopefully they do enough damage to cripple or ruin their defenses.

"Infiltration teams, we are going to go into the base, and capture the asset. We will disarm her and try to steal her ship. It will have information we need. That is optional, as the ship technically belongs to the Eclipse group. They won't like that. Vakarian and Alenko will be on bribe duty. Get the Asari to believe that you are just going after this one war criminal, and no one else. Then see if you can get her ship."

"What about the Normandy?" Ashley said. "Those defense guns will tear her apart."

The base had large guns, but Julia wasn't worried about that. "The Normandy will do what it was designed to do, if necessary. Let's hope that doesn't happen." She very much wanted this mission to go off without any trouble. "We are on approach now. Make sure that anyone who tries to talk to you talks to me instead. Lt. Alenko, you and Vakarian just keep their attention."

Everyone nodded, as the shuttle followed the set course down onto the gray little marble of a mesoplanet. The base was cramped on the surface, with all of the buildings made from cheap Volus products. They were all covered in the dust from the local barely-there atmosphere. The walls were dark grey metal, and the dust was brown and black on its surface. Small pits had been dug into the hangar bay doors, and one corner of the hanger they were being directed to was dented, as if a ship had missed an approach and landed wrong. Scrape marks were on one of the other hangar doors, with some polymer paste filling in the edges. It looks like they were too cheap here to pay for Omni-gel components or new paintjobs. Only one hangar looked in good condition, and looked newer than the rest. It's paint hadn't been stripped off yet, either. The blatant Eclipse symbols were on each set of doors. Some were more worn than others.

"That cheap exterior won't be able to take anything serious." Ashley said, looking at it.

Garrus took a more appraising look. "But for all that they have those buildings close together, all of their corners look relatively thicker than they should. It might be just a facade to cover up actual armor." The hangar in front of them opened up barely wide enough for their shuttle to come through, and then slammed shut behind them. The bay had maybe ten people in it, all of them dressed in overalls and with breathers on. They were a necessity in a place like this. Two others sat in Eclipse armor in the back, overseeing them landing.

Most of the people in here were Salarians, as well as a couple Asari. The ones in Eclipse armor were both Asari, who waited only until the landing gear had magnetized and the engines had stopped venting before walking over to the shuttle. Garrus and Kaiden put their helmets on, and keyed the doors to the storage bay of the shuttle.

"Welcome to Teukria, Turian." One of the Asari said. "I am Captain Nilea."

"My name is Livinus Peorius." Garrus said. "I'm here for more than just a food delivery." He drew his shoulders back, standing to his full height. "I need to know if you have the authority to make a deal."

Her helmet concealed her features. "I'll give you two minutes to explain yourself, and then I'll decide if we are just going to space you or not."

Garrus nodded. "The Shadow Broker has been given a job. Someone wants one of your Eclipse Sisters very badly. Big politicians willing to throw away money in large quantities. The Shadow Broker has tracked her to this base, and knows that she was involved in the attack on Eden Prime recently." Garrus flashed a number of credits on his Omni-tool to the mercenary. "That's your cut if we can take her off your hands."

She leaned back, taking a long moment to think. "What's her name?"

Garrus shook his head. "Not one of your leaders. Small time member, been in your group for less than a decade. But I won't be giving further information until we can bargain."

"I'm just trying to figure out why that much money is for one sister." Nilea said. "No one throws around that kind of price for a nobody."

"Her shipment of guns and defensive turrets were used by the Rachni. There were no signs of foul play on the guns, and the Rachni killed hundreds of thousands of Humans so far. If your mercenary company is associated with that kind of genocidal crime, then the Citadel might start caring."

"Show me any proof you've got and I'll give you directions to her." Nilea said. "We might enjoy red sand here and there, but we don't want to be associated with those bugs." Some Eclipse Sisters had a sense of honor. Only some, though. Garrus showed her the logs with the serial numbers of the turrets and the information from the Batarian's servers. She didn't find that to be enough, however. "I don't like this one bit. I'll need to verify the information."

"We are on a time sensitive job here, Captain. We aren't going to wait a few hours for you to bring this information to your experts. Even if they're on station, you'll be looking over information that doesn't belong to me." Garrus said softly. "I don't often offer a bribe, Captain. Take it or we will leave, and wait for her to go to another Eclipse location or public area. Then no one gets paid but me."

"Fine. Half now, half when I can confirm you took the right Asari." Linea finally said. "But any funny business, and the Shadow Broker will have to collect some other way. I'll be watching you closely."

Garrus nodded, seemingly calm. Then he waved his hands forward. "My team will take it from here. Give them directions and make sure that they aren't unexpected." Julia and her two 'Asari' came forward, and she could feel Linea's displeasure. Mercenaries didn't like it when people openly wore their armor.

" _Did you kill some of my sisters for those?_ " She spat in Asari.

" _Not all Eclipse serve the same Goddess._ " She quirked back at her. " _The Shadow Broker preferred that no Outsider would lay a hand on our property. I and my sisters offered to come and collect the blood traitor ourselves. For a price, of course._ " The years and years of time spent with her father learning languages and getting tutored in Asari came back and it all rolled out of her mouth in a complete rush. But it all sounded natural enough that Linea calmed down some.

" _Collect her then. But do not speak to your elders so again, or you shall risk more than your life._ " Captain Linea then turned to her cohort, and withdrew a small ID chip. This she gave to Julia and nodded. "That should allow you into all of the public areas. Sister Neilana is with her freighter in Hangar  _Arraiae_."

Julia just nodded, and started walking towards the nearby security doors, swaying her hips as she went. Asari walked with pride in themselves. Human women in the military often matched the gait and step of their male counterparts. Rahna grasped it well enough, but Ashley hadn't figured it out at first. With only an hour she had to break Ashley's habits and make sure that they all looked and walked like Asari.

They made it outside of the hangar, and Julia saw Rahna and Ashley both loosen up. " _Thank God you know how to speak that, Commander._ " Ashley said over their private channel. " _VI could barely keep up with you._ "

"Keep walking." She chided. "We aren't through this yet." The nearly non existent atmosphere around the base was the best excuse they had. Their helmets were on and the Asari didn't suspect them. Though Julia felt some of them get a couple of looks. Probably just being checked out by the Asari for flirtation. Hopefully not suspicion. But the five minutes it took to walk to the far hangar bay were tense. Every single worker and every single fully armored Sister were a potential threat. Julia scanned each of them, her eyes making sure that each one had their weapons holstered and their focus on them lingered only as long as was necessary.

The hangar that they finally arrived in was halfway full of ships and people. Four freighters were in an area meant for six, and there was a slot for a cruiser on the far side that was filled by a frigate. The engine housing on it was exposed, and the capital ship was covered by Salarians and drones. It wasn't going to be effective at all in combat. That thought made her grin. There were mostly Salarian ships and parts around, but in the back there was a Batarian junker.

Only two people were next to it. Both Asari, and both of them were working on some parts for the old junker. It looked like some of the fuel intake overflow. In her time at the Academy to spy on certain potential threats to the Alliance, she learned all about the parts that went into ships.

Both of the Asari were out of armor, but had pistols at their sides. Their breathers were on their necks and ready to be used if atmospheric pressure was lost. She could see their faces, but neither of them looked like Neilana. Their skin coloration was too light for it to be their target. They were both a pale blue that didn't match the near purple of Neilana.

"I'm going in. Prepare the gurney." Julia said. She stepped behind a small crate, and made sure that she was in a camera blind spot. Then, she slowly faded from sight. The Eclipse armor took longer for her tactical cloak to cover it, and it was inefficient. It wouldn't last long. She stepped quickly, coming up to the old junker. The door was closed, and no matter how they approached it, it would be noticed if they opened it.

It was locked, but a small burst from her Omni-tool opened the door. The Shadow Broker's information was good, and included her passwords. The door opened, and Julia stepped inside quickly, already halfway abandoning stealth. She had no idea what was inside of here. She came into the airlock, the other door still closed. Grimacing, she sent the password forward to override the normal airlock processes and just open the door. The sensors could detect that there was a safe atmosphere around them, and that was enough to spoof them into releasing the inner locks.

She started running, the lights flashing as the thick inner door opened. She stepped inside the main deck, finding the entire thing to be slightly tilted and the hull plates torn up. Exposed wiring was everywhere, and some of the deck plates looked rusted over. The aft section of the craft looked like a cargo bay, while the front section had beds and a small living area. The cockpit was mounted at the front end, the pilot's seat in the same space. Rising from one of the beds, she could see an Asari with purple hued skin standing up groggily.

"Wha?" Was all she got out before Julia was on her, a needle going into the side of her neck. The plunger attached to it worked automatically. Neilana ripped the needle off of her neck, but it was too late. She blinked, trying to resolve her perspective as the Krogan tranquilizer kicked in. She dropped slowly to the floor, her biotics flaring and blinking her eyes as she lost all coordination. Julia stayed cloaked, watching as she tried to see her and was blinking her eyes as fast as she could to keep from falling asleep. Julia watched as the Asari just fell to the floor, her body going slack. She sighed as she let out a breath, and then keyed up her comms.

"Let's go." She called across the team's comms. "She's down." Julia checked over the rest of the ship, looking for anything that was out or dangerous. Omni-tools and a small stash of drugs and personal items were dumped into a rucksack and would be studied later. Julia could hear the clomping of feet that signalled Ashley and Rahna coming in. "Get the gurney, and let's go."

Julia stepped over to the cockpit, and reached underneath the exposed wiring to dig around in the ship's working parts. She didn't use any kind of subtlety or care as she found the black box for the craft and ripped it out. She nodded to herself, thinking it to be done. But she also noticed that this piece didn't have any main power connections filled. She had just ripped it out, and none of the main ports for power were even attached.

She took a closer look, sticking her head inside the wiring. Sure enough, there was no power input for the black box. Power did run through this section, and the lack of any kind of regulation on Batarian wiring systems did not help in this matter. She pushed wires and junk out of the way, seeing that the main power conduit didn't even run in this section. But the main power line should be here.

She pulled up a couple of deck plates, and found another entire mess of wires directly under the pilot's seat. That wasn't safe in the slightest. But here was main power. As well as another navigation system independent of the one that was connected to the main terminal. She grinned, tearing out the storage OSD for it and a surprising second black box installed there. While she did that, Ashley and Rahna had secured Neilana. The Asari was still somehow awake, eyes rolling around and her biotics flaring fitfully as she lay there limply.

" _Secured_." Ashley said, adjusting the breather mask on Neilana. " _What did you hit her with?_ "

"Krogan sleep aid." Julia replied, stuffing the black boxes and OSDs she could find lying around into her pockets. She did like that about the Eclipse armor. It was supportive in nice ways that Alliance armor was not. It also had bigger pockets and storage compartments. "Let's walk." Ashley and Rahna took up positions on either side of the gurney, which had its own element zero device to keep it level.

When they stepped back outside, there were a few of the dock workers staring as they carted the near comatose Asari with them. Julia was pretty sure that she wasn't going to have any brain damage. Asari were more resistant to that then most. No one stopped to question them as they pushed their way through the hangar. It was only when they reached the doors leading out to the corridor when they ran into trouble.

" _What are you doing?_ " The guard asked, a single Asari in full armor with her helmet off. She was looking down at Neilana with scrutiny. As anyone would if someone was being taken by gurney somewhere. Neilana was still partially awake, her biotics making smaller and smaller fits.

" _Medical assistance. She has collapsed and we are assisting her._ "

The Asari reached down to check Neilana's pulse and body temperature, and Julia did not flinch or react as she did so. It would show their intentions. The guard was taking her temperature and pulse using her Omni-tool, when Julia noticed her eyes go black. They were only that way for a second, and then the Guard returned to normal. She stepped back, seemingly satisfied with her checkup.

" _You must think you are quite clever, you know_." She said with her clanless accent. " _Everyone really wanted to see what she was really into. Your actions will ruin her._ "

" _She is in need of medical attention._ " Julia simply replied.

" _Cowards._ " The guard said, raising her voice and slamming the door controls to seal the entrance. " _Rapists! Neilana hasn't been with anyone yet, you selfish cowards!_ " Ashley's fist impacted the guard's chin, sending her back. Ashley's follow up shoulder check slammed the back of the guard's head into the wall hard enough to make her black out, her tentacles crumpled from where they hit.

All of the nearby dock workers saw that. Some of them were already on their Omni-tools, scowling at them. Julia quickly hit the door button, the doors unsealing and allowing her to walk through. Rahna and Ashley followed. "That was a good uppercut, there." She said. "Where did you pick that up?"

" _Boarding School and military academy. I had a lot of people trying to see if I was as good as they thought I was._ " Ashley said. " _But Asari have a fragile part of their head. It's why their helmets are so thick in back._ "

Julia nodded. "I don't think we are going to be exiting the base so easily now. Rapists are looked down upon in Asari society."

" _Then we will show them how biotics are supposed to be used._ " Rahna said, her thicker accented English coming through. " _I'm almost as fast as any of their professionals now. I can counter anything they throw at us._ "

"Let's hope that Alenko and Vakarian are doing alright." Julia said, walking forward and seeing that a much larger than normal guard contingent was gathered at the other end of the access hallway between the hangar and the main building. At least four Asari were waiting for them, fingering their weapons. "Looks like this party is going to get started." She reached down to press a key on the side of her Omni-tool.

* * *

Jenkins stared down the massive Andrew T'au from across the crate. He gave him the smuggest grin he could, not worried at all that the biotic polynesian could snap him like a twig. The big guy had the biggest tell on the ship, though. Jenkins had a pair of sevens, but he was positive that T'au didn't have much better. He always shifted in his seat when he was worried. The pile of nutrient bar wrappers next to him told another story regarding their poker game. T'au had not performed too well so far, while Jenkins had his standard hit and miss strategies.

Betting with Desolous at the table was hard. The old Turian didn't lose his hands very often, and he had a steely glare that could make Tali squeal. She wasn't even playing, too, which made it even more entertaining. The hands where the old Turian didn't come in were funner, though.

"You gonna call it or what?" He challenged.

"Don't rush me. I'm doing the math." T'au said.

Jenkins was good at math. Better at counting cards and counting shots left in a gun's heat index, but that wasn't  _real_  math. His Mom taught him that real math has meaning. Counting cards and cheating doesn't help you validate anything, or calculate how much you'll need for budgeting and banking. T'au was a biotic, but he was a big goofy kind of guy. Physically strong, and jovial most of the time. But man was he gonna be pissed if he lost this.

Then the lights in the hangar switched to red, and an alert went out. "Damn it!" He groused. "Helmets up people, we are venting the space!" The engineers were all Quarian, and just kept doing what they were doing. But all of the Humans slipped on helmets, as well as Desolous. The poker cards were folded up together, and Andrew whistled as he put everything back into its small compartment. The crate was secured on the floor already, so that didn't need any adjustment.

" _Venting the hangar in a few seconds! Check seals!_ " Even the Quarians responded to Tali's order. " _Venting!_ " She yelled. The air in the space got sucked out, and the temperature dropped to that of the little space ball they were on. He shivered. Mom always hated being cold, and he definitely inherited that. " _Releasing gravity onboard! Activate magnetic boot clamps!_ " Jenkins tapped his heels, and felt the ground hug the bottom of his feet.

Atmospheric pressure was gone, and now it was just the MAKO, the combat team, and a couple engineers in the hold with them. Along with four long curving torpedoes, all sitting in a nice little secured row for them to use. Desolous was off to the side, observing.

"Alright Titans!" They all grinned. "No one's defending and we've got to make this shot count. Scuttlebutt around the ship says that these puppies will arm themselves as soon as they leave the bay. That means we can't catch them or fix their course. They won't be carrying fuel and they won't be using their guidance systems." he looked at his Omni-tool. "Commander has ordered these torpedoes to go and make some hell."

" _Gotta ice 'em first._ " Lt. T'au said. " _Singularity_!" He and the other four Titans started glowing, and four Singularities were attached to the torpedoes. Then, without atmospheric pressure, everything in the bay was pulled towards it. Engineers and crew poured out water containers, the tiny little balls of water still warm enough to hold their shape for a moment. Then, they were all sucked to the icy cold torpedoes, and ice started forming on the outside of them. A couple of the Titans got creative, making their torpedo on the end oblong and not as curving. Icing the torpedoes took nearly a minute. "Lt. Zorah, are these still registering as torpedoes?" He asked.

" _Sensors say maybe. But that's probably because they saw them a minute ago. I'm going to assume we can't afford to take another minute for this. Commander called this in and we need to get in there._ " Tali was over by the hangar bay doors. " _Check magnetic connections! Opening the hatch!_ "

Without any atmosphere, people could only be heard via comms. But when he saw how close they were to the ground, it was another thing entirely. The Normandy must have been dozens of meters above the ground here, across a crater from the base they were aiming at. The base was maybe two or three klicks away. The gravity was already accounted for, and he could see the amount of joules and the angle necessary for each missile accounted for on the small screen off to one side.

It was pretty cool to watch professional athletes playing sports. It was even cooler seeing all of them accurately measure their biotic abilities down to the exact amount of energy necessary. Every single one of them had their biotics glowing at different strengths. Jenkins gave a nod to Lt. T'au, and smiled.

" _Ee-Ay!_ " Andrew used a Throw. It went off at the exact angle that the computer was telling them to fire at. Each torpedo had a different trajectory exactly, but each had to fly at the same angle. Each of the other Titans took the same stance, and used a Throw of their own. The torpedoes gracefully left the hangar bay, long chunks of ice that gradually floated their way through the tiny amount of atmosphere and gravity.

"Ah, man. My job is so fulfilling." Jenkins said happily.

Desolous handed him a sniper rifle scope. " _It gets better. I hear this base has a cruiser docked here. if it follows what Eclipse normally mount them with, they might have given it two gunships instead of fighter craft._ " The Old man held up the heaviest rocket launcher he could find. " _We should make sure that the standing bet isn't fulfilled today. It would be… unsportsmanlike to deny us the chance to win the bet when we are confined to the ship._ "

" _I think we can spare some of the ship's sensor suite to allow that._ " Tali said from her perch at the engineering bay. " _Of course, if the Commander asks, we were just making sure that she wasn't going to get shot down when she left._ " Jenkins chuckled.

"I love my damn job." He said right as the close horizon bloomed with explosions.

* * *

Garrus sat at the shuttle while the dock workers unloaded the food that had filled up the shuttle. They were still fulfilling the shipment order, as they needed some form of legitimacy. This shuttle was still headed back to Nos Astra, where they needed to pick up their crappy Alliance one, and then sneak back to the  _Normandy_  to finally eat something and sleep. Right now he was just sitting at attention, with Captain Nilea staring at him, and her second staring at Kaiden. Kaiden held her officer's attention for far different reasons, as her body stance showed. Garrus remained stoic, patiently waiting for Julia to come back.

But after ten minutes, things were looking tense. Nilea hadn't said anything, and Garrus remained at ease even after the Salarian dock workers had unloaded all of the foodstuff and supplies. They left the small hangar bay, to be replaced by four more Eclipse, all of whom had large rifles and looked to be heavily armed. Three of them were Salarians, and then an Asari came with them. Garrus didn't like that at all. Something had gone wrong, and Captain Nilea was looking less and less patient.

His helmet got a notification from the  _Normandy_  with a timer. It looked like Julia's plans weren't going so well. He sighed. At least this time she was wearing some form of actual armor. That stealth suit that she normally ran around in was barely two centimeters of width at its smallest point. His sensors had shown him the most likely places that he could score a hit with his rifles and piercing ammo. His armor was much thicker than that. Turian armor had to be, and had motorized and insulated joints.

"We might have a problem, Livinus." Linea said. "Your hired agents are making quite the scene. Enough of one that I cannot simply sweep it under the rug. Leave Eclipse to Eclipse business, and get back into your shuttle."

Livinus had been an alias created for him by Desolous. Nothing special about him and nothing to stand out in a crowd. A carefully created identity that rarely left the Citadel. It was simply the best one he had for being in this system. As he was wearing clan paint, he couldn't be from the Terminus. All of their clan paints were made with a different amount of lead and oil. Turian facial paints were oil based, but the ones in the Terminus had been specifically tailored to be different from the Hierarchy's. It took a lot of layers of application to get the paint to the right vibrance. Which made any Human hands touching his face an extreme pain. Their oily covered skin disrupted his careful paint lines in ways that Asari never could. Perhaps a Salarian could mess it up better, but only if they had drank more than their required amount of water.

"I trust that the agreement we came to can be modified in this case." He replied. Still totally calm. A small timer appeared in the corner of his visor, at which he grinned. "What would it take to make this move smoothly?"

Captain Linea nodded. "Double up. If your payment is confirmed, I'll get a notification. Let me see if I can go fix this situation." She sauntered off, hips swinging as she left the room. She left her officer and the other four Eclipse in armor standing there guarding them. Garrus sat at the edge of the shuttle, glancing towards the interior wall of the shuttle, where his rifle sat. He was a pretty fast draw, but Salarians could pull weapons faster than he could. Especially Salarians with tech damping software on their Omni-tools. The Eclipse Salarians were well known to be able to do that. Enough Overloads and even his Spectre tech would be unable to work.

He was more worried about the Asari. Their biotics could ruin his day. Their armor gave nothing away, and was relatively decent. They wouldn't go down easy. He waited for the timer to run all the way down, and then braced himself as best he could while appearing at ease.

This hangar wasn't hit, but the one next to it was, debris and space junk spraying through the hallway. A dock worker went flying by in the explosion, and the guards inside the room with them flinched. Garrus had his rifle up, and let loose on the Salarians in front. Their kinetic barriers were quite strong, though, and all of them had reacted quickly enough to get their tech armor deployed and grab their own weapons.

The Asari were slower, and they paid for it. Their officer caught Kaiden's throw on her chin, and her body was thrown into two of the Salarians, with enough power to take both of them off their feet and into the back wall. The other Asari in the room got a Throw off, but Alenko did a twist and jumped over the ability, and then angled his gun on the Eclipse sister, shots spraying all over her barrier. Not the most accurate with a gun, but his biotics were decent.

The standing Salarian threw a tech grenade at them, giving Garrus a choice or rolling forward or rolling to the side. Side stepping and side rolling were extremely difficult when in heavy armor for Turians. Their hips just did not operate that way. The grenade went off behind him, splashing the shuttle with chunks of liquid hot metal. His barriers showed a very small drain on them, and the Salarian had only a moment before Garrus' leg caught him in the thinly armored hip.

His rifle barked, going through the armor and into the Salarian's spine. He fired another burst just to be sure that the poor bastard was dead. No one deserved to be unable to move their legs. Or just unable to move period. Some days he thought that perhaps Desolous deserved something more than to just get away with whatever he wanted. He hardly glanced at the Salarian before turning towards the pile of bodies along the wall.

They weren't even standing back up yet, when he gave off a nice burst into their piled up forms. It was a thing of beauty, to see that kind of lineup. He would have to thank Kaiden later. He kept his heat meter in the yellow, his visor telling him that he could safely fire a good 14 shots before overheating. Not enough to kill all three of them. But it was enough to kill one of them. He just aimed at the one on top and let it rip, stopping just before his rifle was going to overheat. Two shots left before it would overheat, and he let off, the Asari on top of the two Salarians underneath the now dead women squirming as the tried to get up.

He sprinted over to them, his heavily booted foot kicking one of them in the face, sending the small guy rolling. The other opened up on him, his submachine gun barking out bursts at him at a range where they could not miss. Garrus felt his mandibles hum as he chuckled, seeing his shield barely dropping at each burst. He let his rifle rest a moment, and used a pistol to end their lives. He could count less than five seconds to verify that all three of these Eclipse were dead.

The one whose spine he shot earlier he saw crawling his way towards the wall, where a comm unit was. That attempt failed, the poor bastard's life ending as Garrus focus on the helmet this time. Another once over, and he was sure that everyone else was down for good. His rifle sweeped for cameras and turrets, and didn't see any. Now, he just had to help Kaiden and they could get moving.

The Human was using a small plastic material and tying the Asari's hands behind her back. She wasn't moving, but his sensors registered her as being perfectly alive. He blinked. "What are you doing?" He asked, slightly angry.

"I don't kill people. Personal rule." Alenko said, finishing his work. Even if the Asari could get up, her hands would be tied at an angle she couldn't move them. She was disabled, but not killed.

"Witnesses, Alenko. They know our profile and body shape. Armor type, weapon preferences. If we were trying to do a clean op, we would have to hit their servers and signal relays. Maybe hack the comm buoys before coming in on approach. Mercenaries don't make great prisoners. Neither do politicians, for that matter."

"I still won't kill." Kaiden said. "I have the most knockouts on Asari compared to any other player in the leagues."

Garrus sighed. "You haven't been deploying in combat, have you Lt.?"

Kaiden shook his head. "My job was a desk job, mostly. They didn't want to risk the Titans." He made the Asari more comfortable before grabbing her gun and the Salarian's guns. Garrus had already absentmindedly taken Omni-tools and tech grenades that they had on them. "I don't even know who authorized the Titans to be deployed on this ship."

"Cut the chatter. Just try not to get killed when you try for a knockout." Now he had to babysit a pacifist. Kaiden might be accurate, but the man was a rule abiding pacifist. Better for fire team support and desk jobs than actually getting the job done. "I'll go first. That torpedo struck the next hangar over. It's gonna be filled with bodies. You rated for zero-gravity?"

"I'll bet that I have more hours logged on that than you, Spectre. Gravity belongs to the Titans." He puffed out his chest a bit. Garrus rolled one eye and moved forward, coming to the edge of the hallway leading to the other hangar and seeing problems. Fire was spraying from where a ship was on fire, its fuel cells belching flames towards the ceiling. A few technicians were trying to put out the flames, and others were dragging wounded away from the damaged sections. Thanks to their breathers, the mercenaries had a lot of survivors, but not a lot of functional materials. The guards that were supposed to be guarding this area were either wounded or picking up their wounded. No one here was ready for a fight. No one here was prepared for them or alarmed at their coming. Best of all, the frigate inside of this hangar looked completely torn apart by the torpedo.

He waved off to Kaiden, and just walked past many of the technicians on his way to the next connecting hallway. Kaiden followed, he saw. The pacifist would love the chance to not cause casualties. Really, at this point he was hoping that Captain Linea hadn't gotten too far. She had his money. Spectres sort of needed that. Even though it was a bribe, he very much wanted it back. She didn't keep her end of the bargain. The next hallway was full of the wounded, all in groups slowly being carried off deeper into the facility. But the next building looked in better condition. The damage here was mitigated by heavier support beams and what looked to be kinetic barrier generators. Human made Javelin torpedoes were somewhat less effective than the other race's. If this had been a Turian torpedo, there wouldn't have been a structure left. Shoddy craftsmanship in his opinion.

Here there were a couple of guards, though. They were moving towards the far part of the complex, not in formation but all of them responding to something. "I get the feeling that they don't care too much about us, Alenko."

He nodded. "Well apparently someone else is."

"Julia must be in trouble then. Either that or Ashley got impulsive."

They weren't bothered by anyone, not with fire and damage and injuries everywhere. Garrus had a finger tracing a tech mine and the other on his rifle the entire time they walked through the damaged facility, looking for Julia. He didn't have to look far. In the next part of the facility he saw over thirty Eclipse fighting against three Eclipse that had taken cover in the opposite hallway. The far exit was sealed shut, leaving their infiltration team no where to fall back to. Somewhere behind them he could see another Asari down on the ground.

"I want them captured, not dead! You hear me!" Captain Linea apparently made it as well. He would enjoy that.

"I hope you're some sort of biotic god, Kaiden." Garrus said over their channel. "Because things are about to get interesting." There were ten Asari in here and twenty assorted other races in Eclipse colors and armor. Some in only half armor sets, hastily donned when the alarms went off. Garrus pulled out his sniper rifle, the big custom barrel extending with a satisfying click. "I love my job."

The round pierced through all three security layers and into the local gravity control panel. As well as the small element zero core. The entire housing for the artificial gravity was torn apart as the round fractured the console and the cables, making yellow alert lights turn on. He engaged his magnetic boots, looking over to Kaiden to see if the Human did the same. To his surprise, the man was not even on the ground. He had moved up towards the ceiling, taking cover among the reinforced supports of the hallway.

" _A little warning would have been nice._ " Julia stated.

"Consider it a test." He retorted. "Do we want to go back out the other way? Blast through those doors behind you?"

" _Got an entire frigate and God knows what else behind that door. One of the torpedoes went wide and hit that hangar. It wouldn't be safe as an exit strategy._ "

"Darn. Looks like we will have to do it the hard way."

The Salarian Eclipse operatives were already recovering from the near loss of gravity. The Asari would be recovering soon. His shot hit Captain Linea, and he saw her barriers drop only a little. She turned at him and glared, as if the most powerful weapon in the room hadn't even made her stagger. "That one's mine!"

He let off shots at her next in command, sending the now bleeding corpse floating towards the wall. Hopefully that would take the strain off of Julia. Now he just had to deal with a rampaging Asari with a ridiculous amount of barriers. He took cover in the doorway, his rifle poking out far enough that he could take a third shot, this time at a Salarian who was near the power couplings in the room. It didn't kill him, but it certainly hurt.

Linea turned towards him, coming to the open landing of the stairs leading down into the main area of the hangar. She then positioned her feet wide apart, and bent the knees until she looked ready to leap. Oh Spirits, no wonder she had a barrier that strong.

He rolled, seeing her biotics start to flare. It wasn't going to be enough, not with this tiny hallway and not a single piece of cover. The Asari Vanguard launched, coming at him like a meteor. Just as she launched, he could see the hallway around him start glowing, as if he was the target of some angry god. To his utter surprise, she impacted the door frame, cracks spreading outwards from the point of impact. A quick glance at Kaiden showed the Human with his arm outstretched, obviously the reason for her to miss. Linea dropped to the ground, clenching her fists and removing them from the impact point. "You  _Reishi_!"

Kaiden stepped out from behind him, his hand still glowing. " _Pureblooded worthless daughter, to dare try anything before my eyes? Your birth offers you nothing but weakness._ " He responded, his Asari somewhat robotic and formal. But Linea just started glowing more, her biotics not quite having recovered yet but Asari could do that. His rifle wouldn't be able to put this one down, not at less than five meters. Garrus switched over to his assault rifle, and started firing bursts into the Asari, who was answering with a large shotgun.

 _That_  took significant chunks out of his barrier. "Kaiden, cooldown?"

Linea started drawing back her arm, a ball of biotic power gathered in her palm. "Now!" The Human replied, his own Throw striking her hand and causing the ball to erupt, a backwash of biotic energy flashing across her barrier. He had to admit, the man was as fast as an Asari. Linea fired a few rounds from her shotgun at them, his barrier dropping down to thirty percent.

Kaiden's barriers got hit hard, but the man was using a pistol on Linea. She was down from her biotic barrier, and now it was just her kinetic barrier and armor to get through. Linea didn't raise her biotics again, instead stepping back towards her lackeys. "Kaiden, Pull her!"

"Got it!" The Human snagged her leg, the low gravity making the Asari slam hard into a wall. She then spun, drifting uselessly right into Garrus' sights. A tech grenade, followed by an Overload, and a long burst from his gun knocked her kinetic barriers down. Her shotgun answered, sending her tumbling back out into the main chamber. Kaiden was not going to be able to catch her this time. His assault rifle was close to overheating, and his sniper rifle needed a bit more time.

"She's getting away!" Garrus muttered.

" _Two for one deal?_ " Rahna said. " _Better hurry, over there. We can't take this much longer._ " A Salarian body slammed into Linea, sending her soaring back towards Kaiden, who angled himself better than he had seen any Turian in zero gravity, and received his boot to her helmet. This snapped her head back and made her tumble towards the wall. Kaiden grabbed Linea, while Garrus ended the life of the Salarian before he could get his SMG locked onto Kaiden.

"She's knocked out!" Kaiden reported happily. . "We'll need her biometrics to get your money back, after all."

Garrus scoffed. "Secure her." This pacifism was getting troublesome.

" _This armor is pretty nice, but the shields on it are crap!_ " Ashley said over the channel. " _We need an exit!_ "

" _This is Lt. Pressley. Comm towers are down and we are clear to engage. Where do you need us, Commander?_ "

Julia stepped out far enough to survey the room, her barrier taking multiple hits. The purple glow dimmed, and she dove back into cover after only three seconds. " _We are in the main connecting building. Support beams appear to be able to take a direct hit from a frigate's main gun. You have our positions, and I have just marked the position of the enemy._ "

There was a moment of waiting as the Eclipse took this to mean that they could advance. Four teams of three were moving forward, Garrus trying to keep them pinned down with rifle fire. In the low gravity he was just letting the rifle gently float towards the ground and cool off, switching between that and his sniper rifle. " _Power is overdrawing, we're losing stealth systems!_ " Pressley said. " _Main guns firing, Commander, take cover!_ "

Garrus grabbed his guns and made sure his boots were fully attached to the floor. A quick glance at Julia and her team showed that they had all taken positions around their prisoner. Kaiden had secured Linea's arms and had taken her shotgun, his pistol overheating. The kick on it was quite heavy, making his arms buckle. But his feet were in a proper position, and they had taken cover in the door frame. Linea was drifting towards the wall and the ground in the limited gravity, next to Kaiden.

The walls lasted maybe a second. Instead of one single round impacting the base, it was a stream. The walls burst, like a children's construction toy being poked by a larger object. His helmet automatically tinted itself, as blue fire swept into the entire facility. The backwash caused his barrier to drop almost entirely, and he saw a burning shape tumble past them. Kaiden seemed to be fine, if the squad vitals were anything to go by.

The fire stopped flowing into the chamber a second after that, and Garrus was finally able to see the area. "Spirits of Darkness!" He croaked. He may have even let off a warning call. The entire room was blackened. Some boots were still attached to the floor, blackened and halfway melted. The floor nearest to them was only partially melted, while the platform and connection to the next section in the middle had been melted down. He was staring out at the melted expanse of the moon behind the base, a wide hole having drilled or melted through all of the defensive layers and out into the ground.

" _Power systems registering too many fluctuations! We've lost active camouflage!_ " The Quarian officer's voice came over comms. " _Their cruiser is coming out to greet us!_ "

" _Roll into the crater! Cut power to heat containment and get our guns on that ship!_ " Pressley was a voice of reason in the chaos. Garrus checked the area behind them, seeing a burnt Salarian corpse and a Linea behind them. She was also burnt to a crisp, her body contorted around a chunk of metal in a way that wasn't possible unless you were dead. He was definitely not getting his money back.

Julia came over team comms. " _I've got wounded here. Lt. Urkiknuik is down, as is our target. Critical injuries! We need evac!_ "

" _Roger that!_ " Jenkins said. " _We are en route now with the MAKO._ " Garrus' visor listed the surface temperature of the room's melted section as being over the amount that would be safe to step on. But the air was still hot as well. Not too hot to burn, but definitely too hot for someone without armor to cross.

"Let's get over there!" Garrus ordered, Kaiden nodding and gently throwing the both of them past the heated floor. The man's biotics were impressive, even if his personal morals were not. Garrus hadn't even gotten to the ground completely before Kaiden had righted himself and quick stepped over to his teammate. Garrus flinched when he saw them.

The Eclipse armor had been burned, but he could see the visor was intact. Her legs were charred, though. Lt. Williams was holding her down, and had disabled wider comms for her. The woman was twitching in pain. Behind them, Julia was trying to stabilize their target, the Asari supposedly known as Neilana. She wasn't wearing any armor, and her exposed skin outside of her face Julia had covered it with her body, leaving her exposed lower arms and stomach burned.

Asari and their obsession for showing off. It might cost them their objective. Medi-gel has been slathered on the wounds, but the burnt skin just came off rather than accept the healing salve. The blackened skin didn't even bleed, the burns had gone in so deep. Her clothes were just as black, making the open wounds from Julia's attempt to slather medi-gel the only way to tell what was skin and what was her clothing. Her face was fine, however.

"Can she feel any of this?" Garrus said.

" _God, I hope not_." Julia replied. " _Who the hell designed that gun? The Alliance doesn't use plasma!_ "

" _Files are locked, pending access. I can't crack them. Human_ bosh _. It came from your people, Commander._ " Kalin'ren's voice came across the comms. " _MAKO just launched and is en route. We have a rather enterprising little snitch in a cruiser that thinks they can hurt us._ " Julia was out of medi-gel, and she grabbed the pack from Kaiden that was being applied to Rahna's legs. They had disengaged the armor, the undersuit burnt as well in the worst places. But the real need was to keep Neilana from dying. Garrus moved to the doorway, taking position where he could cover them.

" _Get that cruiser off our tail, Joker!_ " Pressley thundered. Garrus hoped that the Human's little frigate would be alright.

* * *

Lt. Leeroy Martha Massani-Jenkins was not going to be intimidated by a little debris on the road. But this was insane. Chunks of burnt metal, space dust, and broken spars from metal parts floated all over. He and the Titans were in the MAKO, along with the old Turian, Desolous. Their barriers were already low from a blast taken from one of the cruiser's GUARDIAN lasers. The debris was doing the rest. The almost non existent gravity here made it take minutes for debris and dust to fall to the ground. There were chunks that were floating up into the limited atmosphere for hundreds of feet.

They had punched out of the Normandy's hangar bay after they had completed a barrel roll to avoid some sort of cannon fire from the cruiser. They were dumped out at the bottom of a massive crater right next to the enemy base. A crater that was quickly filling with debris and junk. Worst of all, the only person onboard rated to drive the MAKO was him. His driving record was not exactly clean. Showmanship, Speeding, and a couple large four digit tickets for blasting through pedestrian zones.

All of that equalled a tank that was quickly going to start getting scraped and damaged by the mess the  _Normandy_  had created. "Swerve!" Lt. T'au yelled.

"Then I'll overcorrect into that hangar bay door!" Jenkins yelled right back. It was odd, to be in a slow motion race like this. Everything was falling serenely through the air, silently landing in little clouds of dust. Dust like on Eden Prime. He shuddered a bit, trying to forget that memory. It hadn't been long enough for the memory to even settle. Every action on this low gravity dust ball had to be taken into account. A large scrape was heard from the back end. "Turn the gun camera around."

The camera rotated, jarring for a moment as it hit some piece of metal. They could see the cruiser inching up to the Normandy behind them, the frigate shielding them and unable to fully maneuver on the small piece of rock. The cruiser was damaged from the torpedoes that hammered the base earlier, but right now it had its kinetic barriers up.

"Someone isn't used to fighting in such low atmosphere." Desolous said, staring at the two ships. "They need to get out of there!"

The  _Normandy_  sat, almost clueless. "What are you guys doing?" Jenkins yelled over the comm.

" _Protecting your flat unsavory backsides!_ " Kalin'ren said. " _Get out of the line of fire so that we can maneuver_ bosh'tets!"

Jenkins looked ahead of them, where the mess of debris falling on the loose ground created great piles of dust. There was no path that he could see. But his gut was telling him that there was a way through. "No time like the present! Leeroy Jenkins!" There was nothing as pumping as shouting your own name to the heavens. He slowly kicked in the tires, letting them get enough traction to move them forward. Then he gunned the chemical jets, lifting them off the ground slightly and right into the cloud of debris. They were headed right towards a chunk of rebar and polymer that looked like a spike ball in their path. "Fire the turret towards that cruiser behind us, angle fifteen degrees port!"

Whoever was on the turret fired at the angle called, and the MAKO began to roll. The wheels turned ever so slowly to face the ball of rebar and ugly, and the impact was on the front tire, nearly shredding it. "Thirty degrees aft! Come on, we got this!"

Just past the rebar ball was an entire wall section just floating there. The tank spun again, the rebar scraping the top of the machine as they finally passed it, the tires again coming down on the new surface. The damaged front tire popped, and the left side of the tank was scraping the overhead sections of the wall. Firing the chemical jets again gave them just enough clearance to get past this chunk, and there in front of them lied the giant torn hole that had been made by the  _Normandy's_  main guns.

"The gauges say it's too hot in there!"

"Fire the cannon, straight behind us!" He ordered. They were starting to fall, and the gravity was drawing them right into the steaming mess the  _Normandy_  had made. The rumble of the turret was paired with the downward facing right side of the MAKO screeching against the hot metal. Once it cleared, he fired the chemical jetsto full burn, the temperature warnings rising on the right side of the craft as they neared the charred ground. "Someone throw us!"

Lt. T'au looked at the diagnostic screens and aimed a Throw while inside the MAKO, the blue ball of energy striking the left side of the roof, sending them upwards and to the right relative to gravity. The temperature warnings continued, but tapered off as the tank drifted to the right side of the room, dropping with the most long drawn out crunch that he had ever experienced in a vehicle. Only five percent gravity meant that the crash happened twenty times slower than normal, making the feeling of stupidity that much more slow in coming. With the MAKO parked on its right side and tipped, he carefully angled his body to turn to his now upturned cargo.

The Titans were all standing relative to current gravity, as if they hadn't been too affected. Spectre Arterius had his walking stick and his magnetic boots keeping him in place. They all were looking at him like he was some kind of special needs soldier. "You guys think the cafeteria survived?" He asked, hoping to change the subject. "You guys hungry?"

Desolous grumbled something unhealthy in Turian that his limited cheap VI translator said was not fit to be translated. He reached out with his cane to tap the door release, making the MAKO's exterior door open up. Then the Titans filed out, bounce stepping their way through the thin gravity to their teammates. Jenkins tried not to freak out when he saw the burn marks on the Asari and on Rahna. Their skin looked like cracked toast, overcooked to level eight on a toaster and the uncooked underneath poking through where pressure had been applied.

"Right the MAKO, Lt!" Commander Constantine spat. "Joker, why the hell isn't that Cruiser dead?"

" _Silicates and dust got sucked into the aft rear engine compartment! The fuel lines can't account for the material and the sensors are freaking out!_ "

"Kill the damn thing right now! Or else we are stuck here!"

" _We can't compensate! Screw this experimental technology!_ "

" _Fire the main weapon in the ground below the Cruiser. Let's create some cover! Two torpedoes, sink them right into the bastard after the dust cloud rises!_ " Pressley shouted, his voice carrying. Jenkins thought the old man was a bit harsh, but he knew his stuff. He could see the land around him light up blue for a moment, as the  _Normandy_  fired that fire burst gun. It was subtle, not like the flare that came from a javelin torpedo exploding.  _That_  kind of flare happened a moment afterwards, and a wave of debris and dust rose up and came in the hole, covering the molten charred ground. His helmet did not want him going near that crap.

But there was barely enough safe ground on this side of the room for the MAKO to come to its proper place. He crawled his way into the MAKO, seeing Desolous clamboring in to grab a large bag of medi-gel and then leaving again. Jenkins took a moment to carefully slide himself into the pilot's chair, and slowly angled the wheels towards the wall. He did not want the charred surface to burn the MAKO. With the tires turned to the right, the front of the vehicle lifted up slightly. Then he fired the chemical jets ever so lightly on the right to make the vehicle roll to the left, while gunning the throttle gently enough to move him forward.

The slow roll and forward motion of the tank took almost twenty seconds to right itself, and he breathed out a sigh of relief when he could shift into reverse and move back and away from the charred ground. Then he set the vehicle into park, and clapped his hands once. "Like a glove." He triggered the medical suite to extend from the wall. "Ready to go Commander!"

The Asari was loaded first, and then Rahna. Garrus and Kaiden were taking two more of Titans back to the shuttle and getting out that way, as the MAKO wasn't going to fit everyone. Surprisingly, Desolous was overseeing the injuries. " _Get out of the way, Commander. I've spent more of my life on a battlefield than you have breathing. I know more than I should about Asari anatomy as it is._ " Rahna the old Turian carefully tended to, keeping her feet from moving and making her comfortable.

Commander Constantine rotated in mid air and slid into the co-pilot's seat. "Let's get out of here. Take us through the exit hole to the far side of the base that the main gun made. That dust ball out there is too dangerous to allow the  _Normandy_  to land and pick us up. We need to get some distance and let them come to us." She tapped her wrist to bring up the larger comm network. "Pressley, tell me you've killed it."

" _It brought out a friend, Commander. One of those frigates managed to get barriers up in time to stop the javelin from crippling it. It's two on one out here and the dust cloud is our only piece of cover. We shoot anything at all and we'll be revealed._ " the Mako's sensors registered a large explosion. " _Reload the launch tubes! That bastard has it's eye right on us!_ "

" _They have a target lock for their main weapon!_ " Kalin'ren shouted. " _We can't take evasive actions in this muck! Brace for impact!_ "

Everyone noticed when the cruiser fired. The sound of its round bouncing off of the armor that the  _Normandy_  had was the oddest thing he had ever heard. " _Mother of-_ " Pressley said. " _Fire maneuvering thrusters! They'll fire again in less than a minute!_ "

" _Armor is functioning as expected. As long as we present an oblique angle, their shots will bounce._ " Kalin'ren said. " _We have a lock on the frigate!_ "

" _Give that cruiser a spread of missiles!_ " Pressely shouted. " _Fire the main weapon!_ " Jenkins saw the explosion's light flare out, followed by the smaller explosion of light that was the frigate exploding around the shot. There were smaller flashes, and the sounds of material being displaced around them. Dust filled the area, covering the charred ground and actually making their jump into the giant exit wound in the building easier. The Commander sat right next to him, her Asari armor making her look more intimidating than normal. Hers was chipped along one shoulder, and he could see a few red marks on the spot.

"You're wounded, Ma'am."

"I'm shot, not crippled. The Salarians were using regular rounds. Nothing illegal or too dangerous." She rolled her good shoulder.

" _Cruiser is booking it out of here, Commander._ " Pressley reported. " _Orders?_ "

"Operational security, Lt. Kill them all." The Commander said without a pause. "Escape pods too. Cleanse it all."

Jenkins just carefully drove the MAKO towards their new pickup point, trying not to question his commander's orders. They were going to kill everyone here for just one Asari, and he didn't know quite how he felt about that. But she was his commanding officer, and if she wanted to kill four hundred people over this she could. Hazard pay was great, but that wasn't why he was out here. He was here to prove that Humans could be as good as anyone else, as honorable as anyone else.

He watched the base burn in the rear camera as the  _Normandy_  came around for another pass with torpedoes and its GUARDIAN lasers. All the while, Desolous kept both of the women in the back alive, his cane tapping on the floor as he walked between the two beds. Jenkins just lost focus on the driving, and the burning base. Instead he just focused on the measured tapping of that cane, and the way that Desolous worked.

* * *

Author's Note

So I had this wonderful experience lately called a  **Root Canal**. Ladies and gentlemen that is not an experience that I would recommend experiencing. Short story time, I went off to college and told myself that I am young strapping lad who doesn't need any medical or dental crap in my life. Five years down the road I've been to the hospital once for poisoning(sea urchin spines are not something you want getting into your veins), and now I just went to the dentist for the first time in five years. 'Twas expensive. As well as very painful. So yeah, I've been on antibiotics and drugs to feel better and get over things.

The summer is always an interesting time to try to write. I earnestly tried to not write while high as a kite, but I will admit some of this chapter was written while I was a bit loopy. So I went back and fixed it. Things are pretty good right now. I've got school finishing up and then starting back up again in three weeks, and during that time I'll be able to get a lot in.

Also, a small shout out to an underappreciated story, Relations, by  **Azucuache**. It's hitting this really pretty point in the storyline where I get all misty and happy thinking about it. I've also recently read  **Ghost, Ghost, I Know You Live Within Me**  by theherocomplex. Another really beautiful story that just needs a bit more attention. I hope that you guys throw your support behind those two stories, because I very much like them.


	49. Lucid: Fog of War

Chapter 49

Spectre Offices, Undisclosed location, The Citadel, June 2182

The Normandy's stealth drive was not working as well at the moment. They needed to get back to Alliance space and get dust out of everything. But this took precedence. They had called the Council as they were in route with the Asari prisoner, as well as Rahna, bound for the hospital. The Asari Councillor had told them to bring the injured party to the Spectre offices on the Presidium. They would have a 'specialist' on hand.

The Asari had been kept on painkillers and knockout drugs since she had been burned. The Normandy's main gun literally melted every single layer of her skin. She would need skin grafts from her back in order to just fix everything else. If she even made it that far. Her heartbeat had dropped during the ride back to the Citadel, and only Desolous had been able to keep her alive. The old man knew Asari well.

Now they had parked their shuttle on the Presidium, instead of Zakera Ward. A squad of C-sec Turians were there to greet them, and watched impassively as Rahna was carted off by Chakwas and the Titans. Julia had ditched her Asari armor and slipped back into her usual catsuit. As comfortable and supportive as the armor was, it just was not hers. It was also much less expensive, and she preferred to be in the more expensive piece of gear.

Desolous had pushed the floating gurney himself, one hand on the gurney and the other tapping away with his cane. Garrus was walking at her side, and by his request she was visible. She had red hair again. She was herself. In public, and in view. But Garrus told her in no uncertain terms that the Council would want to see her that day, and they did not like being in the room with a cloaked agent. So here she was, in a private hangar bay on the Presidium and she was in full view. Jenkins was here as well, walking alongside Desolous. The man hadn't agreed with her orders to wipe out the entire site. She could tell, as he had tensed up when they had found a few ground vehicles leaving the base. He had hesitated for a moment, before shooting them down.

That was not as glaring a problem as she had with Kaiden Alenko. The man was a pacifist. Garrus' after action report claimed that he hadn't aimed to kill with any of his biotics or his weapons fire. He had captured and secured two Asari during the fight, instead of just killing them and moving to support them. His hesitation cost them time that the Eclipse had used to completely surround her squad. She hadn't spoken to the man yet, but it was on her list.

The gurney was taken to an elevator that appeared from inside one of the news terminals. Clever to hide it there, instead of the walls where everyone already looked for secret passageways. It was a tight fit, and she had to basically cuddle her least favorite Turian Spectre so the doors could close. When they opened again, she stepped out and found herself in a cavernous area covered in equipment, technology, and people. Mostly Salarians working in here, going over tactical data and haptic screens covered large surfaces.

They all were scanned by a large archway, the C-sec guards letting them pass through and heading back for the elevator. Jenkins was just glancing around, trying to see what everyone was working on, and not hiding his open curiosity. Garrus moved forward, his eyes hardly glancing around. They garnered attention as they passed, the half-burnt Asari with a breather on making for quite a spectacle.

They were taken to the medical ward of the Spectre Offices, which were empty. But the medical VI was one of those super advanced Salarian models catered to fix up any race, even Volus. The gurney was attached to the bed, and the mobile bed synced up to the systems and transferred the Asari without disturbing her.

"Councillor." She heard Garrus say to someone behind her. She slowly turned, coming face to face with the Turian Councillor, Volorium. He was severe, his gray and yellow markings making his eyes and set mandibles all the more intimidating.

"Spectre Vakarian. Commander Constantine." He said without any venom normally associated with him. But he was usually speaking with Hock when she observed him in the past, and she didn't mind Hock taking a bit of Turian angst.

"Councillor." She offered. "Thank you for coming."

"Rachni were found on two of our worlds this morning, Commander." He said. "This is our only lead as of yet. The other Councillors will be arriving soon, with our specialist."

Garrus cleared his throat. "What kind of specialist? This Asari can't even feel her nerves right now."

"The less you know the less you have to worry about, Spectre." He perked up, his shoulders straightening. "Here they come."

The first to come through a far set of doors was a Salarian, Valern. He looked over all of them, taking the usual Salarian half second to check the room for threats. "Spectres. Commander. Good to see you. Glad to see you have brought back suspect."

"She looks close to death." The lilting tones of the Asari Matriarch, Tevos, came into view. "A shame. What happened to her, Commander?" Julia didn't enjoy that. They were going to saddle her with the failure to procure a reasonable lead.

"The extraction team was forced to take cover next to an oxygen tank for the base. When a grenade detonated that, the unshielded suspect was burned by the explosion." Garrus answered for her. "We treated her wounds as best we could, but she needs surgery to stay alive."

The Asari had followed through a different door. Probably separated the Council so that they wouldn't all be caught in one place at the same time. The Salarian bodyguards were in the back, by where they themselves had come in. Councillor Volorium's weren't even in the room. Tevos had three figures with her, two in commando armor. The third was in a long dress with a hood. Her face was hidden.

"After we question her." Tevos stated. "Priestess Felare? Please find us anything on the Rachni." Tevos then actually stepped away from the priestess, whom the guards were looking at with caution. Her hood was drawn back, and her facial markings were brought into view. Her entire face was covered in markings, with a large eye shape painted in the center of her forehead.

"As the Matria commands." The priestess, Felare, stated. It was without emotion, without any feeling. Julia couldn't even feel anything from her.

"It will be a while before the sedatives wear off, Priestess." Desolous said. She waved him off, stepping right up to Neilana's face. Julia could see more eye symbols painted onto her hands.

"I am one of Athame's third eyes. Consciousness does not bar me from the mind of another." Then the priestess' biotics flared, not as a barrier but as another ability. It wasn't even focused on her hands, but her head. Julia didn't know of any mnemonics that started from the head. Then the glow spread to Neilana, who started quivering on the bed. Her skin cracked in some places, as she tried to move away from the priestess. "Sleep and allow mine eyes to see your hidden places, young one." She said in accented Asari. Or at least that is what Julia thought she said. She was using archaic language for it all.

Neilana was still quivering, and started glowing with her own biotics, but they flickered. "Heart rate is rising too high, she's not going to take this well!" Desolous reported, scowling. "Tell your priestess to stop it!"

Tevos made no move to order her priestess. Falere brought both of her palms down upon the head of Neilana, and held her in place. "Goddess find your thoughts, that the wicked may suffer and the unbound be broken under her heel." She intoned, her eyes going black. Judging by the way that Neilana was twitching, she was not a willing participant in the Asari mental link.

Neilana was crying out, her eyes open and slowly turning black. Desolous was looking at the monitors, muttering Turian curses. "Her nervous system can't handle this! Tell her to get out of the suspect's mind!"

Tevos seemed impassive. "The Eye of Athame burns out those whom she looks upon. Her mind's secrets shall belong to Athame's priestess and justice shall be served. The suspect will not have the opportunity to lie or avoid questions in the face of this." Neilana tried to struggle, her body unable to escape the clutches of the priestess. Julia watched with everyone else as her heart rate and temperature rose, until Neilana T'y'tella broke. Her body slumped, and her eyes were empty when the priestess took her marked palms off of the other Asari. Desolous didn't even try to revive her, the eyes still black and not likely to change any more.

The priestess covered her face and hands in fabrics and veils, and finally a hood over herself before returning to the side of Councillor Tevos. She remained more than three feet from the rest of the Asari, and the others were very careful to maintain that distance.

"Speak, Priestess." Councillor Volorium demanded. "As you killed our only lead, I would like to know what you found." The Turian's yellow rimmed eyes showed open frustration, although his mandibles were still tight against his face.

"The Maiden known as Neilana T'y'tella was a clanless creature. She was born on Astaria, to parents pure. She met and coupled with many after she left Astaria, favoring the four eyed and her other sisters. She went out among the stars, and searched for secrets in old places. Searching for writings of Matriarch Dil'naga. She wanted to prove something to her late descendant, a Matriarch within the sisterhood of the Moons."

"Speaking in Temple speech does us no good, Priestess. Speak plainly. Names, dates, locations! Give us something to follow!" Julia could admit to being as frustrated by the Asari as the Turian Councillor was.

"She found writings of the old generation, as well as a Rachni Brood Warrior. I can see some of her travels to reach the planet where she found these writings. As well as the dangers she experienced. Upon meeting the Rachni, she then proceeded to mate with the creature, and it did not kill her nor end her life." The priestess stopped speaking for a moment. "She shared her life's experiences with it, and agreed to share more. There are others like her, those that associate with our dark destroyers."

"She agreed to help them, to deliver them." Her words stopped for a moment. "The dark destroyers are on Thessia!" That made Tevos widen her eyes. "I know of their location!"

Councillor Volorium's mandibles had loosened. Julia tried to consider what Rachni infesting Earth would be like. The ground coming alive with tentacles and acid and plasma guns. She shuddered at the thought. Thessia could be like that, right now. Thessia, capital of the most advanced race of the Citadel races.

"We must make our leave. Thessia requires our aide." Tevos said. "Priestess, your vessel will not be suitable for travelling so slowly. Please join me on my personal vessel." She glanced around at the others, worry and panic clear on her face. "The priestess shall compare star charts and send you the location of where the suspect met the Rachni. Her expertise is necessary elsewhere at this time, however."

Without even a civil nod, Tevos left the room with her bodyguards. Along with the creepy priestess with eyes marked into her palms and forehead. Julia felt almost warmer now that she had left the room. Naturally, the Salarian Councillor spoke up first. "Pity that the suspect did not survive. STG teams are already on site to study any evidence that you may have brought. Cannot assist on Thessia, with travel ban in effect."

"Travel ban?" Jenkins asked.

"Thessia has enough Element Zero in crust that it will cause tumors and radiation within visitors to the planet that are not Asari. Will make deploying any support troops difficult. Rachni themselves came from Element Zero rich environment, will be perfectly adapted to Thessia's ecology."

"Galatana and its moon are already infected by the spirits-cursed Rachni, and now Thessia as well?" Councillor Volorium muttered. "Spectres, we thank you for bringing this information to the Council. You may have saved billions of lives with your speed in doing this." Councillor Valern accepted the black boxes that Julia had ripped out of Neilana's ship. The Turian saw those and gave a small smile. "Finally. Some sort of headway."

"If Rachni are using Asari to travel, then we must find new ways of policing trade routes. Could be anywhere." Valern muttered, as he started walking away. "Thank you, Commander. Hope to see you at forefront of continuing investigation!"

That left them alone with the Turian Councillor, who had brought no guards. Desolous was looking over the now dead Asari. Garrus was pacing, deep in thought. She and Jenkins were just standing there, looking decidedly Human and withdrawn.

"That Priestess." Desolous said. "She killed our suspect."

"How else were we going to question an Asari with that deep of wounds?" Volorium returned. "None of the standard Turian practices would work. We couldn't trust any information she would have, either!"

Desolous was still staring at the graphs and readouts of the medical machine. "I don't doubt the intel, but that Priestess didn't have to kill our suspect. When she was establishing her connection to Neilana, she stabilized her nervous system. She made sure that Neilana could bond. Then, here," Desolous pointed at the graph, where a steep rise in pressure and temperature appeared. "The suspect's nervous system was artificially taken to unsafe ranges, and maintained until she was killed. That priestess knew what she was doing. She killed our only suspect and she didn't have to!" Desolous slammed his fist into the table, knocking off some of the torn skin from Neilana.

"Do you want to talk to Tevos about it?" Volorium offered.

"Those she spirits of death can go die on their homeworld." Desolous said, with as much venom as he could gather. "Tevos knew that priestess was going to kill our suspect. I want to know why."

Volorium nodded, stepping over towards one of the haptic interfaces and entering in his codes. "The last person to investigate the Eyes of Athame was…" He trailed off. "Pontus Vakarian."

Garrus was right next to the Councillor in an instant, his eyes and visor scanning over all of the words in the files. "I don't recognize any of this information…" He admitted. "I've never seen anything like this."

"Nor have I." Volorium replied. "But right now is not the time to go investigating the Eriashi Cult. Save that for when we aren't facing a galactic war." Volorium closed the interface down. "I don't have anything to offer you, Spectres. By the Spirits, I wish I did."

"If someone hadn't murdered our suspect," Desolous started.

"Enough." Volorium shut him up. "She's dead. People die every day, and it is a tragedy. But if at the end of the day we've saved a few, given them a better chance? If your intel is good, you may have just saved the Billions of Asari that depend on Thessia. This is a victory, you old bastard."

"It stings like a defeat. Worse than leaving Shangxi." Jenkins turned slowly to Desolous, his eyes hard. He might have some sensitive feelings about that. "Don't even start with me, Human." Desolous spat. "I was in charge of the ground forces! I was supposed to keep everything under control! Then some idiot Admiral loses track of security on his command cruiser, and my brother is killed in cold blood. Killed by a Human assassin. I had to go bury him. Without my leadership, the ground assaults faltered, and we lost our hold on the planet. My brother's ashes were still fresh on the ground when I had to lead that retreat. This," He motioned to Neilana, "This stinks of something worse than my own brother's assassination!"

"General Arterius!" Volorium shouted. "You forget yourself!"

Desolous grabbed his cane, steadying himself. "You forget our place! Do you not wear an amulet of the Spirit of Justice herself?!" He stalked towards the door. "Sparatus died of the very same symptoms. You do the math, Volorium, before the Asari trim your spurs so short that you lose track of your own Spirit."

"Where are you going?" Garrus demanded.

"Where I'll find answers. You wanted to bring me out of retirement, well, now you can regret it. I'm back in this, and I'm going to find out why our only suspect for an entire war was just murdered in front of me." The door closed behind him. Volorium was breathing stiffly through his nose, and Jenkins was clenching his fists. Julia took a deep breath.

"How long should we give him?" Julia asked Garrus.

"I've never seen him so mad before." Garrus admitted. "I apologize for my mentor, Councillor."

Volorium turned towards them. "General Arterius has never seen eye to eye with the rest of the upper tiers of society. You do not need to apologize for his actions. If I were you, I would leave the old man and his delusions of our allies betraying us behind." He motioned to the corpse. "The Asari know best regarding their own kind. Much as we would trust you regarding Humans and their many pigmentations. Each species has their specialty, and those strengths combined together are what make us the Council races. Spectres are to embody those strengths." He said, looking directly at her and then Jenkins. "Spectre candidates." He nodded towards them. "Spectre Vakarian." Garrus received a much deeper nod of the head. Then the Councillor left, leaving Julia angry and feeling frustrated.

Jenkins had turned to Garrus and was about to say something to him, when Garrus held up his hand. "Not here. Too many cameras." He took them up through an actual door, and not the elevator. This one let out next to some dingy restaurant run by Salarians on the lower levels of the Presidium. "We'll talk at my office." She knew that the air cars were places that seemed safe, but the onboard computers rarely lacked malware or listening devices. It was one of the easiest ways for the Alliance to track people, without breaking any of the Citadel's laws.

The air car ride went fast, and Garrus had hardly greeted the C-sec desk agent, a Salarian at the time, before he went towards his office. He and Julia both looked for any feeds or sources of signals before declaring the place to be safe. Garrus offered Julia the comfy chair, and Jenkins just kept pacing. "Did you know that Desolous was on the ground at Shangxi?" He said, his face a bit red.

"He doesn't like to mention it, but yes." Garrus looked like he wanted to say more, but his mandibles tightened. "He was in charge of the special forces that were deployed against the orbital stations and the hardened defenses."

"Do you know where he was stationed?" Jenkins asked, strangely focused.

"This isn't important right now, Lt. Jenkins." Garrus said. Jenkins expelled air through his nose forcefully, his military background keeping him from making the mistake of talking back. "We've got a dead suspect, and Desolous has gone running off I don't even know where. Your ship needs repairs, and some of the combat team needs time in hospitals getting treatment."

"We all checked out after the mission, Spectre Vakarian." Julia said, careful to show that she wasn't favoring the Turian. Not with Jenkins being so inflammatory. She didn't even know why the man was being so rude to their mentor.

"Chakwas reported that you've got a round still buried in your arm. I wouldn't call that checked out." Garrus said. "If it isn't bothering you, however, then I won't comment on it further. What bothers me about this situation is what Volorium stated. He wants me to stop Desolous from investigating that Asari, and he wants me to leave you both while I do so."

"Doesn't that go against standing orders?"

Garrus shrugged. "Our directives are always open to interpretation. Volorium has never seen eye to eye with Desolous, and if it wasn't for the Rachni we would be benched as often as possible. Which leaves me with a problem."

"You plan on leaving too?" Jenkins muttered.

"In a manner of speaking." He brought out his Omni-tool. "I'm going to draw Desolous out. He knows more hiding places on this station than most people. My Councillor has forbidden me from looking into something, and I want you to investigate it."

"That Asari cult?"

"Yes. They call themselves Eriashi. Or Eriasha." The clicking teeth and mouth structure of a Turian couldn't pronounce that effectively. "Desolous is going to be looking into it, and the faster we have answers on it the sooner the old man can come back."

"What does that mean?" Julia asked. Her translation VI, as well as her own knowledge had no answers for that word. Eri was not a noun she ever saw used in common Asari. Ashi or Asha she wasn't familiar with either, as irregular verb conjugations were not unusual to find in that language.

Garrus shrugged. "I've always had an Asari expert as a mentor. I have no idea."

"I might have a way to find out." Julia brought up. "You're sure that this place is safe?"

The Turian nodded. "My father even had his own data link placed in the walls here. You'll find it if you use sub channel 405."

Julia hesitated. This was risky business. She didn't have any personal time to be able to meet up with anyone to facilitate a dead drop or any other normal way to go through her contacts. But this was important. She glanced up at Jenkins, and saw the fuming young man still angry at something Desolous said. But he would follow orders. And she could always just block his comm frequencies long enough that secrecy could be maintained. Garrus though, she didn't know if she wanted to trust him that much yet. It had only been a week so far. But this mattered. With one deep breath through her nose, she connected through sub channel 405 and queued in a comm address for Omega.

The comm address routed her to a desk, where a Batarian female sat. The image showed the entire desk, and not just the woman's face. "Crucible Protection Specialists. How may we help you?"

"I need to contact the CEO. I have a jellyfish problem that needs a certain touch."

"I can connect you to the office, Miss…?"

"Harper." Julia shuddered. But it was the only way that she could actually gain access to this office.

"Priority line established, stockholder." The secretary reported, her four eyes going over information. The screen changed to a queue screen, and Julia kept her breathing under control. When the view finally straightened itself out and the connection was established, she could see a large office with three desks. Sitting at the middle desk was a Human woman of above average height, whose dark hair reached past her shoulders and piled on top of some silken Asari dress. Heels decorated her feet, and her blue eyes widened when she saw Julia's face.

"What the hell are you doing? Is this a public comm line?!" She demanded. Encryption protocols better than Julia had slammed into place around their comm line, making her Omni-tool squeak a warning when it finally realized how many layers of encryption now surrounded them. "Explain yourself!"

"Nice to see you too, Miri." She replied. "I'm sorry I couldn't communicate normally. But we need help with understanding some mess with an Asari."

"I can't help you right now. Not directly. The STG are already pinging this connection and using your local comm relay to try to listen in. They broke these codes last year, so they will be in this call soon. I can scramble some layers and buy us some time, so make it quick." Miranda Harper's hands flew across the haptic interface, her eyes staying focused on Julia.

"Can you come to the Citadel?"

"I'll be coming. Meet at the old place." She terminated the call. The layers of encryption shifted again, forcing her Omni-tool to reboot and the comm line to go down. While it made the unhappy chime of doing a system reboot and scan for file changes, she glanced up at Jenkins and Vakarian.

Jenkins was still glancing at the haptic screen. He just shrugged. When her eyes focused on him, he looked taken aback. "What? A guy can look!"

Good. He wasn't making a deeper connection there. Garrus looked like his attention was perked up. "Stockholder? My, my, you have connections to one of the Terminus' mercenary companies. Jenkins, you might want to apologize for looking at the Commander's sister like that."

"Commander?" Jenkins said unapologetically. "Your sister's hot. I'll try not to stare." It was inevitable. Miranda simply attracted attention like a moth to flame. She had always done so, and Julia had too, until she discovered what tactical cloaking could do for her. Miranda flaunted her body. Julia kept it wrapped in athletic gear until she had need of her bombshell curves. Jenkins had no idea that she and Miranda were twins in physical stature and height.

"I might take Alenko with me if you're just going to stare at her, Jenkins." She could see Garrus wanted to say more, but with the other Human in the room he reigned in his words. "Jenkins, what's your beef with Arterius. We deserve to know before we try to find out where he went."

Jenkins lost the smirk he had been developing. But she needed to know. If Jenkins was going to try to kill one of their mentors, she needed to know now so that she could transfer him somewhere the Alliance could use such a good soldier.

"My mom's family. All of 'em. There were only two Turian generals on the ground on Shangxi. One of them gave the order to call in the orbital strikes on any location that fired back at their troops." Shangxi had miles of marked and unmarked graves commemorating those that had died. "I had thirty five other family members. My Ma's parents and siblings all worked so that she could go to medical school, back on Earth. They all worked in a factory there, right next to the space port."

Nothing like this was in his files. She could feel her chest tightening up a bit. "Turians don't shoot at anyone without a gun." She glanced at Garrus. "Correct?"

He nodded sagely. "We have rules of engagement, but they allow for forced to be able to call in as much force as they feel is necessary to pacify a threat."

"Pacify?" Jenkins said. "Is that what you call it when you call an orbital strike on a BB gun factory?"

"I wasn't there. I don't know." Garrus answered plainly. "Desolous only mentions that part of his life when he is very drunk."

"The factory made toy guns for children. Your guys blew the hell out of it, and then they found the sewer access tunnels." Jenkins trailed off. "My family was wiped out, except for my Ma. She came back to help people, leaving me back on Earth. I was nine, you know. Old enough to know what was really going on." He unclenched his fists. "If Desolous was the one who called that down, I call first dibs on his face."

Garrus scoffed. "And what will that accomplish? Your pride will have healed? Vengeance for your family? Blood feud ended? At the end of the day you'll only alienate the only person in the Spectres that still wanted to give you a chance!"

"You didn't?" Jenkins shouted back. "You don't think we've got what it takes?"

"I know you don't! Oh, you all have the potential, but right now it just seems so far away that I don't want to spend the next six years of my life babysitting you until the Council decides they like Human pets!" Garrus' tips of his fingers dug into the top of his desk, making long white marks in the leather. "Desolous is the one who wants to give you a chance, Jenkins. He doesn't care about species or race. Hell, he even helped Nihlus when everyone else wanted him to lose his spirits-cursed commission. I'm going to be very honest, Jenkins. Enough that your pitiful Human mind can understand. Without Desolous my patience and your candidacy will both come to a crashing end." His reptilian nostrils flared. "Both of you leave. You have my comm address. Use it when you've found Spectre Arterius."

The door opened behind them, and Garrus huffed, a high pitched trill coming from his throat. Julia got up first, and cloaked. Jenkins followed. His boots had barely cleared the office when the door shut again. He just stood there, staring back at the closed door.

"Are you ready to go?" She asked him.

"Wherever, Commander. I guess it doesn't matter."

"Everyone's got dead people, Jenkins. 90% of Human biotics today have dead mothers. The other ten percent haven't finished carrying their children to term yet or are dying of cancer as we speak. Everyone on Eden Prime has dead people. So will the rest of the Alliance if things keep up like this. You want things to matter, Lt.?"

"I get it! I get it. I just wanted some kind of closure."

She walked with him for a distance. "Don't we all." The air car ride to the hospital was silent, Jenkins just sitting there staring at nothing. She just stared out the window at the rest of the Citadel, as the buildings flew by.

* * *

Maskim Xul System, June 2182

"Jack, are you sure this is a good idea?" Hannah asked. The man was frustrating to have on location. Thankfully, he was off working on something with the Quarians or someone else. Perhaps when she convinced the man to be monogamous all those years ago she should have stipulated some way of keeping track of him. She hadn't seen Jack in six months.

"I'm positive it is."

""Maybe we should evacuate everyone first."

"That would defeat the purpose. Someone is using this planet to make something. The Council observation forces here haven't noticed a damn thing."

The Acheron cruised through the area, its cloaking systems keeping it from being detected for a couple hours. The old station orbiting the relay was covered in pitmarks and scrapes. Listening Post X-19, in Turian terms. Population of less than four hundred, most of which is there to support the archeological dig teams that were down on Suen.

The rest were soldiers. Odd balls exiled to the end of the line facility here to await the rest of their career in relative isolation. Even though the Rachni had returned, this old listening post hadn't been updated. No one wanted to update a two thousand year old space station. Especially when this star system was supposed to be completely wiped clean two millennia ago. Their ship passed old wreckage from the Rachni Wars in orbit around the gas giant, as well as the fully functional old fuel depot that was still being used. Others were floating derelicts, colors bleached out in places and scrapes and pits made by space dust and solar wind making the older stations look like a block of cheese.

The Acheron slipped past it all, and then went into the asteroid field to discharge their drive core and let the stealth systems cool off for six hours. Inefficient prototype technology that Jack demanded the Acheron have. Anyone looking out a window would see the odd looking ship coming right at them.

As long as it worked, she didn't care. It took them eight hours more to finalize their approach to Suen. The planet was tidally locked, having only one solar day that took up two thirds of their rotation around the sun. The solar day wasn't even that much of a change. One side of the small planet was perpetually frozen and dark, the source of the cold water and winds. Shifts in sunlight patterns would loosen up glaciers and water would flow onto the sunlit side, which was a scorcher. Only a thin band of land maybe dozens of miles wide offered a location that could support life. That thin band was covered in sinkholes and collapsed structures. All poorly maintained, at this point. The archeology department here had very little to go on.

But the Protheans they had insisted on the fact that they had used the Rachni in their own wars with their lesser races and against the Reapers. The archives at Ilos did not contain the exact location of the Prothean facility on Suen, but it left enough clues that Hannah was going hunting. The old listening posts were easy enough to spoof. More importantly, one of the shuttles they had sighted on Eden Prime had come here. They only found out about that when the listening post sent in its daily reports, revealing that the shuttle had made a supply run to Suen's archeology dig site Lusu. Run by a Salarian company, with support staff in the dozens. No need for security on a dead planet, so Hannah was not expecting there to be much in the way of resistance.

The atmosphere had recovered over the last millennia. Trees and plants were still in the habitable range, and thanks to environmentalists had survived and propagated across the surface again. The environmentalists had moved on, but the trees provided enough cover for them to set down the Acheron in a heavily wooded region. The archeology center was nearby, and to the south a few dozen miles was the old site of the Rachni's capital. Not much more than craters, lakes, and forests at this point.

"A-team, buckle up." She said. She clicked her wrist. "This is Kitty Cat. Starting op."

"Little Dog copies." She could hear the bridge officer of the Acheron say. "Good luck."

They had an old GRIZZLY that had been slightly modified in its time. It fit everyone, from Gatatog Don to the impossibly small Kreana. She liked to drive the beast, so she made the chairs too small for their Krogan teammate. But the vehicle was able to accommodate more storage space in return. "Henry, why do you have that ungainly piece of work?"

Henry Gunn was carrying an old flamethrower. It spat superheated metal and napalm, which in her opinion was rather wasteful. "Soldiers on the ground on Eden Prime said that these things can pop open and melt through the armor that the Rachni wear. Don's carrying the Frost-cannon." Gatatog Don had a M-622 Avalanche, a weapon that fired rapidly cooling bursts of water and nitrogen. Frost cannon did sound better.

"It's supposed to stop all that nasty face burning acid." The Krogan remarked as he pet the large gun carefully. "None of my squishy friends are gonna get melted today."

Hannah sighed. "That's if we actually find any Rachni. They've got the home field advantage here, even though the Krogan did a great job of crushing them."

Don nodded. "One of many ships built by my ancestors hands crashed a few miles from here. There isn't anything left, at least from orbit, but it still fills me with great pride. Seeing all of this wreckage and destruction makes our history real in my eyes."

"Something that isn't Tuchanka, then."

"Captain." A lilting voice came into their conversation. Hannah tried not to twitch. Liara T'soni was creepy. She had a Prothean in her head, by all accounts she had seen. To further emphasize her difference from Asari and other races, she had gotten facial markings. The bridge of her nose had been darkened with a deep green, with lines resembling Prothean skull plates going up across her eyes and towards the sides of her forehead. An extra set of eyes had been 'painted' into the facial structure, making any glances at her seem as though an angry Javik was staring you down.

Most Asari were touchy feely. Liara T'soni was the opposite. She touched few people and few surfaces. More importantly, she was critical to the Prothean data links. She could read and write in the language, and unlock all of the computer systems. She was a critical component of their Ilos team, and Hannah didn't like her leaving that safe planet.

"That mountain range there. It feels familiar." Liara pointed towards a mountain range that had half collapsed due to orbital bombardment and explosions underground. "There used to be a much larger peak in the center."

"Archeologists claim that's where the main hive was. Or at least the most developed." Kreana reported. "A Krogan memorial site is at the edge of one of the larger craters."

"That's going on my bucket list." Don mentioned.

"The Prothean collection facility was here." Liara said, ignoring Don. Her pale blue eyes showed no warmth for the others in the vehicle. No warmth for anyone that wasn't Prothean. "They used the Rachni to infest and fight back against populations that they decided were no longer useful."

Hannah's Prothean memories filled in the gaps for what the Protheans considered a population to be redundant. She tried to keep the images of cybernetic enhancements and long lines of glassy eyed sentients waiting to receive them out of her head. "How large would it had to have been?"

"The facility was small. No larger than a hangar branching from the Chamber of Contemplation." Which was still gigantic.

"How much do you think may be left?"

"There were many dead zones on this planet when the Krogan mercilessly destroyed everything. Hopefully the Prothean's practice of using material resistant to kinetic bombardment continued here."

The GRIZZLY drove up the mountain, ignoring one half of the mountain that had been sheared off by kinetic rounds. It must have taken pounding from above and below in order to collapse like that. The vehicle didn't have any of the complicated chemical jets or hovering engines that many of the other top of the line exploration and military vehicles had. "Would it kill Jack to put something decent as a ground vehicle in the ship?"

"You're the one mating with him. If anyone could convince him to do something, it would be you." Liara stated with no emotion behind it. "I will be using the sensors. Get me into the largest crater at the top." The Asari with Prothean eye markings sat down right next to her, and then quietly lost herself in the controls. Creepy woman.

The drive took a while. Because they were a ground vehicle with no massive radar presence, no one noticed or cared that they were going up into the mountains. The research groups here on Suen had gotten little attention of the centuries, and even with the Rachni out and about in the galaxy again, the research foundation here had no greater importance than before. A few 'Rachni Specialists' were brought out of retirement or exile to feature on news reports and headlines, and did a few interviews. None of the specialists had much in the way of social graces or were used to any kind of press attention.

They made for entertaining news viewing, though. The hour of monotony in climbing old wrecked terrain was made improved by listening to the news report. "Dr. Ferg Yeln Rem is one of the Galaxy's leading Rachni specialists, an expert in their ecology and evolution. Dr Rem, how do the Rachni of today compare to the Rachni of two thousand years ago?"

The Salarian blinked, his mouth staying in a perpetual frown. "What specimens have come in are quite odd. A few of the Rachni Warrior breeds have shown longer tentacles than in past recorded history, and the Rachni worker breeds have shown even finer adjustments to their own inner claws. No Queens were ever captured during the old War, and few Brood Warriors were ever captured intact. The information we do have is well catalogued, however. Only four Brood Warriors have even been sighted in our current crisis, and from our initial study we can surmise that their tentacles and head structure have changed drastically! Possible brain capacity rising!"

"Fascinating, Dr." The poor news anchor said. "Are the Rachni afraid of anything? Is there anything out there that makes them worried? The Krogan, for example?"

The Salarian smirked. "Krogan are deterrent, but not the kind of creature that terrifies Rachni. Their natural predators evolved with them when Element Zero was introduced to Brood Warriors, used to make Brood Warriors and Queens natural biotics. Thresher Maws perhaps just as terrifying as Suen's largest predator."

"You have spent the last fifteen years on Suen, Doctor Rem. Have you ever seen this apex predator?"

"Oh yes. After the war, a few were brought to Thessia's Saeriaia Nature Preserve for preservation. Fourteen creatures remain there, though the naming of the creatures is up for debate. Asari and Turian naming convention names them Greater Ten-legged Tunnel Insect. Salarian convention names them Apeta Remeltan, meaning Alpha ambush predator. Hunts using its biotics, and is very large. Part of the decision to not allow Asari on Suen at any time."

Hannah blinked. "Why is that, Doctor? Asari are nothing like Rachni."

"Asari carry Element Zero within their bodies. Remeltan will find them, kill them for the element. Biotic predator, very dangerous. Thankfully most live underground, and rarely do they emerge from the tunnels. Slight overpopulation problem with them on Suen, with no Rachni or other predator species to keep them in check. Have applied to have Turian Battalion come to clear out many of them, but was refused."

"Sentients of the Citadel, that's all the time we have with Doctor Rem tonight, and we will be bringing you shots from the Eden Prime morgue, where Rachni will be dissected and discussed on this channel at the normal evening feed. Until then, I'm-" Hannah clicked it off.

"Liara. You are aware of what a Remeltan is, yes?"

"The name does not concern me or the Prothean memories." Liara said dismissively. "What is it?"

"Natural predator on Suen. Hunts biotics. Just wanted you to be aware of them." Hannah said, still seeing no reaction on Liara's face. "Ambush predators half the size of a Thresher Maw. We have three biotics in the team, meaning that all of you are going to be inside the inner defensive layer of our formation." Couldn't leave Liara behind on a Prothean endeavor. Not when this was the second time she had left Ilos since they had taken it over.

"This crater, it appears to coincide with the Prothean data for the location of the Collection base." Liara said, once they got to the upper basin of the mountain range.

"So, what? It's gone?" Don asked, looking around with the turret camera. "Did my people wipe it out?"

"Unlikely, brute strength was not enough. The damage had to be concentrated."

Kreana typed away at her Omni-tool, and then nodded. "I have tectonic shift history taken during the attack on Suen as well as the last two thousand years. Scans show that the mountain range has sunk back into the crust by a few hundred feet. Very drastic for this world."

"What about this crater? Anything you've got on it."

"Scans from orbit and elsewhere suggest that this crater collapsed over a hollow area within the mountain range, and that the collapse continued down into the crust. Possibly the magma chamber. The excavation into the area was somewhat successful, though the tunnels that were initially explored were so close to collapse that they were left alone."

"Where is this excavation?"

"Down the mountain range's far side. An old Volus mining drone was used to drill the hole, and then a mine shaft was extended into the caves. Not maintained up to standard, but should be safe." Kreana said. "I'll be getting the access codes before we get there."

The ride back down the mountain range was bumpy, with the slopes covered in loose slate. A lot of that slid down with them, a miniature avalanche running as they got nearer to the bottom. The excavation tunnel entrance looked just like every other Volus made piece of engineering. Circular doors, circular tunnels, and bland off-white coloration. As the GRIZZLY pulled forward, she could see that the terminal for the door was glowing red, making the door as locked.

"The dirt here is disturbed. Something landed here within the last few days." Henry said, motioning to a section of dirt off to the left of the doorway. "Everybody pile out." Henry and Don were out first, scanning the area with rifles out. Kreana and Shev'rash were next, the Quarian tightening the clasps on his suit and stepping out confidently. He and Henry, both biotics of different fashions, took position on either side of Liara. Hannah took the lead position with Kreana and Don took up the rear. Kreana walked up to the terminal, and keyed in a code on the old Salarian hexagon shaped piece of technology.

The doors opened up with a creak, dust disturbing from the grooves in the door and falling in a wave. It hadn't been opened in a long time. "Last opened fourteen local years ago." Kreana reported. "No one came through here in the last few days. Or even years."

Hannah nodded. "Comforting." She moved inside the door first, Kreana moving with her. The Drell stepped lightly. The inside of the tunnel still showed the cuts in it from the original tunnelers. Nothing had been reinforced or adjusted since the original excavation. She guessed that the original project was just underfunded. There were no marks in the dust past a few feet in, where a small observation post had been placed. The sensors were caked in dust as well, which Kreana brushed off and went through the machine's logs.

"Nothing has come within sensor range within the last two decades local time." Kreana said. "But the material has been tampered with. The sensors have been reprogrammed."

"To do what?"

"They were set to let off a loud alarm if they detected anything passing this point. The program has been disabled." The Drell stood up. "The programmer was not very proficient in Salarian codes."

"Weapons out. Henry, if you see anything that stands out, blast it. The local creatures don't have this kind of intelligence." Everyone was stepping lightly now, and Hannah was the first to see the hole in the wall. A freshly cut hole in the wall, with Rachni webbing material holding the rocks in place from collapsing. "They depend on eyesight and don't use helmets. I'll take the lead, you all follow me."

"They may detect you if you display your location. Also a problem are the heavy metals within the walls here. Your signal will not be able to go far."

Hannah didn't wait long before going to stealth. Karen was quiet, but her point about Hannah's squad signal not going far kept her from staying too far from her squad. No more than thirty meters ahead, she would stop and make sure that the rest followed. Their footsteps were loud, and the ground was uneven. Not fifty meters in, the tunneler had given up on an especially hard patch of material. There was even a broken tunneling drill off to the right.

But the tunneler had reached Rachni tunnels. These were far different in construction. Hexagonal in appearance, and the tunnels were not straight. They curved though the rock, and from her sensors went through the softest metals and dirts. So the tunnels were hexagonal initially, but Krogan munitions had damaged the tunnels. The six sided tunnels now looked more circular, or triangular in places where water had flowed.

But it was obvious that someone was here. One of the tunnels had odd webbing holding up the ceiling. Very new webbing, almost wet looking. This tunnel was reinforced, and then dove sharply. at an almost seventy degree angle. Now climbing, Hannah could hardly be quiet when her steps were dislodging loose rocks. She gave up on that and let everyone else catch up, decloaking and letting them see her.

"You see this?" She pointed at the webbing holding a boulder from collapsing into the tunnel. "That's new. I saw some of this on Eden Prime. They line their digging sites with this stuff."

"Smells like paper. Or that Asari crap they wrap their food in." Don reported. "Smells like rain." He ran diagnostics on his Omni-tool, one of the heaviest models that they had. "Hydrogen and Carbon are components of the web. Along with some iron and metals. The carbon seems to be the main component, and is flammable." He chuckled at that.

"Liara, are you rated for climbing under fire?"

The Asari's eyes shifted to her for once. "It was not necessary."

"Right now it means that we have to put pitons in for you." Hannah stated. "You'd think an expert in digging for old cultures would have that." The Asari's color purpled. So she could express something other than distaste. Henry was their climbing gear specialist, and he set in pitons into the wall material, letting the Rachni webbing take some of the weight of the weighted line he attached. A small powered rail system allowed one person at a time to be shot up at zip line speed to the piton. But it would leave a mark, some piece of evidence.

Liara was hooked up to the small powered rail, and everyone else just started moving downward. The tunnel twisted, going in long spirals underground and coming down into a larger chamber.

"None of this was explored by Council Teams." Kreana said. "Their teams reported that this direction of tunnels had collapsed. We are in unknown territory."

The exposed chambers were large, almost like a large lake had carved out an underground sink. Small spindly walkways had been raised from the ground and reached up to the ceiling of the chamber, going into small hexagon shaped tunnels that went upwards. Large boulders and piles of dirt showed places where the ceiling of the chamber had collapsed a bit. But the larger chamber was supported by large hexagonal layered columns that separated the ceiling of the chamber into multiple pieces. The chamber was maybe a half a mile wide at its thinnest point. Her scanners couldn't map it all, it went so many different ways.

More terrifying was the prospect of getting down to the bottom of the chamber. They had to go down some spindly walkways meant for bug appendages. There were no stairs or grips. Handholds there were a lot of, but there were no places to rest on the way down.

"How did your people even maneuver in this?" She asked Don.

"Krogan ships of my time were glorified mega haulers. Even our so called Dreadnaughts were little more than gigantic troop transports. Millions of our kind died here. Our people suffered from an entire lost generation, even with Salarian help. Some of the older ones remember that time, when everyone was happy to see young Krogan running around. Our ships were signs of victory, and our soldiers signs of peace and stability."

"There might be some of them down here, still." Hannah said. "Their remains, I mean."

"Old bones are best left undisturbed." Don muttered. "They won't help us with our current problems."

"Shev, go and secure this line." Shev'rash could biotic charge his way to safety.

"Don't!" Henry said sharply. "I've got thermal signatures!" This was no place for them to take cover. They were all on some piece of rock that looked like it had been woven out of the ground. "Show me!" Her grip was not the best in this environment.

Henry's visor input went on top of hers, showing a view of the far side of the chamber. There was blood all over the ground, and pieces of some sort of chitinous creature were spread over an area maybe twenty meters wide. In a small cavern next to the creature, there was another thermal bloom, barely warmer than the ground around it. She couldn't see the full creature, but she could see numerous legs hanging outside of the small cavern.

They were large and hairy, and were tipped. The coloration matched the rock around it, and Hannah did not like it. "How long as those legs?"

"Ballpark? Six meters at least. There could be more segments of leg inside of there, but I don't see any of its torso."

"Those tips could go through any of us then. Even you wouldn't survive that, Don."

"Figuring I would survive a hyperbaric bomb was one thing, Henry. Giant bug? I'm descended from shipbuilders, not trophy hunters."

"Let's move slowly. Hopefully we won't need to go near it."

"Problem, Ma'am. That dead creature is a Rachni. I think." Henry said, his shared visor view coming towards the mangled head of the body, which looked vaguely like a Rachni. "His buddies are probably close."

"Kreana, get a drone looking for more webbing. Don, link with its sensors and use them to find webbing or mixed compounds." Hannah ordered. "Henry, keep an eye on that Remeltan. Or whatever it is. Something that size has to survive on relative sized prey." She glanced around, not seeing Liara. "Liara!"

There was no reply for a second. "She's on the ground!" Shev'rash said, pointing. The girl had just ignored Hannah's orders and gone to the ground, and was walking confidently across the broken surface of the chamber. Her radio still showed that she was checking in.

"Shev'rash, you're the fastest. Get over to her. Figure it out. Don't use your biotics." The Quarian nodded, his three fingered hands grasping the rock easily. "Let's move!"

Hannah climbed down quickly, but it was Don that got down the fastest. Krogan were good at climbing. Their forms didn't seem like it, but they had very strong toes and their limbs were filled with muscles both primary and secondary. They could grip, and grip well. Her Human feet didn't like the smooth stone or the poor handholds. Henry remained up high for a while longer, to make sure that the predator wasn't moving.

"By the Four!" Liara's voice carried. Hannah saw Shev'rash's biotic barrier ripple, the Quarian man fall over from the force of Liara's biotics. "I'm sorry!" Her face had paled, and she was holding a hand to her chest as if she had been surprised.

"Liara! I said to stay with the group!" Hannah said over team comm.

"I apologize, I turned down my comm so that I could think." She offered. "But I saw something there." The Asari motioned towards one of the walls of the cavern, where the walls seemed the same as everything else. Hannah didn't see anything different.

"Don't do that again." Hannah told her, and the Asari blinked a couple of times, and then nodded. She moved forward, coming up to the seemingly blank wall and running her hands along it. The squad moved with her, trusting her as their expert in all this. Though now that they were in a large open chamber, everyone was on edge. Don stepped forward quickly, finding some sort of upturned rock.

"It's clear." He muttered. Down inside the rock were a few old pieces of metal that must have glinted to Don's view. "Just some old crap." To Hannah's perspective, they looked like old Krogan helmets. Most looked ruined or broken to the point of being unrecognizable. Don just passed them by.

"This is not a natural formation!" Liara said into the team comm. "This rock is of a different consistency to the rest of the cavern. It was not formed at the same time as the other rocks." She pulled out a small tool, almost like a small ice pick. The metallic tap tap that followed echoed across the chamber, and Henry swivelled towards the area that the Remeltan had been sitting.

LIara puttered on, talking about carbon dating and marking how different this wall was compared to the rest of the chamber, but Hannah tuned that out to observe Henry. "Kreana, have the drone check that area." He said quietly, but his hands tightened on his rifle stock. Liara kept talking, delving into water marks and such now. Henry just looked around, seeing no movement. "Ma'am, that thing is on the move. We should get to cover."

She nodded, and looked over at Liara. "Any ideas on where we should go, then?" The ground around them was mostly broken up pieces of limestone, sturdy but it looked shattered from the earlier war. There were some large crevices and that kind of rock formation in some areas, but no easily distinguishable tunnels.

"There is something here. One moment." Liara glowed brightly with her biotics, and pressed one of her hands into the wall. It shifted, a hexagon shaped section withdrawing and opening wide. Almost like those Prothean doors that existed on Ilos. "The Rachni modified the Prothean doors here."

"How do Rachni understand Prothean technology?" Hannah asked, surprised. The inside of the tunnel was hexagonal like everything else here. Except that it was made out of pure Rachni webbing. Underneath that was the metal she had associated with Prothean ruins. Liara at once improved in her demeanor, stepping past the webbing to touch the walls of the Prothean metal. Don had to crawl along the webbing, too large to fit anywhere else. When everyone had stepped through, Kreana's drone flew back to her hand and folded back down into a smaller form.

"We will find out soon, I hope." Liara responded. She also tapped a few parts of the wall, causing the door to slide shut. Her sensors beeped as the door shut, and a large chitinous leg came into view through the gateway as it closed. "I think I have seen one of those before, actually."

"What?" Don asked. "Aren't you prey to them?"

"A few have been, how you say, tamed? Thessia has maintained a small population of rare creatures from other planets in the galaxy. A few Drell and Quarian creatures as well, as it so happens. My mother took me to see some of them five decades ago. The creatures you call Remeltan were much smaller than this specimen. Perhaps being raised in captivity is important to that methodology."

"Focus on the Prothean ruin. What exactly is this place?" Hannah interjected. Liara was a scientist at heart, and could go on for hours. She had humored the woman once, and learned across a span of six hours exactly what Javik's secondary eye motions were supposed to convey. Mostly disgust, from what she had seen.

Liara blinked, her painted Prothean eyes making it seem even more otherworldly. "Ah, one moment." She brought out her Omni-tool, and brought up some sort of Prothean files. "I have a map of what this facility once was supposed to be. It was built in two stages. One stage was mounted on the surface, while the other was kept below ground, and where the Rachni were harvested. The upper section was a hangar bay and meant to assist in the moving of specimens."

A file was sent to all of their Omni-tools, with a small blinking dot showing their current position. Hannah had to expand the view. The ruins were supposed to be much larger, and fill much of that chamber. But this spot was supposed to be just an airlock between the larger collection room, the supposed chamber they just came through, and a main hall. Ahead of them, instead of going straight into a main hall, the tunnel of webbing and hexagon shaped cuts in the rock went down.

"It's safe to say that they've redesigned the place." Henry said, taking point. He glowed with his biotics, and made himself lighter in order to move more quickly down the tunnel. Henry's biotics were not terribly strong, and he mostly used them to just give himself a biotic barrier or lighten his weight. He couldn't perform a Throw or a Warp. "The tunnel drops hard here. Don, drop another piton and powered rail for the Doctor."

Hannah cloaked, moving past Henry and down into another seventy degree tunnel, this one made from Rachni webbing. It wasn't new, and it was dry and brittle in places. It had been preserved from the war two thousand years ago, and there was definitely some metal in the ropey fibres. Her boots clinked against it slightly. But they held, as she moved down into another hundred foot steep drop, the webs making decent handholds.

After that, she found herself in another large Prothean chamber, a dome that had been split in half. It seemed as though volcanic activity split it, the room filled in with Rachni material along the split. Hannah focused, seeing that there was motion inside the room. A large block of Prothean metal rose up in the middle of the chamber, like a tall column that didn't support anything. Just a freestanding structure.

"Rachni sighted." Hannah said over the comm channel. "Henry, Don, Shev'rash. I'll need you down here. Kreana, stay with Liara." Fifty or more of the big Rachni were milling around the structure, with hundreds of the cat-sized smaller workers crawling all over the structure. She stayed cloaked, observing them.

"We're on our way down. Setting a second piton and powered rail for good measure." Henry reported. The freestanding column was covered in small crystals, all of which looked distinctly Rachni in shape and function. The smaller ones were all over the crystals, and the larger warriors were shifting debris away from the column. All of the warriors were armored. Worst of all, Hannah could see a Brood Warrior sitting at the far end of the cavern, the larger creature also armored. It had another one of those plasma cannons.

"Hurry it up!" A voice called. Hannah blinked, focusing on a small figure wearing Asari armor. "Get the info and open the damned vault!" She was standing right next to the Brood Warrior. The Brood Warrior wasn't killing the Asari, which was odd.

The Rachni made a series of trilling noises at the Asari, which only made her plant her feet wider and point her finger in the general direction of another tunnel. "I don't care! You can always make more workers and warriors! Send a few of them to get those parts you need. Then we can get out of this place."

"Hostile Asari allied to Rachni is also down here. Henry, I want her Omni-tool. She can understand the bugs."

"Roger, Ma'am. That could change a few things." A glance at her radar showed that the squad was slowly coming down. Hannah had time to burn. She spent it setting up tech mines on proximity mode along the most likely places for them to try to charge them.

"Don't tell me that's impossible! Send your brood mates, and get that vault open!" The Asari glowed for a moment, and the Rachni flinched, armor and all. It wasn't a Warp or anything like that, but the large creature cried out in pain and its head dropped to the floor pitifully. "Sings to Old Stone, do you understand?" The Asari was talking down to the Rachni, almost like a superior.

The Rachni quivered, and then stood up. Albeit more shakily than it had before. Half of the Warriors and the little workers got up and moved for one of the exits, the Brood Warrior trilling oddly. "Henry, I want this Asari dead to rights. She goes first." If that woman had enough power to hurt a Rachni that large, Hannah was positive that she would be a major threat to them.

"Aye." Henry reported. "At the bottom of the shaft now. Man, this place is crawling."

"I've got mines in place. Don, Shev'rash, that Brood Warrior has a plasma cannon in its chest meant for tanks. I want it disabled first. Henry has the Asari. I'm on the workers." Her catsuit didn't have much room for heavy explosives, nor did her Omni-tool have the most magnificent foundry for making such things. But it did have a great Overload feature. "Henry has the opening shot."

"We're in position at the bottom of the tunnel. Pitons are set. Ready to take the shot on your mark." Hannah took a deep breath. She was on top of a rock that gave her some cover and a clear shot back to the tunnels. She waited for the Rachni Warriors and workers to be sent off, and then waited for the Asari to step into the open. With her pacing, it wouldn't take long.

As she was waiting, the Rachni Brood Warrior sent out another trilling noise. The Asari turned, looking at it. "Well, what are you standing here for? Open it, and let's get that Beacon!"

Beacon? Another Prothean Beacon? Hannah remembered that the Rachni at Eden Prime were obsessed with one of those, as well. She watched as the big Rachni moved forward, using its biotics to effect the pillar. Dust and caked on dirt started breaking off, and a seam started opening in the side of the structure. It trilled back at the Asari, who moved forward to assist it.

Hannah blinked her green light with a command from her Omni-tool. Henry's shot impacted the Asari in the side of the head, blood and gore caking the left side of the Brood Warrior's armor. His shot had been deterred by kinetic barriers but they hadn't been strong enough to stop the shot. Hannah didn't wait, firing her Overload at the gigantic Rachni, and then blasting her shotgun into a nearby Warrior, its unprotected head section perforating with rounds and going down.

The rest of the squad opened up, Don's freezing rounds covering the big Brood Warrior and making it screech. He focused on the front of its chest, the rounds covering armor and head alike with ice. Napalm followed, courtesy of Henry switching over to his heavy weapon and blanketing the area.

The Rachni reacted as one, the entire horde of workers clamoring off of the structure to help the Warriors grab the small plasma weapons and mount them on their tentacles. They did this as the warriors charged, the workers leaping up onto their backs and grabbing the small weapons from magnetic strips along the backs of the warrior's armor. The Brood Warrior screeched, thrashing until its tentacles were released from icy confinement.

Hannah ran like hell, knowing that her catsuit wouldn't be able to take a hit from either plasma or acid. Rachni loved their acid. She heard Don scream out, as the Brood Warrior launched a spray of acid that hit him directly. The Krogan, to his credit, just took cover behind a rock and shot his own arm with the freeze cannon, freezing the acid and stopping it from melting it off completely.

Tech mines that she had set made the Rachni lose a few of their larger numbers, as well as a lot of the workers, who were running underfoot. Hannah slid to a stop at the bottom of the tunnel, seeing Don moving past her. His half-frozen arm and melting armor did not look good.

"Shev! The cannon!" The plasma cannon was about to come to bear on them, and that Rachni Brood Warrior looked angry.

Shev'rash used a Warp, the armor of the giant bug creaking in response, and then retreated to the tunnel they had come through. Hannah grabbed hold of the back of Don's armor, letting hers magnetize to the strips on his back. Shev'rash kept firing, and Henry rolled into the cave. "We've got their attention!"

"Back up the tunnel!" Don clipped in to the powered rail, which activated and shot both of them up to the top of the bend. He rolled off to the side, breathing heavily and trying not to cough. Hannah just looked over at Kreana and Liara, both of the women already having moved behind rocks for cover. She rolled out of the way herself, as Henry and Shev'rash took the other rail, the screeching of Rachni coming up already. The entire area was built by them, and they moved with the kind of confidence that was borne from knowing the territory.

Hannah and everyone else let loose with rifles and a couple of sniper shots down the long tunnel, Warriors and workers dying in the confined space. But they were flooding up the tunnel faster than their weapons could keep up. Kreana threw out an Incinerate, making the lead pair of warriors fall back down the tunnel, twitching and screeching in pain. They almost reached the top when Liara started glowing, picking up a Rachni warrior in the front and raising it a few meters in front of the rest. Then it slammed downwards, pushing through all of the rachni and sending a few more to their deaths. Don's Avalanche spent its last rounds clearing the back of the wave, sending the Rachni reeling backwards.

They waited for their guns to cool off before seeing if any more were coming, Henry leaning out over the edge with sniper rifle primed to see what was going on below. He quickly backed away as plasma washed over the tunnel's bend. It broke apart the old webbing, and the rocks quickly collapsed. Hannah grumbled as she saw their entrance tunnel close up, rocks crushing the few corpses that were at the top and leaving them no way to enter.

"Medi-gel, come to papa…" Don mumbled, his mangled arm visible past the layer of ice and showing bone. "Humans are at least good for inventing that."

"Protheans." Liara intoned. "Protheans took the designs from the Inusannon, and passed them on to the les- other races." She turned to Hannah. "Did the other Asari say something about a beacon?"

"Yeah." Hannah said, bringing up her camera view. Her visor recorded the entire room and all of its entrances. "It's down there."

Liara glared. It honestly looked a bit childish on her young face. "We have to stop them! The Rachni cannot access that beacon! The Protheans left a smaller beacon here for any of their survivors to be able to use them. It may contain information that will cripple us."

"Plasma and acid are already painful enough, I think." Don muttered. "It'll take more than we have with us to get through that cave in. Even if we do go back through that tunnel, that bug will just blast us with that damn cannon."

"My drone has recorded other tunnels. We cross examined its information with the information you've sent us and we believe there is another tunnel entrance nearby." Kreana highlighted a route that would take them back out into the larger chamber and to the next tunnel.

"But that would mean trying to get past that monstrosity." Hannah said. "It's going to be just waiting for someone to go outside. Kreana, set up your drone."

"It has at least fifteen minutes of operational life." The Drell said. She tapped her Omni-tool, and from her hip bag the core of the drone came alive and sprouted its deployable shell, glowing in the dark room. Hannah grinned and reached into her bag, pulling out a scarf that she used when she was cold and didn't want to wear her helmet. She wrapped the nice cashmere scarf around the drone, knotting it so that a long tail would hang out. One of Jack's nicer gifts, when they both had the chance to go on a nice date on Omega last. "Sensors are dampened by that piece of clothing." Kreana said. "I will not be able to direct it as effectively."

"That's fine. Just get that thing's attention and have it chase this little bauble. It's a predator. Give it something to chase and it'll get that happy 'I'm gonna murder you' feeling and lead it away from here."

The Drell blinked, and then set in a flight path for the drone. "I will endeavor to make it as convincing as any other form of prey." With that, they cracked open the door and let the drone out, sending it back towards where the Rachni had been killed earlier. They didn't hear anything from outside the door, but their motion sensors captured something large on the move right after the drone.

"Let's go!" Liara said, in her excitement standing right next to the fully opening doorway. Don was in the middle with Henry, and Kreana took up the back this time. She was somewhat distracted with leading the drone forward. Liara and Shev'rash had the lead, the Asari taking great leaps and bounds and using her biotics to speed her forward to the next tunnel entrance.

Hannah was too far back to have seen the Rachni warrior standing watch at the entrance, but managed to see Liara glow a deeper purple than normal. The warrior's body snapped in half, the force of Liara's Throw crushing it onto a rock hard enough to break the connection between its Thorax and head.

"I will not be stopped by one such as you!" She declared, moving to the mouth of the tunnel and looking down. "I need to come down there with you!"

Hannah caught up, breathing slightly increased. "Not a chance. You're a VIP. We can't risk you. We need to attack before the Rachni press the advantage."

"I can stop their acid from coming near us. We can't let them get a Prothean Beacon, Captain Gunn." With anyone other than Jack, she was Henry's estranged aunt. Allison Gunn. Tough woman who could make the hard calls. Though sometimes she just wanted to cry out her troubles. Right now, she was looking at facing off against an enemy with more numbers and territory and Liara was just complicating things.

"That is our primary objective, yes." Fetch whatever the Protheans left behind on their Rachni project. "If you get hurt, I'm going to make sure that I tell Javik that it was Jack's idea."

Liara giggled. Then schooled her features and prepared her Asari made pistol. May she rot in Hell for this, but she wanted to have both Kreana and Liara there. Don was no longer capable of firing anything with both hands, and Henry had some scrapes on his armor. Hannah was out of tech grenades and Kreana's drone would be busy for a bit.

This tunnel sloped at a lower angle, going around a large piece of solid rock. But at the bottom she could see the room that they were heading towards. Prothean metal in the walls, as well as what appeared to be a layer of Rachni webbing across the entrance.

"They're trying to keep us out! Henry, burn it." Hannah crouched, pressing her rifle stock into her shoulder. Kreana lifted out a large sniper rifle, and Henry set his off to the side and hefted the Napalm launcher. Don chuckled over the comms as the workers still trying to set up the barrier burned, acid spraying all over and the webbing popping from the strain of its strands burning. The Rachni screeched, and they advanced forward. Hannah could see that it was just Warriors and workers left in here. The Brood Warrior was no where to be found.

Liara crushed three of the Rachni warriors with her biotics, her barrier thick enough to block the advances of the others. Henry and Kreana gleefully blasted the heads off of any of the other warriors, and within sixty seconds the room was clear. Only six warriors and more than four times their number in workers had been left to slow them down. But the pillar was empty. The beacon was already gone.

She slathered her stomach with medi-gel and water, one of the Rachni workers having popped all over her midriff. Another had tried to bite her foot, but found out that she really loved her belt knives. The little bug melted one of her favorite knives as it died, and its fellow sprayed her with acid as it exploded, causing her to take some damage. "Kreana, find out where they went with it. Liara, see if any of the data crystals are still inside." Strangely enough, Don wandered over and helped her with the medi-gel. The big Krogan carefully applied a thin bandage with a quick seal on her belly and gave it a pat to check its state.

"You'll live. But your armor sucks."

"Cloaking is too useful to not use." She reminded him. "Henry, get that Asari's tool. We need it."

"it's gone too, Ma'am." Henry said. "But I've collected some blood samples from the ground and hopefully that'll help."

"The Rachni have left a trap along one of the tunnels. It may collapse upon us if we use it." Kreana reported. "I believe most of the recent markings show that is where the Rachni went."

Hannah nodded. "Shev, Liara, keep the tunnel from collapsing. Henry, take point. Don, you have the middle." She and Kreana were behind them. When they passed under a particularly dark patch of webbing, the ceiling started to collapse. Liara and Shev held all of the rocks in place, and Hannah stepped very quickly past the two of them when it was her turn. It wasn't the only patch where the Rachni had weakened the tunnel. Don used the empty Avalanche as a prop to hold up one of the boulders at one section, and Kreana had to use Omni-gel to keep it there.

At the top of the tunnel, which continued for a quarter mile and meandered almost like a corkscrew up through the mountains, they finally reached a larger chamber entrance. This time a Prothean door was here, and it was covered in some thick resin. Rachni workers populated the area, along with one warrior. Napalm burned all of them, but the resin seemed to be some form of fire retardant.

"Odd. There are not supposed to be Prothean constructions here." Liara stated, before throwing a heavy Warp on the resin. A Pull from Shev'rash shattered the mess, and the Prothean door opened for Liara ten seconds after that. "I believe the Rachni moved the facility themselves. Or through tectonic forces."

"This is a Prothean hangar?" Hannah asked.

"Yes. It should fit six to eight ships, according to the Empire's building codes." Crap. There was a lot of space in that kind of a building. "However, it also may have internal defenses that I could use. If the Rachni are powering the building, they might be accessible."

The opened door revealed an old airlock, with stasis trap projectors. Hannah had gotten quite used to those, and noticing them, since she had been caught in one. Those traps were downright nasty. They appeared to be deactivated, as well. The doors worked, but apparently they had their own power supplies meant to last millennia. Liara tried to patch in through one of the small data ports connected to the doors, but found no luck.

"I'm going in, then." Hannah said. "Rachni haven't detected me yet."

"Be careful. They might be able to smell blood or acid on you." Don said. "I can smell the medi-gel, a bit. I don't remember how Rachni senses compared to Krogan ones."

Hannah nodded, and with a small thank you pat on Don's shoulder, slipped into the corridor ahead of them. Her cloak engaged, and its efficiency was only down slightly. The patch was holding, but it wasn't throwing off her tactical cloaking field. Her steps disturbed some of the loose dirt, leaving humanoid footprints in the dust. One pair of footprints already was here, going into the tunnel she had just come out of.

"Move up." She said. "They've got some sort of creepy hive up ahead." The larger chamber she had entered was just crystals. The normal rectangular Prothean structure had been overlaid with hexagonal creations, making everything look like a giant bee hive. But each of the hexagonal openings had crystals of some sort inside of them. Crystals with metal parts and gear. "I think they turned this into a factory." The Prothean metal must have been the only reason this was all preserved. She moved forward, following the other trail of footsteps to an area around the main hive structure.

She could feel a breeze, of some sort. Exterior access. She stepped slightly quicker, coming around a bend in the Prothean metal and hive material to find a section of rock that could slide open. It was plated over Prothean metal, and then had some sort of reinforcement.

"This isn't a simple factory. I recognize some of these parts. This is a Shipyard." Don said. "These are Rachni craft, Captain. Nothing completed, it looks like, but my people's history never mentioned finding anything like this."

"Nor mine." Liara said. "Rachni craft were very powerful, but we assumed that they were hand crafted. Each was individual, and other than engine capabilities we could barely tell one apart from another."

She came to a stop around the corner, seeing that one entire corner of the area had collapsed, and a small crevice had opened in the rock. A beaten up old shuttle sat there, an old Volus model with circular reinforcement around its cargo bay. Popular for smugglers, as the Volus were very efficient for creating cargo space. There were crystals of all kinds in its cargo hold already, some more than ten meters long. She could see that the beacon was being carried by four of the warriors, with webbing between them holding it up. Workers scrambled all over it.

There were less than fifteen warriors left, and all of them were chittering and trilling about something. Next to the beacon was the body of the Asari, being held in the webbing. "Kreana, Tell me your Volus systems hack still works."

"This one is quite positive. Would you prefer a creative approach or logical?"

"Surprise me." Hannah said. She didn't have to wait long. The shuttle was already running, and a few terse moments of waiting followed. Then, the shuttle burst into action, driving forward into the Rachni Brood warrior, and driving into one of the hexagonal hangars to crash beautifully. The Brood warrior's tentacles rose up, flustered and looking more surprised than dead. It's cannon didn't look completely repaired from their earlier attack, but the armor was still shattered in the area around its neck.

It screeched, looking around and swivelling to find out what had happened. Hannah almost snickered, but kept herself in check. Her laugh wasn't one of those cute little laughs. She had the snorting trait. Henry thought it was hilarious. "Engage." She said. While the creatures were off their feet, this was the best time to attack.

Napalm rained upon the creatures still loitering around where the shuttle had been parked. Workers and warriors alike scattered under the spray, and the Brood Warrior glowed with biotic power. Henry dropped an expletive when the Pull hit the ground near him, yanking him and Kreana towards the Brood warrior, along will all of the dust and loose rock within five meters.

Don bellowed as he fired some sort of larger armor piercing rounds in his shotgun, blowing apart a couple of warriors and taking fire from the others. Shev'rash, as typical, Charged one of the outlying warriors and knocked it senseless before letting his shotgun nozzle empty rounds at close range. Hannah stayed cloaked for a moment longer, waiting to see what the Rachni did. They rallied around their Brood warrior, taking defensive positions around it and firing their odd plasma weapons at them. Kreana got pulled less than Henry, who was somewhere in the middle of that pile of Rachni.

"Liara, Shev, pull him out!" Hannah ordered, firing her rifle at the big target in the mix. An Overload went right before this, making the raised biotic barrier of the Brood Warrior shrink slightly. She had to roll to the side to avoid sprays of acid directed at her position, but the Rachni did not advance. They had too few of numbers to be able to flood them.

Somewhere in the middle of the pack, napalm rained. Henry's heavy weapon had lit most of the Rachni on fire, and the big one was coated in it. As for the man himself, she couldn't see him.

"Liara, bring that bastard down!"

A crystal the size of a normal warrior, tipped with some sort of pointed end, slammed into the barrier the brood warrior had produce. It penetrated, the purple barrier fizzling and popping as the tip barely crunched against the armor. The crystal didn't get through its thick armor, and fell sideways, crushing the limbs of a couple of the bugs. Kreana ran for the wall, releasing her drone to distract the enemy, but mostly just trying to get away from the sources of plasma and impending death.

The Brood warrior tried to fire its plasma cannon at Kreana, but it instead exploded, the damage and whatever else causing the plasma to no longer be contained. It's entire front half exploded, acidic blood and organs flying everywhere. Without their leader, the remaining Rachni panicked and ran for the shuttle. They no longer coordinated, or fired their weapons as effectively. The workers just tried to hide. Some certainly got away, but others were destroyed by Kreana's drone.

The shuttle itself was full of Rachni webbing and crystals. Hardly any room existed between each crystal to allow for more to be loaded. Hannah cloaked, coming into the cockpit. It was empty, and curiously the co-pilots seat was another Rachni creation. It looked like some form of membrane had been placed there, with wires connecting it to the dashboard. Rachni form of flight instruments, perhaps? The Asari's room was another thing entirely. It was actually locked.

"Kreana, can you open all locked and sealed doors onboard this thing?" She asked.

"I already did. If you have encountered such a door, it must be manually set this way. Or on an internal network. I shall assist."

The echoing sounds of Don or Henry shooting more of the Rachni came through, but nothing that Kreana did was having any luck. Hannah just got out her knife and a handy wrench tool from the ship's maintenance supplies. She popped open the internal panel for the door and found some Rachni membrane securing the door. "Found it! Those bugs can really get everywhere."

A twist of her knife and the door was no longer locked. It slammed open, and rounds impacted near her head. "Quickly! You must come! They will take it from us!" An Asari voice was saying. If there was a reply, Hannah could not hear it. But she came into the room under stealth, seeing an overturned set of lockers and an Asari using them as a last stand. Four weapons rested against the cover, all of whom would fetch a fine price after this mission was over. Some sort of comm relay was in the back, hooked up to an independent power source. The Asari wasn't even fully armored, and had a large gash on her face from some impact. Glancing towards the bed in the room, she could see a dark blue mark on the wall where that must have happened. Probably when Kreana hacked the ship.

It felt satisfying to finally have a target to remove the old fashioned way. her knife slid underneath the jawline and up into the skull, the Asari dropping dead instantly. Hannah even angled the body so that the blood wouldn't ruin the chest piece of armor that she had on. "Shuttle secure." She reported. "Another Asari, calling for help from one source or another. I don't think she made contact."

The comm relay warbled, and a small display popped up. Hannah couldn't read the dialect of Asari, but it was moving by so fast that her VI couldn't handle it. The device's display sent a laser around the room, which scanned Hannah and must have recorded her. It made a token stop on the Asari. It scanned her twice to three times, and then turned off.

"Kitty Cat, this is Little Dog. The X-19 Listening Post just went down. Something big is coming through the relay. Registered as a Dreadnaught. It'll be here in fifteen minutes."

Hannah felt her stomach get tight. The only kind of thing that had that kind of speed was a Reaper. "Alpha Team, Liara, we've got to go right now! Reaper inbound!"

* * *

Mnemosyne, Thorne System, June 2182

Jack Harper walked as calmly as one can when walking through a dead Reaper. That was, in reality, with more weapons and guns out than you can safely carry and more explosives than you want to ever have reason to use. But the suit of armor was fully loaded with one of the most powerful directed EMP weapons that existed, as well as a heavy Mattock Rifle. Thirteen centimeters of armor prevented anything from getting to him.

"Charles, is this working?" He asked.

"Yes. No unwanted creatures or objects from subatomic to energy levels have tried to get through. Or if they have, they are beyond our expertise to see."

"Don't quote Asimov when I'm trying to actually dive inside a Reaper." Jack retorted. "Making my approach." The gravity here became normal, forcing him to deploy his jump harness. A great invention from Cerberus. His current one was built with an extended fuel tank, as he was going deeper into the wreck than any of the drones could have gone.

All of the drones they sent invariably got hacked, and sent back incorrect data sets that the next pack of drones would prove to be incorrect. After four hundred runs with the drones, the damn Reaper had proven to have a chameleon like interior that shifted constantly, or their drones were hacked immediately upon contact with the electronic signature. But so far Charles hadn't been able to prove anything or test anything, and he had been at this for months. Seven months he had been at this, and before that he had been on the Normandy project. That ship was a real beauty, one that Hackett had no choice but to use.

After drones they tried mechs using point to point transmitters. That didn't work either. The signal got hacked, or they appeared in places that weren't listed on the data sets they had. The mechs didn't come back. Neither did the drones, after the first dozen. The next two dozen they sent in didn't follow orders or change direction when prompted, and disappeared into the Dreadnaught. None of the drones had been sighted since, and none of the mechs had any kind of weapons. But all of that lead to this moment. His original plan of sending in a mech to go and get what he needed had failed. The only way that anyone was going to be getting anything from this piece of Indoctrination was to go in directly. Only one person knew exactly where it was they were going inside, and jack could only remember vague details from his past life regarding this Reaper.

The only major details that his mind could remember were that after the removal of the IFF system, the ship had come somewhat alive and tried to murder Commander Shepard and her crew. He did manage the project, but like with the drones, all of the data sets and maps of the interior of the Reaper came back different with each information packet. They were unreliable sets of information, not to mention however his Indoctrinated mind may have misinterpreted them at the time.

So here he was, flying into a Reaper. The jump harness directed him towards one of the large holes in the hull, where he had to turn on the large spotlights mounted into the suit's shoulders. Forward facing narrow beam lights created the furthest penetrating sources of light, Two more halo-shaped lights on the elbows lit up the area to the left and right of his suit. His feet had two directed lights that he could use as well, with a suit this large it was necessary. He had almost a foot between his feet and the actual outer layer.

The Reaper was dark, and terrible. The light from the local star disappeared the moment that he passed inside the ship. Even though there were cracks in the hull here, the light dimmed and didn't penetrate very far at all. All of the drones claimed that the Reaper had an outer armored layer some dozens of feet thick, with an inner layer of 'ribs' that wrapped around the actual electronic guts of the ship.

He saw that, and more. The drones that had been 'lost' were trying to patch a hole that had been made, using parts from one of the mechs. Jack had the suit fly away from the drone repair crew, avoiding them and diving deeper into the superstructure, the electronic parts becoming more prevalent. The pathways throughout the ship were not meant for humanoids to travel through. They were triangular in shape, with the point facing downwards.

The jump harness wasn't going to be able to fly everywhere, so he had to magnetically attach to one of the slanting walls. Then he had to reach over with his hands and use the opposite wall to keep from falling. This took a long while to get where he was going inside the ship, which was the original reason that the Cerberus had to build walkways through this place. Instead, it was a long boring thirty minutes to the middle of the Reaper.

It was almost anticlimactic when he found the glowing red panel near the heart of the bastard was finally in front of him. He had lost contact with the outside world as soon as he had passed into the Reaper, and he glanced at his sensors often to see if anything was trying to get through. His sensors reported that he was somewhere tropical and warm, and that the air here was perfectly breathable. Oh yes, his sensors were compromised. But his HUD hadn't changed, so that was promising.

Jack focused on the wall in front of him. It held the systems that the Reapers would use when they navigated. Or so he assumed. Cerberus scientists had to work for two weeks to pop open the casing that protected the Reaper's IFF devices. This suit had an answer for what would normally require weeks of work. The plasma torch he was using had been tested on the hull plating of a Reaper, and it was for sure going to get through this reinforced plating.

It was with great joy that he plunged the torch through the first layers of plating. He even got artistic with the motions, cutting off large swathes of metal like a painter would paint a piece. He grinned as the large metal plate covering the glowing red mechanics of the navigation controls fell off.

"And now, I can finally move on from this bloody place." Jack said to himself, placing the giant hand of the suit onto the IFF's housing. Then, as brutishly as possible, He ripped out the entire mechanism. Jack had to stand up the suit entirely, blue glowing cables going to the end of their tethers and ripping out from the back of the piece. It took a small jump, letting gravity take hold of him and using his bodyweight to jerk the machinery out of its place. His first attempt netted a guttural crunch from where his suit's fingers were against the metal.

He used the magnetic linings of his boots to move even further upwards, above the cut in the plating. Then, he jumped again with all of his weight on the device. The last wires popped out like there was no resistance, Jack's eyes widening as he fell all the way to the bottom of the triangular deck plates. His boots didn't catch until he was in a heap at the bottom. The Reaper IFF he rested in his arms, not letting the precious piece of technology be damaged.

Around him, the walls quaked. A loud gurgling roar started from the innermost depths of the ship, and Jack could hear through the suit's speakers and feel through the suit's legs the quaking. He remembered from Shepard's mission report that the last logs of his scientific team were that 'Even dead gods dream'. Apparently he had just yanked out the dead god's balls and it was very unhappy.

He engaged the jump harness immediately. He wasn't flying in the exact same direction that he came in at. With his sensors compromised, he was sure that his screens might also be. But thankfully, he could remember his path by feel. The walls loomed in front of him, and his suit interface showed him cruising straight for the walls. But he was positive that this was the spot he had entered.

He hit the wall with a loud crunch, the jump harness screeching as he was dragged across the surface of the wall. Alright, maybe the Reaper liked to change its interior. Jack shook his head, and felt the corners of the wall, feeling that it was a complete seal. The way out was sealed shut. Looking back, the only pathway open to him was straight forward. Directly into the belly of the beast. The way back was sealed.

"Cute." At least now they could confirm that something in here was actively trying to keep the Reaper protected. The internal gravity was based on something more powerful than Element Zero, and perhaps the ship rotated. If so, then the hallways and connecting branches could rotate as well. But he also knew that the core of this ship had a hole blown open wide through it. If he could just reach that, he would be fine. Of course, that meant going deeper in and closer to the source of the Indoctrination.

He strapped the IFF to his chest plate, and then bungee corded it by feel. Just in case his magnetic strips decided to fail without telling him. His suit had most certainly been subverted by the enemy. Or at least parts of it. Charles would probably hate examining it, just like the drone's code. Nothing wrong on the surface, but all of the basic firmware at the processor levels had been rewritten. The most frustrating things to fix.

His jump harness reported no damage from his collision with the door, but from experience he could see that some of the chemical jets by his shoulders weren't firing right. He dipped on the right side, and he had to overpower the jump harness to reach the desired height at the end of the hallway. Four turns and one larger section that could have fit the entire Acheron twice over inside of it and Jack had arrived in front of a large gash in the hull. It went all the way through, the light of the Brown dwarf shining through the dark metal in golden waves. What was more frustrating was the kinetic barrier that existed in between him and the light of that star.

"Alright, that's how you want to do this." Jack muttered. "Good to know you like me so much." The energy core of this craft was in the next room, and Jack was able to get up to it in no time. It was also supposed to be dead and damaged, but the orb of energy still flickered, even with half of its protective casing completely ripped off. He brought out his directed EMP weapon and strapped it right to the opening of the core. Again, he had to do this by feel, not trusting his displays.

Once it was strapped in place, he triggered the weapon to fire up, which gained quite the response. The entire ship roared, in realization that it was threatened. From the deck plates he could see some of his drones rise up, blue cables protruding from their bodies and connecting to arms that he was not familiar with. The exploration mechs were only supposed be to be carrying a camera pod.

These were holding some sort of larger weapons, with spinning energy cores. Jack brought up his own arms, noticing that he wasn't the target of their weapons. The EMP weapon was. The Reaper hadn't had much to be able to hold these mechs together, or give them any kind of armor. Charles and Jack had hand picked the most flimsy and cheap mechs on the market, and with two bursts from his built in guns, they went down.

Poor Shepard had to fight through three hundred Cerberus converted husks to get here, and he had it easy. More drones rose, and more drones fell down in easy succession. The Reaper was asleep, and coordination was not in its favor. So Jack was pleased when the device on the core gave a satisfying notification, and he used his jump harness to take cover behind one of the walls that led into the larger chamber with cracks in it.

There was no explosion, or ability for him to smoke anything in this helmet. But he flew off, angling for the cracks in the hull. The power went off, and he could see the reaper start to feel the larger pull of gravity from Mnenosyme. He zipped out of the hull and back upwards towards the outer edges of the brown dwarf, where two shuttles were ready and waiting.

"Charles, please pick up the powered armor coming in at steep angle," Jack said over comms.

"You were in there for hours! I almost went in after you!" Charles said. "That thing is falling apart! Local gravity is reasserting itself, and you gotta get out of there. Our shuttles are coming for you."

"Prepared to receive." Jack said, turning so that his back was facing the shuttle that was inbound. He had to route the jump harness's rotation and orbit himself, to match the shuttle. He still didn't trust his systems. The only thing he did trust was the blinking green QEC link that was on the right. The only proof he had that this was a success. The shuttle near ran him over, the jump harness tearing apart on the rear wall of the shuttle's interior and the armored suit almost ripping open.

Suit Damaged. Hull Compromised. "Charles, looks like we have to incinerate everything. The suit's compromised."

"Our first QEC device and you wanted to use it for a technology retrieval mission. Yeah, yeah, I get it. How important is that chunk you ripped out?"

Jack grinned. "Let's call it a game-changer. Now I just have to get it installed on the Normandy."

"I recognize this chunk of tech! Hey don't we have another one of these from the Batarian Reaper?"

"A dead IFF system, yes. I'll need you to rewrite its server data banks and copy information from this one. Two IFF systems is much better than one. More if we can replicate this signal."

"Got it, boss. I'll get your mech suit fixed up now that we've tested it's QEC potential." Charles' voice came over the comm. "When are you going to come back, anyways?"

Jack sat in his nice leather chair, looking at a hologram of the damaged Normandy, the real thing less than one thousand meters away. It was cloaked, but he built the damn ship. He always knew where it was. "I've got unfinished business. I'll return once I've found out who plans to sell out my daughter to the Alliance. Donovan Hock contacted someone onboard the Normandy, and until I know who it is, I'm not letting it out of my sight."

"You know, you could try talking to Julia and letting her know that you're worried about her." Charles said.

"I built her the most advanced ship that the galaxy can offer. If she doesn't see that I was the one to do that, then she doesn't deserve to understand everything else I'm doing." Jack replied, not wanting to get into a parenthood chat with Charles again.

"You might actually want to hear this." Charles said. "We've got a possible Reaper contact, something just went through the Ninmah Relay." Jack didn't like that. Hannah was on the other side of that relay.

"How long has the Acheron been out of contact?"

"Five hours. Do you think they found something?"

"I'll see if I can get Julia to investigate this. Did the Council forces in the system get any messages out?"

"All comm relays are down. Something just took them out." Jack sighed. "Boss, I'll see what the Protheans say about it."

"Don't!" Jack warned. "If they believe that Liara is in danger they might lock down Ilos as a form of blackmail. Our projects can't be risked like that. Get on the comm systems, Charles. Find out if we have any kind of ship concentrations from the Quarians that could possibly take on a Reaper."

"They'll love to hear that, I think." Charles said. "You wanting an entire fleet to save your girlfriend."

"You're sleeping with a Quarian, you know how they tick better than I do at this point. Figure out our options. I'll try to get Council forces to assist, though they might take the threat less seriously, or send a scout flotilla first."

"Got it. Political shitstorm coming right up."

Jack wasn't smiling. He and Hannah had an agreement, that as long as she was dating him he wouldn't cheat on her or take too many risks. He did not like the feeling of being torn in two directions. But right now his daughter had no idea how many people she was stirring up, and she needed his help. That was why he had built the Normandy. That was why he had been following her for the last four weeks. He was a damn good father, and he didn't have to prove it to anyone.

* * *

Author's Note

If you are wondering what a Remeltan is, google "Pathfinder Bebilith". These beasties seemed like the perfect apex predator for the Rachni to develop in fear of. Ten legged spiders that are native to the Nine Hells. Perfect. I used to GM Pathfinder games years ago, which is almost exactly like running games of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5. Lots of fun and lots of effort.

 


	50. Lucid: My Ship for a Horse

Chapter 50

The Presidium, The Citadel, June 2182

"Lt. Zorra claims that the _Normandy_ needs to be repainted. As well as get an overhaul on its armor and propulsion systems. The silicate dust particles that we sucked up on our last mission have to be flushed from the engines before we can really get to peak performance again." Julia was saying, looking over a datapad and talking to him like he cared. "Then our problems will be solved, save for our mentors."

"You think that's the only problem we have?" Jenkins said. "Everyone onboard that ship doesn't think they're coming home again."

"What do you mean?" Julia asked, dropping the data pad and giving him a direct look.

He wasn't known for filtering what he said, and right now he figured that as a Spectre candidate he had some survivability and worth in the Alliance. "Permission to speak freely, Ma'am?" She nodded. "The problem is you. Our commanding officer is a freaking spook. You have no experience commanding a vessel, and it shows. The bridge crew and engineers are terrified that you're just spending your time cloaked, ferreting out spies or security threats. You're difficult to approach, and as a result all of your problems get pushed onto the XO, who has to push more of his duties onto his crew. Ma'am, you're the reason that Chakwas is issuing sleep aids to half the bridge crew."

Julia closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm simply following protocol."

"Yeah. That." Jenkins shuddered. "You've got a license to kill anyone you deem to be a threat to the Alliance, and you don't have to follow the rules of engagement regarding enemies. If you really were part of the Naval command structure, Ma'am, you would have been court martialed for that last mission."

"What do you mean, Jenkins."

"You killed _everyone_ at that base. The civilians and noncombatants. Those Eclipse had children on that base, Commander. I know because I had to shoot down a truck full of them." Jenkins even brought out his Omni-tool to show her the pictures. "You ordered me to kill anything that moved. That included the people that we should have evacuated to safety out of principle!"

"They were a threat to the security of the mission. We could not risk word spreading of our ship." Julia said, not slouching or showing any signs of remorse.

"That! That right there is why the crew freaks out when you go by! You don't care about them, you don't care about their needs, their problems. You probably don't even know about Yervf nar Rayya's pending surgery! The crew thinks that you simply view them as tools. You don't care about anything other than the ship and the Alliance, Commander. With that kind of commanding officer, the crew is terrified that they'll be killed if they even apply for transfer."

She was quiet. But her eyes never left his. "You think you know better?"

"Damn right I do, Ma'am. I've seen good commanding officers, and you ain't one of them." Jenkins said, not afraid of possibly being killed for calling her out.

"Alright. You're off the mission." She declared. Her hands grasped a terminal in the sealed comm room within the Alliance Embassy. A connection was being made, and Jenkins started feeling his heart beat faster when he saw that Julia was using a priority line to connect to the Fifth Fleet. It went through, and the face of Admiral Steven Hackett filled the haptic display in front of them.

"Commander Constantine, Lieutenant Jenkins. What is the problem?" The Admiral did not mince his words.

"I would like to send Lt. Jenkins to command school, sir. He has volunteered to become the _Normandy's_ new flag officer, and after a stiff evaluation process, I have found him to contain all of the qualities within the Alliance charter necessary for upstanding conduct."

Hackett pulled up Jenkin's file. He knew that because his records were already open on the terminal here, and he could see his files being edited. "Glad to hear you found a replacement, Commander. Due to the fight with the Rachni, I'm afraid that the only flag officer training occurring is at Arcturus Station. I'm approving this, Lieutenant. This is the first time that Commander Constantine has ever forwarded a name for promotion. Live up to that expectation." Admiral Hackett signed off on the transfer, and gave both of them a look. "Hackett out."

The comm line went dead. Julia just brushed off her hands and gave him a smile. "You're right, Jenkins. You're going to be promoted. From Staff Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander. I am not the officer that the _Normandy_ needs. But if you believe you know what it takes, I'll give you a chance to prove it."

"Wait, what about the _Normandy_? The mission? We're the candidates!"

"It'll take three weeks to flush out the silicates. Not to mention do an overhaul on the forward armor plating, where that cruiser hit us. The _Normandy_ is out of the fighting for that long. You have until she is capable of flight again to make it through flag officer training."

Jenkins didn't even know what to say. "Um, ah, Thank you?"

"Don't thank me yet." Julia told him. "You have to prove yourself capable. Your shuttle that I made arrangements for leaves in the hour from Zakera dock 4-13. Good Luck, Lt." Julia then stood and saluted him. He just stood up, saluting her back.

"Yeah. Yeah! I won't fail, Ma'am!" He almost made an off color comment about relating his skills elsewhere, but managed to keep his mouth somewhat contained in that moment. "I'll prove you right, Ma'am!"

Julia watched as Jenkins disappeared from view. She grinned. Mentors were gone off doing whatever they liked to do, and Jenkins was going to get flag officer training. She could remain the AOI observer onboard the _Normandy_ instead of its Commander, and Jenkins could take over as the face of the ship. She sighed in appreciation, as she liked the way her plan had gone out. Jenkins had walked into a situation where she could dump him on command school. Now she could meet with Miri and finally get to talk to her sister.

It had been three or four months since they could actually meet face to face. Now she had to meet with her again, unfortunately not for enjoyment. These meetings were the only things she had to really look forward to in life. She smiled at that and took in a deep breath.

Then her Omni-tool beeped. She saw a waiting message from Hackett. _Commander Constantine, you have been ordered to commence an observation mission(close) in Arcturus Station, at the Flag Officer Candidate School. Please report as soon as possible and alert your current Spectre mentors that you will be unavailable for four to six weeks. Subjects of observation; Lt. Leeroy M. Massani-Jenkins; Lt. Shaighk Al-Omar Halmabad. Begin observation mission with the following Alias: Julia Constantine, Naval Lt. Commander. Details are up to you. Good Luck, Commander._

The report date for the mission was in two days. Hackett obviously felt that training as flag officers would be good for each of the Spectre Candidates. She didn't actually like that. But she could see his logic. Or the Alliance was just trying to keep the Human Spectre candidates from getting in too much more trouble. They had already offended their Turian mentors, obviously, along with the Asari Councillor if Desolous was to be believed.

Rather than go in person, she sent Spectres Vakarian and Arterius a notice that they had been called away on Alliance business, and may be busy for up to four weeks, more likely six. She got no notification that her message was received by either Turian. Oh well. Let them figure their own lives out. They had spent less than a full week together and it was more than enough to realize that they didn't mesh well. The crew wasn't meshing well. The combat team was near about the only thing that did mesh, and that was simply because everyone knew who they were.

Jenkins was right, at some level. She didn't like having to care about other people. It was draining in the extreme. Just talking to someone else in a social setting was tiring, but to actually seek out other people and talk to them for an extended amount of time was just too much. Her brain would clam up, and she would get headaches and have to go recover in some corner where no one would bother her until her brain no longer felt overwhelmed by the feelings and concerns of other people. It was much easier to just be a spook, an object in the background that people would gloss over, and forget was there when they opened their Omni-tools and did their work.

That was what an agent was supposed to do. Instead they had her traipsing around in broad view of everyone. It was against her basic training and directives to do so. She always protested it when they tried to bring her into the spotlight, or have her on high profile missions. She hated it.

She left the Alliance Embassy, getting a notification that Jenkins had made it to his chartered shuttle in less than twenty minutes. He must have been sprinting to the air car transit stations. She took her own air car, stepping off in the Zakera Ward's older districts. Here there were a mix of Turians, Batarians, and Humans. There was also a large storage center for locals to store objects. She had a few items here, and one small visit was enough. She emptied her storage unit, as she had shown up here on camera. Followers would come here for anything she had left.

The long boxes inside were simply a few things left over from an alias she used on the Citadel a few years ago. Right before Torfan. But she used them when she had to meet with Miranda. The boxes fit inside her air car, and she flew off to one of the many hotels in the area. She chose a Human one, as the Batarian hotels were usually bugged. Then she cleaned up the room she rented with a few sweeps of the Omni-tool, and then opened up the boxes. Hair dye, a hair dryer that was better than industry standard, and a few outfits that didn't deserve to go into a sea bag and get wrinkled. Or folded.

She started with the hair dye. Pure raven black hair, applied enough times that she would look almost perfectly like her sister. Then she opened up the main box, with the Asari designer clothes in it. This took somewhat more time to get into, and when she was done, gone was Alliance agent Julia Constantine. Her catsuit was folded and placed in her bag, inside a frictionless surfaced bag. No contacts were needed, and no fake Omni-tool was necessary. The silken Asari dress went on as expected, a near perfect fit. Julia had maintained her diet and hadn't lost weight. It was almost impossible for a biotic to gain any, so far as she had seen.

She had a holster for a magnetic strip placed on her thigh, and a small pistol was folded into the area. A knife was hidden on the other thigh, and the dress at least covered that much. But as she was to look like Miranda, Julia pulled open the cleavage gap as wide as it would go, and made sure that plenty of leg was flashed when stepping. The shoes were some Italian design meant to encourage attention. Some expensive jewelry, albeit small, completed the look. Julia looked up at the mirror, seeing the face of her sister there. Closing her eyes, she let the bland feelings of herself fade, and she focused on her sister's.

When her eyes opened again, it was with a winning smile, and a stance that invited men's stares. "Miranda Harper." She said to herself, adding the slight Asari lilting accent. Julia Constantine wasn't allowed to have fun, and Julia Constantine most certainly wasn't allowed to have a night on the town. That was what it meant to be an Infiltrator. To be able to walk into a room, impersonate someone, and then do whatever it was you were sent to do. Now was the only time that Julia ever felt like herself, when she became someone else.

She tossed her hair back over her exposed shoulders and sauntered out into the hotel lobby, grinning at the man behind the counter and walking past him with an extra shimmy of the hips. He would never remember Julia Constantine, but he would certainly remember Miranda. Her sea bag was placed in a drop box for herself later, when she could get back to it. For now, she just needed to disappear. As she neared the section of Zakera ward dedicated to restaurants and dancing clubs, the crowd swallowed her and she became just one of the normal people. Just a happy normal person on her way to a drink and perhaps a bit of fun.

* * *

Suen, Maskin Xul System, June 2182

"Kreana, get that shuttle in the air, get it anywhere but here!" Hannah roared, whipping around to Don and Henry. "You two, get that Rachni webbing and start pulling that beacon, let's move it!"

Don groaned from his position. "If you can rig it to a harness, I can pull it, boss. But my arms are ruined. We gotta wait a few weeks for them to be able to even use a wrench." If that. Acid did strange things to Krogan. When she turned to the burning corpse of the Rachni Brood Warrior, she could see Henry dragging himself out of the wreckage, helmet askew and one of his arms limp at his side.

"Bastards damaged the arm." Was all that Henry said. The smell of melted cybernetics and synthetic skin was a thick one, and glancing at Henry showed that he wasn't doing well. His armor had been split open from hip to shoulder, with the shoulder being where the Brood warrior must have plunged his taloned appendage into the man. Sparking cybernetics showed in the wound, and along the upper ribcage. "May have damaged my lung's casing."

She grimaced. Henry's right arm had been torn apart by Batarians on Torfan. He had been left for dead, and some of the freed slaves picked him up and carried him off to be taken on one of the last medical transports to leave the station. The gigantic mess that followed led to that medical vessel being 'lost' and the highly useful cargo in the form of Alliance marines and freed slaves were all offered a deal. Join Crucible, or be returned to their normal lives. Henry had been one of the N5 soldiers on Torfan, and had been betrayed by some sort of rival or commanding officer. He didn't mention it much.

Jack had repaired his body, using advanced medicine and the best tech. Henry was only part of Crucible, so he wasn't aware of Ilos or its technological breakthroughs. All that he knew was that his arm and shoulder joint were able to arm wrestle a Krogan. His armor was going to be written off, the poor suit covered in napalm and acid and goodness knew what else. "You're going to need help climbing."

He didn't reply immediately. "We've got some pitons. That'll help."

"How the hell are we going to carry this thing out of here?!" She asked. "Liara, I need a solution!"

"Then I shall provide one." The Asari said, poking at the beacon. "The great enemy cannot have this. They would find the way to Ilos, and from there lead us to ruin." She opened a panel in the back with her biotics, and pressed a few buttons. The beacon just started glowing, and Liara grinned. "The beacon will overheat and all of its information will be lost within minutes. It also will not explode, and we might be able to recover it later."

She gave a glare at the Asari. "Not the thing to worry about! Help Don!" She glanced over at Shev'rash. "You, help Henry get out of here. That Reaper will be looking for blood."

Kreana couldn't get the shuttle off the ground. It was too damaged from the crash and wasn't the best shuttle in the first place. But she did recover the comm relay from it, as well as its black box and navigation records. They all limped along the tunnel leading back, using pitons and magnetic rail cables to slowly bring the wounded down.

" _Kitty Cat, This is little Dog._ " Her comm sounded. " _We've hidden ourselves on the dark side of the planet. You stay in cover and we'll pick you up when we can._ "

"Understood. Have the G-2 take cover." The _Acheron_ could remote control the GRIZZLY vehicle and have it take cover in some cave or plant area. The Reaper would be able to see that vehicle sitting outside the mining tunnel and perhaps hack into its databanks or some other form of damaging problem.

" _Roger that, and good luck._ " The comm line went dead, and Hannah dipped down into the underground chambers. It took most of the fifteen minutes they had to carefully lower Don and Henry down to the lower level. Henry and Don's weapons were carried by Kreana, who left the Napalm launcher behind. It was ruined, anyways.

Everyone knew when the Reaper landed. The entire mountain shook. They were just barely getting Don hooked up the the next piton system, when the rocks started shifting. Don quickly unhitched himself and everyone stepped back into the main chamber where the beacon had been stored.

"Liara, do any of these tunnels go deeper?" Hannah asked. "Or into another section of Prothean ruin?"

"Rachni were known to tunnel for a great many miles, but the remainder of the Prothean collection base would not have been in a stable position. Perhaps a few chambers and hallways, or perhaps another collapsed tunnel. From the blueprints I have received, there shouldn't be much left. If that Reaper sends down anything, from my memories we will be facing more numbers and weapons than we can handle."

Hannah grimaced as the Prothean memory markers in her mind went off in response to the thoughts of a Reaper landing. Legions of faceless husks, blue wires trailing from eye sockets and jaws. "Wait, I've got an idea." She pointed at the gigantic pillar that had housed the Prothean beacon. "Liara, think you could operate those doors?"

The Asari smiled. "Of course. We can conceal our presence there." They gathered the wounded, and laid them down inside the vault, Shev'rash and Kreana policing the area and grabbing a few of the Rachni weapons and making sure that they had left no signs of their entry. Then, using biotics from both Shev'rash and Liara, they brought the doors closed.

"Let's hope the Reaper gives up after a few hours."

"We both know that isn't likely." Liara replied.

"Then I guess we have to hope that someone gets the bastard's attention away from this place."

Kreana held up her Omni-tool's feed. "I have left a few motion sensors and vid cams in the main chamber so that we wouldn't be completely blind."

"How much food do we have?" She asked everyone, especially Shev'rash. The Quarian was the most difficult to keep fed.

"Seven days for each of us." Henry grumbled. "As is standard."

"The bigger problem is the lack of booze!" Shev'rash stated. "I've got one fifth left and that won't make it a week! We've gotta call the _Acheron_ and tell them to bring more alcohol."

"Or you know, rescue us and get us back to the ship." Don replied. "That would be great."

"I sent a message to Jack. We'll see if he comes through or not. If not, we will have to wait long enough for Don to be able to shoot at least a pistol. Then we fight our way out of here." Jack hadn't failed to come through for her before. But this was a damn Reaper. Kreana's motion sensors started reading movement, and the entire team got quiet, as the numbers of enemies moving outside got into the dozens.

* * *

The Danger Zone, Zakera Ward, The Citadel June 2182

The club was one popular with the military. Especially the Navy. Julia gave a winning grin as she walked in the door, running her arm down the bicep of the man on duty there. The bouncer didn't even stop her to check for anything, he simply gave her a grin and let her into the club. Stepping inside, she let out a deep breath. Anyone following her should have lost her as she went through the crowd and cloaked. Then she went up six floors to this place and decloaked in the alleyway outside. Then, it was into the club.

An old F-35 American fighter jet floated above the dance floor, its engines looking active and putting out a bit of light. All haptic displays, really. The old fighter plane was suspended using Element Zero and a few tension cables. The ruined cockpit of an Alliance Tempest Space Superiority fighter was where the DJ ran his music, the dashboard of displays having been converted to a music station.

The bar went all around the rest of the ruined fighter, the insides gutted to make room for beer and brandy bottles. The floor was open, a larger space set up for dancing that Humans favored. Booths and seating for people circled the floor, with rising balconies fitting more booths that were more traditional seating. Old fighters and art depicting the old technology was all over the bar, with each of the haptic interfaces being controlled via joystick in the booths. Food was ordered through that.

Julia didn't go directly to the bar. She started into the dance floor, bumping and grinding her way through it for a short while to stay where she could see the door. After ten minutes, she didn't feel like anyone suspicious followed her in. But she had earned plenty of male attention. She almost froze when she saw who finally had the guts to approach her.

"Hey." The man said, coming up to her. "Want to dance?"

"Sure!" She said with some excitement. Julia offered her hand to Kaidan Alenko, his uniform slightly unbuttoned and his hair looking better than normal. Most women would take any chance to jump onto the dance floor with Lt. Alenko. He was famous, after all. "Are you the real thing, or just some impersonator?"

Kaidan grinned, and glowed with his biotics. Not even looking at the direction he threw his arm out to, he kept his eyes on her as two cups of golden honey colored liquid floated back over to them. They rotated around each other, coming to a rest in his hand. "Oh yeah."

Julia had seen a few notes on file that Alenko was overly flirtatious when off duty, but that was amazing. She hadn't tried that kind of biotic move, and Julia had to admit that she had to respect what Warpball had done for the good lieutenant. "You got a name?"

Julia took a sip of her drink, grinning at the taste. It wasn't the tasteless cheap bear that most of the marines liked to pay for. "Call me Em." Miranda was cheeky with men. Julia was cold.

Kaidan smirked. he gave a jaunty wave to the Titans, where they were sitting with other members of the Marines and a few dates. Julia finished her drink, not worried about being able to process it. Being a biotic had its benefits. Alenko took a few more seconds to drain his drink, probably to act more 'human' around others.

"Aren't you guys supposed to be out fighting Rachni?" She asked.

"Our ship just recently returned from a mission. I can't share many of the details, but I can safely say that we are coming closer to stopping the Rachni threat." Kaidan oozed confidence. If she had been a civilian it would have been quite calming. With her prior knowledge, though, she knew better.

"You can't tell anything?"

"Not until the press conference." He said, glancing at the empty glasses. Then he offered his arm for a dance. Very old fashioned. But Julia was a little bit happy that she could get away with this. She may have delayed her own departure by dancing with Kaidan for the next twenty minutes, ignoring a chime on her Omni-tool.

"You going to get that?" Kaidan asked.

"Tempted not to, I think." She really was.

"Well, if you want, you can join us for a Titans-only drinking game." Kaidan said with a swagger of his eyebrows. "I promise you it'll be a _unique_ experience." She gave a glance at her Omni-tool and saw that it was just a reminder. It wasn't from Miri. Though she wouldn't send her a notification.

"I'd like that, actually."

The drinking game was actually fun. The rules were simple. Everyone had a long straw, and one shot glass of liquid. Someone would throw a singularity into the mix, and the drinks and liquid inside would start floating upwards. Everyone had until the singularity fell apart to drink their liquid portion before it fell to the ground. Extra points were gained if you could steal someone else's drink.

With all of the Titans and their dates, this meant that the tiny table they sat at was cramped full of people. Julia practically draped across Kaidan's lap when the game started, and by the end of three rounds had wormed her way right into it. It just sort of happened. She was pulled from the game when her Omni-tool started beeping insistently.

"I think that's my friends." She offered to Kaidan. "Are you here long?"

"I'll be here tomorrow night about this same time, Em." He said, grinning. "Here's my comm line. If the guy calling your Omni-tool isn't a great experience, you know where to find us." Then, like magic, he shared with her his private comm address. She knew it was his private one because she kept track of that sort of thing. She smiled as she got up off of his lap, noticing his eyes drifting to her exposed upper leg.

"You'll be the first to know, Mr. Alenko." She told him, making her hips swivel a bit more as she walked away. She knew for a fact that he watched her walk away. Every other man in the vicinity did. The Omni-tool notification was a notice from the bar. Undaunted, she came up to the ruined fighter plane and sat down at the end of the bar. The man next to her wiggled his eyebrows at her, but she gave him no attention.

"Good to see you again, Miss." The English accent came in. She grinned, a real grin. The face of their old family pilot greeted her. James Hansen. He had aged a bit, but not much. He looked the immortal age of thirty that most Humans with gene mods for longevity did, and was wearing a nice suit. James was one of the owners of this place, putting his money that he earned from Jack all those years ago to good use.

"You too, James." She replied. "I was wondering if the back room was ready."

"Of course it's ready. Just sent a plate of ribs back there for you." He glanced behind her. "You got some admirers, this time." James said. "It's not like you to have that kind of attention." He pressed a button on his Omni-tool, and a part of the wall slid open near the bar. She slid a credit chit over to her old pilot and grinned. Though as soon as she stepped into that hallway, and the door closed, she lost her grin. The hallway was deserted, except for one door on the left. She came to a stop right before it, and pulled the dress a bit more conservatively around herself. Her demeanor shifted, and she reached out towards the wall opposite the existing door. She put a small measured amount of force on the door, which opened seamlessly.

"Are you seeing this?" She could hear someone saying.

" _I see you all over Mr. biotic beefcake. Doesn't he have orders to capture anyone from Crucible that he can?_ " Julia recognized that voice.

"That's not me, though."

" _That's your sister?!_ " Julia stepped loudly into the comm room, seeing Miranda sitting in a chair and Kasumi on screen. She hadn't seen her quasi-Japanese friend in a long time. Mostly due to her becoming a very important art collector. " _Magical Girl San! You're actually wearing a dress!_ " Kasumi squealed. The comm screen showed the Japanese girl grinning wildly, her hair tightly tied into a bun and wearing a conservative business suit. " _A very Miranda appropriate one, too!_ "

"I don't dress down like that all the time, Kasumi." Miranda said. She was wearing a set of comfortable gear. Some sort of exercise pants and shirt that would be nice for a day at the spa or on vacation. True to Miranda's style, the pants were near skin tight and the cleavage window was ever present. "I just wanted you to see proof that Julia can act like a real woman sometimes."

" _Alright Ms. Ice Queen. You're both no fun. Next time you both are on Omega, or Illium, oh we are going to have so much fun!_ " Miranda rolled her eyes and ended the call. Then she got up and came over to Julia, looking her over and glancing at a new scar that had been revealed by the exposed arms of the dress.

"Julia." She said, hugging her. It always felt odd that Miranda did this. But Julia hugged her back, albeit awkwardly. Only after they had been separated had they begun hugging like this. "I was so worried about you when they said that you were going to become a Spectre candidate."

"I'm more worried about the other ones, to be honest." She said. "Anderson is dead, Halmabad is coming out of the hospital in a few weeks, and Jenkins is naive." She sighed, and sat down in one of the comfortable couches that was in the room. "Sorry I called you in here."

"Don't be." Miranda said. "Dad's disappeared for the last six months, and only Charles knows where he went. It was getting rather boring, just running the company without any real threats moving at us."

Julia gave her a level stare. "How's Mum?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Allison is actually out trying to help an anonymous donor from the Alliance. They want to investigate some of the old Rachni worlds." Miranda said, biting her lip. "But I don't like it."

"How's your girlfriend?" Julia asked.

Miranda smiled. "Still interesting. She had to return to her family's home on Astaria due to Rachni attacks." She touched the screen, bringing up a camera angle of Julia in Kaidan's lap, using her straw to try to steal some of Kaidan's floating drink. "Isn't there rules against this sort of thing?"

Julia smirked. "Ah, but he gave his comm address to 'Em'." She looked closer at the picture. She actually looked like she was having fun. "If you want, you can go back over to him."

Miranda took a long look. "I'll keep that in mind. Elsaenrae doesn't mind if I date other people, so long as she gets the memories or is included." She looked over Julia's outfit. "I think he's more your type, though."

"I don't have a type."

"Kasumi thinks you do."

"Kasumi should not look into other people's secrets."

Miranda snorted. "It would take me too long to get into that outfit. Didn't I buy that for you, what, three years ago?"

"Four years. I've kept it since then." Julia admitted.

"It suits you. I keep telling you and Allison to skip the catsuits and wear real clothes sometimes." She tsked. "You said you needed my help. Obviously not fashion, or trouble with men."

Julia nodded. She transmitted a copy of some of the data they had taken from Neilana T'y'tella's ship. "This is the Asari that we've been chasing. She's a clanless from Astaria. No relation to Elsaenrae. She was responsible for shipping some of the Rachni to Eden Prime."

"An Asari working with the bugs?" Miranda scowled. "Despicable."

"We have two mentors as full Spectres. One of them stepped on the Council's toes when we interrogated Neilana. He got in trouble for even mentioning it, but it was an Asari word that my VI isn't familiar with." Julia brought up the Asari lettering. "Er-ia-shi."

" _Eriashi_?" Miranda asked, sounding them out. "I've not heard much about that. There was a Matriarch spoken of in legend that was called Eria. Benezia mentioned that there was some religious cult by that name that was wiped out by the Athame followers somewhere around the time that Asari first achieved FTL capabilities."

Julia nodded. "I wanted to get as much on that as I could. If you could ask Benezia more about it, that would help." She glanced away. "Such a connection would raise all kinds of warning flags from the Alliance."

"That it would." Miranda grinned. "Still, you're here now. How much time do you have off the grid?"

"Less than two hours." Every agent was required to check in after a certain amount of time. She hadn't missed a check in in her entire career, barring the Torfan incident. "Where are those ribs?"

Biotics needed to eat. Being a female biotic meant that Julia and Miranda could eat however they wished. So long as their body had enough calories to burn, they would be fine. But Miranda and Julia had been the same waist size since they were eighteen. They literally destroyed the entire rack of ribs, the potatoes, and the designer salad. Bar food wasn't the highest quality, but what it lacked in quality it made up for in portion size.

"James should get a fat tip." Julia muttered, as soon as the food was suitably destroyed, and their forks picked over the remains. "Or at least an anonymous donation."

"I'll see what we can give him." Miranda said. "Where do you have to be when you check in?"

Julia sighed. "The embassy. My bags are in the Marine barracks below it. I have to go back and return to my normal appearance."

Miranda's Omni-tool beeped. She glanced at it, and just want back to Julia. It was one thing that she liked about her sister. She always paid attention to her, and gave her full focus on Julia when they were around each other. When her tool beeped again, showing an angry red glare, Miranda actually had to turn to it. "My apologies." She said, pressing a button. Her face paled. "Julia, Hannah's ship just was reported as MIA."

Miranda never called her Hannah. She always called her by the alias. "Am I allowed to know?" Julia asked, seeing Miranda bite her lip.

"Yes and No." Miranda said. "But damned if I don't tell you. My best combat team went down there with her."

"Where?"

Miri transferred some of the files to Julia's wrist. "Suen. Rachni homeworld. One of our donors found the remains of a Prothean ruin down there. Allison was sent in there to recover some objects."

"Going to sell them on the Black Market?"

Miranda did not answer directly. "The donor wanted something from Suen specifically. No idea on if we would have sold too much. All that I know is that the ship on station went quiet, and then every other comm relay in the system went down. My ship is just a courier craft, but I know that you might have something that can help."

"You want me to go save her?" Julia asked. "The Alliance would never-"

"The Alliance can go to Hell!" Miranda yelled. "Hannah Shepard is one of the few people you care about, and I'm asking you to help her. I don't know what took her ship out, or what happened, but I know that you might be able to help."

Julia closed her eyes. "I would need a damn reliable source of evidence to give the Alliance just reason to deploy my ship."

Miranda nodded. "Done. You get what you need, I'll get my people on it." She hugged her again, Julia looking awkwardly at the comm console. "I'm sorry about David."

"I'll need to gather my crew, then." Julia didn't want to talk about David Anderson. She was going to be fine, they had ended their relationship years ago. But it still felt a little raw. Sighing and turning her head away from Miranda, she turned her thoughts to current problems. Jenkins had just hopped on a shuttle and the _Normandy_ was halfway to Elysium. Her mentors wouldn't even care about this. Perhaps she could do this without them. "Miranda, if I find any artifacts in our hold,"

"Whatever, they're yours. My people are more important at the end of the day." She was actually worried. Miranda was visibly worried about this. She wasn't worried like this unless something big was on the line. "Get out of here so I can make some calls." Miranda said, digging into a bag to find some sort of nice shirt to wear and look professional when she called other people. One of the few things that always impressed her about her father was his standards for how he presented himself to other people.

Returning to the noise of the club made her realize that she didn't have a lot of time. She needed to get back to a comm relay that was safe, and contact the _Normandy_. It would highlight this place as one of her safe houses if she called from here. She stepped back towards the bar, seeing James give her a nice smile. She gave him one back, and then stepped into one of the vid cam dead zones. There were a few in this place, and she had helped James set up all of them. Then, she cloaked.

Slipping through crowds while wearing heels and a nice dress was easy when all the men wanted to let you through. Doing the same while wearing heels and trying to be invisible and quiet was another story altogether. Thankfully the music was loud, and she was able to get right up to the table where the Titans were sitting. Kaidan was still sitting alone, and they were playing some game of biotic Jenga. It had been a fun exercise while at Solaris, and apparently playing it while drunk constituted as quite a fun game.

That ended when she decloaked in view of everyone. All of the Titans reacted lightning quick, their hands raised in a mnemic to use a Throw. "Atten-hut!" She took a stance herself, but the heels made her look ridiculous. The Titans and all of their dates followed, most of them being in the Navy themselves. "Lt. Alenko, I have just received intelligence on some Rachni activity." She almost went into Miranda's voice pattern. It was hard not to, when she was dressed like her. "Mount up." Alenko had recognized her after a moment, seeing her eyes and the way she was standing. When he recognized her as the same woman that had been on his lap, she could see his eyebrows flatten.

"Yes, Ma'am." His biotics flashed, and he took a look around. "Titans, let's move out." There were a couple of grumbles, but all of them took one look at her and decided to keep mostly quiet. The louder grumblings were from the women who had come to the table. Heels clicking and hips swivelling, she led the way out of The Danger Zone.

"What's going on, Commander?" Rahna asked. She was just in her fatigues, and she looked a bit flushed.

"I've spent the last few hours meeting with contacts. I have a lead for us." She said. "I apologize for ending your leave time early."

Lt. Alenko, along with all of the other men of the Titans, kept level stares at her face instead of her cleavage and nodded. "It's alright Ma'am. You'll need your ground team."

Biotics could process alcohol faster than other people, so after a bit of water the entire squad was back to full sobriety. Uniforms were buttoned and their fatigues were in place. Marines may have been able to do that faster, but it was fast enough. She walked with them, walking like Miranda would. It was impossible not to, really. Not to mention she didn't feel any kind of problem with making Alenko uncomfortable.

The air car terminal outside of the Danger Zone was full of people getting off. Alenko ordered the team to split up, allowing him to take a single air car with Julia. She didn't bother cloaking. She just acted suitably non military, mixing with the crowd. He even held the door open for her, acting like a real gentleman. But the moment the door closed, he got tense.

"Ma'am, were you evaluating us?" He asked. When the Alliance Office of Intelligence evaluated someone, it was usually because they were being suspected of some sort of crime. He looked very worried. Most people that were evaluated were also halfway convicted of a crime already.

"I was not, actually." She said. "Though I did not intend to be forced to reveal myself."

"Then why did you approach us?" Kaidan seemed offended somehow. "Why didn't you tell me off?"

"Do you have a problem with my decision to go to that club, Lt. Alenko?"

"I'm just trying to figure out why you were all over me, Ma'am." Julia gave him the coldest look she could. He didn't even flinch. "I don't like it when people manipulate me, Ma'am. None of us do."

He was asking what her intentions were. He wasn't supposed to know about Miranda, but she needed a reason as to why she was out in that club looking like this. "If you must know, I had come to meet with my contact. I didn't know that you were there, and it would have broken cover to refuse you."

He sputtered a bit. "What? How would saying no break your cover?"

She lifted one of her eyebrows and gave a long glance at her dress. "Looking like this, Alenko, it is almost an invitation to look and to feel. I didn't say no because it would have been suspicious."

"So, 'Em' was just a cover?"

"Somewhat." She answered. If he ever met Miranda, she didn't want this to be how he viewed her. "I am currently looking like an alias that I maintain. This alias also has a job, as well as a few other details about her life that are modeled after what I am actually skilled at." He wouldn't think of the alias as her family member with that kind of explanation.

"So, you weren't there to evaluate us. Nor were you there to just oversee us."

She huffed, noticing Kaidan's gaze dipping. The man could be manipulated, at some level, if he could be rattled by her flirting. "Believe it or not, Alenko, I had a bit of fun. None of this will go on any record I file, nor will I talk about this. I want to maintain my alias' privacy as much as I can."

Kaidan had locked his eyes back on her face by the time she had finished speaking. "You had fun, Ma'am?"

"Yes." She said grudgingly. "The drinking game was especially creative."

"Then I hope next time you come as yourself, uh, Commander." He seemed a bit worried.

"Are you asking me to come with your team on the next shore leave?"

"With me specifically, Ma'am." He said, puffing his chest out a little bit.

She leaned forward, letting him feel slightly uncomfortable. His eyes had to make a very difficult choice as to what he was going to look at, but he held his gaze on her nose."You must have balls of steel to dare to ask your commanding officer out, Lieutenant." She could see beads of sweat at the corner of his forehead. But he wasn't thinking about her alias now. It would keep the rest of the team away from Miranda if she maintained this connection. That was how her brain rationalized this. This wasn't about how fun that was, not at all. "I will let you know within 24 hours of the next shore leave as to my answer. Perhaps during that time I might be moved into the Naval command structure and a decision like this will become illegal. We most certainly don't want that, do we?"

"Ah, no Ma'am." He said carefully.

She leaned back now that he was suitably cowed. "I am leaning towards accepting, however in light of decisions to be made by command during that time, I will hold off on that choice until we get closer." She could actually feel herself smiling a bit. As a result she schooled her features and relaxed her cheeks. She didn't want him to know that she was actually excited. But Kaidan looked positively happy. She gave him a terse look, and he managed to contain his eagerness the rest of the air car ride. She figured that it was only a matter of time before the Titans would know that their captain had scored a date.

But this protected Miranda. At her core, Julia would keep her sister safe. Even if that meant accepting a date from Lt. Alenko. Especially if she accepted anything from Kaidan Alenko. There was a significant part of her that wanted to rationalize this. But at the same time she had to depend on these same men and women to trust in her leadership, and she couldn't have anyone questioning her orders.

On the other hand, having Kaidan Alenko under her thumb allowed her some measure of control over the crew. Out of everyone onboard, it was between him, Pressley, and Jenkins for those capable of rallying any movement among the crew. There was an emotional part of herself that agreed with this. But the decision was mostly logic. After she came to this decision, she made sure that Kaidan's attention was on her more than his squadmates as they left the air car terminal. When they reached the barracks, and split, only Rahna walked with her into the locker rooms. Normally marine barracks were unisex, but here on the Citadel things were more established. Civilians were sometimes housed here, and they did not enjoy the public facilities.

Julia washed out the black hair dye, and then used some of her personal supply of shampoo to make sure that her hair didn't go into shock from the experience of being dyed temporarily. Then it was back to a tight bun and her catsuit, pistol out in the open and knives tucked in a few places. Looking over her appearance, she tried to muster some of the feelings of happiness that she had earlier, but the feelings had already faded. The cold grip of duty had returned, and with a deep breath she cloaked and went outside to go wait for the teams to report to the shuttle bay.

* * *

Garrus sat in his father's office, spinning the old OSD's that were still kept in the desk. He really shouldn't have yelled at the Humans like that. But that spirits-blessed Human just had to open his big mouth. Jenkins, someone that he wanted to scrape with his talons. Not as badly as that pacifist Alenko, or Desolous. Spirits, he wanted to yell and scream and debate with everyone and everything.

Which was the primary reason he hadn't left the office. He was stewing and grumbling, and he wasn't in a very good mood. Councillor Volorium, that shady half skulled upper tier waste of air, had just been there to create a rift between the Humans and the Asari. As well as the Humans and the Turians. Mentioning Shangxi, getting Jenkins riled up in response to realizing that Desolous had probably given his personal authorization on the orbital strikes that killed his family and thousands of others. Any of the Humans could have taken offence, but Julia thankfully did not.

Julia Constantine. Dangerous, for certain. Unpredictable when she decided to make decisions outside the direct realm of her protocols. Perfect for what Desolous had truly intended to turn Garrus into. But as a Tarn, he didn't have the right mindset for proper public service. The anthem for the Hierarchy, 'Die for the Cause' may have been his favorite song, but that was only because it was the only song that he felt brought him closer to his ancestors. He didn't have cousins. He was a rarity among Turian society, with no family to pass his name onto except his Sister, who was being propositioned by all of the wrong people.

Desolous was off doing who knew what and he didn't care a single bit. Spending so much time with the old man was decidedly odd, anyways. Maybe he was looking for a reason to get off the _Normandy_. Or maybe that Asari really was murdered. Desolous had always blamed the Asari for not letting adequate justice be dealt to the Humans. Poor bastard lost everything trying to get a war started back on with the Humans, and then he gave the spirits-cursed order to fire on the Temple of High Wisdom.

Garrus had only asked what happened once that day. Desolous still blamed the Humans about it. He didn't want to explain himself, nor did he ever eloquate on the subject. All of this was messed up. Humans just kept piling more and more people into that tiny frigate, and sooner or later it was going to lose some critical part.

He rubbed the oldest-looking OSD, seeing some nearly completely faded writing on the side. He held up the small data disc, glancing at its contents. Grimacing, he hooked it up to the terminal built into the desk, and the little OSD started running. It had been years since he had even opened it.

" _Human!_ " The voice of his father wailed, making Garrus flinch. He had forgotten that it was on repeat at this section. He paused the recording, before his father would break down into injured breathing and rasping. He reeled back the recording past his father's dying pronouncement, and came back to some of his earlier words in his last interrogation. " _Are you part of Eriasha?_ " He found the word. Searching his father's OSD located no other reference to the word. But his father knew what it was. He just let the rest of the recording start playing. " _An Asari with burnt hands was recently held responsible for the massacre of an entire village._ " That line stuck out to him, leading him to have his Omni-tool look for massacres or villages disappearing within the last fifty years.

While he waited for that to complete, there were other places he could investigate. He opened his father's drawers, dust rising. He had read through some of his printed files once, back when he was a teenager. None of it had particularly made much sense then. His father was one of those odd Turians that liked to read from words printed on carbon based materials. Like the ancients used to do.

Some of his files were on old data pads and some of his awards were in this file cabinet as well. Mostly awards given for doing a good job, for never missing a day of work, and especially for his work with his old Legion. There were a lot of rewards in here too, old gifts that his father had stoically tossed into the drawer to be hidden. He chuckled as he upended the drawer onto the top of the desk, credit chits spilling everywhere from some hidden corners. "That would have been nice to know the location of ten years ago." He muttered. "Thanks dad."

A few thousand credits in chits, some food vouchers long expired, along with one voucher to meet with the Consort. _Those_ did not expire, and Garrus placed that one to the side where he could access it later. If for nothing else than to make Desolous gray with envy. The awards and other gifts he placed on the floor, gently. He might return some of them to his father's burial marker back on Palaven.

The old files had changed color slightly, and Garrus had to put on a pair of gloves in order to handle them without his scales scratching things up. Some of them were case files from incomplete investigations, or from politically dangerous investigations that could never be completed. He whistled at one of them, regarding the old Turian Councillor, Sparatus. Spirits, the man had lots of bones in his file. Sparatus had no qualms about removing threats to the Turian Hierarchy, blatantly abusing his Council authority to send Spectres and STG squads into Blackwatch colonies. It explained much about how the relationship between them and the Hierarchy was so shaky.

He marked that one to be placed in the Spectre Archives. They could do some good with it, at least. Not to mention it might earn him some good press with some of the other Spectres. It was an open secret that the Spectre program had no real limitations. But if the Council didn't like you as their Spectre, you knew it. They would 'retire' Spectres that caused them too much trouble, or tell them that they needed to go into an extended 'investigation' onboard Friess Station. So Garrus always was on the lookout for ways that he could improve his standing.

The last few files were still vid cam shots. Shots of his mother, standing in the atrium of the family estate. He didn't open any more of those. It felt too much like desecrating his father's memory. Especially as his mother was standing and walking in those still images. It hurt more to consider that.

"Dad, you really should help me out." He muttered. "I'm paired with a bunch of pyjaks that don't even know how to talk to a politician." He stretched his legs, his toes still locked into his armor. "Where in the spirits did you keep everything?"

This office was where his father spent most of his time. Garrus was only invited here once as a child, and it was more of a disciplinary moment than anything else. He rarely came in here since. Sighing, he started to put the drawer back into its slot. When it caught on something, he stopped. He wasn't a small person anymore, and his father had been near about the same height. He tried to reach inside to figure out what was blocking the drawer, but his hands were far too large.

Glancing around, he grinned slightly. He had always dreamed of doing this to his father, disturbing his always so meticulously ordered desks. With a cackle he overturned the entire desk, the papers he had looked over going all over the place. The thump was loud enough to be deeply satisfying.

He gave a keening noise of joy as the bottom of the drawer housing looked slightly repaired. Omni-gel was meant to take the color of whatever it bonded to, but over time those bonding elements might deteriorate. After ten years the repair mark had showed rather than faded. Garrus carefully cut the hole open again, and found a small space cleared out inside with a couple of OSDs and a small bag of evidence reports.

He checked the lock on the door before righting the desk and sitting down again. The desk looked so sterile that he moved some of the papers haphazardly over the space, to make it feel like his own before he started. The first OSD popped in, and showed up as empty. A scan for encryption showed that it was keyed to a certain scanning tool.

Grumbling, he dug up his father's old Omni-tool and booted it up, inserting the OSD and activating the old security systems that verified the wearer. There was only a vid file on this OSD. He queued it up, the haptic display showing an old crime scene.

" _He was killed using some sort of aerosol poison. Materials from the planet below._ " An examiner was in the room, along with two members of the MP legion. His father was there, he realized. " _Spirits, this is bad. What are we going to tell the General?_ "

" _What will the Council do once they find out?_ " His father's gravelly voice asked. " _I've got a blood sample over here._ "

" _We don't have access to much of their health network data, Vakarian. Nothing we can do with that right now. Ice it._ "

Garrus watched twenty other crime scenes pass by, each time his father recorded the finding of hair particles, skin particles, and in one other instance a diluted blood sample. But the connection was clear. Twenty one murders that his father was able to chain to a single Human Assassin, across a decade and a half. Murder method was clean, aerosol poisonings, and their targets were of both genders of multiple races. The bag held all of the collected evidence. The OSD ended with a clear connection to the Human Ambassador. Enough to almost start an investigation.

The second OSD worked, but much of its data was older and slightly corrupted. It was a typed out marker for different Asari worlds and places. All of the investigation here focused on tracking down a Mirala Ti'renlaaue. Notes from his father indicated that this was just an alias, and that the true identity of the target was what he was after. The OSD was mostly from secondhand sources in Asari space, passed on to his father. But there was one clear source. It was a chain of vid mails from Ambassador Tevos to different invited guests to some party. The current Asari Councillor had been grooming Tevos at the time, and Tevos' guest list had included Mirala. But the OSD ended there.

"Stranger and stranger." The third OSD had the smallest data file set. It was a recording. Queueing it up, he could see his father sitting at this very desk, with everything placed in their exact positions.

" _Garrus._ " He blinked. " _I've keyed this to you. Or your son. Spirits know that the enemies I am chasing will outlive us all._ " His father's image looked tired, and this recording was dated for the same day as his death. " _I've stepped on too many toes. I was approached by Spectre Tela Vasir this morning, who told me that the Asari Republics will take my investigation well in hand, and bring Mirala to justice. I didn't request them to do this and how they found out about my investigation in the first place is spirits-damning._ "

His father closed his eyes. " _I'm sending my data forward, but I am saving all of this under my desk for future notice. Thankfully you followed my instructions on finding these discs. Hopefully it's not too late in your life that you checked my private vault._ " Garrus gulped. He had considered it too grave an action, to disturb his father's property. He stored it in their family vault, and his mother never touched his things. Garrus made a mental note to go poke at his father's things. " _Mirala has killed hundreds of other Asari and a few others. I was first clued into her when we found a dead Hanar in a shuttle. Asari particles and fluids were everywhere, and the Hanar died from his nervous system nearly exploding. We've traced this to multiple counts of deaths of supposedly natural causes all over Council Space. I had sent one of my partners to investigate this mess, but he never came back._ "

" _Garrus, if you're hearing this then you've been drawn into an old web, where the acranth is waiting for anything to disturb it, or get caught. Mirala can kill within range of sight. You aren't a biotic, and you won't be able to stop her yourself. I'm going into this party tonight, and I'm going to finally track her down and get some answers. If I don't get them, you've got everything I was able to find here. Worse, she's not the only one of these murderers. The Asari government made them. Or something. Spirits, I couldn't find out much. Desolous Arterius knows as much about them as I do, and even he wasn't able to find out more._ " Pontus Vakarian looked closely at the vid feed. " _You're a Tarn. You can't die. Our family has seven hundred years of history in our vaults, and you can't die for some fool cause if you can avoid it. I forbid you from investigating this until you are no longer Tarn Vakarian._ " The OSD clicked off.

"Damn it, Dad." Even dead he tried to run his life. "Damn Desolous, too." He decided that he needed a drink. A tall one. He was going to drink the entire set of greaves tonight, and not just the boot. That was when his Omni-tool beeped. He pulled off his father's tool, gently placing it inside of a clear particle glass case. His Omni-tool booted and showed a sent message.

_Dear Scale Itch._

_The Pyjaks want you back for some big fat lead on the Rachni. Docking bay coordinates encoded. If you don't show up, though, I won't hold it against you. Not like you care about them any more than I do._

_Kalin'ren vas Moreh_

Scale itch? Garrus felt his mandibles tighten. Racial epithets were not a very nice thing to say, especially over an encrypted message. He growled. He strapped his gun to his thigh and locked all of the scattered papers back into the desk. Though he took all of the credit chits and donated them to the injured officer fund on his way to the docking bay. Oh, he didn't like Humans. But that didn't mean he would give up on them completely.

He would go there, and see if they would let him back into the Normandy. If they had found Desolous, then Garrus would come. But Desolous had dumped his Omni-tool somewhere or was off the grid completely. The old man could lose himself faster than most. Clipping his helmet back into place, he walked out of the C-sec station and got an air car. The Pyjaks needed someone with common sense to keep them from killing themselves. Garrus didn't sign up for that, but he respected the one who did. Though his dead friend couldn't fault him if he picked up some alcohol on the way.

* * *

James Hansen hadn't had the best experience after he quit working for Jack Harper. The man had left Citadel Space, and the person with the most knowledge regarding where he had gone all those trips. He had also signed an agreement in his work contract that he wouldn't reveal anything about Jack Harper, or his great wealth and income would suddenly be connected to a large number of standing warrants and death threats against Jack. So he kept his mouth shut.

Then Donovan Hock showed up. He showed up with half of the Cerberus Infiltrators and seized his house in California, his shuttles, and all of his guns. They claimed that under the Alliance charter, they had the right to search everything he owned for clues as to Jack Harper's location. Then he was jailed, 'for his protection'. They asked him about where he had traveled, where he had been. But he kept his agreement. Jack trusted him with some of his most secret parts of his life.

But after a year in jail, things weren't looking so great. No one knew where he was. He didn't have a lawyer to protect him, and so he had to make a tough decision. Which brought him to today.

"Why hello, James." The middle aged face of Julianne Jones sitting at his bar left him with all of the feelings of being stuck in his ten by five cell all over again. "I hear that you've been seeing such success lately." She chided. Jones used to be blonde, but now she had colored her hair to be the salt and pepper of older women. He hadn't seen her in three years. The day he had been finally released from his cell.

"Um, Hi." He offered, trying to keep his bartenders from seeing him freak out. "What'll you be having?"

"A moment of your time, Mr. Hansen. It would be in your best interest to listen."

"I've done nothing wrong, Jones." Jones was dressed in some nice pair of pants and a jacket, enough to hide a weapon in. "You told me that!"

She grinned darkly. "I lied." She let him see the handle of a large pistol that she had in her shoulder holster. "You've been in contact with some old friends of ours. We should talk about it."

James Hansen gulped. She could kill everyone in here. She could kill him and make it look like a suicide. He wanted to throw up, or just go die in some vent. He never wanted to make this decision again. "No, no we can't!"

"It would be a shame if anything were to happen to all these marines and naval officers, wouldn't it? Aren't some of them critical to the war effort?" James could count over a hundred Humans in his club right now that were wearing some kind of uniform or fatigues. Some of them could be officers. But all of them were strong, healthy, and capable people. "A shame, we had just paid off your debts to society, too."

"Please, don't, none of these people are involved in anything!" His bartenders were all too far to hear him now.

"I planted a sound bug in your comm line years ago, you _worm_." Jones sneered. "Something about Hannah Shepard came through. Tell me everything about it and these people live. If I'm not satisfied, then people die." Jones leaned over the bar, her demeanor that of a seductress, but her fingers were creating dents in the countertops with every tap.

He didn't want to go back into a cell. He didn't want people to die, just because he knew something. "I'll tell you, just," His bartenders were looking at him oddly. It was not his usual style to spend so long with any client or customer. "Don't kill anyone."

* * *

Author's Note

Kudos to the animated series Archer for giving me an idea for a club name. This one didn't take as long to crank out. There was so little information on Suen and how the Rachni evolved, or there were multiple sources claiming that they were around for different cycles. Javik claims that the Rachni assisted the Protheans. If the Protheans kept a beacon at Earth, perhaps they would keep one on Suen as well. So, the idea came to me. Either way.

I'm proud to say that **Logical Premise** is doing better, and is posting again. His health was an issue, and I am quite glad that he is updating his epic long story again. Another thing that has been frustrating were some errors from over the last couple of weeks. They stopped recording all traffic, and all messages were not getting through or were errors. If you guys did try to send me any messages, please try again now that they have fixed the problem. I'll actually get them now.

For those of you in America, you guys are about to get a giant load of political bullcrap. Next month the government will 'shut down' unless a budget agreement is reached. It's going to be stupid because all of the Republican candidates want some good press, or something to give them an edge. Some of those guys have current seats in Congress, which makes them even more obnoxious.

In America we have this wonderful organization called Planned Parenthood. It has done great work for millions of women, and I don't want to sound rude by saying it hasn't done wrong. Recently we have found out(The public, no idea how long the government has been aware) that the fetuses that have been aborted through Planned Parenthood are being used for a darker purpose. As PP is a government supported company, everyone there makes a government salary. Great benefits, great everything, apparently. Unfortunately, some of the Planned Parenthood Doctors are going against international law and selling the fetuses and their organs to bio-engineering companies. This is all a very lucrative market, and these doctors know it. So they sell the fetuses, some of whom are sold to the client while still alive, their hearts beating. It makes me sick to hear about that.

So the Republicans are about to make a fat complaint that they 'won't sign off on any budget unless Planned Parenthood is defunded'. It's going to dominate headlines and basically make the whole party make a mess of themselves. Planned Parenthood is fine. We just have to figure out who is specifically breaking the law and bring them in. The company shouldn't have to suffer from that.

Either way, I have a vote settled for my candidate. It isn't Hillary(I don't like economic policies that are based on younger generations suffering further) and I'm not going to talk about who I chose. But most of the readers here are under 25. If you are American, and you are of age to vote, I urge you to do so. Most people just want to bury their heads in the sand and just tell you 'that you're picking the lesser of two evils'. It's not like that. Really the reason that no one listens to our generation is that we don't vote as a block. The older people do, and they really throw their weight behind people. If we young people did that we would have just as much voting power. That's why I brought up the impending stupidity. I just hope that you all out there look past all of it and find something good to read about in the news. Or at least something hopeful. Thanks for reading my little rant here, I hope that you guys have a great start of semester or Fall, and good luck out there.


	51. Lucid: Guns and Roses

Chapter 51

Zakera Ward Docks, The Citadel, June 2182

Garrus approached the terrible looking Alliance shuttle from the elevators, watching as some of the Alliance soldiers at the dock give him looks. The C-sec officers, on the other hand, gave him nods of respect. He jaunted past all of them, coming up to the shuttle that had one of the Human soldiers standing outside of it. He was one of the Warp ball players that had joined onto the  _Normandy_.

The male gave him a single glance before tapping the side of the shuttle. Garrus got in, seeing that the shuttle only had Humans in it. Sitting in the nearest row was Julia Constantine. His newest project. His newest headache. "I don't see Desolous here." Garrus stated. "Or Lt. Jenkins."

"The Alliance has decided to have Lt. Jenkins receive training on commanding a vessel. Along with a promotion if he can prove his worth."

Garrus did not like that one bit. Splitting up all of the candidates. One was still in the hospital, Jenkins had apparently been reassigned, and now all he had left was Jack Harper's daughter. No, everything about that sounded like bad news. "I don't like this, Commander." He almost loosed a racial epithet. Though the 'scale itch' comment had him slightly rankled. "Nor have I gotten any indication that Desolous is prepared to move."

"I have a lead on the Rachni. I would like to have your help." She offered as an explanation.

"Isn't your ship due for repairs?"

"We are deploying on board a private craft for the time being. The ship will continue with its refitting."

Lt. Alenko turned at that. "We aren't taking the ship?"

"The  _Normandy_  is not capable of direct combat at this time." Garrus had to think about that. "I've commissioned a vessel to take us to the X-19 listening post, and from there to the old Rachni world of Suen."

Garrus sighed. "You're investigating this, no matter what. Aren't you."

"The Alliance needs an advantage. Everyone does. The Rachni are not being repelled like they could be during the Rachni Wars. Their weapons and armor have advanced to the point that they can challenge our armored vehicles without trouble, while Hierarchy and Alliance technology is roughly at the same level as the technology that was used against the Rachni last time."

"Call off your civilian craft." Garrus muttered. Spirits, this Human was going to get herself killed. Too bad she was the best of the lot. "I have a few favors I can call in for a Turian craft to take us. If you really do have a lead, then we should at least use our collective government's resources to get the job done." He shook his head. Humans and their impatience. One day they would have to thank him for keeping them alive. "Yes, this is Spectre Garrus Vakarian. I would like to request a frigate for myself and a small strike crew."

The Hierarchy were not pleased with the idea, but the PR potential was certainly something they liked. So the 'combined' mission was going to take place onboard the Turian cruiser  _Averro Dominus_. Garrus sighed at the thought of bringing all of these people onboard one of the Hierarchy's best.

He glanced towards the aft of the shuttle, seeing the glimmer in the air that signified a cloaked person. Looks like the Alliance didn't fully trust them. He wouldn't, to be fair. Once they were en route he would let Julia know that her Alliance Infiltrators would not be as welcome on board a Turian Cruiser.

* * *

Arcturus Station, June 2182

Jenkins slung his bag over his shoulder, stepping off the shuttle and onto Arcturus Station. The gigantic capital of the Alliance was mostly just ugly, in his opinion. The station was in a constant state or repair or expansion, and scaffolding was always in the way of the view. The station had a circular section in the middle, where people were housed and such, and two long wings that housed ships.

His shuttle had dropped him and thirty other sweaty guys bound for leave somewhere at the station, and the pilot had gruffly told them all to get off as soon as possible. Jenkins was off of the shuttle, but found a pretty young lady with blonde hair and a Naval officer's uniform there to greet him.

"Lt. L Jenkins?" She asked, her voice perky. That was odd for a military officer. When he approached, she grinned. Her uniform was one of the docking bay uniforms that covered the hands and the feet. But in between the seals he noticed a particular type of armor.

"Yes, Agent?" Infiltrators wore the kind of armor that hugged a figure like that. The bits he could see in between her wrists and elbows allowed him to recognize that. The designs almost perfectly matched what Commander Constantine wore. Knowing that he was in front of an agent, he stood a bit more stiffly.

"I'm here to brief you." She stated. She didn't introduce herself. But sending a pretty face to greet him just made him even more uncomfortable. "You will not be attending the flag officer academy. Your orders are enclosed here." She handed him a datapad, which required his signature, eye scan, and thumb print. She followed him out of the hangar bay where he could safely remove his gloves to be able to do all of this.

The datapad activated, showing orders coming from Admiral Steven Hackett having him moved into the custody of the  _Russian Naval Command_. What the in the hell.

"This order comes straight from the top." The agent reported. He must have actually voiced his complaint, considering her giving him an unhappy look. "Your training will be starting as of now, in docking bay 41. Please report to the shuttle Romeo-5129. Failure to do this will result in your demotion."

Well, if they put it that way. "Aye, Ma'am." She followed him all the way to the hangar bay, where the crappiest shuttle he had ever seen sat. It even looked pre-element zero in technology. An old Russian flag mark was on the door to the shuttle, which was open. The agent stood at the doorway of the hangar, watching and observing him. She wasn't cloaked, so that meant it was as much intimidation as well as everything else.

The inside of the shuttle was decrepit. Only a couple of seats looked functional, and most of the seatbelts were taken apart or missing entirely. The only seats that worked were the ones furthest in front of the shuttle, where the cockpit was. He sighed, hoping that all of this was just one giant practical joke. "Hello?"

"Jess, I am here." A voice with a thick accent called. "Come, come. Much to do." Jenkins walked forward, seeing that the pilot's seat was filled by a man covered in the marks of old age. "Yes, you, you be like limpet on ass. Come and learn." He didn't have a beard, but his skin had that leathery look of someone who had spent their days outside. His marks of age were set by his scowl, the lines on his face indicating that it was the only emotion the old man showed. His English was thick.

He sat down in the chair next to the old man, now noticing the thick calluses built up on his hands, and the lack of Omni-tool on his wrist. "My name is Lt. Jenkins." He introduced himself, offering his hand for a handshake.

"Velcome to Russian Navy, Jeenkins." The old man said. "Alliance wanted you to have the best. So the best you shall receive."

"Uh, isn't the Russian Navy absorbed into the Alliance?" The Russian Space going Navy had been part of the Alliance since its founding. No one really wanted to form the Alliance without them, not after they had beaten back the massive forces arrayed against Europe during the Islamic wars.

"Space crews, jess." He grunted. "Submarine crews, niet."

"Submarine?" Jenkins said, bewildered. "What the hell?"

"My name is Nikolai Arkhipov. Rear Admiral Nikolai Arkhipov." He wasn't wearing a uniform. "Last commander of water going Naval forces before we were disbanded." He pressed a button, closing the shuttle door. "You are going to learn how to command submarine, not some tugboat."

"Tugboat?"

The old Russian waved at all of the military vessels around them, most of the Alliance Fifth Fleet. "These are all tugboats. They shoot like infantry and fly like fat dogs. Niet, no, you vill learn how to command Submarine. Not Tugboat."

"How old are you, Sir?"

"Ninety Four. Fought in Late Islamic wars when I was 12. Then joined Navy. But that is irrelevant. You are Jenkins. You are to be limpet on my ass. You will learn  _everything_  I can teach you." The man had leaned towards him, his cold brown eyes boring into him. The old man still had a full head of gray hair, with darker bits near the ears. "Because Alliance told me you are going to command submarine in space. You get best education possible."

"That's uh, classified."

"So is half of career. Maybe if you impress me I tell you." Arkhipov waved him off. "But first, we must honor your career." The old man reached into his coat pocket, bringing out two yellowed scotch glasses and a tiny bottle of vodka. Jenkins straightened up. Russians were crazy serious about their vodka. "It was these glasses that my grandfather and great great grandfather drank from when they had nuclear missile aimed at rest of the world. First rule of submarine warfare, you are only as strong as your ability to hide allows you to be."

The two yellowed glasses didn't look like much, Jenkins could admit. But one of them had been repaired, glued back together. Vodka was poured into both, barely a shot. But the air above the small glasses rippled for a moment, making Jenkins realize that this was not going to be the weak stuff. Arkhipov took the repaired glass, and held it up to his mouth. Jenkins decided that if anything he was going to keep pace with some old Russian. He was a freaking Marine. "I'm gonna pass this in three weeks!" He said loudly, downing the shot glass.

His vision swam as the entire shot glass went down his throat, the burning mess hitting his stomach and his body trying to cough. He held down the impulse, slowly breathing out through his nose. Arkhipov looked the same, with no reaction to the strong drink. "Good." He declared. "They sent me man with stomach for difficulty. That was strongest vodka I could find."

"I feel it." Jenkins nearly coughed. His eyes could focus again, but it was a near thing. "I'm a marine, though. I can take whatever happens."

"You are limpet." The old man told him. "No longer just man that can shoot gun and drink much. You will learn of many things. First, simple test. Get us to relay."

Jenkins nodded, sitting down and plugging in a flight plan like he had been taught. Just before he would have entered the command into the shuttle to launch, his navigation command was overruled and the shuttle went back into standby mode.

"Niet. Be as limpet. Get us to relay without being seen."

"Uh, just so that you know, I am terrible at flying shuttles."

"You won't fly shuttle. Like in real situation, you will not be at helm. You will be commanding. When I am not teaching, consider me your crew." He patted the instruments. "I will fly, and you will tell me what to do. If I think it won't work, I will tell you. Also, this shuttle cannot go through relay on its own."

"What?" Jenkins skewed his face. "How the hell did you get here, then?"

"Submarine in water is much like ship in space. Simply more room to maneuver. Less things to hide behind." He pointed to the open hangar bay doors. "Now, get us to relay, and this time, do not get us detected." The old man pointed at the parts of this shuttle that were working. "Comms on this shuttle do not work. If you are detected, they will board us and take us in as criminal. Good incentive, yes?"

Jenkins gulped. This was not what he thought would happen. This was going to be insane. "Uh, I think I have an idea."

"It had better work, limpet. I don't have pilot license."

* * *

 _Averro Dominus_ , Maskim Xul System, June 2182

Captain Pallus was not pleased that he had to share his bridge with a Spectre. Even less so that he had to allow a Human onto the bridge with them. "Turian Spectres have a habit of dying around Humans, Vakarian." He had warned him. Well,  _this_  Turian Spectre was prepared for that. At least he thought he was.

Then they had seen what Julia could do when she decided to spar with Kaidan Alenko. She took down the man who was supposed to have the highest reflexes in Humanity's biotic pool like he was standing still. She had used a small wooden pole, roughly ten inches long, and then proceeded to beat Alenko out of the ring and into a wall, all without her biotics. Of course, that got all of the Turian blood flowing, adrenaline rising. Most of the crew started looking over at the Captain, who was the highest rated hand to hand specialist on the ship.

Pallus had lasted less than fifteen seconds, getting put into a headlock and forced to tap out. The hushed trilling of the crew had been all that responded at the end of that match, Captain Pallus retreating to his quarters. So that left Garrus to put the obnoxious Human in her place. She was fast, yes, but she didn't have experience wrestling Krogan. She was as fast as any Salarian in terms of reflexes, or just a little bit slower. Her armor allowed her to slip out of his grip, but Garrus could handle that. Their little bout ended a minute or three in, when he finally got a hold on her and threw her out of the ring forcibly.

She had dislocated his shoulder on the way out, but Garrus held firm and made sure she was out of the ring. The trills from the crew rose a bit in respect for him, and the Human Warp ball team seemed to smile at him more. Julia had shrugged. Told him that she would win the next time. All of this equated one very angry Turian Captain and not a lot he could do to fix anything. If he had the chance to spar the Captain first, he would have at least let the man showcase some of his moves and abilities, rather than just choking him out right on the mat.

"Clearing the relay now, Captain!"

Pallus cleared his throat. "Give me a visual. Something is wrong in this system." The haptic screens in front of the raised dais that the captain stood behind activated, and a map of the solar system took shape. Garrus hitched his breath when he saw that there was only reports of debris. The fuel depot, in orbit around the system's gas giant, was gone. A couple hundred people worked out of the station, even though it dated back to the Rachni wars. Worse, there was just a debris cloud for Listening post X-19. Five thousand people were onboard when it last checked in.

"I've got no outgoing signals from anywhere. The debris is from an implosion. Something caused the reactor to blow open." One of the bridge officers stated. "Same with the Fuel Depot."

"Launch the fighter wing, have them comb the area for escape pods, survivors. Give me something. Shuttle one, take a team and see if you can recover any data from the debris. Shuttle two, take the forensics team and see if the fuel depot was sabotaged or if it was able to get any shuttles off as well. Someone had to have taken cover." Pallus poured over the system map, looking at other installations. "Take us towards Suen. Cruising speed. Sensors active, I don't want to get surprised by whatever the hell hit this place."

"I have one distress signal in system, sir!" The comm officer shouted. "It's the archeological dig site, they've got a distress beacon running."

Pallus actually smiled. "Well, hail them. The poor Salarians are probably hungry."

Julia was silent during the entire process. Simply a fly on the wall. But she paid very close attention to what was going on. "Captain, I've got no reply from the dig site, but I have a couple of distress beacons out in the mountains surrounding area. But the habitable areas on Suen are tidally locked to the star. Sending signals to some locations isn't going to work until we get closer."

"Come in from above the sun's direct angle. It's bright enough that it's blinding some of our more sensitive systems. But leave a comm buoy in place by the relay. Command will want to hear about this." Pallus' commands forced the Turian cruiser to have to add four hours to the journey. But from the uppermost angle of the solar system, they were able to find another source of debris. Garrus was silent, respectful, and did not offer any advice as Pallus led the crew. It was not his place, and his command rank was from the Hierarchy's special forces, not Naval command.

"Buoy has been dropped. Anything you want to send through, Captain?"

Pallus hummed. "Sensor records, detail on the X-19 station. See if any allied forces are in the area and tell them to be on the lookout for possible Rachni ships or Rachni controlled ships." He pointed at the upper edge of the system, where the sensors said there was a debris cloud. "What happened there?"

"We've run it through the scanners. First guess is that it might be all that is left of the frigate on station, the  _Laterus._  Older, needed to be put in drydock or just retired."

"Reply coming in from the planet!" the comm officer yelled. Pallus nodded, motioning for it to be brought up on the comm channel. Garrus approached now, as this was relevant. Pallus reluctantly allowed Julia to come onto the command section as well.

" _This is STG s-..." "ame is Mordin Solus, mission critical importance to war with Rachni. ple-..."_  An image of a couple of Salarians crouching over some equipment inside a cave came through, though a bit garbled. " _-urface is not safe! Repeat, surface is not safe!_ "

"Say again, STG team, we read you!"

" _Your signal isn't penetrating. Coord-_ " The image wavered, as the Salarians got up and started running. " _Assistance required!_ " The line went dead, as the Salarians must have been going deeper underground.

"Where are they?" Pallus asked. The map of the system zoomed in on Suen, where the small habitable green strip of the planet had a few locations of different dig sites. The main one was in a low valley, one that never got hit by the sun's rays directly. Comm signals were terrible usually, and with all of the comm buoy network knocked down in the system it was even harder. The buoy network here was replaced around two hundred years ago, if reports were to be believed.

"Fifteen miles east of the main dig site. One mile underground." One of the crew reported. "I don't have access to any tunnel map for the planet. The X-19 base had all of that data stored in its servers locally."

Pallus grumbled something about backups. "The Hierarchy doesn't have them backed up somewhere?"

"Maybe the STG does, sir, but the military network is not sending any response back positive."

"Spirits, this is a mess. Spectre, prepare your team for drop. I assume you want to follow after our STG friend?"

Garrus rumbled a trill through his chest. "Yes, I think so. Though I would not mind having a nicely armed squad of Turian marines nearby for support."

Pallus actually smiled at that. "I'll have a team investigating the other distress beacons and the main camp."

Garrus nodded, before moving off to the side of the bridge where he could speak to Julia in relative privacy. "Where is your lead?"

She glanced at the map. "Other side of the mountains, four miles underground."

Garrus muttered an epithet about dark spirits. Turians didn't like being underground, and in ancient times living underground was compared to losing your soul. Turians did not dig deep into the ground until the population had become more or less atheistic by court ruling. Still, it never felt right to go deep underground. "Do you have any maps of the tunnel systems?"

"I have an entrance where they got in, and a tentative pathway that leads to where the team is pinned down. But they sighted something important." She wasn't sharing much detail, and Garrus doubted she was going to be very detailed while onboard this ship or with her combat team. "Another Asari helping the Rachni."

Garrus loosened his mandibles. "Sneaky little bugs." He turned to Pallus. "Captain, Our original lead that brought us to this system appears to differentiate our paths. I request that you send a team after the STG operatives, as our objective is in a different location."

He raised a plated brow at him, and nodded. "Shuttles three and four, prepare for departure. Mission parameters are the following…"

Garrus walked towards the lift, and back down to the hangar with Julia. "The Asari republics will be very happy to know we caught another assistant."

"This time we won't bring it to them." Julia said. "If Desolous is right, they will just kill another suspect and we will be out of leads again. No, this time I think we should bring the suspect to the Turian Hierarchy or Systems Alliance. I also have considered taking them to the Batarian Hegemony, and requesting they work over the suspect for us."

"Very cold, Commander." Garrus replied. "The Hierarchy may just return the Asari to the Asari Republics. As would the Systems Alliance. However, the Hegemony would love to have a Spectre as an ally, though it might cost me favors."

Julia actually smiled. "I have a few favors I can call in. When I was a teenager I managed to wound High Priest Haego D'vorak with only a knife." Garrus hadn't even gotten full access to her file yet, and the girl just kept getting interesting. It was too bad that she was only a Human.

"Did you win?"

"Only his respect. Then I was his bodyguard for a few weeks, stopping him from being killed while he visited a few religious sites on Earth. That won me favors."

"Alright, we can ask the Batarians." Garrus said stiffly. "But that won't make me feel confident regarding the answers we may receive." Especially if they incriminated one government or another.

"No better than what we would get from my government." She replied, as the elevator deposited them in the hangar bay.

"Or mine." He grunted, the beaten up Human shuttle sitting at the front loading dock for the hangar. The Human combat team had already loaded up, and the shuttle was ready. Garrus handed his satchel up to Alenko and hoisted himself into the shuttle, with Julia lightly jumping up behind him.

" _Spectre Vakarian. Allied ships have been sighted coming from the relay. Two Batarian and two Alliance ships have come through, responding to the distress calls. Their ID's check out, but we aren't connected to the fleet network to be able to know for sure_. _We are tasking the Alliance ships to you. The Hegemony vessels are being tasked to the X-19 post wreckage._ "

"Understood. Connect me to the Alliance ships. Does anyone have a full medical bay?"

" _Batarians brought a cargo tender and a single frigate. The Systems Alliance sent two frigates._ " There was a pause. " _All of the models are old junk. Connecting you to Alliance Captains now._ "

"This is Spectre Vakarian." Garrus started. "We thank you for your timely aid."

" _This is Major Clarksen. I'm in command of the 43rd Scout flotilla under the Fifth Fleet. I understand you need some help out here?_ " The Human male's voice sounded eager.

"Glad you could make it. We're investigating possible Rachni activity on their homeworld." Garrus said. "We will forward you coordinates and you will act as support for our teams."

" _My boys are itching for some Rachni to shoot, Spectre. Just point us in the right direction!_ " Clarksen said. " _En route, we will catch up with you in four hours. Save some bug killing for us, if you can._ "

"I'll try, but Spectres aren't known for their tolerance of forces at war with us."

That got the Human to laugh a bit. " _Roger that. See you in a few hours._ " Garrus rolled his eyes. Hopefully the small frigates would be carrying some heavy weapons. The Turian forces on board the cruiser were armed with whatever they could carry and then some, a product of the Turian Military machine being prepared for nearly anything. They were a bit excited to lay some hurt on the bugs, but they were not prepared for going miles into underground tunnels.

"Makes me wish we had a few Krogan around for this." Garrus said to Julia. "The Hierarchy likes to paint the Krogan as backwards and incapable of succeeding at anything, but they know how to make war. If we had a few of them, this mission might be easier."

"Lt. Tau resembles one of them, perhaps." Julia said, forcing a smirk onto her face. "Why would a Turian trust a Krogan?"

The rest of the humans in the squad found the Krogan comment to be funny, even the subject of the joke. What an odd Human custom. In Turian society, you never made any fun of those who you worked with. No one inside of your command structure could be the target of pranks or of jokes. It helped everyone be professional about their work. "Krogan find comfort in going underground. Not to mention they were the ones who came up with the plan to invade Suen so long ago."

"There is so little on the Rachni War available from the Council's records. I never saw that mentioned."

"That's because the Hierarchy requested that anything authored by the Krogan be removed. The Krogan Ambassador to the Council died in custody at Friess Station, watching as anything that he had made and built up was slowly removed from existence. The files you are looking for will only be found on board Friess Station. Much of the details of the last three thousand years are locked away there. Safely protecting the rest of the galaxy from what they are not prepared to understand."

"That's.. unfortunate." Julia responded. "Perhaps we should talk to a few Krogan and see if they would like to fight against the Rachni once again."

"They would love nothing more than to fight. But their old methods were simply to throw numberless hordes of Krogan into the tunnels until entire worlds were cleansed. Suen saw the deaths of millions of Krogan before the end. The actual numbers of dead at the end of the war, well, the Asari only recovered the numbers from the war in the last three hundred years. The Republics are expanding for the first time in two thousand years, now that their population has recovered from the Rachni Wars the first time."

"So its safe to say that they are not excited about getting in a war with the Rachni again." Julia said. "Because in their terms they only now recovered from the war. Any word on Thessia?"

Garrus shook his head. "Quiet, as ever. Thessia is a world that is dangerous for non-biotics. Their news networks filter slowly throughout their space, on everything except economic matters. If they are fighting the Rachni, we won't know for a while. They have most of their fleet anchored there, though. Their crews and soldiers will be close by."

Julia nodded. "But most of Thessia are independent city-states. If the Rachni invade through one of the religious states then the full forces can invade. If they're somewhere controlled by one family from the Thirty, then only their direct allies will be able to come. From what I learned from our Asari teachers, the rules for weapons to be taken into other's territory are stringent."

Garrus sighed. "Spirits willing, they'll figure things out. My people have enough trouble. Our main agricultural production center is under attack from the Rachni. We have ten years of food supplies at any given time, if what the Hierarchy says is true, but it is not a pleasant thought."

"Eden Prime was our breadbasket, too." Julia said. "The Alliance will have to ask their member states and colonies to go on rations before the year will be out."

"Until they kill the Queen, yes."

The shuttle bounced as they entered atmosphere, the air breathable but hot on one side and frozen on the other. Bitter wind and heavy storms defined the weather here, and the only place that anything could be comfortable was underground. Exactly the kind of place that Garrus did not want to be. Right behind Kahje. Swimming was another one of those things that Turians just didn't do very well.

When they landed next to an old mining shaft, Garrus did not see any other vehicles. He could see marks where a shuttle had landed, as well as fresher marks from some sort of treaded vehicle. The vehicle's marks curved towards one of the other valleys nearby, but there were a few footprints in the dust going inside the tunnel.

"These your contact?" Garrus asked as they scoped out the area. "One of them is a Krogan." He pointed to the oddly large marks in the dirt.

Julia shook her head. She was pointing at a slim, barely present mark in the dust. "She is." Garrus craned his head towards the small marks, unable to tell how large or heavy the person was. "She usually has a support team. This must be them."

"Should we look for the vehicle?" Lt Tau asked, looking a bit worriedly at the tunnel.

"We will send the Alliance teams to go look for it. As well as track down this shuttle's identity if they can." Garrus doubted that the shuttle would be identified. But this was Council Space, and any information that would help them identify the shuttle or where it came from. He knew from experience that it would almost impossible to find anything on the shuttles that came and went here. With post X-19 gone there was no data on the ships that had passed through the relay. Hopefully the Hierarchy and Hegemony technicians would be able to lift some data from the wreckage.

"Commander," Garrus spoke up. "How many Alliance forces are on those two frigates?"

"Two teams of six, each with a shuttle or insertion vehicle."

"Perhaps we can send the Turian teams after the vehicle." He said slowly. "I would prefer to have the Human Marines with us in the caves."

The Humans turned their helmets towards him. "You don't want the Turian marines?" Julia asked.

"Turians don't do well underground." Garrus admitted. "You Humans seem to perform better in the dark."

She seemed to consider it. "Alright. I'll leave a beacon for them to follow. Tell the Turians to take over for the vehicle tracking." Garrus felt a bit better about having the Humans coming with them. The Turian troops would be less effective, even if they were more heavily armed. Though perhaps he could help.

"One moment, Commander." He said, stopping them from opening the mining tunnel entrance. "Captain Pallus, this is Spectre Vakarian."

" _Pallus here. What do you need, Spectre."_ Pallus did not sound very pleased to hear from him.

"The Human Marines are going to deploy on us. I'm worried that they won't be heavily armed enough."

" _Those Salarians are running Team three ragged, Spectre. The local wildlife and environment is beyond what our troops are trained for._ " Another way of saying that the Turian marines were bogged down and unable to continue safely. " _I don't have any more forces that I can deploy._ "

Pallus didn't want to support them any more than he had to. "I'd like to request some heavy munitions to be sent down for the Human squads. Spirits know they need some form of help." There was a pause on the other end.

" _Spirits know it. Alright, Spectre, I'll drop down a supply crate for the Alliance Marines. I'll allocate some pellet mines and seeker drones._ " Garrus smirked. Seeker drones were combat drones that were meant to explode when they were disrupted, and tried to get very close to any enemies. The pellet mines were something that Garrus didn't use very much. They were meant to take out large numbers of unshielded unarmored enemies, and that wasn't something he went after very often.

"Thank you, Spectre." Julia said. "Beacon marked for the approaching marines and Turian forces." She walked up to the entrance, an older Volus model. It ha rust pockets and markings that showed decay. A single tech mine in the right place could open it easily. "Spectre, your tech expertise would be very welcome at this moment."

Garrus mumbled something unpleasant about that, but had the old system responding to inquiry. Seeing as it hadn't been updated in forty or so years, the system didn't have his authority on file. So he just spooked the command files and changed the data regarding the full administrators of the system. It took a few minutes. Much less satisfying than a bomb would be, but oh well.

His heart rate increased when he saw the poorly dug tunnel going into the mountain. The tunnel went on for a few dozen meters and then disappeared into complete darkness. His visor's light filtering turned all the way up, but even then there were still too many dark corners. Turians had excellent vision, but they had evolved as almost purely sight based hunters. Their eyes were not meant for nocturnal activities, and they could see at a further spectrum of light than most of the other races. Save for Vorcha, of course. Those creatures had excellent eyesight.

"Ta'u, take point." Julia called out. "I'll be right behind you. Alenko, you've got the rear. Keep your systems focused and try not to use active detection. In these caves it will be like we are broadcasting exactly where we are." Garrus felt his scales cramp up in his wrists when they got to the inner tunnels. Something felt wrong here. "Vakarian, turn off your monitoring tags."

"I don't have any of those." He told her. "I don't have any outgoing signals."

Julia walked over to him, holding her Omni-tool up. "Hmm. Something on you is putting out a signal." Garrus nearly let out a growl. He whipped out his Omni-tool, measuring outgoing signals, and saw that something had hacked his sensors. Or at least had changed the base data that was considered 'optimum'. The only signals that his suit claimed were going out were just diagnostics, passive sensors, and a comm line. The comm line had some activity, though, and Garrus selected it. It broke down into the hundreds of connections and comm addresses that he linked with every day. Garrus wasn't overly social, but each news link and Council address had fifteen or so different identities and servers that the signal routed through. The list was exhaustive. He changed the listing to show the list according to the date that each comm source was added.

A few had been added very recently, ones that didn't quite match his previous activities. One was labeled ' _'_  It didn't seem to connect to anything. Nor could he manipulate it. "Found something. Isolate signal ."

"Dot exe? That's an old Human termination for a program." Julia said. "You aren't looking up pre-Element Zero technology now, are you?"

He chuckled. "Perish the thought. That at least tells me that I picked up some form of malware or virus." He tapped a few keys. "Unfortunately, it is not a sign of intelligence when you try to bug a Spectre." His Omni-tool isolated the signal, which seemed to be coming from the part of his armor that covered his spurs. "I don't mean this in a sensual way, but do you think you could examine my right spur?"

Julia nodded, reaching down and finding some tiny little piece of plastic that had adhered to his armor. The service stopped being transmitted and the .exe program was removed from his comm list. "Got it. So instead of playing footsie, Turians rub the back of their ankles together?"

"What is footsie?"

"Human version of foreplay. Rubbing the feet together."

Garrus let his mandibles quiver. "That is disgusting." Turian feet were never pretty. Geneticists didn't hold feet to be one of those aesthetic qualities that were important. "Spirits, no. Touching the spur in any form is enough. Females of my species have smaller versions of the same. We only call it sensual due to it being one of the few forms of affection displays offered between couples."

Julia nodded without looking at his spur. "So if I tried to slap it right now you'd take that as a come on?"

"You're a Human. At best it would be like wind ghosting over my skin. Uncomfortable, and usually unwelcome."

Julia rolled her eyes and gently Threw him off balance. But the device she lifted from his spur she placed in her Omni-tool to start analyzing. "I've disabled whatever it was. I'll know more soon. Let's get moving." Then his focus drifted back to the cavern. The tunnels, and as they continued inwards, the tunnels got to be more natural looking. The shape of them became hexagonal, with old Rachni webbing covering the walls. Old enough that it looked like the stone, the dust so still and untouched that it was only discernible through the shape of the webs as they went around each of the larger rock in the tunnel.

He didn't like this at all, especially when the tunnel started dipping further than his boots could account for. Some of the Humans had already resorted to setting their weapons into magnetic strips and climbing down with their hands. He had to set his toes into the webbing and carefully position himself before moving downwards. His hips just did not bend as well as theirs did.

"Powered rail and a piton system are down here, Commander!" The bigger Human in front reported. Lt. Ta'u. "Looks like it was placed here a while ago."

"Don't use it." Julia told them. "It could be a trap meant for someone following."

That led them down into the largest cavern that Garrus had ever seen. The Batarians were supposed to have some of the largest on one of their moons, but they didn't really endorse tourism to that system. The pictures did not compare. This place could easily fit a Turian cruiser, even with the collapsed sections. His sensors did not go far enough to truly measure the place, and during the Rachni war this would have been even worse.

The cavern was filled with spindly spiraling walkways that connected to the ceiling of the cave. Some of these had collapsed, while others still stood. The one they had to climb down had boot prints in the dust covered webbing. The crazy people went down into this mess. His sensors were having trouble in the cavern though, and seemed to be fritzing out.

"Anyone else lose their Omni-tools?" Lt. Ta'u asked. He took off his helmet, the air down here fed by algae and breathable. "My HUD is down, too."

"Shit!" Julia spat. "We saw this on Eden Prime." Everyone tensed up. "Watch out for zombies. They pump out a signal that damages electrical gear. Shielded Omni-tools only do so much, the sensor systems of your suits aren't shielded against this kind of thing either. Magnetic strips and other integral systems don't work too well the closer the things get. Make sure that the emergency straps are securing your weapons."

That was a new word. "What is a  _zombee_ , Commander?"

"Corpses of dead Humans that have been animated with cybernetics of some sort. The Rachni have done something with their technology to be able to do this with the dead corpses on the battlefield. We call them zombies, just to make it easier." That sounded despicable. Garrus shuddered. The dead were sacred, and their ashes were supposed to be protected.

"What kind of cybernetics can send out a signal like this and still work?" Garrus asked.

"We don't know. The Rachni put some sort of failsafe in the technology, making the entire thing melt down into component parts and individual elements when the zombies are dead." Again, he shuddered. That kind of technology should not be in the hands of the Rachni. "The source of the mess are long metal rods that extend like a spike, coming from a heavy tripod type mechanism. The Alliance has determined that a corpse attached to the spike will be turned into the Zombie."

"Thank the Lord." Lt. Ta'u said. "Man at least we won't have a zombie apocolypse now."

"Yeah, they can't turn people by biting them."

"Or breathing on them like in the  _Lurking Dead_  series last year." Rahna said. "That always gave me the creeps."

"These are worse." Julia said. "When they get close, your weapons will stop working. Their claws seem to be made to go right through most armor. And they move slow enough that unless your kinetic or biotic barriers are very sensitive they ignore them." She was strapping her weapons to her body with some form of emergency adhesive strips, which Turian armor did not have. He gave a small grumble as he took hold of his sniper rifle and returned his rifle to a storage pack. His pistol he dumped inside of his cowl section of his armor. Some of the Turian troops called them buckets.

The climb to the ground was a bit more harrowing, with the biotics all glowing with their barriers and everyone's sensors shorting out. His sensors went out, but his Omni-tool was shielded against this sort of thing. It was still able to use laser detection to check things around him. But he was now limited to line of sight and motion sensors built into his Omni-tool. His HUD was suffering from not being able to connect to the other members of the squad, and it was squealing about how everyone in his combat team was down on the ground dying somewhere.

He couldn't disable the screeching until he got to the ground, his trembling feet finally coming in contact with something that wasn't spongy webbing. Some of the Rachni webbing had broken as they went down, making feet slide until they caught on webbing again or risk falling off the spindling structure. Lt. Ta'u almost fell off at the very top, and being the largest one he risked holding onto the powered rail line on his way down. Garrus would have done the same if it wasn't for his pride. Thankfully the armor concealed any shaking that he had when the webbing under his feet stretched or bent.

Once the alarm was disabled, he took a deep breath and let his visor covered eye roam around the area. "Commander." He stated. "I've got a body ahead."

She had taken off her helmet, as had the rest of the Humans. "Lead the way. My systems aren't shielded." She had put all of her weapons away, and instead pulled out two very wicked looking knives. One of which had five individual blades with Batarian markings on the hilt.

"You have a  _Kavka_?" She twitched an eye over towards him. "Those things have started wars, you know."

"It was a gift. Show me the corpse." He didn't investigate more. A Human with a Kavka was not something he had ever heard about. Interesting. He would find out more later. The corpse they found was something messy. Bits and pieces were everywhere, and the blood covered the rocks. The rotting corpse, as he now saw, had been mostly consumed or destroyed by something. The blood had discolored the rocks and had dried, black with a few bluish streaks on some of the thicker poolings.

Julia looked at him expectantly. "You've got the only working Omni-tool." So he did. The analysis function took longer than expected to work, but came back solid.

"Rachni Warrior." He said with finality. "Your lead was good. But something tore it apart here. Was your lead a Krogan?"

"She's Human." Julia admitted. The most she had so far. "But the Rachni are here about something."

"Man down over here!" Kaidan called. "He's not moving!"

"Do not approach!" Julia ordered. "Lt Alenko, Lift the body." Garrus aimed down his sights at the corpse, which had strangely been in a hollowed out area near the Rachni corpse. When the biotic sent out a bolt of dark energy towards it, the corpse gently floated into the air. It slowly rotated, the helmet and armor of the corpse seemingly unharmed. Until they could see its hands slowly uncurl. The helmet concealed the face, but not the wave of energy that came off the corpse. Zombee. Whatever the Humans called it.

The wave of energy was blue, and it rolled over everyone with the sound of kinetic barriers crackling and dying. The spotlights on their armor also died, plunging the area around them into almost total darkness. Only Garrus' armor still had working systems, though they had felt the wave as well. His lights only reached to the middle of the pack, and residual light revealed the corpse jumping off to one side.

"This is a trap." Garrus said. "Everyone get close to me!" The Humans all moved back towards him, and he took a moment to hold his arm with the Omni-tool above his head, to let its laser detection grid map out the area. His lights were halfway impeded by the Human biotics that stood in the way. But his sensors showed that there was movement in some of the places around them. "I'm counting two enemies."

"We can't see anything!"

"They will come after anyone that they can pick off." Julia said. "I'll go put them down." She jumped forward, biotics glowing and knives out. Garrus pushed past the gigantic Lt. Ta'u and brought out his rifle, the scope not meant for looking for undead spirits possessing flesh. Julia hadn't cloaked, so that must mean that system was also not working. He couldn't see her very clearly and he couldn't see her targets.

Then his sensors cleaned up. He could see armor lights starting back up on the marines, and he took a moment to shudder in relief. Turians  _hated_  caves. Julia stepped back towards them, and once in the small hollowed area her lights also came back on. "There are a bunch more of them out there. This spot is protected for the moment, but I think we can find a pattern to them and find out if they are here to protect something or here to attack something."

"Alright, What does that include." Alenko asked.

"Vakarian is going to get up on higher ground, see if he can snipe out anything that is moving. The rest of us stay near him until he has cleared out the area. Take off your helmets, otherwise we won't be able to hear each other."

It was a decent plan. "We need to get you all shielded armor. What would happen if the Alliance had to fight these things in environments that you need armor to function?"

"I'll try to talk to them about it." Julia said. "Take that collapsed spire and get up there." She pointed at one of the spiraling constructions that used to form a pathway to the ceiling, the upper two thirds having fallen. The remaining third poked upwards at an odd angle, and would make a decent sniper position. If he trusted Rachni webbing to hold him up. Shuddering once, he quickly jogged over to the spiraling structure and hoisted himself on top of a larger flat section that hadn't collapsed.

His Omni-tool pointed out two of the corpses laying down further away, now that it knew what to look for. "Taking a shot!" He called. With his sights zeroed in on the corpse, he blasted the creature in the head. His rifle went through the armored plating of the corpse's helmet and left a spray of brain matter on the rock behind it. He quickly cycled to the other corpse, but it had already shifted locations.

Odd, that it wasn't moving to attack him. He could see shadows of more of the corpses moving around at the edge of his Omni-tool's range. But they were just staying at a range. Like they were trying to block them in. "Commander, something else is going on."

"What is it?"

"They're just keeping us surrounded. Like they are setting up some sort of ambush."

"Take them out as you can. We aren't capable of going on the offensive until we can safely move out there. We need light for this."

His Omni-tool pinged. There was something larger out here. Something bigger than any humanoid creature. "Tell me, Commander, did your contact say anything about local wildlife?"

"No, she didn't. Why?"

"Because I certainly hope that something fifteen meters tall and moving towards us is a nice peaceful herbivore." Garrus couldn't see the thing, but his Omni-tool was telling him that something extremely large was heading this direction.

"Arrow formation! Let's hit this thing with a Warp!" Alenko called.

* * *

Jack let his helmet's visor switch over to control mode. Putting a QEC inside of his armor had been the best he could do. Charles had told him that shrinking a QEC and its component communications systems to the size of a pair of sunglasses was impossible. It was only thanks to the Protheans and Vigil that they were able to shrink the module down to an armor upgrade. Still, it was enough. A quick glance at his ship's sensors showed that the  _Normandy_  had slipped into its private drydock without being detected. It wasn't going anywhere for at least eight hours. Long enough that he could risk being distracted.

The QEC systems booted up, and he saw that the connection list was still down to three options. The first was of course, Charles' office. That one he skipped over. The second was the connection that had been placed in Mnemosyme. That drone was pretty much ruined from what it had been put through, but it could be repaired. The last connection was the  _Acheron_. He selected that one, the connection coming through slowly. Once it was established, though, he saw the image of the bridge of the  _Acheron_ , with its three seats and his crew working on some damaged section.

"Status report." He called. The captain of the vessel, Matthew Qing, turned to the console and gave him a jaunty salute.

" _Reaper came into system, Sir. We had to land to avoid its notice, and we chose the frozen side of the planet. It's causing us a lot of trouble, and now there are two Alliance frigates on station above the planet, and one Turian cruiser._ "

"Stealth systems?"

" _Damaged from some ice, sir. We're trying to replace the damaged armor but I'm worried that we won't be able to break orbit without losing some more of the reflective paint. There is some ice buildup along the port side that we haven't been able to clear. Stuff builds up fast, too. We had to park it in a valley over here, but it hasn't seen the sun in a few thousand years. So the permafrost and the wind and ice crystals have done a lot of damage._ "

"Any word from Allison Gunn and her team?"

" _None. They've been stuck inside that mountain range for 124 hours right now, and they only packed for a few days. Injuries were reported but no deaths._ " Captain Qing told him. His ancestry was more Asian than Caucasian, but he was raised in the UK. He didn't speak a single syllable of Cantonese. He also had no connection to the Reds, or any family with connections to them. " _We remotely controlled the GRIZZLY and had it return to the ship. The ground here changes quickly enough that the tracks would be frozen over by the time it got here._ "

"Perfect, captain." Jack said. "Load the QEC module into the drone that Charles sent you. Then have the GRIZZLY take that drone back. I'll directly control the drone and go in after Allison."

" _She will probably blame you for it all if you don't go after her, Sir_." Qing said, though with one raised eyebrow he didn't mention any more.

"Quite, Captain." Monogamy was contingent upon Hannah being alive to enforce their agreement. It didn't suit him, but then again none of this cloak and dagger lifestyle did. There was supposed to be some transparency, some form of public display of his pride and arrogance. He didn't enjoy much of this.

" _I'll have the QEC placed into the drone. It's the body double you had ordered for Allison Gunn, Sir._ " Well, that was awkward. The body double of himself was obviously still with Charles. Well, it wasn't quite what he would normally prefer.

"It's not what I would prefer, but I think we can work with it. Do you have any men you can spare?"

" _No, Sir. I've got everyone on double shifts just keeping the ice off of our engines. The Quarians are trying to keep us from getting too warm and getting noticed by the ships in orbit. That's been the real trouble. The ice is forming all over us because we can't afford to be warm enough to melt anything._ "

"How much longer can you afford to stay in the cold?"

" _Not more than a week. Otherwise we will need some help to jumpstart the core. It'll be so cold that the containment fields will all be slow on the uptake. We'll risk some contamination in the Engineering section the longer we put it off._ "

"Connect the QEC module. I'll see what I can do directly." Qing nodded, and the connection went down for a few minutes. The drones that he had built for the QEC to be mounted on had been an original idea that the old Cerberus in his memories had stumbled upon. Fully composite bodies that could be attached with synthskin and become undercover agents, with an AI system built in to control the movements of the drone. Unfortunately the AI systems were based on Reaper code, and he wasn't able to get a reasonable substitute.

The drone was large enough to be EMP shielded and have a QEC device, not to mention carry everything that he needed. Husks could damage any electronics that they came into contact with. Bloody things ruined everything they touched. The organic material broke down after a months and made the Husks worthless as militia troops or garrison forces. His drones were a lot more expensive, and every inch of them was armored and EMP shielded. Just for good measure each of the interior processors and components were shielded again. The drone had an internal stun weapon built into its arm, and could carry a few heavier pieces of equipment without trouble.

It couldn't cloak, though. He didn't bother getting it a catsuit. Instead the drone had a faux paux made, something that looked like a catsuit and functioned more like a heavy-grade armor. This drone was originally intended for Hannah to be able to meet with anyone she needed to, and not be at risk. It was the same reason he had his drone made. Of course, the drone modeled after him had gotten shot at the moment he started to use it.

But he could always blame Garrus Vakarian for having a good eye. It just so happened he shot out the drone's eye before Jack could safely walk away the last time. This time he knew that Garrus Vakarian was no where near this planet. He just had to get in there and extract his girlfriend before things got worse.  _She_  would be pissed if he didn't at least try. She would hold it against him forever.

He kept himself from sighing about that as the connection came back online, the view changing to the inside of a helmet. A Quarian tech tapped the side of the helmet with his longer digit, the other two curled into his palm. " _HUD online, systems deployed. Weapons are active, and I think we have a connection._ "

"Connection is good." Jack said, the voice of the drone pre set to Hannah's. It was decidedly odd. "Is the GRIZZLY ready?"

" _Yes. That Reaper tore a hole in the side of the mountain looking for our people. I've marked it on your HUD. The team reported contact with fifty Rachni and one Brood Warrior in there, so we've loaded your suit with a lot of HAMMR-3 rifles and a Napalm Launcher. We've got food, water, and enough ammo for the team to shoot their way out of there. The GRIZZLY is also loaded with a mining laser if you have to carve through a cave in._ "

"Thank you." Jack told him. "I'll get going then." Driving while looking through a virtual helmet, driving a sealed vehicle through a virtual interface, and controlling limbs remotely is hard. It was truly disconcerting. Jack would never admit to scratching the paint job on his way out of the valley, but the arms of the drone did not respond the way he expected them to. They were shorter than his arms, and so he kept over reaching and over correcting on the GRIZZLY's turns.

The two hours it took to get back to the sunny side of the planet were boring, and so he multitasked and made sure that his projects on Virmire and Illium were still on schedule. Just because he had been kicked out of the stock exchange in Citadel Space didn't mean he couldn't still turn a profit. Plus, it was something that he could do in his spare time between keeping his daughter and girlfriend from getting horribly killed. When he finally got to the sunny side of Suen, he could see nothing on his radar.

Climbing up through the mountains was simple enough, if a bit dangerous. The pathways were clogged with loose dirt and chunks of rock, a large black scar mark on the side of the mountain where the Reaper had struck. The GRIZZLY's tires tore through the loose dirt and chunks of stone like a snake. Eight tires on each side with enough torque to handle anything pushed him up the steep side of the mountain, until he reached the lip of a Prothean chamber.

It was pretty wrecked. Shattered crystals were everywhere, and a few dead bodies remained. All Rachni. The GRIZZLY he parked facing the exit, but safely in one of the old Prothean docking slips that were deeper in the structure. He passed a ruined Napalm launcher next to a good sized pile of corpses, something that would definitely have to get cleaned up or else Crucible would be blamed. Then he made the drone get up out of the vehicle, and immediately got a motion warning.

A Husk, armored and tucked away next to the entrance to the interior of the mountain range, had stood up and growled at him. Hannah had spent months modifying the drone's combat protocols. Jack grinned, booting up the single target protocol. "Goodbye, little prick." He told the Husk just before it got carved to pieces by the large cleaver knives that Hannah preferred. Against a single target the drone's faster speed and strength tore it apart, the damaged armor doing nothing for it as the drone slammed a knife through the vulnerable neck gorget, and pushing upwards until the brain matter and spine were disconnected. The Husk dropped like a sack of potatoes, already breaking down into its component parts. The nanites that made up the Husk would last a few minutes longer, looking to bond to any technology or armor that stepped through the puddle of ash and organic material. The Reapers were annoying like that.

The knives slid back into their holsters and the program completed, and Jack took control of the drone again. Oddly enough there was a piton set up at the top of the cavern, and the drone clipped into it and rode down the rail line quickly. At the bottom he could see two more Husks, both curled up in a pile. Rather than run one of Hannah's combat protocols, he drew a pistol. He always preferred pistols over heavier weapons, to him it felt more personal. More elegant, or at least refined. Pistols meant that you really had to get close to kill the other person. The last thing they would see was your face.

Five shots rang out, piercing the helmets after two and three shots respectively. He blamed the smaller drone arms for not letting his shots be groups as closely together as he normally would prefer. The Husks slumped to the ground, and Jack moved forward quietly.

His comm unit was picking up signals. Or at least ID codes, but with all the Husk-based interference the signals were so choppy and fragmented by the time they reached him that it was hard to know what they were. He could confirm that some of them were Alliance codes, though. The tunnel let out into a chamber that Jack could identify as another Prothean built chamber. He didn't understand the purpose of it or the half-domed shape. That was why he sent Liara here. Though God help him if Javik heard that one of his precious Avatars was in danger.

Stuffy Protheans aside, the room was filled with nasty foes. A Rachni Brood Warrior stood there, or at least half of one. Blue cables drifted out of its eye sockets and ruined armor adorned its cybernetically enhanced body. Half of its head was missing, and most of its thorax. It was not alive in any sense of the word any more. It was just a larger than normal Husk, albeit one that could crush the drone like a paper cup. The fifteen other Husks in the room were a mixture of Human and Turian ones, the Turian Husks in even worse condition. Without their scaly hides they didn't last long.

"Well, I think I've found my people." The one real trouble creature in the room was a Krogan Husk. A Brute. It was pawing at some large doors in the center of the room, and the Rachni Brood Warrior's plasma cannon was being repaired. Those weapons were still a large unknown to everyone. It didn't help that they were unstable, and often melted or self destructed when the brood warrior was killed. No one had captured an intact version yet. "Anyone home?" He called across a comm line.

No one answered him. Troubling, he didn't have enough firepower to clear out this chamber alone. Perhaps he could draw away some of the Husks and then get a signal through. But with the drone's combat protocols meant for assassination and stealth, that wasn't going to be easy.

" _Mum, is that you?_ " Jack felt his heartbeat rise for a moment.  _She_  was not supposed to be here.  _She_  was supposed to be on the Citadel! He thought quickly, going through what Hannah had explained to him regarding her relationship with Julia. Neither of them were aware of their true relationship as mother and daughter, and Jack was not keen on telling them. Julia wouldn't forgive him, and Hannah would lose trust in him.

"A little low on whiskey and ammo, but I'm here. Stuck behind some Husks, for now." Hannah said that most of their relationship was based on practicality, and that the emotional language that most families shared were skipped over in favor of quiet moments of privacy.

" _Husks? I can hardly understand you._ "

"Zombie bastard things with cybernetics. Where are you?"

" _Taking cover from some local creature. It, it ate some of my team._ " Julia's voice was strained. " _There's only four of us left, and if we move forward those zombies will take down our armor again._ "

"Do you have any heavy weapons?" Jack noticed a beacon activate on his HUD. Thankfully enough, Julia appeared to be on the other side of this very cavern, up another tunnel.

" _Three biotics and a sniper rifle._ " Julia replied. " _But we lost five biotics on the way in._ "

Jack grimaced. The only biotics on the  _Normandy_  were the Titans. That meant that there were only two of them left. Every loss of those symbolic men and women were a loss that Humanity would feel. Advertising campaigns, sporting events, glamor magazine covers, recruitment drives, all of those would take a hit from losing them. As well as weakening Humanity as a whole. "Bugger." Hannah's favorite curse word when things got bad. "I'm coming to you. You better be ready to fight these things. I've got a couple guns but most of my team are pinned down."

" _We have some Alliance Marines coming up behind us. They're taking a different route to get to this location, but they will be here in a few minutes._ "

Jack huffed. "If you trust them, then I will wait." Alliance military. Trouble for his injured team. Not to mention they had a very large bounty on Hannah and himself. He decided that he could safely wait for the Alliance to get torn apart by the Husks. A few nameless marines could die before he broke out the weapons he brought with him. Hopefully Julia would do the smart thing and lead from the back. "But if the Alliance try anything…"

" _They won't. I promise._ " Julia said. Probably with more emotion than any time he had spoken to her. Jack had the drone move back up the rail line and deal with the napalm launcher and any other remains of weapons that had been left behind. He had to use some adhesive and a bit of crystal to replace the M-9 Avalanche that was holding up a section of the tunnel. But by the time he had gotten those taken care of, the Alliance had arrived.

"The room you are connected to has a few larger Husks. Be careful."

" _We're moving in now. We have twelve more marines with us._ "

"Tell them that they should have bayonets. The moment they enter this room their armor won't work."

" _They brought another Infiltrator, Mum. We should be able to take it. As long as you can divert some of them away from our side of the chamber._ " Jack grimaced again. An Alliance Infiltrator was here. The Office of Intelligence would not ignore anything that happened here. They would also take it personally if one of their Infiltrators disappeared. Jack didn't like the idea of helping the Alliance in coming into this chamber, but he did love his daughter. A single pellet mine at the midway point in the chamber between the two entrances seemed safe enough to not cause a cave in. The napalm launcher was especially satisfying, and made him feel like a young man working the tech gangs in Chicago once again.

"Alright then. Whiskey's on you if I get shot because of this."

" _Go!_ "

Napalm was effective against living organic targets. The Brood Warrior was out, as it was more machine than organism at this point. The Brute looked perfect to bring down, but that meant spraying down the area that his team would be in with napalm. So, Jack guided the drone and sprayed down his half of the room's Husks with liquid fire. Their machine like screams carried through the drone's sensors, and he had to turn down the input volume.

They flailed around on the ground, melting and cooking inside of their armor. Thankfully the drone wasn't equipped for transmission of smells or taste. Cooked Husk just sounded unpleasant. Not to mention their nanites would be burnt up by the liquid fire. This all got the attention of the big Brood Warrior, it's half-destroyed face turning towards him and growling. Jack was admittedly not a soldier. He had been a mercenary, once, in another life. But that was a long time ago, and he was not the kind of man to stand and fight. The powered rail carried the drone and the napalm launcher up the tunnel to safety, where he drew pistols and prepared for the rush of Husks.

Four followed him up the tunnel, and it took almost thirty seconds to put them down. Husks' spines didn't function like a normal Human one. They could bend and snap their heads around at odd angles, and they moved with over exaggerated motions. This meant that trying to pick them off with a pistol was more difficult than normal. Still, he could always just go further up the rail line until the Husks were dead. The pistol had to cool off twice before they finally died, twitching limbs and crumbling ash the only signs left of their presence. He sprayed each mark with napalm for the drone's safety before coming back down to the chamber.

It was of course in chaos. The Brood Warrior was struggling to crush one of the Titans, his Onyx armor cracking under the pressure of the cybernetic jaws of the beast. He was glowing with biotics, his arms straining to hold back the remains of the creature's jaw. Three Alliance Marines were grappling with Husks on the other side of their rifles, their claws gouging their gauntlets and wrists. Five more marines were down on the ground in pieces, bleeding out or close to it. Two more were in back with Garrus Vakarian, taking shots with long rifles at the Brute. The marine's weapons appeared to be some Turian things, heavy duty and more shielded against the damned effective Husk dampening field.

The Brute was on fire, for one reason or another. It had lost one of its arms, the heavy claw twitching off to one side. The claw held another marine, impaled by the metal. Jack grinned, though, when he saw Julia positioned on the creature's broad shoulders. Her knife was buried in its good arm's joint, and the  _Kavka_  she had been gifted so long ago was being used to slash at the exposed neck cords of the Brute. Another Infiltrator was in front of the Brute, using an Incinerate to ignite the corpse's chest plate.

Jack decided that losing another Paragon of Humanity was unacceptable. Two HAMMR rifles came into his hands, and with their shielding he didn't need to do much to stabilize them. The drone was certainly strong enough. He felt some masculine pride as the two weapons went full auto, heat sinks going way above their normal capacity and causing some overheating as he fired them. Instead of letting them cool off, he just dropped the weapons and picked up another pair of rifles, letting them rip into the same target.

The Brood Warrior screeched as hundreds of rounds impacted the back of its ruined head and upper torso, thrashing even more violently in response. The big Human still grappled by it glowed even more with biotic strength, taking hold of the damaged right side of the face and ripping off the Toothy appendage holding him. It tried to impale him with its tentacle in response, but a Throw came from across the room, from an injured Kaidan Alenko. He was bleeding from multiple wounds on his head, his nose and ears bleeding. But his Throw hit hard enough that the top third of the tentacle was sheared off, blue wires sparking in the remnant.

"Just die already!" The other Titan shouted, Throwing the stolen appendage into the head for good measure. The tooth slammed home, the brain matter gushing through the other side of the skull where the appendage pierced through. With a shudder, the Brood Warrior collapsed, its organic material breaking down and smoking. Acidic blood was just a problem for everyone. Jack lined up the rifles that were now overcooked, and wouldn't be cooled off for a good fifteen minutes. But the marines still grappling the Husks needed help. He selected the assassination protocols, and the drone took to its preferred method of combat with abandon. The remaining four Husks in the room died, the drone's knives slicing through the jugulars and back of the head with satisfaction.

The Brute, however, didn't want to go down. It had tried to slam the other Infiltrator into the wall, but she rolled with the strike and only took a glancing blow. She still rolled ten feet from the hit. The fire support team was trying to injure the thing, but it was covered in some sort of armor that resisted most shots. It tried to line up a charge on the downed Alenko, but one of its knees got shot out before it could start moving. Vakarian had gotten better over the years.

The other knee went down as well, combined with a Pull from two sources, making the creature fall flat on its face and stomach. It tried to avoid the inevitable, but now with the stable vantage point Julia was able to slice the head off. The creature fell limply to the ground, its remaining hand unclenching and slumping. Julia held up the head for a moment, until it started falling apart at the seams. She yelped, dropping the mass of blue wire and mucus-like organic material.

"Julia! Get off of that before it infects anything!" Jack called. She didn't hesitate, jumping off of the Brute's body and moving to Alenko. She was dispensing Medi-gel and making sure her team was alright. He directed the drone to move towards the center of the room, and look at the giant doorway that his team was hiding behind. He switched to a private comm line. "You know time is money, people, and my time is very expensive. You had better all be alive in there."

" _Jack? Thank God. Wait a minute, how the hell did you kill everything?_ " It was good to hear Hannah's voice. Even at the distance he was at.

" _Boss man actually got up from his desk?_ " Don asked.

"You doubt me, my Lady?" Jack scoffed. "I always find a way."

" _I never expected you to actually come, though. What about Julia and the_ Normandy _?_ "

"Funny story about all of that. Now come out of there, we have extraction prepared and I have enough food and ammunition for you to blow through these Alliance marines if they don't agree with your travel plans. How much of your team are effective?"

" _Three. Everyone else is injured. Don is missing most of his arms, and Henry's cybernetics are heavily damaged. We're out of medi-gel and nearly out of ammo._ "

"Well, my Lady, let's get you out of th-" Before he could open the door, the drone reported damage. Something had pierced through the back, into the central processor cluster. The drone started falling over, when an explosives alert ripped through the system. Jack brought up the kinetic barriers to full, but it was too late. The tech grenade exploded, incendiary charges spreading across the entire frame. The barriers released as the shield emitters were covered by melting synthskin.

"Finally, Hannah. It's done." Jack felt his blood go cold. Julianne Jones was in the room with his daughter. He scrambled to slam the controls, the drone now nearly useless. The screen inside his helmet died, and his view was returned to the  _Normandy_ , resting so quietly in its perch. His fingers typed faster than they ever had during his time he had been Indoctrinated, punching in a direct comm line number that he knew by heart.

"Charles! For the love of God tell me have something else in these drones!"

" _I didn't put in a self-destruct, if that's what you're asking. Spent most of the budget on just making sure it was shielded. Wait, what the hell happened?_ "

He slumped back in his chair. Two injured biotics and Garrus Vakarian were the only things in between Jones and his little girl now. "Jones is there. She killed the drone. How the hell did Hock find out about this? I thought we were secure!"

" _That is something I_ can _deal with sir. I just checked the drone's feed. I'm gonna figure out how she found us._ "

"Connect me to the  _Acheron_. There has to be something we can deploy!"

* * *

Julia watched with horror as the other Infiltrator plunged her knife into Hannah Shepard's back. She left the knife there, which exploded into an incendiary charge. Julia screamed, seeing Mum on the ground with patches of skin melting off. Then the other Infiltrator took a recording of the event, turning around to face Julia. The Infiltrator's helmet came off, revealing the Caucasian face of Julianne Jones.

"The Alliance can safely rest, now that one of their greatest traitors lies dead." Jones told her. Almost like the women hadn't betrayed the Alliance herself. "Wouldn't you agree, Spectre?" She asked Vakarian.

Garrus stood to his full height. His armor was covered in scratch marks from when he had led the Husks away. He gave them a chance to survive against that damn creature. Garrus' kinetic barriers were down and his battery connections were damaged. She had assigned the two marines to him to keep him alive. His helmet had been torn off during the struggle, and claw marks went across his forehead scales. "On the contrary, Agent." Garrus said. "You have just gone against direct orders. Hannah Shepard is a wanted criminal, and could have been an endless source of information. By killing our source of information, I will be going to Alliance Command to complain about this."

Julia almost shook her head. Kaidan was still bleeding from where that nightmarish creature had bled on him, having the same acidic blood as the Rachni they shared a homeworld with. Not only that but the man was overstressing his amp, and he had a nosebleed going. The only other squad member she had left was Lt. Ta'u. He was unharmed, though his armor was shattered from where the Rachni tried to eat him. The power and sensors were down, and his Omni-tool couldn't get his heart rate and vitals.

Jones just gave Garrus a slim grin. "That's too bad, Spectre. I've already sent my preliminary report to Alliance Command. Though you and your candidate succumbed to your wounds, we managed to contain the Rachni threat here on Suen." Jones leveled her SMG towards Julia, while the five remaining marines in the room levelled their rifles at her people. "Nothing personal."

Julia could see that even though the Husks were down, her weapons and armor were still dampened. Something else was generating a dampening field. Jones' eyes widened, and she rolled, the air behind her rippling and sparking. Jones released an Overload, revealing a duplicate of Hannah Shepard. Or perhaps she was real. Her hair was a bit frizzy from the Overload, sticking up out of its bun.

"Nothing personal." Hannah grinned. "Bitch." Hannah rolled, the shots from Jones slamming into a biotic barrier. But Mum wasn't even a biotic. Julia followed the lines of energy and saw an Asari standing behind her, extending her barrier in a massive bubble all around her.

"Mum?" She said out loud. "I just saw you die."

"I have no idea what you mean," She said bluntly. "Get your ass off the ground and help me!" Julia rolled, coming to her feet.

"Marines, stand down! This woman isn't a traitor to the Alliance!" She yelled to all of the men holding hers hostage. All she had to protect herself was knives and a kinetic barrier. Her guns weren't even working.

The lead marine Lieutenant chuckled. "The Alliance doesn't pay all the bills, sweetheart." He said. "We don't take orders from you."

Jones smirked. "Kill them all. Leave the spooks to me." Julia took a position in front of Kaidan, using a Throw on one of the marines surrounding Lt. Ta'u. The one she had been trying to order let a burst of rounds hit her, and her barriers dropped to half. She couldn't attack him without his rounds impacting Alenko, and Alenko wasn't quite conscious any longer.

He got run over by a Krogan, who didn't seem to have any working arms. She recognized Gatatog Don, the Krogan that was one of the stars of the Ninja Turtle movies. With only his head and shoulders he checked the marine into the dead body of the Rachni, the man screaming as he came into contact with the acid. "Kowabunga." Don muttered.

A Quarian, glowing with biotics, was also keeping up a barrier on Mum. But his hand was up and curved away from him, like he had just Thrown something. She twisted to glance at Ta'u, who had the last marine in on the ground, beating his face in. The big polynesian's arms were larger than the man's legs. Poor bastard.

She drew her knives and charged Jones. The woman just sneered at her, and aimed one of her palms in Julia's direction. She could hear a slim whining noise, and too late realized what that sound was. A Mass Driver. Just like Haego. She brought her arms in front of her, but Jones blasted her before she could properly protect herself. She was sent flying back, rolling to a step next to her Turian ally.

Garrus was alright, having bent over to avoid the first bursts of fire, and hooking the spur of his leg armor into the collar of one of the marines, and dragging him into an elbow strike. He received a pistol shot, straight through the back of the head. The Turian didn't even turn fully to face the other marine before he too went down, but they had shot up Garrus. He was bleeding from multiple spots along his torso, his expensive armor nearly ruined.

"What.. are those?" He asked, gasping.

"Mass Drivers. Batarian technology." Julia heard them go off again, and Lt. Ta'u cry out in pain. Glancing up, she could see the man being thrown over the shoulder of Jones like he didn't weigh twice what she did. His armor was dented in his upper torso, the Mass Driver having allowed Jones to impact there.

"Anti-Vanguard tactics! Scatter and surround!" Mum yelled. Her armless Krogan came in hard, coming in at Jones from behind. Jones again sneered, looking at the seven foot tall sentient and getting ready to blast him. Instead, she jumped upwards, as the biotic Quarian from earlier used his own Charge to come at her from the other direction.

"Bosh'tet! Her head was turned the other way!" The Quarian yelled, rolling to the side and letting the charging Krogan go yelling and sprinting past him. He shot his shotgun at Jones, whose barrier absorbed the spread without difficulty.

Garrus helped her up, and then grimaced. "I'll cover you."

"I'm not going to have to depend on Desolous as a mentor. You stay in cover." She retorted. How the hell was she supposed to approach and take down Jones? The woman was a lot more dextrous than Haego ever was. Jones was trying to shoot out Don's knees from behind, but the Krogan's leg armor was still doing fine. Her SMG wasn't going to get through anytime soon, and Don was wearing his helmet. Even without arms he was going to be a threat. The Quarian was quick, ducking and rolling away from Jones before she could bring the Mass Driver upon him. She was nearly upon him when Jones was Pulled, her body lighting up with a biotic field stronger than anything Julia could use. But for all of the Jones remained standing, her sneer even wider.

"Who the hell brought an Asari to a gunfight?" Jones said, and then threw a grenade at the foot of the oddly painted Asari shielding Mum. She shrieked as the grenade went off the Asari clutching her ears and slumping to the ground. Next to her, another figure became known as a Drell also started yelling, the small female clutching her face as well. "When you get your eardrums back you can try again."

An SMG answered her, another Human in melted armor coming out of the Prothean structure weakly. An IV bag still hung from the man's waist, and a mangled torso belied the reason behind that. His right arm was dangling wires and hung limp, but his left held a heavy SMG that was smoking with heat. Jones responded by firing her Mass Drivers in her legs, vaulting over the still screaming Asari, landing on his good arm. "Aww, Mr. Cyborg. You're the shining example to the rest of Humanity, with your thirty percent conversion."

The man grinned back. His supposedly limp arm became active, grasping Jones by the upper arm. "Took a year of acting and choir too!" The entire thing was made of metal, she realized, as it flexed and seemed to crush Jones' upper arm. Then he glowed with biotics, a Warp slamming into Jones. She couldn't take the strike on her kinetic barrier, not with the male's arm in direct contact. She finally had the sneer wiped off her face, and her arm seemed fine. She ripped it out of the Human's grasp, her armor and skin getting pulled off her arm.

Jones seemed to grin even sharper as her arm was revealed to be as cybernetic as the male's. It was only slightly dented by all of the effort. "Too bad you weren't the first. Dr. Lawson and Dr. Lionel had to go into witness protection because of your mess, Hannah. They got bored, and I turned out to be their new favorite project. Finally made being a triple amputee worthwhile." With a flex of her other arm, the armor and skin popped off. Her other cybernetic arm was revealed. She didn't show us which of her legs was real and which wasn't.

But the multiple shield emitters and glowing lines of circuitry running up her body showed that her defenses had hardly been stressed. She must have been too heavy for the Asari pick up or pull. With the amount of metal in her arms alone, the woman was going to be dangerous. The only mark on her was from the Warp that had been used at close range by the other cyborg. A couple of bent pieces of metal on her upper arm were all that showed of their efforts.

She casually shot the man who had dared try to stop her in the body a few times, kicking his SMG away. She didn't even face him to do it. Julia noticed that Jones had two small eyelets on the back of her shoulders, cameras. Eyes in the back of her head. "She has camera mounts in the arms! She can see behind herself!" She called out.

A quick glance around revealed only Lt. Ta'u, the Quarian, the Krogan, Mum, and herself as the people still standing. The Krogan's arms were bloody gibbets. Ta'u's armor was shattered. No one had kinetic barriers. The large glowing sections of Jones' forearm seemed to be the cause of the dampening, by what she could tell. But if everything was shielded and reinforced, it would be easier to go after her Human parts.

"Focus on her head, I say." Mum muttered. "Full frontal. Shev, take her damn gun. Don, back him up. Julia, just like I taught you. Big hands, stay behind Don." Mum had her knives, and didn't bother drawing her dampened weapons. Mum's  _Kavka_  was from a dead Spectre. Hers was one of Haego's. Both of them also used a variant of KA-BARs. The knives were a staple in the military forces that went into the Alliance. They would be useless here. Jones had some sort of armor that could take a Warp. Her regular knife wouldn't do anything.

Jones patiently waited for them to decide their fate, before holstering her SMG. "Ask nicely enough, and I'll make it even." Don roared out his challenge, rushing forward with the Quarian, Shev, glowing biotically and launching himself forward. Jones held up her hand, the pointer finger glowing. Shev slammed into her Mass Driver, before the SMG rotated in its holster and blasted him. "Oh, how rude of me. I lied."

Shev must have been one hell of a biotic, to take all of that and still be standing. His barrier was still up, too. Jones didn't have the opportunity to focus on him, with Don coming in fast enough to force her to move. She gave him the other arm's charged up strike, the driver causing a massive dent to appear in Don's armor. The Krogan only stumbled, swinging his body around for a kick. Just like in the Ninja turtles movie, except that Jones saw it coming from a mile away and ducked underneath the Krogan.

Julia and Hannah moved in, knives out and systems flickering. Both of them had tried to trigger their cloaking devices, but with the dampening nothing had happened. Habit had a way of doing that. Or muscle memory. Jones took a solid stance, a basic muay thai position. Julia came in low, keeping her face calm. While sidestepping, she let her biotics out, a Throw gathered in her hand. She wasn't strong enough to be able to knock Jones anywhere, but that gun was certainly light enough.

The holster and its magnetic strip were blasted off of her waist, Julia not able to miss from five feet away. Jones fired her Mass Driver at her, the biotic barrier flickering in response. Hannah jumped over her aimed driver shot, rolling like a high jumper and coming to a standing position on the far side of Jones. Julia's forward progress was halted, the Mass Driver hitting her hard enough to make her avoid getting close. Shev tried coming in at her again, but the woman slammed her leg's Mass Driver into the Quarian's gun, sending parts and chunks of metal all over the place. The Quarian himself engaged her in some form of martial artistry, hands glowing with a biotic barrier.

Jones tried her hand at trying to punch out the Quarian, but he seemed to have a thick enough barrier to handle it when she hit him with her driver. She was bringing about her other arm to blast him when she was distracted again. Lt. Ta'u decided to Throw something at Jones. She wasn't able to dodge it, as the Titan had thrown the tooth he had used to kill the Rachni. It hadn't melted in the acid at all, and it managed to impact the woman on her already damaged arm. She flinched at the hit, staggering slightly.

Jones rolled, avoiding the rush forward of Julia and Hannah, leaping to the top of the Prothean building. Julia stopped, not sure if she wanted to follow her up the thirty foot tall structure. The woman took a breather there, and would have had enough time to let her kinetic barriers recharge if it wasn't for Julia and Shev. A couple of Throws were enough to make Jones have to steady herself, blasting her left arm's mass driver to keep from falling at one point. She drew her pistol, Jones taking lethal aim on Lt. Ta'u, striking his barrier until it broke. A pressure grenade was enough to send the big man to the floor, holding his head as his ears bled.

Jones chuckled, turning her pistol towards Julia and Hannah. "I think this is all wrapped up." Her exposed arm was still glowing brightly, obviously responsible for the tech dampening. "Just the three of you and a washed up N5 biotic." The Human Male clenched his fist. He rolled, coming to a stop and grabbing her dropped SMG. But when he pulled the trigger, nothing happened. "My guns are loyal. They only fire when I want them to."

Julia glanced down towards where the person she thought was Mum had been stabbed and was on fire. It had dropped a few weapons, and she remembered that they had worked in the presence of the damn zombies. She could see that some of the weapons were damaged by the explosion that had occurred, while two seemed workable. She grabbed the two rifles, the remains of a Napalm Launcher having exploded across the back of the woman. Julia had to use a small Pull on one rifle to grab it, and hefted the other to Hannah.

Jones was dealing with Shev, who was acting like a pinball. Every time she tried to get through his barrier, he would take cover and let it come back, and then charge into the small area that Jones was standing in on top of the Prothean structure. She was shooting bursts from her pistol, but the thing would overheat long before it broke through Shev's barriers. As it turned out, he had another layer of kinetic barriers, ones from his suit, that triggered when the biotic ones broke. Jones growled some sort of curse regarding that moment, and Shev took a moment to bring back his biotic barriers.

Hannah nodded at her, and they both let loose with their rifles. This time the shots actually impacted the kinetic barrier, but the rounds were loaded for something else. They were Inferno modded, and the shots did less damage to barriers. Hannah had to take cover, her rifle overheating too quickly. Julia's rifle was warming up quickly, but its rounds still weren't penetrating. Jones had a terribly strong barrier, and the only thing that was going to get through it were biotics and knives. Which was why Jones was hiding like a coward up there.

Jones didn't like the amount of resistance she was experiencing up there. She took shots at Hannah, whose barriers were disabled. Julia got in the way, taking the shots on her biotic barrier, but unable to move without Jones getting shots into Mum. She was breathing hard, the strain of extending her barrier over someone else heavy. Jones drew back her arm, preparing another one of those damned pressure grenades. But while she was focused on them, she was unprepared for the gigantic object that came at her from behind.

Thinking it was Shev Charging her again, she used her one arm to blast the object with her Mass Driver. But that didn't work, as the shadow of a large Krogan eclipsed her. Don, who had to have been Thrown by Shev, impacted the mass driver and grunted as his armor took the hit without breaking. He then carried forward, the four hundred pound object knocking Jones right off her perch. The grenade went off right on top of both of them, stunning Don and making Jones shriek. Served her right. He fell gracelessly, impacting every pinnacle and spike as he fell. Jones recovered her balance, characteristically by blasting the falling Krogan into the ground to disrupt her own fall. But her barriers were actually low, now.

A loud rifle blast echoed through the chamber, Jones grunting in pain as one of her knees exploded, blood going all over the place. The armor held the leg together, but Jones faltered, the armor shattered enough that it couldn't lock into place. She was looking far past those directly in front of her, settling her gaze on the tunnel entrance they had all come through. Julia took a chance to look back over her shoulder, and her eyes widened.

Garrus. He managed a shot off, his glowing eyepiece solidly locked on Jones. The collar of his armor was bent, and he was using one of the dead marines as cover and a gun mount, His second shot never hit Jones, as she rolled out of the way. Her reflexes were beyond Human, and had to be assisted by those cameras in her arms. She favored her metal leg, as the Human one was evidently blown out. The one leg she was standing on glowed, exhaust vents along the vent opening wider than normal and letting the woman put all of her weight on that Mass Driver.

Jones vaulted over Don, coming down on Garrus with force. The Turian let her do so, Making an odd keening call as she landed. He rolled, bringing the corpse he was using and holding it like a shield. Jones flinched as she landed, tech grenades in abundance went off. A few of them were flash bangs, making Julia flinch. Her eyes still saw stars, Out of habit she took cover, feeling Mum slide into the same piece of shale covered stone. "We've got to take out her other leg!"

"Cloak! She's far enough away!" The pleasant tingle of her tactical cloak came over her, and Julia looked over towards where Garrus had been positioned. Jones and Garrus were nowhere to be seen. "Can she cloak too?"

"Your field will collapse as you get near. Use it like radar." Hannah said clearly. Jones would hear them anyways, given that she was able to notice Shev coming in from a Vanguard charge. The cloak might just give them an edge, however. She moved her grasp on the knife to an overhand grip, ready to stab instead of slash. Those Mass Drivers wouldn't be something she could block. Julia slowly moved to the left of the room, using the curving shape of the walls to narrow down where Jones might be hiding. The woman was injured now, and her options might be more limited.

Her cloaking field did not flicker or stutter as she made her way over to two corpses that Garrus had been responsible for. With dread I could see that there was still a leg sticking out of the crater, on fire and partially melted. It was too small to be Turian, and so Julia decloaked. "Vakarian!"

There was no response. Julia threw a weaker Singularity onto the still immobile foot, but it didn't even budge. The flame struggled, and guttered out, but the boot remained stuck there. "Over here!" The Krogan said, toeing at another armored figure on the ground. "I don't smell the cyborg."

Hannah decloaked. "She left her foot behind. Someone just used the powered rails."

"Don't go after her!" Julia said. "We had some mines up there for more of those Husks. She'll be able to collapse the tunnel on us." Back when the marines were their support team, they had set up a backup post. "She also has two more men up there."

"Don! Blow the tunnel. We'll go out the other way."

The Krogan  _grinned_. Julia helped him set the charges and blow the Rachni webbing off of a particularly large stone, letting it fall down and block the passageway. The Krogan carefully measured the stone, making sure that it was something he could get through if they decided to go after anyone. She had to do all of the measuring and placing, as his arms did not work. She tried not to look at the exposed bones.

Once secured, they came back to everyone else. Hannah had been dragging everyone to the center of the room, with the help of the Human male. He was moving very slowly, though. Shev'rash was pulling Garrus over gently, using some sort of biotic ability to lighten the Turian. Julia keyed her Omni-tool, seeing that Kaidan was doing alright. His biotics had been overstressed and he was just exhausted. Andrew Ta'u was still unconscious, his armor shattered. His medical tools weren't working, mostly due to the lack of working armor. His Omni-tool still worked, but it wasn't synced with the broken armor.

She had to check his pulse manually, the big Polynesian's wrists easy to measure the heart rate. It was slightly irregular, but he was alright. There were no major lacerations or cuts, and he didn't have any bullet holes. There was just acid burns on his armor. As well as a darker patch where some of Rahna's blood had gotten on him. Julia shuddered at that memory. She didn't look forward to telling the Alliance about how she had lost five of their most prized biotics.

Garrus was another problem entirely. His Omni-tool registered his armor as being broken and his collar bone being broken. Multiple fractures. She … couldn't fix that. He needed a hospital. She tried to send a small ping of data up to the Turian cruiser above them, but the signal bounced back without connecting. There may be more of those damned Husks in the area.

"Mum, if those Alliance marines were working for Jones, then the frigates in orbit might not know about it."

" _Or they do know about it, and they are preparing to send more men down here to wipe out the rest of you._ " Julia twisted, her guns nearly out of their holsters when she heard the voice of her father. The woman that had been set on fire earlier stood up, bits of burnt skin still attached to the plastic and metal that made up her body. " _The ship that my people have on this planet is reporting some shots fired in the upper atmosphere. Javelin torpedo emissions. I think someone is trading shots with your ride._ "

"Jack?" Mum stated. Julia was just in shock. "The hell are you doing?"

" _Charles finally got the vocal package uploaded to your drone form. I .. apologize for damaging your drone, but someone decided to stab me._ " The drone stood, rather shakily. Its entire lower back was exposed, circuitry and wiring sticking up. A few parts spat a couple of sparks as the machine turned towards her. " _Nice to see you, too, Julia. You seem to be doing well for yourself._ "

She refused to call him by anything resembling familial connections. "Jack Harper. Give me one good reason that I shouldn't have this drone brought to the Citadel for the Spectres to look through?"

" _Touchy, touchy. With a face like that you would think I skipped on child support payments._ " The drone took a relaxed position, lettings its arms rest on the hips. " _However, if the readings from_ my _ship are correct, the only way you are getting out of here is with my help._ " The voice of her father coming from a drone just had her angry.

"We've got a shuttle."

" _They've got two frigates and Separatist fighters. They're cheap and easy to hire for services. The Batarian capital ships are looting shamelessly, of course. So, out of the kindness of my apparently cold black heart, I would like to offer you a ride._ "

"You stole the stealth technology from the Alliance and the Quarians, didn't you." She had seen the vid images of his ship and its ability to ignore sensors.

" _I didn't steal the technology. The inventor simply needed a decent prototype to prove the viability of the technology. Before she could sell it, she needed to prove it worked. But we aren't here to discuss Quarians and their marketing strategies. Your people are not capable of getting to your shuttle, or escaping through the relay, not without getting noticed._ " The drone twitched, almost falling over. " _Ah. Looks like this drone will be collapsing soon. Henry, as the second highest paid person in the room, it is your job to make sure that this investment is returned to the ship. Allison, you may continue the negotiation and make sure to bill them the family rates. Can't have the stockholders notice a free trip here._ " The drone faltered again, dropping to the ground.

The Human male, Henry, stepped forward and picked up the drone, staggering a bit. "Ma'am, this better not be a duplicate of your actual weight." He said to Mum. "It's gotta be at least four hundred kilos."

"The drones are experimental, not duplicates. That said, as your superior I won't tolerate any kind of talk about my eating habits." Hannah looked tired. "Strap it to Don, attach him to the powered rail, and get them both up to the shuttle. With your internal bleeding I want you to go up the rail and avoid climbing. Your lung is still bruised."

"Yes, you nag." The man said, leading the Krogan and dragging the drone. "Boss man actually did something?"

"He pays the bills." The Krogan muttered, as he was carefully being attached to the kinetic rail system. "I'll see if he banged up our ride."

"Were those grenades permanently damaging?" She asked Mum. She was ignoring her father for now, but he would get what was coming. If his ship were here, then she would be able to deal with him personally. Not to mention see about those Alliance ships in orbit.

"For Drell, possibly. Don't know enough about Asari physiology. Your two Humans are probably going to be fine, other than a month of hypersensitivity and some dermal regenerators where the doctor has to go in and fix things up. Biotics  _hate_  those kinds of grenades. Throws off their sense of balance and apparently is like a gigantic migraine went off. It's your Turian friend I'm worried about." She glanced at her, noticing a few burn marks and scrapes on the light armor she was wearing. "Didn't you come in here with more than four people?"

Julia nodded. She remembered the twins, one of them impaled by the claw of the creature, the other getting hit by some sort of biotic attack. He had gotten pulled up into the air, and Julia hadn't seen him come back down. Creatures that had armor thick enough to repel their rifle rounds. Biotic things, without a barrier but with acidic blood. "I lost five to some  _things_  that used biotics. Insectoids, standing tall enough to equal a three story building."

"Oh!" Hannah said, looking worried. "Those bastards. They go after anything with Element Zero. We saw one on our way in. They're the apex predators on this planet that the Rachni evolved to fight." She leaned down and used a wet cloth on Alenko's face, clearing the blood away from his pale face. "I'm sorry."

"We could have done something if it weren't for the damn Husks." Julia muttered. "Without sensors or guns we couldn't drive them off. Garrus, er, Spectre Vakarian led the Husks off so that we could fight back, but by then we had already lost four people."

"Thanks for coming." Hannah said, glancing around at their many wounded. "You didn't have to."

"Miri asked." Julia said, letting that explain for her. Miranda never asked her for anything. "Though explaining this is going to be hard."

Hannah gave her a small smile. "Tell you what. I'll see what I can get you from our Terminus contacts and see if we can trade some information to you. We can take care of your people and give you something that might make up for whatever complaints the Alliance may have."

"Like whoever invented this stealth technology?"

Hannah waved her hands. " _That_  crazy Quarian is certifiably insane. She invented the technology, but she stays in their fleet. You won't get to have access to her unless you have something she wants."

"What about the Rachni?"

Hannah shrugged. "We've found only a few things. Some Asari that ship the damn bugs around. Though all of them move around in the Terminus systems. Mostly Eclipse Sisters, though there are a couple that we have been looking for that are just independent traders or smugglers. All of them are clanless, too. So no families or part of the Asari Republics to go looking into."

Julia slumped. "I've got no leads on anything, then."

Hannah shook her head. "I didn't say that." She picked up a burned section of metal. "Jack found out where these bugs are getting their armor from. They aren't the ones manufacturing it." She didn't smile about it. "It could be one of a few groups, but they are out near the Perseus Veil."

"What? Isn't that the older section of space that the Quarians used to live in?"

"Not quite. A lot of shady types of people make a living out there. Including a very scary group of Krogan that never surrendered at the end of the Krogan Rebellions. Clan Ganar. Not to mention the Vorcha apparently have a colony out there somewhere too."

She nodded. A small brief had been included on dangerous groups in the Terminus. The Alliance had included a small section to the Krogan clan, which basically was just a notification from the other Council races that they existed and carried a grudge. "So Krogan might be supplying their old enemies?"

"If someone is gunning after the Council, then there might be Krogan out there that support that. It's just that the Asari don't fit into the picture."

"Unless they are the ones behind it all." Julia didn't like that idea but it was the Asari that had killed her best lead.

"Let's hope that the most powerful group of people in space don't have some gigantic secret grudge match planned against the rest of us." Hannah said soothingly. "Don just got up the rail. Time to get the rest of these folks up there." Julia felt better, with Hannah here. Where the Alliance couldn't take an opinion regarding their association. Where there were no other eyes that would report her association with her. Hannah was a trusted friend. Someone she could always depend on. She resolved that she would not report her presence to the Alliance. Not unless she had to.

* * *

Author's Note

Arkhipov is a pretty famous Russian name. I've been watching a few submarine movies for inspiration on how the  _Normandy_  is supposed to be able to fight. I was watching K-19, the Widowmaker. Arkhipov is very much an inspiration from that movie. Jenkins is going to get some very unofficial training from the only people that still have submarine commanders. With the advent of space based warfare(60-80 years back) submarines and water based warfare would no longer be important. All of the big countries would have left for space, as usual the last to do so would be Russia and the Third World. If you look back through history(I've been looking at the Rus and their descendants mostly) Russia is usually the last person to hop on the boat. Or if they do make the jump to the newest technologies they do so at the minimum level possible, while the rest of their population have to pick over the remnants of the last great step forward.

So yes, the Russian Navy would be the best call for submarine specialists. We will see more of Arkhipov and Jenkins as he goes through his training, as well as one other person that we get to meet next chapter. He is seven feet tall, loves shotguns, and happens to love politics involving Rachni. To all of you patiently waiting this long to meet him, you can be pretty happy. There is also a New Poll in my profile. I made sure that this one actually works before I posted it. Don't worry, the old poll is still valid. I took down who won there, and that will be part of a mission coming up.


	52. Lucid: The Price of Being Famous

Chapter 52

Suen, Maskim Xul System, June 2182

Getting everyone back to the ship was difficult. Julia and Shev'rash had to maintain a lighter gravity on the Turian, and Henry just tried to keep them on a safe driving route. The GRIZZLY whined as it had traveled through the frozen regions of Suen, every seat filled and every hanging medical bag used. Don was eating anything he could get his hands on, and the biotics were all being fed however possible.

Henry got them back to the  _Acheron,_  though. The man was breathing hard, and wasn't moving very well. When the ship came into view, they were waved on board by a Quarian in a thick fur coat. An odd sight. The garage was iced over at the doors, and there was a crunch as the GRIZZLY went over the last of it. No one was there to help them unload besides a single Batarian nurse, her four eyes widening at the sight of so many wounded.

Hannah had to help everyone to the medical bay,though the doctor glared at her acid burns with purpose. She didn't say anything to stop her from assisting, nor did she complain when Julia also started helping. Garrus Vakarian had the most injuries, but the doctor wasn't skilled in fixing Turians. Henry was next on the list, his internal bleeding an issue. Don was just told to go eat, and to get some alcohol over the acid burns. The big male slumped onto one of the benches, his arms bandaged loosely.

Kreana had lost her eardrums. The Drell hadn't been able to sense any kind of balance or hear anything since. They had wrapped her up in a blanket and left her next to the others hit by the pressure grenades. They were a moaning mess. Each one got some strong painkillers, and then they had to go to work on Kaidan Alenko. The entire back of his head was under pressure, and his temperature was above 102 degrees fahrenheit. He had burns on the skin at his amp, and they had to stick his head in lukewarm water to keep his temperature from spiking further.

She left after making sure that no one was going to be dying. Or rather once most of the team was stabilized she and Julia were pushed out of the medical bay with a few tubes of medi-gel for their acid burns. Hannah sighed, seeing that most of her torso had small burns and cuts from extended use and deployment. Julia at least had her biotic barrier to keep that sort of thing from happening. She had barely taken off her gloves when she got a notification to come to the cockpit.

"Come on. You've got the family rate. Heavily subsidized, almost free." She motioned to Julia. "Jack has been forwarding most of our information to you already. We'll see what we can drum up for you."

Julia only nodded. She hadn't said anything on the drive, and hadn't complained when her Omni-tool had been remotely shut off by the ship's defense systems. She had just followed, mechanically acting and moving. It may have been shock. She didn't even respond when they walked through what used to be a ballroom. It had now been converted into an armory and computer chamber. She gave it a glance and then moved on, the cockpit only having room for five people. Captain Qing was the only one there, and he looked exhausted.

"Can we leave now, Ma'am?"

"We have reason to believe that the ships in system are not friendly to anyone aboard." Hannah told him. "The Human marines tried to wipe us out. Take us out and go to stealth. We have to get to the relay and get out of here."

"Aye, Ma'am. Our section of orbit appears to be clear, but if they left any drones they'll notice us lifting off." Qing said. "I'm letting our heat billow a bit, so that we can melt some of this ice. The teams outside are already sending in their thanks, Ma'am."

"Well, let's hope this doesn't get too dangerous. Captain Qing, meet Alliance Commander Constantine. She will be joining us for a short time."

"She's the spittin' image of you, Ma'am. Is she your daughter?"

Hannah scoffed. "No, no. She is related to some of the company board of directors, however. Have your men be on the best behavior around her and her people."

"Aye Ma'am, be nice to the visiting dignitary." Julia seemed to notice him speaking, but didn't respond at all. Hannah took her out of the cockpit, and led her over to the bar. Being Jack's ship, it had a full stock of alcohol and drinks on board. No one was at that station, as there was no reason to have them tend to it while the ship was parked. So Hannah walked around the bar, grabbing a thick brown bottle of Irish whiskey, and grabbing two cups.

"You alright?" She asked Julia, who had sat down at the bar. She didn't seem comfortable here, but that might be natural. This was a connection to the world of her childhood. The world outside of the Alliance and their never ending missions.

"Yeah." She said. She didn't refuse the whiskey, and drank a quarter of the glass before putting the drink back down.

"This can't be the first time that you have lost squadmates." Hannah said.

"I was a solo agent. I've never had a squad."

"You're at war, dear. People die."

"Not from accidents. They aren't supposed to go like this." Julia glared. "Not to some overgrown wildlife."

"They didn't die for nothing." Hannah told her. "You did rescue me."

"I thought I was helping you rescue the rest of your team. But I realize that it was just…  _him_  lying to me again." Julia glowed with biotic power for a moment, before she saw her glowing hands and forcibly calmed down. "He just treats me like a tool."

Hannah wanted to tell her that Jack actually cared. That the man was so paranoid that he was following the  _Normandy_  obsessively. But Jack was depending on secrecy. If she told Julia, she might go looking for her father, and Jack had no way of stopping her if she knew that he was following her closely. "He didn't know you were coming. He had no way of predicting that. Hell, the man makes sure he interferes in your life as little as possible now that you're a damn Spectre."

"Candidate. They don't know if they'll actually take me."

"It's a done deal." Hannah said. "The big wigs and money dealers are all making agreements. Both of the Batarian candidates will be promoted to Spectre, and maybe the Volus. Then the Humans get a Spectre, so long as we don't antagonize the Batarian Separatists further. For some reason they have been having a minor panic attack about incursions near Torfan."

"How do you know that?" Julia asked, with a slight tone of unhappiness.

"Because everyone wants to know everyone else's business. Jack lends money to groups in the Terminus, which means that the Turian Blackwatch colonies take money from him to try to convince the Turian Councillor to  _not_  give Humanity a bigger say in things, and if there is a discussion of Spectres they are willing to talk about formal trade agreements with other Terminus factions in exchange for favors that they can use to keep Humans from getting more power. Or pushing into their contested area of space." Hannah sipped her whiskey, finding it to be delicious. Nothing like a dry week spent in a cave to make you crave some alcohol. "That's just the Blackwatch. The Batarians won't accept Humanity getting any kind of Spectre unless they are getting more, as they finally complied with Council Law and abolished slavery." Not to say that horrific living conditions and discrimination against 'lessers' didn't exist in its place. But it was progress.

"So you think I'll be made into a Spectre?"

"One of you. That Arab armored warfare specialist with the Senator for a dad, or the orphaned Jenkins. Having  _you_  as a Spectre positively scares people. But I think it's a no brainer. They would have to be bull headed sods to ignore the fact that you would make a better Spectre."

"I'd be a terrible Spectre." Julia said. "They wouldn't trust me with anyone."

"They trust you enough to send you out with one of their best agents already. I don't know if your father told you this, but your Spectre down there has nearly killed him on three occasions." Hannah chuckled, seeing Julia give her a look as she sipped her drink. "Damn good shot, he is. Too bad about the trash compactor, though. We didn't think he could make a shot while being flushed down the proverbial toilet."

Hannah grimaced, as her wounds along her ribs ached. "Garrus tried to kill him?" Julia asked.

"Oh yes. On Omega. Illium. Once at Korlus." Hannah shrugged. "Lots of people try. Garrus is just one of the first one to actually get through."

Julia seemed to be debating about asking for details. But then she looked down at her arm, where some of the acid had melted through the thin armor. "Good for him, then." She drank the rest of her drink slowly, sliding her cup down to Hannah for more. "Tell me about Clan Ganar."

"They don't like outsiders, and they don't like being hired for much of anything. They were the only Krogan clan to not be forced to surrender during the Rebellions, and don't really make much of an appearance anywhere. But they were the Krogan research and development clan. They invented a lot of the old technology that they used during the war."

"With the Rachni?"

"Mhm." She hummed around her glass, topping off Julia's drink. Biotics could burn through alcohol so quickly that it seemed that some of them got alcohol poisoning. "But if you want to talk to them, you're going to have to have some sort of connection. They only meet with people that they respect." Hannah smirked. "Why didn't you bring the Cain we sent you?"

Julia's cheeks turned red. "That was  _you_?"

"Well, Jack was the one who bought the weapon. He's spent the last fifteen years getting connections with the different Terminus groups, and he spent a lot of money on a weapon that historically worked to kill Rachni." Hannah didn't mention the fact that she test fired it. There was enough of a scandal with Anderson being dead. That Turian Spectre, too. "Though not to say you should have brought it, I was just wondering."

"I haven't used it yet, and it is somewhat bulky."

"I added a layer of paint that works with your tactical cloak. If that is what you're really worried about." Julia decided her drink was more interesting. Classic signs of guilt. "It wouldn't have been enough to kill that bug. It's meant to be used from extreme distance. Shooting it up close like that would have just wiped out you and all of your squad instantly. Nothing you have would have been enough to save them."

"Well if you are so smart, what would have stopped it, huh?"

Hannah didn't smile. "I would have used one biotic as bait. Someone that could get attention. Lure it away from the main group. If it was already upon me? Run. Do the same thing you did. Either way, against something like that, without any weapons that can put them down, you are losing people." The alcohol was rich. "Don't blame yourself."

Julia didn't say anything in reply, instead just grabbing the bottle from Hannah's hands.

"I'll see if I have any contacts that you can hire to meet with Clan Ganar." Hannah told her when Julia didn't say anything back. She wasn't even looking back at her now. Hannah patted the bar, standing up. "I'm going to get this thing off and start working on getting it back to full capacity. If you need anything just let me know. You can use one of the barracks rooms upstairs."

Julia gave a short nod, but didn't look at her. Hannah left her at that point, making it upstairs to the room that she and Jack shared on board. Once she sat down, she got out of the catsuit that she had lived in for the last week. There was a crust of blood on her torso, from where she had gotten acid inside the suit. She gave one look at the catsuit and called it almost a lost cause. She dumped it off to the side and made a note to have one of the Quarians fix it up. They always did a better job than she did, anyways.

A shower, mouthwash, and a fresh change of clothes made her feel absolutely Human again. The buzz that had come from that little burst of whiskey faded, and once she was back in one of her two spare catsuits she felt much more capable of handling the rest of her life. It also made her feel less self conscious about contacting Jack.

The comm terminal rang a couple of times before Jack answered, his face the only thing that came through. He must be using a helmet or a space suit of some sort. " _Did everyone make it back?_ " He asked, before she could say anything.

"Your concern for your daughter and girlfriend are noted." She replied. "Yes, everyone made it back. Though Julia is blaming herself for the losses her team suffered."

" _Did you recover the beacon?_ "

"No." Hannah admitted, wiggling her toes inside their precious heated Uggs. "When that Reaper landed, it took the shuttle full of Rachni crap and the beacon. Liara claimed that she had overloaded its central processing unit, but if the Rachni are able to glean anything from it, then we failed."

" _Rachni crap?_ " Jack asked. " _What was inside the shuttle?_ " He was focused, his eyes not glancing at any information feeds to the side.

"I don't know. Large crystals that they had in the walls of the Prothean structure. The Reaper took most of those, too. The Rachni were loading up so many of the things that they couldn't fit their own on board."

" _Rachni used crystals to communicate with computer systems and store data._ " Jack noted. " _What kind of chamber was that, when you entered?_ "

Hannah didn't have the clearest of memories from a week ago. "I would say some sort of construction area. Or repair facility for ships."

Jack frowned. " _Rachni ships are made out of crystal. Not to mention that they don't use the same basic technology for their craft. I've been looking for any signs of their fleet, or the old version of their ships. The only thing that the Rachni had to reverse engineer was the engines, so at least we can track those parts. But the rest looks like they form or shape the rock itself around the engine housing. I'll forward you the files, and you can sneak them onto whatever intelligence package you create for Julia. Poor girl has enough on her plate looking for leads herself._ "

"I think you should meet with her. Directly." Hannah offered.

" _That's a terrible idea. Not only would that risk our operation with the_ Normandy _, but that would ruin any hope we have of stopping whoever the Reapers have leading their forces. Which reminds me. Julia will be looking for anyone with connections to us and connections to Hock. She will want revenge for her team. The problem is that the leak is singularly her own fault._ "

"That won't be what she wants to hear."

" _Jones knew where she went because Julia has been meeting with Miranda. Secretly, supposedly. I am aware of most of their meetings, but felt that it would be unwise to intrude. She chose to meet at a bar on the Citadel owned by our old friend James. Best pilot I had ever had. But he got wet feet and decided to get out of the business while he could._ " Jack seemed to sigh. " _His bar is closed, and C-sec is investigating the suicide of James. The reason that Jones was able to go after you is because Julia broke comm security protocols and Hock picked up on it. Though Charles tells me that the STG are all over our comm networks right now, thanks to that breach. Positively dreadful._ "

"Shouldn't you be the one to explain this to her?"

" _Leaving my only law abiding daughter even more angry at herself? No, I would rather close the data breach and give Miranda a stern talking to. Now she is going to get all kinds of attention. As for Julia, she needs something to drive her forward, and she needs to find out where the Rachni are getting their weapons and armor from._ "

"You have two of our ships out doing that already, if I remember correctly." Their fleet was small, and to commit two ships was already pushing things. Especially two deep space survey module ships. They were cruisers, and had large scanning modules instead of missile banks. Expensive pieces of work. "Why send her on a wild goose chase? Why not just take her to Ilos and show her everything?"

" _Julia is not ready to see the war we are fighting. If I took her to Ilos, we would have the Council mustering to invade within hours. She needs to find out all of the clues herself, and come to the conclusion that the Reapers exist long before we bring up our proof. Not to mention the only people who could have made weapons and armor of that quality and quantity are both terrifying groups of people. It is either the Geth or clan Ganar. If we are those ones to discover that, then the Council will assume it's just rumor mongering and ignore it. If their Spectres find it, then it proves our point, and gives the Council legitimate excuse to take action._ "

"Well, who do we send Julia to? Clan Ganar hardly even gives us the time of day, and you just spent a few hundred million credits on their products."

" _Clan Ganar will bend the knee only to the clan they served during the war. If they can restore their old glory, Clan Ragus has to take power again._ "

"Alright, who do we know from that clan?"

" _The last confirmed warlord from that clan was Jarrod. Ragus Jarrod. He died some two hundred years ago, leaving a few offspring in other clans, but only the females of a clan may imbue their children with a clan name. Without any females in his clan, Jarrod had a few children. Some of those descendants still exist, and a couple of direct sons._ "

"So one of them could claim that heritage?"

" _Yes and no. Krogan rites and traditions are not well documented. Some directly contradict each other. The few Salarian sources are unlikely to be easily accessible. However I can give you two names to have Julia follow up on. Ream,_   _formerly Ganar,_ no _clan name given, and Wrex. Urdnot Wrex. Both of them have had a history of strength and biotic abilities. Ream hasn't shown up for the last century, but Urdnot Wrex was last sighted on Illium, and is a known enforcer for the Shadow Broker._ "

"Those aren't very solid leads."

" _Then give Julia access to Daro'Xen and Rael'Zorah. Both of them will direct her to what our forces have found._ "

"I don't like that either." Hannah muttered. "Where should I drop her off?"

" _Drop them off on Illium. It's four relay jumps away and they can get a shuttle to the Citadel easily enough there. Though, Hannah, please keep one of them with you as insurance. Claim that you need to do some reconstructive surgery. Julia will try to betray us before she will agree to help us._ "

"You want me to hold one of her people hostage?"

" _I know my daughter well, my Lady. She will go after us if she can. Keep one of her biotics and send her off with Vakarian. They'll need a Turian doctor anyways. The good Doctor K'kre isn't rated for Turians."_

"So, we are going to hold a hostage here indefinitely?"

" _For at least a few weeks. Perhaps long enough that we can upgrade their amp to an L5 system. She will want the added firepower._ " Jack seemed to hum a tune. " _I was going through your mission logs. It sounds like Donovan Hock has our old friend Henry Lawson. As well as some other Doctor of note, a Doctor Lionel._ "

"He's a facial expert. One of the people who developed synth skin. Plastic surgery and limb reconstruction specialist. He was an asset that belonged to the Office of Intelligence at some point." Hannah said, remembering that she had gone under the knife with him. "He was quiet about his work, but I think he had a small obsession with Prothean artifacts. He had one of them on his desk, I think."

" _So Julia could investigate that easier than we could. But I don't want her connecting this mess with James' death. Not to mention someone will be warning Hock of her investigation before she ever gets close._ "

"I'll tell Julia about the Quarians and the Krogan. She might lose trust in me if I keep one of her people hostage, though. We shouldn't risk that."

" _We will risk it. The opposing risk is much greater. Not to mention if she takes the_ Normandy _back to the Quarians we can install the new fuel filters._ "

Hannah gave Jack a look before ending the call. The coward wouldn't even call his own daughter. She didn't like the idea of possibly betraying Julia. The woman was like a friend she never had. Sighing, she sent a message to Captain Qing to head for Illium at best speed and stealth. With the stealth system damaged, they had to take cover behind some planetoids and vent off heat before they could use the stealth systems again and make it to the relay.

Apparently the Turian cruiser was destroyed, though it managed to shoot down one frigate and damage the other two heavily. They were leaking parts and air all over the upper atmosphere, both frigates trying to make it back to the relay. The Batarian fleet tender was still at the sight of the X-19 station, cleaning up the bodies. Qing was avoiding any contact with anyone, as their ship had enough to repair already without risking battle with a frigate. Hannah flipped through the camera feeds on the  _Acheron_ , and found Julia still nursing her bottle of whiskey in the observation lounge outside the medical bay.

She grinned, coming up with an idea. She cloaked, and grabbed the thickest woolen blanket from her personal supply. This she carefully snuck onto the table next to Julia, and then stealthily retreated back upstairs. Julia noticed when a blanket seemed to flash into existence next to her, but didn't say anything. She didn't have to. But she put the bottle down. Hannah finally slumped into her own bed, content that she would be able to fix all of this. Or at least make it seem like Julia wasn't having a hostage left behind.

* * *

Nos Astra, Illium, July 2182

It took days to navigate the relay system with the  _Acheron_. The reason that the raids were so far apart was due to the  _Acheron_  not being designed around a stealth system, and their maximum speed being reduced while they were not giving off emissions. Unlike the  _Normandy_ , which could contain all emissions and move at full speed, the  _Acheron_  seemed to have a lot of overheating issues. Julia was confined to the main deck, and sat and watched as her crew were taken care of by a Batarian doctor. She kept an eye on her, and grudgingly admitted that she was doing an alright job. Kaidan was coming down from an infection he got on the planet, and his fever had finally broken. She had assumed that his problems were from overtaxing his biotics and trying to Throw the Remeltan, or whatever that predator was. Andrew Ta'u was another story. The pressure grenades had damaged his inner ears, his right lung had been punctured, and his armor had been inoperable. Broken ribs, and internal bleeding from being bitten by the Rachni Brood Warrior. His hands needed a dermal treatment, as acid had eaten away a lot of his skin.

Garrus was stabilized, but he wasn't waking up. He was kept stable by not moving, as one of the collar bones had been pushed down into his inner organs. The doctor had strapped down the Turian and then used as many antibiotics as she dared. Thankfully Quarians had a lot of those on hand, and Garrus was going to be able to make it to a Turian hospital. The  _Acheron_  pulled into the Nos Astra space port and landed, Hannah coming to see her for the first time in days.

"Julia." She greeted her. "Sorry I was so busy. Being stuck in that cave for a week wasn't exactly helping me get through my normal work schedule."

"Thanks for the blanket." Julia didn't trust anyone around here, and she had taken a couple of showers in the medical bay. That was the only time she left her team members alone. "As well as the doctor."

"Well, Dr. K'kre used to work with slaves before the cultural revolution. Now she likes getting paid in more than food. Doctors in Batarian society are pretty much the most important role a female can find work in. Or be recognized for. She is one of the best that we could find in the Terminus. She doesn't have a clue for Turians, though. You'll have to get your friend to a better location."

"Mind if I borrow a rollaway bed?"

"You'll just hide most of my whiskey in it. We'll have him prepared to leave. It's your other teammate, the big one, that I am worried about."

"Lt. Ta'u was doing better, the last that your doctor told me."

"He has some bone shards near his aorta. If you have him try and walk out of here, he is going to tear that open and bleed to death long before you reach an Alliance hospital." Hannah told her. "If you don't mind, and I haven't told Jack about this, I want to offer you our medical services until he gets better. Your friend Alenko we can get out of here without much trouble, he just needs some painkillers and anti inflammatory meds."

"Great. So what, you're just going to help my officer? I'm sure that Dad would try to take advantage of the situation." Hannah nodded.

"If I bother to tell him, yes. But I owe all of you for coming to help me. Not to mention your father is so Human centric the idea of trying to manipulate a war hero would be below him."

"You promise not to let him get involved?"

"That man has plenty of other things he can focus on. I would like to at least have a romantic dinner at some point this year. Haven't seen him physically in nine months."

"Well," Julia offered. "He never really was good at seeing women on a schedule. Or waiting for them."

Hannah snorted as she chuckled. Her laugh was just one of those things that wasn't very pleasant to hear. "Oh God, he's terrible like that! Ever since I made him agree to a monogamous relationship he's never been on time to anything!" Hannah stopped talking about her Dad, seeing Julia frown a bit.

"So, are you going to be alright with your team injured? Not to mention all of the damage to the ship." The  _Acheron_  had limped its way through the relay system.

"We've got more ships, guns, manpower, and lots of other things. Oh! I've got a few things for you that you can take a look at while you're here on Illium, as well." She handed Julia a datapad, with an OSD in it.

It brought up the weathered face of a Krogan. "That's a Shadow Broker agent named Urdnot Wrex." Hannah said. "He's someone old enough to be able to help you go after Clan Ganar. We don't know his exact location, but last we heard he was here on Illium. The rest of that OSD is information on another Krogan that might be able to help you get in contact or track down Clan Ganar."

"There is more than that here." Julia stated, seeing that the OSD was packed with data. Some of it was regarding protocols on witnesses and the hiding of key civilian figures.

"Jones mentioned that she was modified by a Dr. Lionel. As well as Henry Lawson. You know as well as I do that those two doctors are associated with the Office of Intelligence and the industries surrounding Cerberus. I've included information on them, if you want to investigate that. If I remember correctly Henry was responsible for many of the Infiltrator mods that were invented."

"I'll take a look, Mum." That was all she could promise. If the Alliance had them under lock and key, she wouldn't be able to do much. But she could alert them to the fact that Jones was acting around those security protocols. They would take that seriously. "I'll let you know how it goes, through some dead comm lines."

Hannah grinned even wider. "I've added a list of new comm channels you can contact us through on the OSD. You'll be able to contact me through any comm drop."

Julia considered long and hard about her next question. "Mum, do you know of another female officer named Shepard? Special Forces? Another redhead?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Something that I found in Anderson's files." Hannah looked away. It was there, something that felt off about that. Hannah recovered immediately, changing her glance to the empty bottle of whiskey that Julia had crushed. "It isn't important." Julia changed the subject, before Hannah could say any sappy line about David. "That whiskey was good, by the way."

"You were being all selfish with it. I better hope it was good!" Hannah said in mock anger. "Those things are expensive!"

Julia actually smiled at that. "I'll get you a replacement bottle at some point."

"Find a crate. We both know you aren't any better about sharing it."

Joking aside, Julia wanted off of this ship. It made her feel insecure in ways that weren't normal. Not to mention they had left their shuttle behind on Suen, and it had all of her changes of clothes and toiletry supplies. She had been living in the same outfit for days, and it was going to be at least one more before they were going to get back to the Citadel. Hannah sent her off the  _Acheron_ , and helped her get a shuttle that could carry Alenko and Vakarian.

After that, the  _Acheron_  took off, flying elsewhere. Julia took a picture with her Omni-tool, which had finally been released from whatever blocks it had been under while on board. She wanted picture evidence that she had been on that ship. Alenko was barely conscious, when she sat down in the shuttle they had rented.

"Ma'am, where are we?" He asked, blinking at the light.

"Illium. Terminus Systems. I've rented this shuttle to get us back to the Citadel." Julia explained. "Lt. Ta'u has been placed in a medical facility to recover and will join us at a later time." Alenko would want to bring him, and she had to trust that Mum wouldn't do anything to harm her squad member. "I need you to pull yourself together. Vakarian is still being kept in a medical coma, and I need you to make sure that the shuttle is not breached and that Vakarian is safe."

"What will you be doing, Ma'am?" Alenko's eyes were dilated, and he looked confused more than anything else. He at least appeared coherent enough to understand what she was saying.

"Meeting with a contact. Someone that will be a lead to finding out about the Rachni weapons and armor."

"That sounds great, Ma'am." Alenko admitted. "After all of this, we deserve to bring back something."

"Keep Vakarian and the shuttle safe. Understood?" She interrupted him. During his more lucid moments he had called out for the members of the Titans that hadn't made it. She needed him focused. At his nod, she closed the shuttle door and set the code on it to some random set of numbers. She would just hack it when she came back rather than identify any of her code systems to any of her enemies. Illium was notorious for being an information gold mine. But right now she needed to find a Krogan.

An extranet search ended up with a small blurb about the Krogan race and a list of different notable Krogan in history. Conflicting accounts made it hard to get any information about living ones. She sighed, and then moved towards the shopping district. She had lost everything on board the other shuttle they had left behind at Suen. Where she was going now, she couldn't go framing the Alliance. An Infiltrator walking into a building of ill repute was going to be terrible news to any of the Alliance informants.

Most of her credit chits on hand were spent on getting a full civilian outfit. Some nicely fitted Asari dress, a pair of trendy shoes, and a small handbag. Her catsuit rolled up into the handbag well enough, and she walked out of the store looking like some trendy young woman. A fake smile and some flirtatious looks at some of the Asari cops patrolling the district centered her look, and she considered herself as ready as she was going to be.

This time she took an air car directly to the Fornax Tower. Coming in the front door was much more graphic than the back door had been. There were lines of people going through scanners that were equivalent with the C-sec security scanners at the Citadel. She chose one of the furthest on the left, hopping into line with a few dozen Asari, all of whom had colorful outfits that made hers look cheap, or inexpensive. Asari with hundreds of years of investments were hard to keep up with on disposable income.

Security flagged her, of course. She had a pistol, knives, and a catsuit with enough technology that they couldn't  _not_  notice it. She was taken into a side room, where the two Asari security officers opened her bag and made excited sounds at the weapons and catsuit. Julia was held off to the side, where another officer made sure she didn't do anything.

"Well, you planning on killing anyone with all of this?" The lead Asari asked. "I'm surprised there are no explosives in this purse." She fingered it. "Nice material, by the way."

"My name is Agent Constantine." She said. "I work for the Council and the Systems Alliance, and have been here in the past to meet with Raelya Dantius. I have business with the Shadow Broker." They would be able to check her credentials, but someone from Fornax of all places trying to look her up would simply be piled with the rest of the extranet searches regarding her. After she was announced as a Spectre candidate, she featured on some Fornax and extranet searches.

"We are going to have to clear that with her office. I hope you don't mind waiting." The lead officer left her in the processing room, making her appreciate not buying some uncomfortable heels. She remained standing with the remaining security officers while their superior checked out her claims. They were professional about things, but gave her enough space to be courteous.

When the officer returned, it was with a security badge and a small bracelet to hold it on. "The boss would prefer if you come in the back door from now on." She saw that her card listed her as an 'actor'. She frowned at that. "She will see you soon. Take the far elevator to the tenth floor and then cross the hall and take the opposite elevator to the thirtieth floor. You will receive further directions at that time."

Julia glanced over at her purse, which still had all of her items in it. "May I have my things?"

"You may not. Matria Dantius has requested we hold your weapons and gear until you return."

Julia nodded. "Tampering with it will cause unwanted reactions." She mentioned. "Not to mention a friendly lawsuit regarding property rights." She gave them a false grin.

"Your things will be sealed in our security vault. You may come with us for that process." She did, making them lock it in a multi-grid vault and giving her the key to that individual vault. She didn't doubt that they could get in, but at least now there would be visual record of it. Once she had that, Julia walked through the lobby and followed the given directions to the thirtieth floor. The tenth floor was mostly offices, oddly enough. There were none of the outrageous stages or studios that she was expecting.

The elevators had the overly nosy Salarians as bell boys, keeping track of anyone who entered or left. She never touched any of the buttons, as they did that for her. But the Thirtieth floor was interesting. It was for Volus and Hanar, and had technicians maintaining one of the chambers that the Volus normally lived in. Seeing them rolling around, outside of their suits, it was like watching small bear or mole like Humanoids. Of course, this was all for Fornax, so this got interesting rather quickly. She kept her eyes forward, careful not to show too much curiosity.

The Hanar aquariums, as that was what she could best describe them as, were the location of activity between Hanar and other races. Almost one hundred percent of the time, apparently. She took a small glance at the schedule for the day, seeing that there was no instances of pure Hanar couplings. They must not be too popular. Or they were so outlandish and scary to see that it wasn't a turn on. She noticed that one of the Aquariums was lit up, but not scheduled for use. Julia wandered over to it, seeing the surface of the water rippling, and a few Asari swimming in the water.

"You are Constantine, Yes?" She turned, seeing a Salarian walking up to her. She hadn't heard him approach, and a glance at his feet showed that he had noise canceling footwear. Expensive gear. "Matria Dantius will see you now. Follow me."

That took her to another elevator, this one only going up to where the pools were exposed to the air. The sky was open on this section of the tower, the haze of a kinetic barrier not ten feet above the only thing between her and the sky. It was not like a business building at all from this angle. It looked more like a luxury hotel, with a bar and a beach side resort built into the side of the tower. Asari in little or nothing littered the deck, as well as a few Hanar. One of whom was a bartender, handling three drinks at once.

"Miss Constantine, come, sit down with us." There she was, Raelya Dantius. She was lounging with the greater number of Asari, and judging by how much was on display she had aged into her Matriarch years very gracefully. There was a seat across from her, surrounded by Asari, that was empty and waiting for her to sit down in. Julia sat where it was offered, and faced the agent of the Shadow Broker.

"Good Morning, Matria Dantius." She was careful to keep her eyes neutrally located on the Asari's lips. Anything above that would be considered sensual territory. Anything below that and she would be looking at her barely-concealed form. That would be considered entirely sexual.

"A pleasure to have you, Miss Constantine. I did not think you would come back so soon. Are you interested in signing our contract?"

"This is not regarding the previous offer." There was no way that nudity featuring her was going to be anywhere. The Systems Alliance would sack her so fast, she wouldn't be able to get her money and assets moved out. "I am looking for another of the agents that work for the Shadow Broker."

"Just business? How tasteless on such a nice day." Dantius didn't seem pleased about that. "It seems beneath me to be a simple information broker with these kinds of conditions. Normally it is just so rainy and cloudy."

"Urdnot Wrex." She stated. Dantius gave her a look that Julia risked looking her in the eyes to match. "I need him."

"What kind of need?"

"Classified action regarding Rachni."

"He would enjoy that, I am sure. I know what he is doing at this moment, though I have little reason to share that with you."

"I am not lacking in credits. How much for his location?"

Dantius grinned. "One interview."

"What?" Julia blinked at that.

"You're going to become a Spectre if you help the Council fight the Rachni, and I don't plan on coming away from this empty handed. The price of Urdnot Wrex is one interview with me, where you answer every sordid and graphic question that I ask you in enough detail to satisfy my subscribers. Once you become a Spectre, I'll publish it. If you become some sweet scandal, I'll still publish it. But to me, money is not something I have a difficult time acquiring. Information is so much sweeter. As a public figure your love life and mating habits are going to be the subject of thesis papers at the local university. All the sweeter if I already have that information on file, for premium cost."

"Ask your damn questions." Julia said. "If I don't like them I'll let you know."

It was hours before she was able to return to the rented shuttle. She had disagreed with the most sordid questions, and agreed to a single photo for Wrex's comm address. She was positive that Raelya Dantius hadn't given her as much information as she could have, with her evasion of questions regarding her bedroom habits. That photo wasn't a nude shot or anything, but the image of a Systems Alliance Infiltrator on the front of a Fornax post was going to make her superiors quite angry. It made her wish that she had bought a turtleneck and sweats instead of a nice dress. But no one looks at someone who dresses like everyone else. There was power in being anonymous.

She changed back into her catsuit once she got to the docking bay, and hefted the nice purse on her right arm. She kept it, seeing as all of her other clothes were at the  _Normandy_  or in storage in various places. She could use a purse at some point. She made sure that there was no sign of any of the places she had been, or any programs that had snuck into her Omni-tool. She blinked, seeing an entire Fornax subscription had been added to her files. That was not what she expected.

She hesitated only for a moment before deleting it. It was tempting, to see what Fornax would have. But that would only be giving Dantius more information. The hacking of the shuttle doors took longer than she expected, so she just rapped on the door. Alenko let her in, looking tired and drained. "Thank God, Ma'am. I can hardly keep focus anymore. We have some docking official telling us we have to leave, and she's been hitting our comm line every half hour for the last three."

"Let's go, then. Eat a ration bar before you fall asleep, Lt."

"Yes, Ma'am." He looked at her quizzically. "Did you get a suntan?"

Julia had the composure to feel a little bit embarrassed. "I was detained. But I finally have a lead on the Rachni weapons."

He nodded, before handing her a ration bar and slumping into a seat near Garrus. She took the shuttle and gave it a set of navigation coordinates, getting permission to leave from some irate Asari. Then it was straight to the relay. It would be at least a day before they got back to the Citadel, and once there she could finally get somewhere on all of this. Not to mention hold a ceremony for the Titans.

* * *

Suen, Maskim Xul System, July 2182

Rahna awoke with a start, her eyes not seeing anything but a dull orange glow. She could feel her entire right side erupt into pain from simply breathing. Her gasp must have alerted someone, because the glow of an Omni-tool shone into her face, blinding her.

"Doctor! This one is waking up!" The words seemed scrambled, like her translator couldn't keep up.

"Ten milligrams saline drip. Apply through medical monitoring implant." Another voice said dismissively. "Good life signs, pain receptors responding well. Acid did not burn them out." A second light shone onto her, and she couldn't see at all now. "Injuries causing tightness of breathing and difficulty in oxygenation. Apply two cubic kilograms of medi-gel to open wound."

"Yes, Doctor."

"What's.. going on?" She managed.

"You are safe. Remeltan has one glaring weakness. Managed to bring two of you into secure cave for recovery and security." The face of a Salarian filled her vision, aging lines all over his face. One horn seemed shorter than the other.

"Andrew?" She remembered seeing the claw coming, and Andrew Ta'u not facing the appendage. She remembered throwing herself in front of it, trusting her biotic barrier to protect her.

"Sit. Remain calm, adrenaline levels are spiking. Administering aide. When you wake up, you will be in safe location. Doctor's promise." He adjusted something on his wrist, and Rahna could no longer see clearly. Doctor must have some good medicine to be able to knock out a biotic so fast.

"Doctor Solus, the acid went right into the lungs on this one! He's going into cardiac arrest!"

The last thing she saw was the Doctor patting her cheek and smiling. "Doctor's promise."

* * *

Earth, Sol System, July 2182

The shuttle  _crunched_  as the machine outside did its level best to kill them. Jenkins was gripping his seat tightly, already with his helmet on. "Get us out of here!"

"Niet, Limpet!" Nikolai yelled. "Must be recycled completely first! Then they no care if we fly away!"

"It was a stupid idea! Let's not follow it anymore!"

"Niet, niet. Experience the consequences of giving commands to ships in the field. Expect your officers to follow orders to their deaths. Now, recycling almost done, and if we have working engine after that, we get to safe place, yess?"

"Oh God!" The biggest metal grinder he had ever seen was up ahead, right in front of the trash disposal compartment.

"Rasputin's Hairy Ass!" Nikolai rumbled, before  _finally_  taking control of the vehicle and pushing the engines to get them out of there. "Vell, looks like we get to fly to my friend's place. He owns small repair shop at Jovian moon." Flying a shuttle with no maneuvering thrusters was a terrifying experience. But they went to some Helium stations in orbit around one of Saturn's Moons, and met with some other old Russian, and that guy gave them a ride to Earth in exchange for the old shuttle.

Vodka was exchanged, and then Jenkins of course had to participate. He was an Alliance marine, he had to prove it by out drinking some crazy Russians. The rest of the ride to Earth was spent singing, and was pretty hazy. He definitely picked up on certain words in Russian, and they taught him a drinking song that involved looping your elbow around the man's next to you, making the entire circle of drinkers have to keep pace with one another, not to mention keep you from spilling your drink on the other guy. It made the really drunk moments a bit easier, especially when they took the shuttle down to South America.

"Where are we going?"

"The only place you vill learn, limpet." Nikolai said, handling the controls well for having drunk most of small bottle of vodka. "Old Russian Navy sold off most of old submarines. Collectors and Drug Lords keep the rest. Submarines still good for smuggling the lighter drugs. Hydroponics labs make the heavier ones."

The coordinates that Nikolai was going to didn't lead to any space port or sanctioned landing pad. He led them right into the freaking jungle, with gigantic trees and old plaster buildings everywhere. Growing in between the walls of plaster were plants and crops that had to be drugs, with the men standing over them with guns protecting it.

"Don't die, Nik'! I won't bail you out again!" The old man who took them here said, pushing them off his shuttle as fast as he could and taking off.

"Bail?" Jenkins asked.

"Not important. If we get caught, your turn to pay bail." Somehow this was just sounding like a terrible idea. But if Alliance Command thought this was the best way to learn how to command the  _Normandy_ , who was he to disagree with their judgement. He followed the old Russian as he jovially whistled his way through the city of armed men and women. People here were a mixture of Latin and African descent, all hard lines and frowns.

"Nikolai! You old bastard!" Someone bellowed. Nikolai grinned as a large man of Latin skin coloration and African hair and eyes greeted him. "The Don has been waiting for you. You said you would be back yesterday."

"Niet. I said I would be back when I damn vell felt like it."

Jenkins wisely didn't say anything, carrying his duffel bag and giving hard looks back at anyone who was giving looks at Nikolai. "Well the Don has a schedule to keep. Now we are behind schedule an entire day!" The big man glanced at him. "Who is this?"

"He is limpet. Needs experience commanding boat."

"Well, if he is anything like you, we should be fine." The big man laughed. "Looks like the Don knows you're here."

Walking down the lane was a Latin man in a nice suit, and gold rimmed sunglasses. He was surrounded by ten men in full armor and weapons. All of the models appeared to be pretty high end, enough to be able to take on a group of Alliance marines. Though considering the Alliance only paid for the cheapest of armor for their marines to start with, that wasn't hard for most groups.

The man walked over, frowning and squaring his shoulders towards Nikolai. "You worthless old Bastard! I've got thousands of credits on the line and you take a bloody vacation! What is this, eh?"

"You need me to pilot your sub. I told you I had someone call in a big favor. Had to go past relay."

"So that's how it is. You think you can just leave whenever you want? And who is this, huh? I've met your only kid, and he didn't pass on your oh so precious genes." Whoever this guy was, he did not like much of anything. But Jenkins could recognize an authority figure. He kept his mouth shut for now.

"Limpet. He is learning how to command submarine. Part of my agreement."

"I swear, you old man, I can replace you if you prove to be untrustworthy." The Don muttered. "Go get on my damn sub and get the shipment to where it needs to go." He chucked an envelope at Nikolai, who caught it without any trouble. "I took a cut out of your pay for all this damn waiting."

Nikolai gave him a sour look. "I'll make the time back."

"You'd better." The Don growled, turning around and walking back where he came from. The big man who had greeted them held out a few bottles of dark liquid for Nikolai. This brought a grin to the old man's face, and he fished out a couple of credit chits to pay him.

"That saves me the trip. Thank you Mario." Then he handed Jenkins what had to be over five thousand credits. "There you go limpet. Your cut." Then Nikolai started walking down to the coastline.

"What the hell is this?" Jenkins asked him quietly, as they approached an old plaster warehouse on the waterline. "Who was that guy?"

"He is the leader of the gangs here. Don Pablo."

Jenkins stopped. "Like Don Pablo the huge drug dealer?"

"Very same man. For old man like me, few people still have use for submarine commander. Hard to find employment. Part of the reason why Alliance asked me to train you. Best way to learn how to command stealth vessel is when you have real consequences for failure."

"What exactly are you doing here?" Jenkins asked, hoping that his guess wasn't correct.

"What you think? I ship drugs all over. I have expensive wife, and these longevity drugs mean that she is going to live for another thirty years at least. Retirement benefits won't last that long. So I go back to work. Now, you follow me. You command boat. You learn how to avoid patrols, avoid detection, avoid notice. If we are found, they will shoot us first and then see how much we were smuggling."

Jenkins gulped. What the hell was the Alliance thinking? "This is the best way?"

Nikolai gave him a toothy grin. "It is the only way. All other subs are just collector pieces that are tracked by governments. This one, this one is old nuclear sub that I used to command. You vill learn everything I can teach you. Then you be judge of how to implement. Stealth vessels always are at the center of conflict. If you take anything away from this, take the knowledge of how to make the most mess." He chuckled. "Nothing like stealth vessel for making political messes."

Jenkins' eyes were wide as he saw the eighty foot long submarine that he was going to learn how to command. "What about the Alliance?"

"If they find us, you never be free man again. Just like me. Now move, Limpet. We must be in California before storm passes. Storm will give us some cover from satellites."

Jenkins followed the old Russian onto the boat, wondering just how many Naval regulations he was going to be breaking out here.

* * *

Presidium, The Citadel, July 2182

Julia helped C-sec get her two occupants on board a medical transport. Kaidan Alenko was headed for Huerta Memorial Hospital, and Garrus was headed for the C-sec hospital. He was still medically out of it, and was wearing his shattered armor. The C-sec officers handled him with extreme care, getting him out of the shuttle as carefully as one would handle a child. She appreciated that. By the time that she had offloaded the shuttle and dropped off the keys at the rental agency, she was alone again. She had her purse and her damaged catsuit. Her first priority was to find this Krogan, Wrex. Then she had to check in with Alliance Command, make sure that they knew she was here.

She arrived at the embassy via stealth, only coming out of cloak when she approached the shielded and secured military personnel entrance. The soldiers checked her ID and ushered her through with no trouble, but on the other side she could see trouble had lined up to greet her. Two Infiltrators, one man and one woman, uncloaked on either side of her and motioned towards one of the secure meeting rooms.

She ducked inside, and saw a full meeting table. At its head was Donovan Hock, who looked like he was under some crushing pressure from some of the Alliance Senators that sat to either side of him. One of them was Senator Al-Mahjidi, Halmabad's father. He looked furious. The other looked like the Senator representing China and its colonial interests. Two men who represented a lot of capital and people.

At the other side sat a few Admirals, including Steven Hackett. He was sitting with a female Admiral that could have been one of his support officers. Her Omni-tool claimed that it was Rear Admiral Maria Raquel, the admiral in charge of all of the medical cruisers that were scattered throughout the fleets. She looked frazzled, as she was the one in most demand by the other fleets at this point.

Sitting next to her was another Admiral, this one Julia recognized. Rear Admiral White. Contrary to what you would expect, he was an African American. His black skin stood out among the other Admirals. The white and blue of the Alliance uniforms did not suit him, but he wore it as well as he could. Upon seeing her, he stood up and excused himself from the proceedings. She saluted as soon as he approached, and he bowed his head slightly at this.

"Come with me." Was all that he stated. With two other Infiltrators at either side, she could hardly disagree. Especially when the Rear Admiral that she was supposed to report to was in the room. But David had made her connection to Hackett, who had told her to report to him on any matters dealing with the  _Normandy_. They went to a section of wall that Julia hadn't seen open before, and it closed seamlessly behind them.

"Sir." She stated. "I was not aware-"

"It defeats the purpose of being in charge of all of you if I make you aware of my every move. The general idea of being in charge of this organization is to be as unpredictable as possible."

"Yes, Sir." She didn't know if he was angry or not. White was expressionless.

"You've been busy, Commander." White said, sitting at a small table inside the room. "Your reports detail an operation at Torfan, normally off limits pending my approval. You did not request this. Then you had an operation at Illium, where you ransacked an Eclipse base. We did not receive any requests for approval, and your operation terminated one of our best informants within the Eclipse ranks. One of the highest placed elements that we have, and now due to your actions half of the Terminus is now dark to us."

"I didn't-"

"You didn't consider this, we know. Hackett and I had a small chat regarding this. You know that the Terminus systems are restricted to our agents, save for direct approval." Admiral White was not interested in excuses. "The purpose of this meeting is not to restrict you, as you might guess. Some of the Council voted for you to be pulled off active duty, but the civilian oversight branch vetoed this. Your pending Spectre status has convinced them to take a risk that I do not agree with."

"What might that be, Sir?"

"A promotion, first. You won't be able to access our full network without being a full Commander." White wasn't smiling. "Secondly, you'll need this." He handed her a small pin, marked with a small depiction of an African American with glasses on. "Get that back to me when you've got something that'll turn things around."

This was his challenge pin. "Sir?" She said, "Why?"

"Because no one else has done anything about the Rachni. When your name came across our desks as a candidate for the Spectre program, we voted almost unanimously to support the decision. You've proven that decision to be worthwhile." He tapped his wrist, bringing up his connection to the Intelligence Network. He didn't even filter it, everything was right there. All of his contacts, all of his active agents. Everyone and their updated locations. She was wide eyed, all of this information need to know, not something for her to see. "Your rank comes with it several privileges. Including full access to the network. You will have the right to request aid from any nearby agent."

"What is all this about? Are you reassigning me?"

"On the contrary, no." White said. "You've given us comprehensive intel on Rachni. How they're moving, how they're hitting our planets. More importantly, you're the only one who is finding leads on what the hell they're armed with and who is making it." He tapped the Omni-tool, a Human model, and brought up another file. This one was of multiple agent reports, of men and women on the ground with the Rachni. All of their reports led to dead ends as to how the Rachni were being supplied, how they were communicating. Worse, they all lead to dead ends. A couple of Asari had been sighted, but none of them had been connected to the Rachni. But agents were out there, looking for those connections.

"You're following up on my leads?"

"The only other leads we do have regarding Rachni are from Council sources. We can't trust those. We have to double check them, and usually the trail is long cold by the time that we verify anything. Or the STG have picked over it." White tapped his Omni-tool again, bringing up her most recent report. It was of the death of Neilanna T'y'tella. Her suspicions that she may have been murdered to cover up Asari secrets. "The reason I brought you here is because of this."

"What's wrong?"

"We put our best on this. Every Asari linguist we have is on this project. Nothing. Not even a peep from any contacts, libraries, and even a couple of universities.  _Those_  are difficult to gain any sort of contacts in." He brought up a small planet that was at the edge of the Terminus systems. "We got something. A panicked comm call with a keyword.  _Eri-Asha_. We managed to get a hold of the comm address, of one Miala T'sara. She lived on Astaria. An Asari farming world, lots of independent villages. She lives in a small one that translates as Deepest Wells."

" _Elee'ranu._ " Julia translated. "Isn't that planet being hit by Rachni?"

"It's got a tight lipped population. There was a massacre there about fifty years ago. Entire village slain." White said. "The Asari never caught the perpetrator. But the planet hasn't ever recovered from that. They don't have much of a military presence or standing militia population. The Asari Republics are dedicating only a blockade force to the planet for now. But as far as we know they have abandoned their people on the planet."

"So you found something."

"A lead that is on the most dangerous location that we can send anyone in Council Space. The world has fallen to the Rachni, and there are no friendly forces that will be willing to help you. With your new rank comes operational freedom." White leaned back. "File your reports with me, but don't ask for permission. Do whatever you need to. You've got enough special teams and a ship that can break the Asari blockade. If you fail, then we are going to claim that we didn't send you. Standard modus operandi. But this is the only lead that every Alliance asset was able to find."

"Yes, sir. Does this mean you want me to stop investigating the weapons leads?"

"You haven't sent me a report of what occurred in the last four days. Do you have more for me?" White actually smiled a bit.

"I haven't reported on my last mission, sir. I had a contact that was investigating Rachni sightings in the Skyllian Verge. They got pinned down on Suen, the Rachni home world. I went in with the Titans and Spectre Vakarian." She kept her eyes on his as she moved onto the next section of her report. "We were not prepared for what was down there."

"Did you retreat?"

"We called upon reinforcements, and two Alliance vessels and two Batarian vessels came through the relay at our call. The listening post set up by the Turians to observe the system was gone, wiped out and destroyed. Fuel depot was also wiped out, and pieces of debris were everywhere. All of it was old construction, all built near the end of the Rachni War. Nothing was up to code, as you might imagine." Julia tapped her Omni-tool, bringing up the credentials for the Alliance frigates. "The  _Agincourt_  and the  _Yorktown_  showed up, both aging frigates. We assumed they were friendly, but they were full of mercenaries and another old friend." Julia brought up the file on Julianne Jones. " _She_  was there. Along with more of those techno-zombies. My contact has been calling them Husks. Due to their EMP interference, we were led into a trap. Then our reinforcements showed up and backstabbed us, while the frigates destroyed the  _Averro Dominus_. That was the Turian cruiser that assisted us in getting there."

"Your contact survived?"

"Yes. Though five of our team died before the fighting ended." The Titans. Every single one of them people she had gone to school with, and all of them just reduced to a number. "Spectre Vakarian is still in urgent care, and Lt. Alenko has reported to Huerta for intensive care. Andrew Ta'u is still on Illium, in a private medical facility until he can be safely transported."

"The rest of your team? Were you able to recover their bodies?"

"No, Sir. Rachni acid or local predators consumed them. We won't be seeing them getting up for the other side."

"The Titans represent a significant investment. We will be sending a few teams after their bodies." White said. "Your lead?"

White probably dealt with deaths in the field every day. "I have two suspect groups that may be supplying the Rachni with weapons and armor. The Krogan clan Ganar, and the Geth."

White leaned back in his chair. "Our previous dealings with both groups are spotty. As to the Geth, we had one of our Corsair groups run into them and get a good sight on their ships. They didn't engage, and both sides had an awkward stand off. As for clan Ganar, they maintain a token force on Tuchanka. We had a couple of Corsair ships get boarded by their forces. One of them managed to get out of there, but those Krogan are better armed and trained than the usual. That's all we have. Both files are heavily classified. Don't share them without first filing a request."

"Yes, Sir." Julia released a deep breath. "This is what I plan on investigating."

"I see no problems with this. The other members of the Council may disagree with your actions, but at this time you are to receive no demerits. Report to Hackett for Naval Operations. Report to me for Intelligence."

"The  _Normandy_  is still down for repairs for a few weeks, Sir." Julia stated. "I was going to pursue these leads then."

"Until then, we have a request. Naval command has requested that you become more familiar with their regulations, regarding your fleet combat actions near Illium. You will spend the next five to seven weeks in Naval Command training, at Arcturus." A file was transmitted to her Omni-tool. "Alias enclosed. I expect top marks."

"Yes Sir." She glanced at the file and grimaced. Blonde. She never enjoyed being a blonde. Thankfully the other facts about the alias were more passable. Shy, bad history with men, enjoys spending time on her own. She just never liked being a blonde. It reminded her of Jones. "I will return when I have completed the Command classes."

White actually saluted her. "Carry on, Commander. I expect more regular reports. If you prove successful, we may send more agents with you."

Now  _that_  she could get behind. More than just a single Intelligence Agent? That could be helpful. "I have one contact to follow up on before I leave for Arcturus."

"Good luck, Commander."

She saluted and watched as the two Infiltrators and Rear Admiral White left. She had this room to herself, but she checked it for bugs anyways. She then brought up the comm address for Wrex. The only Krogan she had known in her lifetime well enough to consider an acquaintance was Don. He himself had claimed that he was not a normal Krogan. The comm line picked up after a good minute of waiting, and a heavily scarred Krogan face greeted her.

"What do you want?" He grumbled.

"My name is Constantine. I would like to hire you to assist me in going after critical Rachni intelligence that could lead to ending the war."

"How did you get this comm address?"

"Raelya Dantius." His face soured. Or it could be a smile. She didn't know what Krogan expressions were supposed to be like. "I would like to meet with you and discuss terms."

"Meet me at Chora's Den. I'll be at the Quasar machines." The comm channel ended abruptly, making Julia blink. He must not like her very much. She knew Krogan respected strength. Showing up looking like a civilian was definitely out. But that meant that she was going to have to be publicly visible. That required help of some sort. She had no resources here on the Citadel. She could of course sneak into the Chora's Den building, but the Quasar machines would have security guards and cameras everywhere.

Her comm addresses list were pretty small. She called Halmabad, but the man was in Huerta and wasn't answering his Omni-tool. Alenko reported as being in the intensive care ward, and wasn't looking at an early release. Williams was on board the  _Normandy_ , as were Tali and Pressley. She could requisition an agent to help her, she now realized. She tapped into the local network, and saw that there were three agents on the Citadel right now. The two escorts of White, and herself. She sighed at that. There were no assets here that she could request. She didn't dare strip White and Hackett of their protection.

She sent a small message to Desolous, but didn't get anything back from him. So, that left few options. Operational security was still paramount. After a short debate, she called the Spectre offices and explained that she needed someone to assist her with convincing a Krogan to work for her. They told her that a Spectre had volunteered to help her. So when she showed up at Chora's Den, under cloak of course, she could see the Asari waiting for her.

Tall, with dark blue skin and purple markings, the asari was wearing actual heavy armor. Unlike what most Asari soldiers wore, this armor seemed to be functional. She approached the Asari and spoke, knowing that she would be able to hear. "Spectre."

She jumped a little bit. "Goddess! You're quiet. You need help?"

"I can't be directly seen by the cameras. There are groups out there that mean me harm, and I cannot let them find a pattern to my appearances."

"Got it. What do you need me for if you can do all this?"

"I need someone to be in the room with the Krogan so that it doesn't sound like a voice is just coming out of nowhere." She said. "His name is Wrex."

"I know." The Spectre said. "I've worked with him before. If I go with you and vouch for you, he will certainly agree to hear you out. I've worked with Wrex a few times in the past century. He's reliable."

"How did you know it was Wrex?"

"He's the only one on the Citadel right now that has the quad to go after Rachni. Not to mention the rest of the Krogan on this station right now are mostly just goons. Tough guys hired for their brutality, and not their brains. Wrex is more than that."

"Hmm." Julia said, considering. "What do you mean?"

"Used to be some kind of clan leader, or warlord. Long ago, before I met him. But that's not my story to share. If he doesn't tell you about it then he doesn't fully trust you. I'll introduce myself, and make sure that you and Wrex at least have the chance to chat." She pulsed her biotics, making Julia's barrier flare ever so slightly. "Tela Vasir, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet a Human candidate."

"Julia Constantine." She offered back, not shaking her hand. It would break the tactical cloaking field. "It's nice to see an Asari that wears actual armor."

"Hey, don't hate on it until you try it. That armor is a product of some of our creatures on Thessia that are highly resistant to biotics. While it might seem ineffective, most of the people that we have to fight are biotics. Therefore it pays to be able to resist that. You mentioned Krogan and I went and fetched my heavier armor."

"I suppose it isn't much different than any other armor." Julia mentioned. "I'll need you to walk through their scanners at an easy pace. I'll be slipping through with your bio signature."

Vasir smirked. "You're like a Salarian. I like that." Julia shuddered. Asari were flirtatious, and she didn't need to worry about that right now. "Where is he?"

"Quasar. Probably for the security."

"Hah. If I know Wrex, he just wants a nice open space just in case things get rough. He doesn't care about security or who knows about him. He's a Krogan. They like being noticed at some level. Goddess, I don't think I've met a Krogan that could stand being out of the spotlight."

Walking through the doorway into Chora's Den sparked an alarm from the door scanners, but Vasir flashed her biotics a couple of times and threatened the Krogan guarding the door. That got them through, but gained some attention for Vasir. She ignored the stares, fetching two bottles of thicker alcohol and bringing it towards the Quasar chamber. It was up some stairs and in a side room, with long rows of the gambling machines and a few patrons sitting at them. Sitting at the back was a gigantic Krogan. He was wearing blood red armor, and slung on each shoulder was a heavy weapon. Or at least a shotgun sized for a Krogan and an assault rifle that qualified as a squad support weapon.

"You are the worst pilot and gambler I have ever seen, you know that?" Tela said loudly, and the patrons at the machines quickly noticed that someone was challenging the big Krogan. They wisely evacuated.

"You are the worst female that I've ever threatened to mate with." The Krogan said, turning around. He had a pistol in hand, while the other was stuffing credit chits from his machine into pockets. "What do you want?"

Julia noticed that the cameras here seemed to be an older model. But she still didn't risk exposing herself. There were a couple of blind spots from the cameras. Those locations coincided with the Krogan's girth. "Sorry for the roundabout way of introducing myself, but I don't like cameras."

"You're the Human that called me." Urdnot Wrex said, sniffing the air. "You're one of their little death-walkers." He took a deeper breath, before exhaling. "Biotic, as well. Interesting."

"Death-walker?"

"On Tuchanka, the Krogan revere noise. Noise is evidence that the planet still lives. Only when all things are quiet do we now death is coming for us. Your kind, as well as the Salarian STG, you walk without being seen." Wrex seemed to glance at Vasir. "What do you want?"

"I'm tracking down the Rachni. I've just returned from Suen, where we fought them inside one of their old Hives."

Wrex nodded. "I've been there. Old caves, with old webbing and broken armor everywhere you dig." He grunted. "You came looking for me?"

"Raelya Dantius recommended you. As did other members of our intelligence networks. I need someone that can take on Rachni and whoever are supplying them with their weapons and armor."

"You'll need a few thousand Krogan to take on a single Rachni Hive, Human. Hiring just me isn't going to get you very far."

"I've already fought enough Rachni and their corpse animating machines to know what I'm up against. Your name is on a short list of Krogan that I am looking for." Wrex seemed to look away for a moment when she mentioned corpses.

"Who are the others you are looking for? Maybe I'll call them and we can debate price." The old lizard chuckled.

"I don't have to tell you that."

Vasir laughed at both of them. "You're both being idiotic. Wrex, she's a Spectre candidate. Helping her helps the entire Galaxy and its concerns. Especially your concerns. She's looking for ways to kill the damn bugs. They found some of them on Thessia, Wrex. During the wars they never got to any of the homeworlds." Vasir settled her hands on her hips. "This time they are actually using strategy. Subterfuge, sabotage, hacking, in ways that the STG are envious of. Goddess, Wrex, she's looking for someone who can take on whatever the Terminus throws at them."

Wrex grumbled something that her Omni-tool didn't translate completely. The one word she did translate was 'young'. His file claimed that he was at least six hundred. He had the right to call her that. The rest of the words she wasn't sure about. "I'm on a job right now, Human." He grunted. "Where are you planning on going?"

"Geth space. Possibly worse places." The Krogan stood up to his full height.

"What kind of places?" He seemed curious.

"If the Geth don't turn up, then we might go to Tuchanka." Clan Ganar had an outpost there. It would be her first place to look for them. Or at least get in contact with them. "I'd like it if you came with me."

The Krogan grumbled. "There is nothing for you there. Tuchanka offers nothing to the other races. I won't waste my time on a dead end planet."

She didn't question him. But it seemed odd that a creature would not enjoy his homeworld. She liked Earth, and she had some of her best memories there. "When do you finish your current job?"

The Krogan rolled his shoulders. "Whenever they fulfill their contract. The Shadow Broker wants this guy to know 'fear deeper than any greed'. So once they prove that they are capable as a low level contact, then I get to leave. Until then, I get to be a partial observer. If this Fisk guy proves he's capable, then we go on our way, and nobody gets killed."

"Wrex." Vasir said. "She can afford you, too. This isn't charity work."

"You better be able to. My combat rate is over two thousand an hour."

"I'll be prepared to pay for a few months up front." Julia said. "Unless the other Krogan I'm looking for agrees to less."

"Who else are you looking for?" Wrex asked. "It's only fair to know who the other sap is."

"Ganar Ream." It was unclear which clan he was part of. "He might be going by Dargur or Weyrloc."

Wrex was quiet for a moment. "Ream, huh? We used to have a blood feud." He grinned. "I'll help you out, Human. I owe it to his memory."

"He's dead?"

"I made sure of it." He grumbled. "But he was something, even if he was almost nine hundred when I finally caught up to him." He glanced around at the cameras. "Hey, turn off everything in here for a moment! I gotta make a call." The lights dimmed, and the quasar machines went silent. Wrex held up his Omni-tool, a model that Julia hadn't seen before, and the room was hit by loads of encryption and firewalls. "I won't make any deals with people who won't introduce themselves properly. Show me what you look like, Human."

She stood up next to him, within easy range of his guns. "Call me Constantine."

He grinned. "Oh, I know your face. But the broker calls you  _Harper_."

"That name isn't mentioned among pleasant company."

"Hah. You were born under that name, and that destiny. Names have power, and they aren't easily escaped. I'll call you whatever you want, so long as it isn't some damn title." Wrex grinned. "Oh yes, I think I will enjoy this."

"I think we've made enough of a commotion. Wrex, nice to see you as always."

"Vasir. Nice to see you brought real armor this time."

She gave him the middle finger as she left, Julia trying not to laugh as she followed the Asari closely. Vasir's air car was still outside the bar when they got there, and she left the door open long enough for her to slip in. Once the door shut, she handed Julia a small card. It was a comm address. "My personal code. Let me know if your other mentors aren't up to snuff. I'll come and make them see reason."

With all of the tracking devices around, Julia was hesitant to answer, but she sent a small message from her own comm address to show that she had received it. The Asari dropped her off at the Presidium, and seemed to waltz off without a care towards the shopping district. Julia herself escaped back to the Embassy and the barracks, where her disguise gear was.

She hated being a blonde. Getting the eyebrows right was impossible, and everyone already thought you were a dye job before you even talked to them. Her red hair was much the same, but mimicking a blonde had all kinds of other problems attached to it. Everyone thought you were an idiot, that you were an easy girl, the whole works. Redheads at least had a history of being extremely violent. Blondes had a history of giggling and partying.

Her report to Rear Admiral White included an update on Ganar Ream. If that was the right Ream that she was looking for, anyways. But she felt good. She had made some progress, even if she had to create another military alias again. Not to mention she got a promotion. She would need the new pips added to her one dress uniform on board the  _Normandy_. She practiced her giggle, as she got on board a shuttle headed for Arcturus. There were plenty of men leering already. God, she hated being a blonde.

* * *

Author's Note

Wrex! Goodness I love that guy. His personal task mission is going to be interesting. Speaking of task missions, I am letting you guys decide Garrus' loyalty mission. As of right now, there are an equal amount of votes for 3 out of the 4 choices. Sort of amazing, really.

I've been working on a bit of research regarding Krogan. Their regeneration, mostly. They can regenerate from most wounds, and their form of regeneration allows for eyes and other critical organs to come back from the brink. The Earth-based creatures that can do that are basically starfish and invertebrates. Some species can regenerate specific limbs, or grow back patches of skin(Humans are awesome!), but Krogan have the full gambit. Regenerating an eye takes a lot of specialized cells and chemical ingredients.

As such, I have surmised that their regeneration is based on some completely specialized organ attached to their nervous system. It would have to be there, where it could send out the signals to each of the cells that need to be rebuilt. I'll probably touch on that in the story a bit.

Writing from the perspective of a Krogan is actually a bit hard. It's like writing a 75 year old adrenaline junkie. With tattoos, scars, and the ability to shake off anything. Words, punches, and gunshots. They almost have a sense of immortality to them, except for the love of war and the likelihood of their own deaths. The young ones are just all ego and testosterone, while the old ones are all about ego and moments of heroism. Mid life crisis? Holy crap I might be a dad. That's about the most worrisome thing that a Krogan has to deal with. Parenthood. The rest of their lives they are told to follow the convention of Might makes Right, and just prove their existence through manly deeds. If they can be recognized enough, then they will get female attention. Great incentive for proving that you are an accomplished warrior.

But that sort of cripples the genes that are supposed to be passed down for intelligent pursuits. Scientists(The Krogan had them, it is well known), Mechanics, Engineers, Architects(Wish they would make a come back), and Inventors haven't been bred for and haven't been cared about since the Rachni Wars. Four generations of Krogan born into that kind of trouble. Society will completely degenerate over time if that isn't corrected.

But Jack doesn't hold the Krogan as his responsibility. That, he will leave to Julia and the Council. He's got enough people to worry about before adding the Krogan into the mix.


	53. Lucid: Stealth Frigate License Test

Chapter 53

Vancouver, British Columbia, Earth, August 2182

Jenkins stood next to the old leather command chair, Nikolai filling its frame easily. Space on submarines came at a premium, and there was maybe five feet square around the command chair before running into another seat. Navigation, Sensors, comms, it was almost exactly the same as the  _Normandy_  in theory. Felt as cramped as some of the hallways in it, too. Though there was an ever present feeling of being crushed. The water around the vessel felt nothing like space, where the ship had little chance of running into anything, or getting pushed by a current.

Moving up the coast of California was actually difficult, and they went through a lot of heavy currents that were coming down from Alaska. It had been five weeks of running drugs from location to location, running through a couple of scary moments. Some Coast Guard units had gotten a report from a surface camera that they had been sighted at a small dock near Newport, Oregon. That led to them having to wait almost a week at the bottom of the ocean while satellites pounded the area with scans and active penetrating radar, courtesy of some drones that had been deployed. Nikolai was cool under pressure throughout.

"Limpet, do you see? How would you escape this situation?"

"Probably wait for some form of cover." Nikolai used the weather, as well as some water bound ships as cover from satellite scans. He was always aware of when the tides were changing, and how far he should be from the coast. "Maybe let the tide take us out and roll the ship out to sea a ways."

"Niet. Stupid plan. Orbital sensors have limited range underwater. But they track disturbances in sea bed. Especially this close to fault line." Nikolai pointed to the sensor station. "This close to fault line, they bury seismometers to detect changes in tectonics. If we get pushed by tides, our every scrape will be heard by them. Niet, we cannot do that." He looked at the surrounding instruments. "We vill need air before long. scrubbers cannot get scent of coffee out of the air anymore."

"So what do you normally do?"

"It is only second time I have been noticed in thirty years." Nikolai admitted. "Made mistake of surfacing too close to tidal sensor. Disturbed the water too much, make irregular wave. North Americans are crazy about their earthquake paranoia." He shook his head. "Now is time for slight risk."

The problem with satellites was that it was hard to know if they ever saw you. They sent their messages as part of an automated system, and there was no way to tell if they saw you or not. This he could compare to using the  _Normandy's_  stealth abilities. You didn't know if they saw you or not, and you had to trust that the ship was meant to do this kind of thing. Nikolai let the current take them when it got to high tide, sending them back down south and further delaying them. They were almost two days behind schedule when they got near Vancouver, and they sent a periscope up to see what kind of activity was happening in the busy port area.

Vancouver was one of the biggest spaceports on Earth. English Bay was a nice port before space travel was invented, but now it was crazy busy. It was a natural location for ships to come in and get refueled, fixed, or supplied. Huge towering structures surrounded the bay, some full of ships that were being supplied and others that were empty. But Jenkins saw something that he didn't want to see sitting in the closest docking cradle.

"You recognize that?" He asked Nikolai.

"Is space ship. They are turned off when in cradles. Sleep like babies."

"Not that one!" He pointed to the ship. "That's a Cairo class cruiser! They have the most sensitive scanning devices in the fleet. Any time they are in port, they have to keep them calibrated, and they are running at all times."

Nikolai turned in his chair. "How sensitive?"

"They are meant to detect heat blooms. Metal concentrations, anything down to the size of a Humanoid form. We use them in the Navy as forward scouts, to make sure that nothing is out of place in asteroid belts."

"You know its capabilities?"

"Yes." He had served on one, and it was all that his bunk mate would talk about. he was happy when that rotation was over, even though it dropped him off at that hellhole, fighting against death worms and Reds. "I know what they are capable of."

Nikolai nodded. He stood up, the old leather slipping as he came to a standing position. "Sit. You know the opponent. Take command." Hispanic faces all around him looked up, all of them surprised. "You have our final coordinates." There was a yacht in the harbor that had one of those split bottoms, where two booms went off to either side of the boat like wings and acted as engine housing and flotation device. There was space underneath to barely fit a submarine's conning tower, and that was where their final delivery was going to be. With how few people traveled the ocean these days, meeting on open water was like inviting yourself to get caught.

Jenkins felt like a man in the spotlight, and he didn't like it. But he had his game face on. Nikolai had been schooling him on it. 'Make mouth look like you swallowed whole lemon and thought it was boiled egg. Glare like you mean to threaten the chef.' He pulled his face together, and gave Nikolai a nod. "Before we go any further, we need to have the hull match the surface temperature of the water perfectly. Those cruisers can detect slight changes of temperature at a range of hundreds of kilometers. While they sit in port, they run diagnostic checks. Considering how many craft are flying around, the sky is going to be a mess of heat that would be frustrating to map and keep track of. The only place that would have the most reliable scans that don't change would be-"

"The bay. Water. Perfect control group. City has people everywhere, air and ground cars. Jess, it make sense. Now how do we get past? Wait for it to leave?"

Jenkins shook his head. "Those cruisers were made by the cheapest contractor. They take longer to repair in port. We can risk running past it, so long as our temperature matches the water exactly. Down to the variances in temperature that occur within ten feet of the surface." Technically, the uppermost two hundred feet of water had the most temperature

variety, while below that you have a pretty stable temperature environment. Jenkins wasn't really required to know that, but it was one of the things you picked up while in the submarine. "We need the internal temperature of the submarine to match the outside water exactly. Not just the metal coating. We have to have the air in here match the water, and we can't give off too much heat ourselves. That means full armor, sealed gear, something that can have its outer layer at a temperature that we can keep low."

Nikolai started barking out orders in a mixture of Russian and Spanish, as some of the crew didn't have skill in speaking English or Omni-tools. It was an unfortunate fact that there were maybe a billion people still on earth that didn't own Omni-tools or translators. The next fifteen minutes were filled with people digging armor and radiation suits out of storage. Some Omni-gel was applied to old suits, and the air filters. Some of them still had Russian Navy markings. Jenkins was in his armor in under one minute and thirty seconds, and was the first back to his seat.

It was obvious that this crew was untrained with armor and suits, and the already cramped hallways became impossible for people to simply slip by. Those in armor could, but the guys wearing radiation suits just could not get past each other. Then, the temperature started dropping. The internal temperature systems were not supposed to be doing that.

"Will sensors be able to detect reactor?"

"They might. Can we turn it down or something?"

"Niet, niet. No turning off our power supply, Limpet." Nikolai said. "We can turn coolant down, have the chamber match outside temperature for short time. But without proper containment temperature, will cause radiation issues. We can maintain for short time, however."

"Ok." One thing that was stressed in boot camp was the fact that space had loads of different sources of radiation. What that did to you was very well documented. It was drilled into all Alliance servicemen and any public school students that radiation was bad. With a capital B. "I think we should go pretty fast through the bay, then. Keep that from spreading."

"Maximum speed we can go without churning too much water. Surface temperature is too high to risk moving there, have to move at bottom of Salish Sea." He grinned. "Middle is not deepest section. Southern end, by Northern States, has deeper water."

"Yeah, so?"

"Is best way in. Deepest part of channel. Water there stays cooler."

Jenkins brought up his Omni-tool, something that few of these people had. As they were near enough to Vancouver, he was able to bring up the local news. There was nothing about submarines or anything out of the ordinary, though he didn't risk using a search engine to look for it.  _That_  would clue in other people to look for that kind of thing. He didn't really know how to do any of those cool techie things where you programmed a VI to search for something unrelated in order to find your actual information. "Let me know when we are at target temperature."

A small warning light came on, and the radiological alarm symbol turned on. "Hmm. Piece of crap, looks like we will need to work on containment chamber. Rapid change in temperature may have damaged it."

"That's bad?"

"Jess. I will take team into reactor. You guide us to meeting point. We are attaching to underside of nice yacht, named  _Excelsior_. They have enough room under for you to surface. Trust crew to pilot. I trust you."

"You can't weld anything down there." Jenkins warned him. "That might give off heat blooms."

"I know, limpet. But no one else knows what to look for." Nikolai was in one of the radiation suits. "Get us to meeting point." There was no goodbye as he stepped towards the back of the submarine. Once he was outside of the room, a lot of the crew seemed to calm down, slouching and seemingly in happier spirits. None of them were looking at him now. A couple were even beginning conversations near the front of the room.

"If you all want to live, do exactly what I tell you to do." He said loudly, making all of them turn to him. He had changed the settings of his Omni-tool to convert his speech to Spanish. "I want temperature deviations reported immediately. If the water temperature shifts, I want to know to the exact decimal point. Don't let anything scrape, but stay as close to the bottom of the Bay as possible. If we deviate too far, we will be found and killed. All of those spaceships above us have passive sensors that may be able to detect us if you don't do exactly as I tell you." That got their attention. He gave them the patented look that Nikolai had taught him. They all straightened and stayed professional after that.

Part of him wondered if he should just turn them in, using his military status as a way of convicting the large drug ring. But at the same time, it wouldn't actually hurt anyone of note. Sure, it would stop the submarine deliveries. But in all honesty it wouldn't hurt Don Pablo directly, nor would it significantly stop him. He put that behind him, convinced that it would be better to just work with them for now, and maybe, after Nikolai retired completely, report on it.

"Sand Bar!" someone piped up.

"We are too close to it!"

"Rise above it." Jenkins called. "Set our screws to half-flank, for ten seconds. We can't kick up that sand." Keep our Aft away from the ground." Jenkins watched as they went ever closer to the fifteen feet border. After that point their temperature controls would become evident, as that close to the surface the temperature would be much higher. They passed underneath the old Burrard suspension bridge, the shade from it allowing some risk to rise up into shallow water and get past another sandbar. Then, English Bay got deeper again. He breathed a small sigh of relief when they got deeper again, and the harbour was protecting them. "Radiation alarm hasn't turned off, someone find out if they're having trouble."

One of the men ran off, radiation suit bulky and making noise as he ran. Thankfully they were trying to sneak past a spaceship, not another submarine. Nikolai said that when sneaking around other submarines, they could detect people breathing. Spaceships didn't bother looking for sound, as there wasn't enough matter in space to vibrate and carry the sounds. Jenkins was a bit worried. NIkolai hadn't made a report or turned up in almost twenty minutes.

"Contact sighted!" It was safe to use the periscope, here and there. The water had some sailboats and a couple of fishing barges out. None of them would really notice the periscope shaped like a natural wave break looking around. Jenkins walked over to the periscope and looked through it, seeing the  _Excelsior_  next to fift other yachts in a boat dock. There was also no way they would be able to fit underneath it without becoming completely visible to every other boat in the area.

Unless they did things differently. "Esteban! How good are you at driving this thing in reverse?"

"This submarine does not go in reverse!" The man said. "Use tugs to tow it into place instead!" Jenkins closed his eyes to think about that. If the boat couldn't go in reverse, then they would have to find another way.

"We have a towing winch on the rear deck, right?" Esteban nodded. "Alright, have a diver go out there, and attach the winch to the dock underneath the  _Excelsior_. Then pull the submarine underneath the Excelsior and we can raise it."

The men were all looking at him with confusion. "What about the current from the Bay?"

"Hold that thought. Tie us to the dock thirty feet ahead of the  _Excelsior_. When we pull ourselves in, we will be hidden by the boats when we get near the surface. The tail end will be underneath some of the other boats, and we can have the nose angled towards the exit." Jenkins smirked. "Let the current push our nose towards the bridge, while the winch pulls us under the dock. If we scrape a little bit it's ok."

They sent out two men in their armor to use the winch. A couple of the suits of armor had deployable fins, and being made of ceramic materials, it could achieve flotation. Jenkins had never gotten those mods, but figured that they would be useful. He just never got deployed to those locations where they would be. Like those lucky bastards who got assigned to Hong Kong. They could surf and swim all they wanted. It used to be a serious contention zone back in the 2110's, when Taiwan took over most of mainland China. Together with the Korean Republic, they took massive pieces out of China and Alliance troops were still garrisoned in Hong Kong to keep tensions down. Now it was an easy ride to pass through your deployment. Guys dreamed of being assigned to the place.

Jenkins had to settle himself with these thoughts as the divers attached the winch line to the dock in the right location. It was a tense five minutes before he felt the submarine shift, the water moving the opposite direction. It was subtle, but he was used to them moving forward or not at all. All of the seats were built to handle the gravity force of moving forward, not backward. So it felt oddly unsafe to be sitting in his chair as the submarine slowly started turning, not under its own power.

"Turn down the power needs, make sure the winch has enough." He had found out the hard way that many of the things on the submarine worked haphazardly or needed maintenance. The lights dimmed, and the engines went quiet. Everyone was quiet, watching the depth gauges getting higher and higher, and the subtle scrape of sand on the bottom of the hull getting more and more common. The first bump came when they hit a hanging chain from an anchor, and the thumping as it banged upon every panel of the submarine on its way past the first dock mooring. Without enough water depth to hide, the conning tower was now only ten feet below the water line.

"Limpet!" Nikolai came running in, roaring. "The hell is going on?"

"I'm winching us in underneath their boat. They are parked in the harbor." Jenkins said, not showing any fear or worry. Such was weakness.

"They also go out to harbour. Why are they parked?"

"I don't know. I'm just getting us under their boat."

Nikolai nodded. "One of coolant lines burst when temperature dropped. Good that it happen here than in open water. We need to fix. Need to be at surface and not moving much."

"Go ahead. We should be able to have a larger range of temperature while we are under these boats." Jenkins was pretty sure that the closer they were to the population center and the edges of the Bay, the less likely they were to be detected. They could risk it. Even though they couldn't see what was going on now, as the periscope had boats in between it and the surface. He couldn't tell if the ships above were moving in an aggressive pattern or just being lazy and moving in calm patterns.

"Alright, Limpet. You make sure we park good, jess?" Nikolai didn't wait, pulling his helmet back on and going into the back of the submarine. Jenkins watched as they slowly pulled underneath the  _Excelsior_. The tail was touching the bottom of the dock, and the nose was barely covered by the next boat down. That boat dipped far into the water, meaning that the conning tower would only be able to clear the water by a few inches without scraping the next boat down.

"Esteban, work with the divers and raise us as far as you think we can risk."

"Okay, boss." He said. "Get ready to talk to the guys waiting for us. They will be pissed that we are two days late. Try to talk them down."

Talk them down, he says. Jenkins secured his helmet and stepped inside the airlock of the conning tower. He could feel the submarine slowly rising, and the moment when the tower broke the water he popped the hatch. A little water came in, but he was on top of the subtly shifting submarine and closing the hatch soon after. One of the divers also was on top of the tower, making sure that it was coming up without hitting anything.

The underside of the  _Excelsior_  was split into two halves, which plunged into the water and acted as the flotation devices. It meant that there was a channel of water that passed in between the two halves and allowed for a larger maximum speed and less resistance to the passing water. It also allowed a submarine to be able to surface in the gap, and the small walkway that ran down the side was a short step away from the Conning tower. Jenkins couldn't see anyone down here, but there were a couple of waverunners hanging from racks near the front of the boat. Nice models, too. There was also a camera that focused on them, and Jenkins walked down in front of it, giving the camera a wave. Then he walked back to the conning tower. He only sat for a couple of minutes when a couple dozen men in armor popped out of every hatch, guns pointed and safeties off.

"Get on the ground!" They yelled. "Now!"

"Nice to see we are so well received." Jenkins said. "If you want the shipment, you should ask us nicely."

"You're two days late!" One of them said, his helmet becoming clear rather than opaque. "We shouldn't even have to pay for it!"

"You're paying full price. We didn't risk our lives trying to get here just to not get paid. We've dodged coast guard and Alliance sensor teams just getting here, and I'm not getting stiffed by some two bit thugs who think they can hold a weapon right." Jenkins pointed at one of the biggest goons, whose heavy rifle was being held the wrong way. "Your men don't even aim right. I could kill half of them and they wouldn't even hit me before I started killing the other half." Jenkins blustered. Thugs didn't respect anything other than strength. Not to mention he was only half lying. These guys only had a small walkway to stand on, along with hatches. They were all heavily armed, but their armor was cheap and sub par quality. Weapons were always cheaper than good armor.

"Don Pablo said you would be here!"

Jenkins chuckled. "Don Pablo said you wanted your drugs." He honestly didn't care for whatever a drug lord said. "We might be late, but we delivered."

"Hey! You aren't the normal guy!"

The hatch of the submarine popped open, and a sweating Nikolai came out of it, without a radiation suit. "Niet, you useless garbage." They all seemed shocked at seeing him. "This is friend of mine. He is specialist." Nikolai came up to his full height. "Pay up, or we can just go drop this off with someone else that wants to pay."

The grumbling that occurred was resolved after Nikolai shared a few bottles of hard liquor and some thick cigars with the man in charge. Jenkins simply waited by the conning tower and watched as they exchanged money and drugs, the crew dragging up bag after bag of the mess. Nikolai shouted orders down to readjust the bilge pumps to account for the weight leaving the submarine. When all was said and done, Nikolai handed Jenkins a credit chit that had maybe half a million credits on it. "This is your cut."

"What? No way, I am not taking any of that blood money." Jenkins said, waving his hands. "Don't you need that to pay for your wife?"

Nikolai waved his hand. "She is expensive, jess, but not  _that_  expensive. You have done vell here. You deserve cut of this before I tell crew you managed to keep them employed."

"Why would they be against that?"

Nikolai laughed. "They want to live good life. Have to keep ship sealed up so they don't leave it. They are good sailors, jess, but not good men. Will leave if given half the chance." He grabbed hold of Jenkin's shoulder. "Now, do not concern yourself. You have learned much about water and submarine. You have balls to talk big about man you don't respect."

"Well, Don Pablo's name carries weight. But the people that I've gone up against before are bigger and nastier. Plus, none of those guys have fought Rachni and zombies in the same day."

"Undead? You make old man concerned for your sanity. Rach knee sound like weak things."

Jenkins laughed as he saw Nikolai pulling out another bottle of vodka from somewhere. "They're huge. They have really big ones that get as big as a two story house. Though the largest one I fought near was a big one the size of a light tank. It could use biotics, too. The bugs have plasma weapons and heavy armor, too, which makes regular guns basically useless against them. You've gotta bring tanks or heavy weapons to even hurt the things."

"Sounds like you need more men." Nikolai motioned to the boat. "Don't take mine. They have taken so long to learn how to run boat right. But if you need cheap army, just hire from Greece or Middle East. Good, loyal, people. Always best for making trouble elsewhere. Hiring from anywhere in the Americas is trouble. They will leave you at first opportunity of more money or comforts."

"What about Russians?" Jenkins asked. "Aren't they loyal?"

"Niet." Nikolai said. "We dedicate much of our people to this Systems Alliance. Those who want to fight can join Alliance Marines. Many of our young people do, as it pays well. Russia is ruined country after mess with Muslims." Nikolai spat. "Christians, Muslims, Only ones I can trust are the Jews."

"Why?" Jenkins asked.

"They don't care about anything other than their little holy land. Anything else is just personal. Christians borrow hate for other people and project it. Try to make religious reason for it. Muslims just hate anything that disagrees with them."

"Hey!" Jenkins said. "Not all religious people hate!" His Mom was a good Catholic, even though she had never been to the ruins of St. Paul's Basilica.

"I was deployed to Arabian Gulf during 2200's. When last of oil reserves were being fought over in Iraq." He muttered, focusing his look on the far part of the ship. "I was like my grandfather. I was in charge of nuclear missiles that Russia had aimed at the last oil fields that were easy to drain. I sat for four months with our submarine buried in a sandbar, with my finger at the trigger of fourteen nuclear missiles. The world could have burned if I felt like it. Command lost satellites from Saudi missile drones deployed in orbit. We had no incoming orders other than to stay put, and to fire when given signal from command."

"But with comms down, they couldn't send it."

"Jess. So I sat, waiting for the world to start burning so I knew that I would fire. Just like my grandfather, I stood in the path of disaster. I could have lit the world on fire. My second in command almost caused a mutiny. I had to shoot him, then have diver remove bodies through torpedo tubes and bury them in the sand. Keep us from stench and rot, as we didn't surface for four months."

Jenkins glanced down at the tiny sub. "I might go a little crazy if I couldn't surface for that long. How did you keep your mind straight?"

Nikolai grinned. "The old cup i have. My grandfather was underneath American fleet, ready to fire missiles. To commemorate, he wrote down the date and time of when he was going to surface and fire, so that later when the world found him, they knew what he had done. But Vasili Arkhipov did not fire. He lived. I still carry that cup, and I wrote down my own date and time. When we finally surfaced, I had stared at that cup longer than I had ever stared at my wife."

"Patience got you through?"

"Niet. Fear. Fear of country. Fear of what would happen if I guessed wrong about signal. Fear of doing wrong." Nikolai scowled. "There is no pride in genocide and murder. It just pisses off more people. You would do well to remember that. Considering that this is your last stop."

"Huh?" Jenkins said. "Aren't I supposed to go with you up to Anchorage?"

"Time for you to go back to Arcturus, limpet. You did vell. I could teach more if I had time, but I think you get picture of how to use stealth vessel. Jess?"

"Yeah, old man. Thanks."

"Niet. Goodbye involves good drink and proper ritual." Vodka, and lots of it, apparently. Jenkins felt a little nauseous as he walked down the plank to the port city of Vancouver. Nikolai's last words to him had been to 'Make big mess, find location where it is easiest to cause biggest trouble. Battles win fame, but wars are won when you cripple enemy. Find their heart. Then blast those damn bugs and cripple them." Jenkins didn't even know what to expect when he got on board a shuttle heading for Arcturus, and a featureless man sat near him, handing him a datapad with descriptions of classes and certifications that he had just become proficient in. He slept in the small chair as comfortably as he could manage. When he got off that shuttle, he was greeted by his classmate, whose name he didn't catch. But her blonde hair and body type belied exactly who it was.

"Welcome to Arcturus, Lt. Jenkins."

"Good morning, Ma'am." The pips on her shoulders may say Lt, but he was pretty sure that this was Constantine. "How was your classes?"

She grinned and giggled, making him shudder. Oh man, his Commander did not just giggle. "A little dangerous information is being shared, but other than that I have no problems. The food's great and the coffee isn't terrible. How was your swim?"

"Uh, it was good." He pointed towards one of the hallways. "Would you like to get some food?"

"Of course!" The blonde bubbled. "Took you long enough to ask, Lt. I thought you were some kind of legend."

"Uh," Jenkins muttered. You did not flirt with your CO. Ever. "I'm a legend?"

As they passed through a darker section of hallway, he could see his CO's Omni-tool flash. "You suck at acting, Jenkins." Then they were back under the florescent lights and full sensors, and his CO was back to her alias. "You survived those Thresher Maws, while fighting those terrorists at the same time. People around here just aren't as adventurous as you."

Jenkins puffed up his chest a bit. "Well, I am an N3. I was just an N1 when they sent me to Helios. We had maybe fifty people on site, with twenty five marines there. A big garrison for a small mining colony, but man did we need it. We had a lot of 'pirate' activity from the other colony in system, which we just labeled Helios-C. They would come over and try to force ships coming in to reroute to their colony rather than ours, since we only had a few orbital defenses."

He regaled the story that he had told a hundred times, about how the Reds kept on pushing and pushing until they finally broke through the orbital defenses, and came down en mass on the small colony. So Jenkins did the most blatantly dumb thing he could do and attracted Thresher Maws to the colony. The Reds had blown open the defensive gates, and so Maws from fifteen feet in length all the way up to a really big one at nearly sixty feet came in. It was some scary time, trying to fight off other Humans while watching the ground for any vibrations.

When they got to the cafeteria, the Commander sat him down and let him ramble on, though many of the other guys here looked at him with a bit of jealousy. Man, if they only knew. They wouldn't survive the day. He laughed at his own joke, and the glares from some of the other servicemen were worsened.

"You missed an op, Lt." The Commander said in her alias' voice. "We lost some good people?"

Jenkins frowned. "Who? The news would be all over any of this."

"I don't know exactly. The Alliance won't be releasing the details for a while." Great, spook-speak for something that went way over his head. This was why he was only an N3. "If you were there, I bet they would have done a lot better. Some sort of bug infestation on a Council world." Rachni. She went on an op against Rachni without him.

"Ma'am?" He interrupted. "Aren't you one of the best CQC officers here?"

She grinned. "Hey, women can have hobbies." Hobbies his ass. That women made world class chefs look like kittens when she handled a knife. "You want to learn?"

"When I'm not getting hammered by instructors, sure. Bugs aren't the only thing out there that we have to fight."

She giggled at him, and this time it sounded like pure evil. "I'll reserve time on your schedule. Bring medi-gel!"

* * *

The Presidium, The Citadel, August 2182

Technology was equally damning and uplifting. Wrex grumbled epithets about Salarians and making haptic screen buttons that weren't sized for hands that were five times the surface area of theirs. Wrex ended up using the tip of a pistol to tap out the comm address he was trying to reach.

 _Contacting a comm address in the Demilitarized Zone requires a Priority Star account. Please enter your ID number._  Tapping at the screen with his pistol, it took minutes to compare his number from his own battered Omni-tool and transferring that to the comm relay board.  _Thank you for using Priority Star Comm Relays. Due to military concerns, your call will go through secondary relay connections. Expected connection time is seventeen standard minutes._

Damn Turians. The Broker gave him the best comm account possible and they still manage to inconvenience him. He had plenty of time before his signal connected, and he was greeted with the face of a Turian official, his facial markings the color of Ryncol. " _Yes, Krogan, how can we assist you?_ "

"I need to connect to the Urdnot Clan. I have clan business to attend to. No other calls or connections to make." Wrex grumbled, rankled that he had to explain himself to this bumbling official.

" _You are connected. Have a pleasant day._ " Wrex blinked. Usually at this point they bothered him with incessant amounts of security questions and hassling him. This was the first time that they had just let him through.  _That_  Turian had earned himself some form of redemption, in Wrex's eyes.

The haptic screen shifted, becoming the view he had long associated with the camp of Clan Urdnot. Rubble was everywhere, and dust clouds filled the area, the camp in the ravages of a dust storm. Everything was tied down, and few Krogan moved in the confines of the camp. One wearing a helmet stood before the comm relay, seemingly in shock that they received a call. "Call the Shaman. I have questions." Wrex stated. The Krogan gave him a short nod, before moving off and leaving Wrex staring at the view of his ruined home. The dust swirled in ways that brought back some pleasant memories of being raised among these rocks.

The Shaman for clan Urdnot was old. Old enough that he would have been in the generations directly proceeding from the Genophage and Rebellions. " _Wrex. You have not visited Tuchanka for almost a decade. You do your Clan disservice._ "

"I have already given Urdnot a daughter. The female camp can wait for me another decade." Wrex returned, making the older Krogan smirk. He wasn't wearing a helmet, the swirls of dirt playing across his old skin and crest.

" _Yet you call upon me for questions. It is too expensive to call upon us if they were not important._ "

"You are the lore master of our Clan. I need to know about the Rachni."

The Shaman nodded. " _A common topic of discussion among the younglings of the Clan. Do you wish to speak of our contributions in the old battles?_ "

"No." Wrex muttered. "What did the Rachni do to our dead?"

The Shaman blinked. " _Consumed them like any other biological material. Our corpses and their own were consumed to make more of their blighted kind._ "

Wrex grimaced. The Human had spoken of the Rachni animating the corpses of the fallen. He sent a file to the old Krogan, who didn't even own an Omni-tool. "They have changed. Now the corpses of the dead become more soldiers for their fighting. The Humans have been fighting against the Rachni and their own dead, risen to fight back against them. It was just made known unto me that the Humans fought a Krogan corpse animated in this way."

" _Heresy!_ " The Shaman shouted. " _Corpses are sacred! To be left where they have fallen as a mark of their conquest!_ "

"The Rachni never attempted this in the past?"

" _Never._ " The Shaman insisted. " _Such a heresy would have been recorded by every Shaman in every clan. Though I fear that we will not earn our old glory back if we fight the Rachni again._ "

Wrex shook his head. "No. The Rachni are different now. So too are the Krogan." He tapped the screen, widening the view. "If we fight, it will be done differently. Thank you for your information, Shaman."

" _You should return, Wrex. You could unite us again._ "

"No." He muttered. "Let Wreav try. My time leading the Krogan has passed."

The Shaman laughed. " _We remember longer than the stones, young Wrex. You killed Jarrod. You killed Ream. You are the last._ "

"That is not to be spoken of!" Wrex barked.

" _Every Shaman knows of your name. Whether you believe it or not, your blood shall sing again. Glory shall be ours again!_ "

"My name will bring no one glory." Wrex muttered, ending the call. The Krogan were dead. He had made sure of that. Ream would have torn them apart even worse than what his father had done. He had to end him. With a sigh, he brought up his wrist. His credit account had taken a large hit over the last two days. He had blown two million credits away on weapons, gear, and explosives. That was a quarter of his savings. The rest of his savings were dedicated to the female camp for Urdnot, so that they could always get the supplies that they needed. What was left he spent on making sure that income continued to come in. Most of it came from the Black Markets. The last cost had been this damned comm call, which ran some fifteen thousand credits.

With a bit of a grimace, he brought the Omni-tool on his wrist up to his lips. It was easier to just let the vocal translators type out what he said than to actually type it himself. Like most Krogan, he had never needed to know how to read anything other than Asari basic and basic numbers. Had to be able to count out your credits, after all. Speech to text software covered the rest of his needs.

"Human. I'm waiting for you. Just make sure that you can afford me." He spoke clearly and softly, the text appearing on the screen. He compared the Asari basic to what he wanted his message to sound like, and found it effective. He liked short messages. No one got confused when he used those. No one ever asked for clarification.

Now he just had to let Fisk know that the Broker was approving his services as a level 2 agent. As he walked, he debated how much effort it would take to come back and deal with him if the Human got too greedy. His little club wouldn't be able to handle what Wrex was throwing at him. He grinned, realizing that he could just intimidate the Human into paying a nice little 'processing' fee for his services in delivering the message. Enough to at least get that cost back from that comm call. Damn Turians. Except for that one guy who didn't waste his time on the comms, the whole lot of them were damned.

* * *

Undisclosed location, Elysium, August 2182

Jenkins stood beside her, looking pale and scruffy. He had a new scar over his eye from their latest stint at Arcturus, the last three weeks having been very busy. For some reason Jenkins never complained or had any issues with the schedule. They all shared a rack with eight other officers, but they had enough room for their feet to at least hang off the edge of the bed without hitting anyone. Arcturus had larger racks than a space ship, but they were barely any larger.

She was just glad to have dropped the blonde alias. She did not enjoy her time as Amanda Tarento. Prone to giggling fits, flirtatious, and someone that people would assume would never proceed far beyond the minimum rank. Especially as her alias was a Communications Technician. Someone that command could advance and have manning some observation post somewhere. A nobody that could be assigned alone to some nowhere location. In reality it was just so that she would become familiar with the Navy's regulations and rules. Her comm training classes were to introduce the newest encryptions and software firewalls that would be deployed to the Navy in the next six months. Her off time was spent training Jenkins on close quarters combat.

He was lucky. But she was trained by Hannah first and then the insane teachers at the N school. If it wasn't for her biotics, they would never have awarded her the N7 mark. But then the Alliance chose to keep that status secret. It might come out later when they got closer to making a choice for Humanity to receive a Spectre. But at this rate she was not the likely choice. Not if they wanted a positive example for everyone to look to. Hell, Jenkins was turning into a good little boy scout for everyone to look to. His new uniform looked even more official. She just wore the jacket, letting her catsuit cover the rest. Everyone knew she was an Infiltrator.

"You ready?" She asked him.

"Yeah." Jenkins muttered. "I'm sorry I didn't get the full promotion."

"You'll score higher next time." She said. "I won't tell the crew that you cried about it."

"I was only crying because you cheap shotted me in the balls!" Jenkins said, flustered. "You don't mention that and I won't mention how much of a blonde you were."

"Deal." She offered. "Until we finish this rotation, I'll be in command. But the moment we come back, you are taking that damn test again, and this time you won't fail it."

"Aye, Ma'am." He grinned. "I think they're ready for us." She nodded, giving him a wink. They both straightened their coats and stepped into the airlock to the hangar. It wasn't marked on any of the maps here, and its doors opened into one of the larger dry dock hangars. It was a hidden dock inside one of the Alliance's processing plants. But more importantly, it was the location where the  _Normandy_  had all of its spare parts. Elysium had two asteroid belts in its system, and it was easy for ships to approach undetected even if they engines were leaky pieces of crap.

Even the Reds could slip ships through the orbital detection systems here. She knew that because she had hunted them here on Elysium before. When they walked through the unmarked airlock that was labeled 'Storage Sector 41-B', they ignored the warning that the room lacked atmosphere beyond this point. They had to scan their ID cards against an old terminal that seemed to take forever to process their request. When the doors finally opened, it was to a dirty hangar, with the thick smell of solvents everywhere. Jenkins immediately took a whiff and rankled his nose.

"Officer on deck!" Pressley's gravely voice announced. Julia's eyes were drawn to the ship, where the hangar bay doors were open. The entire crew of the  _Normandy_  was standing there, every shoe shined and every pair of pants pressed. Even the Quarians, with their hand me down encounter suits, looked crisp. When the Humans came to attention, there was a satisfying  _slap_  as all of their boots slammed into place. The Quarians didn't have as satisfying of a sound, as their toes were much longer. The sound was more drawn out, and their suits could bend at the knuckles and the heels of their toes and feet. They could climb like no other race while wearing their armor.

"At Ease!" She barked. "Status Report from department heads!"

"Sensors and comms calibrated, and navigation charts updated with the newest data." Pressley reported. "All crew present and accounted for, Ma'am."

"Engineering has uncovered a few concerns during our refit, however the ship is fully combat capable and armor sections have been brought back to spec. Stealth systems fully operational."

Julia nodded, seeing the young Quarian salute her in response. "Combat teams are gutted, Ma'am." Ashley Williams announced. "A couple of the Quarian engineers have volunteered to take the certification courses, but they are a long way from qualifying. We're down to Alenko, Ta'u, myself, and Jenkins as effectives." The woman was no nonsense this time, but her frustration was evident. "Command hasn't seen fit to replace our numbers."

"This ship does not yet exist on any official reports, Lt. Commander." Julia said. "Command has been kind to us so far in providing a location for us to deploy from. When the ship is no longer a black project we will be able to be reinforced. Until then, we have a few leads to follow up on." She grinned. "Over the last two months, you have been refitting the  _Normandy_  for combat. During that time the Alliance managed to reclaim Eden Prime, after hitting the last Rachni Nest from orbit. The Dreadnaught  _Kilimanjaro_  fired the shot that broke down the Nest."

Some of the crew clapped at that. Others were quiet. "Eden Prime has been recovered, and civilians are coming back. Rachni have been sighted out in the Attican Traverse, hitting both Batarian and Human worlds. A joint fleet is being sent to cleanse the infestations from our planets. Our mission is a bit more important than that." The crew leaned forward slightly at this. "The  _Normandy_  is going to be finding the weapons producer that is supplying the Rachni with plasma weapons and that armor that they use. On Eden Prime, it was documented that the Rachni were capable of repairing the armor in the field, but failed to produce it even after they took over the industrial sector. Eden Prime's foundries are used to make many of the equipment and vehicles that the Alliance needs, and would have been easy to change over to make their armor. Yet they did not attempt this."

"Alliance Command assumes that the armor and weapons are being supplied from a separate source. We are being deployed into the Terminus Systems to find that source."

Kaidan was looking at the ground, not at her. Ta'u was right next to him, his face dark and unreadable. The rest of the crew seemed to look happy to have something to do. When she had finished speaking, Jenkins stepped forward. He gave the crew a grin. "We're going to fight these bugs the Human way. We aren't going to win this war with big Dreadnaughts firing off their guns. We aren't going to win it with boots on the ground, either. We've gotta find their supply lines, find their factories, and find whatever it is that gives them the ability to make war, and destroy it. In the history of Human warfare, the winner is only defined when the other side has lost the ability to keep fighting. So that is what the  _Normandy_  is going to do. We're going to cripple these damn bugs, and we aren't going to let up until they are all dead."

Jenkins definitely had the charisma down. The crew were a bit more excited about hearing from him. But that was natural, considering the fact that they could never fully trust her. She would always be a source of danger. Someone they couldn't share their secrets with. "Lt. Zorah, I'll want to meet with you within the day." She looked over at Pressley. "Get us out of here and prep a shuttle."

"Ma'am?" Pressley said. "You never brought back the other shuttle. Alliance Command never received a report regarding its status. We only have one shuttle at the moment, until you can send in to command exactly what happened to the other one."

Julia muttered something undignified. "Joker, set the  _Normandy_  to go to the Maskim Xul system. You will retrieve our shuttle. Lt. Alenko will know where that is. Williams, I'll need you to come with me. Jenkins, you have the ship until I retrieve our mentors." He gave her a big grin. "Pressley, I will also need you on this."

"Excuse me, Ma'am?" He grunted. "I'm a Navigator. Not a ground pounder." He gave a long look at Jenkins, who would be the only officer left in command if Pressley left the frigate. Which was mostly the point of having him leave. The crew had to learn how to trust him, and Pressley might hold him back.

"You're also a conniving old bigot who knows how to hunt down Turians." She replied. "I'm trying to find Desolous, and I'll need your help to find out where he went." She gave him a look. "He's not like other Turians, and you are one of the few people we have left that fought in the First Contact War."

"I'm a lifer, Ma'am." Pressley said. "...If that is where you need me, I'll come. You've got the granddaughter of General Williams and the man who reported the first Turian frigate sighted. I'm sure that between the three of us we can find your Turian." He looked back towards the  _Normandy_. "Commander Jenkins. Please consult your XO, Lt. Zorah, in any matter that you will need."

"Aye, aye." Jenkins said. "I did not just spend the last seven weeks getting yelled at for nothing." He turned to the ship. "We'll be waiting near Eden Prime by the time you find Desolous." The crew were looking at him dubiously. Pressley was the one that ran the ship, while Jenkins was a ground pounder. Julia was a spook. They needed to look past that preconception. Not to mention it would be great experience for Tali to be in charge of the bridge crew. See if a Quarian could command a Human vessel.

Julia still had a grin on her face when Pressley and Williams met her outside the airlock. Pressley was in his uniform, his nicely pressed jacket a perfect square around his shoulders. Williams was wearing her armor. "Why are you dressed for combat, Williams?"

"Alenko says that everything you touch explodes." Williams said, shrugging her shoulders. "So I am ready for that, Ma'am."

Julia chuckled. "Well, this is a simple retrieval mission, Williams. Not a combat mission. But just in case, Lt. Pressley, are you armed and armored?"

"Low grade kinetic barrier and a flak vest, Ma'am. I brought a pistol from the ship's armory as well. I … was concerned as well." Julia gave both of them a good natured rise of the eyebrow.

"You both think I'm trouble?"

Williams snickered. Pressley grunted, but raised his own eyebrow in return. "Ma'am, everyone knows that Jenkins has come out of every engagement he has ever been in without a scratch. Halmabad could make a MAKO tank look like a ballerina. Every time we have gone after a target under your direction, we've taken hits. People have died. The ship entered a battle that a frigate had no chance of winning. We spent the last eight weeks bringing her back to specs because we entered into a battle that we never should have been involved in."

"So, you're the one who wrote such a detailed report to Hackett. I should thank you for that, Pressley." Julia said. Pressley blinked at that.

"Excuse me, Ma'am?" He was surprised.

"You gave me the excuse I needed to have Jenkins get promoted to Lt. Commander, and possibly replace Anderson as the commanding officer. I know that Jenkins wasn't the one to file that damning report, and I thought it might be you, Tali, or Kalin'Ren."

"Lt. Zorah? That woman couldn't write a bad report if she tried. Blunt and savage, but nothing quite like what I wrote." Pressley admitted. "Kalin'ren may have written something like that if he felt like it, but that rat bastard hasn't had a nice thing to say to anyone this entire cruise. Every single report I've gotten from him has been a bunch of racist tripe about how much he despises those he has to work with." Pressley stood up to his full height. "Why are you thanking me, Ma'am?"

"Because I never wanted to be the commanding officer. I'm an Infiltrator. I can do my job easier when I don't have to command anything. The entire point of this time in dock was to get Jenkins the expertise he needed for command. He didn't pass the cert test, only by a few points. Strangely he lost points in the regulations portion."

Pressley was not pleased. "You are entrusting an experimental vessel to an untried young man with no experience." He said. "I do hope that command does something when I send my next report."

"At least wait until we reestablish connection with the ship. Give the man a chance." Pressley blinked. "Jenkins just spent the last eight weeks getting run through operations protocol and getting trained by the Russian Federal Navy."

"Weren't they disbanded except for a few coastal guard units?"

"You would be old enough to remember that, huh." Julia said. "Some of their submarine units are not actually resting in museums or scrap yards. Jenkins was trained in one of their old nuclear submarines."

"Like that will help him do anything with a space craft." Pressley scoffed. "The only reason that boat is running at all is because of Lt. Zorah and myself. Letting Jenkins try to command that vessel is going to be a mistake, mark my words."

"We will just have to compare reports when Hackett calls, then." Julia pointed to an Alliance shuttle that was waiting in the nearby public hangar. "That's ours. Let's board. I've been trying to find out anything regarding our missing Turian friend. He's been sighted back at the Citadel, within the last week. Not only that, but Spectre Vakarian got his replacement lung and ribs in. He'll be finished with physical therapy within the day, and I think we should pay him a visit."

"Lt. Halmabad reportedly tried to visit him once he was on his feet. But the Turian hospital refused him entrance. Apparently they have a slight bias against visitors of any kind to their Spectres." Pressley reported, businesslike with her even though it was obvious that he had no respect for her decisions. "Or against Humans contacting injured Turians."

"Wonderful. He won't refuse me." Julia was somewhat certain. "It's finding and catching up to Desolous that I am more worried about. I want to hear what you have to think about tracking him down the retired general."

"What's he looking for? Why did he disappear?" Williams asked as they boarded the shuttle that would take them from Elysium to the Citadel. They were the only ones on the shuttle, what Pressley called a magnificent waste of space. They could have seated another eight men in it, and he didn't seem to like the idea of dedicating an Alliance shuttle just to them.

"That raid on the Eclipse? Where we bagged that Asari that had something to do with the Rachni? The Asari killed her. Right when we were supposed to get answers to an interrogation, she was killed. Or at least she died under mysterious enough circumstances that Desolous said he was going to investigate the source of the problem."

"Can you give us clearance to the information temporarily?" Williams asked. "We need to see everything you've got on this." Pressley was looking at her with a bit more concern.

"Of course." Considering it was her own collected information instead of reports belonging to the Alliance, she could give them all of the info that she had. Pressley stopped making off handed comments about her ability to keep to regulations and instead delved into the data they had on the Asari and Rachni connection. She gave them the six hours of the shuttle flight to consider options, while she made arrangements for Halmabad to meet them at the shuttle, and tried to send a message to Garrus. No reply from him came, even as they landed. Desolous never replied to her messages in the past, and the one today to make an attempt to contact him did not work either. She hadn't received any notification that it had even completed its function or arrived.

Pressley was silent about the information, only asking for clarification regarding Rachni and how many could fit inside of a shuttle. Once he had a basic idea of that, he started computing how many Rachni could be shuttled around unnoticed or how many could be in each 'wave'. Ashley was looking at the information recovered about their weapons and armor, though she seemed familiar with it already. Julia slept for most of the flight to the Citadel, glad to at least catch up on that. Arcturus had been a busy time. She had investigated two other officers along with Jenkins, one of which had some family members that appeared to have dealings with the Reds.

* * *

When they arrived in the Widow system, Pressley was still writing up something on his Omni-tool, and she had four alerts of him using communications protocols while she was sleeping. Ashley was unconscious, her military bun released and her hair splayed all over the seat next to her. She may have even been drooling, but Julia had no reports of comm activity from her.

"Already contacted command?" She scoffed at Pressley.

"Hardly, Ma'am. Kalin'ren hasn't told me the ship is coming apart yet, so I shouldn't worry. Those comm alerts you are seeing are most likely due to my contacting the University of Serrice, on Thessia. I've had three calls with them, one of which regarded Desolous Arterius, and the other two regarding the Rachni and their eating habits and sleeping habits. My fourth call was to my family, letting them know how I am doing." He reported without much disdain. "I have prepared a few possible theories and expected growth patterns based on your information."

Julia blinked, seeing the file waiting for transfer. She had to keep her eyes from widening when she saw growth pattern charts, expected time between 'feedings', what the Rachni would have to eat, and how much would need to be prepared to feed the amount of Rachni that would fit on a standard freighter, by tonnage and square foot. The report was exhaustive, and Pressley had mapped this in under eight hours. "Wow." She admitted. "You've got force estimation in here, too?"

He nodded. "Command knows that we have had a lot of contact with the enemy. On Eden Prime they preferred using orbital bombardment before sending in any kind of troop concentrations, making measuring force strength and average deployment or garrison forces hard to quantify. Using these freighters and shuttles as control groups to mark Rachni 'squads' and 'brigades' will help someone be able to know what to expect from them. Especially if we come upon them on worlds where the atmosphere doesn't allow for troops to deploy without a full rebreather pack. Any situation will be helpful if we have a better quantification of the enemy, Ma'am."

"Send it to command once you feel it is detailed enough." She said. "Let us know what would help you get better intel." Her teams on the ground could pick up a few extra bits from the dead Rachni for Pressley to play with.

"My entire career has been around navigation and data analysis, Ma'am." Pressley said. "You have a lot of detail here, but many of the facts on the Rachni do not match the recorded data sets established by the Salarians last time they were fighting them. That is insignificant behind the data that the Alliance and the Hierarchy truly need to be able to win this. Ma'am, we need information on Rachni Queens."

"The only people that have seen them are Krogan, and all of them are dead." Julia hoped they didn't run into any of those without proper support. "What kind of data do you need?"

Pressley's face didn't change. "If we could quantify how much food and water it takes to create a Rachni warrior, or how long the gestation period is for their spawn, then we could quantify exactly how many Queens are on a planet, and how fast we need to kill them in order to break through their defensive lines. Neither the Hierarchy or the Alliance has any idea how much force is necessary, and the Turians don't fight well in small tunnels. Or underground, for that matter. It's why the Reds bothered them on Shanxi so much. They lived in tunnels, and the Turians would have to crawl to follow them." Pressley nodded at another page of the report. "Since I had time, I decided to collate all of this, but there are holes. Important data points that are needed before I can send this to command. But right now the Rachni use all of our established trade routes, due to their methods of transportation. They don't have a Naval force, and they probably don't have the capacity to make ships that can threaten ours. It gives us a direct advantage if we can find and cut their supply lines."

" _Now entering docking bay P-230_." The ship's VI announced. Julia checked over her supplies and gear, tapping on Ashley's shoulder as she tightened her boots. The marine quickly adjusted, pulling her hair back into its bun and checking her armor over. She was quick about it, and her bleary eyes seemed unfocused as she came to her feet.

"What about Desolous? Why did you call the university?"

"That's where he went, Ma'am." Pressley said. "Kalin'ren left some spyware on his Omni-tool, from when he gave him comm privileges on the  _Normandy_. We got a few notices from the spyware that he made a couple comm calls from there. I wasn't able to find much out, though. They were not keen on talking to me regarding anything other than the Rachni."

"Kalin'ren can track us?"

"I thought you were aware, Ma'am." He actually looked surprised. "He only mentioned this to me when he joked about how many of our people were in hospitals. He put encryption on our comms, so that the  _Normandy_  would stay off the grid."

"He never mentioned this to me." Julia said. That was troubling. He would know that they had people in the Maskim Xul system at one point. Though while she was with Mum her Omni-tool was disabled. They wouldn't be able to track her down through Julia. She had called a few people recently, notably Wrex, Hackett, and Miri. She had called Miranda directly, too. She was going to have to lock this down, if Kalin'ren could see all of this. He was an officer on loan to the Alliance, after all. He was loyal to the Quarians, though his history with that seemed dubious. "We need to find both of our Turians and pick up our guide."

"Guide, Ma'am?"

"There is a Krogan that is waiting for us on the Citadel. He has experience with the Terminus Systems, and will be our key to accessing certain groups and information on the Rachni's supply lines. He will be helping us fill in the rest of your report, Pressley."

He grunted. "While the use of a Krogan is against every regulation that exists in the Navy, the usefulness of our alien allies in the past has proven to be worthwhile. I would trust that whatever Krogan came on board can be pacified by two Spectres and Humanity's strongest biotics." Racist old bastard, but at least one who could play off the racism of other groups. A pragmatist at heart.

"Williams, you think you are alright with this?"

"I haven't fought a Krogan yet, Ma'am. Just some Turians. Some Batarians a couple of times." She shrugged. "Reds, too, during the Helios mess. I've got no problem with bringing along some heavy firepower."

Julia nodded. "He's not just some brute. Don't assume that our guide is going to be simple dumb muscle. He's old enough to be highly experienced. At least six hundred from what I was able to find on him."

"Aliens get all the luck." Ashley muttered. "We have pretty short lives and they get near-immortality."

"I wouldn't say that, Williams. Volus live only to about one hundred, due to their controlled environments. Turians start falling apart around one hundred and ten, like us, and they've been in space for hundreds of years. Batarians even shorter than that. Hanar last a while, but they have to live in water to last longer than a half century." Julia stated. "Only Krogan and Asari have the longevity. Salarians only live forty years, and I am sure they envy us for living three times their lifetime."

"But they don't complain about it." Pressley said. "For them, a long life is considered unworthy. They like living fast lives. No real religious connotations of a dark afterlife in their culture, either."

Julia nodded. "No fear of dying and being considered a lost cause." The Salarian military always had the most ingenious weapons and abilities. They don't care much about casualties, though. Short lived race, with the ability to replenish their numbers within a dozen years if they needed to. Their Navy doesn't actually report how many training accidents happen, but Intel suggests that up to ten percent of their standing military forces will be injured or killed while on the job." The shuttle came to a halt on a metal pad, making the area around them jolt. "Alright, let's get to it. We meet up with Halmabad, and then try to find Desolous."

Pressley nodded, straightening his coat for the last time and standing up. Williams clipped her helmet to her back, and smirked as she stood next to him. Julia closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before cloaking. She stood behind Pressley and Williams, tapping both on the back of the arm to let them know where she was. Pressley flinched, but Williams didn't freak out. She just tapped the open command for the shuttle door and stepped out, finding the shuttle to have a small crowd nearby. There was Halmabad, stuck next to some reporter. Julia could see other reporters, surrounding Halmabad and bothering him with questions, the dark skinned man brushing them off without much worry.

"We don't want press coverage. Williams, retrieve him. Pressley, we should go up to the Presidium and get some space." Pressley left the area, walking at a fast pace for his age, and found an elevator that would take them from the docks. He held the door open long enough for her to slip in, but glared down anyone else from coming in.

"I hope you don't mind, Ma'am, but I don't believe that staying invisible will have the desired results. Finding Desolous becomes more difficult if I have no idea where my own commander is. Especially if I am worried about how I am supposed to be backing you up."

"That's why we are heading for the Presidium. I'll need a quick dye job and some Alliance blues and my alias can be activated. You won't have to worry about seeing me."

Pressley grunted, and by the time they had gotten to the barracks and the Operations center for the Alliance, he had moved on to sending mail through his Omni-tool. She quickly dyed her hair to blonde, cursing her normally dark eyebrows and trying not to overdo things. Then it was getting a set of dress blues over her catsuit and making her weapons not stand out too much. When she was done, everyone was waiting outside for her.

They didn't recognize her when she did come outside, Pressley letting his eyes slip right past her. Williams was laughing at something Halmabad was saying, and neither were paying attention. There were more than a few Alliance servicemen here, and as part of the regulations everyone went in dress blues on the Presidium, unless you were off duty. On duty soldiers stood in their armor, which meant that she was invisible in plain sight.

"Pressley." She said with her alias' trademark giggle. "You ready?"

The old man had the decency to look horrified. "Ma'am." He saluted, getting the attention of Halmabad and Williams. "I may have preferred your usual method to this travesty."

"Who's the airhe-" Williams started. "Oh."

"Ma'am." Halmabad saluted without much trouble.

"Why were you being chased around by the media, Lt?" She asked him. While doing so she started walking towards the lifts that would take them away from the Presidium and down into the arms of the station. They all followed, as she expected.

"I've been on the Citadel for a while, Ma'am. I've had a couple of interviews before this point. First with the Spectre candidate business and then later when a few Senators came by to visit me. Since then the media has been watching me. Haven't had a moment's peace."

"I hope you didn't mention any classified information, Lt." Julia told him, seeing him look slightly less sure of himself. "I would hate to let Alliance Command know that you leaked any of that."

"I promise you, I have no classified information to send. I just drove the MAKO and had the ceiling collapse on me." He said. "The corpses and the Rachni have been talked about by some of the news stations, but the zombie bastards are mostly rumor. Their corpses don't stay around to be studied."

"They've got some of the MAKO's camera footage, right?"

"It's like watching an old 1900's film." Halmabad said. "Whatever those things give off, it ruins equipment like nothing I've ever seen. Cameras were reporting that their basic firmware had been corrupted. Techheads didn't have a clue as to what was causing that."

"We'll have to get them some more to go on, then." Pressley said. "Considering our history it won't be long." He tapped his Omni-tool. "I believe that I have some idea of where Desolous might be."

"Lead the way, then, Pressley." Julia told him. "Let us know your theory while we go."

The man twitched at her statement, as her alias' accent and assumed clumsiness did not sit well with him. "When we first encountered your mentors, Jenkins mentioned that he heard Desolous talking about meeting with the Asari Consort. I believe that he might be there, or somewhere nearby. It's one of the few places that the Intelligence reports on him going a couple times a year."

"What is this Consort?" Williams asked. "I mean, I know that Desolous is the biggest Asari horndog that we know of, but she must be something special if she has a title."

Pressley didn't offer an answer, and Halmabad just shrugged. "My family avoids Asari for the most part. I mean, anything we do would look bad on the groups of Arabs that actually work with the Alliance. All I've heard is that visiting her costs half of my O4 Salary."

Julia knew some things about the Consort. Systems Alliance officers beyond Lieutenant were not supposed to visit her, as Asari had not been proven to be safe to confide in as of yet. They were allies, yes, but they were superior allies. The government preferred that their secrets be kept. "The Consort is an Asari Shamaness." Julia said quietly, in her own voice. "She knows more about the different factions of Asari than most. More importantly, she isn't associated with the Temple of Athame. Asari as well other races feel safe approaching her for advice or information. She is also the most expensive psychologist on the Citadel."

"What would Desolous want with a shrink?" Williams asked.

"She's also known to sleep with many of her clients." Julia added. All of the Humans around her nodded sagely. Pressley just kept them moving further down the Presidium. They came to a section that was decked out with flags of every City-State on Thessia. The Asari Embassy and Government center here on the Citadel, directly across from their Salarian counterparts. Just past the Asari Embassy, there were Asari-catered stores and shops. All overpriced and outrageous. In the middle of this mess was the Consort's place of business. A large hotel-like structure filled with Asari, Turians, and the occasional Batarian and Human.

They found Desolous, sitting at a table with two giggling Asari. The old Turian seemed to be regaling them with some story or another. He got quiet as they approached, and his eyes settled on Pressley. "Excuse me, ladies, but I think my next appointment is here. I will see you soon, though." He simply motioned to the seats around himself. There were not enough for all of them, so Pressley remained standing, Halmabad awkwardly sitting next to her. "I haven't seen you for a good while, Constantine."

"I've been out working, as you might expect. You disappeared even better than I did, though." She remarked, resolving to find some new alias just for Desolous to get confused by. "We've been looking into that thing you complained about, before you left." Their suspect had been killed. Desolous knew who she was talking about. But here, there were Asari and hostesses everywhere. She couldn't be blunt.

"I've been spending all of my time finding out about that. Though my investigation is not quite complete yet. I still have one person left to ask some questions of. For that, I'll need a ride."

"I've got a Krogan to pick up and then we can leave. The Alliance has us chasing supply lines with rumor and hearsay to go on."

Desolous chuckled. "You're lucky, you know. I've just spent the last six days between different Asari and bottles. I'm feeling as light as a cloud." He was actually smiling, instead of being crotchety. It was decidedly odd. "A good flight into the dark of space sounds perfect right now. Lots of down time for my old bones to recover from that amazing Thessian doctor."

"Alright, Spectre. We'll collect Vakarian and be off."

Desolous smirked. "I'll call him! That sounds perfect." He brought up his Omni-tool, and waved over a couple of the hostesses. "Oh, this'll make him suitably angry. Or envious. Hopefully both. Constantine, you and your crewmate can be in this, too. I want the young Tarn to get his mind out of the gutter." The old man chuckled as he positioned two Asari, Williams, and herself in the background, all smiling at the screen. Desolous was almost laughing to himself as he dialed the comm address.

" _This better be important, old man._ " His voice emanated first, and then the vid screen came on. Garrus looked up at the view of four feminine faces and Desolous in the middle, and quickly turned his eyes away. " _I swear, if you are calling me from the middle of an orgy again,"_

"Bah!" Desolous laughed. "You would turn down an invitation! You've got no imagination, no romantic inclination!"

" _No thanks to you as a mentor._ " Garrus actually looked at the screen. " _Williams? When did the_ Normandy _get Asari crew members?_ "

Julia found that hilarious. "Well, young Tarn, I've struck a deal with the Alliance. Something nicer to look at, and I've saved the prettiest Turian female for you. Top tier of citizenship, even. Meet us at the docking bay and I'll have you sit next to her the entire flight." Desolous told him. "Be there soon."

He ended the comm call, cackling and letting his mandibles open fully in glee. "We don't have a Turian female in the crew, Desolous."

"Oh, I know. You said you were hiring a Krogan?" Desolous grinned. "I think Young Vakarian needs some time getting to know whatever recruit you decided to bring. Though to be fair, I would love nothing more than to have a little more difference in species onboard your ship. Asari, specifically." He exchanged some words with the smirking attendants he had posed in the picture with him. "Just a suggestion, mind you. But as your mentor it would bring me great joy and fulfillment in life. Spirits, I might even do my job." He cackled again. "Ha! I have a job again!"

"Commander, we should probably leave before the old man makes even more of a scene." Pressley whispered, to which Julia nodded. The old Turian took a little bit of nudging and prodding, but eventually he was standing and on his way to the docking bay. Their Krogan was going to meet them there. "Or before any Asari join us."

Desolous made a squawking noise at that. But they did manage to get him back to the docking bay, where a few things waited for them. The first was the elephant in the room, a seven and a half foot tall reptilian in red armor, carrying two duffel bags of gear along with an anti-vehicular cannon. Though that might be a shotgun. Julia was so caught up in seeing what the hell she had hired that when the spotlight turned on she got spooked, and reflexively used a Throw.

The camera drone that had been the source of the spotlight flew fifty feet and impacted a wall, making a satisfying crunch. "Commander Constantine." She didn't recognize that voice, looking over towards where Halmabad was standing. "Khalisa al-Jilani, with Westerlund News. I wanted to ask you a few questions." The dark skinned woman was nearly hiding behind Halmabad's figure, and the man himself had flinched at her biotic Throw.

Julia gave the news reported the coldest glare she could. "Any question you ask that is considered unwarranted or inciting will lead to my own interrogation, if it appears that you are a hindrance to our mission. As part of the Office of Intelligence, if I feel that you know too much about anything, I can imprison you indefinitely. Am I clear?"

Al-Jilani looked a bit uncomfortable. "There are laws that protect freedom of speech, Commander."

"Those same laws can be overruled in a time of war. Ask your questions, Jilani. If you have a mysterious disappearance in the next day or weeks, then you know how the Alliance feels." Julia let her Omni-tool scan Jilani's, which had some of the best encryption on the market. But it was a Human model. She initiated a backdoor phishing attempt with the factory reset controls, knowing it would take a few minutes.

"Commander, I've been trying to get an interview with you for months now. I've been able to interview many of the Alliance involved in the Rachni War effort so far, but none of the Spectre candidates who have been on the front line. Can you share some of your experiences with us?"

Julia blinked. While the content of the question was direct, it wasn't specifically breaking operational security to talk about the Rachni. More importantly, she could use this. "My team was one of the first on Eden Prime, and we were there when the Rachni struck the planet. We were able to secure some of the Rachni weapons and armor for the Alliance to study and prepare a counter against. I can't tell you anything about the location where this happened, but I believe that we have enough proof." She motioned to Pressley, who had some picture files that their team had taken of the Rachni weapons recovered. Nothing on their specs or such, but enough detail to satisfy basic curiosity.

"Many of our soldiers on Eden Prime talk about fighting unending waves of these Rachni. Do you agree with the existing strategy of the Alliance to use warships to flush out Rachni nests?"

Julia let her glare come back. "I agree fully. Rachni nests are massive structures, meant to house millions of them. They can collapse the ceilings and walls of their tunnels, to deter invaders. Alliance losses have deterred us from taking the fight inside of their Hives. Rachni have biotics of their own, called Brood Warriors. Our team had to fight one of them as well, and the creature was nearly the size of our tank. They are stronger than any biotic that I have run into, so far."

"So you agree with the Alliance destroying thousands of acres of good farmland?"

Pointed questions. She might just be brought in for questioning after all. But at this point this is only an agenda. "I agree with killing Rachni. If we simply attacked them using conventional methods, they have been entrenched on Eden Prime for decades. During the Rachni Wars the Council laid siege to their homeworld for nearly thirty years. Our military cannot commit to that kind of deployment."

"Would you say that the Systems Alliance Navy is incapable of fighting that kind of war?"

"No. But Eden Prime represents our most direct trade route with the Citadel. Unless it is secure, our economy would be drawn out and suffer delays in transportation time and other constraints. The Navy is capable of fighting the threat, but cannot risk our worlds. Every ship has to be checked these days, and the ships of the Navy are busy making sure that our worlds are safe and secure. But with the increased security measures they cannot take the field as much as our admirals may prefer."

She nodded. The woman was recording their conversation using her Omni-tool. That would be a problem. "So then, what is your opinion of the Council so far?"

"They are political leaders, Miss Jilani. I doubt I know them well enough to form an opinion as of yet. I trust them to use their centuries of experience and data archives to guide all of us through this crisis." Desolous snorted at that.

"Alright, Commander, our public wants to know all about you! What can you tell us about yourself. So far the Systems Alliance has had few things to say regarding you."

Julia would have to say something. "Most of what I have done is classified. I can tell you that I am an N7 rated special forces agent, and I grew up on Earth. I went vacationing with my father, and spent some of my childhood on board space stations. I was entered into the Alliance Military at the age of seventeen, like most of the other biotics. Sorry about the camera, by the way. It was a reflex."

Jilani nodded. "As a Spectre candidate, you are one of a select few. Why were you chosen over thousands of others?"

Anderson. His creepy visions. "Candidates were selected from a broad number of Alliance military branches. Halmabad was selected from the Frontier Battalions, Anderson from Special Forces, and Jenkins from the Marines. I was selected from the Office of Intelligence. While the Alliance has other forces, these were the ones chosen for candidacy." The official line, as the Alliance would use.

"Commander, this question was brought about by some of our most ardent viewers. During the Scott Administration, the Intelligence Office experienced a few rogue cells. Rumor has it that you were part of that." Al-Jilani looked like she wanted to ask more, but she also looked uncomfortable.

"I am not aware of any kind of trouble during the Scott Administration, as I was still in training. You may have to ask some of the more senior officers regarding that subject." Julia said. "Perhaps another time, Miss Jilani. We have a schedule to keep. I apologize, but your audio log will be the only data that you are allowed to keep from this interview." Her decryption protocol had worked, and the woman's Omni-tool chimed happily as it followed her orders and deleted all of the video files.

"Hey!" Jilani said, frowning. "That's personal property!"

"So is my identity."

"I need to prove it's you, Commander." She huffed. "Deleting my video files isn't going to lend my story any credence."

Julia cocked her head to the side. "Give me five minutes. I'll give you one still image of the two of us standing together, once I can get this hair dye out. That's all I can give you."

Pressley quietly muttered something about this being a miracle. When she finally got over to Urdnot Wrex, her hair was damp and she had ditched the press. He had waited patiently for her, calmly standing off to the side. "Urdnot Wrex."

"Constantine." He growled.

"You said you're ready to go after some Rachni?"

"Along with whatever else your money pays for." He glanced at the journalist who was picking up the shattered remains of her camera. Julia had hit that with her system commands as well. Once she had access to Jilani's Omni-tool, that drone received an order for a factory reset and hard reformatting. "Your people fear you."

"They fear the ones I take orders from." Julia clarified. "I'm just the agent."

The big guy nodded. "This better be worth it, Constantine. I don't like Turians all that much, but I can put aside differences of ideology for the right reasons."

Desolous tightened his mandibles inwards at that. Julia didn't let him speak, though. "You've got your pick of the seats in the shuttle. Find one that fits you and get settled. We've got one more Spectre coming." The Krogan gave a gruff laugh as he hopped inside the shuttle. "Williams, Pressley, lay in navigation and get settled."

"Spectre Vakarian just had one stop to make before arriving, Commander." Desolous smirked. "Then we can leave. Do some actual work."

Vakarian walked into the docking bay through a C-sec entrance. He approached from behind Desolous, wary around the old man. "Well, you do reek of Asari, but not of Williams. I can at least rest knowing that you haven't cavorted with Humans."

"I was saving that for you, Tarn." Desolous laughed. "Every good Spectre has to have something scandalous in their past to regret. Otherwise you get cocky!" Desolous motioned to the shuttle. "Our new Turian shipmate is onboard the shuttle. Go and greet her, why don't you."

Garrus narrowed his eyes. Then he looked over at Julia. "Really?"

She nodded, giving him a serious look. "She had a couple of bags full of weapons and looked obsessive about them. I thought you two would get along well."

"Really." Garrus said, features brightening and walking towards the shuttle. Desolous' mandibles were vibrating with silent laughter, and Julia's features were schooled into perfect calm. Garrus loped into the open doorway, looking excited. Then there was a squawk. Not five seconds afterwards, he stuck his head back out of the open hatch. "Urdnot Wrex is not a female Turian!"

Desolous cackled, letting his head roll back. "Oh Commander, we have got to play some Skyllian Five. This is glorious!"

"Once we are out of the docking bay, you're going to tell us all about this Asari business." She said. "Otherwise we are just chasing rumors."

Desolous sat in the front, next to Pressley. "I was chasing history, Commander. The Rachni are new in history compared to what I was after." He leaned back, letting his bad leg get supported by the emergency handles. "The Asari don't like to talk about their deviants, the violent ones. Especially the ones who know how to use their biotics as a terror weapon. Some of the ancient Asari called themselves the Night Wind. Figured out how to use their biotics to dominate and control the nervous system of other Asari. Mind control, manipulation of memories, but with a steep learning curve. Most of the Asari of the Night Wind group had issues with controlling their abilities. A few of them killed their partners, and a rumor was started about this Night Wind group. Called them Ardat Yakshi."

"So, what happened with all of them?"

"This was during the Asari's Golden age of Expansion, when all of their city-states agreed to permanent territory lines. The Night Wind manipulated a few of the elections and elected figures into believing that they were not a threat anymore." Desolous made some motions with his hands that may have been rude. "Then the truth came out. Their Matriarch scattered the whole group. Their entire city-state was eliminated by their closest allies, who feared that all of their sitting governments were under their control. The remainder survived for the next thousand years or so by hiding among the furthest areas. Then the Asari discovered FTL technology. Their first colony ship was supposed to leave from Serrice, when someone hijacked it. Stole the entire thing, and made off with it. The Asari hadn't felt the need to develop mass effect weapons at this point, and when someone stole their first colony ship, they went ballistic. The Night Wind had taken it, and had left Thessia to make their own colony. Signs of where it went haven't been found. Though as the entire population of that colony ship were in their eyes Ardat Yakshi, that was a threat. One of the Asari's darkest secrets, their racial cleansing program. Anyone they find who is a descendant of the Night Wind, they lock up in a monastery."

"So, what, like that Priestess they had for the interrogation?"

Desolous nodded. "They train the ability to kill. The Salarians have the STG to get rid of their problems, the Hanar have the Drell, and we Turians have guns. The Asari kill with a touch, or a look. Ardat Yakshi, slaves to the Asari government. Their killers that leave no traces. Whatever that Asari knew, Commander, Thessia did not want you to know it. Councillor Volorium refuses to investigate any further, so he doesn't end up like Sparatus."

Garrus looked up. "Sparatus ordered an investigation into these Asari killings, and had my father leading it."

Desolous nodded. "I helped him. Gave him a target to work through while I tried to find out more. Tried to go after the target's mother. That was a piss poor idea. I got Sparatus killed. Or at least I wasn't there to stop the Asari when they sent one of these Yakshi against him."

"We've had a lead on those things, by the way. Some old Asari word that I had to talk to an expert about. 'Eria-shi'. You familiar with that?"

"Yes. That's the name of the old Matriarch. Eria. They added the epithet just to make sure that she would be vilified. But among the descendants they call anyone who starts learning about the old mental domination techniques a follower of Eriashi. The government likes to send their huntresses after them. So yes, if you've heard that word, then you know what I am looking for. Someone that might be able to rewrite my mind with a glance."

"Mirala." Garrus stated. "Did they ever catch her?"

"Oh no, young Tarn. None of that. You aren't supposed to get into this until you've at least left an heir." Desolous said. "Your father only was allowed to look into this because of his history and your birth. Mirala is a criminal with thousands of deaths to her name, and none of them show up in the histories. Centuries of experience and the ability to kill with a glance. No, young Tarn, we will not be going after Mirala." Desolous smirked. "But there are a few Ardat Yakshi in the service of Thessia that we can talk to. Without getting mentally destroyed for a lecherous grin."

"Asari like that can't kill something with multiple nervous systems." Urdnot Wrex grumbled from the back. "During the Rebellions, we had a couple of them try that. Redundant nervous systems made us resistant to their effects. It's just a flashy trick in the end. They die like everything else." He scoffed. "The Rachni are far more important."

"The Rachni are being moved by rogue Asari." Desolous said. "Unless you have more to add on that."

"Feh. I'm your guide, not your nurse-mother. I open doors and kill what disagrees."

"Desolous, you want us to go to Thessia?"

"Oh no, I couldn't ask you to go into the most tightly patrolled system in Council Space and go after some poor Asari maiden that is locked away in a monastery." Desolous muttered. "Though there are a few monastic orders off world that we can visit. Veres, Astaria, and Friess Station has a section for priestesses that I have always wondered about."

"Astaria? That planet got hit by the Rachni." Williams piped up.

"It's on the edge of the Terminus Systems, as well. It sounds promising."

"They have a monastery in Deepest Wells, a small village on that planet." Desolous responded. Julia recognized that area. Admiral White had mentioned it.

"Pressley, lay in coordinates for the ship. Get us out of here." Admiral White mentioned that the Asari had the entire planet blockaded. They had Rachni and Asari hostile forces in the area. But if this could lead to stopping the Rachni from destroying the Alliance, she would take the risk.

"Commander, you will be pleased to hear that a shuttle was recovered near Suen. Apparently Jenkins knows what he is doing when it comes to dodging patrols."

"Thanks for not writing him up yet, Pressley." She told him. "I trust him."

Pressley gave her a level look. He was still not amused at the idea of Jenkins commanding a starship. But he was the only one from the Alliance Navy. It had to be him. Julia certainly wasn't meant to. She was supposed to be the supporting team member from the sidelines.

* * *

Donovan Hock watched as the small shuttle left the Alliance docking bay. He had a haptic screen detailing every word that was being spoken by those inside the shuttle. All of this, all of the pure data scrolling across his screen. He was grinning at this.

"Well, you were right. They aren't going after you. Even though Julia knows you have a hand in this at some level." Behind him, the face of his best agent seemed made of plastic. Julianne Jones had lost all of her skin off of her face in her latest operation. Immolation grenades did terrible things to people.

"But at some point they will know that you survived. You made some careless remarks about Dr. Lawson. I don't much care for Dr. Lionel and his experiments, but Dr. Lawson is an important asset. I want you to extract him from the Alliance's project and make sure that Synthetic Helix doesn't notice him missing."

Jones was using a couple of drones to touch up some of the synthetic skin that had been layered over her body. Her face had required metal plates in both of her cheeks, and her nose required some metal in order to function. She had spent much of the last two months just being rebuilt from what Vakarian managed to do to her. Now she had four cybernetic limbs, and her torso had new cloned organs. Kidneys and intestines, so far. Her stomach had survived, but it needed to have an artificial pump installed to keep her body accepting the foreign cybernetics.

"I'll be along to Noveria then. Exogeni will need some convincing."

"They're funding a few side projects. While you are extracting Lionel, see if you can track down where Harper is getting away with his share. We both are limited in who we trust to get resources. Exogeni was his brainchild as much as mine. We have to draw him out somehow."

"No one has seen him since we managed that one strike. All we found were a few of his toes."

Hock laughed at that. "I'd never have expected Jack to be hard to kill. He's like a snake. If I could just find out what the hell his goal is, I would be more willing to ignore him." Jones stood up slowly, her synthetic skin stretching unnaturally across her face. She had been beautiful, once. Beautiful enough to sleep with for a few years. Then as her limbs fell apart due to her failed attempts at replicating the Infiltrator process, he stopped seeing her reliably. There were other women, and she knew that. He had only needed to keep up the relationship until she had been completely disavowed by the government. "If you get the chance, remind Dr. Lawson about his dear daughter, would you?"

"Little Grace needs a visit?"

"Not yet. She has done nothing wrong. So long as Lawson doesn't go outside his bounds, we don't have to pay his daughters any visits. Where is that bug you planted, specifically?"

Jones smirked, her skin pulling back into a cruel facsimile of a smile. It made her look like she was in her eighties. "The old man's lapels. They already have the military ID chip in them, and the signal can piggyback off of that. You'll get your updates."

Hock glanced down at his Human model Omni-tool. "Good. The Alliance has another Intelligence Operative on the  _Normandy_ , but we haven't been able to find out who. I want to know who they have in there." Jones gave a nod, before she left the room. HIs rug was indented from her steps, as she weighed nearly as much as a Krogan now. He would have to get the rug cleaner back in here. He would do that right after he met with the damnable Elcor ambassador. These meetings took hours. Thankfully he could trust Jones to carry out his orders. For as long as she didn't have any other options, she was loyal. Her mind wasn't the same anymore. The medications to keep her cybernetics from poisoning her were not without side effects or consequences, and he worried every day that Jones would go on a psychotic break. When she did, it was going to end with a pile of corpses.

 


	54. Lucid: A Krogan for Profit

- _I don't personally take the shot often. I can manipulate most people to take actions I don't need to. Those few times where I do take the shot? It would have to be a very good reason._

_Jack Harper_

Chapter 54

Asteria, Deepest Wells, Hades Nexus, August 2182

Asteria was hot. Julia hated it. Her armor did not come with adequate temperature controls. Desolous and Jenkins were walking with her, with their Krogan ally in the rear. Garrus was nearby with Williams, Alenko, and Halmabad in the MAKO. But they were trying to avoid as much notice as possible. The  _Normandy_  had slipped past the Asari patrol fleet near the relay, and had parked in some broken rocky outcroppings near Deepest Wells. The town was spread out across different plantations, a bunch of small farms. They were all empty, the doors wide open, and the vehicles gone. Tracks went off in multiple directions, but it was a sign that the evacuation had come to this location.

They moved at a slower pace thanks to Desolous, but the old man had insisted on his presence on this mission. Deepest Wells didn't have any official city map, or even a local intranet for them to tap into. It was barren of all networking technology. The homes had rudimentary comm terminals, but the connecting satellites had long since been taken down. Local power was no longer being supplied, but water was still flowing to some of the crops. No drones made any motions, and the air was empty of noise. Desolous was more quiet than her in this kind of terrain. Jenkins was loud, and her armor wasn't meant for hiking or walking in areas that weren't paved or covered.

"The Monastic orders like to hide their buildings in plain sight. It could be any one of these plantations."

"How will we know which one is the right one?"

"When we run into active security. Or some form of natural defenses. They will want to have a secure location." The old Turian said. The land here was made up of hills, with large open valleys where water flowed. At the bottom of the valleys, closest to the water flow, the Asari liked to build their homes. It meant that every single one had to be checked. It wasn't until the second day of scouting that they found any signs of life. One of the smaller plantations had a backyard shed, and Wrex had smelled blood coming from it. "Asari, been dead a week or two." He said, sniffing. "Probably died from starvation or mutilation."

Jenkins used the butt of his rifle to bust open the mechanical lock, taking a couple of hits to do so. The door fell open, letting a dozen bodies drop to the ground. All had been clawing at the door in an attempt to escape, with identical wounds on the lower back. "Was this an execution?"

Wrex pushed through the bodies, looking into the rest of the shed. "This was done by a concentrated biotic pulse, with a Warp. Centralized on the lower back." He pointed at the identical wounds. "Asari hate getting shot here. It's one of their major nerve clusters. Looks like the bottom of their spines were heavily damaged by a Warp. Enough to paralyze their legs."

"That door isn't that tough. Why didn't they just use their biotics on it?" Jenkins asked.

"Because that nerve cluster is part of their Element Zero nodule network. If that's damaged, then it will flare up and trigger every pain receptor they have when they try to use their biotics." Wrex said, poking some of the bodies. "This is too advanced of a technique for anyone that isn't an Asari or a Krogan. The Warp didn't damage the tendons. It was targeted, and it went above and beyond what I would be able to focus."

Desolous was examining the faces of the dead Asari. He pulled out his Omni-tool, which answered a happy ping. "Ardat Yakshi. Or someone capable of breeding them. The Asari Republics mark them with facial marks and a small ID chip to keep track of them." He stepped back from the shed, and looked around at the surrounding countryside. "They've been here a while."

"It's rained recently enough that I can't tell how many locked 'em in." Wrex said, his nose close to the ground near the door. "But the ground here is loose. The few footprints around leave few clues as to who they were. Humanoid, for sure. Beyond that, could have been any group along with whoever killed these people."

"Thanks." Desolous said. "I think we should look more closely at the nearby homes. Perhaps we might find another group of these." They did find another group in the last home they had visited, dumped into one of the storage sheds. Again, death by starvation and the horrific wounds on the lower back. None of the Asari here wore armor or protective garb, and so they were completely undefended. Though one of the Asari at this location had a broken forearm. It looked like she had tried to resist.

Later that day, they found the compound. Deepest Wells had a compound tucked away near the source of the underground rivers that bubbled up and fed the valleys. It wasn't even a true farm of any kind, either. It was tucked away behind a small dam that serviced the area and provided the electricity for the village. There was only a few ways out of the area, and swimming in the reservoir wasn't safe. The water had to be processed in a treatment plant before being released through the dam, and the machinery that performed that task would be deadly to anyone trying to swim out. The short walkway across the dam had a small turret, and needed a passcode in order to be deactivated.

They found pieces of the turret along one of the cliff walls surrounding the entrance. It had been Thrown hard. The walkway had been damaged in the middle, but the dam was still in one piece. "Weapons out." She called. She had her pistol, and hadn't grasped her biotics yet. She had her barrier up, and that should be enough. "I'm going in."

"Don't bother." Wrex rumbled. "This entire area smells of death. None of it new."

"I, personally, would prefer to have her check the area." Desolous said. "Unless you can say for certain that it's safe in there."

"Well, I don't like the idea of my employer going into a dangerous area with that thin of armor. Even if she is capable of stealth, that doesn't mean we should depend on it."

"We should just depend on armor, then?"

The Krogan huffed in annoyance. "I'll do what my employer asks. But I was also hired to advise, and my advice is going to keep you alive."

"Trust me." Julia said. "Just sit tight for a moment." The Krogan grumbled and stood still, but he wasn't happy about it. She cloaked and leapt over the broken section of the footbridge, and walked into a crude archway. There was a metal gate, ripped off its hinges. A second gate was behind it, this one actually requiring an electronic lock. It was blown open as well, and a few bloody marks remained past the door. There was a few words written on the wall, but ones she didn't recognize. Her Omni-tool labeled it as an Asari metaphor for a death cult.

The air was stale, and the purifiers had been turned off. Just as Wrex had said, this place reeked of death. Bodies were everywhere, some in uniform brown robes, while others had light armor on. None of the bodies here were killed in the precise way that the others they had found were. Here the use of weapons were clear. Many of the weapons were left in the hands of the fallen, and the bodies were arrayed in such a way that it seemed that they had killed each other. But there were subtle signs here and there that some of the bodies had been adjusted. Others were draped over their dead fellows before being killed.

The building was set up like a Medieval castle. It had more secure areas, and a central atrium that included a reinforced area above the main floor. The railings were ornate, but they were too ornate to allow fingers to slip through holes or allow grips. They were high off the ground, enough that it would take a jump to reach the top, or at least a biotic assisted jump. The stairs were tough, but the marks in the stone from grenades and Warps were remnants enough of what had happened here. There was a stand, here.

Julia stayed cloaked, moving past a dozen more dead Asari, and stepping up to where the Atrium split. The left side had more bodies, even though the right had the dormitories. Odd that people would lose their lives over an area that wasn't as defensible. On a whim she stuck her head in the dormitories, seeing a completely open layout that offered no safety whatsoever. It made some sense, now.

The path with the bodies led to another dormitory, though this one had some privacy, as well as a comm terminal. There were four bodies around the terminal, the last one in robes. The comm terminal had been shot to hell, but an OSD sat untouched on the table it was mounted into. She scanned for any traps before putting it into her spare Omni-tool. It was something she could risk.

The OSD contained a small video file. It showed an Asari wearing matte black armor that looked more insectoid than humanoid. The woman looked to be Matron aged, and only her face was partially visible. " _We know what you have done. You hide your shame. But we have not forgotten the events of your so called Golden age. The lives of an entire people lay buried underneath your precious Athame cult. This day we shall prove which of our beliefs is the stronger, servant of Athame._ "

The OSD clip made a loud beeping sound, which triggered other sound-based alarms hidden inside the room. Her real Omni-tool notified her of this as her spare garbled and died. She swore, moving into a near sprint as she got out of the building. Waiting outside were the rest of her party, and she didn't dare break radio silence.

When she decloaked, Desolous flinched as well as Jenkins. Wrex didn't seem to care, and had shifted his feet towards her direction long before she had decloaked. "We have to move. Something is still here."

"I don't smell anything." Wrex muttered. "But if you think so."

"What was in there?" Jenkins asked.

"A lot of dead Asari. Killed by weapons. Not the crippling moves that we have seen so far." She pointed towards the only way out of the valley. "Let's move. Send a point to point radio transmission, tight beam, to the MAKO. We need extraction. We're looking at Asari in insectoid armor."

"They don't deploy in that kind of gear, so far as I have seen." Desolous muttered.

"Don't call your tank, Human." Wrex said. "I've seen these before. Back before the Quarians fell. They raided Clan Ganar back in the day. They have heavy armaments."

"You think we can run?"

"Run? Hah! You said that there are Asari running around that are supplying and helping the Rachni. We need to bring some of them in to prove it."

"They think they are coming to kill Asari. We need a lure." Julia smirked. "Jenkins, tight beam the MAKO. We need Williams in the Asari armor and over here, stat. Keep Halmabad nearby and hidden, and keep the marines back. We can't use them to make this ruse work."

"Where do we want to fight them?"

"Not in the monastery. It was already taken by them, and might still contain traps. We need to pick a better location." She stated. Jenkins thumbed the bottom of his helmet, and pointed to a nearby hill.

"Commander, I have a plan. We just need to spoof them into thinking we have some more of these Yakshi holed up somewhere. We broadcast that in the clear, and they will come running. Especially if we say something really nasty. We just need a good hilltop that we can set up some good defenses. The Asari really don't care about one core combat virtue." Jenkins smirked. "We break out the Stepford Artillery pieces."

The Stepford was an old idea brought back for low gravity combat. Thousands of pieces of electrically charged shrapnel and ball bearings were loaded into canisters that would be fired from VI-controlled mortar tubes. They could be set up on a hilltop a couple miles away and have one man controlling dozens of them. The Asari depended on biotics for everything, including long rang assistance. The Turians believed in the concept of artillery. The Krogan lived by it. The Batarians used it, but never at the ranges that the Turians and Humans did.

"How many are on the  _Normandy_?"

"Well, Anderson believed in them, and had an entire crate of twenty. So we can have two banks of artillery wired to our control, set up to take out any barriers on anyone that comes within one hundred feet of our location. Between those and some torpedoes from the  _Normandy_ , we should be able to handle any amount of incoming forces."

"They have to be as constrained by this blockade as much as we are. What will make them feel comfortable attacking us in the open?"

"Asari don't bombard planets." Desolous said. "They would investigate with teams of Huntresses. Perhaps maybe a couple of gunships. Long enough that we should be able to slip out of here before they come." He pulled out a map. "We should take that nearby hilltop. Asari can move quickly when they want to."

Williams met them there, wearing the Eclipse armor that they had used previously. She looked the part, the slightly conical helmet perfect for what they needed. The armor had lost its yellow styling, and was the matte black to match the rest of their gear. The MAKO had to stay hidden, outside of sight range. But its marines had set up the Stepford artillery pieces and were ready to fire.

Desolous was the only one who was slow, during this run to the hilltop, his leg making him not capable of fully running. But by the time they got up to the hilltop, Wrex was starting to sniff at anything that moved. The hill had a small outcropping that could provide some cover from anyone coming up the hill, and between Jenkins and Wrex they were able to make a small circle of boulders around them. "Weird smells around us, Constantine." Wrex reported. "They're around."

"They must have been on foot." No vehicles had been heard.

"Asari hovercraft are rated for their lack of damage to local environments and their noise level, Commander." Desolous remarked. "We are hundreds of miles from Blackdamp, the local capital. That's where the Rachni have been reported to be."

"They've encircled us." Wrex said. "What are they waiting for?"

Julia grabbed Williams. "Stand up, and link me to your suit's speakers." Williams did so, slowly. Julia grabbed hold of her biotics, letting a biotic barrier form over Williams. It would give credence to their Asari disguise. " _Athame take you and your murdering sisters to the watery grave! The Goddess will have her vengeance!_ " Julia stated in clear Asari. Pumped through Lt. Commander Williams' speakers, this echoed outwards. Wrex and Desolous both seemed to perfectly understand, but Williams cocked her head so that she could read the translation. Wrex could understand Asari well enough. A useful piece of knowledge. Though his ability to smell her when she was invisible was a more annoying liability. "You could have added something about them being pure blooded. Asari always hate that one." The Krogan added softly.

No matter what she had said, the bushes and trees surrounding the hill turned into a surge of motion, and Rachni swarmed towards them. Asari were right behind the bugs, and plasma bolts were already flying from the armored creatures. "Open fire! Bring the rain, Vakarian! We've got Rachni!"

Desolous had left grenades on the easiest path up the hill, and they exploded magnificently. Rachni chunks sprayed all over the nearby bushes, their acidic blood making the plants wilt and break down. His rifle cracked, hitting the Asari behind the lines. Williams was using a monster of a rifle, and was hitting the larger bugs with punishing inferno rounds. Julia used a Singularity on the weakest part of the hilltop, creating a small landslide. The Rachni ignored the problem, their limbs making it through the loose stone and crumbling material without trouble. Wasted effort on her part.

Wrex had pulled out the largest cannons she had ever seen, loaded with what appeared to be small spear tips of metal. They were loaded on a wheel into the firing chamber, where they would be sent to some high degree of temperature before getting launched out. These six inch long spikes would then hit Rachni, hard. The little ones would just explode, and the spike would hit anything behind them as well. The big ones, if their shields fell, would be hit with the spikes, which would carve gigantic holes through their entire body portion when hit. Wrex didn't miss very often, and his entire side of the hill was moving slowly, trying to approach the big Krogan from an angle he couldn't follow. He was quiet, methodical, and a biotic. His barriers wouldn't be breaking down any time soon.

She herself had the hardest time, as Jenkins was as usual lucky. All he had to deal with were three Asari in strange armor. They were keeping behind cover, and Jenkins just had to spray them with covering fire and dodge their biotic abilities. Julia's side nearly had reached their ring of cover when the artillery finally came down.

She got blasted backwards, the concussive shells striking her and stripping her of her barriers. The artillery rained hell for a minute straight, smoke rising and the Rachni dying under the bursts. Their armor protected them from some of the bursts, but due to the VI's smart targeting using their Omni-tools, their exact positions were hit within seconds of the artillery striking. The Rachni shrieked, and tried to fall back. Wrex bellowed some form of challenge, standing up from his piece of cover and raining more of those giant spikes upon the creatures.

" _Athame spits upon your black heritage! Your blood is worthless, and your lack of honor is proven by your fear! Pure blooded scum like yourself should are better off walking into the deep, never to be heard from again! Godless heathens!_ " Wrex yelled in clear Asari, letting his suit speakers turn up to full to get through the artillery.

"That is a much better challenge, Wrex." Julia admitted, seeing the Rachni starting to turn around. The Asari were looking around, pointing and taking cover. "What are they doing?"

Wrex laughed. "Thinking. But this shows that these Asari can control or direct the Rachni somehow. Or at least know how to advise them." He chuckled, letting his heavy gun vent some of its heat. "This is my kind of fight, Constantine. Those explosives are effective."

"Vakarian! I've seen no vehicles but they might be headed your direction. Rachni will be expected."

The sound of gunfire was coming through. " _The MAKO has already encountered some of them. Asari animated corpses are also on the move, but none of them are armored or using their biotics. They still screw with electronics. Fire support is crippled, now. With those creatures coming, we've had to abandon positions and fall back to something more secure. No more artillery for now, Commander._ "

"It was nice while it lasted, though. What about the Stepfords?"

" _Well, we had motion sensors going, so we just fired off one round and packed up. They only weigh fifteen pounds apiece, and they roll right back into the tank._ " Vakarian said. " _We will try to get another location established and give you fire support."_

"Excellent." She smirked. "I want one of those Asari captured. Preferably three or more for information's sake. Primary objective, get me an officer."

"Roger." Williams said. "I've got something big coming, Ma'am."

The trees near the bottom of the hill parted, and a Rachni Brood warrior stepped through. Large flatbed vehicles were in the clearing behind it, explaining how they quickly got here. It was wearing the armor that they had come to expect from the bugs, and the dreaded plasma cannon. "Move! We can't take one of those!"

"On me! I've got nothing over here!" Jenkins said, yelling as he charged down the slope towards the bunkered down Asari. They had been trading shots with him, and all three of them took cover as his grenade exploded over the top of them. Williams and Wrex followed him down the slope, Desolous limping along and Julia covering their retreat. Wrex had the entire right flank covered with that heavy weapon of his, hefting it as if it were only a rifle. When they got to the small fallen tree that was providing cover, Wrex just blundered through the right side, where the canopy's branches were. Jenkins leapt over the top, swinging his rifle around and bashing the center Asari.

The leftmost Asari saw them coming, and used a Throw on Williams. Julia had her biotics prepared, and felt pretty confident about being able to catch her and bring her back to the ground. She let out a Pull, and it seemed accurate. But Williams flew right by her biotic ability, missing it by inches. It made her appreciate how accurate Kaiden was. He made this all seem easy. Williams skidded into the dirt next to Desolous, who was still making his way down the slope. Her armor was made for Asari, so it was able to handle the concussive force of the biotics as well as the impact better than any Alliance armor. Williams was right along with them soon enough.

Only one of the Asari had survived their charge, the other two having been killed by the giant spikes of Wrex or her rifle. Jenkins had knocked this one out, and now had the Asari in an over the shoulder carry. Her helmet was cracked down the middle, and some blue blood was flowing from her. "A little roughed up, but we hope that this helps, Ma'am."

"Drop her if it weighs you down too much. Make for the nearby plantation!"

It was just down the hill, and they could hear the rampaging bugs coming up behind them. Julia didn't look back, but released a Throw backwards. Wrex got hit with a Pull, but he reappeared at her side within a moment, his barriers glowing. He even positioned himself in between another Pull meant to hit her. Again, his barriers buckled for a moment but he recovered. She didn't want to imagine fighting an entire company of Krogan if Wrex was a good example of what they could be like.

Even he got bowled over by the Rachni's biotic wave. All of them were launched the rest of the way down the hill with a landslide of material from the hill as well. Rocks and chunks of mud rained down on them, and Julia felt something roll over her legs and break something. Her armor tightened over her limb, but she would be getting this fixed later. Looking to her right, she could see the boulder that struck her had stopped its forward motion on Wrex, who was crushed between that boulder and a rough patch of ground at the bottom of the hill. Desolous had rolled into an animal pen, and Jenkins was already taking a knee and firing back at their pursuers. He looked no worse for wear.

She didn't see Williams. The woman might be buried under the rock here. Julia tried to stand, but her ankle wouldn't bear the weight. She felt a hand clamp down on her good ankle, and could see Wrex dragging her along. He was injured, now, and she could see plasma bursts impact his armor, blood flowing from multiple wounds. "Your race needs to develop secondary bone support structures," Was the only complaint the Krogan had, as they moved into the plantation. Jenkins still had that Asari over his shoulders, somehow. He dumped the unconscious Asari in the front of the house and kept firing, not even breaking stride to throw a grenade at the oncoming horde.

"Where is Williams?"

"Hell if I know, Sir! Squad tracker says that she's on top of that hill!" Lovely.

She keyed her transmission settings to more than tight beam. "Williams, by God if I have to rescue you again I'm going to tell command about it."

" _Understood, Commander._ " The top of the hill lit up with a couple of large flashes of explosions. Meanwhile, the Brood Warrior was making its way towards the plantation building they had taken cover in, and lit up with its overpowered biotics again. Wrex had fired three of those giant spikes, but its barrier held up against them. The big Krogan was hit by a Throw, and he went right through the house behind her. The plaster walls and concrete supports shattered in the path of the Krogan, and he went down somewhere in a bedroom on the other side of the house.

Jenkins cussed, taking better cover as the Plasma cannon vaporized the window frame he had been taking cover behind. The Asari that he had dropped was covered in the debris, but Jenkins was hiding and letting his barriers recharge. Those plasma bursts affected large areas, and stripped barriers fast. He had dodged, but it still took out his barrier. Desolous angled an Overload at the bug, succeeding in pissing it off. He grabbed Wrex's discarded heavy weapon, and hoisted it against one of the building's supports. This time, the gun punctured the barriers of the beast, the spikes impaling the creature all along its face.

"Ammo is running low!" Desolous reported. "We need to get some other fire on it!"

"Vakarian, Halmabad! We have a Brood Warrior here!" She said. "I need artillery or the MAKO, right now!"

" _I owe the bugs for killing my last tank! We're coming, Commander!_ "

Desolous squawked in alarm as a plasma burst hit his position, sending him into the kitchen for cover with molten armor. The rest of the smaller Rachni were surrounding the house, ignoring the need to charge at them. They were cutting them off from further escape. Damn things had them surrounded. Worse, she could see the smaller bugs congregating at the corners of the building, spraying acid on all of the support beams. She threw a tech grenade at one pile of them, causing a large cloud of acidic gore to spray onto the beams. That wasn't going to solve anything. Any more grenades would just weaken the structure.

"Fall back to the kitchen! The workers are taking out the supports!" Jenkins followed her order, his barrier just barely starting to recharge. He grabbed the Asari by the feet, firing his rifle one handed to provide covering fire for Desolous to get behind the counter. Julia waited for him to go, and then cloaked. A second and third tech grenade landed among the Rachni Warriors gathered at either end of the house, and she made her way towards the Rachni Brood Warrior.

It was taking its sweet time, firing the plasma cannon at the front of the house and vaporizing more and more cover. With its kin surrounding the house, it was not worried about them escaping. Julia leapt upwards, coming on top of the long armor pieces that covered the Brood Warrior. It had two long appendages that hovered above the beast, and one of them was on each side of its neck. Julia smirked, seeing that the biotic barrier on this creature was thick enough to keep an inch of force around its body.

Guns, she was alright with. Explosives she could make do, and sniping she didn't care for. Hannah had taught her knives. Assassination from up close. She brought up her gift from Haego, and held up her last tech grenade. She set this one to incinerate, and stabbed deeply into the back of the head with the knife. The bug started flinching, twisting and rolling to get her off of its back. But by that time it was too late. Her tech grenade had slipped into the open slot like a coin. With the armor encasing its head, the force of the explosion was contained and directed to all of the sensitive organs inside, and she could see a jet of fluid and flame go out the coin slot she had made.

The Brood Warrior dropped dead, it's armor preserved, and its brains cooked. Julia grinned.  _That_  was how it was supposed to be done. She could see the remaining Rachni panic, and take shots at them, and curiously as well as the Asari that they had been so chummy with before. The Asari ran back to the vehicles, and the Rachni ran into the surrounding hills to hide. She just stayed right next to the dead Brood Warrior, grinning. When the MAKO shot out of the forest nearby, with marines tumbling out the back in combat positions, she sat herself on top of the warrior's head.

"Ma'am? Did you just kill that with a knife?" Halmabad asked, his dumbfounded confusion plain over the MAKO's speakers.

"Get some ropes. We've got something to bring back to R&D. The tech heads are gonna love this." She glanced at the Asari. "Get as many of them in here, too. Their armor is odd and I want to know why there is an Asari civil war going on here."

It took five trips to police the battlefield, and to get Rachni armor and bodies back to the Normandy's hold. The Brood Warrior was in almost perfect condition, besides its head. It was leaking a smoking pile of organs and acidic blood onto the ground. The giant spikes that were in the front of its head armor were also being melted by the blood, and the remaining metal fell out as time went on.

"Commander, I don't think I want to come with you again." Desolous said around bandaged ribs. "I think the only way I want my adrenaline to rise after this is in bed with a nice Asari. I'll direct from the bridge from here on." He looked in pain, and Vakarian made sure that he was well taken care of on their way back to the ship.

"Many a Krogan would follow you with that kind of courage." Wrex told her. "I admit, I am impressed." He was nursing damaged armor and wounds that were slowly closing. The old Krogan applied medi-gel to his wounds, though. "What will you do with the trophy?"

"Give it to the Council. They will want it. Though I think the Asari will be interrogated before we return to the Citadel. If we can. Thanks for taking some of those biotics for me, by the way."

He grumbled. "I told you, I will fight for you. So far, the fighting has been good. You'll get my bill and by far less thankful."

"What is that weapon you're using? Desolous looked like he almost blew out his shoulder just by firing it." Jenkins perked up from behind her. The man only had streaks of dirt to mark that he had been in a battle.

"This?" The Krogan hefted the big gun. "Graal Spike Thrower, original Ganar edition. Expensive to fire, as one shot is an entire ammo block. So, I fired maybe two hundred ammo blocks, and you can't recover them. It's why I brought an entire bag of replacement stock. In the old days this was what we would use against the Rachni. The spikes it fires penetrate and have barbed tips. They get lodged in any organ or head, and that bug is gone."

"That's expensive. Was that standard issue for Krogan?"

He nodded. "A long time ago, we were lauded as heroic. Martyrs for a war that we had no part in starting, and funded well for our efforts. We all had weapons that could kill. Even with the millions of Krogan born to fight them, the Rachni outnumbered us. Required some adaptation to be able to beat them." He holstered the weapon against his back. "Figured it would be a good investment."

Julia smirked, until her Omni-tool got a ping with the bill. Wrex billed her for every single Graal spike, and none of those ammo blocks were cheap. Apparently the only way to form the spikes was to have tungsten as the ammo material. It wasn't cheap, and just fielding the Krogan for the day had cost her almost thirty thousand credits. The Krogan laughed at her expression, and walked away towards the MAKO, humming happily.

"Ma'am, next time you are bringing that big gun. Then we won't have to deal with insane Asari riding Rachni." Jenkins said. "Williams is alright, she just got stuck in a tree. One of the Asari tried to knock her out, and Williams managed to fight her off, but got Thrown straight up for it."

Williams looked alright, minus some scratches along her chest plate from Rachni acid. "Commander, we can follow those vehicles, and catch up with them."

She glanced at the bodies being loaded. "We have what we need. Proof that the Asari working with the Rachni exist, and a Rachni to show off at the Citadel."

"About that, Commander." Jenkins said. "We can't fit that bug on a shuttle. It's got a near amount of mass to ours. With the damage it has, it'll decompress and spray acid everywhere if we try to just tow it using a shuttle."

"I'll talk to command. But I am sure that they'll be salivating about this one. Williams, take every member of the crew you need to, and sterilize the armor and weapons of the dead. Especially the big Rachni. I don't want anything that we bring in to point to Asteria."

"Then where did we  _get_  this Rachni, Ma'am?" Jenkins asked, looking contemplative. "I mean, the only place that we could excuse their armor being sterilized is in space, but we would need some ship or wreck to prove it."

"Going on Intel received near Suen, we went after a ship that looked suspicious. The old Kowloon class freighter was full of Rachni, and we brought back some for study." She shrugged. "Let me handle a cover story, Lt. I have people who are good at that."

She was most of the way back to the  _Normandy_  when Joker got on the tight beam comms. " _Hey Commander?_ " His voice came in very clearly. " _Are we really bringing all of these things onboard? This is like that Alien vid where we all get impregnated and Rachni burst out of our chests. You sure about this?_ "

"I'm sure, Joker. Stop watching cheap vids."

" _Whatever. I see one of those face-humpers, I'm blowing the airlock._ "

Her armor had been punctured by some of the debris from the Stepford rounds. When she finally stepped aboard the  _Normandy_ , the rest of the ground teams had been treated for wounds and the area had been policed for weapons, armor, and Omni-tools. Dr. Chakwas called her into the medical bay, seeing her leg punctured by shrapnel.

"Commander, looks like I finally get to fix you up." The Doctor said. Julia hated doctors. Doctors of any kind, really. "Come and lay down, I'll take out anything that is stuck in you. Though I hope you won't complain as much as the Krogan did."

Chakwas triggered the armor release on her leg, and Julia groaned as the pressure on her ankle was loosened. She tapped on the ankle, before applying a strong bandage. Bad sprain, she claimed. Then it was time to remove the bits left behind by those Stepfords. She tried to remain calm as Chakwas gently removed chunks of metal from her neck. "Anyone else injured?"

"Hardly, Commander." Chakwas said, drawing the shades as she worked on an unpleasant chunk of metal under one of her ribs. "But Admiral White won't agree with your plan."

Julia nearly twisted towards the Doctor. But considering she had a sharp object next to her lung, she remained still. Completely still. "Oh, come off of it. Didn't you know about the other two Agents onboard?"

"I was only aware of myself." Julia stated. They didn't trust her enough to monitor the situation on their own.

"Well, we aren't true agents of any sort. I  _am_  an actual Doctor. I just provide information when necessary. Pressley is the real agent. The Office of Intelligence has had him in the Navy for so long that no one suspects him. He is an Analyst. I am a Medical Doctor, of course, with some history in the study of Alien lifeforms." A metal  _clink_  sound followed. "Ah, looking much better. Pressley mentioned that I could tell you now."

"Pressley is in the Intelligence Office?"

"Technically still Navy. But he has never been allowed to pass his officer's evaluations. We need him at the helm of ships like this one. You still outrank him, but his mission was to keep an eye on the Turians and Quarians." Chakwas gently applied medi-gel to her wounds, and wrapped them with care. Julia tried not to shudder or panic. She hated Doctors. "Understandably, Pressley cannot tell you directly. He is monitored at all times. by the Quarians and others. This room is off the network, by Quarian design."

"So, what am I allowed to ask of you, considering your hippocratic oath?"

"Information. A gun, if things get that bad. Someone to keep mutiny and disloyalty from occurring. Mainly, I was assigned here because of my familiarity with your implants. I was one of the Doctors with Cerberus, though in those days many of us went by fake names in order to not be caught when everything went poorly."

"So you know about my history."

"I don't care about it. You've been with the Alliance so far, and from what I and Pressley have seen, you are not loyal to your father or his supporters. Nor do you care for their agenda." She ticked off her fingers as she made points. "Lastly, you are dedicated to the Alliance's principles. Though Pressley disagrees with your actions against the Asari civilians two months ago."

"He's old fashioned and doesn't like anyone that doesn't follow the rules."

Chakwas laughed at that. "Commander, the only reason he disagrees with you so much is that he wants you to take command of this vessel for certain. He doesn't want Jenkins commanding it. His reports include praises for your efforts. Command even asked for a confirmation of that." Julia blinked. Pressley wanted her in command? He didn't seem to respect anything other than her rank at this point. "He's good at what he does, Commander. He keeps his opinions to himself, even when they are compliments."

"Thank you. I guess." Julia said. Though at least a part of her felt better knowing that Pressley didn't think less of her.

"Commander, we think that you should move your things into the CO quarters. Space on a frigate is a premium, and perhaps Jenkins might do better with officer's quarters."

Anderson's room. "Is this an order from the brass?"

"A recommendation from Admiral White. Make the crew feel more confident. Give them a Commander they can approach." She gave a gentle smile. "Though creating results is all well and good, even the Quarians have trouble knowing what to make of you. You should try talking to them." Rear Admiral White's recommendations could be considered commands for all intents and purposes.

"I'll try that." Julia said. "Doctor." She gave a nod of her head as she opened the door to the medbay.

"Have a good day, Commander."

She resolved to approach Pressley at some point. The room they shared was rarely occupied, as one of them had to be on shift. Both of them put in long hours, and they only entered their room to sleep. Trying to get him alone to talk to him would be difficult. But that needed to happen, and she needed to approach some of her crew.

* * *

Noveria, Horse Head Nebula, August 2182

"You know for certain that she is coming?" Jack asked.

" _Oh yeah, boss._ "

"Docking bay?"

" _Main one for investors. Looks like she feels confident about coming to Noveria._ " Charles replied. " _Cameras count minimal crew on her ship, and she is coming off of it alone._ "

"Garage pass?"

" _One of the standard ExoGeni ones. Nothing individual about any of the security passes, and nothing out of place if it goes unreported._ "

Jack chuckled. "Thank you Charles. Prepare the camera overlay for the garage, and have the backup teams primed to go in if we need them." He barely heard Charles' reply, taking a position near the garage entrance. Jones had revealed too much in her last contact with them. Now that he knew that most of her body had been converted over to cybernetic limbs, he narrowed down where she might go next. Damaged cybernetics meant lots of drugs specialized to dealing with that. The only place he knew that had a supply of that, in enough stock that Jones' use wouldn't be noticed, was Noveria.

That piece of work was key to Hock's connections with the black markets and the Shanxi Reds. She would be hard to kill. Harder, if he wasn't prepared for what she had. ExoGeni had been quiet lately, but the demand for the cybernetic acceptance drugs had risen sharply at their lab here on Noveria. None of the drug got ordered here directly, but the shipping manifests that went through the ExoGeni dock were easier to get a hold of than the access to their internal network. He knew that Jones got fixed up on Noveria.

So, he prepared. He didn't have to get into ExoGeni. He just had to be ready to intercept Jones. So, he sat in the courtyard, his disguise well done and his demeanor calm as Jones walked within fifteen feet of him. He waited only a few moments before getting up to follow, not seeing anyone with her. She was walking in one of the popular insulated business outfits that accentuated a Salarian better than any other race. Jack grinned as he slipped into the crowd, the people around him giving him space as he followed Jones straight into the vehicle hangar.

He already knew that she was headed for the ExoGeni compound. What he needed to know was which vehicle she went out in. From behind his tinted helmet, he grinned. The Elanus Risk Security Control suit gave him anonymity and privacy. No one looked closely at a cop, after all.

"Fullerton!" He recognized this voice. The man he had paid off to get his shift had warned him about his CO. The small Human biotic, Matsuo. She was a spitfire, and had stage two degenerative element zero nodules. Within a decade she was looking at cancer or worse. He knew that because she was one of the kids chosen to learn at Solaris, and it had been a pre-existing condition when she had been enrolled. "You're actually on time! A Miracle!"

He saluted. "Well, everyone has their good days." She glared at him sharply. After a moment, she got up to leave.

"We have investors out at Binary Helix. Try to keep the hangar from getting covered in snow." Matsuo left him at that point, and Jack smirked. Everyone had a price. Matsuo's was evidently medical in nature. Hank Fullerton was simple cash. The man had an appetite for alcohol, and his Omni-tool had all kinds of viruses. Most given to him today. Jack did not physically leave his base of operations very often, and when he did, it was personal. Today it was all about being personal.

Jones had been a problem. She had been the source of the whole betrayal that led to Hannah getting kicked out of the Alliance, and she had been monitoring him without the oversight of the real Office of Intelligence the entire time at Cerberus, and in the end had sold out everyone and left Hock holding the keys to everything he had created. Hock took all of the credit, but in the end Jack had kept all of the intellectual property and patents. In his daughter's name, of course. But this woman had caused enough damage to his organization and his family that she was a larger threat. So, the time had come to deal with her. Jack had been waiting at Noveria for almost a month now. He could wait a few more days or hours or however long it took before she came back from the ExoGeni labs.

He sat on his guard duty post, and played the local stock exchange for a short while. Doing this with Salarians in the mix was frustrating, as their hand-eye coordination was always going to be a step above his. Without Reaper upgrades he would never be able to keep up, but it wasn't worth it. It was almost three hours of waiting before Jones came back, this time not alone. She was walking next to an old face.

Dr. Lionel. He hadn't seen the man accused of Human experimentation in a long time. His Doctor's license had been stripped from him, but the man had just moved into illegal services. Jack grinned happily as he pressed a button on his Omni-tool, letting a crate by the door fall open. Jones flinched, hand going to a pistol at the small of her back. Jack just let her think that was what he was after.

Above her, one of the vehicle bay lifts centered on her. In order to make sure that the maximum amount of space was used in the hangar, magnetic clamps were able to pick up vehicles and load them into vertical slots. Jones' sensors were keyed for bio signatures, weapons, explosives, and temperature changes. She was not prepared for a magnet meant to carry a tank targeting her.

It was like playing with children's toys again to see the cyborg dragged from the ground onto the surface of the magnet clamp, trying to jerk her arms away from the force holding her there. Both of her legs stayed magnetized, proving that she had indeed been injured at Suen. She twisted her head back and forth, keeping her cheeks from touching the magnet.

"Dr. Lionel, please, sit down." Jack said, stepping into view. "This won't take long." Lionel jumped, stepping back and having his back against a crate. Jack swaggered over towards the hooked cyborg, smirking. If she broke free, Charles had more corrupt police and security personnel ready to call down the fire and give him enough cover to escape. Just in case, he would always have a plan.

"Harper!" Jones spoke clearly, her eyes locked on him. "Still have your prosthetic feet, eh?" He rotated the magnetic clamp, letting her face him without any awkward moment where her face got stuck to the magnet.

"So nice to see you, too." Jack stayed far away from the magnet, but moved close enough to be able to police Lionel. "Last I heard, you tried to knife Hannah."

"What about it?" Jone's skin was stretching along one cheek, the metal underneath highlighted by the fake skin. "This magnet can only secure me for so long, Harper. Once I'm free, you're dead. Since you weren't picked up, that must mean that you aren't a drone today." She looked gleeful. "One hit, Harper, and you're dead."

"It's unlikely that you'll ever get the chance. Especially as no one is coming to free you." Jack started pacing in front of her. "Noveria is ruled by money, as you well know. Yours isn't as good on paper compared to mine."

"I can always trigger my self-destruct, and end us both."

"That would be foolish. Considering first that I can always hit you with an Overload, or force Lionel to stop the process, you would only be killing a drone."

She was not looking so smug at that. "Let me down or we can find out."

"Let's not. I would rather like to ask you a few questions. About Sovereign."

Julianne Jones looked at him like he had grown a second head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Jack gave her a level look. Everything she had was reminiscent of the Reapers. Her enhancements were so total that she had to be depending on their technology to survive. "Giant tentacle ship. Two kilometers long, likes to talk?" Jones looked like she hadn't understood at all. She really didn't. Damn. "Damn it all." Well, that was a complete bust. He chuckled, and dropped his gun, only carrying his Omni-tool and a cloth-wrapped object as he walked closer to her. She wasn't able to see exactly what it was until the needle tip went into her neck. She tried to jerk away, but it was too late for her. Jack just grinned. "Well, Jones, I'll say a few words before your organs start giving out. Nothing here is going to help you stop the cybernetics from getting rejected." She didn't know anything about the Reapers, she was not going to be of use.

" _Jack, what are you doing, that's not supposed to be used unless she is resisting!_ "

"Charles, she doesn't know anything about her own implants. We can't risk her learning about the rest. She has their technology in her, but she has no understanding of where it all came from. She is not the Agent of the Reapers." He told Charles on their private channel. "I thought she might have been one of their larger agents, considering how modified she was. Sadly, I was wrong. Now, she know too much about what I can do and who I have connections to."

" _That doesn't mean that you can just use that on her! She's got too much of her body dependant upon that technology!_ "

"Charles, are you saying this because you have an ethical reason to complain about this, or are you angry that you aren't a part of it?"

" _Ahh, well, we've done a lot worse than kill one bad crime boss. But this is personal to me, too! I've been your front man every other time she has come after us, and after being lit on fire, I want some freaking payback!_ "

"You designed the drug that I'll use. Consider it payback enough."

Cybernetics required a careful concoction of drugs to remain under control. Destabilize that at all, and the cybernetics stop working. Intentionally cripple it, and the cybernetics could start killing their host. Jones was too far gone to be able to handle losing control, especially when her heart had a cybernetic aid to keep it pumping hard enough to support her heavier body. He watched as her body went limp, and her eyes started going side to side rapidly. "Her lungs' function are tied to that! She's going to die at this rate!" Lionel shouted from the side.

"I'm not here to torture her, Doctor. This is simply unfinished business." Jack lifted Jones up higher using the mechanical arms, and hoisted her above the vehicle mounts. The furthest open vehicle bay was a vertical slot in the floor, letting vehicles slide down into the floor and not waste space. Jack smirked as he dropped Jones into the hole, letting her body slump uselessly at the bottom. "Really, Jones, the people that I'm at war with are so far beyond you that I completely forgot about you until you tried to stab Hannah." He lit a cigarette, but kept his helmet on. The cameras would record a face. "You got my attention, Jones. Congratulations." The mechanical arm went and retrieved Jones' vehicle that she had taken, picking it up and pulling it over the hole. "Nothing personal." He dropped the fifteen ton vehicle onto Jones, taking a picture of the moment. There was a satisfying  _crunch_  as the vehicle landed, and cybernetic parts went everywhere. "Bitch." He let the cigarette drop into the hole, the same brand that Donovan Hock liked to smoke. But he just wanted to let Hock know that he had his eyes on him.

When he turned around, Dr. Lionel was looking worried. "What about me?"

Jack shrugged. "What about you? The Alliance wants you dead, and there are numerous people that would like to pick you up the moment you leave this base. Right now, you're a free man." Jack smirked as he saw Lionel look worried. "You know about how Jones was upgraded?"

Lionel nodded. "Yes. I did it, after all."

Jack turned, his gun prepared. "Ah. Perhaps you might be of interest. You designed her cybernetics?" Lionel looked like he wasn't going to answer him here. Jack just motioned his gun towards the docking bays. "If I don't like the answers, I'll just drop you right next to Jones." Lionel sighed, before putting his hands in his pockets and walking towards the docks. Jack smirked. Today was feeling fantastic. He had even found the source of the damned technology that went into Jones. Even if the woman herself wasn't the Reaper Prophet that he had been hoping to find, she had the capacity to turn into something just as bad.

Her death would be announced, as it happened at Noveria. They were good at reporting that sort of thing. The Alliance would call it a resounding victory. Now, Jack just had to extract that knowledge from the mind of Dr. Lionel, and then get that information to Julia. Let her find a nice clue about the Reapers. "Charles, warm up the ship. It's time to move forward. Tell Miranda that it may be time to move into phase two of Project Phantom."

Oh yes, it was a fine day.

* * *

Hades Nexus, August 2182

"What do you mean?" Julia asked, surprised. "We don't have enough power?"

Lt. Tali'Zorah gave her a nod. "It's why we floundered out fighting those Eclipse. The main gun requires enough power to fire that the stealth drive lost power. Then, the automated subroutines for the armor kicked in, and it drew power away from the stealth drive as well. The ship almost crashed, if it wasn't for us turning off the stealth system manually."

"Isn't that just like flipping a switch?"

The Quarian tilted her head. "No. Heat sinks have to vent slowly, so that we don't melt anything. Otherwise, you can vent the heat sinks with an emergency flush, but that requires dipping into the water supply. We did so, but the dust from the missiles going off sent dust particles throughout the water supply and thermal vents for the entire ship. Not to mention marking us on their sensors like a beacon." She sighed. "I apologize for that, Ma'am. Normally the stealth drive takes a few minutes to turn off safely. By flushing it, I made us into the easiest target in the world."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Lieutenant." She said. "Though I appreciate your actions. The stealth drive works a lot like my own stealth implants." She showed Tali how the stealth systems worked with her suit, and how the heat was partially contained by her catsuit. The Quarian actually lost some of her military composure as she seemed to lose herself in the new technology experience. "I have had the trouble of venting a lot of heat after remaining cloaked for hours."

"How is this possible!" Tali muttered, looking her over. "This technology shouldn't be able to be contained down to that level!"

"I could tell you, but you would have to sign a nondisclosure agreement." Julia said. "So, when all of those particles got into the thermal vents, what did that mean in the long term for the ship?"

"We had to scrub them out completely. Foreign matter inside the vents changes the way that they can contain heat. The dust in the water system was worse. We had to rip all of it out and reinstall it, and redo all of the plumbing systems on the ship. Some of the particles got into the water supply, so that meant we had to replace all of the water, coolant, and air filters as well. That took weeks to sort out. Then we had to realign the entire armor block section that had been hit by that cruiser. It had to be shipped in from the Migrant Fleet. That took security checks and apparently the armor section was sealed in a package that was sensor resistant."

"I'm sure the Alliance was so pleased to deal with that."

"Actually, Lieutenant Pressley was able to get them out of the security area with a single comm call.  _That_  Human is the most efficient one on this ship." Tali walked over to one of the walls. "Though when we were servicing the ship, we found a few oddities." The Quarian slipped into one of the access vents for maintenance like it was much larger than the cramped space it actually was. "I'll have to show you."

Julia placed her command jacket onto a chair and followed the Quarian into the vent, having some experience moving in such cramped quarters. Lt. Tali'Zorah was like a snake, slipping easily into the twists and curves of the hull. She went through a few dozen meters of ventilation shaft before a few exits made themselves apparent. One was a shaft that went straight down, and Julia would have to bend around the corner somehow to get into it. The Quarian girl had dove in headfirst. She had to put her legs in to start, and her hips and shoulders gave her trouble as she tried to get down to the other chamber.

The Quarian girl was already there, in a small room that contained a small haptic screen and controls for some sort of system. "Sorry there isn't much room in here, but I have to show you this."

The haptic screen popped up, and showed that it was a system labeled . "What the hell is it?"

"It's a second torpedo bank, I think. It controls something that is a weapons system, or some sort of defensive system. It's locked down the access to the terminal, requiring some prerequisite events before it can even run."

"This isn't on the blueprints?"

The Quarian shook her head. "I had to rewrite most of the blueprints on file. The Alliance ones don't even have half of the electrical lines. The Quarian ones didn't have any of the structural markers. It's like no one actually knew what the ship was."

More oddities. "What is the event that it's talking about?"

"Umm.. let me see, oh, here." She pointed.  _FUBARWAP_. "I don't understand what kind of event is supposed to occur, or what this seems to be in terms to event type."

Julia nodded. "Well, FUBAR is a Human term for Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition. You'll see it in a lot of the repair team logs."

Zorah nodded. "That helps. Well, let's just assume that this is another experimental system that they never finished?"

Julia nodded. "They tested all of their new technology on this ship, rather than making five ships and testing out with a better control group. We'll probably see more of this around."

"Oh, well. At least the backup cooling systems for the core are meant for something much larger. That at least your Human engineers did right."

"I hope so." Julia said. "The ship can't detect this chamber?"

"It's connected to the power supply, but not to the shipboard comms. Though the other side of the ship has a near identical room, without the haptic interface." She poked at the access point. "It's not even connected to the rest of the computer systems."

"Keep it that way. I don't trust it." Julia muttered. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"No, Commander."

"I need to know if Kalin'ren is with us or not." Julia said. "Tell me about him, since we are away from the ship's comms."

"That bigot is one of the worst examples of our race, Commander. Unfortunately, he is also one of the better minds when it comes to armor materials and comm systems. He hasn't even left the ship, except for when we had to disembark and wait for the inspectors to go through it. He works the same shifts as the rest of us, but I think he just sleeps in the chair up on the bridge."

"Why do you say that?"

"I've rarely seen him sleep in the hammocks that we have set up in the hangar bay." The Quarians all liked to sleep in hammocks, brightly colored and hung from any available section. It meant that the bunks for Humans were able to be less stressed in their use. Less hot bunking occurred. Though she liked her bed, hammocks were almost brought back for use by the Navy when they went into space. She hadn't slept in one, and would much rather prefer her bed. The Quarian hammocks were odd, with a circular central section meant for the Quarian to curl up into a ball, and keep any circulation from being lost. They could also control sound input into their suits, and so some could sleep while others were working. "He just sleeps in that chair up there, unless he is already down here."

"He doesn't socialize?"

"Never. He doesn't like talking about his past, either. Corporal Yerfv Nar Rayya, our damage control officer, had managed to get him to talk about the Moreh once. His old ship. It's odd, Commander. Most Quarians talk about their previous experiences, but he doesn't seem to have any that he wants to talk about. Or mention. It's odd for one of us." avoids it. Though with his condition he probably is treated like nothing back on the Moreh."

"An eating disorder is enough to ostracize someone?"

"A disorder that the fleet deems unworthy of being passed on in the gene pool is something that gets people stigma. It isn't that we avoid them, but I guess we do avoid those that cannot reproduce. They either join the Migrant Fleet Marines, and get themselves killed for the cause, or become researchers and quiet background members of the community."

"So sending Kalin'ren to the Alliance would be a suitable way of getting rid of him?"

"I guess." She shrugged. "Sorry, Commander. My people are community oriented. Sometimes that leads to bad situations."

"Most of your engineers are from the Rayya?"

"It's one of our largest ships. It used to be where the Conclave would meet, and ship captains could resolve disputes. Now the Lucky Break fulfills that. So its purpose has been changing lately. My father used to be the Commander of the Rayya, but he went and joined a smaller vessel recently. His name is Rael'Zorah. One of our Admirals among our people."

"So, does that almost make you royalty?"

"Ancestors, no!" she said. "I'm just like anyone else. Admirals give much more of their time and talents to the fleet than others, but we aren't some noble family or anything. My father is the first of our family to become an Admiral, anyways. No matter who you are, as a Quarian you have to prove yourself. Though being born on some ships gives you better experience, it isn't enough to sway ship captains when they come back from Pilgrimage."

"I'm familiar with the term. What are you going to send back?" Most Quarians working in the Alliance spent their salary on parts and supplies to send back to the fleet.

"Well, since I am the first commissioned officer that we've ever had, I think that I should send back something useful. Others spend their credits on raw materials to send back, which is all well and good. The fleet needs those. I've got something more helpful in mind, or at least something that I think is needed back home."

"What would that be?"

"I know you are one of the Intelligence Operatives, Commander. I… don't think I'll mention it. You're required to report anything out of the ordinary to command, and until I finish my tour I won't be mentioning it to anyone."

"Just because it is something that benefits the Quarians first?" Julia might have to report that, actually. "Don't mention it to anyone, unless you have an agreement or other. Unfortunately, I am also the owner and chief stockholder of your bank." She gave the Quarian a look. "Let me know if you need a loan, and I can get you in touch with a bank official for a loan. They might be more supportive and will help finance anything that makes their stocks improve."

"Wait, I thought that was a rumor!" She said. "You're Julia Harper?"

Julia had a slight feeling of embarrassment, but it really wasn't something to be embarrassed about. "I don't go by that name much anymore, all things considered. I inherited all of the banks and stocks that are still legally allowed to cater to the Quarians, so I try to keep that from being stopped. When we go to the fleet I'll have to spend some time contacting the rest of the board. They live in fear of me, unfortunately. They might have been better business partners if they didn't fear her reporting them for imagined laundering crimes."

"The ship captains just like having places to put their money for when they need to trade. Oh!" The Quarian girl clapped, suddenly excited. "When we get to the fleet, introduce yourself as Harper! I know that you were looking to ask questions of Admiral Daro'Xen. When we go, you might have a better chance of getting her attention by introducing yourself that way." She must have seen her frown. "It's a good idea, I swear! The new Live ship was almost named after your family. Every Quarian knows that name. You go by it, and even the Admirals would take the time to see you while you're there."

Julia grumbled at that. "I'll think about it." It made some sense, but she felt uncomfortable actually seeking out that kind of attention. "So, promise not to mention anything about that?" Julia glanced back at the tiny duct that she would have to crawl through. "Or about how difficult climbing through this is going to be."

Tali giggled and nodded. "I promise. Your hips really aren't made for crawling through ducts."

"My hips are smaller than yours!"

"That's mostly the suits. Not to mention our spines have a secondary support structure that makes our bone structure appear wider than it actually is." She poked the material covering her legs. "You can bend better than we can."

"Some people get all the luck." Julia muttered. "Alright, I'm going to climb back through that vent. You won't mention anything about how difficult this is going to be."

Tali'Zorah laughed. "No problem Commander Harper."

Julia closed her eyes at that. "Just call me Constantine."

"Call me Tali, then. Zorah just makes me think that someone is talking to my father."

"Alright." Julia glanced at the tiny shaft. "How the hell am I supposed to turn around up there?"

"Oh! That's easy." Tali said. "You have to climb into it feet first. Then swing your legs into the main duct, and slip your shoulders into it following your feet."

Julia looked at the shaft. "Not a word, Tali." She did a handstand, making her feet slip into the shaft. "You do this every time?"

"Well, the last time I went through headfirst, I accidentally busted open one of the coolant lines." She pointed at a differently colored section of her helmet. "The duct isn't secure there."

Julia tried not to think about that as she raised herself into the shaft. "Carry on, Tali. Let me know about any other oddities." She wasn't going to admit that it took her ten minutes to get out of that damn shaft. When she finally got out of it, another shift had gotten to work in the reactor, and had a minor panic moment as their commanding officer came out of the vent. They were even more surprised when Tali came out.

" _Hey Commander,_ " Joker's voice came across her comms. " _I've got command on the comm lines. They don't sound happy._ "

"Well, that sounds promising. Notify Jenkins and Pressley."

" _Looks like we're a party line today, Commander. I've got two Admirals on the line._ "

"Perfect." She muttered, looking down at her dust covered gear. She pulled her officer's coat and noticed that someone had gone over it with a lint roller while she had been in the vents. Those Quarians really went above and beyond their duties. With a wave to Tali, she hopped on the elevator.

 


	55. Lucid: Shark in the Water

Chapter 55

Hades Nexus, August 2182

Julia arrived at the comm room to find Pressley and Jenkins waiting for her. Two of the haptic consoles had lit up, and the faces of Admiral Hackett and Rear Admiral White were showing. Upon entering, she gave a salute and stood with Pressley. Jenkins was sitting further back, and gave her a short nod. "Admirals." She said. "We have quite the gift coming."

"Report." Hackett said.

"We went to Asteria, following a lead given to us. Official mission records will include details on an old Kowloon class freighter that we found packed to the brim with Rachni and their Asari allies. We have procured a Rachni Brood Warrior's corpse, as well as an intact plasma cannon. The only thing damaged on it is the head and brain, and so the corpse should yield a lot of intel." Julia grinned. "We also captured an Asari working with the Rachni, and have her in our brig. Other Asari allies were killed and collected, and their armor is being analyzed."

"Analysis completed while you were getting looked over by the ship's MO." Pressley said, tapping his Omni-tool and bringing up a third haptic screen with all of the intel. "My apologies, Admirals, but this information must be eyes only until we can pass it physically. All of the Asari armor that we found was made by Rachni, and is created following the properties of their natural chitin. Highly resistant to biotics, twice as heavy as normal ceramic type armor. Heavier, denser, and thicker than ours on every level. No mag strips, so that might be a complication, but they make up for it in sheer survivability." He pointed at the image. "Regular rounds punch through alright, but if we had to deal with biotic barriers as well as kinetic, we are looking at someone heavily armed and armored, who will guaranteed survive long enough to stop forward momentum."

Pressley cleared his throat and continued. "Weak points along the back of the neck and upper back, and along the thin face plate. Each suit is made by Rachni and directly applied to the wearer. There is no standardization, or any universal parts. Each suit is meant for a single user. The only universal part between them are power cells. So far we have seen power cells from Blackwatch colonies, Omega, all supplied second hand or post production."

"But that might be something to follow up." Admiral White said, his dark features focused. "R&D will look forward to all of this. Though we weren't calling for a debrief. We were asked by Noveria Port Authority to investigate a murder that occurred. Were you or your crew anywhere near Noveria recently?"

"Negative, Admiral. We have been deployed in between Maskim Xul and the Hades Nexus."

Admiral Hackett sighed in relief. "Commander, one of your previous mission reports listed you as having come into contact with Julianne Jones, someone we thought was dead." He tapped a command on his Omni-tool, and information was transferred in secure packets to their own tools. "Her dead body was found in the Noveria Port Authority's hangar bays. Their security teams don't know how old the corpse is, only that it has been underneath a fifteen ton vehicle for at least a solar day. They found Human body parts and four cybernetic limbs. We don't have anyone on record as having that many, and after a limited DNA test we proved that Jones was the owner of the corpse."

"Jones is dead?" Julia asked. "How did she get killed?"

"When a vehicle was dropped on her. For some reason her cybernetic limbs were still working fine, and should have been able to catch the vehicle." White said. "Jones is a stain on our records, Commander. When she was still a sanctioned agent, she was reported as one of our best. We are going to assume that she was killed due to complications resulting from your fight with her earlier. In reality, we don't know how anything happened here. Noveria Port Authority only let us pick up the corpse. The only other thing down there was a cigarette."

"What brand?" Julia asked. "Was there a DNA connection?"

"It was lit, but no one smoked it. The brand was George Hangel, gold standard."

Julia nodded. "That's the brand that is smoked by Emir Kaddafi, Ross Stevens, Don Pablo Emilio, and Donovan Hock." Four major world leaders all smoked that brand, which was a specially produced brand made on Madagascar. Gold filagree was used in the making. It was not something that anyone used without knowing it. But the connection was clear. Her father just killed Jones. It was probably because she had stabbed his drone, in all reality. Though there was a small part of her that felt.. better about her father being the one to kill her. Or perhaps Hannah got to do the job. That thought made her feel even better.

Admiral White scowled. "He doesn't smoke in public."

"There is one other man who prefers this brand." Julia stated quickly, pulling her thoughts back to the briefing. "Though it has not been allowed outside of Council Space, Jack Harper in the past has used this brand." Donovan Hock would never admit this kind of attachment in public, but Jones had been one of his strongest supporters. He was corrupt, by all accounts. Finding evidence of such was difficult.

"He hasn't taken any direct actions against Hock in the past." White stated. "Should we expect a strike on Hock?"

"Raise security on Ambassador Hock. I think we should take the opportunity to keep a closer eye on him." Hackett told the Rear Admiral. "We don't want anything to cause any further panic. Losing our Ambassador to the Council would be a crisis that we don't need. The Rachni War is giving enough people panic."

"We'd be happy to, Admiral." White replied. "The Council has been sniffing around for the  _Normandy_. They know we have a stealth vessel, and the Salarians are nearly begging for the details. The Asari are offended that we haven't showed them the technology, or worked together with them on the project. Command has decided that the Normandy needs to be revealed."

"It hasn't finished its trials yet." Julia stated. "We still haven't gotten enough time."

"The ship is untested, yes. But it has proven that it can go anywhere and do whatever you need. The Alliance is only showing it off at this point. We don't want you to use the cloaking system in Alliance Space, or at the Citadel."

"That defeats the purpose of a stealth frigate, Commander." Pressley reported. "Why don't we use a different frigate to present ourselves with to the Council?"

"The Salarians have been scouting out every single drydock we have, Lieutenant." White said. "It would be a gross misuse of resources to try to bring out our mothballed frigates from other experimental lines just to try to hide a frigate that the Council is aware of. We need the Salarians to stop triggering alarms and alerts all over Alliance Space and focus back on the damn Rachni."

"Rear Admiral White's concerns aside, we want the Council to feel confident in our ability to support a Spectre. The reveal of the  _Normandy_  was a planned event. We are simply moving it a few months ahead of schedule. I trust that the blending of Human and Quarian technology is working as advertised?"

"I have concerns about the ship, Admiral." Julia said. "My chief engineer needs the complete blueprints of this craft. She has received both the Quarian and Human versions, and neither of them match the existing ship. I need her to be given clearance to those files specifically. I can't reveal this ship if we keep finding more experimental technology that we are supposed to be testing."

Hackett gave her a look. "I'm not familiar with the technical blueprints. I was only given an overall description of what that ship is capable of. Besides signing off on the Thanix cannons, which if you are decloaked I remind you to keep them in their compartments, I have no approval for the ship's construction. That was all members of the board."

"That's who approved the blueprints being sent to us in the first place." Pressley stated. "We still haven't logged a top speed or maximum maneuverability, Admirals. We are having power fluctuations when trying to reach top speed and when trying to find our turn radius. Not to mention firing weapons when at full speed. At half speed firing GUARDIAN lasers and our main cannon nearly took us off line."

"While all of those are valid concerns, it is not enough to change the decision of your command structure." Hackett stated. "Bring the ship into the priority docking bay at the Presidium. we've decided that the  _Normandy_  will have a permanent berthing."

Julia did not like this one bit. "Does this mean that there is to be some level of publicity?"

"The public will have some disclosure of your identity, as well as Halmabad and Jenkins. Halmabad has gotten much of the spotlight recently, and Jenkins has been popular in some circles. You, on the other hand, we can't fully disclose. Your father has been a disgrace towards the Alliance and the Council, and we don't want that to be connected with you."

"But if I become a Spectre will the Alliance give full disclosure?"

"The Council will expect it. We will prove that we aren't ashamed of you. At that point you won't be vulnerable to public opinion."

"But there will be rumors spread."

"Rumors will rise about any of you. Halmabad has already been labeled a jihadist by certain Shia groups. The Sunni extremists think that he's some sort of holy warrior, and the poor man hasn't been actively religious in a decade." White stated. "Jenkins, the public seems to think that you're down to earth. Don't do anything stupid and we can maintain that. After your latest interview, Constantine, you seem to be looked at as the conservative option. Command has approved of more interviews, and this time include Jenkins. Also, you have a political officer. Lt. Alenko has years of experience dealing with the news stations and their reporters. Confer with him on what subjects you are allowed to speak on."

Alenko. That would be a fun conversation. The man probably still blamed her for the deaths of his squad. "Is that an order, Sir?"

"Yes, Commander. Lt. Alenko has spent his entire career keeping damage to our reputation limited. I want him to go over any information the press are going to get a hold of."

"Yes, Sir." Julia said. "We will arrange that. Does Alliance R&D still want our Rachni?"

"In light of what is occurring between us and the Council, perhaps we should share your find with their laboratories at the Citadel. They would be happy to investigate it. Our boys will want everything else, though. Especially that Asari armor. Save that for our people. The plasma cannon is based on the same technology that has gone into their smaller weapons, so the tech there won't be a terrible loss."

"Our prisoner?"

"The Asari will end up in their government's hands, as we are legally obligated to do. They killed Asari on an Asari planet. We won't admit to being at Asteria, but Asari criminals will be turned in to them unless you have evidence proving that they committed their crimes on an Alliance world. Even if you find them on a ship in the trade lanes, the Turians have jurisdiction over that." Admiral Hackett stated with some annoyance. "They won't object to you interrogating them on your own before you turn them in, however. You have two Spectres. Use them."

"Yes, Sir."

Hackett nodded. "You have your orders, Commander. Alert Alenko and take your time getting back to the Citadel." He saluted. "Hackett out."

Admiral White nodded to them. "We're glad to hear that you weren't the cause behind Jones' death. We will be tasking teams to investigate why she was on Noveria, but we don't expect them to get far. Noveria keeps itself policed, and only Council Spectres can get a warrant to investigate anything there."

"I see. I'll ask Vakarian."

White saluted. "That's all we have for you, Commander. Good Luck."

The comm connection ended, and the room went quiet. Julia rolled her shoulders. "Alright, Jenkins. You talk to Williams. I need those armors and all of the dead Rachni sanitized, soon." She turned to Pressley. "Chart a trip that takes us back through Maskim Xul. Or at least take us on a path that connects to enough beta relays that make it convincing to the STG or whoever else. They'll be studying how we move and what kind of traces we leave soon enough. I want them to find a convincing trail."

"Aye, Ma'am." He replied simply. "Good luck with Alenko."

Julia didn't grimace, but it was a near thing. She found the good Lieutenant using disinfectant spray over a dead Rachni Warrior, its armor pitted and its head a broken mess. Wrex's Graal weapon certainly did its job well. Alenko was not happy about his work, and his armored gauntlets were covered with small marks from the acid of the Rachni. "Alenko, can we talk?"

"Yes, Ma'am." He said simply, standing up and brushing his arms off. They walked into a corner of the hangar bay that wasn't full of Quarians, Turians, or Rachni. On a frigate, there really wasn't a place that they could be private. Except for the CO's quarters.

"Meet me in the Captain's quarters in six hours. You are to brief Jenkins, Halmabad and I regarding press conferences and acceptable statements to be made to the media."

Alenko blinked. "Sure. I'll need some time to prepare the material."

"Good." She nodded to him. "I've also got some good news, Lieutenant. Julianne Jones is dead."

"That's not really great news, Commander. As you have told me, Jones wasn't the one that created those walking corpses and put them in that formation. Jones wasn't even after us. When we find out who invented those things and put a stop to them,  _then_  it will be good news."

"I'll see if command can direct resources to finding that out. We have the devices that created the corpses, and the Alliance should be able to track down where they came from."

Alenko's dark look lifted slightly, and his shoulders lost some tension. "That would be better, Commander."

She walked the fifteen steps to where Desolous was working on a set of Asari armor. "Desolous, I think it would be best for us to interrogate our prisoner now. Vakarian is already watching her. I've had the Normandy take a longer trip back to the Citadel."

"Your government is giving her to the Asari?" Desolous asked, his voice keening slightly. "After what happened to Neilana? You're just letting another good source of information die!"

"The Alliance is going to follow protocol. But we have twenty hours to get whatever we can out of her." Desolous nodded, making a pained noise as he stood up and moved for the elevator. She looked over at Wrex, who was working on reloading his Graal weapon. "Wrex, we're going to interrogate the Asari. I would appreciate your assistance on the matter."

The big reptilian shook his head. "No. I do not harm prisoners or children. You can do that yourself. Krogan don't bother with interrogation, anyways."

"How do you expect to get information, then?"

"Either they tell me while I am shooting at them, or I tell them that their future is dependent upon how much they tell me." Wrex chuckled. "I haven't sold anyone to Batarians, even though I have threatened to."

Julia just gave the Krogan a level look. "I'll let you know when I need your advice, then." With that, she joined Desolous on the elevator, and triggered the upwards motion. "Civilized brute."

"Most Krogan are worse. Wrex there actually has some standards, but most Krogan won't harm children, though they won't go out of their way to protect them. Wrex has a bad reputation, simply because he has worked for the Shadow Broker and will do most jobs. Though among the Spectres we prefer him to others. He has some honor, though it doesn't show very well."

"He hasn't made any racial commentary, unlike some others I could mention."

Desolous smirked. "I'll let Garrus know."

Garrus was still in full armor, and had a pistol out on his hip, when they found him in the medical bay. In the bed next to him was the Asari, still asleep thanks to painkillers and medi-gel. A carefully created concoction was keeping her in that state, along with the damage from her injuries. Jenkins had hit hard, and she had taken a bad shot with the plasma cannon. Her face was a mess, and some of her nose was missing. Her head was swollen near the tentacles, which was a sign of trauma for most Asari. She had an IV set up, and her limbs were held in restraints. Her biotic amp had been removed, and it was a model that Julia wasn't familiar with. It had  _organic_ components, and some of the element zero was of a concentration that wasn't found in any existing models. All examples of that were set aside, and she had them earmarked as a project that she would put before the remains of Cerberus. It could be something that would benefit Human biotics, she could tell.

She wasn't going to mention that to Alliance Command. If she gave this to the Alliance, they would just turn it into the Asari in exchange for more territory, while Human biotics would not benefit directly. No, this was a decision she had to make for their sake. If they were already losing their only suspect, then she would at least take this consolation prize. Her father had paid millions of credits just to gain access to old blueprints of biotic amps to develop Solaris. That was from the Batarians, even. Not the Asari, who would only arrange to share this technology in a century or so, when they had fully reverse engineered it. As well as when everyone involved with the find were long dead. Then again, they might already have this kind of model and were just not sharing it, like the Alliance and their Thanix Cannon.

"How should we do this?" She asked Desolous and Garrus.

"Leave this one to Desolous, Commander. He knows Asari best." Garrus said sagely. "He taught me everything I know about Asari."

The Asari was looking almost peaceful, but they were low on time. "Doctor, please wake her up." She ordered.

Chakwas nodded, tapping controls on the haptic interface at her desk, and the Asari slowly came back to reality. Her eyes were dilated, and she had a difficult time focusing. She blinked, trying to focus on the area around her. When Desolous grasped her tightly by both shoulders, his face filling her vision, she nearly screamed. Her biotics tried to flare, but all that happened was a simple glow around her torso as she tried to muster her biotic strength. Desolous flinched, and let go of her arms, but kept his face inches from hers.

"Good Morning." Desolous said. "Do you know why you are still alive?"

The Asari just stared, her eyes still trying to see past him. She didn't move her mouth.

"Well, for starters, my name is Spectre Arterius. I don't have any regulations or restrictions on what I am allowed to do to you. Nor am I constrained by any laws on how I have to treat you. So, give me your name, and I won't reopen your wounds."

She said nothing, until Desolous took a pair of forceps and tore the bandages off of one of her burned arms. The plasma mark was still there, red and covered in newly formed scabs. Desolous gave a scary grin as he removed that layer, the Asari flinching away from the tool. She finally started talking, but the dialect of Asari was not something in her Omni-tool. She knew Asari, and these words were so very different that they included a consonant that Julia didn't even know. Another letter in the fourteen letter alphabet that Asari used made every single word and statement different. Especially when the consonant appeared to be in every single verb formation for present tense.

Desolous blinked. " _Do you understand me?_ " He asked in Asari basic. That got the Asari to nod. " _Can you speak this language?_ "

She shook her head, a parade of verbs coming from her mouth. "Did any of them have Omni-tools? We can load up their language interface and just use that to communicate."

"Not a single one. I found it odd, but then again their vehicles didn't have any language interfaces either. Their armor didn't even include an Omni-tool port."

"So they don't have any way of keeping track of their squad's status." Julia noted. "Desolous, figure out a way of communication. Ask questions. See if you can get an idea of what she thinks about certain things." Her Omni-tool was showing an incoming connection. Joker hadn't announced anything over the comms probably to keep the Asari from noticing. The med bay was off the comm grid when it was sealed off. "I have a call coming through."

Garrus was also invited, and the Turian came with her, Jenkins, and Halmabad up to the comm room. When they got there, they found a single connection live, and four people's images were conveyed. Julia recognized Donovan Hock immediately. The Council was with him, and all of them looked dour. "Councillors. Ambassador." Julia greeted. "How can we assist you?"

"We've sighted what may have been a Rachni ship." The Turian Councillor stated. "However, the ship was seen entering space that has been formally claimed by Shanxi Red elements. We were notified that your ship is somewhere in the Attican Traverse."

"This is correct." As of a few minutes ago, their path had entered the Attican Traverse. "We will divert immediately." As she spoke, she noticed that Hock had been staring at her. It wasn't quite a glare, but it was not positive.

Hock spoke up. "The Achilles System hosts a failed Alliance colony, called Helios. There is another planet in the system that is a garden world, but it requires breathing masks outside of its habitation domes. Huan Zhe colony was created by the Reds, and doesn't follow any safety laws or Alliance charter. Candidate Jenkins should be familiar with the system and its situation."

"Aye, Sir." Jenkins said. "Where was this ship sighted?"

Hock actually took his eyes off of Julia to glance at Jenkins. "The Alliance has maintained connection through independent tradesmen and producers to Helios and Huan Zhe. One of the trade ships that were passing through caught sight of a large ship that didn't match anything on file. His sensor logs were from a system that did not have a very effective range, so all we have are vague shadows. But the shape of the ship suggests that it is not Humanoid in origin."

The image file from the sensor data showed some long shaped craft, with trailing appendages coming from the front of the ship. They were large, and the sensor shadow listed the amount of mass displaced as being equal to a mega hauler. "We will investigate this with care, Councillors."

"Good. We don't care about any prisoners you may have found. Finding out if the Rachni have a fleet again is much more important. Their ships never operated in groups of more than five, and the only time we ever fought them in higher concentrations, our ships needed a ten to one advantage to break them. They do not fight like standard ships do."

"We'll avoid combat." She stated. "When we arrive at the Citadel, we will have an update. As well as a Rachni Brood Warrior in change."

"This is critical to our war against the Rachni, Commander. Do not fail us in this." Councillor Volorium stated. With that, the connection died.

"Wow. What's got him pissed off?" Jenkins asked.

"War-time limits on food and consumables were just instituted throughout the Hierarchy. Our assault to take back Galatana didn't succeed." Garrus said. "We have food stores ready for this kind of long war, but for the average citizen, there will be complaints. But without the main agrarian colony supporting us, the Hierarchy will be tied down trying to take it back and won't be able to support any incursions outside of Council Space. It's the worst situation that our people have been in, since the Unification Wars." Garrus said. "Whenever we finish our mission with you, Desolous and I will most likely be deployed there. The world has at least five Queens on it, and we can't risk our food production facilities by leveling the colony."

"We did that at Eden Prime." Julia stated. "It seemed to work."

"Eden Prime had two or three Queens. The Rachni on Galatana have infested our treatment and food preservation plants. We are not herbivores by nature, and so we depend on bone shards and proteins. The Rachni there have infested the only place in the Hierarchy that preserves food. Other than our home world, there is no place that our food can be packaged. We can't level that because it would take decades to rebuild the entire system. So our troops are slowly retaking territory."

"Why did you centralize your food production?" Jenkins asked. "To keep it all in one place sounds stupid."

"That was to keep the colonies from rebelling again. Without a supply of food, or self sufficiency, the colonies depend on the homeworld and Galatana." Garrus stated. "So, let's get you turned into Spectres sooner rather than later."

Julia nodded. "Joker!"

" _Yes, anal retentive Commander?_ "

"Set course for the Achilles System, top speed."

" _Aye, Ma'am. Course set, ETA seven hours._ " Julia smirked, before sending a command through her Omni-tool to cut power to Joker's haptic interface. The course was set, and it wouldn't interrupt the workings of the ship. But she did want to remind him how she felt about insubordination. Discipline had to be maintained. "Garrus, go make sure that Desolous isn't having sex with the prisoner. Jenkins, stay here. We need a better understanding of the Achilles System. The big players, shipping lanes, everything."

"No problem, Ma'am." Jenkins said. "The biggest problem at Helios is that the whole colony is built into the side of a cliff face. Support struts go out and support it, but the landing pad doesn't support a full frigate. Helios is mostly mining tunnels, with large support structures that go through the open ground below the landing platform. Most of the civilian structures and barracks are on the ground, where the worms can go. All pre-fab buildings, nothing concrete. The tunnels are deep, and can support a larger population as long as their filters are kept up. That's where we eventually retreated to, before things went completely to hell."

"What about Huan Zhe?"

"That one is a bit worse off. No building codes, and everyone has to live in domes or contained atmospheres. The air there is not suitable for Humans, having more nitrogen in the atmosphere than anything else. But it has a lot more profitable mining ventures, and is more tectonically stable than Helios. It has three spaceports, all of which can support us landing there. Though it also has some old Corsair ships as a patrol fleet." Jenkins brought up a few pictures from his Omni-tool. "They are mostly used for boarding, rather than straight combat. We could take them, easily. It's the fighter wings that I worry about the  _Normandy_  running into."

"That's down to you and Joker. When we get into the system, you take command of the helm." She stated. "Put your skills to good use. Pressley will be hovering like a parent up there, but don't let him get to you."

"Thanks, Commander. You really know how to give someone a pep talk. Minus the alcohol and the dancing."

"Dancing?"

"Well, Nikolai taught me how to dance the Russian way. Lots of kicking, and he talked about some older style of dance that involved throwing knives at a partner to catch. Then lots of vodka to keep him happy. On the flip side, my alcohol tolerance is better."

"Don't drink anything where Pressley can see." Julia told him. "Or else we might actually have to write you up."

He gave a smirk. "Aye, Commander."

She turned to Halmabad. "Both of you are to meet at the CO's cabin at 2100. We have to learn how to give a press conference. Alenko is walking us through all of the things we are allowed to talk about, and the ones we aren't."

They both gave a salute, before everyone split up. She went down to the middle deck, where her new quarters were. It didn't feel right, approaching the door. There were still feelings of David rolling around in there. Instead of approaching the door, she stepped back and went into the cramped Officer's Quarters. The closet barely fit her things. Pressley of course fit his closet comfortably, and with room to spare. Everything folded and polished to a perfect condition. She took a deep breath to center herself, before taking everything out of her locker. As well as prying up the floor tile and removing the rest of her gear she had stashed there that Pressley wasn't supposed to see. But with him being an agent, that line was a bit more blurred.

Everything fit into two bags. She had to sling her coats over her shoulder, but everything else fit. When she stepped out of the Officer's Quarters, she glanced around looking for anyone else up and about. There were feelings of guilt as she walked forward, stepping into the open mess and walking past the windows of the medbay. Then, all too soon, she was at David's door. It opened for her, and the room was in view. She stopped at the threshold, looking inside. It wasn't much. A couch, a full sized bed, and a small haptic interface and a desk.

There was only one chair, and the couch would fit two grown men if they sat uncomfortably close. She decided that they would either stand in the limited space or she would have to share the couch. Awkward in the highest order. She didn't like it when people touched her. Sharing a couch with anyone was just an extension of that discomfort she felt around doctors.

It took two minutes to unload her gear, and another ten to sweep for bugs and cameras. She found one, tucked away by the door. No sound input, but oddly placed nonetheless. It was not even a Human model. Some of the parts were Salarian, and others looked scrapped together from Batarian aftermarket mods. It wasn't even deployed in such a way to give the camera a view of the interior of the room. The camera only was able to view the doorway, to see who was entering. Dangerous information, on its own.

Once she had gone over the room again, she decided that she wasn't going to be slipping her supplies under a floor panel until Tali went over this room. She stored her private materials, as well as the Asari biotic amps, inside the mattress until she could have Tali in here. Then, and only then, she actually let herself calm down. The bed wasn't the most comfortable, and it barely had any give. It was no better than the beds the other officers had. At least that made her feel like this wasn't out of the ordinary.

Nothing was left to mark this room as David's. He had lived in it for all of two days, after all. Part of her was comfortable with that. A greater part of her felt bad that he hadn't left as much of a mark on the place. Here she was, commanding the ship, where he was supposed to be. She tried to not feel too terrible about that, but the brick that was the bed's pillow reminded her that she couldn't afford to be nostalgic.

* * *

Charles Pressley was old. Not the oldest member of the Alliance Navy, but he was part of a growing number of 'Double Lifers', men coming from their first career in the Navy and returning for a second. The government had yet to address those who would be receiving these stacked pensions, though Pressley hoped that they would make up their minds before he went another ten years and ran into the SAMEC. The medical examinations that he would most certainly not pass. He couldn't run as well anymore, and even with the longevity treatments, he was looking at knee replacements and recovery at some point. That pension was mostly for that.

His family had long since learned that he had married into the Navy, and his intention in life was to protect the Alliance from any and all threats. If his kids didn't like it, they could shut up. The Rachni were proof enough that what he was doing was worthwhile. Hell, one of his sons was looking to transfer into the military. Richard had asked him for a letter of recommendation for OCS. Smartest damn moment of his kid's life. Finally, he could actually help them do something with their lives. Richard had tried being a stock broker and accountant, but cheap Salarian labor had made his job redundant. The man finally grew enough balls to do something worthwhile. Edward was off trying to be some writer for New Hollywood. He didn't care for the Alliance, and he hadn't seen his son in a decade. They exchanged notes every so often, but that was all. Fool boy knew where his father stood. He knew that Charles loved what he did.

He never told his boys about their mother's relationship. They had something special, for a good few years. Then things waned, and stress ruined their relationship. She wanted a divorce, he didn't. They were still separated, and he supported her some. Most men would have a second marriage by this point, but he was a stubborn git. He would come back to his plain looking wife, and in ten years when all of this mess was over, they could try again. Perhaps this time without the yelling and the fighting and the cops being called. Edward had lost his phone rights that night.

That didn't bring him peace. No, that would be this ship. Experimental technology from two races, untested and with power fluctuations, and the ship still ran fine. In fact, his old frigate assignment, the  _Kursk_ , didn't run anywhere near as well. There was no fear of the ship coming apart around you when you jumped to FTL, nor did people feel afraid of the atmospheric seals on the old airlocks. Damn Russians. They could make a fine ship design, but when they actually built the damn things they skimped on safety. The old rigs sometimes would burst or open when they jumped to FTL. It was not the most comforting.

"Joker, verify speed." He called, enjoying the ability to fit everyone inside the small space of the bridge.

"Holding current velocity. We're still ten minutes from expected deceleration." Joker said. Jenkins was up here, that hack. He thought he was so smart, having spent a little time in command school. He rolled his eyes at that. That  _boy_  had no idea how to command a warship. But this was going to be real business. They were going to the Achilles System. Charles had been here once, when the Alliance was originally trying to expand. It hadn't been much, then. Now, though, it was one of the Red's larger systems. He was not looking forward to this.

"Decelerate in eight minutes. Give us another hour or so outside of normal jump range. I want to see what we're dealing with."

Joker nodded. "Roger that." Their approach was exactly two minutes early, on the mark. Joker even preserved enough residual thrust to give them a bit less travel time for their approach into the system. Their mass was more like that of a comet than a ship, if they angled correctly. Though a closer inspection would lack a contrail and other normal matter connected to that. "Sir, it's dead space out there."

He stepped closer to the navigation console. "Copy that. Stealth Systems, engage, make for gas giant Myrmidon. The Reds have a fuel depot there, and we can hide in its rings to vent heat and discharge the core."

"There's a signal coming from the interior of the system. Something big." Kalin'ren muttered. "Trying to narrow it down, but it looks like a distress beacon."

Reds would expect to receive help in their own systems of space. It would be better to leave well enough alone, but Pressley didn't like anything about this. There should at least be some civilian traffic moving around, considering that the relay for this cluster was in another system. "Let's hear it."

" _Fire in the engine room! We cannot stop it! Anyone out there, please help us!_ " The Cantonese coming through the comms was easily translated through his Omni-tool, and Pressley glanced over towards the sensors. The origin of the signal wasn't out there, or immediately apparent. He was only half listening to the rest of the distress signal, and was paying attention more to the sensor charts.

Then the distress beacon cut off. It didn't feel right. Sensors didn't see anything explode or break, but they were so far from the inner system that it would be six hours before they even got in near orbit of one of the habitable planets. The stealth systems would need to cool off soon after. "Maintain course. We'll let the locals clean up their own mess. Background comms?"

"Quiet. Even the civilian bands are empty. The comm relay is down, too. It's like everyone is quiet or dead." Pressley did not like that one bit. There was always some stupid kids trying to call their friends, or music stations blaring somewhere. Background noise was a fact of civilian life, and it was unnatural to have an entire system this quiet.

"Jenkins, what kind of population numbers do you think were living in this system?"

"Forty five thousand, give or take a few hundred. But the comm relay was always fritzy. Signals don't bounce out from the habitation domes as easily as from Helios." He glanced at the sensor data, now standing next to Pressley. "But there was always background signals. It was never like this, even when they had a solar flare."

"Drop a drone, have it make for the comm relay. I want to know what happened to it. We can't contact command without it." Pressley ordered. Drones were tiny, and would break upon contact with space dust. This far out from the inner part of the system, there would be nothing to see the drone deploying. Or so he assumed.

"Drone just died." Joker stated. "It's lost telemetry and is turned off."

"How did that happen?"

"Cheap Human tech." Kalin'ren reported. "The drone got hit by some kind of data burst right before it died. Wide area, can't tell if it was a virus or not."

"Joker, adjust heading, get us below the elliptic. They're going to be looking for the drone." Jenkins stated. "We have to be heading away from the solar system."

Pressley gave that sorry kid his best glare. "Belay that. We can't discharge our drive core out there. We've got eight hours before the stealth systems require us to start venting heat, and we need to be somewhere we can hide. Maintain course to the gas giant."

Jenkins gave him a stern look back. "Sir, with all due respect, we can't use that kind of mentality. Anyone with a brain is going to be looking for us on our current heading. We've got to change headings and loop around. Go below the solar elliptical, and loop around towards the asteroid belt. We can get some more out of the stealth drive if we stay in the shadow of that gas giant. Or in the solar shadow of any of the planets, really. But we need to distance ourselves from that drone as fast as possible."

"Standard practice is not to let our drive core build up its charge. That takes priority." The books and records were clear. Pressley hadn't been on a ship where the drive core had been taken to its limit, but he had seen what had happened to the ones that did. The bodies of men who stood at their stations, enough voltage building up in the ship that they were literally cooked in their seats. This ship was a complete mish mash of experimental tech, and being killed by a discharge error was not the way he planned to go. "Especially when this ship isn't rated for extended time without a discharge."

"Trust me on this one, please. We can't approach this by the book." Jenkins said, his face oddly calm. "This entire system is screwed up. FUBAR. Trust me on this one, we can't be predictable."

Pressley ground his teeth together. "Maintain current heading. Until we have some reason not to, we will maintain present course."

Jenkins frowned, but nodded. Then, all at once, sensors exploded. The ship's lights turned a bright orange, a color that he did not know they could change to. There was a moment of confusion on the faces of his crew, as they tried to understand what was happening. "Sir, I have no idea what just happened, but my interface is telling me that we've got a hostile inbound."

"Sensors!" He barked. His people were recovering their senses.

"Nothing on any range! Nothing showing up anywhere!"

Kalin'ren spoke up from where he was sitting. " _Riipar!_ " That must be another of his dozens of Quarian expletives he dropped on a daily basis. He typed in commands into his interface. "Quarian sensors coming online! Super Dreadnought class ship, approaching quickly!"

"Joker, alter your course along new heading. Jenkins, guide him." It took all of five steps to get to Kalin'ren's haptic interface. It was showing something gigantic, nearly two kilometers long. As it was just passive sensors, all they had were basic mass and length. "What in the hells is that?"

"If you don't know, then your guess is as good as mine. The Geth made something like this once, but they haven't been seen outside the Persius Veil in two hundred years." The Quarian's two fingers typed quickly. "It's moving for the drone."

"I don't see it!" Their sensor tech yelled. "Where is it?"

The  _Normandy_  had changed its heading, and was diving relative to the sun. "Can you get that information to the sensor tech's station?"

"I suppose I can share some of the superior technology we placed on this ship just in case your cheap crap failed to work." Kalin'ren said with effort. "Overlaying information now." Finally the main displays showed this superdreadnought they were dealing with. It had… appendages rather than wings like most species placed on their craft. No overly large engines were displayed, or hangar bays. But at this distance those features could be easily concealed behind the large plates and massive hull. It's mass was reading at a number that made the  _Destiny Ascension_  look like a lightweight.

"Comms. What kind of signal is it giving off?"

"Nothing, sir. Still quiet."

They watched for the next hour as the super large craft made its way towards the drone. It had a top speed that nearly matched their own. Or perhaps a cruising speed. They had barely managed to get out of the area when that craft caught up with the drone. Jenkins had not yet ordered Joker to go to FTL or alter course towards the solar system. "It's arriving at the drone."

The craft stopped, but their passive sensors did not pick up any smaller craft leaving it to capture the drone. It lazily turned around, angling towards the heading that Pressley had originally ordered the ship to keep. Something cold settled in his gut, as he saw it meticulously track along that path. "That bastard knows how we operate."

"Sir, something over comms!"

He came over to the station, seeing that a message was being received. "Play it. I want to see what they're doing."

The screeching noise that came over comms was terrible. It sounded organic, wet, dry, and chalky all at the same time. Pressley clutched his ears as the signal swept through the ship, and the lights flickered and died inside the cabin. The haptic interfaces died, and his technicians fumbled without direct control of the subsystems of the ship. "Report!" He bellowed, using his sense of touch to move around the bridge. There was only one source of light still showing, the one coming from Kalin'ren. His visor had small lights to display data from, and that was what he moved towards.

"Filthy Pyjak cheaply manufactured bullshit!" The Quarian was muttering. "Half of the ship's systems are disabled!"

"Why!"

"Something was in that signal, and it's targeting all of the Alliance tech onboard!" Kalin'ren started tapping on his Omni-tool. "Thank the ancestors we still are in stealth. All of the Quarian tech is frazzled, but still working fine."

"Quick summary, then. What isn't working."

"FTL, Main engines, Sensors, Weapons systems, chemical thrusters." The Quarian tapped a few buttons, and every Omni-tool in the room lit up. "Rerouting ship's functionality through  _Quarian_  comm protocols. Bridge crew can resume their posts, now. So long as you all can function with just your Omni-tools, we can keep this thing flying."

Pressley sighed quietly. This was all terrible. "Stealth Systems?"

"Working fine, captain, but we can't stay out here too long. Thermal collection and venting are Quarian, but air filtration and water systems are Human technology in origin. Those are currently disabled. So air conditioning, thermal control systems, and anything having to do with water are disabled. In addition to that, power to the bridge level is limited, due to either faulty wiring or cheap tech. I'm willing to bet on the second."

Pressley ignored the alien. "Lt. Zorah! Corporal Yervf! I need FTL or engines, and I need them right now!"

" _Power couplings are disabled throughout the interior of the ship, Sir! Lights and haptics are going to be a little while. Our core is still running, and the dedicated power connections to the armor are keeping us from venting anything. Life Support systems will be back online within ten minutes._ " Yervf nar Rayya's clipped voice reported. Pressley shuddered.

" _How could this have happened?_ " Commander Constantine's voice came over comms. " _Was this deliberate?_ " Good, for a spook, to immediately assume someone may have caused this internally.

"All of the networked Alliance tech died when that signal came through. We still have control over the bow thrusters, even if Joker has to fly with just his Omni-tool." Kalin'ren said. "But those thrusters were a Quarian design. Perhaps a Human model, but Quarian for their connections. All of the Alliance tech is basically dead. Worthless crap that it is."

" _No one could have hit that many systems at once. Ship VI is still operational?_ "

" _Negative, Commander_." Tali'Zorah stated. " _She's burned up. Some systems were overloaded when the power fluctuations happened. Ship VI and automated processes are dead. We'll have to get another server system. This one is dead._ "

"Chief Engineer Zorah, I have been on DC teams before. What can we do from up here?" Pressley asked. Give that girl credit, she knew how to take care of the ship. Even with the mashup of technologies that were in it. He would be sad when her terms of service ended.

" _If you can rig up some sort of fan, we need to get the air flowing. Circulation systems are down, so we need to keep the air flowing. Your upper decks are going to be rising in temperature steadily over the next six hours._ "

With no screens to compare anything to, Pressley had to walk down to the cockpit. Everything was dark, but he could see the solar system dominating the forward viewport. Joker wasn't even looking at his Omni-tool, but was guiding the systems using an old manual device set. Ones that he himself had trained on. "Jenkins, rig up that fan that the Chief Engineer was talking about. I'll take co-pilot's seat."

Joker was not comfortable with the XO sitting next to him. "Uh, Sir, these things are like fifty years old, and they take some getting used to." Pressley sat down, letting his fingers run over the old plastic handles. Oh yes, this was some old tech. It had been plugged into where the haptic socket usually was, but piloting from Omni-tool controls was less likely to work than by using instruments. "We had to learn back at the academy, just in case."

"When I enlisted, this was standard issue. So shut your mouth and let me correct your course, pilot." The devices were just as he remembered. Cumbersome, like the old power steering systems in old ground cars. But with a bit of effort, their route was corrected and they were angled correctly, enough to account for solar wind and drifting. Doing it just by sight was hard, but Pressley took pride in his old job of Navigation tech. "There. Stay that course, and I'll see if we can get the engines back before we have to slow down."

Idiotic young kids thought that they could handle everything. Sometimes it took old fashioned men like himself to handle it. He made his way back to Kalin'ren, now confident that they would at least be moving in the right direction. "Whatever happened to our systems, that thing hasn't noticed. It's searching the sector of space near the gas giant, looking for us."

"So it assumed stealth?"

"Well, there is no FTL signature to show us leaving the system. Our FTL drive is down, with the power couplings dead. We will need new ones, you realize."

Pressley nodded. "Thankfully those are standard issue. We should be able to appropriate them from one of the Red colonies or ships here." He looked at the tiny image of the dreadnought running around at speeds a ship that size shouldn't be capable of. "We need to get to cover before the stealth drive cooks us."

"We've got a few hours. Theoretically, we can move the bridge crew and run the ship by Omni-tool, barring navigation and comms, and reduce the people that are up here."

Pressley nodded. "Jenkins, how is that fan coming?" He looked up and saw Jenkins and two other bridge crew rigging up some manually controlled fan. One of the air filtration units had been ripped out of the wall, and its circulation fans were angled towards the ladders. "Good. Once that is set up, go down and check the crew's armor compliment. I want to know if we can have everyone in full armor to keep the temperature down."

"Roger that, sir." He said jauntily.

"Also, Lieutenant," Pressley stated, already knowing that Jenkins was insufferable enough. "Good call on the navigations." His grin could blind. Insufferable indeed. Pressley took a moment to sigh in disgust, before stepping back over towards Kalin'ren. "Any idea what that is or who made it?"

"Yes and No." The Quarian said. "Some of my scans label parts of this vessel as having been made of ultra dense processed metals. Though the parts are more than just processed metals, there are other components that appear to be process carbon and hydrogen. I am not aware of any ship that uses those ingredients in these measurements for their plating. But it would reduce the mass of the ship, so that may explain how they are able to make something of that size."

"Who would make something this large? Wouldn't the Element Zero costs be prohibitive?"

"The Geth may have. They have the time and the factories to do so. Though considering that this is nothing like the Geth ships, this might also be the first Rachni ship on record." Kalin'ren did not give the Geth much in the way of respect. Somehow that comforted Pressley a bit, knowing that this racist bigot was just as heartless to the Geth. "But this thing has a speed that I am not sure of. Rachni in the past only used engines that were developed based on our tech. Perhaps we are seeing what their engines are capable of."

"If that is a Rachni vessel, then we need to get closer." Pressley said. "We need to study it and find any weak points before it comes into contact with allied forces."

"That's a terrible idea." Julia Constantine's voice revealed herself, decloaking on Kalin'ren's other side. The Quarian flinched terribly. "Our ship's systems were disabled when that vessel released a data burst of an unknown type. I have not been able to find any evidence of wrongdoing from the crew, and approaching that beast of a ship is a terrible idea. Keep what scans you can, but get us to the nearest location that we can vent heat. The thermal cooling systems were Alliance."

Pressley frowned. "So, how are we not boiling alive?"

"We will be in a matter of hours. Without main engines and FTL, we won't be able to change course efficiently. Air filtration and heat sinks for the heat we are generating are less of a priority." She stated. "We will be boiling soon enough."

"Let's have the crew suit up in whatever armors we have, let the filtration in the suits keep us cool." Pressley said.

"We can set that up, but the rising temperature may have adverse effects on the Rachni corpses." Constantine said. "We will be doing what we can, but if they start rotting faster, we might have to deal with that kind of threat. Toxins and diseases that these creatures may have been carrying might get into the air without the filters."

Pressley groaned. "Well, Commander, you let me do my job, and you go and do yours. Those heat sinks might keep us alive, if we can operate them." He kept himself straight faced. The crew knew they were in a tight spot, and didn't need to know that their XO was worried. "Kalin'ren, give me internal comms."

"All yours." The Quarian said disparagingly.

"Attention crew. Air filtration systems are failing, and all who can will use armor until this crisis is over. It will keep your temperature down. Assist the damage control teams wherever you can, and we will make it back home without much trouble." Once he was sure that the system had finished its announcement, he turned off the function. Now, he had to simply wait.

"Damn." Joker said.

"What."

"I was really hoping this would have turned into a casual friday kind of situation." Pressley wanted to jettison the pilot, if it wasn't for the fact that the only one who would be able to pilot this archaic system would be himself if that happened. With a sigh, Pressley unbuttoned the top button of his uniform coat.

"Congratulations, Joker. You've just volunteered to go and get your armor on first. Unfortunately, the elevator is Alliance tech. You'll have to take the ladder."

The look of sour regret on the young man's face was enough to brighten his mood.

* * *

Julia was distinctly uncomfortable as they hit the atmosphere of Helios. The  _Normandy_  still was mostly offline. They had chemical jets and main engines back, but thermal sinks, air filtration and water filtration were all still down. The need for a bathroom was potent. Some people had broken down and used the head, but it was smelling ripe in there. She had to use the same facilities, after all. It would have been fine if it wasn't for someone eating mexican. Air quality was dropping quickly.

Pressley had taken care of the crew, quickly enough that everyone was in armor before things got really warm. The Quarians were able to handle some levels of extreme temperature with their encounter suits, but even they had to abandon the bridge at a certain point. Only the cockpit was still manned, with Kalin'ren, Pressley, and Joker in there. That must have been a pleasant room to have three grown men stuffed into. But Helios had a relatively cold atmosphere, which meant that the  _Normandy_  would light up any orbital sensors like a christmas tree.

The ship coasted into a small canyon near the Helios colony. Jenkins said that at one point it was considered maw territory, but it shouldn't worry them. They went after big targets. It was a few dozen kilometers from the colony, and they would have to take the MAKO there. The list of volunteers willing to come with them seemed to include every single marine. Julia selected only a couple. Vakarian, Wrex, Jenkins, Halmabad, Corporal Reddin, and herself were coming. The Corporal had enough Asian ancestry that she might be able to slip in amongst the population if she wanted to. Julia had already treated her hair and face to appear as if she was of Asian descent, and she spoke enough to get by. Reddin did not speak any Cantonese, but she at least looked the part. Along with some of their armor that didn't have Alliance markings, she was going to be fine.

"Pressley, what did sensors have to say about the colony?"

" _Three times the number of buildings compared to the Alliance colony. Same number of landing platforms._ " The man sounded tired. " _Any other details would have been picked up by the Alliance tech._ " So any local signatures, sources of electricity, and comm relays would be detected best by investigating from the MAKO.

"Take us in, Halmabad. Jenkins, tell him where the Thresher Maws liked to burrow. We need to avoid those and keep a low profile."

Having Halmabad drive for them was enjoyable. The ride was bumpy, as he was using the chemical jets to go from solid rock outcropping to solid rock outcropping. Wrex was laughing most of the ride, though Vakarian looked like he was fighting road sickness. Jenkins and Reddin were smirking,and Julia herself found it entertaining. He barely even touched the loose gravel as they drove. The kilometers to the colony were quiet, with few signs of Human habitation or travel. She only saw one set of tracks the entire drive in.

"That's from when we tried to investigate a large Uranium Deposit. It was there, alright. From an old ship that crashed out here. We took the long way back, so that the Maws wouldn't follow us." Jenkins pointed out when they passed it. "We're only a couple more kilometers away. The thresher maws were never this close."

The terrain changed from being loose to being solid. The top layer of dirt would leave obvious tracks, but as they came closer theirs mixed with the others in the colony. Halmabad pulled up at the doors to the colony, where five other vehicles were parked. None were damaged, and one even looked like it was still running. Everyone got out of the vehicle quickly, weapons out and in loose formation. Except for Wrex, who stood out of place. Being as big as he was, he didn't really work well with the others. He had to duck under each doorway, but it was a very well practiced maneuver.

The colony was set up with an outer wall, and a series of domes covering the area. Each dome was roughly two hundred feet in circumference, with aluminum plating covering the gaps. Airlocks between each dome preserved and protected the rest in case one burst. Within each dome were housing units and larger storage buildings. The largest dome was at the base of the cliffs, and had the major processing plant and loading dock. There were five domes between them and it.

"Halmabad, anything out here?"

"MAKO says no. My Omni-tool doesn't detect any movement. That vehicle that is running over there has been running for a while, judging by the residue." Halmabad was a combat engineer, a Cerberus type. Some of the patents and intellectual had been taken from her by Hock, and then resold back to the Alliance. The Soldier and Combat Engineer implants and support technology were taken and resold. She managed to keep everything related to Infiltrators. Though she was sure that some models existed that were knock offs of her design, none of them had the capacity to remain cloaked for hours. Minutes perhaps, but the Alliance Office of Intelligence prided itself on being the only ones with access to her technology.

"Something feels off." Wrex muttered. "This place is too quiet."

Julia nodded, moving up to the still running vehicle. The doors weren't even locked. She tapped the control panel, and they opened without trouble. The vehicle was not empty in the slightest. The man that tumbled out bonelessly she leapt back from. He didn't look dead, simply limp. She waited a few moments, but the man did not respond. "There's a pulse on that one."

They were wearing a full breathing mask. They were still breathing, for that matter. But they were limp, unresponsive. "Let's get them inside the airlock. See if they're just knocked out." Between her and Jenkins, they were able to pull the man into the airlock, letting the doors seal shut. It was a tight fit, height wise. Wrex was bent over at the shoulders. "Take their mask off." Julia removed the small pistol on his hip, and the man did not have an Omni-tool to remove.

The man was old. His hair was white, and his skin was stretched thin across his face. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was even. Almost as if he were simply asleep. Her Omni-tool reported even steady breathing, as well as some malnourishment. His credit chit was almost empty, and had his most recent purchases. Three purchases of medi-gel at the local clinic, food at the local cafeteria, and fuel for the vehicle.

Nothing here regarding health issues. Try as they might, they couldn't wake him, either. He just simply lay there, breathing. Pain, pressure, and even a bit of medi-gel were unable to rouse him. "We need power couplings. Leave him." The power couplings would be in the processing plant, or the loading dock. Jenkins was clear when he mentioned how central that location that was.

The airlock cycled. Inside, she could see the air filtration systems working. Fans were running, and lights were on. The smell of food was nearby, as well. A few shops and a cafeteria were here, their lights on and bright. Everything was fully lit up, drinks still full and sitting on the counter. Food was still out, and the stove was running. Jenkins turned it off, the fire going out.

"Man, they burned the chicken. It's a crime to burn real meat, you know?" Jenkins said, stepping out of the kitchen with his rifle at the ready. "Oh thank god, a bathroom!" Julia felt her stomach quiver at that.

"Once the area is secured, we can use the facilities." Julia commanded. "First, the power couplings." Her stomach rumbled in response. "Wrex, take point. Something here stinks."

The big Krogan stepped forward, his shotgun aimed forward. "Got it." Everyone was keeping their helmets on, not risking being exposed to anything. Their scanners weren't detecting anything harmful in the air. "There's another Human up ahead."

This woman had crawled to the nearest airlock, sealing it tightly against entry. A pen had been used on the door, marking out four numbers and a warning. ' _Dead Inside. Stay Out_ '. Odd, to see that. "Halmabad, get this door open. A few diseased corpses we can deal with."

The combat engineer nodded, connecting to the local network. "It's locked down pretty tightly, Ma'am." He worked at it, looking frustrated for a moment. "Yeah, that's not gonna break so quickly." He pulled out what looked like a long spike. "My Commander always said that the Chinese were overly concerned about their most basic systems." He plunged it into the mechanism for the door, melting through the panel. Then he stuck his hands into the guts of the interface, grabbing wires haphazardly and plugging them all into the same port. Then he plugged in his external suit interface into it.

"You're going to brute force it?" She asked. Typical engineer. Skip the real work and effort and just cheat. Programmers and technicians would do the real work, look for backdoors, and hack their way in. Combat engineers would just cheat, use explosives, brute force their way in. It made Halmabad less respectful in her opinion.

"Well, I don't want to waste time. The ship needs to get back into space, after all." He said, overloading the cables and making the system have to reboot. When it did, it returned to its basic functions first, and the engineer was quick to queue the door to open. "There you go, Ma'am." That door was permanently damaged, now, as well as blatant evidence of their having been here. "Ladies first?"

"Wrex." Julia stated. "We won't be leaving a low profile. If there were alarms connected to that, then people know we are here." She angled her rifle into the door. It was opening, the airlock cycling. Julia twitched as she had to step back again, this time due to a Husk. It didn't even howl, before Wrex grasped it by the face. It croaked, its face falling apart and breaking in the big creature's hand. Two more rose behind it, the Krogan dealing with them just as quietly. He worked gracefully, his movements showing only enough force to get the job done.

After their last time being exposed to these Husk zombies, Julia had all of her team equipped with hardened systems. She wouldn't be knocked out of commission when these bastards started using their dampening fields now. It was expensive to coat their armor, weapons, and Omni-tools, but she did so. She had the money, and she had the income. This time, when she aimed her rifle at the face of a Husk, the battery showed a happy green.

"Keep eyes out for Rachni and the devices that make these things. Don't touch the devices or else you'll turn into one of them." The sight of one of their marines being turned into a Husk was already enough for her. Julia saw Wrex take point, the big creature moving slowly but surely into the next dome.

Gunshots echoed throughout the dome, and not coming from them. "I thought you said these things didn't use guns!" Wrex thundered. "They've got a lot of them!"

Vakarian's rifle went around Wrex, picking off the heaviest armed enemies and letting them drop to the ground. The weapons were cheap, and between the Krogan and everyone else, the room in the dome was cleared of enemies. The Husks had been using weapons, and she didn't like that at all. That reasoning could extend to piloting ships, using vehicles, hacking, and other complex actions.

"Security logs!" Halmabad reported, as they policed the dome for any other Husks hiding in the background. Two were hiding in closets, just waiting for anyone to find them. A third was inside of a vacuum drone. Conniving bastards. Halmabad had found the local barracks, the source of all of the Husks with cheap weapons and cheaper armor. "Looks like they had some sort of coughing virus going around."

Julia pushed past him before he could brute force anything else. The terminal was open and not encrypted, surprisingly. She saw hundreds of security entries, and access to what was once a camera network. All of those were down, except for the vehicle parking area. Their MAKO wasn't in view, but the other vehicles were.

The security logs were clearly labeled and organized. A convenience. She scrolled back through the most recent logs, finding that they had stopped reporting in just this morning. The last report was fairly simple. ' _Quarantined B block. More of this coughing virus making people go crazy. Doc says that the new eye shouldn't give me much trouble, but it's itching pretty bad. The old one fell out earlier. Shixu thought it was a bad omen. But hey, Doc says that everyone else is getting the new ones. The treatments help with the atmosphere, he says._ " The man pictured looked haggard, his collar in a state of permanent drooping that could be associated with most bureaucrats. " _But hey, whatever we've been sick with, the medi-gel seems to be the only thing that keeps the burns and rashes down._ "

" _Antibiotics aren't slowing the rash down, anyways. It killed an old lady in C block, so we aren't taking any chances. We've put up additional security around the medical block, just in case._ " Julia thought it looked like a normal security log, minus the fact that the glowing blue eye on the right side of the man's face looked more like a Husk's than a Human's. The terminal's contents were copied to her Omni-tool,

"Open up some helmets, people. I need to see something." Most of the Husk's heads had been pulverized or shot to hell. But in pulling off the remains of visors and helmets, as well as breathing masks, a very different picture was painted. The Husks had their normal eye sockets with the blue glow, but the rest of their face showed normal Human skin. Julia looked at purchase history for all of them. All of the Husks had bought medi-gel at the local clinic. "Jenkins, where is the clinic?"

"It's a bit out of the way, Commander. All the way in D block." He pointed out on a nearby map, that the dome they needed to get to was in the center of the colony. The one that the clinic resided in was past it, two more domes in and resting at the foot of the cliffs. "Past the objective."

"We'll need to take some of these people back with us. The Alliance has not been able to study any Husks yet."

"Where are we going to put 'em? Next to the piles of Rachni?" Jenkins quipped. "We don't have much space right now."

"If need be, we will store them in the Officer's Quarters and hot bunk the rest of the way to the Citadel." Information could win this war. These Husks might have some data or proof that this effect could be counteracted. "We're here to investigate that craft. If the Rachni would have set up anything to disrupt our resources and strength, they would have hit Helios. The other colony in this system doesn't have the same amount of heavy metals."

"A ship that big would need shuttles or landing craft to come down into atmosphere." Garrus said. "There would be record of their landing at the loading docks. We don't know what that ship would have been here for."

"Only thing here is metals. The Reds don't have any big operations here." Jenkins said, moving up to the next dome's airlock. "So, what, four hundred of these things?"

"My sensors have no life signs. I'm wired into the local networks, and I've still got nothing. None of these people register as alive or dead. They're not on any of the scanners."

"The colony is a lost one, then. Let's get all of the parts and leave."

Julia nodded. "Jenkins, Vakarian, Reddin. Take the route through A Block and see if you can find any of those devices. We can at least blow those to hell, keep others from ending up the zombies of the Rachni. Take the long way around through D Block and check out the medical bay. The rest of us will take the direct route to the docking yard." Jenkins brightened at that.

"Aye, Ma'am." Garrus looked only too happy to be stepping away from the Krogan. They took the airlock going along the outside ring of habitation domes, while Wrex led the way through the domes. The number of Husks dropped steadily, with only ten in the next dome, and two in the dome connected to the docking area. No other bodies sat in the area, but they found weapon discharge marks, as well as some blood stains. Again, food was left out, tools were out in the open, and doors were open in every housing unit. Wrex moved through the domes with no hesitation, even though his armor and weapon didn't work near the Husks. He just would turn his biotic barrier thicker, and swat the creatures with his arms or biotics.

The loading docks were a mess. Here were all of the bodies. Piles of Humans were here, torn apart by claws.  _This_  looked like Rachni. Perhaps the claws of those Husks. "Jenkins, Vakarian, any luck?"

She got nothing in return. "Ma'am, there are still some sensor dead zones out here. There are definitely more of these things out here. Knowing Jenkins, he is probably exploring every nook and cranny here to make sure it's all safe." Halmabad said. "The docking bay here is fried, Commander. Almost every part of the electronics in here are dead."

"Wrex, find out if there are any Husks. They might be keeping this tech damped." The Krogan rumbled some form of assent. Julia made her way to the corpses, her rifle shouldered. "Halmabad, are the power couplings here alright?"

"Negative, Ma'am. Either the Husks or something else damaged them. They're not responding. The only reason this place still has power is the auxiliary solar energy cells. They will keep running for years. Either way, we won't be able to get any parts for the  _Normandy_  here. Everything is fried."

"Halmabad, any dead sensor areas here?"

"Yeah, there is a small one. Middle of that pile." Julia nodded, throwing a tech mine and letting it explode underneath the first layer of Humans. It was an Overload, meant to disable electronics and in general piss off the Husks. They had already found one hiding in a laundry basket, so she put some safe distance between her and the pile, and waited. After thirty seconds, nothing moved. "Hang on, Ma'am, that sensor distortion isn't large enough to be from one of those zombies." His grimace was plain through his visor, as he pushed some of the bodies aside.

One of them was clutching something, a small box. It had been carved with wood, but the interior layers were actually made of lead. Her Omni-tool wasn't getting through. The Chinese on it was old, older than her Omni-tool was keyed to read. The latch for the box was mechanical, however. It was still sealed shut. It required a physical key. A quick search of the man holding the box revealed the key. With the way the man was holding it, it appeared important.

"Ma'am, you know what that means, right?" Halmabad asked. He pointed to the Chinese written on the box. "That's a curse, and a bad one."

She blinked at that. "What does it say?"

"Vengeance upon my enemies, to the 64th generation." Halmabad read out. "Serious business to claim blood feud. 8 is the important number for them, you know. Why he wrote that on that box, I don't know. Most of the time this kind of thing is written in blood or on official documentation."

The box only contained an Omni-tool OSD. No encryption, no layers of defense. It was simply open. But the box kept it from being wiped. The lead lining protected the OSD. "Halmabad, put this into your Omni-tool."

"Alright, Ma'am. Mine's backed up, at least." He plugged in the OSD, which seemed to not be full of viruses. Convenient. "Hey, this guy was part of their security group. Camera access and everything." He grinned. "Someone got video!"

"Stow it." She pointed to the airlock leading to block D. "Let's move out." There was a wet  _crunch_  from where Wrex was dealing with the remaining Husks. He gave a solid grunt and took point, the doors opening to admit his bulk. This dome had another small pile of bodies, but none of the Husk devices. Or any Husks, for that matter.

"Ma'am, you'll want to see this. There's an Asari in the video files. She's controlling the Husks." Halmabad had of course, ignored her order to save that until later.

"Let me see."

The video was showing an Asari, wearing the organic armor, as well as a large amount of Husks ravaging some Humans. No Rachni, though. The video clips were not recorded clearly, as the devices were near those Husks. The clips picked up and left off from different camera angles as more and more were subjected to the Husks' damping. But some of the frames were able to catch the Asari heading for D Block. The Husks followed her orders. She would point, at least, and they would go the direction specified. The last clips of video showed one solitary man with a rifle trying to shoot the Asari, whose barrier did not even break. Cheap weapons. His last action was to shove his OSD into a box, when it lost connection and the video cut out.

"Well, great. Another one of those Asari."

"Wait." Wrex stepped up beside them, making her flinch. She hadn't even heard him walking. "Go to the clip of the Asari near the airlock. She's got her helmet off." Halmabad did so, and the Krogan grunted. "I know her. We need some way of proving that it's her, though."

"Block D, then." She sent out a ping over their comms. "Jenkins, report in."

" _I hear you, Ma'am!_ " There was the sound of a rifle firing in the background. " _We haven't found any conversion devices. A couple of Husks, and the automated defense turrets around the medical bay are all that we've found. Some Mark IV Markov guns. They're taking a while to take down._ "

"Halmabad, any more Husks around?"

"Not many, and all that I can tell is that they're up by the landing pad."

"Let's get to the medical bay."

"Turrets?" Wrex grunted. "They must not be shooting them hard enough."

Julia smirked. "Markov Heavy Industries designs some of the toughest turrets that Humans can make. They usually have fourteen inches of plating and ship grade kinetic barriers. Multiple layers of them."

" _Commander Constantine, we wouldn't mind some assistance in shutting these down. Their barriers recharge too quickly for us to disable them._ " Jenkins stated over comms. " _They've killed more than a dozen of these Husks. Someone may have holed up in here._ "

They jogged the rest of the way to the medical bay, hearing the heavy beating of the turret's guns as a guide. Wrex stopped chuckling when he saw the rest of the team hiding behind the airlock doors for safety. It was the only thing that was able to stand against the guns. Wrex took a glance past the door, and then pulled his head back just as quickly. The thundering shots came back around, striking their own airlock. The Krogan glanced at her. "You sure this isn't just for me?"

"Positive. Jenkins, draw their fire. I'm going to slip past them." Jenkins nodded, stepping out and putting four shots into each of the turrets with his rifle. They reoriented, his barrier flashing as he stepped back into cover. Julia cloaked. She took a few steps forward, seeing Wrex tracking her by the movements of his helmet. She ignored that, moving into the room. She waited a moment to see if the turrets tracked her, and then moved forward.

The turrets were reinforced, and direct access seemed impossible. The first one she approached looked completely secure, with additional plating around its access hatch. All of the hard points were covered in extra layers, and instructions regarding them in Chinese were written in front. She didn't speak enough to know how to disable the turrets. But she could hear active electronics nearby other than the turrets.

The medical bay looked like it had been made to be a shelter in the case of an invasion or attack. The doors were jammed open, however. Perfect for her needs. She ignored the four dead men and women inside, seeing instead the one man with a gun aimed at the door and a compression bandage around his chest. He wasn't aiming at her, but at the door in general. His skin was dark, most likely African in descent. The blood trail from his mouth told her that he wasn't doing so well.

She grinned, kicking the weapon out of his hand and holding hers out of the reach of his hands. She wasn't aiming it at him, but she wanted to be clear that it could be. He gave a small yell, hands grasping towards his lost weapon. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Yeah, that's what the last one said." The man groaned, coughing blood. "Then she killed everybody."

Julia took a step back, finding a chair that wasn't coated in blood or gear. "I'll prove it." She holstered her weapon, settling into a comfortable position. "Are you shot?"

He didn't seem to trust her at all. "Internal bleeding. Lung was ruptured by some biotic ability. Skin lacerated by the same."

"We've got a Doctor nearby, if you're willing to trust me." She glanced at the open wounds covering his chest. "You should get some medi-gel on that."

His eyes went wide. "No! Don't! It's the problem!" He started coughing, hard.

Julia pushed a box of soft towels towards him, watching as he debated the risk, and finally grabbed one of the towels to cough into. "What's wrong with medi-gel?"

He had to cough very hard, but the man pointed to the medi-gel dispenser. It had been welded over. A few Chinese characters were over it, in a common enough dialect that her Omni-tool could translate them. 'Plague' was clearly visibly written. "People get a cough from the medi-gel. Then they come for more, and it gets worse. Turns them into those monsters." He shuddered, blood coming out of his mouth. "My organs are failing, and the only reason I'm alive is because that crazy alien wanted to see if I was going to break down and use the medi-gel."

"The zombies were created from this?" Julia saw that the dispenser hadn't been completely disabled. The welding job didn't seal it well enough. A small wrenching motion freed open the valve that controlled the intake. Inside there was the standardized gallon bag of medi-gel, locked into place. The production markings were different than the Sirrta ones she was used to. "Where did you buy this from?"

"The Alliance won't sell any to us without tariffs, so we buy from Noveria." He stuttered. "But something was wrong with this batch. Sirrta Labs sent us this contaminated crap."

"Who shot you?"

"Some Asari in weird armor. I've got some vidcam recordings from when she walked in here. I made her take off her helmet, too." He coughed more, his body violently shifting on the seat. "You're here for her, aren't you."

"Sorry." Julia admitted. "She is involved with the war. Finding you alive was just a bonus. I've got some Alliance standard medi-gel with me. You turn off those turrets, and I'll bring up a medic and we can patch you up."

"Deal. You Alliance jackasses usually keep your word. Tomas Xing, by the way." He coughed a few more times, tapping his Omni-tool and disabling the turrets.

"Julia Constantine." She tapped a command on her wrist, causing the visor of her helmet to retract. There was enough proof here to suggest that the contaminant was not airborne. "I'll keep you alive if we can get your testimony on the Asari. The Council are going to want to hear about this."

He grimaced. "Fine, I guess. Anything else you want to know?"

"There is some large ship in this system, going after any Human tech. What can you tell us about it."

By this time, the rest of the team had appeared. They looked annoyed as they walked in, passing the turrets. Though ironically enough Wrex gave the turrets a wide berth, staying far away from them. "Not much. The thing landed some shuttle here, right after we found that damn artifact. Started this whole mess."

"Prothean?"

"Yeah. One of their ships crashed out in the waste somewhere. We made the find, and then some big shot from New Shanghai showed up and walked away with it. That big ship you're talking about showed up a couple days later, right about when the medi-gel showed up. Then, well, you can see how that ended up."

"Jenkins, Halmabad, strip the turrets of their power couplings. They survived whatever that ship did to the rest of the system. Reddin, get a zero-gravity stretcher and load up Doctor Xing here. Wrex will escort you back to the MAKO. Vakarian, let's police the area and pick up anything else. We've found what we need."

Once everyone else had spread out, she opened up the files that the Doctor had on his Omni-tool. The video clearly showed an Asari coming into the clinic, face showing. Garrus released a small noise when he saw her face. "That's Spectre Vasir!"

Julia remembered the Asari that had introduced her to Wrex. "Tela Vasir? I've met her. She introduced me to Wrex. Convinced him to help me."

Vakarian sighed. "I'll keep an eye on him. If Vasir is somehow involved with the Rachni, then Wrex might be her way of keeping us in check. We'll keep him out of the loop from now on. Just have him do what he was hired to do."

"That sounds safe enough. This medi-gel was the source of the Husks. Once we are back on the Citadel, we are going to have to find out why."

"The Rachni weaponizing medi-gel would be a catastrophic loss to the war effort. Everyone depends on that." Garrus looked a bit worried. "If this got out to the STG, they would shut down Sirrta just on suspicion alone. They've been looking for a reason to do so for years."

Sirrta had stock that belonged to Jack Harper in it. Miranda controlled that, at this point. Julia had originally owned it, but traded it for Miranda's share in the banks and Quarian stock. "I used to be a board member, but I sold it off. Though this specific batch of medi-gel came from Noveria's labs."

"That place. We would need a warrant before even landing." He glanced at the video file. "Which would alert the STG about Sirrta, and lead to all of our soldiers losing medi-gel."

"We can't let this get out. This needs to be contained." She blinked. "Hold that thought. I think I know how to get to Noveria."

"What will we be doing?" Garrus asked, "Selling what's left of my racial dignity isn't on the table. You've already got me working with Krogan."

"Having a criminal hire us as their bodyguards for a surprise lab inspection." She grinned. "She owns most of Sirrta, afterall."

"Ah." he stated. "This is the kind of plan that you get Desolous to sign off on. I still have a future to invest in."

"You said that Spectres have to find alternate ways of payment, right? What about stock options in Sirrta?" She gave him a grin. "Or perhaps Binary Helix?"

Garrus let his head roll back, looking towards the ceiling. "You make points. This is not official business. This is just a side job."

" _Commander, we've got the power couplings. Batarian models, too. They're pretty tough._ " Jenkins reported. " _We're ready to ship out._ "

"Gather those two people from the area we came in. We will need something to test on."

" _Uh, well, they sorta got up and tried to claw us. Mr. Urdnot took offence to that._ " Jenkins said. " _They broke down like all the others._ " She glanced down at the bags of medi-gel that she had in a secure containment box. That left fewer loose ends to clean up after.

"Roger that, let's get out of here."

* * *

The Citadel, August 2182

Decloaked and in all of her glory, the  _Normandy_  arrived in the Widow system. Two squadrons of Alliance frigates formed up around them, from parts of the Alliance Fifth Fleet. With Eden Prime secure, they had joined the Citadel Fleet to allow the Turian ships to support Galatana. It was highly symbolic and stank of political trouble. Asari, Salarian, and Human ships were in abundance, and Hackett decided that they needed some form of recognition. Joker wiggled his wings as the other squadrons formed up, and shortly afterwards the other frigate pilots followed suit.

" _Alright, Normandy, take a lap around to the front of the Citadel, and skim Zakera Ward. Show off a little bit, let the public take a look at you. Then feel free to park at your designated spot at the Presidium ring._ " Hackett told them over comms. " _I want to see your top speed on the way in, as well. Your escort has been told that if they keep up with you, it's shore leave for their entire squadron. The same if the Normandy wins._ "

Joker's face lit up, and he spun his chair around. "Commander, may I?"

She grinned. "Tali, divert power to engines. The Fleet wants a show."

" _They have no idea that our power couplings are shot! Bosh'tets! Alright, Ma'am, full power to engines. Cutting power to other non essential systems._ "

"Joker, flank speed."

"Well, Commander, I'm not sure I'll get full speed out of her. With the couplings down, I think I'll only be able to get about eighty percent velocity." He was typing fast, his fingers displaying math and projected speed values over the haptic screen.

"Punch it. Use the Quarian thrusters, too. I want to blow away these squadrons." If the Fleet wanted a show, then a show they would receive. The lights dimmed, and the ship's systems went on standby for many things. That included long range scanners, and Joker looked almost like a kid when he pressed the input for velocity.

The engine pods to either side of the cockpit spat blue light as they lit up, and the rear engines caught up momentarily. The squadron around them tried to keep up, but they passed their top speed within two minutes. A few fighters caught up to them, and Joker matched speed with those. Some of the warning lights had come on for the engine power as they had accelerated. Joker cackled as he passed the tip of Zakera Ward, flipping as tightly as the fighters themselves with the forward engine pods. The ship's gravity let go of some of the looser objects during the turn, making Pressley fumble his coffee and datapad as Joker flipped. She could feel the subtle changes in gravity, especially when it kicked back in as they stabilized above the Ward.

"Commander to the ship. We have successfully beaten out our competition, and as such you are granted a day's leave. Congratulations. Engineering crew, you are not to allow Alliance techs anywhere near this craft. Full security status is in effect. Replace our parts and unload these Rachni. The big one goes to the Council teams, and the rest go to the Alliance. The Asari bodies will go with Spectre Arterius, and their armor with Spectre Vakarian. Please remember, crew, that the Office of Intelligence trusts you to not mention this ship's internal workings to anyone. We will be watching."

She grinned as some of the bridge crew looked over at her with worried glances. She let no emotion show on her face as she returned to her quarters, prepared to don some disguise and go out. She needed to check on things. She was almost to her door when the ship docked and the comms came alive again. " _Commander, you've got a visitor. Ambassador Hock is already waiting at the docks. Along with a lot of press._ "

She put aside her thoughts of hiding herself, and grabbed her officer's coat. The leggings of her catsuit wouldn't be out of place, she assumed. When she got to the hangar deck, the doors had still not opened. "Roger that, Joker. Open the hangar bay doors."

The doors sparked. " _Uh, the command didn't take, Commander._ "

Tali chittered something at the rest of the Quarians. They immediately crawled on top of the hangar bay doors and secured a few loose wires to an extension cord coming from one of the Batarian power couplings. The chittering rose, and her translator couldn't keep up with the cursing. All that was clear was that Corporal Yervf nar Rayya was cursing louder than anyone else. Being the one in charge of the damage control teams, he must have felt personally responsible.

Ignoring the stream of cursing translating on her Omni-tool's screen, she stood at attention next to the gigantic dead Rachni. The rest of the Spectres and combat team also stood at attention, their positions around some of the larger Rachni specimens. Within thirty seconds, the hangar bay doors opened, amid sighs of relief from the Quarian techs.

"Attention!" Julia stood up straighter, seeing Admiral Hackett himself standing there.

"At ease, crew." The Admiral stated. "You are relieved."

They didn't immediately break for the airlocks. The Rachni had to be offloaded, and the Brood Warrior had to be carefully offloaded onto a specialized vehicle. Salarians were spouting out theories already when the plasma cannon came into view. Some of the press were taking pictures and selfies with the Brood Warrior in the background, and everyone appeared happy. The Alliance techs were looking at the Rachni with a bit of excitement, and the Spectre technicians were looking at the Asari and their armor with the same kind of excitement.

Admiral Hackett made them get a group photo in front of the dead Brood Warrior. They did one photo opportunity with the entire crew of the  _Normandy_ , and one with just the ground team. Another was with just the flag officers and Spectre candidates. "Commander, how did you kill this? I don't see any exit wounds." He asked.

She used her biotics to leap up behind the head, and pulled out her knife. "I used a knife and stabbed it in the head at the top of its spine, Sir." The press were loving this. "Then a single tech mine was enough to blow out its brain."

"You killed it in close quarters?"

"Our guns weren't punching through its barriers." She hopped back down, watching as the techs impatiently waited for them to be done with pictures and vid recordings so that they could get to studying it already. "It was the most efficient method."

He nodded, his eyes studying the creature. "The Alliance thanks all of you for a job well done. Commander, I need to have a word with you." She nodded, as they stepped off to the side. "The information packets you sent the Council regarding the Achilles System have sparked some responses. Ambassador Hock is going to brief you regarding that. Doctor Xing is being taken into protective custody, as you requested." He gave her a salute. "Good luck, Commander."

Then Hackett went over to Jenkins and Halmabad, both of them seeming to smile when he spoke to them. She herself had a more troubling problem. Donovan Hock stood next to her, looking impeccably perfect as usual. "Julia. I would like to invite you to the Cheirre di Lune for dinner. It's important."

"I'm sure it is. I'll be there in a few hours."

"My thanks, Julia. Humanity cannot afford to lose you, after all." Something about the way he said that bothered her. She didn't trust him. Especially when he was inviting her to a restaurant he personally owned for dinner. It may have been through a front company, but that French restaurant was the most expensive on the Citadel. Not necessarily the best. The Salarians loved it.

Sighing, she almost cloaked and disappeared. But there was Kaiden Alenko, who looked happier than she had ever seen him. He had waited patiently for her to be free of interested parties. "Commander!"

"Alenko? What's going on?"

"Someone found the rest of the Titans, took care of them. They're coming to the Citadel, with the Salarian doctor who took care of them. They're not dead, Commander! They're not dead!"

Julia's eyes widened. "What?" She had seen one of the twins get inhaled by the creature. Cut in half and then eaten. "That's amazing! How many did they find?"

"Three, Commander. We didn't fail them. They're not dead!" Kaiden actually jumped. "I just found out. I'm going to meet them, make sure that they're okay. "Not all of them. I didn't fail them."

"Thank you, Kaiden." She said, seeing his eyes slightly watering. "I'll come visit them as well. Please let me know where they are staying."

He grinned. "No problem. I'll let you know. Bye, Commander."

She sighed in relief as the man walked through an airlock. Then, the press were set upon her, and all of the things that Alenko went over with them got used. Jenkins was on topic the entire time, and strayed away from racial comments or off color jokes. Halmabad was almost glossed over, which left the lion's share of questions for herself. That left her barely enough time to get to the restaurant, which she had to do while cloaked. People just wanted to  _talk_  to her the entire time. It was frustrating, and after a certain point she just lost all patience for it. She let Jenkins take a question, and stepped back onboard the ship long enough to cloak and disappear.

The French restaurant was nice, like most of them are, and had all kinds of decorations and extremely well dressed hosts. The women wore some kind of uniform meant to showcase French taste, but really it was just an excuse to attract Asari and male interest. The men got to wear tuxedos and look amazing. She decloaked near the host's desk, causing some small amount of surprise. The man at the desk, like a true French, was not surprised or amused. "Scan your ID, please." After a satisfied nod, he glanced up at her. "Right this way, please." She was forced to follow some sycophant of a hostess, when all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball in some dark room and be away from all of these people. It was like a pressure upon her mind, and with every passing second it felt worse.

Then she saw where she would be eating. It was an entire upper deck room, with windows that gave a clear view upon the entire Presidium, and a single table set in front of them. It didn't matter that the room was small, but the room was empty. She sighed in relief, as the hostess left her alone in the room with Hock. He was nibbling some sort of pastry at the table, and glanced up at her with a focused look. "I assume you know what this is about?"

"No, I don't." The French could make pastries  _right_. "What's wrong?"

"Those Asari you brought back are causing the Council to look into Asari affairs. They aren't happy about having to reveal some cult killing mess that is going on." He motioned to the table, where more food was available. "Worse, they're involved with the Rachni."

"We've been trying to prove that connection from the beginning, Ambassador."

"Julia, we've known each other a long time. Don't call me that. Not when I've taken the time to get you off the damn grid." He was using some sort of drone to bring food to the table, rather than actual people. Secure, at least. "If you keep poking at this Asari business, they're going to find a way to get rid of you, just like the last Spectre candidate. Kai Leng poked at this, and look where it got him. He disappeared after his mentor found out he was investigating the Asari's darker secrets. You are getting too close to that, and we cannot afford to lose our second chance."

"I thought Kai Leng died in action against mercenaries. Not because of some plot."

"The Intelligence Office doesn't want to bite off more than they can chew. His mentor killed him. Tela Vasir took Leng with her on some sort of pirate raid, and he never came back. That's why you have a Turian mentor. That's why I don't trust any Asari coming onboard your ship. That's part of the reason their government tried to request that a new mentor be given to you today."

"Who?"

"Tela Vasir." Hock said. "You're too close. I've kept them from assigning a new mentor to you, but you have to stop bringing in this evidence. They are going to do something about it. Even if these troubling elements of their society are making trouble and helping the Rachni, no one wants to talk about it."

"I've got a live one of them onboard the  _Normandy_ , Hock. Should I just deny the only lead I have left?"

"I convinced the Council to take you off of this focus. Give you something more constructive. Give the Asari the captive, she won't be long for this world as it is. Leaving her onboard the ship just gives the Council an excuse to retrieve her. Dump the evidence, get rid of the trouble." Hock looked composed, but frustrated. "You haven't logged a report for the Achilles System, Julia. Why?"

Why he had access to her classified military files was a better question. "My XO, Pressley, is trying to identify the ship we came across. We were struck by some kind of EMP field that wiped out specific technology within our ship. Alliance technology, specifically. The Quarian tech worked fine afterwards. Once we can identify the ship, we will submit a report." Or when Pressley could find a way to fudge out the details regarding tainted medi-gel.

"Show me this craft." Hock stated around some sort of duck that had arrived at the table. "I consider myself somewhat familiar with craft."

"Two kilometers long, odd construction shape." She said, bringing up the images from the dorsal camera. The others had been Alliance tech. "We've got a full image here." Her Omni-tool displayed the ship, displayed lengthwise and with the odd appendages angled forward.

"Damn." Hock said. "Damn it, Jack."

"What?"

"That's a Prothean Dreadnought. The only person confirmed to own a functional one of those things is your father. Damn it all, Jack." Hock looked livid. "Now we have no choice. You're off the Rachni. The Council is going to dispatch you after your father. He has a Prothean Dreadnought and he plans on using it. Achilles must have just been a test run. It's only a matter of time before this thing is aimed at one of our worlds."

* * *

Author's Note

Here we go. It's Reaper time. I'm so excited I can't wait to write the next scenes. In fact, some are already written and ready to go. We've got a lot more to play with now, and the Reapers are starting to make their move.

Galatana, a planet that has been mentioned significantly recently, is the breadbasket of all Turian food production. During the Turian's spat with all of their colonies, they had to take control of certain things to maintain power. One of those facets of their control is an overly centralized food supply system. The Blackwatch colonies can't fully break away, not when the Hierarchy controls food production technology and shipping of said food. In this manner they control all of their colonies, as the only other place that they can produce food for themselves is Palaven itself. So it is one of those critical components to the Turian infrastructure, and with it being Rachni-infested, the Turians can't afford to deploy anywhere. Not until Galatana has been reclaimed.

As such, this war is hitting the Turians particularly hard. They have stores of food, but the idea of losing their food supplies is terrifying. They have never had this kind of attack happen, and terrorism on this scale is too much for any of them to consider. Not to mention that the primary method that the Hierarchy controls its great and many citizens is through citizenship tiers. The other methods include food supply and labor. Most of their colonies are under stress at this point, and if they do not get Galatana back soon enough, there will be some pressure from their colonies. As Garrus stated earlier, it would still take too long to set up food production facilities for the Hierarchy somewhere else than simply repair and retake Galatana.

The idea of infecting medi-gel is one that I was almost hesitant to write about. It just hits so close to home. At one point we had an Anthrax scare that happened near where I was living. Someone tried to infect certain things, and the idea of medi-gel being used as a source of infection and Indoctrination just made a certain amount of  _sense_. Scary sense, but sense enough. You guys have heard enough about Ebola, now consider what would happen if the medicine meant to administer it made things worse. That is the potential of this medi-gel. I'll be adding a conversation next time with Chakwas regarding the potential damage this might cause.

Also, FUBARWAP - Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition Without A Paddle. One of the best ways of describing a newb's experience of a Bullet Hell game. It seemed appropriate.

Thanks for reading, ladies and gentlemen. Until next time.


	56. Lucid: Eyes of a Killer

Chapter 56

Blue Thunder Bar, Zakera Ward, The Citadel, August 2182

He was a ghost. The invisible man in the bar. As it should be. The Japanese themed sushi bar was his gift to one of Crucible's finest agents. Replicas of ancient Chinese and Japanese art were on the walls, and some of the better food you could find was in the restaurant portion of the bar. All according to Kasumi's tastes, which were all very odd. She had been raised as some pop idol, Hatsune Miku. As such her tastes and what she believed a sushi bar should be like were rather eclectic. Costumes and posters displaying pop idols from Japan's past were the standard fare, and music videos played over all of the haptics.

The reason that he was actually on the Citadel was twofold. The first was to show Julia that he was still a presence in her life. The second being that Benezia refused to travel to the Terminus Systems, for fear of being removed in some kind of accident by the Asari Republics. So she refused to go to any of his safe locations. Her attempts to visit Liara had been called off numerous times, due to the close surveillance that the Asari Republics. But coming to visit her followers was something she did on a regular basis.

He had dressed up as a Quarian on occasion to get to her before, both times to visit Miranda. Dressing up like a Quarian required some serious effort. Feeding tube, catheter, all kinds of unpleasant bodily functions contained in one of their encounter suits. There was a reason that when Quarians spoke, it sounded like they were speaking with a serious lisp. That reason was a feeding tube. Today he simply had a darker tan and a terrible mustache. No feeding tube or catheter needed to sneak in to see his Asari ally today.

But in the meantime, there were concerns to address. Donovan Hock had not responded to his killing of Jones. The Alliance had picked up her body, but what they had done with it after that point he did not know. Hock hadn't made any attempts to attack him or cut him off from their shared sources of income. They both used drug runners and smuggling eezo to finance their alternative pursuits. Jack dedicated his purloined money to fighting the Reapers and their agents. Hock was creating some Human interest groups as well as funding political interests. As was the norm, it was hard to trace where all of it came from. For both of them, it was hard to trace where it all came from. Jack at least trusted more than Human groups for funding and interests. Hock only trusted Human sources, mostly the Reds. They were the only group that still could operate outside the boundaries set by the Council.

"Kasumi, could you make sure that young man gets this note?"

The woman next to him smiled. Her hair had been dyed this week, but already the electric blue roots were growing through. She had a small plate of drinks prepared, and the actual paper note was folded into an origami bird. "Hai, hai." Kasumi Goto grinned, sauntering away in the crowd of themed costumes.

It wasn't long before the man in question showed up at the bar. Kaidan looked confused, sitting there. "Ah, excuse me, I was told that I had a message waiting for me?"

Jack grinned. With the terrible mustache it must have come off as hideous. "Hai, Sir. A private call came for you in our comm network. We were not sure who he was calling for, but said that 'Kaid' would answer."

His eyes shifted, glaring at something. "I'll take it here."

Jack nodded his head. "We have private rooms available, Sir. The caller has already paid for one in advance for you, should you choose to accept the call."

Kaidan Alenko nodded, and Jack happily led him to one of the small rooms reserved for comm calls. Inside, he queued the call on his own Omni-tool, not trusting the technology that was already there. Good thought, but not quite enough.

" _You are now accepting a collect call from Omega._ " The automated teller told him. " _Please select a credit account._ " Kaidan grumbled something that didn't include profanity and plugged in his number. Such a boy scout.

"This better be important." Kaidan muttered as the connection was established.

" _Don't worry buddy, it is. Long time no see. How are you?_ " Charles' voice came over the comms. Jack had stepped out of the comm room, but was just around the corner. He could hear the happy tones of his chief programmer going on. Of course, the underlying panic in his voice was evident. An actor Charles Archer was not.

"I'm fine. Not hiding from my friends and family. Or from the Alliance." Kaidan all but spat. "Why are you calling me?"

" _Well, firstly to let you know that I'm okay, I'm just being illegal and becoming some sort of creepy ex-patriot out in the Terminus. If that's alright with you. The reason that I'm actually calling was so that the rumors I've been hearing could be proven true or not._ "

"You called me about a rumor?" Kaidan sounded exasperated. "You avoid calling me for half a decade, even though I tried to get a hold of you, and you're calling about a rumor. You're unbelievable."

" _Yeah, you had like, fifty Alliance techs observing your account at all times. Right now they're all busy looking at Rachni crap. They'll pay attention soon, but in the meantime I at least have your attention. So, did I hear right that you asked out Julia Harper?_ "

"What? I didn't!"

" _You're so red faced right now, man. You totally did._ "

"I did not ask my commanding officer out."

" _But if anyone had a chance, it would be you. I mean, you're a lot better than the other people she's said to have been with._ "

"Wait. Who?"

" _Well, She's said to have been with Donovan Hock and David Anderson. You're a bit younger than them_." Charles chuckled. " _Probably better chances for you_."

"Well, probably. Don't you have a girlfriend yourself? Or something better to do with your time than bother me over rumors?"

" _Something. I've got a something._ " Charles muttered. " _Actually, the real reason I'm calling is because we needed you to take small breather from the rest of your crew. May I introduce someone who very much wants to speak to you._ " Jack took that as his queue, as Charles' voice wavered. He hadn't even taken a step before his kinetic barrier lit up, the foot that had stepped forward getting blown back so hard that Jack did a frontflip. His face hit the ground, hard.

Kaidan cried out as his bodyguard for the day tried to get in close to him, the man rated to be the best close combatant in Crucible getting elbowed in the face. Alenko had amazing reflexes, and Jack watched as he took his bodyguard apart. That ended with his bodyguard's head shoved onto the haptic interface port, his forehead already bruising. Then Kaidan was standing over him, a pistol drawn. "Get up, I'm bringing you in."

"Try anything and your squad will die." Jack stated. "I didn't come halfway across the damn galaxy to be arrested. I came to talk to you." Jack reached up, pulling off his mustache. The bleeding nose made this less oppressive and intimidating. "It's been fifteen years, Mr. Alenko. You've certainly come a long way."

"Jack Harper?" Alenko started reaching for his wrist.

"You would be in some Salarian lab in giblets if I hadn't taken care of you and Charles at Disneyland. Now, just like back then, I have no intention of harming you. But out of all of the Normandy crew, you are the easiest one to contact. The easiest to separate, address, and so on. Now, are you going to listen to what I have to say, or not?"

"You abandoned all of us. Give me a reason why I should." Kaidan hadn't shot at him yet, which was a good sign. His biotics had definitely recharged, though. His bodyguard made a move to stand, but Kaidan's outstretched hand gave him reason to stay still. As well as Jack's hand motion. Jack had to spit blood. Hopefully his nose wouldn't take surgery to correct after all this mess.

"I never abandoned anyone. My goals are not your goals, nor are my goals shared by the Alliance. But my goals are  _Humanitarian_  in nature." Kaidan scoffed at that. "I didn't leave you without resources, Alenko. If you remember, I was the one to arrange your team getting the training, your biotic amps, developing the technology that created medi-gel. You name it, and most of the things that you depend on in your daily life came from my labs." Jack was breathing a bit calmer, seeing Kaidan's eyes shifting in thought. "I just spent two hundred thousand credits distracting your observers and the rest of the crew's watchmen so that I could talk to you for a few minutes." A partially true statement. Not all of the distractions he had paid for had been used yet, but that was how much he had been prepared to spend on this rather frivolous moment.

"Talk, then. No one would hold it against me if I reported it."

"I'm betting on that." Jack said. "You're pissing off so many different governments with your casual investigation into the Rachni that I actually have to address things. There is a connection between the Asari and the Rachni, but if you poke any further into it things will become slightly dangerous. The Asari government has everything to do with that, so stop poking at it." Jack smirked as Kaidan looked a bit confused at that. "You're going to pass this on to Julia. The Rachni are a waste of time. They are just a crafted threat to drive the Turians back. Not only them, but the Alliance as well. The real threat is moving behind them. Behind the Asari, behind the Salarians, behind the Alliance."

"The Alliance?" Oh yes, anything that made the Alliance into something they weren't would threaten Alenko's peace of mind.

"They have advanced technology that goes beyond the Turians capabilities. The evidence of that is onboard your ship. Turians cannot cloak, nor can they use plasma based weapons. Weapons that use the same technology that the Rachni use." Jack paused, seeing the gun focus back on him. "They have the same source. Now, listen well. Your Omni-tool won't be able to record much of this, seeing as all of its functions are disabled at the moment. We can't risk others listening in."

"Re-enable the functions, I'll take that risk." Alenko said coldly.

" _No can do, buddy. Your observers are already taking notice of your absence. We've got a couple of minutes before they call someone about it._ " Charles said, still connected to the conversation. " _Then we gotta call in our answer to whatever heat they're don't want to see that, Kade._ "

Jack smirked. "You tell Julia to stay away from the Rachni. She'll get as much information out of your ship's guns as she does their weapons. They have the same source. She isn't going to find that source digging around in reverse engineered technology. You tell her that she needs to go to and meet with the Quarians. Admiral Daro'xen will be waiting for you. If Julia doesn't trust her, she can go and talk to the one who showed me a few clues. Haego D'vorak. Minister of the Interior for the Batarian Hegemony." Jack grinned. "Unfortunately, I can't explain why. By now your handlers will have noticed your absence. Julia was under too much surveillance for me to contact her directly."

"You're under arrest, Jack. You'll have plenty of time to explain yourself in the brig."

He laughed. "You and what army, Alenko? You make any move on me and Charles brings down hell on everything we hold dear, and this entire exercise will have been for nothing. You're going to let me go, and the reason why is simple." Jack motioned to the comm channel. "Charles. Let him know the location of the other half of our sniper teams."

" _Kade, your dad still lives in Madrid, right?_ " Charles showed a feed on the channel. " _We really didn't want to do this, but if you try to capture Jack, he has standing orders to hit your dad's apartment with a missile. Jack's gonna walk out of here, Kade. That's a fact because I am making it a reality. But you gotta get Julia to stop investigating the Asari. Otherwise it'll just end with all of you dead somewhere._ "

Kaiden didn't look fully convinced. "Mr. Alenko, I've known about this threat since the Prothean Archive was first decoded. I've dedicated my life to stopping it, even when it seemed that Humanity was alone in the galaxy. Now, put down the gun, and we can leave here like gentlemen."

"Gentlemen don't kill people."

"You and I have very different definitions then." Jack stated. "Either way, time is up." He stood up, seeing Kaiden's eyes glance to the view of his father's apartment and the gun falter. "Good luck on your date with Julia, Mr. Alenko." Kaiden looked bewildered at that. "Her previous sexual partners have been quite painful to see. Let's hope you are an improvement."

"Um." Was all the man could say. Jack dusted himself off, and started walking.

"Treat my daughter with respect, Mr. Alenko. I'll be watching." Jack stepped forward, moving towards the exit doors. Alenko started to follow him, finding his resolve again. Jack just snapped his fingers, and watched as his bodyguard stood in the way. The man and Alenko both knew what the other was capable of, and the silent stand off bought Jack enough time to step into the back alleys of the Citadel. "Charles, did you leave our little present?"

" _Yeah, boss. Info packet is away._ " He smirked as he could hear Alenko yelling for him in the alleyway. He was already in a shuttle and in the air by the time the man figured out that his comms were jammed. Jack hit the relay and was headed for Alliance Space long before the alarm was raised. Julia's reaction was now the key. If she heeded his warning, he wouldn't have to show himself and take on the Asari Republics. If she kept digging, however, that was going to get complicated.

"Charles, thank you for meeting with Benezia for me. I hope the experience was a good one." His nose was still leaking blood, something that he did not enjoy. Kaiden at least could fight well. He himself not so much. Pistols and marksmanship only took you so far. Jack Harper was not someone who made a habit of going into combat.

" _She wasn't amorous or anything, but it was sort of nice. A bit edgy, since we were talking about stealing from the Asari, but that was it._ "

"Did you get the codes?"

" _No. Benezia doesn't have access to Friess Station._ "

"Then we are going to have to find another way. You work on Noveria. I'll be stopping at Earth and then going wherever Julia decides to pursue us. I have to remove what little is left that makes Julia vulnerable."

" _Got it boss. We'll get there._ "

* * *

Julia tore out of the restaurant with a scowl. Damn it all. Hock was a lying piece of slime, but he wouldn't make that kind of outrageous claim without something to back it up. She  _had_  to investigate it. There was no question about that. If it was true, then it represented something worse than the Rachni. It was difficult to imagine what her father was capable of with access to that kind of technology. Not to mention whatever that ship did to all of the Alliance technology. For that, she needed to talk to someone who knew about everything her father knew.

The Danger Zone was closed. She didn't know why, and didn't want to tip off her followers about James. He deserved to have a good life. She had triggered comm bugs and couldn't contact Miranda from that place again. But she had to call her. She couldn't do that from the Citadel.

"Constantine to Vakarian."

It took the Turian a long time to answer. " _I really hope that this is important, Commander._ " He sounded tired. " _This is the first time I've seen my bed in months. Please tell me I'm going to get some time to use my apartment._ "

"I need a comm relay. Something safe."

" _I am not of much help there. You should know that we're under a lot of scrutiny from both of our governments. Now, are we leaving earlier than planned again?_ "

"No, we are not." She replied. "Thank you at least offering."

" _I'll see you at the end of shore leave, Commander. My Omni-tool is turning off now. Good night, Human._ "

The comm line ended, and she rolled her eyes. The poor Spectre hadn't seen his apartment since before he had joined them on their journey. He was going to sleep a while. A similar call to Desolous wasn't even answered. Some mentor he was. She thought about calling Wrex, but he didn't seem to be the kind of person to know a secure comm relay. At least one that didn't have Shadow Broker monitoring.

The Alliance wouldn't be safe either. But there was one person who might be helpful. "Lieutenant Zorah, this is Constantine."

" _Commander?_ " The Quarian replied. " _Is something wrong?_ "

"I need access to a secure comm relay. Do you know of any here?"

" _Meet me at these coordinates. We owe you that much._ " The coordinates that followed were near the space side edge of the Zakera Ward. Inside the ventilation shafts, curiously enough. Julia had to walk a long distance to find an access hatch to the section, at the bottom of the housing blocks. The nearest access hatch was already cracked open, with a small word stenciled onto the outside. It was in plain english, simply reading 'Harry'. The interior was lined with the same blank coloration as the rest of the Citadel, but strips of cloth had been draped across sections of the wall and ceiling. The cloth was in many bright colors, but mostly consisted of blues and purples. The fabric was cheap, the kind that the lower markets sold in bulk. All synthetic rather than actual material.

The tunnel took a turn into an air cycling chamber, which had even more drapes and coverings. Behind some of the drapes were hammocks. Some were full of wrapped humanoid shapes, while others sat empty. Standing around at small haptic tables made out of spare parts were dozens of Quarians. Colors in levels that bordered the psychedelic were everywhere. She could see Lt. Zorah in the middle of a crowd on the right, her Alliance officer lapels standing out.

"Commander!" She yelled over the other chittering Quarians. "Welcome to the lower Razza."

Julia nodded. "So this is where you all go. It's nice."

"Well, we made a deal with the Alliance. We maintain the lower airlocks and do some of the maintenance work for them, and they let us stay down here." She shrugged. "It's cramped and feels more comfortable than any warehouse they offered us initially. For Quarians, there aren't enough of us here permanently to really invest in anything in terms of property. Down here no one really cares what we do. You said that you needed a comm relay?"

"Yeah. Something that I can send something encrypted or direct without anyone seeing it."

Tali made a coughing kind of laughter. "Oh? Not hard at all. We have to sneak our own comm signals through anyways. Give me a comm code to plug in and we can have your signal going anywhere in the galaxy. Given a little extra time for us to piggyback our signal with someone else's that is going the same way. Something big enough to hide the signal you're sending. The multiplexing that the comm relays are capable of gives us some leeway." Tali was standing next to one of the tables full of halfway rebuilt haptic interfaces. They were fully functional, they just lacked the finished look that most tech she was familiar with had.

"Are you sure that it's secure?"

"Absolutely. One of the things that the Quarians did when we became members of the Citadel was create all of the comm protocols. We wrote most of the basic code that the Council uses for their older comm relays. So communicating with our fleet is relatively simple, while communicating with areas of Council Space that have the newest Salarian or Volus comm relays are a bit tougher. We haven't cracked that yet."

"I don't know how far this call is going to go. I have a comm address, but it's hidden behind so many layers of encryption itself, as well as some signal relays that the signal has to bounce through." There were dozens of Quarians all around. At least two were sleeping right behind her in hammocks. This location was hardly secure. But right now it was the best she had. "It won't connect if our encryption isn't strong enough."

Tali made a noise like she was blowing out her nose. "You just let my friends handle that." She clapped her hands, getting the attention of some of the Quarians around her. "Keelah! We've got a call to encrypt!" All of the male Quarians blustered. Tali was some sort of princess to them. Or some sort of nobility. Every haptic surface was full of Quarians, whose hands were on Omni-tools and there was some foot stamping. "Alright, Commander, let's have that comm address."

The haptic screen showed a small text field for entering comm codes. The teams of technicians were already finding her routes for the signal to escape the Citadel through. She could see their work in the background of the screen. Hesitantly, she entered the comm address for Miranda. Then, she added the forwarding address that would start the process and route her connection correctly. She took a deep breath as she input the final 6 for the address, and hit enter.

Chittering erupted from the male Quarians as they then layered her connection with encryption after encryption, and sent it along comm routing protocols that she wasn't familiar with. She wasn't even aware that this layer of hardware existed. It was somewhere on the data link fundamental hardware layer, but it wasn't at the same time. It all flashed by so quickly that she couldn't tell where it all connected to.

"Hey, wait, this is connecting to our networks in the Terminus! This comm address is already on our secure networks!" Tali stated. "Commander, the address is routing through Hades Nexus, then Eden Prime. Those networks are extremely secure. Though the signal keeps going, routing through that comm relay is going to get noticed."

"Send a text file first then. If this is all on the Quarian network we can find another route for the signal to go."

Tali whistled happily as the signal went along the comm routes without a problem. The text file went along the comm routes inside of some local weather report. The reply was near instantaneous. ' _Comm protocol 4_ ' was the reply. That meant that she was to wait until Miranda could contact her. She had a life of her own, and couldn't just break open large time slots for her sister without it becoming suspicious. So Julia sat back into one of the hammocks.

"What does that mean, Commander?"

"It means I have to wait until she has time to call me back. Hopefully before shore leave ends." The crowd of male Quarians lost interest quickly. "What are they all doing here?"

"Oh. Most of us work for the Alliance or Human companies here. We get the best rates and pay from them, anyways. The rest of us are working for tech firms and corporate security handling. Quarians aren't welcome in any other places, really." Tali shrugged. She didn't seem as uptight and controlled as she was on the  _Normandy_. "Though you're welcome to be down here with us. You are a really good thing for the Quarian people."

"Just because of the bank?"

"All of us are connected to you in some way, Commander." Tali replied. "You and your family are known to everyone."

Lucky her. "You know about the rest of my family?"

"Well, your father for certain. Though your sister has made a decent contribution to our cause. With Catalyst and everything."

"Catalyst, isn't that some band that is from Omega?"

"Catalyst?" Some of the male Quarians adjusted something on the wall, and tones and vocals started coming out of an audio module. It sounded like electro death metal, with a mixture of Human and Quarian languages blaring. The vocals were pretty, but the amount of instruments playing in the background made it hard to hear some of them. "This is her song 'Rejected and Despised'. It's great!" The male said.

"Catalyst is a band with a Quarian lead singer. There are a couple of other music groups with Quarians in them, but this one's lead singer is a woman from the Saerinlas." Tali explained. "Tesai nar Saerinlas is from our cultural library ship. It's where most of our cultural and entertainment specialists go. Catalyst is supported by Crucible, your father's company. So we like them, too."

"I've heard Quarian music. It's classical and tribal, right?"

"Tesai didn't exactly impress when she returned home from her Pilgrimage. She had learned new forms of music, and all of the older more traditional people did not like it at all. Enough that she wasn't accepted on any ships. Or at least no ship would admit that they had accepted her. Few Quarians are ever rejected at the end of their Pilgrimage, but the ones that are rejected are seen to have nothing of worth to the gene pool."

"Like Kalin'ren?"

"Kalin'ren vas Moreh offered the Quarian people a mobile comm relay node. It is worth more than any ship to our fleet, because it linked us back into the galactic network. His gift to the fleet was so extraordinary that even with his birth defects he was accepted."

"Too bad." Julia said. "Maybe if they had looked past that and let him have a mate that was sterile he might have been less of an ass to everyone."

Tali actually laughed at that. "You do realize that mating is one of the most dangerous things that we do, right? We have to acclimatize our senses to one another. Then we have to get a clean room and run decontamination every time we want to try to conceive children. The fleet cannot waste those kinds of resources on those who cannot produce children. Power and air filters are too expensive to waste on that."

"That sounds like you just quoted your medical handbook." Tali had spoke it as if were rote.

"It is, though. Everyone had to memorize certain things to qualify for your first tasks as a child. That's one of them. Every child understands what their immune systems are capable of before they are six years old. That way when you get your first suit you don't do something stupid."

"You guys have to worry about a lot more than Human children do."

"We lost our homeworld. Until we get that back, our children will be raised with survival in mind first." Tali shrugged. "But that's our concern. We won't be attempting anything in my lifetime. Our fleet wouldn't even make it through a major engagement."

"But you do have the largest fleet in the galaxy."

"We're mostly civilian vessels. A good amount are military, but the vessels are old. We have numbers on our side, but our population is limited to what those ships can support. So the risk for us is greater than anyone else."

" _-can't stop the movement, the ideal, you've gotta fight fight fight ride the wave out-"_

"Turn that down! Tesai is already stuck in my head!" Someone grumbled at the music as one of the men turned it up.

"Fine, fine. Something on the haptics made the volume go up." The male controlling the audio muttered. Tali and Julia glanced down at the haptic screen, seeing the entire encryption network lighting up.

"Signal coming through! Looks like they're replying faster than anticipated." Tali pushed some of the men standing around out of the way so that Julia could at least have no one behind her when she accepted the comm call. "We've got it. Take the call whenever you want, Commander."

The vid connection took a moment to configure itself. The video was being sent along ten different routes, apparently, which was why she could see different sections of the screen become visible one by one. Her sister was staring closely at the screen. Miranda was wearing some kind of nice business suit, and a sign proclaiming something in Batarian was behind her.

"Where are you?" Miranda asked. "You're using Quarian comm protocols."

"The Citadel. I need to ask you about something that tried to kill us." Julia sent her the picture of that ship they had seen in the Achilles system. Miranda's eyes focused on it, and she scowled.

"Where did you see it?"

"Achilles System. It wiped out anything that used Alliance tech. We were nearly dead in space if it wasn't for the Quarian engines." Julia stated. "I need to know about that ship. The Alliance claim that it belongs to our father."

"Did you come into contact with it? Did you talk to anything onboard?"

"No, its transmission wiped out all of the tech. There was no comm connection of any kind." Julia said. "Why do you ask?"

"I can't say much over this kind of connection. Julia, please don't try to investigate that ship. It isn't a good idea."

Julia frowned. "Miranda, I need to know this. Every single thing I've investigated, on the Council's orders, no less, keeps leading to more questions. I just want straight answers for once."

"A long time ago we agreed not to talk about this."

"Things are different now." Julia said, knowing that she herself had made that rule. "People are getting killed over this."

"That's why you told me we wouldn't discuss this kind of thing ever again." Miranda said with a frown. "People are dying over this and you didn't care then, and you still don't care."

"I care!" Julia spat right back. "I care because Dad might have been controlling that ship!"

Miranda actually laughed at that. "You don't care enough. You see, this is where Dad and I disagree. I believed that you should have been told all along. But if you really want to know, the Council keeps a supply of evidence handy. I'm still going to keep our agreement. I won't tell you anything that might be connected to Dad. You won't try to convince me to tell you. Then neither of us get arrested and executed."

"Supply of evidence?"

"Friess Station. Storage block 30. Spectres are the only ones allowed in. Dad doesn't rely on them for his own research, but that should be where the Council is keeping theirs. You just have to get there." Miranda said. "I know that this sounds petty of me, but this is for your own good. I'm sorry I can't say more. You're in hot water, Julia. Stay alive."

Miranda gave a long look at her before cutting the connection. Julia was very suddenly reminded that she was in a room full of gossipping Quarians. Her translator bugged out immediately as the chittering and squealing reached high levels. She quickly erased the comm address from the local system, and made a copy of all of the routing layers. Hopefully she might be able to duplicate that someday.

"Here I thought my family was hard to deal with. I can't imagine how talks with your father go." Tali said around the chittering groups of aliens. "Er," she faltered. "Commander?"

"We don't talk. Ever. Even if we did, it wouldn't be sanctioned."

"Your sister works with your father. Wouldn't that also be unsanctioned?"

"Yes." Julia admitted. "But I respect my sister."

"Sorry for asking." Tali admitted.

"You won't mention this in any reports, Lieutenant?"

"You're a Harper, Ma'am. Keelah, your father gave up his legal connection to your homeworld for us. Your family can't come under scrutiny. The Quarian future relies on it." All of the other aliens in the room nodded their heads. "Our civilization still owes your family a debt, Commander. We won't risk losing the chance to pay that back over some silly comm routing accident."

Tali shrugged her shoulders forward when she said that last sentence. It must have been something to convey sarcasm. Or some form of calming expression. "Thank you, Tali." she said. All that she could say, in fact. "Do you mind if I spend the rest of shore leave here?"

"We'd love that! It would be an honor!"

Apparently Quarians liked dancing and singing when they weren't working. Julia was exhausted by the end of the night. The hammocks were not the most comfortable, but she found that spending time with the Quarians was comforting. When she woke up it was with sore legs that hadn't had enough blood flow. Her arms were wrapped in the loose fabric of the sides of hammocks. Enough that she hadn't noticed the incessant beeping of her wrist.

She hadn't been asleep long, perhaps only three hours. But already the Quarians were awakening. She groaned, rubbing some life back into her limbs. Her legs were numb, so those had to swing out first. There was a hint of pain as the blood came back, her eezo nodules flaring painfully as they connected back to her nervous system. She flinched at that. It always hurt when biotics had to wake up like this.

Her wrist had thirty five unread messages. Most were from Pressley, reporting that the entire crew of the  _Normandy_  had gotten in fights somewhere. The only ones who hadn't were Alenko, Ta'u, Reddin, and the Quarians. "Damn it all." The other messages were from Kaiden and Joker. "Tali, I'll need your help. We have to collect our crew from C-sec."

"Shit!" The Human expletive sounded so dainty coming from her mouth. "Wait, how did this happen?"

"I have no idea." She tapped her wrist. "Play message."

" _This is Joker to any crew near, uh, the hell is this bar called? Iguana Bar and Grill? Yeah, that. Some bastards are picking fights with us. They've followed us from the docks. Pressley, you old stick in the ass, we could really use you._ "

She groaned. "Play second message."

" _Commander, I just barely got my comms back up. Your father was here. We tried to arrest him, but he had help. A lot of help. All of the crew are being targeted or something. Andrew and I are trying to find out where Harper went, but he's slippery. I broke his nose, but none of the clinics have reported anyone with a broken nose of his description. I'll keep trying, but I need your help, Commander._ " Kaiden sounded desperate.

She could feel her legs finally coming back to themselves. "Tali, as the only other officer I have left that isn't in jail, I need you to go and sign any paperwork to get those men out of there. As Chief Engineer, you're given the right to do this. I have to meet Alenko."

"Commander, you're forgetting something." Tali said. "Pressley outranks me. I can't get him out."

"I don't want to wait until the MP's pick them all up. Something about this stinks." Behind Tali, the other members of the  _Normandy_  crew stood. "We aren't out of time yet. Can you all figure out who was targeting our crew?"

"We'll need Kalin'ren's help. Maybe more than that." Tali said. "But we will do our best. You should go get the crew out of lockup."

"You don't have a problem with me trying to stop my father?"

"Your family are honored by the Quarians, Ma'am, but you are my commanding officer. You are more important than him to us. He may have established our connection to your people, but you maintain it. If you need us to find him, then we will." Tali said. "You own the bank, after all."

"That doesn't bring me much in the way of comfort." Julia admitted. "Tell me if you find him."

"Yes, Ma'am. Hey!" She called to all of the men sitting there watching her and the crew. "A Harper just asked for help. Get to it!" Omni-tools beeped all across the room as Quarians started networking resources. "We'll make our way to the ship at the end of shore leave, Ma'am."

"Good. I'll see you then." Julia replied. Walking past all of the colored fabrics was comforting, but once she left the access hatch and the cool whitewashed walls of the Citadel replaced the fabrics. She started checking corners, looking for anyone waiting for her. The sense of comfort that she had was gone. "Alenko, this is Constantine." She sent to the man. "I got your message. What's your status?"

" _We are on our way to C-sec right now, Ma'am. Corporal Reddin is there with someone from Ambassador Hock's office._ "

"Good. I'll be there soon, to pick up the crew."

" _You might not want to be associated with this, Commander. Last night there was a fight between Batarian freighter crews and some of the combat team. The Hegemony employed the freighter crew, so this is being viewed as a fight between state servicemen"_ Kaiden said. " _You shouldn't be associated with it._ "

"I'll get them out of lockup. You should meet me somewhere. We need to talk." More than just talk. Kaiden claimed to have seen her father.

" _I'm helping with the press conference and doing damage control. But I have some time before it starts. Meet me at the Embassy. We can talk there._ "

Julia considered that. "I have a room that we can use. Meet there in ten minutes." She sent Kaiden the coordinates for the air transit took her from the depths of Zakera Ward to the Presidium in record time. For some reason there were no lines of traffic or pile ups of air terminal users. She took the precaution to cloak and move quietly through the crowds and into the Embassy. Kaiden was right where she asked him to be, leaning against the featureless wall that housed the Intelligence chambers. She decloaked about ten feet away, to be courteous. To the man's credit, he didn't flinch.

"Commander." He stated.

She pressed the indented part of the wall that held the scanning systems, allowing them both into the Office of Intelligence's rooms. They didn't look like they had been used since she had met with Admiral White in them. Kaiden took a long moment to scan the room, before stepping in and letting the doors close behind him. "You saw him? Not an android?"

"I slammed him with a Throw hard enough to knock Wrex on his ass, Ma'am. He hit the ground hard enough to shatter his nose. I saw him bleeding. Androids don't do that." She sat in the chair she had used before as Kaiden said this.

"It might just be a duplicate wearing his face. I wouldn't put it past him to avoid risk that way."

Kaidan sank into the chair across from her own. "He had Charles call me, to separate me from the other members of the crew. Then, right as all of that was going on, a lot of hired muscle started bothering the different groups of crew. Some sort of hacking attack on Alliance servers happened at the same time, so all of the minders that usually cover us were busy. Then I tried to arrest him, but he had freaking missile pointed at my dad." Kaidan had the most troubled look on his face. "All because he needed to send you some kind of warning."

Anger pushed past the carefully contained emotional state that she had maintained so far. Kaidan twitched as he felt her biotics flicker. "What's the warning?" It was difficult to keep the frustration out of her voice. "Why go to all this trouble!"

"He claims that the Alliance, the Rachni, the Asari, all of us are receiving technology from some other source. That if we keep digging into the Rachni or the Asari than we will be killed by the Asari for it."

"Hock confirmed that much, at least." Julia stated. "I don't trust him, and for all that I don't trust my father, he hasn't lied to me about things like this. Jack Harper usually keeps his word. What else?"

"He gave me two names for you meet with, to understand what he does. I think it's all a trap. He mentioned that the ship would give as much of a look into the Rachni technology, and something about that doesn't sit right with me."

"Who?"

"Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh, some Quarian Admiral. As well as some Haego'Devo-lak."

"High Priest Haego D'vorak." Julia corrected. "Both of those are going to take some calls." Going to either the MIgrant Fleet or Kar'Shan would be politically dangerous for an Alliance ship to simply travel there. "Why Haego, though? He doesn't care about the Rachni or any current events." He was not a man of science. Seeing him debate theology with a room full of imams was proof enough of that. He didn't care about logic. If his gods claimed something, that was the logical base of all arguments. She would have to ask Tali about the Quarian admiral in detail.

"Great. More odd crap to investigate."

"How many joules did you put into that Throw?"

Kaidan thought for a moment. "Near four hundred, four fifty?"

"If he wasn't wearing full armor, you definitely broke some ribs. Congratulations, Kaidan. You've damaged my father more than anyone other than Garrus Vakarian in the last decade." She carefully took his hand. "Thanks for trying to arrest him. I'm just glad you or the other crew weren't hurt. My father never threatens people without fully meaning to go through with it. I'll get the Office of Intelligence to take a look at your dad's apartment. We might ask him to relocate somewhere safe."

"Thank you, Ma'am." Kaidan said quietly. "Thank you."

"If you had tried harder to arrest him, he would have killed your father to prove a point."

"Your father is an asshole."

"An asshole that just told us to meet with a priest." Julia retorted, not denying it. "I'm going to prep the ship for launch. You go and answer questions at this press conference, and don't mention any of this. I don't trust the Turians or Wrex when it comes to this. The Asari already feel threatened by what we do. They have been allies with them for far longer."

"What about Wrex?"

"He's a Krogan mercenary. Trust only goes so far."

"I understand, Commander." Kaidan said. "I'll need a few minutes to pull myself together."

"Here's the code for the doors. Forget them after you leave." She told him. She wanted to compare data, see if her father had really left. She knew well enough that he would have every aspect of escape covered. It was one of the things that was drilled into her as a child. There was always someone or something willing to try to kill you. Or take advantage of you. Jack always stressed escape and security. Always have a way out, never assume perfect safety.

The way back to the  _Normandy_  was quiet. At least for her while she cloaked. She chose to take the long route, taking the stairwells that were furthest apart on each floor. She even took the time to verify that the crew were being moved from C-sec by armored transport directly to the ship's docking bay. Then she went over every entrance to the docking bay and noticed that Alliance marines were already stationed there.

She compared service numbers of the marines with those in the Intelligence Office archives. They all checked out. With less than a half hour to go before the end of shore leave, she decloaked in one of the side corridors and presented herself to the guards. They perked up, seeing an Infiltrator so close. Though that may have just been the catsuit.

She knew their eyes lingered on her as she walked into the docking bay. She flinched when she saw the people already in front of her ship. Her favorite Turians were there, Desolous slumped against a crate, and Garrus standing at near attention. Standing with them in similarly black and red armor was an Asari.

"Commander Constantine." Garrus spoke up. Desolous groaned at the noise. "Pleased to see that you didn't end up in C-sec with the rest of the crew."

"You could talk more quietly, young Tarn. That would be much appreciated." Desolous ground out.

"You give me enough grief, old man. You'll survive. Commander, one of the other Spectres has volunteered her skills to you. I've worked with her for almost a decade." Garrus nodded towards the Asari. "Commander Constantine, this is Spectre Vasir."

Tela Vasir smirked as she made eye contact. Julia just felt even more ill at this. Was this in response to her investigation? "Pleased to see you again, Commander. Your ship seems to be where all the fun is happening. I want to volunteer to join you. None of the Asari Spectres seem to get anywhere close to the things you do."

Hock claimed that the previous Human Spectre candidate had been killed by this woman. He had been worried that the Asari would choose to take action against her, and this proved it. They had sent her to send a message. Worse, it would seem troubling to them to have their newest race turn down the offer to help. The Asari might not help the next time if she rejected Tela Vasir now. "It would be an honor. The frigate is a small one, but we welcome you to it. It would be nice to have a mentor that understood biotic combat."

She grinned, her eyes not showing any change or emotional state that she could pick up on. "Oh yes, Commander. You can learn whoring and drinking from Arterius, and Vakarian here loves explosives and large guns. Finesse, I would be pleased to teach you. I can't tell you how excited I am, Commander. This is going to be an eventful journey." Her gaze never wavered from Julia's in a way that wasn't normal. Most Asari would only maintain eye contact for a short time, so as not to offend. Tela simply stared and felt no reason to take her eyes off her. But her body language was not flirtatious in the slightest.

"Welcome aboard, Spectre. I must prepare the vessel for departure. The XO was in jail and the crew have not yet finished preparations." She said. Julia had been trained as a spy. When she shook the Asari's hand, she felt the biotic pulse from her. She returned one right back, the way that the teachers at Solaris had taught her. But as she stepped onto the lift, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. She had just admitted her own killer onto the ship. The Asari Republics had had enough.

* * *

Author's Note

Tesai nar Saerinlas is the creation of my buddies Robotecha and Moonie. They mentioned how cool it would be for there to be a Quarian death metal band. That idea was so freakishly awesome that we had to do it. When I was in the college dorms(That was an experience), I lived with two members of a heavy metal band. That was a great time to be alive. So I still follow that genre, but I don't really delve into the Norwegian death metal scene. That stuff strips paint. Quarian electric Death metal to me is something like Dragonforce, Armin Van Buren, Florence and the Machine, and Miranda and the Diamonds all rolled into one. Look all those up, by the way, and you'll see what I mean. It's worth a gamble.

Tela Vasir is an odd character to write. Lair of the Shadow Broker gives us only a slim view into someone who shows the harder side of what the Asari are capable of. I've put a lot into her this time around. It's taken some time to decide how that would go. This chapter is a bit shorter than previous ones(sorry for those who have been hoping that the chapters get longer) but the next one will be great. We finally got past the section where Jack was mostly in hiding, and we can get to the big events.

Next time we get to go visit Haego. For all of you who enjoy him, get ready for some of his warped methodology and way of thinking. He's really odd to write. But its time for a little religious zealotry to be addressed. I hope that all of you guys are enjoying the holiday season, and that all of you are able to enjoy your holiday in whatever way fits your fancy. To troll our Jewish friend, we just made a Menorah(Multiple candle thing they use during the holidays) out of sparklers. I can't wait to see how he reacts when he starts lighting it.


	57. Lucid: Blind Leading the Blind

Chapter 57

High Fane of Karn'Xul, Khar'Shan, Harsa System August 2182

Obtaining permission from Hackett to visit the Hegemony came at a price. Two other frigates had to accompany them, overly full of marines and combat gear. The Normandy was not cleared to enter atmosphere or come within ten clicks of a Hegemony vessel. If anything tried, it was to be destroyed by their escorts. Julia didn't like it at all. To be fair, more than nine frigates were arrayed against them. Cruisers and even the local Batarian Dreadnought  _Resolute Tomb_  were also here. Three frigates would not do anything against a fleet this size.

Hackett had replaced one of the aging shuttles they had with something top of the line. Armed with missiles and side mounted cannons, it would be much more effective as a shuttle for them. It also was much faster than their other shuttles.

" _Shuttle, you are to land at the High Fane. Deviate from your course and your ashes will rain upon our capital._ "

"Roger that,  _Normandy_  shuttle out." Halmabad said. "Real friendly welcome, Commander. You sure they want us here?"

"The Batarians don't even treat themselves nicely, Halmabad. Even though they got rid of their slavery gimmick fifteen years ago, they still haven't figured out basic decency." Julia replied. "I called them, Lieutenant. They chose to invite us to a place that no alien has ever been to. The Salarians have tried to get into this place since the Batarians were first contacted."

"How do you figure that?"

"Remember the Islamic wars of the 2050's?" Julia asked. "The Batarians are basically a gigantic police state, run by a network of priests and upper tier families. All government authority comes through the Hegemon and the Hegemon is almost a sacred religious figure. The Hegemony is almost like the country of Iran, before everything out there became different countries."

"So let's not insult any kind of deity figures, or insult their priests." Halmabad said. "I can assume that's a bad idea?"

Julia lifted an eyebrow. "They take that kind of thing personally. Haego only recognizes me as an authority because I bested him in close quarters. He had that powered armor that the Batarians like to field. Same technology that was in Jones' limbs, except mounted on armor plating. I fought him and nearly killed him with just a catsuit and a knife."

"So he respects you because you almost killed him. That says a lot about Batarians." Alenko said. "Their warp ball team wasn't so nasty to deal with."

"We're going to land, now. Make sure that you leave any guns behind." Garrus looked a bit crestfallen at that. "Bring knives. That's all we are allowed on their homeworld."

Kaidan nodded. "We brought the box of standard Alliance knives as you ordered, Ma'am." Then he distributed them. She had two, one of which was a  _Kavka_. Hopefully that would give her more respect.

When their shuttle touched down, there was no less than forty guards waiting for them. Standing in front was a male Batarian in full war-priest armor. It had the spikes, horns, and the mass drivers that gleamed in the orange light of the sun. A blue cape hung from his shoulders, and there were eyes on the back of it.

"Welcome, Spectre Candidates." The priest said. "My name is Haek D'vorak. Welcome to the High Fane of Karn'Xul. Never in our history has its sand been corrupted by unhallowed blood. If any of you are already injured, make it known. Your blood is not to fall in these sacred halls."

"Are you related to Haego?"

"I have the pleasure of being his nephew."

"Good to meet you."

"I don't share that pleasure. Walk this way. The eyes of Rian and Erush are upon you in these sacred halls." Typical Batarian. They didn't like being friendly to those they considered lesser or unnecessary. She followed, the members of her crew that she had invited following. This was a lead from her father. As such, she brought the best she had. Garrus, Halmabad, Jenkins, Williams, and finally Tela Vasir. She didn't trust the Asari to be in the same room as Wrex. The Asari was hot bunking with some of the crew, sharing Corporal Reddin's bunk. Julia spent most of her waking moments keeping track of her, Wrex, and the Turians. But Vasir knew that she wasn't welcome here.

To be sure of that, Williams was the one assigned to be her buddy for all things. The xenophobic woman was perfect. She watched the Asari like a hawk. She could depend on her to keep Vasir where she was supposed to be. The three day journey to Khar'Shan was not one she got a lot of sleep during. Vasir had encryptions on her Omni-tool that were difficult to crack. She tried, but the Asari programming was far beyond anything that she was familiar with. She didn't want to ask Tali to help with this one, or Kalin'ren. Neither of them had been briefed about Tela's actions in the Achilles system.

Their walk through the columns surrounding their High Temple felt a little bit like walking through the ruins of Ephesus. A well preserved Greek ruin, the columns ran alongside the roads and had long archways with greek characters covering everything. Here, each column was over fifty feet tall, with carvings of Batarians with tools of war upon everything. Their language covered the rest, in ways that went against the flow of the pictures. Rather than the symbolism working with the architecture, the writing almost stood out over the rest of the depictions. It was almost as if the writing was meant to be offensive to the eye. She couldn't read it, as it was not the common Batarian language.

"What does it all say?" Halmabad asked, his eyes trying to take it all in. Williams was looking at the guards around them, assuming that they would be hostile at some point. Beside her was Tela, who was looking at the War Priest with contempt. There was no love lost between the Asari and the Batarians. Jenkins was ignoring the architecture, focusing on the guards. Vakarian just seemed amused at everything going on.

"These carvings define the burden that our people are placed under. Our religion demands hard things of us. As such, any who walk this path are reminded that unless they perform their duty, their souls are forfeit of any good position within the afterlife. Their next reincarnation shall be of a lesser position if they ignore their duties in life." Haek said. "The archway ahead is the Karn'Xul. The People's Burden."

The archway was cruelty personified. The eighty foot tall archway was composed of Batarians, scrambling and reaching upon one another. Each Batarians was no more than three feet tall, the carving detailed enough to see the pain on their faces. The Batarians became better dressed and armed as the archway went higher and higher, until the uppermost part of the arch. That was the centerpiece. A single point contained a Batarian, hung by his entrails and his eyes cut out. He was larger than the others, and his tongue was extended in pain and suffering. Julia did not like the oppressive feeling of the structure.

"Look upon it and rejoice, Humans. For it has all been fulfilled." Haek said. "Batar has finally been reincarnated, and sits in his proper seat as Hegemon. The cycle of reincarnation has been fulfilled."

"Your people must look upon him with great joy. To know that their ancestors are saved from desolation." Halmabad said.

"Are you familiar with our culture, Human?"

"Haego D'vorak spent some time speaking to my father and uncles long ago. I am familiar with your culture, but not enough to call myself any kind of expert."

"Perhaps you bear greater interest, Human." Haek replied. "Beyond the arch of Karn'Xul, we shall stand in the holy sanctum. Do not question any commands given unto you here. Your presence here is already stained my honor enough."

The sanctum was not empty. Ten figures stood inside, some of them wearing long blue cloth over modern armor. They carried long spears, yet no guns. But they weren't wearing helmets, either. Their faces were heavily scarred. Not in any kind of pattern, but most of the guards here looked like they had been in a lot of combat. Two of the people here were also War Priests. One was wearing a brown robe with teeth on it, and the other was wearing a blue one with eyes. He also had a slightly shorter left arm.

"Welcome, redeemed  _Karem_." Haego D'vorak said, taking off his helmet. "I have been especially waiting for you, Julia Harper."

"You said you wouldn't try to kill me this time, Haego."

"I did. That is, so long as I have reason to keep you alive. My religion and my honorable reincarnation demand this of me. I know what brought you here, Human. Before I show you and explain, I demand a test of your faith first."

"How does this test of faith work?"

Haego looked somber. "Until this day, the test of faith has only been offered to the Temple Guard and Priests. But Batar Reborn demanded that I must do so. The test of faith is that only by the shedding of blood may a Priest prove his intentions towards this Fane. Each Priest must mark their foe, while each Temple Guard must take a mark before causing their own. The test of faith is simply to mark an opposing Priest. Any bladed weapon may suffice. The use of teeth is not an unknown path to victory." He grinned at that, his dagger shaped incisors glinting. "The Priesthood is a right of birth. The privilege of using that Priesthood comes at the cost of blood. Every sentient you choose to have escort you shall perform the test of faith."

"You just want me to take your knee out again, don't you." Julia said. "Get ready, Haego. I'll take your test."

He held up a hand. "Eager! Hah! My blood  _sings_  at the opportunity! But unfortunately, I have already lost to you. You must fight a Priest that has not yet matched your blade. I shall face your escorts. Draw your blades if you agree to the test of faith, worms." The last was directed to the people behind her.

Garrus drew a  _nasty_  looking blade. It was serrated and definitely meant to cut through a Krogan's skull plate. Jenkins held up his hands for a moment, but at the glare of Garrus, drew his own Alliance standard knife. Halmabad drew his own, but held his with more experience than Jenkins did. Tela smirked and pulled out some cumbersome looking knife with a longer hilt. The blade was short, though. Shorter than the Alliance knife she was used to. Williams grinned. "Got anything longer I can use?"

"You are supposed to bring your own weapon to the test, redeemed Karem." Haego said. "It will not be said that you came unprepared."

"We weren't notified that this would be happening." Julia stated. "What kind of blade do you want, Williams?"

Looking back, Julia saw that Williams was already standing in front of a couple of the Temple Guards. Their long halberds had drawn the eye of Williams, and she looked like she was close to ripping it out of the guard's hands. "This'll do. I don't like the small knife."

"If it brings you comfort, go ahead." Haego stated. "Give her your weapon, and she may yet be preserved from death."

"This is a spar to first blood, right? Why would we die?" Jenkins asked. His standard knife was out, and he was holding it too loosely.

"To you, this may be to first blood. To my Priests, it is demanded of them that they try to kill you. Rest assured that they will kill you with great satisfaction. Mark them first, and you won't have that problem." Haego said off handedly. "Julia Harper shall be first. She has fought a Priest before, and perhaps may educate you."

Julia nodded, and stepped forward. "What are the Priests allowed to use when they fight us, if we are just using blades?"

"For you? Your exploits have been heard far and wide. This man here shall face you. He will, of course, be outside of his armor."

The orange robes parted on the War Priest armor, and out stepped the other Batarian. He was wearing some kind of hard suit beneath the armor. What concerned her were the two Kavka that he bore on his waist, pulled from some compartment on the War Priest armor. "Haego spent months recovering from your last bout with him." The Batarian grinned. "I look forward to seeing if you can best me."

"I thought Haego was the best." Julia said. "He is the High Priest, after all."

"Hah! Haego has only been bested by four among our race. I volunteered when I heard that you were coming." He left his armor, and stood in the middle of the gigantic circular chamber. "Come. You must make the first strike. Then we begin in earnest."

Julia walked forward, already having measured the man's step. There was no limp or imperfections in his step, and she was grateful that she could see the shape of him through his hard suit. His muscles were asymmetrical, well developed. His neck looked strong, and his shoulders were wide. Perhaps he had a seven foot wingspan, if he extended his arms finger to finger. That was a lot of reach. She sized him up and down with her eyes, and matched his stance with her own combat stance.

She had one Kavka, as well as her own Alliance standard knife. The Batarian knives looked cruel, only meant to carve flesh and tear through bones. The Alliance knife was more utilitarian, meant for more than killing. It could still go through a skull if you pressed hard enough. Right now, all she had to do was make a cut. She was allowed to make the first strike. His stance was strong, and his feet were less than a shoulders width apart.

Well, if she was going to make the first move, she was going to make it count. She harnessed her biotics, letting the energy flow across her limbs. When she grasped her her biotics, her nervous system worked slightly faster. Her first strike was quick, a jab with her normal knife.

The Batarian sneered, his return strike coming down upon her knife blade and severing it. Half of it went soaring off behind him, and the rest of her strike ran short. He laughed, as he tried to jab her in return. Except that his strike was faster, far faster. His blade went right through he catsuit and tore a long cut along her collarbone. Her attempts to dodge it only kept him from going through the bone. Her skin was torn open and bled profusely.

She responded with a step to the side, moving so that she could flank him. When he blocked her, his feet hadn't even moved. His stance was perfect. "Just knives?"

"Use your sorcery if you must, witch. It is within your blood, and you may use that. Your life is shortened, and you have more extreme mutations in your blood. Use your burden as you see fit."

Julia nodded. She wasn't Kaiden, but she had a fast arm. She sent out her Throw, and the Batarian moved towards her. Her Kavka swung inwards, and he laughed. This time she felt his blade bury itself in her thigh. She managed to roll away, but she had to rest all of her weight on the one leg. He left the blade in her leg. A sign of superiority, to give her another weapon. She just had to accept nearly bleeding out while she used it.

He was grinning. She wasn't. She frowned, deciding to take the risk of bleeding out. She drew the second Kavka. The wound sprayed a bit of blood as she stood on it, and Julia came in swinging.  _That_  got him moving. It became a dance, each of her steps matched by two of his. Hers were quiet, careful, and measured. His were aggressive, circling, and always coming from her weaker left side. The bleeding side. She let him circle, coming around until he was almost within range again. He casually knocked away all of her attempts to cut him, his one knife blocking where he needed, and stepping back where she he could not.

Then, she stepped back. It was unexpected, and went against the flow of battle. The Batarian snarled at this, and stepped forward to follow her. She grinned, coming at him again with her knives and her biotics crackling. She hadn't used any other attempts with her abilities after the first Throw, and this one came out of nowhere, right as she attempted a slash against his arm. He ducked back, more of a flinch, the biotic ability sailing past him.

"Your reliance on that is-" Whatever he wanted to say, the grunt of pain he expressed was much more satisfactory. Her Pull had not been aimed at him. Instead it had been aimed at the broken off blade tip of her knife. It had sailed back, plunging into the Batarian's leg. "What?"

Julia stepped back, taking the pressure off of her left leg. She still kept a ready stance, worried that she might not have done enough. But he stopped, grinned, and pulled out the blade from inside his ankle. The orange blood upon it was proof enough. What she didn't expect was to see every guard fingering their weapons, or seeing Haego shifting uncomfortably. "I could have simply turned invisible. But I didn't."

"It would have availed you little. I have spent time training against such." The Batarian said. "Haego was correct, Human. You are good, and to mark me would normally be heresy of the highest order. My name is Jaroth. I have found your faith worthy, and none may claim otherwise." Julia felt a pit in the lowest part of her stomach. She had just stabbed the Hegemon. Kaidan was going to yell at her for not recognizing him. "It was a pleasure to match you. You are quite like your father in that regard."

She scowled at that. Haego just laughed at the entire exchange. "When he heard that you were coming, Our Holy One decided that he would be the one to match blades with you. As such, none may challenge you to any duels or blood trials without his approval. As you have escorts, once they pass the test of faith, they will be afforded the same protection." Haego chuckled, before turning to her escorts. "Who is next?"

Garrus stepped forward at the same time as Tela. They both looked at each other, until Tela stood back. "I am Garrus Vakarian."

Haego nodded, a rumbling sound coming from his chest. "Haek. You shall face the Spectres. It will be good practice."

Haek glared a hole through Garrus' forehead. Garrus smirked, before both of them stepped out of armor and onto the center of the area. Julia was applying medi-gel to her wounds, the one in her leg requiring a pressure bandage. Her collarbone was going to require Chakwas to take a look at it. By the time she had applied a pressure bandage, she had missed most of Garrus and Haek's fight. It wasn't long, as Garrus had somehow disarmed the Batarian and cut his forearm. Haek looked angry, and Garrus had a long cut down his torso. He was breathing shallowly, and the big Turian stepped back quickly to stop his own bleeding.

"Cheeky little brat." Garrus said quietly. "Went right through my sternum."

"They're fast. At least you didn't lose your knife."

"I didn't fight the Hegemon." He pointed out, with a smirk.

Tela had stripped out of her armor, and like most Asari was nearly naked underneath. Haek stood across from her, and she made a token attempt at slashing with her knife. It was graceful, more akin to a move that you would use during a ritual or ceremony. Haek blocked it with contempt, but the moment he did so, Tela slammed her open palm upon his chest. Her biotics ripped open huge swaths in his skin, lacerations opening all across his skin. He grunted in pain, as the lacerations opened across his entire front and arms. Without a word, she went back to her armor and started putting it back on.

Lovely. She was some kind of biotic savant. That was definitely an ability she could use at a range. Julia wasn't convinced that she was not as bad with that knife as she acted. At least she knew one thing that Tela could do. How the hell she would survive that would be another story. Haek grunted, until Haego tossed him a medi-gel packet. "Asari witch."

"All Asari can use that. You underestimated her. She managed to lay a finger upon you before your blood fell. It was a valid strike." Haego corrected. "This leaves your Human escorts."

Halmabad stepped forward. "I'll take your best." Haego nodded, and stepped out of his own armor.

"We don't have any female Priests, Human. I'll be sure to go easy on you for your sake." He taunted.

Halmabad smirked. "We don't have any female priests back home either. My name is Shaikh Al-Omar Halmabad. Remember it." Julia hadn't vetted Halmabad in close combat so far, and was pleasantly surprised when he proved to be a decent match for Haego. But his style wasn't a good match for the Batarian one. He got cut up a little bit, but was able to overpower Haego as the fight dragged on. He went after Haego's shorter and slower responding left arm. His mark on Haego was pitiful, a few drops of blood coming off the top of his hand, but Halmabad managed to do it. He came away with cuts across his face and arms. Julia suspected that Haego let him make a mark, but she wouldn't want to prove it.

"I will remember your name, Human. But you haven't trained long enough to be a real threat." Haego motioned to Jenkins. "You next, Human."

Jenkins shrugged, the lines of his hard suit rippling. Say what you might about the man, but he was in great shape. He was matched against Haek. Heak came at him like an animal, large swings with his knives coming at Jenkin's vulnerable areas. Jenkins apparently sucked at using a knife. Thankfully Haek didn't own a Kavka. Otherwise Jenkins would have lost his head. But the man took cuts along his arms, until Jenkins exploded into movement. He tackled Haek, knocking him to the ground and bringing his fists down onto one of the just healed lacerations along his shoulder. Haek growled, and stabbed Jenkins in the side of his torso, but the marine just grunted and started slugging the Batarian in the face over and over again, and Haek had to use his hands to block. When they were pulled apart, Jenkins was looking at damage to his bladder and kidney, while Haek looked like someone had beaten him into submission.

"You dropped your knife?" Garrus mocked.

"Hey, I barely passed on those trials in combat school. Boxing, though? Boxing I did  _fine_." Jenkins said, as they patched him up. "Though, uh, this time seems a bit more serious."

"You didn't have to try, Jenkins, if you didn't think you could win."

"Ma'am, I don't think that I can just walk back to the shuttle after coming this close to something no other Human has ever seen. It's worth a bit of blood."

Julia could appreciate his intentions, but didn't like the way his vitals were showing signs of infection from slight internal bleeding. They got him back in his armor, which had a great medical suite. It would keep him alive until then. "This isn't some multi-day ceremony we have to go through, right?"

"It won't be." Haego said. "Puny female." He addressed Williams. "As I have fought your Commander, I know what you Humans are capable of. As such, I will be your opponent."

Williams lost. She went down like a Marine should, but she went down hard. Her weapon was cleaved into pieces by the Kavka he wielded, and then she was beaten by his fist into the ground. Williams tried to bite him, claw at him, and even use the broken haft of the weapon she borrowed to try to injure him, but Haego choked her out. Methodically he broke down every attempt to injure him, until she dropped to the ground unconscious. She hadn't been stabbed anywhere vital, but she had multiple punctures in her torso. It was clear that every move had been done out of efficiency rather than cruelty, but it didn't make it any less painful to watch.

"Send her back to their ship. It shouldn't be said that we are ungracious hosts." Haego stated. "Her spirit is strong, but she did not match the standards I was expecting of your race."

Julia had remained quiet as Haego destroyed Williams. "This test of faith seems to be more of a sport than anything else."

"What can I say? The Karn demands that Priests only indulge in violence and religious studies." Haego said, seemingly as a joke. She did not laugh. A small message over her Omni-tool alerted Chakwas of the mounting injuries. The reply was scathing, and she didn't feel like getting a guilty conscience at the moment. "Come. You have been invited into the Holiest Sanctum. You all marked a High Priest, rather than just a simple War Priest."

She noticed that there was another mark on Haego, on the back of his neck. It had stopped bleeding, but it was still a fresh wound. The Hegemon had stepped back into his War Priest armor, as had Haego. Haek stayed with the guards at the door, letting the two priests lead them forward. There were more guards, all throughout the complex. They all regarded them with thinly veiled disdain. Some were outright showing their teeth in challenge.

The inside of the Temple held more sculpture, more carvings and more Batarian faces carved into the walls. The chambers were carved out of the solid granite, and they went deeper and deeper into the earth as they walked. The lights in the chambers slowly were replaced by oil lamps rather than powered lighting. The largest chamber held a mural that was perhaps the size of the  _Normandy_. It depicted two Batarians in War Priest armor, modern armor, casting down some sort of pillars, as well as fighting some kind of creature. At the center of the mural was a large depiction of Jaroth, with some sort of markings above his head.

"This mural used to be the recorded history of the caste system, but under the new Hegemon, all depictions of our people being separate have been torn down." Haego said quietly. "Past this point, your technology may stop working. We are deep enough in the stone and protections that often technology stops working entirely."

She checked that, finding that her Omni-tool could barely detect anything down here. It was only showing some sort of distortions around, but that was standard when going this deep inside of granite. She stopped scanning, and tried to keep weight off of her left leg as best she could. Haego walked at a slow enough pace, probably for her and Jenkin's sake. The stone here became more decorative, and the chamber became a long tunnel that was lined with alcoves. In each alcove there were urns and carved markings of some sort of ancient dialect. She didn't look too deeply into it.

There was an archway at the end of the tunnel, with four guards on it. They also were carrying guns. Big ones. They weren't drawing them, however. They simply waited for them to pass,and didn't react like the others had upstairs. The guards seemed to ignore them, or view them with professionalism. They were moved past them, into a chamber that was adorned with some sort of mats to wipe their feet. The Priests did so, and Julia also did this. Garrus swore quietly as the two points of his boots tore part of the rugs. Tela laughed at that, a soft tinkling sound. Not the sound of a mass murderer.

"Artistic License, I say."

"Bugger that. Whoever drew this made the tail end too short."

"They got the eyes right, though." Julia moved forward, running as fast as she could. This final chamber was a bunch of pillars, all coated in gold. A couple had something different on them. The remains of some kind of skeletons were sealed in two of the columns near the door. But inside there were two large murals, centered on some central structure. "Ah, Haego. Pleasant to see you." That voice. She knew that voice.

She skidded to a stop on the other side of the central structure. Standing next to Haego and Jaroth was none other than Jack Harper. Behind him was Mum. Her fists clenched as her father's eyes centered on her. But she unclenched when she saw the condition of his face. The entire left side had been covered in bandages, and one arm was in a sling. His ever present business suit was covered in blood, and cuts had been made through his torso in four places. His open coat showed that more of his chest was wrapped in addition to face and arm. "What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded

"I give you a lead to follow, and you don't expect me to be there to confirm it?" Jack tried to grin, but flinched instead. "I didn't realize that as your father I was expected to fight someone quite skilled. Apparently when you defeated Haego I was expected to do the same."

"You deserve the injuries." Julia said. She could hear the rest of her crew come to a stop next to her, all of them ready. But between her and Jack was Haego.

"Family shouldn't fight here. This is not a chamber where heathen blood may be shed." Haego said. "The last time blood was spilled, two of the ancient champions rose up to slaughter us."

"I bled the same as you did, Julia. If that isn't proof enough of my intentions, then trust me on this one. The Batarians have info that you'll need to hear." Jack said, giving her an expectant look that in her childhood may have made her think twice about talking back. She didn't even know what to say, not when the source of all of her problems was in front of her. So she elected to remain silent for now, feeling her control of the situation waning.

"It is a hard thing, to admit weakness to another." Haego said. "But my Hegemon demands that I must do this. I do so with the understanding that your Council will know of these things, but I ask that you reveal this only with assurance that the Batarian people shall not be shamed by this." Haego moved towards the columns nearest the door, where the two skeletons were sealed into the gold. "When the Karn were young, we were independent. We were simple tribes, competing over resources and land. We do not know at what point in our history that this changed, but it did. A tribe began preaching of a new pantheon of deities. At their head, the deity of Rian, whose four eyes looked in all directions and saw and judged all spirits. Erush, whose wrath was swift and terrible, and fire could rain from the sky at his command. Scientifically, we have been unable to prove this true or false." She didn't care about his explanation of their screwed up religion. All she knew was that her father was here, and he willingly allowed himself to be in this weak condition in front of her.

Haego was showing them carvings on some of the pillars. "These pillars of strength were carved by the original followers of Rian, to show the way to glory and reincarnation in the next life. We were changed, as an entire race. Our old religions were wiped out or renamed and brought into the existing belief under Rian. Our culture was forced to use this area as its center, and other cultural centers were sacked, until none remained. The entire planet was united under one faith, and bound to a single group of individuals. One among them realized what had happened, and tried to stop our race from becoming something else. Batar was his name." The tour was taking them to every bloody pillar, and Jack Harper was right there. Within arms reach at certain points, but always Jaroth was standing between him and Julia. That didn't stop him from looking at her the entire time. She matched his look, glaring. He only seemed amused at this.

"When he realized that the religion was false, Batar led a small group of people here, to try to stop Rian from converting the people further. He defeated her champions, and sealed them in works of gold. Unfortunately, they were still alive when Jaroth and I encountered them. They recognized Batar's soul in Jaroth, and sought to murder us."  _That_ brought her attention back to the Batarian.

"We call those Husks." Jack cut in. "They can survive for a long time without food or air. Contained in space like this, it was only a matter of time before they broke out."

"Rian's champion fought Batar, but it was not what killed him. His fellow priests did, for power. Then, killing Batar's sons, they created the seat of the Hegemon and the caste system. Before Batar died, he carved this to warn those who would follow of Rian."

Haego led them to the large mural in the center of the room. She was not the only one to refocus their attention on the mural. It was a replica of the same ship they had seen in the Achilles system. "What the hell?" Julia said. She was feeling anxious. She didn't even mean to say that.

"They don't really like to associate with monotheistic religions, daughter of mine. In this case, that isn't the correct syntax." Jack said. "This depiction is much better than the ones I saw on Eingana. There are other warnings, but this one is especially apt."

"Rian landed on our surface, and Batar recorded the size of her. She was recorded at around two of your kilometers. Exact measurements are impossible to confirm, but we have his records to go by. When her champion fell, she left, rising into the sky in a red cloud of lightning. It was assumed by the Priests that she had found disfavor among the people, and so they declared their new laws, and murdered Batar. We honor his death and remember this moment in history by labeling ourselves after the great Betrayer." Haego said. "But the deception goes deeper. It is well known that our kind were not blessed with any kind of Prothean beacon, but instead had to make due with a Prothean ship. Hegemony Scientists discovered recently that the wreck was not present on our moon any sooner than eight thousand years ago."

"Are you saying that it was moved there?"

"Rian did so. I can only assume it was to control how we would evolve. After corrupting our culture, destroying our existing traditions, it was only natural for Her to guide our steps into space as well." Haego said. "You cannot imagine how this portrays my race, Human. We pride ourselves on those successes. Our culture, our intolerance. These are the things we shall pass down to our descendants, but to know that our entire history has been controlled by some sort of advanced race with large starships is galling! Betrayal indeed, when your entire recorded history was written by someone else."

"You still reverse-engineered the technology from the wreck, though."

"To my dying shame, we did not. Half of the work was already done for us. Almost as if Rian had been watching us as we made our first weak attempts to leave the atmosphere." He sighed. "We found a ship, much like the one depicted here. We were attempting to bring it back here for study, when it was stolen en route by Jack Harper."

"Forgive me if I insult your religion, but they're called Reapers. Yes, I did steal that one. Until a working Reaper showed up and stole it from me in turn. Before that happened, I was able to find gyros, thermal venting units, and the main gun and sell those to the Alliance and the Quarians. It's theft was not a terrible loss, but it was enough to get my work started." Jack didn't smile. "The Reapers are an old synthetic race. The Protheans were destroyed by them, according to my archeologists."

"Your archeologists? Who did you hire?" Garrus asked with some mocking tone.

"Serrice University. In addition to the attack I staged on the Mars Archive before you were born, as well as four universities on Surkesh. Karn'Xul employs some archeologists, as do a couple of groups on Omega." Jack said. "I know that none of you trust me. But I invited you here to listen to me. These things have been around since the Protheans at least. They have been manipulating every single race that exists."

"The Alliance would know about that." Julia stated. "They would take action."

"They did." Jack said. "They bought any 'Prothean' technology that touched the market. If it was old, it was labeled Prothean and covered up by the government. Your cannons on the  _Normandy_  were developed from the main weapon that I took from the dead ship. Your thermal venting units were developed from the same source, and the gyros were developed by the Quarians from the same." He tossed an OSD her direction. "Dexos."  _Catch_. She caught it with her biotics, and motioned to Jenkins.

The man dutifully bagged the OSD and slipped it inside a secure belt pouch. "That would be the details and titles on the files that I deleted when I raided Mars. It should give you some leads."

"You expect us to investigate?"

"You're Spectres. If you don't, then you would become less than professional." Jack stated. "More importantly, we are inside an area that actively stops technology from working. Other Husks are contained within these pillars, and they will keep any devices from recording anything."

"You went to an awful amount of trouble to bring all of us here." Tela said politely. "How in the name of Athame did you get so injured?"

"Simple. I don't like using knives. I only won through deceit." Jareth and Haego both laughed loudly at that. "I was also not aware that this test would be given, and did not prepare myself accordingly."

"My son is still removing dirt from his eyelids. He thought that after your cheek had been ripped open that your slanderous tongue would finally be silenced." Jaroth said with a smirk. "Where you found dirt in this temple I cannot guess."

Jack turned to the Batarians. "We have potted plants on board my ship. I had brought one that seemed appropriate as a gift, and grabbed a handful of dirt from it when I heard the challenge." He shrugged, then flinched in pain. "I did not come without reason, and I am willing to answer any questions that you may have. I didn't come to get arrested, I came to prove that these Reapers exist."

"The Council won't believe the evidence gathered by you or any team you use." Garrus said. "Surely you know that."

"They can't ignore the Rachni! What about when their own populations start forming separatist cults? With Galatana gone, I'm sure that the Blackwatch colonies will soon be clamoring for further independence. The Alliance has the Reds, and the Asari have their Eriashi cults. As much as they may try to hide them, they exist."

"Outliers exist in every culture, Mr. Harper." Tela stated. "The existence of such cannot be considered proof enough."

Jack nodded. "Unless you can prove that this has happened before. That it happened previously. The Protheans recorded all of their experiences inside of their beacons. I know that you Spectres carefully dispose of any Dark Beacons that you find, but they hold all of that. They liked to talk about an effect called Indoctrination, something that was used by these Reapers to instigate large wars and movements like this to break apart the big civilizations. The patterns are there, hidden in the data." He pointed at Jenkins. "That OSD has what I have gathered so far."

"You just admitted to terrorism, Harper."

"Yes." Jack said. He just shrugged at Jenkin's words. "Terrorism, corruption, theft, attempted genocide, it's all relative at this point."

Julia ground her teeth at that. "I need to talk to you. Without all of these people here."

"As long as Hannah may remain, of course. I can hardly defend myself at this point." Behind Jack, Hannah was standing there with a couple of knives on her belt. Neither were Kavka. "I assume that is alright?"

Julia stiffly nodded. Jack refused to leave the room, and so she was forced to make due with the area between some pillars. The chamber wasn't large enough for any kind of true privacy. Jaroth was glaring daggers at her. That seemed normal for a Batarian. "I need to know if this is just some scheme you're hatching. Is this some kind of play, now that the Alliance is closed to you?"

"After finding out about the medi-gel, the Rachni, and that ship? You think I am just ignoring this kind of threat?"

"I think you're just playing some sort of angle. You're in this for the money, again."

Hannah actually laughed at that. "You better go stick your head in a beacon, Julia. Jack spent the last twenty years working on this. The Reapers are real, and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you realize that your father has thrown away his life for this."

"I don't believe you."

"Everything I've done has been for a reason, Julia. You and your sister were kind of a surprise development, but the rest of my achievements have all been dedicated to this menace."

She could feel something bubbling up in her chest. "So what, you have the right to just go wherever you want? Kill anyone that opposes you?"

"The laws are there to allow for people like me to exploit the system. Lawyers exist to create further opportunity. I use that opportunity to prevent what could happen."

"That doesn't give you the right to pick and choose your favorites!"

"I have no rights, Julia. The Alliance keeps on reminding me of that. I left them when-"

"You left  _me_!" She roared. All of her rage and feelings just tumbled out. It wasn't even planned. She hadn't meant to say that, not where everyone could hear. Everyone had turned their heads towards them. Jack blinked, seemingly surprised. "You saved Miranda and left me behind. That's the father I remember best. The only Jack Harper I care about finding now is the one who will stand trial."

She didn't believe him. Couldn't risk believing it. She walked away, eyes wide from the emotions that were escaping her carefully maintained calm. For a second, she thought she saw some kind of shock on her father's face. But there was no way that was true. He wasn't capable of feeling guilt. When she came to a stop back in front of Jenkins and Halmabad, they looked at her with some worry on their faces.

"Uh," Jenkins started.

"Stow it." Julia directed at Jenkins and the others. Then she turned back to Haego. "This all you wanted to show me?"

"We have coordinates of a Reaper. Dead, but not recoverable." Jack spoke up again, making her lips curl. "You should go take a look, but don't board it. Every person I sent on board didn't come back."

"If that's all, then we're done here." Julia stated. She could hear the sound of boots following hers as she left the chamber. The Husk heads were giving her a feeling of unease. When she walked a few dozen feet, she saw that one of the Batarians had followed her. She turned to see that the Hegemon was coming up to her. "Was there something else we were supposed to do before leaving?"

"The Hegemony is limited in its range and power. Haego wanted to invite both you and your father here. I only wanted to invite you. You recently struck at Torfan, correct?"

She didn't let anything show on her face. "Perhaps. Why?"

"The Salarians share a border with us. With the latest Rachni troubles, we have been expecting threats to be coming from the trade lanes. But we also worry about the open border we share with them. Our long centuries of poor diplomatic relations have left many listening posts from both sides at the border. I don't trust Harper to do this, and I understand you better."

"Understand me better?"

"In my culture, it is said that you can best understand another by matching blades. I spilled your blood, and you spilled mine. As such, I can expect you to act predictably. The Hegemony only wishes to secure its borders against Rachni. If your ship happens to pick up anything troubling near our Salarian border, I shall see that your demands of us are met next time we speak. Do this for the Hegemony, and the Hegemony shall not forget you."

"What kind of demand?" There was no word for request in the Batarian language. Or help, or thanks, or any kind of polite word.

"In your lesser tongue,  _assistance_." He sounded it out in Asari. "You have the technology to go where my agents cannot. For that, I will allow a demand of your choosing." The Hegemon said with distaste. "We already owe your father too much. I would prefer creating a connection with more than one Human. I shall walk with you back to the Karn'Xul. We would not want you to be killed, now."

"Of course. I'm apparently everyone's courier."

"Your blood was spilled here. You are welcome to return at any time." Jaroth said. "I despise most other beings, Harper. Prove me wrong."

Her teeth remained gritted on the way back to the shuttle. "This was a waste of time, and you all know it."

"As a Turian, I find both you and the Batarians to be rather rude and uncivilized. Though as your mentor, I can safely say that this would be one of those times where you consider sponsorship and support where you can find it. The Batarian Hegemon has not made any state visits to any colony or world since he was crowned. He used to be their ambassador to the Citadel, so he at least knows some tact."

"Your point?"

"Sexy blue hips here means that any other Spectre would kill for this kind of opportunity." Tela cut in. "You do him a favor, and you can exchange that for stock in Batarian State Arms, or exploitation rights somewhere."

Garrus seemed to blink owlishly at that. "Thank you for that." His sarcasm was thick today. "What she said is essentially true" He ducked his head to get into the shuttle, concealing any further emotion he may have been feeling.

"So I should allocate Alliance resources towards something that may piss off the Salarians?" Julia asked. "Halmabad, get this shuttle back up to the ship."

"I think it might be worth talking to command about." Jenkins piped in. "They might have some sort of beef with the Salarians, and they might jump at the opportunity to work with the Batarians."

"I'll make the call." But not to Hackett. This call was going to be to Rear Admiral White. The shuttle ride to the  _Normandy_  was quiet. Everyone had to reapply medi-gel, and the angry face of Chakwas was on the other side of the airlock doors when they had to go through decontamination. Oh yes, the glare was plain on her face, and she bodily dragged all of them to the medical bay. The two medical technicians were there with a stretcher for Jenkins, as he apparently had a slight internal bleeding problem.

"Commander, I hope this wasn't some fool idea to get everyone involved in Batarian sports." She did not sound amused in the slightest. "All of you, into beds. Vakarian, don't think I haven't noticed that cracked bone! Let the orderlies help you!"

* * *

The only joy she had for the next hour was watching Garrus squirm under the skilled hands of the ship's doctor. Apparently his sternum bones had been broken before, and he had not taken the proper amount of time to get them fixed. She only had to get a bit of skin regenerated, and the muscles in her thigh stitched back together. That didn't require anything more than an advanced bandage, medi-gel, and bed rest. She didn't bother putting pants back on, once she was able to get to her quarters. Just wearing the officer's dress coat was enough when you were going to make a phone call from your desk.

Rear Admiral White took her call immediately, even though local time at Arcturus must have been early. Being bald, he had no bed hair or signs of trouble for her to guess if he had been sleeping or not. His eyes betrayed no signs of grogginess either. "Rear Admiral."

" _Commander. I assume that the Batarians tried something? Our agent's report stated that there were some injuries_."

"We were invited to enter into a Temple called the High Fane of Karn'Xul." Julia replied, not having taken the time to type this up yet. "In order to enter, each of us had to go into a knife fight with a Batarian War Priest. No armor, no guns. We sustained some casualties among the group when this was resolved, and a few of us are still in medical. Williams didn't do so well."

" _You're still here, so I assume you found something._ "

"We weren't the only ones invited to join. Jack Harper and Allison Gunn were there. Though Jack seems to have been heavily injured during the trials to enter the temple. We were presented with some information, directly from Harper. An OSD that he claims holds evidence of some kind of machine race that wiped out the Quarians. The Batarians had carvings of that ship we saw in the Achilles System on the walls of their oldest religious site. They called it Rian, and Harper called it a Reaper."

" _Reaper?_ " White said, sounding it out. " _Sounds like a pile of bullshit. Secure that OSD. Don't open it, don't let it connect to anything. I'm going to have one of our agents on the escort ship pick up the files, and have them moved to a safe location. That information cannot be safe to analyze there._ "

"He also claimed that this was the reason he hit the Mars Archive."

" _I'm going to have the_ Damascus _send over a medical team to assist yours. Give the contact the OSD. This information has to get back to us ASAP._ " White said, typing quickly. " _Thank you, Commander._ "

"That's not the only reason I called." She replied. "I met with the Batarian Hegemon, Jaroth. Dueled him, in fact. He offered me some kind of a deal."

" _Are you certain? The Hegemon is the most paranoid state leader that we know of. Are you sure it was him?_ "

"Scars matched up. He gave me a comm code, as well."

" _We've tried to kill him before._ " White admitted. " _He has many decoys and duplicates meant to draw targets off. I wouldn't be surprised if you were just talking to one of them. What did he want?_ "

"He wants the  _Normandy_  to investigate their border with the Salarians. He made noise about being worried about the Rachni, but he wouldn't be asking this if he didn't already suspect something was going on there."

" _Hmm._ " White skewed his eyebrows inwards. " _We've heard some kind of conflicting reports within Salarian space recently. What did the Batarians use as blackmail?_ "

"That's the odd thing. He offered a favor for me, if I did it. There was no threatening, no negotiations."

" _The Batarian borders are almost completely shared with us. The only area that is more gray than anything else is Noveria._ " White said. " _That's the only area that the Batarians even come close to the Salarians, and the relays that connect through there don't have the range to connect to Kite's Nest. The Salarians won't be using normal FTL to cross that."_

" _Sounds a little out of the way._ "

" _Well, Commander, where are you thinking of going next?_ "

She thought for a moment. "Where did we lose contact with Kai Leng?"

" _We lost him out in the Traverse, in the Argos Rho cluster." White said. "He's been dead fifteen years now. Why the sudden interest?_ "

"I have Tela Vasir aboard. I've got a feeling that she might have some answers about that. She's going to try to kill me at some point, and I don't want to wait around losing sleep over it. We're going to resolve this mess out there, where we can claim that the Rachni found her."

" _Understood, Commander. We don't have much in the way of support for you that far out._ "

"That's ok." Julia admitted. "I'm tired of being everyone's scapegoat. Either way, Tela Vasir is going to be dead soon."

White didn't seem too worried about her stating her intentions to kill an active Spectre. " _I can forward any sightings we have of Rachni for you. We trust your judgement, Commander. Just make sure to give us that OSD._ "

"Aye, Sir." She saluted. "I'll get it to you immediately." White ended the comm call at that. She sat back in the chair, letting her back slouch. Her emotions were still in turmoil over everything that had happened today. "Kalin'ren, have Jenkins, Halmabad, and Zorah come to my quarters." She pulled on pants for this.

Tali was the first to arrive, even though she had the furthest to travel. She stood at attention, her epaulets on each shoulder slightly covered in grease. The left one had only a couple of spots of it, but the right looked halfway blackened. "Commander. You called?"

"Yes. I'll wait for the others before I explain."

Jenkins was in a wheelchair, explaining why it was taking so long. Halmabad was pushing him. Tali had settled against the wall and Jenkins was pushed up against the table. Halmabad took a seat, careful to not disturb the pressure bandages on his arms. "Commander, if today is proof of how the Batarians treat friends and family, perhaps I should introduce some of my uncles."

"You think they would do alright?"

"They're Muslim, old, and stubborn. It might be a favor to everyone." Halmabad joked. "What did you need?"

"Jenkins, the OSD?"

"I dropped that off in my locker, Ma'am." He said sheepishly. "We'll go grab it real quick."

"Tali, you get it." Julia ordered. "I know you have the override codes."

The Quarian took off at a run. When the doors closed again, she refocused on the men in front of her. "I trust that what you saw today will not be too detailed?"

"I reported that the Batarians tried to cut out his tongue." Jenkins helpfully supplied. "Though that is probably why I haven't qualified past N2."

"CQC will be touched on, Jenkins, trust me. After seeing you decide that the best way to win a knife fight was to box him out, I think the entire crew needs a good lesson. Halmabad, you had some good moves, but it was slow. Not to mention outside of a vehicle your marksmanship is subpar."

"It will be rectified, Ma'am."

She sighed. "I called you here to talk about what's going to happen next. Tela Vasir was involved in whatever got Humanity's first attempt at a Spectre killed fifteen years ago. Her presence on the ship now means that the Asari mean to kill us or set us up. I don't plan on walking into one of their traps, so we are going to be doing a bit of digging. Hopefully at the end we will have killed Vasir before she gets us killed."

Jenkins looked horrified. "Wait! You're talking about murdering her?!"

"Yes." She admitted. "Ambassador Hock, Hackett, and even that bastard of a father warned me that the Asari would send her to kill me. She's here, and I don't plan on waiting for her to be ready. We'll decide where we fight her, and perhaps even as soon as four days from now, she will be dust. I'm letting you know because you both are her other targets on board."

"I'll keep an eye on her, Commander." Halmabad offered.

"No." She replied. "That plays into her hand and lets her know that we are getting ready for this. I'll ask Desolous to keep an eye on her. He would be far more willing to do so, I would imagine. I needed to make you aware. Stay together, and stay in public areas when possible."

"You know this sounds crazy, right? Killing a Spectre? I mean-" The doors opening cut him off, and Tali returned, offering a sealed plastic bag with the OSD inside of it.

"Thank you Tali. Alliance Command has decided that this information is too dangerous to be analyzed out here. They want us to send it back with the other ships when we get near Arcturus." She motioned to the OSD. "I want a copy of it all. Command wants it all to themselves, and I don't trust them to share any of it."

"I am required to report that kind of action to Command, Ma'am." Tali reminded her. "I can't have this kind of thing on my record, or else any Quarian officer that follows is going to be put under scrutiny."

Julia sighed at that. "What if this was for personal reasons?"

"I still legally couldn't, Commander. Not while using Alliance resources." She said carefully.

"That terminal you found, inside the ventilation systems." Julia remembered. "Use it. If questioned, claim that it is part of your Pilgrimage. Just in case that data has something we can use, I want to have it on hand." She could see the Quarian fidget in her seat. "I'll share whatever you want in it as part of your pilgrimage gift." This was just some data about those ships. It was unlikely to cause too much harm to give Tali some of it.

She stopped fidgeting. "Really?" Her voice nearly cracked.

"I promise. But you have ten minutes to copy it and get the OSD back to me."

"What?" She shouted. "I… Shit!" The Quarian took the OSD and started running out the door.

"I assume that we shouldn't report that, either?" Halmabad asked quietly.

"This ship seems to have a lot of secrets. This one might seem small compared to some of the others." Julia stated. "Both of you rest up. We need you healthy for whatever we are going to go up against. In order to lure Vasir down, there has to be something worth hitting. So be ready for that and whatever she is capable of."

Both of the men nodded, and then Jenkins was wheeled back to Chakwas. The medical technicians from the  _Damascus_  showed up, and were actually a great help in treating Jenkins. The OSD copy was slipped away successfully, and Tali assured her that the data had copied successfully, but the encryption on it was unbroken. She had to copy the data as a single block, as it was still encrypted. The OSD was a Quarian model, so she had to use one of the backups she had for her own Omni-tool as a copy.

Then, it was back to her quarters for some sleep. Preferably uninterrupted.

* * *

Unknown Location, Sol System

Jack hissed in pain as another salve was applied to his face. The damn priest had stabbed him right through the cheek. He had no idea that he would have had to duel his way into the temple.

"Fantastic idea, Charles. Now I've got to replace my cybernetic foot." To replace the one Garrus Vakarian blasted off. Then subsequently damaged by the War Priest stomping on the damaged circuits. Damn Haego to wherever they delegated their dirty afterlives. "And we finally discovered why my daughter hates me."

"I thought she would have realized that children were secondary to your plan a long time ago." Hannah said. "Then I realize that you never raised them with this plan in mind. Have you even explained all of this to Miranda?"

"No." Jack said. "She is aware of Ilos, and that I have some kind of alliance with the Quarians. She does not know about the Reapers."

Hannah just kneaded her forehead in thought. "Would it kill you to be altruistic for once?"

"I agreed to try your plan." He glanced at the open comm screen. "Both of your plans." Charles had a sheepish look on his face. "Now see where it's gotten me?"

" _Back on track for making up with Julia and making her not completely despise you?_ " Charles said.

The look he gave Charles was as scathing as someone with a knife wound in their cheek could give. "Are you sure you want to define the progress of a plan you created that way?"

" _Well, you can't just give up on your own daughter!_ " Charles deflected. " _I've only won one bet with you my entire life, Jack. You gotta follow through on it._ "

"I've been stabbed and mauled by someone I usually label a friend because I lost to you in a high stakes poker game. I fail to see how this isn't followed through."

"Jack." Hannah's hand sat on his shoulder, making every single paranoid reaction go through his mind. But his control gave him enough focus to not jump or flinch when she did so. He still jerked. "What Charles meant to say is that you are making good steps. You've got twenty years of silence about your goals and your dreams that Julia has to come to terms with."

"The Alliance will be worried about her soon, though. If they think I'm trying to turn yet another one of their loyal and effective Infiltrators into an agent. With good reason." He snaked a hand around Hannah's hip for emphasis. "That means that we need to remove any weaknesses that Julia has left. As much as I hate the idea, that means that we need to extract any one that the Alliance might hold over her head."

"Who?"

"Tell the Captain to set a route for Sandy, Utah, Northwestern States. I want the  _Acheron_  to be at very specific coordinates."

"Her?" Hannah had a disgusted look on her face. "If the Alliance killed her it would be a godsend."

"Julia might think differently. Not to mention she has sent letters to my dear old mother for years. Not that she would even care, but I want my mother to live the longest life possible."

"You don't want her dead?"

"Of course I do!" Jack said, affronted. "But she doesn't deserve to die from violence. No, I want her to die peacefully. For her, that would be suffering enough."

Hannah gagged. "You have issues, Jack."

"My issues are your issues, if you still are keeping me to this monogamous relationship." Hannah gave him a glare as her answer to that. "Just get my cheek healed up enough so that I can go get my mother." Jack said. "Then we will see how my daughter will react to my abducting her one remaining free family member."

Hannah was quick, and the Captain was able to set the  _Acheron_  down in some mountain valleys away from the ski resorts. Then, he and Hannah managed to rent a delivery truck, and enter the relatively undefended and insecure facility where his mother was housed. He posed as an orderly, which wasn't hard. The people in this area were known for their kindness and tolerance for other cultures and religions. Today, that translated into no security in place to check if fake employees would enter. Jack looked like any of the other orderlies working here. Tired, injured, and looking like this was absolutely the last thing they ever thought they would be doing with their lives. None of them even checked as he walked into the ward where his mother was kept.

The name on the door was 'Constance Smith'. It had little hearts on either side of the name. Enough reason to gag. Inside, he could hear the sound of a vid being played. He walked by the door first, and went to grab a cart. "What does it look like?"

" _Security here has been heightened. Four men in the security terminal here. They have a feed open to her room constantly._ "

"How many agents in place?"

" _Three. Two in the room with her and one here. I'm guessing they have another team nearby that can show up. Three isn't enough for an asset._ "

Jack assembled his holdout pistol. The Quarians had made him a few mods that he kept for himself rather than share with his company. Scram rails and Phasic rounds were the order today. Enough force to punch through the skull and past whatever kinetic barrier they would be using. Only a biotic would be able to stop this from coming. "I'll extract her. You tell me when the security is down."

" _Jamming field going down in twenty seconds. Make your move._ "

Jack tightened the assembly for the pistol, making sure that the sights lined up. Then he moved the cart up to the door, and waited until the nineteen second mark before entering. The door slid open, and two uniformed men were in the room with Constance. One had already drawn his pistol, and the other was reaching for it. Jack took especial pleasure in his first shot, the round going right through his barrier and through the eye. He dropped, and his fellow took cover behind the bed. Jack rolled, groaning as the injuries screamed over this, and emptied five shots into the man. He gasped, as Jack kicked his gun away and watched him quietly die. "Clear."

Then he finally turned to the bed, where his mother sat staring at him. She was awake, and looking at him with a look that he hadn't seen on her face before. "I always knew something was off in your head, boy."

Jack didn't smile. "Hello, Mother. You always claimed I was a terrible son. I'm not here to prove you wrong, but I think it is high time for you to leave."

"You're still useless. I spend thirty years in this shit heap and you come get me when I finally get a nice room. Useless." Jack noticed that her bed was chained to the wall with reinforced fibers. As well as alarmed systems to let the orderlies know if the bed moved.

"Can you walk?"

"I'm your mother. Don't ever call me incapable!" She spat. "You're lucky I only told the Alliance interrogators about your childhood habits. Hah! I always assumed you were more like your father, Jack."

"Don't make me hit you with a knockout drug." Jack warned, using his Omni-tool to set up a VI that would mimic the signals of a Human under the effects of medicine and whatever else his mother was on. Then he could safely unplug her from the machines. She pushed his hands away as soon as she was unplugged, and stood up on her feet. She glared at him as she steadied herself.

"You're more like me than I ever knew, boy." The words curdled whatever feelings he had about this entire operation. "You're doing this for  _her_. Just like I sacrificed for  _you._ "

"You're just saying that to convince me not to blow your head off as soon as we go out a back door." Jack remarked. "Save your lies." Then he opened the door, hiding his drawn pistol in a towel on the cart he had retrieved.

"All lies have a basis in truth." Constance said, nearly a snarl. "You got your viciousness from me, all right." She moved along the hallway, her legs shaking but not slowing down. "Your sperm donor was smart, but that's about all he was. Brilliant but lazy."

"I met him once." Jack said. "He was working sanitation in the upper levels of the Chicago Arcology." He was just trying to make light conversation, as they passed other orderlies in the halls. "He seemed that way."

Constance was looking at one of the big men near the door. "He's one of the Alliance goons. You'll have to get past him to leave the ward."

"I see." He was armed, and Jack could see a shotgun on his belt. That would shred his kinetic barrier like it wasn't even there. "I need an alternate route." He said into his comm.

" _I'll see what I can do. But for patients there isn't another route. I've had her paperwork processed under the name of her relative that is paying the bills, as well as a good sized stipend. I thought it would be appropriate._ "

"Uncle Roger is still paying for this, right?"

"Your little whore of a daughter is."

"For being supported by her, perhaps you should treat her better."

That made her cackle as they approached the doorway. "I treated you like something I crapped out one day. When I birthed you, did you know that I thought I was just constipated? Hah! I can't afford to treat her any better than you. Might give me some goddamned complex or something." Oh, Jack wanted to say so many things in response to that statement. So many things. So he settled for a neutral comment.

"You were always fair in the way you treat everyone." Jack remarked. As they approached the big goon, Jack smirked as he saw the shimmer in the air near the goon. "Let's get you signed out of here, Miss Constance."

"Hold it." The big goon said. "You'll have to wait on-" He looked like he had inhaled an egg, whole, as his stomach bend inwards around Hannah's elbow. Then he experienced some kind of shocking tech ability, and slumped against the wall. Hannah decloaked, and some of the orderlies panicked. Jack went right along with the crowd, screaming and hustling his mother towards the doors.

"That's one of their damn interrogators, I know it! She could cloak and everything!" His mother said, shuffling more quickly away from Hannah. Jack took a look back, watching as Hannah cloaked herself again, her knife swinging in an arc of red near the goon's neck.

"Tell me about her." Jack said quietly, before drawing his weapon and firing it into the floor underneath them. The screaming intensified, and everyone was rushed out of the building into the waiting arms of the police. Orderlies, patients, and full residents were pushed through the doors without anyone checking to see who they were.

"Always hid her face. Asian, though. She had that tone and size. Tiny little woman. Too kind for her job." Constance said. "She should have threatened to kill me."

Jack nodded, acting suitably panicky for an orderly in a care center. The people were all moving past the police line, patients and caretakers moving and trying to see what was going on in the center. It was simple enough, to lead his mother into a van in the crowd, and then drive off. "Hannah, make sure that the ship is prepped. We need enough food and fuel to last until the Alliance cools off."

"Got it." She said from the back seat, having arrived in the van and decloaking. "We have the package and are en route. Did Henry get the supplies?"

"Oh god, another one."

"Call me a whore and I'll shoot you." Hannah told his mother with seriousness. "You treat everyone like shit, and I don't want any part of it."

Jack laughed at that, almost swerving off the road. "My girlfriend appears to despise you, mother. I hope for my sake that you don't antagonize her."

"I just wonder, boy, if I am just going to get shoved inside of a cell for the rest of my life. That's what I would do if I were in your position." Jack took a deep breath at hearing that. He forgot how grating his mother could be.

"Oh no, mother. I have done the absolute worst thing I could have. Worse than sending you to prison. Want to know the details?"

She stared at him, the lines on her face relaxing into her familiar scowl. "Tell me, you little brat."

"I'm going to let you choose what you want to do now. I'm doing what no one in your entire life has ever done: let you decide your fate." Jack smirked. "I'll help you get into college, get a car, hell, buy whatever drugs you want. Just stay alive and stay the hell out of my business."

"Really?" His mother asked. Jack begrudgingly nodded. "Hahah! My son is finally useful again. I didn't even have to sleep with anyone! Hah! What a novelty!"

"Mother. I just want to keep you alive because Julia seems to care about you. Nothing more."

His mother slugged him in the arm, almost crashing the vehicle. "Good. I want alcohol. That's a start. This entire state has the lowest proof restrictions on drinks I've ever seen. I need something real."

Jack took the van up the bumpy mountain road, towards where their own vehicle would be waiting for them. "That is one thing I can agree on." When he popped open a pack of cigarettes, his mother stole the entire pack. Greedy bitch. He kept the lighter.

"So, tell me what I had to do to you that made you turn out as Humanity's next Osama Bin Laden?" She asked, puffing around her cigarette. "The interrogator's words, not mine. But I am still curious, boy."

Damn it. He couldn't avoid her now. Not when someone had that kind of slander over him. "We'll discuss it over drinks. But not before. I need to know more about these Alliance people." Family was simply the worst kind of experience. At the earliest opportunity, he was going to ditch his damned mother.

* * *

Author's Note

This one was fun to write. Haego is just a riot to involve in any situation, even though his zealotry really doesn't let him play nice with others. I sometimes wish I could do a larger amount of Haego-perspective, but my wife tells me I get really weird after writing in that perspective for too long. So I avoid that.

Feel free to share any thoughts you guys have on how you think things should go down with Tela Vasir. I am curious as to what you guys think on that, and a poll just dehumanizes the entire process.

Some of you were asking about Donnel Udina. Let's touch on that Italian slime ball. He grew up a native born non-Muslim descended Italian, which made him a slightly better off citizen to begin with. He then attended his secondary schooling in England, at a boarding school. His skills in politics began there, and scheming and manipulation became second nature. Then, he returned to Italy for his higher education, propelling him into political knowledge and reforms. At this point Jack came back, and realized that this nuisance was going to be a thorn in his side.

Part of Jack's network of contacts is dedicated to bribing the Italian government(Hey, it's worked since Pope Urban II) to choose others for any position that he has applied for. While Udina has not been completely shafted, he is still the Minister for Tourism for the Italian provinces. He has applied to be Minister of Finance every single year for the last thirty years. Udina had to have been a successful politician at some point, and this reflects that. Jack can keep him from rising up, but only so much. At least enough to prevent him from becoming the Alliance Ambassador. What Jack did not predict was that Donovan Hock saw the opportunity to take that position.

 


	58. Lucid: Cost of Victory

Chapter 58

Hydra System, Argos Rho Cluster, September 2182

"We've arrived, Commander." Joker said, "Stealth systems online, passive ladar running,  _and_ ," he drew that word out. "Nothing on scans. Some basic comm signals going through. No Human news, but we have some Citadel traffic reports. So very gripping."

"Any Asari comm bands?"

"Well, we have, uh, Fornax." Joker said carefully. "Some science comm band from Arrace Republic. It's not exactly gripping."

"Order sensors to go active. Scan for any orbital structures of comm relays that are out of place." She sighed. A quiet system was a good sign. "Take us near those heavy moons near the outlying gas giant. We'll discharge there."

"Yes Ma'am." Joker said, taking a non standard route towards the gas giant's gravity well. "Hey, Commander, I had a question."

"You can ask, Joker. I don't require you to stand at ease or anything." Pressley ran a tight ship, and she really should. But lately it just seemed to be a lot less important compared to observing their alien guests.

"You went through flight academy with me. I don't remember what callsign they gave you." Joker's eyebrows wiggled. "What did you get?"

Julia frowned slightly in thought. That fake identity had a callsign, one that she wasn't proud of. "Remember that mission where we had to land a shuttle and drop troops on those floating hydrogen gas collection platforms? With the pools of liquid that were the excess from the gas conversion process?"

"Yeah, and the stupid landing point was in between those two big pools." Joker said, grimacing. "With those damned three hundred kph winds."

"I never passed that simulation." Julia admitted. "I kept landing too early, and the landing gear attached to that loose plating near the edge of the landing zone. So the back of my shuttle kept going into the pools, and the instructors decided on my callsign from that experience."

"Oh wait, you aren't  _Dipstick_ , are you?" Her grimace made him cackle. "Oh man! You dipped the entire ventral section of the shuttle in the  _same_  pool all four attempts! Haha!"

"That's not a name I want shared with the rest of the crew." Julia said, trying not to laugh. "But safe to say, I'm glad I don't have to fake any more Flight Academy classes."

"You leave that flight jockey stuff to the professionals, Commander. We're the ones who are equipped for this kind of," Joker's eyes widened. "Oh dear god Pressley's coming for me again." He had turned around in his chair, and they both saw Pressley on the war path towards them. He had a serious frown on his face.

"Commander!" He bellowed respectfully. "Alliance Command is raising holy hell regarding our flight plan."

"I'll take their call in the comm room." She grinned at Joker. "Can you double check the flight path that Joker decided on? I'm worried about how close we are coming to those moons."

Pressley rounded on the pilot, who shrank in his chair and mouthed the word 'traitor' at her as she walked off. The navigator's shouting was clearly heard as Julia left the bridge, and she steeled herself as she took the ladder downwards. Here, she knew that all of the aliens on board would be. They weren't allowed on the upper deck, and they used the lower airlocks for all of their ground missions. Only the crew were allowed near the bridge and cockpit. The comm room could only be accessed by the Spectres by her authority. As well as requiring a crewmember to open the door.

It was safe on the upper deck. Compared to where there was Tela and Wrex on the lower decks, who posed a serious threat. They had some sort of agreement between them, to not talk. Either that or Wrex wasn't very social. At the bottom of the ladder, she took a deep breath and walked into the crew quarters. She saw that the beds were filled with those that were supposed to be in them. Except for the bed shared by Williams and Vasir.

She heard laughing from the mess tables. Stepping around the bulkhead, she saw that the central tables had been pulled together, and some of the crew were playing cards with some credit chits on the table. Vasir and Williams were at the table as well, with a small pile of chits in front of them. Tela was winning the most, and was taking advantage of her natural beauty to distract the marines across from her.

The only one not losing terribly to her seemed to be Garrus, who had a sizable pile of small numbered credit chits. Wrex was sitting nearby, grinning at something. "Constantine." He grunted. She had to glance down, to remind herself that she wasn't cloaked. She was pretty sure that Wrex could notice her even when she wasn't visible.

"Wrex." She replied. "What's got you in such a good mood?"

"Watching Tela lose to a Turian."

"If I remember correctly, you told me that Wrex was a female Turian when I came aboard this time." Garrus said, not looking up at them. "I learned to gamble from Desolous. Your hips might catch his eye, but I have a much more subtle appreciation for women."

"So that night on Illium was nothing then?"

"Erk." A trill caught in the Turian's throat. "I thought we agreed to never mention it."

" _You_  made that agreement. I agreed to not tell Desolous." Tela did something subtle with one of her arms, drawing two cards instead of one. But Garrus was looking over at Desolous, who was looking quite smugly at the younger Turian. "He's sitting behind me, so I have no idea if he is actually listening or not." She turned around, and Garrus took that opportunity to scan her cards. "Though he had a lot more experience than you did."

"Oh, Garrus picks up more than you think from me…" Desolous said. "Did he compare well enough to me?"

"He was better, I think." Tela intoned, turning back to the table and looking at the game. Williams was giving the two Spectres the most suspicious of looks, and her own hand looked like she had swapped out a card or two. "He's better about lying about my scars, though."

"Scars are marks of honor in Turian society. I told her that they only improved upon her beauty." Garrus snarked. "Instead of only appreciating her hips."

"They are nice hips." Desolous said. "The Thresher Maw scar is especially painful looking."

Tela huffed, as Garrus took the pot. "I've slept with better Turians than either of you. The best one by far was actually," She stopped talking for a moment. "Deal again, Reddin. This time, try not to count the cards so blatantly."

"Hold on that." Julia said. "Just for a moment." Redden held off dealing again. "Vasir, Williams, prepare for a mission. This world is low gravity and I wouldn't mind having a biotic for the trip. Backup team will be Jenkins, Halmabad, and Vakarian." Those named also nodded. "Expect to be ready in four hours or so."

Everyone nodded, and Julia retreated back to the comm room to take the message from Alliance Command. Instead of Rear Admiral White, as she expected, Hackett was the one who showed up. "Admiral." She saluted.

"Constantine. I've got some bad news, but you're the only ship that is in the area." He said gravely. "We've lost contact with a combined Salarian-Human patrol group that was supposed to secure this system. Three of our frigates were protecting two of their cruisers. But they've gone dark, and the last thing that they reported was that they were going down to investigate something on Canrum. All of their ships are now gone or not reporting." Hackett said. "Find out what happened, before the Salarian Union starts calling for someone to answer for it."

"Did Admiral White tell you of what resources I needed?"

"The Frigates  _Conway, Boston,_  and  _Novogrod_  were all assigned to deploy the requested items. I did not receive any notification of their success." Hackett said. "The Salarians are a day behind you, Commander. Hopefully you can shed light on what is going on."

"We'll find out."

"Good luck, Commander. Hackett out." Julia about faced, and walked back to the bridge to find Pressley. The man was focused on the heat overflow sensors, and he only noticed her when she took a position next to him.

"Pressley, Command tells us that a mixed species patrol got lost on the fourth planet in the system. Three frigates, all of them top rated. Two Salarian cruisers of unknown classification also went down with them. Keep us under stealth, Lieutenant. I want to know what happened to them. No probes or drones unless you feel comfortable deploying them."

He nodded. "Ma'am, there are some things that you should be aware of. The comm relays in this system are behaving very oddly. All of them are in their proper orbits, and are displaying the normal consistencies under regulations."

"What's wrong, then?"

"It's too odd. Micrometeorites, solar wind, fares, you name it comm relays are screwed up by it. These are all in their perfect orbits, and their signals come through too clearly." Pressley was looking at the thermal venting controls now. "I don't trust that to be true. Someone moved them. Or corrected their orbits. I don't like it."

"Where can we discharge our core?"

"Preferably elsewhere." Pressley said. "The system is unsafe. While the mass relay is within a light year of the system, it's too far to really know what's going on in the solar radius. The gas giant in system is on the far side of its orbit, and we don't have the range to get there. Not without the stealth system going beyond its limits. My original flight plan involved discharging at Canrum, but now that doesn't sound very safe at all."

"Get us to the planet first, then we can worry about discharging the drive core. We can always sit around and wait for a large enough planetoid to discharge at." She told him. "Something seems odd here."

"Commander, I'll need more than just passive sensors to find out what happened to those ships. Permission to launch a couple of drones once we get near the planet?"

"Launch them now. Let them drift at high speed, those drones aren't meant to be stealthy. We don't have that Salarian technology." Julia said. "Hopefully we won't lose them to micro meteors and debris."

"We'll cold launch them, with a timer for four hours from now." Pressley said. "I'll supervise the launch directly, Ma'am." The man gave a cold glare to all of the bridge crew. "Thermal fluctuations will not deviate outside of acceptable norms, Ma'am." The technicians and officers all stood a little straighter as he walked towards the ladder. Only after he left the bridge did the technicians actually slouch and calm down. She cleared her throat and they all stood straight again, and Julia took Pressley's chair.

"Stay focused. Something out there is going on. The Salarians are following us into the system, but the ships went quiet less than six hours ago."

Julia folded her arms, and stood directly behind Kalin'ren. This system was too quiet, too undisturbed. Something was wrong here.

* * *

SNV Linnorn, Widow System, September 2182

"I am the very model of a modern major general; I am-" The voice capered on, and Rahna groaned at the pitter-patter sound reaching her ears. The sound stopped, and then a flashlight was shined into her eyes. "Yes, yes. Proper dilation of retina, this time perhaps you will not be so delirious." She blinked upwards, seeing the face of a Salarian with a bent horn. "Success!"

"What?" She said, her throat aching.

"Don't speak. Vocal cords damaged by screaming when we had to flush poison from veins. Damage to your body was severe, kept in medical coma until lungs could stabilize. Breathing may be difficult until cell tissues have been restored." Rahna looked down at herself, and saw that her entire torso was bandaged. "Tried to reduce exposure to radiated areas of planet, but was not successful. Had to treat you for radiation dosage as well. Lucky, in fact, that a ship was able to pick us up so quickly after you were attacked."

"Attack? What," She started coughing, her throat rejecting the very idea of talking.

"Don't speak." She felt something injected into her body. "Just sedative. Calm down. You're a biotic. Metabolize quickly enough that I have to give more than recommended dosage. Nervous system needs to have ingredients of sedatives rotated due to how slowly certain elements pass through bloodstream. This won't send you back to sleep."

"Good." She replied slowly. "Where-"

"We are currently en route to the Citadel, where you will be admitted to Huerta Medical Center. You and your other two partners will be admitted there."

She sighed in relief. "Thanks." She grunted out. "Who?"

"My name is Mordin Solus. Doctor of medicine and biology. Pleased to say that I only lost one of you under my care. Three preserved, one lost, as well as Rachni to experiment on." He chortled happily. "Reunited with your team I promised, and I always keep my promises."

"Okay…" She said carefully. "Why did you help us?"

The Salarian grinned. "Convenience. Was hunting enemy of STG, but now helping you. Our teams were in place to catch criminal, but were not prepared for other ships that entered orbit. To be honest, had been hoping you were member of Crucible. But if you were, you would not be waking up on Citadel, hmm?"

"Crucible?"

"Security company. Badly disguised mercenary band. Owned by a Human, Jack Harper. Special Tasks Group very interested in him."

"I'm just one of the biotics. A marine on my ship."

"I am very interested in this ship of yours. Special Tasks Group very interested, and would be happy to reward you for any information."

"I don't think…"

"Ah, we are not at Citadel yet. Perhaps we should take another route, yes? I'll let the pilot know that we should wait before we approach the Citadel. Your friend's untreated wounds can wait."

Rahna didn't even know what was going on. But she was weak, and under the custody of some Salarian. "Wait!"

"Tell me about this 'Normandy' and I shall do everything in my power to save the lives of your friends. Injuries with Rachni acid have no specialist alive that can take care of them. Lost art, you see." Dr. Solus gave her a smile. "Doctor's oath prohibits harming of patient. STG oath prohibits me from allowing you to leave before I gather what I need. Sorry that you must be in between those two concerns." He shuffled on his feet, the handle of an SMG showing. Rahna's arms were still strapped to the table, and she flared her biotics weakly. "Tell me about this ship that disappears, Human."

* * *

Canrum, Hydra System, September 2182

Charles Pressley watched as the  _Normandy_  finally hit her approach vector to the planet. There was obvious debris, from at least two ships. But with only passive scanning he couldn't see much. A few pieces of debris were still powered, the power couplings still intact somewhere. There was also some kind of asteroid debris scattered throughout the area, with some larger chunks of rock in stable or unstable orbits.

"Joker." He grunted. "Timer on those drones?"

"Of the four we launched, two are no longer responding." The young pilot responded. "That means that we will need to go active if we want any kind of detailed scans."

"Damn." Pressley stated. "Take us to full alert."

"All crew are at their stations." Kalin'ren reported. "Sleeper pods are emptied, and all marines are suited up."

"Mmhmm. Joker, activate the drones."

The changes were immediate. The damages from the battle became fully realized, as one of Canrum's moons lit up with more electronic signatures. All of the cores and engines of the ships were still there. Minus any connection to other parts of the ships. Relatively intact shuttles, armor plating, and the element zero cores drifted in space, as if the ships had been deconstructed rather than shot apart. "Canrum's atmosphere is making scans difficult. Should we decloak?"

Something bad had happened here. Pressley had been around since the damned First Contact War. Never had he seen a ship damaged like this. He watched as an intact FTL drive drifted past, the Salarian model number clear on the side of it. "Do so. We need to know what happened here. Kalin'ren, get me a diagnostic on how much damage a ship would have to take in order to jettison an FTL drive."

"I've been wondering that, too. Usually those little sneak thieves have the high end technology and destroy it rather than share their tech." Kalin'ren replied. "I'll start scanning. Report will be collated soon."

"Coming out of stealth, rerouting power to other systems." Joker said. "We've got some escape pods, Sir." The entire board lit up with escape pod signatures. Hundreds of them. "They went down on Canrum, Sir."

"Survivors! Get some active scans, figure out if anyone is moving out there." This would look good. Humans saving Salarians from trouble. Commander Constantine would enjoy that kind of hold over them. "Prep both shuttles, and the MAKO." He tapped his wrist to activate comms. "Constantine, you reading all this?"

" _We are. Combat teams are ready to deploy and the shuttles are filled with SAR trained Quarians. How many escape pods are we talking about?"_

"Near one thirty. All are scattered around the old Turian base that was left here hundreds of years ago. Your best bet for finding survivors lies there." Surface temperatures on Canrum were far below what could be considered survivable. "We've detected some heat signatures on the surface, near that base. The old caverns there look like they have life support systems."

" _Excellent. Take us into high orbit and drop us. The gravity here is half earth normal, so the MAKO can handle that kind of drop._ "

Pressley nodded to the technician in charge of hangar bay functions. "Joker, take us to lower orbit. Deploy shuttles on my mark."

"Crap!" Joker shouted. "Contact, coming from the surface!"

"Classification?"

"It's a  _triangle_." Joker said carefully. "A really ugly triangle. With engines." This system had no connections to relays that were not documented, nor were there any groups out here other than Citadel fleet ships and the odd merchant or pirate. "It's on an approach vector."

"Comms? Figure out who that is."

"They don't have a comm signal. Not even a basic one. Nor is there any IFF markers." Kalin'ren said, surprised. "No paint, or anything. Composition of hull is silicate, iron, and quartz crystals."

"Did the Salarians get wiped out by a ship made out of  _sand_?!" Pressley said incredulously. "What kind of sensors do they have?"

"Unknown. Life forms unknown, and there is some sort of interference on their ship, now." Kalin'ren said. "Heat buildup along its lateral lines."

Pressley stood next to Joker, now. "It's two hundred meters long, Sir. But it's three hundred wide. Or that might be its circumference. Scanners can't tell."

"Fire a GUARDIAN laser shot across their bow. Let them know that they need to deviate course."

"They'll intercept us before we make Canrum's upper atmosphere, Sir. Should I adjust course?"

"Stay on course. See how they respond to our warning shot." Their GUARDIAN laser bank released a small burst, one that was supposed to shoot above the enemy ship. Instead, the laser struck a barrier. One that was thick enough to extend more than a hundred meters around the ship. "Gods! Joker, break right! That barrier will cut us in half!" He had seen a barrier like this once, on a Turian Dreadnought. An Alliance bomber wing had tried to do a close bombing run on the beast, during the First Contact War. The Dreadnought had just extended its kinetic barrier out to full, and the smaller ships had been torn to pieces on the barrier itself. But that barrier had only gone out fifty meters.  _This_  barrier had to be twice that in strength in order to extend this far.

The  _Normandy_  rolled, and the enemy ship glowed. Not the kind of 'I just powered up my weapons' kind of glow, but the glow of a hundred spotlights. Out the front of the triangle shaped cone of the ship spat a purple orb, which hit the  _Normandy_  with enough force to knock Joker nearly out of his seat. Pressley himself ended up in the galaxy map, standing up quickly. "Report!"

"That was pure force, it went right through the kinetic barriers!"

" _Bridge, what the hell was that?_ "

"Some sort of orb fired by the enemy ship, knocked us all kinds of places. No idea what that was."

" _That was a biotic Throw, but like nothing I've ever felt before._ " Constantine said. She was a biotic, so he had to trust her opinion. " _You can't get hit by anything else, Pressley. A biotic explosion might occur._ " He felt his stomach sink to an uncomfortable place.

"Joker, I want us out of here!"

"Yes, Sir!" The ship rumbled, as Joker shunted more power to the engines. The kinetic barriers sat almost unmolested, as if they hadn't even noticed the strike. This must have been what destroyed the other ships. But he had no idea how biotics could be this strong.

"Constantine, how strong are those Rachni biotics?"

" _Nothing like this. But Rachni ships used to use GUARDIAN lasers and their queens used to be able to do something like this. But none of that has been confirmed._ "

He knew better than anyone on this ship what the Rachni were capable of. He had dedicated two months to their study and had opened up every data file he could get access to, and then some he didn't. He had also looked up what Rachni ships were capable of in terms of top speed and FTL strength. "Joker. Turn around."

"What?!"

"That ship has a much higher top speed. We can't outrun it. Prep all missiles and the Thanix cannons. That's a damn Queen ship."

The Queen ship was slowly catching up to them, its odd shape finally making Pressley realize what the threat was. That massive ship was made from sand particles and crystals. It was lighter than any military craft that he was familiar with. It could theoretically hit a higher top speed and FTL rate than the  _Normandy_. "Cannons ready, firing vector still configuring."

"They're firing again!" the sensor tech shouted. "This orb is coming for the wing!"

" _Alenko! What are you doing?_ "

Pressley saw that someone had climbed out of the hangar bay, and was anchored with tether lines to the underside of the ship. A small blip of energy was registered passing the kinetic barrier, and went directly for the oncoming biotic orb. The purple orb coming for them detonated a few hundred meters from the hull, the wash of biotic energy throwing off their course slightly. " _We can detonate them! This is what Andrew and I trained for! We can do this!_ "

" _Be careful out there, Alenko._ " Constantine said. He sighed in relief, feeling sweat running down his face. They had almost died. He owed those Titans drinks at the end of this. There was a blinking light alerting him to someone coming onto the bridge, but that wasn't important.

"Joker, line us up! I want to see how fast they can turn!"

Pressley held on as the ship dipped, coming around from a different angle on the Queen ship. " _Firing Thanix._ " The gunnery station reported. The blue-white wash of molten metal erupted from the front of the Normandy, splashing across its massive barriers and shrinking them. Pressley grinned as he watched the ship buckled under the pressure, some of the side looking like molten glass rather than the shapeless hull it had been. The  _Normandy_  flew by the ship, coasting into the upper atmosphere.

"Can't turn around as easily." Joker reported. "They aren't following."

"Drop MAKO and shuttles." Pressley said. The ship rumbled as they all disengaged, and reduced the overall weight of the ship. "Take us back out of atmosphere, Joker. We have unfinished business. As far as I am aware, no Alliance ship has killed a Rachni ship yet." He straightened. "I want that ship dead."

The tapping of a cane reminded him that someone else had entered the bridge. Desolous Arterius had stepped forward, his mandibles flaring at the sight on the consoles. "Remarkable."

"General, normally I would eject you from this bridge, but right now I would appreciate anything you've got on the Rachni's space capabilities." Pressley said.

"They only fight for short periods of time." He said. "Their ships are piloted through a mixture of Prothean based engines, extremely light crystals, and biotics. They are relatively fragile once you get down to their hull."

"We're coming up behind them!" Joker said. "They're turning around!"

"Prime the full torpedo bank. Fire everything on the port side, then everything on the starboard. I want to strip their barriers away to nothing."

"Don't get close, Pressley." Desolous warned. "That's where they are most effective."

"We're a frigate. We don't have much choice about our fighting range." He replied, coming to stand behind Joker. One Titan was tethered to the top of the ship at this point, and the other was tethered to the underside. Their biotics would keep them alive. They had to. "Right down the gullet, Joker."

The torpedoes launched, twelve glowing points on the dashboard heading for the enemy ship. They were coming in hard and fast, and the Thanix released another blue-white burst of molten plasma.  _That_  struck the target hard. Then it glowed. The  _Normandy_  was tossed like a ragdoll, and all of the torpedoes were destroyed in the wash of energy. Thier barriers felt that, being almost totally drained by the biotic field that the Rachni ship had put out. Pressley looked on in horror as he saw that both of their tether lines were empty. They were both EVA now.

"I can't…" Joker tried to say, as he was trying to right the craft. Something was wrong with the right wing of the ship, damage reports flooding in.

"Cloak! Cloak, damn it!"

"I can't!" Joker replied. "We've got hull breaches on the port thruster! I've gotta flush it!"

That was it, then. They couldn't avoid the next biotic strike. Without the port thruster they didn't have the same maneuverability. "GUARDIAN lasers! Let that bastard have it!"

The limited battery of lasers released, but that barrier remained. It was smaller, but not small enough that it was directly surrounding the hull. It lined its front end up with them, and a cover was removed from the front of the cone. "What the hell is that?" Joker yelled, trying to right the ship.

"The Rachni also used normal weapons in addition. That cannon will hit us as hard as any cruiser's would." Desolous said. Then the ship started glowing around that frontal cone. "Biotically assisted…." he trailed off, mandibles wide with fear.

"Joker, roll! Angle that shot against something non critical!"

Joker was sweating, his forehead slicked as the ship had to roll sideways, using the good thrusters and chemical jets on the starboard side. The Rachni Queen ship fired, its round glancing off of the armor plating on the starboard side, and burying itself into the GUARDIAN laser bank. That round hit harder than any dreadnought. The kinetic readings registered it as being launched at forty percent of the speed of light. Ten percent faster than anything launched by the Destiny Ascension.

"Weapons! Give me something!"

"Four torpedoes loaded, but the lasers are down!"

"Staggered launches! One at a time, twenty seconds apart! When can we fire the Thanix again?"

"You tell me what to turn off, and we can fire it!"

"Cut kinetic barriers! Not much use anyways. Fire in thirty seconds, maximum range!"

The first of the torpedoes was loose, and was going to hit that damned ship in forty seconds. Three more were following, in a staggered formation. Just so that it couldn't just use whatever biotic ability that blew away everything last time. No lasers, nothing but Thanix.

The first blast of the Thanix went slightly wide. It struck the barriers, but the wash of heat from the molten metal didn't hit the hull. Two charred marks were on the Rachni ship, their first shot looking much worse than the second. Pressley had no idea what the inside of that ship was shaped like, but with two hull breaches it should at least be slightly weakened. It shouldn't have these ridiculous barriers, and weapons that seemed stronger than anything a ship this size should have. It fired another one of its dangerous purple orbs, this one striking the  _Normandy_  amidships and sending them coasting backwards towards the planet's gravity well.

Joker recovered, having finished flushing the port thrusters. "We aren't going to hit them from this range!"

"Get us close." Pressley said. "We can't run."

"It's charging that main gun again!" Joker said, gripping the haptic interface tighter. "Come on, come on!"

This shot went directly into the hangar bay. The ship shuddered and groaned, and the elevator behind them squealed. "Fire!"

The Thanix struck, this time dead on. The front cone of the Rachni ship melted under their shot, the barrier shrinking down to almost the hull. Then the javelin torpedoes hit. Huge chunks of the ship were torn apart, as each succeeding torpedo hit again and again. Then their engines tore apart from the second to last torpedo, and the final torpedo slamming home into the heart of the ship.

It broke apart like an asteroid would. Not like a ship. There were no components, no wiring, hardly any atmosphere escaping or catching fire. There were plenty of bodies tumbling through space, with heat signatures slowly growing cold. Pressley sighed shakily. "Damage report."

"GUARDIAN arrays are down. Port thrusters damaged." Kalin'ren was saying. "Comms are down, main power conduits damaged along starboard axis. Hangar bay is venting atmosphere, and element zero core is showing containment failure."

"We killed that bastard."

"It was a female, I believe." Desolous stated.

"Get off my bridge." He growled at the Turian. He waited until the Turian had made his way down the ladder before looking around at his crew. "Good job, all of you. Damn good job. Can we pick up our people that are EVA?"

"Yeah!" Joker said. "We can. Just… slowly. But we can't go into atmosphere. The MAKO is gonna need a lift."

"Get back those biotics." Pressley said. "Stand down from battle stations." He took a moment to wipe his forehead, seeing sweat coating his fingers. "Lt. Zorah! Status report!" There was no reply from his chief engineer. "Damage control teams, with me. Joker, get us out of the debris field." Then, Pressley jumped for the ladder. All of the alarms and training had been worth it, as he went down the warped and bent ladder at breakneck speed. The elevator was out, but by God he was going to keep this ship and crew together. Hopefully the Commander wasn't having as eventful a day.

* * *

Julia took cover by the door to the old Turian complex, a newer edition that had to be some Volus model. It was rusted and warped, but not as badly as the rest of the walls were. Behind her were Garrus, Wrex, Williams, Jenkins, and Vasir. Halmabad was going around with Reddin on the turret, and was on patrol around the facility. The grounds here were the site of a major battle at the end of the Krogan Rebellions, and there were plenty of cavern here that were not accounted for. Halmabad was keeping an eye on the surrounding area while they went in. There were hundreds of these escape pods, and already the shuttles were busy trying to find some of the escape pods that had fallen through the silicate surface of the planet. Wrex was going to be going with the other team.

He didn't agree with that decision, but she told him that this had been a Krogan world at one point, and there might be some surprises left over. He begrudgingly went along with that, though she was sure he suspected something. When they came back from this mission, she would see how he would react to Tela being gone. Hopefully without starting a fight in the hangar bay.

She had originally planned on having Alenko and Ta'u to back her up against the Asari. Now she was down to just herself to counter Tela's biotics. She had been counting on having Alenko there. "Hang on." Without Halmabad on the ground, she was the one in charge of cracking doors open. Vakarian could do this as well, but she didn't know how that would go. With some sort of hostile forces on this world, she had to keep the MAKO mobile. No one was better for that than Halmabad.

The door opened for her after a short amount of work. The systems were old, and the codes were simple in comparison to what the current standard of complex codes were. Once inside the airlock, she prepared four small drones. "Two are for your squad, Williams. Trust them, they've got experience with this."

"Vasir, you've got point. I know you're a Vanguard."

"Fine." She said. "Shouldn't you, though? You've got that fancy Human cloaking system that replaces an organ or something."

"Bones." She stated, seeing Jenkins shudder at the thought. "Jenkins, take the rear. I don't like that ship that blasted off from near here. "Normandy, report!"

" _Normandy's signal is gone, Commander._ " Halmabad reported. " _I'll try to raise them, but right now there is so much debris out there that the drones got knocked out too. I can't see what's going on up there._ "

"Send a shuttle up there. The first one that's full of survivors, if you've found any."

" _There is something odd about the escape pods we've found. Some have tracks leading towards that facility, Commander, but the tracks disappear into that solid slab of rock that facility is on. You might find them before we do, since it's been hours since they landed._ "

The Normandy was out of contact. Not good. Perhaps Pressley was cloaked and hiding in that moon up there. "Stay on task. Let us know if that ship comes back."

" _You got -"_ Comms went dark. She could see the jamming field slam into place. This mission just got a whole lot worse, and she considered calling it off. She glanced over to Tela, whose body language said that she was just as worried as she was. Hard to tell with helmets on.

"Williams, use the drones to drop laser point to point protocols. We need to be able to communicate."

"Shouldn't we retreat? Without your ship we should take cover in those shuttles or the MAKO, stay mobile." Garrus said, almost quoting the Turian manual for what happened when you jammed their comms.

"There are survivors on this planet, and they came here. If we can find out what happened to them, then we can help out both the Salarian Union and the Alliance. Obviously something went wrong. Take the left wing of the facility. That leads to the Turian barracks and armory area, as well as central control. Vakarian will help you there. We will go towards engineering and the lower sections. Life support should be down there."

"Shouldn't we use the drones to scout out the place and then move in?"

She gave Jenkins a level glare. He was a bit naive. "Comms are more important in this place. Rust has gotten into the ventilation systems, and the rock here might block signals if we get too far apart. All of you, stay careful, and get to your objectives. Comms is right next to the command center. Vakarian, try to get that cleaned up."

"We will." With that, the drones were deployed to either end of the hallway. Once they were relaying comm channels, they split up. Julia watched as the other team walked off, the squared shoulders of Wrex keeping her from seeing the other trusted members of her crew. Not that Garrus was totally trustworthy, but she trusted her mentor to work with her after seeing what had happened in the Achilles System.

As for her team, they were heading towards life support. Vasir was in the lead, and Jenkins walked with his rifle held loosely. The lights along the corridor became less and less maintained, and after two hundred meters the lights stopped being maintained at all. Only the lights of functioning doorways remained, and the lights mounted on their weapons.

The rust had collapsed most of the doorways. Poorly welded metal plates covered the doorways, and then small soldered chunks of old mechanical parts filled in the holes. Air purification systems here was the only parts that were maintained.

They had to deploy their second drone at the second T-intersection of the base, yet the comms remained quiet as they moved downwards into the lower reaches of the Turian base. The rust was even more prevalent here, and there was mud and loose sand on the floor.

"Look at that!" Jenkins called, pointing at a bit of the sand. Julia crouched, seeing that there was a pattern in the sand. It was small ridges, a series of them that almost perfectly matched the boot of Alliance standard Onyx armor. "They've been here! There's some survivors down here!"

Her Omni-tool showed that the boot print was the same temperature as the surrounding area. The man or woman who had left the print did so a while ago. "We've only seen one print so far."

"How about this?" Tela asked. She was holding up some mangled handle. Julia then saw the standard trigger and handle of an Avenger II rifle. The stock and barrel of the weapon had been melted clean off.

"Rachni!" Julia spat. The acid marks were clear. "Keep an eye out for their corpse soldiers!"

"What can those do?" Vasir asked carefully.

"They have claws and can use most weapons. Kinetic barriers, EMP bursts. Try to avoid close quarters." She debated not telling the Asari, and letting the enemy finish off the Spectre for her. But she deserved a fair chance.

The darkness covered them just as well as it did the Rachni and their corpse minions. It was a given that if they had captured the survivors of the crash, they were going to have them and their tech damping abilities around. Those enemies wouldn't see them if they didn't make too much noise.

"Don't use the comms!" Vasir warned, her body glowing with biotics. Julia didn't see any reason to disagree, and planted a tech mine along the floor next to a very damaged doorway. "They'll find us that way."

"I'm not connected to the drone we left at the last intersection." Jenkins said carefully. "It's not responding." Looking back, it was still too far to the lights that illuminated that end of the hallway to tell if anything was out there, but something in her gut said that there was.

"The hangar bay section of these bases has an entrance on this level! Let's move!" Open space would be the most helpful for them. Scans also showed that it was exposed to the atmosphere, and they should be able to reach any of the shuttles by laser communication. She took point, now, cloaking and stepping into the hallway in front of Vasir. The Asari felt along her arm as she glided past, flickering her biotics again to feel her. Julia flickered her own in response, and moved on. There were two turns at least to get to the hangar. Some of the doorways here had collapsed, or the welded seals upon them had fallen off.

Rachni webbing covered some of those exposed rooms, and tunnels leading downwards extended from the floors of those rooms. They were in a damned Hive. This was a tactical mistake, to think that this pirate base would be safe. She should have called this off the moment that the flotilla stopped responding. The webbing wasn't like the stuff on Suen. This was new, made from the metal and silicate material in the floors. It bonded to the walls and the floor like it was a simple extension of the existing construction. In a way, it was well designed. It was nice to look at. It was geometrically correct, and supported the rusted frame of the room. It had a sort of beauty to it.

Each room had a different design of webbing, seemingly supporting the rusted framework as it was exactly needed. She didn't see any living Rachni, or dead ones. But they were definitely here. She didn't go into any of the chambers, but gave each a glance. As the hallway went deeper underground, the walls were more and more replaced by webbing as supports. Then the hallway disappeared entirely, a collapsed section of the floor the only direction that they could move forward. The tunnel underneath had Rachni webbing running all along it, and was shaped exactly like the tunnels she had been in on Suen.

She gripped Tela by the arm and flashed her biotics to let the woman know she was there. Then she tapped Jenkins on the arm. He jerked, but didn't fire his rifle. "Commander, I'm… gah!" He jerked his arm away, wiggling. "You're not getting invited to any Halloween parties, ever."

She snorted. "The hallway collapses up ahead. Tunnels are the only way past up here, and they're all filled with Rachni webbing. Safe bet that we won't find much in the way of survivors down here."

"I disagree." Tela spoke up. "Salarians are crafty, and would try to find cover where the Rachni would least expect it. The upper sections of the facility would be where I would expect to find any Humans hiding. Salarians find comfort in the earth, and the deeper underground they are the more they feel safe. They are also more likely to survive on this planet."

"If they actually made it to the facility. This planet is really cold, you know." Jenkins said. "Those guys freeze up really easily, if I remember right."

"Your call, Constantine. You want to keep looking or pull back to the upper levels?"

"Upper levels. I've already lived through a Rachni Hive. Let's go back." She started walking forward, and her cloak started flickering. It was all the warning she received, but it was enough. Three Husks tore through the thin metal plating of the hallway, coming through the rusted over walls like they were made of paper. She tumbled downwards, tripping one of them and avoiding the other two. Jenkins swore, as three more came through the walls next to him, and three more came through other walls near Tela. Through the walls she could see more Rachni tunnels and webbing behind the now broken welded plates. Along with more grasping arms from other Husks.

She put down one of the Husks with a pistol round to the visor, slamming the barrel of the gun into the visor and under the kinetic barrier to put the round through. The corpse buckled, the round piercing through the eye and brain but not breaking out of the back of the helmet and kinetic barrier. She could hear it bounce once inside, and the corpse's cheek almost burst from the force. That was all the attention she gave that one, rolling to her feet and drawing her Kavka knife. Claws dragged across her back as her barrier didn't even slow them down. Something was charged about them, as she felt its claw dig into her ribs. Electricity arced into her skin.

That bastard got a knife to the elbow and a shot through the throat. It took three blasts of her pistol to get through its weak kinetic barrier, but the last shot went right through the nose. The third one she kicked in the knee, taking a swipe from its claws across her leg before it joined its brothers. Her pistol was smoking lightly, and she took stock of her surroundings. Jenkins was still killing one of the corpses hanging on him, claw marks all across the front of his armor. Fortunately for him, he had heavy armor and could afford to take that kind of hit. Her own catsuit wasn't good for extended combat of any kind.

Vasir was nowhere to be found, but four dead Husks and a chunk of a cybernetic arm showed where she had gone. She had used a Vanguard Charge, and had cut through an area of hallway in front of them. There was a hole in the wall to mark where she had gone through, and the cold air was flowing inwards. Atmospheric alerts were sounding, and she could see her suit tightening over her. "Check your seals!" She barked, taking a few shots at the Husks climbing behind the walls.

Jenkins beat a Husk with the butt of his rifle, its claws ripping apart the barrel as it tried to stop its impending death. Jenkins tossed the now useless weapon to the side, a shotgun replacing the rifle. Husks were crawling out of holes around them, and once free Jenkins shot off towards where they had dropped the drone. Their drone was against the floor, torn in half. The air was starting to turn an odd greenish tint, the xenon from the atmosphere being heavier than the oxygen in the base and displacing it. It also displaced the air enough that where the Rachni tunnels met the hallway there were swirling clouds of dust, as the xenon found areas of lower pressure. This only made the visibility in the hallways drop even further, and she thundered down the halls as fast as she could go. Jenkins was right behind her, shotgun barking every few seconds at any Husk that he could see. She made more careful shots, taking out only the ones that dared step out into the hallway. There were only a couple. What was more troubling were the metal plates that had been shifted by something larger than a Husk.

The Rachni were at the next intersection, two warriors sitting there with plasma weapons primed and aimed at them. There was no cover in the tunnel except for the doorways, which of course would take them into Rachni territory. Jenkins shoved her behind him, grunting as the first blasts of plasma struck his barrier. "Stay behind me!"

She drew her sniper rifle, and took a running pair of shots at the warrior on the left. It overheated on the second shot, but it managed to breach the armor of the warrior and cause it to start bleeding onto the floor. Jenkins focused on that one, too, and Julia could see him flip the thermal vent into a locked position. His shotgun spat a massive bolt of energy at the injured Rachni, the lack of kinetic barriers making the Carnage round burst into the damaged frontal armor. The front of the Rachni warrior exploded, acid flying everywhere. Its partner screamed, dropping its plasma weapons and spraying acid towards them.

Jenkins held his ground, ready to take the spray. Julia didn't like that one bit, and threw her best biotic barrier in front of Jenkins. The acid drained it, and then broke through. Jenkins hissed in pain over their comms as the spray got him in the torso. But by then their weapons had cooled. The Rachni was charging them, its tentacles ready to tear them to pieces. Jenkins held his shotgun to his shoulder, and it barked again. It hadn't cooled off completely, and the man threw one of his grenades as he pulled out his pistol. Julia was putting fire into the Rachni as well, her pistol putting holes through some of its head armor. It got within fifteen feet when its tentacles swung at them.

Pressley had watched the old vids. They had been dug out of some old Salarian archive, and he had needed to get some old adaptor for them to even watch it. But the Rachni moved extremely predictably with their claws and tentacles. With only four limbs, their weight was fairly focused on the frontal two legs. Pinning or disabling the bugs meant shooting them in the foot. Their tentacles were mounted where the shoulders were, and could reach around to almost any part of its body. They had run simulations, with holograms of charging Rachni.

As such, Jenkins calmly exploded his grenade as the Rachni walked over it, blowing apart the pointed ends of its frontal legs. The beast screeched as it slid, and Jenkins and Julia both put their pistol rounds into its twitching brain. The old vids clearly showed how to fight Rachni that were coming into melee. They did not have anything to show how to fight armored and ranged combatants that could also come into close range and tear you to pieces. They had tried to develop tactics against it, and the best tactic was to either use artillery or grenades from underneath. The armor was thinnest there.

The Rachni's body shuddered and stopped a few inches in front of them, as the air turned steadily more green. Swirling eddies where pockets of oxygen gathered along the ceiling met the xenon became more and more numerous. "We need to get to the other side of the base!" Julia said, looking at her torn arm and back. She couldn't go out into the atmosphere of this planet until her armor was sealed. Jenkins, too.

"Yeah!" He said, glancing at her back. "You're air unit is damaged! We gotta run!" Julia couldn't see back there, and had to trust his judgement.

At the intersection where the Rachni had been shelling them from, the dead body of the first Rachni warrior was blocking the air lock doors from closing. A blue light glowed on the panel, the Turian color for 'cannot function as directed'. They had to get to the next intersection, and the Husks behind them had finally crawled into the hallway. She and Jenkins leapt over the dead Rachni, careful to step in the few places that had not been burned by acid when the front half of the creature had exploded. She stepped in some of the volatile stuff when she tried to pivot around the corner, seeing that the hallway ahead of them wasn't as patchwork as the ones behind. One more turn and they would be back in the starting hallway, but this one was already full of dangerous enemies.

Three more of their warriors were in this section, and a small swarm of their workers. Four Husks also were in the hallway, their mouths opened in permanent screams. The blue glow coming from inside their torsos reflected off of their throats and gave the disfigured faces a back glow. Jenkins came to a stop, looking down the hallway at the mess. There were also Husks behind them, too. At least six.

"Which way, Commander?"

"Back!" She barked, turning around and leveling her EMP shielded pistol at the approaching Husks. The corpses were all in armor, meaning that she had to get through kinetic barriers before impacting their heads. She risked a grenade in the middle of them, the force of the blast collapsing the floor they were standing on and making the dead Rachni spray more of its acidic blood all over. The floor collapsed completely, a fifteen foot section falling into the Rachni chambers underneath the floor. The Husks all fell in except for one, which Jenkins helpfully bashed with his shotgun to send to its brothers.

She heard a whining sound, one that immediately had her on panic mode. She tackled Jenkins into the remains of the hallway they had just traveled through, and through the small puddles of acid. But the area where she had been standing was then filled with rounds fired. The Husks in the hallway had a heavy machine gun. One of the standard heavy weapons that an Alliance frigate would deploy with. It could fire without cooling for almost three minutes. The rounds weren't accurate in the hands of the Husks, but it didn't have to be. With a fire rate of just over eight thousand rounds a minute, accuracy wasn't an issue. Their kinetic barriers would fold instantly under that kind of firepower.

"Gah!" Jenkins cursed, standing up as the right side of his armor had a few more smoking holes. Julia noticed that her legs had been a bit touched by acid. She cursed at her own ineptitude, and shook what little acid she could off of her leg. "What is that?"

"Markov Moscow heavy rifle." She replied, balancing herself on a couple of untouched pieces of the floor. "Husks are on it." The Husks were firing without stopping, the rounds chewing up the floor and doorways of the hall. Worse, they were punching more holes in the base. The rusted ruin groaned as the rounds struck all over the exterior wall, and she could see more green air swirls come through as each round impacted.

"We should wait until it overheats, and then hit that position with a grenade."

"That'll just tear this base apart faster!" She replied. "We need to snipe out this corridor."

Jenkins shrugged lamely. "Yeah, all I've got left are shotgun and pistol. Both rifles got munched by Husks. So I can have a Carnage round ready but that's it for long range."

She sighed. With these Husks here her Omni-tool could barely function correctly. The ones below would climb up soon enough, and she put her pistol to use slowly picking them off. The trouble was that in the meantime she didn't know how long she had before her air recycling systems would no longer be able to support her. All her Omni-tool was able to tell her was that the air quality in the base was dropping rapidly, and that it would not be able to convert high xenon and nitrogen concentrations to breathable air.

"Maybe…" Julia had a thought. "Halmabad, can you hear us?"

" _-omm-er?_ " She smirked. The Husks and Vasir had busted up the base enough that she could get laser signalling out.

"We need fire support! They've got a Markov."

" _-an't-posi-ere_ " The signal was still terrible. She couldn't understand him. So she just tight beamed the man a damned laser mark of the corridor, with a call for him to hit it with his own firepower. The answering return fire was fantastic. All of the sudden some of the Moscow rifle's rounds were hitting something with a barrier as they passed through the walls. Then return fire came back through the wall, green spurts of xenon coming through with each new round. The hallway filled with rounds and shots fired, and the inaccurate fire from both sides didn't let up for the next two minutes. But Halmabad won that round, his fire eventually silencing the Husks and the Rachni behind them, as the workers clamored up to try to fire the gun after the Husks had fallen. Julia didn't dare try to assist.

" _There you go, Commander! I've got a friend for you, too!_ " Julia sighed in relief when all she heard were the dying screams of Rachni warriors. She stepped into the pockmarked hallway, the green xenon eddying onto the ground. Only the dead remained.

"Thanks, Halmabad. Stay mobile, there are Rachni all over the place."

" _They're out here, too. But most are on the other side of the base. I'll tell them you're getting hit, too._ "

One of the wall panels moved, so many bullet holes in it that it no longer could fulfill its duty of sealing a bulkhead. From behind it stepped Vasir, looking no worse for wear, damn it all. The Asari gingerly stepped into the hallway, stepping over the dead body of a Husk as she approached them. "Not bad, Commander. Not bad at all. Maybe you do have what it takes to be Spectre material." She quipped. "Funny thing about this old base. The Rachni are using its old power source instead of something they made. Odd, right? Well, its an older model of reactor, so a couple of well placed grenades…" She made an explosion symbol with her hands.

"Sounds good." The Asari were supposed to be fighting against the Rachni. Julia knew otherwise, and so far Tela hadn't proven she was trustworthy. "Where is it?"

"Down into the tunnels we had already been heading towards." Tela said. "We should go that direction."

Julia shook her head. "We've got busted suits. We need to either high tail it to the MAKO and use some Omni-gel on our armor or we need to find an airlock to do the same. Either way our air filters won't make it for long outside."

"Yours are pretty torn up, yeah." Tela said. "Vakarian should get to the command center soon enough, anyways. Then he can lock down the facility and deploy whatever defenses are connected to the power grid still."

"Halmabad mentioned that his side of the facility is swarming with Rachni." Julia stated. "Going that direction might be more dangerous."

"That big lug can handle himself, thank you very much. Wrex would probably welcome the chance to fight them. I say you go to the original airlock we entered, and get your suits sealed. Then we hit Vakarian and move in force towards the power station in the lower levels."

The steaming piles of Rachni and Husks were hiding a few workers, who had gathered into a small swarm to try to lift the still working Moscow gun. Smart little bugs. They all screeched as they were launched by dual Throws down the hallway. The gun shattered and a Carnage round ended any of the survivors. The team listened for a moment, to see if anything else was going to come towards them.

The airlock sealed for the most part, a couple of holes in it from scattered fire. It functioned, barely, for their purposes. Julia felt somewhat self conscious as she had to remove her armor down to her waist. Tela glanced at it, and grinned. "You weren't faking those curves! I didn't think Human females ever were comparable to Asari."

It took ninety seconds to patch a single hole in her armor. The Omni-gel wouldn't bond as well to the armor as original material would, but it wouldn't disturb her tactical cloaking field that much. Enough damage and the efficiency of her field would be disturbed more and more, making her cloak last a shorter and shorter time. She gave Tela a level look, as she retrieved tubes of Omni-gel and applied them to the large rake marks on the armor. "I'm on the upper end of what Humans normally reach. We are simply more modest about our bodies than the Asari." Medi-gel was also applied to the cuts in her back. Her legs and arm were also touched up by the Omni-gel, the thin armor only requiring half of the tube to replace. Jenkins, on the other hand, had been fairly reckless with his armor. He was on his second tube of Omni-gel and was grunting as he tried to reach a spot on his back to fill it in.

"This stuff is useful." Tela said, grabbing the almost empty tube and helping Jenkins. The man looked a bit skeptical of what she was doing, considering that he was aware of Julia's plans. "You're gonna need new armor. This stuff has almost as much gel as actual metal at this point." The Asari told him, glancing at the torn up back of his torso.

"If someone had a better armor than this that I could afford, I might go for it. At this point I've been blowing whatever I've got on just the necessities." Jenkins told her. She had looked into his bank statements. Jenkins was supporting the family he had left. One cousin's college tuition was entirely paid for by Jenkins. He kept most of his paycheck, but he was still paying off the loan he had taken for the armor he was wearing. Though what the Asari said was true. Husks had torn apart the armor so badly that he was going to need a new set soon. Maybe she should arrange something for him.

Six minutes was all it took to get them patched up. On the other side of the airlock doors, she could see a Husk pawing at them. The air filters had stopped working, but the air quality was alright enough for them to suit up under its glowing blue eyes. It had tried to claw at them, but the doors to the airlock were pretty sturdy. Once she was not in just her sports bra under the eyes of everyone she felt a lot better. Even the Husk had its eyes only on her as she pulled her armor back up. Jenkins was at least polite enough to glare at the Husk instead of at her as she zipped back up. Vasir wasn't so kind, eyes silently judging her.

Helmet back on, she nodded at Jenkins. "Manually open the door. Where there is one, there is more." Her pistol out, she prepared her biotics. Tela did as well, her biotic field spreading across both of them to form a thick barrier. She grinned at them, the look of her iris hard to make out under her helmet. But for a moment she thought that the Asari's eyes were completely black. She didn't linger, not wanting to seem flirtatious or interested. That Asari was dead. She just didn't know it yet.

Jenkins pushed the door open, and sure enough there were four Husks waiting for them. But these were different. One was a Human Husk, but it was the one staring at them through the glass. The other Three were Salarian. Where the Human animated corpses had long claws, the Salarian animated corpses had long thick tendrils for hands. Nothing was claw like about about them. Their chests were a mess of electronics, with some sort of construction sticking out of their stomach region. Their heads were split down the middle, tendrils reaching out of the gap, feelers extended towards them.

All three of the Salarian Husks hit the inside of the airlock with Overload, followed by a wave of Damping. She flinched at that, her barriers of every kind dropped. Jenkins didn't seem to care, punching the Human Husk into its fellows. He gave them a grenade, knocking over the Human Husk. But to their horror the Salarian ones simply rocked in place, their feet automatically compensating for the force they were hit by. Jenkins grunted, and came in to swing at them. The butt of his shotgun hit the first one in the head, but its arms wrapped around his torso and pulled the main body of the corpse up onto Jenkin's back. Julia could see that one of the hands wrapped quickly around Jenkin's air tube.

Her pistol had only just started venting heat when she fired it. The shot went through the sensitive material inside the head of the Salarian, and it dropped dead. Her pistol hissed violently as it ejected the thermal clip automatically. It needed a diagnostic tool, now. That Damping was powerful. Tela was generously waiting for her own shotgun to finish cooling, while Jenkins backed off from the remaining two Salarian Husks. They just looked at him curiously, their eyes and glowing circuitry from inside their split heads just followed his motions.

She holstered her pistol, clipping it out of practice and pulling out her rifle. It was still venting, but it was closer to cooling down when she saw the Husks stretch out their legs. Then, they leapt. Jenkins yelped as they covered fifteen feet in a bound, slamming into him and his gun. His shot went wide, but hers and Tela's did not. They dropped to the ground, the one that she hit having a small hole punctured between its horns. Tela's was missing its torso.

"We might need to have some kind of classification for these, Commander!" Jenkins said. "Let's call these guys earwigs."

"You want to name a sentient killing machine after a form of vermin?" Tela said, looking at her wrist. She probably had just looked up what an earwig was. "What if we call the Humans after the alpha predator of Thessia? Would you be offended?"

"This isn't the time." Julia said, deciding that she was going to label them Earwigs. It would piss off Vasir. The Human ones would get a designation anyways, but if the Rachni had this technology, it was only a matter of time before they started seeing Husks of other races. The one Krogan Husk was terrifying enough. "Let's move."

The first turn had nothing moving, and her boots stepped over areas of the floor where acid had dripped through or melted through. The carnage and dead bodies all across the hallway made the going interesting, especially when they found the Rachni workers underneath one of the floor panels. The pitiful things had forgotten they were there, and both sides yelped and screeched respectively, guns going off and the rachni workers exploding quickly.

At the turn, they could see nothing in the new corridor, this one going upwards. She stepped quietly, seeing that the footsteps of a Krogan and a Human were easily seen in the dust. The Turian prints were harder to spot. Garrus walked in areas that would hide his steps, while the other two didn't seem to care. It was at the next turn that they ran into trouble. A barricade had been deployed, with armor plating from the walls held together with some kind of adhesive keeping the hallway sealed up tight.

"They sealed it shut." Jenkins said, pointing to a set of bending marks in the metal that would evenly be about the size of Wrex's fist. "So we need to get through."

"The Rachni must have been looking for another way through. But that doesn't make sense. They could have just busted through this with acid." Tela said. She grunted, gathering her biotics and heaving a heavy Throw at the barricade. Instead of collapsing it, the barricade started rolling forward. The entire structure was rounded at the edges, and at the slightest pressure it moved towards them at great speed. Tela yelped as the construction rolled forward five feet. Then it hit another bracing point at stopped.

"Grenade." Julia barked, gently placing her own on the upper portion of the barricade. Jenkins matched her exactly opposite on the left, so that the explosion would at least clear the top of the construction. They backed up to the turn, and triggered them. The barricade collapsed, and a gyroscope rolled down the hall. The heavy piece of machinery had been behind the welded plates, and the circular shape had put just enough weight on the metal to push it forward down the tilted hallway. The gyroscope had a melted section, and once it rolled past them they could see the section of corridor it had been guarding. Three dead Rachni warriors were on the floor, crushed by the barricade. "Move."

The hallway went upwards, and came to a T-junction. To the right was a connection that would take them to the uppermost section of the hangar bay. To the left there were a couple dead Husks and a couple dead Earwigs. All of the Earwigs looked like something had crushed their heads with biotics. Wrex, most likely. Without a word they went left, and then stopped as they saw another barricade. This one was definitely trapped, as the ceiling had been collapsed across the hallway. Only a small section had been left still uncovered by debris, but that was not the real problem. They could see a pack of ten Rachni moving down the collapsed ceiling, using it as an entry point.

Julia held up her hand, remembering that this base type had multiple ways that you could use to reach the command center. She made a circular motion with her hand, and the team of three backed up. Rachni could easily collapse more of the ceiling to pen them in, and then they would be truly screwed. There were at least eight warriors that she could see moving down that makeshift ramp. More workers than she could easily count. They couldn't take that in the cramped hallway.

She led the team back to the last intersection, and made the turn that would take them to the hangar bay. The hallway here had small synthetic panels that allowed a view into the larger hangar, but the corrosion had been so severe to this base that the panels were covered by welded plates. The floors were corroded slightly, and there were holes in the floor in places. She stayed near the edge of the floor, as they approached a larger section of the hallway, where it widened and extended over the hangar. An airlock door was between them and this larger section, and required some jury rigging to open.

The electronics didn't want to work, but Jenkins put in some work and was able to get the door open wide enough for them to biotically Push the door open the rest of the way. Then they saw the Rachni webbing covering the railing in this section. Weapons came out. Her pistol was still useless, so she remained in the back of the formation. Jenkins walked up to the edge of the railing, and his weapon dipped as he tried to look out over the entire hangar. "Commander?" He whispered. "Come here."

She stepped forward slowly, cloaking. But once she came up to the railing, she saw why Jenkins had faltered. The hangar was filled with chunks of crystal. Workers were spinning strands of silicates onto crystals and warriors were helping attack the crystals to each other. What was worse was the gigantic shape taking form in the dust. It was unmistakably a ship. Engines had been mounted on the rear, matching the design of an Alliance frigate. She could bet that the pieces of material in orbit had been the source of these.

"We need explosives." She said. The roof of the hangar bay was still the same rusted panels, probably to maintain appearances. "Lots of them. They're going to escape from here in that ship."

"Yeah." Tela said. Then pain washed over her, as tech grenades exploded. Julia rolled, the grenade having exploded close to her back. Her armor was shredded, and her body just hurt. But when she came up to a kneeling position, she was staring at Tela Vasir, whose shotgun was pointed not at her, but at Jenkins. The man was glowing with biotic power, frozen in place. His armor sparked, its barriers also down. Her shotgun was pointed at the back of his head. "Too bad about that."

"Don't! We're allies!"

" _Palla_  shit!" The Asari said. "You've been thinking about the best way to get rid of me this entire mission! We both knew this is where things were going to end. Your rifle can't break my barriers, and this shotgun will kill him outright. My second shot will kill you." The Asari paused. "Unless you let me find out something."

"Ask your questions." Julia stated. The bitch was right, her rifle wasn't going to get through. But maybe with enough time Jenkins could come out of the stasis.

"Let me in, then, Human." The Asari's helmet clearly showed her eyes shifting to completely black irises. "Embrace Oblivion!" Julia  _felt_  the biotics touch her. Her body started glowing, like the Asari had extended a barrier over her again. She jerked her arm, trying to throw it off, but the Asari moved the shotgun's maw directly in line with the back of Jenkin's head. Julia didn't like this at all. With a feeling of defeat, she let her arm loosen, the biotic power connecting to her own nervous system and her eyes no longer registering the world around her, not completely.

It was as if the outside world was a hazy afterimage, and the real world was a dark sphere of spinning metal and glowing blue lines of glowing material, much like the energy put off by biotics. She had a form here, or at least a body that looked like her real one. Simply… naked. She didn't like that one bit, and as soon as she thought about it her catsuit wrapped around her visible form. Once she was comfortable with that, she looked around. Outside of her sphere, there was another sphere approaching.

This one was dark, with streamers of purple and black all over it. It also had some sort of glowing eyeball in the center of it, with dark chains that hung from the edge of the cornea. As the sphere came closer, it was larger than her own. Much larger. The eye opened up fully, drooling into the space between them. The edges of the eye expanded into chains, joining the ones that were already there. Some reached back into itself, wrapping around its own sphere; the rest grasping towards her.

She tried to grasp her biotics, conjure a weapon, or do anything to stop those chains. There was no rush of charge in her arms and legs, and the chains didn't seem to care if her sphere manifested knives or gun barrels. The things wrapped around her, the sphere almost an extension of her own self. She could  _feel_  each chain hit her, like her skin was being pulled taut over herself. Her neck especially, felt like someone had their fingers tightly around it.

"Your mind isn't that hard to restrain." The voice came from in front of her, and Julia looked up to see a completely naked Tela Vasir floating in front of her. "I've seen children with better mental shields." The Asari didn't seem too concerned by her nudity. But that was usual for Asari. "Now, this is where you stop having a peaceful moment. Eriasha." The word brought to mind all of the things she had learned about it, about the entire dead society. She could feel a foreign presence inside those memories, sifting through them like someone reading a book.

She tried to fight off that feeling, only hearing a dark laughter in her mind as she did so. Everything the Asari wanted, brought forth at the mere mentioning of a word. Words such as 'Arda' 'Reaper' 'Benezia' 'Siari' and finally 'Miranda'. At that, she stiffened. Her sister was probably the only thing left that was sacred. With a scream, she pushed back with everything she had. Her mind became a steel vise, pushing and crushing anything that wasn't simply  _Julia_  and ejecting it.

"So the child can learn." Tela stated. "Too bad. Even when presented with the truth, you reject it. Simply because your own father believes it." She could feel the chains crossing over her skin tighter. "The actual Tela Vasir would love to know that she is responsible for so many Human deaths, but after Fury-Singer destroys that ship in orbit the only loose ends will be your team."

"You're in league with the Rachni?"

"Not really." She answered without emotion. "They have their agenda, and we have ours. Humankind dies out, either way."

Julia had experienced enough of this. She tried to attack the Asari, throw her mind at her, or do anything. When the chains around her sphere only rattled in response, she glared. There must be something else. Something else she could do. Something about the chains got her attention. They were connected to both spheres. Instead of trying to hurt the Asari, she went for the eye. She imagined the cruelest, most barbed spear she had ever encountered in her studies of the Spanish Inquisition. Not to mention the caliphate of Muslims under the leadership of Caliph Al-Baghdadi. The spear punctured into the eye, making every chain twitch in near agony. With how many that were wrapped around her, this made it feel as if her skin were being torn open all over.

"You!" Tela grunted, also looking torn apart. The Asari lunged forward, grabbing Julia by the neck. Her catsuit vanished in the wind of the Asari's charging motion towards her, leaving her as naked and vulnerable as the Asari herself. Though she still felt as though that didn't matter. Julia felt exhausted, her mind trying to take in this experience and failing. Her heart rate was rising, and she could feel her body heating up, her breathing increasing rapidly. "You will regret that!"

The world outside changed, as she saw her own body move, not under her own power. She walked carefully to the right, until she was leaning over the railing. Her sniper rifle was extended, and aimed squarely at the head of Jenkins. Without a kinetic barrier, that round would go right through his head. Jenkin's head was turned ever so slightly, and Julia standing so that her rifle was aimed right between his trembling eyes. She could feel pressure on her fingers, as if the trigger was going to get pulled.

Again her mind had to focus, her breathing increasing again, and she could feel herself heating up. But the pressure on her finger eased. "No!" She shouted into the mental space.

"Your heart rate is going to send you into a heart attack within two minutes. In that time, your mental defenses will start failing and I'll have you kill your fellow candidate soon enough. But to be fair, I will offer you a choice. Kill Jenkins yourself, and I will let you die on your own terms. I'll even conveniently forget that your sister knows about all of your activities."

"That isn't a choice." She stated.

"Sure it is. I won't rape your mind further in my search for answers, if you just pull that trigger." She grinned, coming up to Julia mentally and grasping her by the arm. Her skin prickled, as if the Asari's hand was truly there. "Miranda, was it?"

Her mind turned into a vice, tightening and strengthening itself as she had done before. But this time it didn't tighten down as much, or not as strong. Her brain was tired, a migraine building. She could feel those creeping touches going into her mind, the image of her sister ripping at the seams as dark tendrils reached over it. "Stay out of my mind!" The eye with the chains connecting them had moved directly behind Vasir, now, and its red iris was glaring at her like it was another entity entirely. Her skin could feel the chains tightening even more as the eye centered on her forehead.

" _No_." The voice of the Asari seemed deeper, and she could feel her throat constricting. " _There is so much in here. Alliance patrol routes, access codes, as well as command structure. Oh yes, I think we need to keep you alive a little bit longer._ " The feelings of her heart beat racing receded slightly. " _Arcturus' security protocols. Oh yes, we get those, and the Rachni will infest the very heart of your area of space._ " The feeling of her mind being read like a book was like nails, jabbed into uncomfortable places all along her neck. The worst was knowing that she had already compromised so much data, so many secrets. Rear Admiral White would kill her for revealing this. " _If you think you will survive this, think again. You played the great game, and you lost._ "

"I'm still alive!"

" _Miranda. Such a nice name. How is it that you contact her?_ " The nails felt like they were going into her sternum and backbone this time, the comm codes for her sister so close, rising to the front of her mind. With everything she had, she kept the damn Asari out. But she couldn't keep her mind safe without her full focus.

That was when her rifle went off. Everything came to a crashing halt as she saw the hole through the front of Jenkin's visor. Blood leaked out of it. He slumped, as blood sprayed out of the back of his head. The round had gone clean through, and she could see light from the other side of the hole, and the hole in the wall where the remnant of the round had gone. Everything felt numb in that moment. It didn't even feel real until Jenkin's body slipped to the floor. Her mind was only filled with the horrified realization that she had just shot her partner. The man who was supposed to take over the ship.

" _This is priceless! The agony is so real to you! When the Alliance investigates this, they won't know what to think, when they see that your gun was used._ " In the real world, she saw her arms bring the barrel of the rifle directly under her own chin. " _Which makes this moment that much sweeter._ "

She felt as if the Asari had given her control over her finger again. But every effort to move the rifle was met with the iron will of her jailor. She couldn't move the gun away from herself. She could feel the skin of her neck meet the hard metal of the gun, both in this mental state and in the real world. It was hot, as if the weapon had just fired.

" _I'll let you choose when to end it. Whether it be a heart attack, or you find it in yourself to simply give up, this is where it will all end. A suicide, death by your own choice. Just like you chose to let your Lieutenant die._ " She could feel the Asari moving through her memories again, this time looking for codes to the Normandy. Codes to her personal hideouts, and her home. " _Predictable. Nothing truly worth losing anywhere. Wealth all invested and working for you, and impossible to remove without your physical presence. No fun there at all. Let's talk about someone else, yes?_ "

She could barely form words, her heart hammering and her body getting closer and closer to going into shock. Adrenaline rushed through her limbs, but nothing was moving. It just got warmer and warmer, and the pressure inside her chest felt like something was crushing her, her breaths becoming labored. She grunted a reply, anything. Nothing even came out. In the real world, Vasir had stepped closer, and had a hand rubbing the cheek of her helmet. Almost caressing it. Her entire being shuddered at the touch.

" _Tell me about Jack Harper. Tell me how he knows about the Reapers._ " Would it be so bad? To tell her about the intel that was shared? She could feel the force behind this question driving deep into her sphere, and the pressure upon her chest increasing. This was what the Asari really wanted. This, when faced with her own death. Hah! She considered for one moment why she considered her own death. For her father? No, not for him. But right now she would at least deny the enemy what they were after.

The sound of the gunshot was loud in her ears. Everything went black as the round tore into her brain. The screams of Vasir were the only comfort she felt as she drifted into Oblivion.

* * *

Ashley Williams decided that she really needed something like Raid. Raid 2000. Raid Rachni killer. She had killed a few dozen of their warriors at this point, and her gun was smoking in the mixed atmosphere. Wrex was the only reason that they had been so successful. The Krogan was simply immovable, and knew exactly where the Rachni were, like he could sense them through the walls. She didn't question how he did it, nor did she antagonize him over not sharing that quality earlier. She was just damned glad he had the skills to put down the things.

His armor was cratered and pitted from some of the acid, though. Setting up another one of his gyroscope traps had earned him a few self destructing Rachni workers. The Rachni had collapsed the ceiling on their escape tunnel, and they had filled the entire hangar bay. That was the first door they sealed, and the massive open hallway was the second place they sealed up. The ceiling had a couple of holes in it from where the Rachni were piling in, but they had been covered up with some quick work from Vakarian.

Now the only way that the bugs were coming in was through the blocked corridor. Right now it was just workers, but that would change once the warriors had melted enough of the barricade. "We need another exit. Halmabad?"

" _I have to back off for a bit. The bugs are trying to collapse the ground in areas next to the base. I can't risk closing in until you guys have a map of the caverns or some way of keeping the Rachni off me. I can see the roof, though._ " The MAKO was plucking Rachni off of the roof very quickly, its main gun blowing some more holes in the area, but generally keeping the bugs from flanking them.

Wrex was taking his turn blasting the workers trying to enlarge the opening, while Vakarian had dragged another broken set of consoles to the barricade. The Krogan picked up the consoles with one hand, and then used his biotics to shove them into the breach. "We're running out of things to fill this in with." The Turian told her, looking around at the remaining consoles.

"Halmabad, what about the shuttles?"

" _They're picking up the remnants of one of the frigates. Forty people managed to hole up in the crashed fuselage of the furthest crashed vessel_." The man said. " _No way they can come back to you. Think you can risk running on the roof?_ "

Wrex grunted at that idea. "We'll be taken out like cornered Varren. Not a good plan."

"We could go out through the exterior access hallway, over the hangar." Vakarian said. "There is a secondary access way to get back to the airlock."

"Crawling with Rachni for sure." Ashley said. That airlock door was behind them, leading out to some walkway overlooking where the Rachni were building… something. It was way outside her pay grade to understand. They had tried coming through at the beginning, but it had held.

"We've got to try! Jus-" The sound of a gunshot rattled the room. The Rachni didn't use regular rounds. They just used plasma. Vakarian and Wrex had already settled their eyes on a small puncture mark on the interior plating of the command center. "That sounds like an ally." Perhaps a survivor from the crashes. They had survived this long, and there was no reason to doubt others could as well.

The door unlocked at a command on Vakarian's Omni-tool. The other side had another door, and an airlock system. There was a hole in the outer hull where the round had penetrated, and a dent in the inner hull plating where it had stopped. The inferno round had left a smoking trail in the metal. Too nice a mod to see from any normal Navy marine. "That's the mod on Constantine's sniper rifle!"

Vakarian typed in the code to unlock the outer door as fast as his fingers could allow, and they saw the scene in front of them unravel, as Commander Constantine seemed to bring her rifle barrel to her own chin. The Asari Spectre was standing in front of her, her arm touching the Commander's cheek. The Turian held up his hand, and popped out his modification from his own sniper rifle, catching the ejected mod in his hand. "They're linked." He said. "I've got something just for this."

The mod he brought out of his belt had blue markings with warning signs about heat overflow. Wrex chuckled quietly as the mod settled into the gun, and Vakarian took a knee. "Jenkins!" Williams realized, seeing the man on the ground bleeding out. Tela snapped her head around, but it was already too late. Vakarian's shot fired, the thermal venting systems on his rifle spewing steam.

The round that exited his barrel was a glowing orb, and it slammed into Constantine's rifle. It exploded, the round puncturing the rifle barrel and causing the entire housing to explode. The few inches left of the barrel lit up as it too fired, and chunks of rifle barrel went flying all over the place. The Asari whipped around towards them, making it hard to tell where the sniper rifle round went.

Wrex was hit by whatever biotic ability came forward, the big lizard flying back into the airlock they had just exited. Spectre Vakarian had left his sniper rifle, his pistol out and moving to threaten Vasir. "Stand down!"

"You really think that I'll stand down?" Vasir said. Williams was looking between the two aliens, and at the two Humans on the ground. To her concern, blood was coming from Constantine's helmet as well. "I want your oath that I won't be harmed."

Garrus' shoulders loosened up. "I, Garrus Vak-" The Turian wasn't prepared when the Asari sent some kind of net towards him, making his body freeze up and lock down under the glowing net. Williams recognized it as a Batarian slaver weapon. Their Turian ally wasn't going anywhere. Though that was a comfort. Now only a Krogan could stab her in the back. She fingered her grenade belt. She palmed one grenade, and held the other between her fingers. Both became active the moment they left her belt.

After fighting the cybernetically enhanced soldier, Jones, the Commander had ordered a few special weapons. Williams had requested some of those pressure grenades that had been used with such effectiveness. The Commander had a few, and Williams carried three. They were expensive, and only available from certain questionable vendors on Omega. She knew this was ridiculously stupid, but decided it was the best chance she had. Her assault rifle was in her right hand, and her grenades in her left.

Her grandfather had wisely paid for her to be ambidextrous when her parents were treating her for any illnesses and genetic anomalies in the womb. She used that skill when she launched one grenade at the Asari, and her right hand let rip with her rifle. The Asari scoffed at her, catching the pressure grenade with her biotics and tossing it over the edge of the railing. Her arrogance continued, as she took a melee stance. Her rifle's rounds were barely denting the biotic barrier of the Asari, much less the kinetic barrier that would follow. Ashley just let herself get in close, taking a big swing with her left fist.

The Asari just caught her fist, arrogantly holding her wrist while balling up her other hand with biotic energy. That was going to hurt. Ashley smirked as she opened up her palm, letting the pressure grenade explode right in front of the Spectre's face. She wisely dialed her helmet up to full resistance before charging. The grenade hit her, and she could feel her barriers keep out some of the blast wave. But by holding the grenade she was hit by the other effects. Her ears rang, probably burst again. But her eyes were closed when the flash went off, which the Asari wasn't prepared for.

She had great pleasure watching the Asari using her free hand to try to swipe at her, and missing. Ashley tried to yell at her, but she couldn't even hear herself. She just knew that she punched that Asari over the railing. Blind and confused, she fell over the rail and went down the seventy feet to the ground. As the Asari fell, she glowed with biotics, and the Asari's form wavered. Almost like she was using her biotics on herself. But there was no way she could save herself from this high of a fall. The woman was a bloodstain on the ground, the next that Ashley knew. But it was odd, in that her body was still covered in a biotic field.

She ignored that, seeing that it wasn't damaging her. She had two injured teammates and a stunned Turian. What she really wanted to do was assist her Human teammates, but she decided that their Turian ally would be to help first. He shook, his helmet rolling from side to side as he asked her a question. Ashley made the universal motion for 'comms down'. He nodded sagely, and said something to the Krogan, whose helmet was bent from whatever he had run into. Vakarian came over to Jenkins, but only stood over him for a moment before moving to Constantine. He pulled out a small tube of Omni-gel, and poured some onto a hole in Constantine's helmet. While he let it cool, he tossed the tube to Williams and pointed at Jenkins.

The first thing she noticed about Jenkins was the amount of blood. It was pooling underneath him. His Omni-tool was blinking red, showing a medical alert. She didn't have to check it in any detail to know that Jenkin's heart had stopped beating. With as much dignity as she could give him, she sealed the holes on either side of his helmet with Omni-gel. The blood on her hands looked like she had dipped her hand in some sort of paint, and she let her mind think that. Jenkins was dead. She didn't know how he died, but that guy didn't deserve this. Wrex grabbed his body, and gently handed Williams the Commander. Vakarian was making motions about moving onward, and she couldn't hear what he was saying. But she saw Wrex pulling out some sort of explosives and tossing them into the large hanger. She gave him a thumbs up and started moving onwards. She didn't like it, but Vakarian was now the one who had to be in charge. She had rifle in hand as he led them out of the base, and to the waiting MAKO.

* * *

It was six hours before the  _Normandy_  was capable of entering and exiting atmosphere. Pressley had wanted all of their missing people recovered and the coolant leak sealed before they even attempted coming into active sensor range. What they found was rather odd. There was an extended firefight going on between Rachni forces and survivors of the space battle above. The Rachni had occupied the pirate base that they had originally intended to investigate as part of their mission, and they were lobbing a lot of heavy firepower towards the back half of an Alliance frigate. The MAKO was protecting it, and the shuttles were also on patrol around it.

"Joker, break comm silence. Active sensors."

"Yes, sir." The pilot's five o'clock shadow was thick today. He hadn't left the helm yet, and it had been almost twenty hours. The spare pilot had been sucked out into space, and that Ensign had died. Unlike the Quarian crew members, who had encounter suits, the Alliance techs that had been in the hangar bay hadn't had any breather masks or helmets. Eight crew had died. Two of the gunnery crew. Five more down in the hangar. One of the Quarians was dead, as they had been securing a loose crate on the deck when the Rachni round had penetrated the armor plate that he had been securing a crate to. Pressley held himself responsible for each death. Letters were queued to be written and the moment that he could stand down from duty.

Right now the only other officer that could take this deck was Lt. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. She was also the head engineer, and she had half a hangar missing. After his chief engineer, the next officer he could turn the bridge over to was Joker. That was not ideal. One of their airlocks on the lower level was just gone… as well as the starboard gunnery deck. Holes were everywhere on their ship. Patch jobs had been completed on the gunnery deck and the port thruster. The hangar bay was exposed to space, and spare armor panels for the MAKO were being filled into the hole. Whatever Omni-gel was left on the ship was being added to that hole, and sealing it. Food crates had been dumped out just to get more material to convert into Omni-gel. Food, even, was being converted into Omni-gel for different small holes in the inner decks. They were really in a bad situation out here. Just to get the exterior armor sealed, Pressley had ordered some of their metal to be used for the Thanix cannons to be molded into patches for the hangar.

Only when Tali, who had been knocked unconscious by the blast, had given her acceptance of the seals did Pressley let them go into the thin atmosphere of Canrum. Techs were standing by in the hangar waiting for trouble to occur.

"This is SSV Normandy, to anyone on the ground. Please respond."

" _This is Captain Du Monte, recently of the_ Novogrod _. We are glad to hear your voice._ " The high pitched voice was unlike most French men he had met. " _Your crewmen have been instrumental in holding off the Rachni so far, but it's only a matter of time before they get that ship up and running._ "

"What ship?"

" _The Rachni have taken the_ Boston's _engines and are making a ship to escape the planet with. They retrieved the FTL drive and will most likely have something to jump out of here with at any time._ "

"Prime torpedoes!" He barked. "Give me coordinates, and I will happily rid the galaxy of this problem."

" _The middle of that old Turian base has been turned into a Rachni shipyard. Level the damn place._ "

Pressley grinned. There was nothing like hitting a stationary target. Two kills on Rachni ships from one frigate sounded damn impressive. "Full spread, I want that base destroyed, and every atom of its construction torn apart." Upon his order, six torpedoes shot out into the atmosphere, coming down with the force of gravity and vengeance upon the old base. The first pair of missiles came down on the command center, exposing a roof and ceiling structure made out of webbing. The next pair of missiles hit that, and then the central part of the base was completely exposed.

Small objects were ejected from the surface, some of which even made it into the upper atmosphere. Giant green clouds rose up from the following explosions, bright lights on the rolling hills and craters. The clouds of dust concealed what remained of the base, but Pressley put in another four torpedoes just to be sure. Half of the gunnery deck didn't work right now, and only six torpedo tubes worked. None of the GUARDIAN laser banks were operational, either.

Their sensors were blinded by the explosions and gravity-based distortions. There was almost a sensor shadow of something with engines moving around in the upper atmosphere, but when they sent a drone to investigate all they found were clouds of silicate dust and a few chunks of rock the size of a fist. There was no sign of any ships in orbit. But at the same time, there had been no secondary explosions in the base so far. That was discomforting.

Once the base was destroyed, they strafed the surface Rachni forces hitting the crash site. They quickly backed off, allowing them to land the ship. The injured came out in waves, and the ramp of the  _Normandy_  couldn't extend down all the way. It simply couldn't bend or else the Omni-gel wouldn't hold. "Lt. Zorah, is there any way that we can re apply the seals?"

" _If you want us to strip one of the shuttles down for parts, yes. We would have to strap it down with magnetic paste at this point to bring it with us when we go to FTL. As well as duct tape, it seems. But if you are alright with that, we can re-do the seals._ "

Pressley nodded. "Commander, is that acceptable?" There was no reply. "Commander Constantine?"

" _This is Vakarian. We've got injured. Constantine has a round buried right under her eye, and Jenkins is dead. Williams is deafened and cannot hear you._ "

"I want a full debriefing as soon as you get onboard."

" _We don't know what happened to Jenkins, Lt. Pressley. We only saw Constantine, and she shot the round herself. Spectre Tela Vasir is dead, as far as we can tell._ "

"This is all going up the creek anyways. Get everyone aboard. Chakwas will take care of those she can. Captain Du Monte, did any of your medical technicians survive?"

" _All of them. Thanks to my pilot, we landed with the back half of the ship intact. Though he had to fly the thing from the reactor interface. We offered our help to the Salarians, but they ignored us. Serves them right, now. We lived and they died._ " There had been no reported Salarian survivors as of yet. Their escape pods had much better VIs, and so they landed right outside the Turian base. The Alliance ones had a much more difficult time handling atmosphere, and landed too far from the base for the most part.

"Cut the Terra Firma crap and get your people onboard. My ship is also damaged, but we killed the ship that got you. As soon as you are all up here and the ramp is closed, we are leaving. The Salarians can hear your reports." Captain Du Monte was going to be ever so pleasant with the Quarians, he could guess. He turned off the comms. "Kalin'ren, lock down all of their comm protocols. None of them have the proper security clearance. I don't want any messages going in or out. Joker, you are not to take orders from Captain Du Monte. Your command structure is restricted."

"Don't listen to some smarmy French bastard. Got it." Pressley gave him a glare, and the pilot retreated behind the safety of his headrest.

"I will go and greet the Captain. His crew are not allowed on this deck. They are confined to the hangar bay and crew deck for the duration of the trip. They are Alliance, but that doesn't mean that they check out. Once Commander Constantine is awake, she can vet them." Pressley faltered for a moment. "Joker, you have command until I return." He paused. "Do not deviate from the previously calculated course unless you have a damned good reason."

"Yes, Sir." Joker said. "I've alerted Chakwas that the Commander is returning."

Pressley nodded. "Carry on." The elevator was still down, which meant that the wounded had to be carried up ladders. That would complicate things. He grabbed a couple of able bodied men from deck two and moved for the hangar bay, trying not to think about how much he was going to miss those who had died today. Even Jenkins, the little git.

* * *

Author's Note

Writing this entire series of scenes was actually really saddening. Writing everything from perspective was hard, and I wanted to introduce my Saren-figure. Tela Vasir, of course, is a Spectre. Agent of the Shadow Broker, as well as a Clanless Asari. She has goals that involve 'saving' the galaxy. Almost every great villain and anti-hero has their basis in justice and righteousness. More about Tela will come out soon.

Tela Vasir was someone that most people described as basically a giant tool for something else to use. A very effective tool, one that should be capable of enough subtlety to get the job done, as well as enough skill to do so without being caught. Anything underhanded that I could imagine a single operative doing, I considered putting in here. In the end, I figured that a biotic Vanguard with a Batarian stun net was rude. Ardat Yakshi powers just goes and makes things even more rude.

I did love the ideas that you guys presented. A lot of those went into consideration and use here, and I loved getting your words and thoughts about all this. One of you recommended the pressure grenades, and the idea stuck. That brings up a thought, and I was wondering if you guys were interested. Do you guys want me to start a forum? If it isn't worth your time than I certainly won't bother with it.


	59. Lucid: A Captured King

Chapter 59

Horse Head Nebula, September 2182

Pressley had been running anyone that could control an Omni-tool into the ground. Omni-gel was being created and used to seal and reinforce the newly placed metal plating. It was thankless labor, and the weapons and armor they had as spares or queued to be sold elsewhere had been added to the pile or parts to be broken down. Wrex had been especially displeased that the Rachni's strike on the hangar bay had destroyed his supply of ammunition for his Graal Spike launcher.

Williams was deaf and had to get some kind of Human medical treatment for her ears. From her position in the medical bay, Julia could see the pile of corpses. A second shot from the Rachni had struck in the GUARDIAN laser banks. It also spaced her quarters. She didn't particularly like them, anyways.

Her mouth had been wired shut, and a cast had been applied to the lower half of her face until they could fully operate on her at Huerta. She had indeed shot herself, but the round had gone wide. It went through her chin, barely missing the major blood vessels, through her upper and lower molars in her mouth, and out of her cheek bone. She was bleeding to death while the MAKO carried off the team, and it had been Wrex that had stopped the bleeding. Using an overheating heat sink from his rifle, he had burned her wounds shut in her mouth.

She had woken up for that, but the pain continued until she collapsed again. Apparently it had been hours before the  _Normandy_  had arrived, just as broken as their team. But her people were good. They had survived. Not well, and they were down to four torpedoes remaining of their supplies. The ship was not capable of entering combat again. It could use some of the cloaking systems, and on their slow path to the relay they tried to remain cloaked.

As she was wounded, she spent most of her time in the cramped officer's quarters. Pressley came in once to catch an hour's nap. Her quarters were damaged, and had been a place where the bodies of the dead were stored. A barely complete seal had been made on the hole in her quarters, but it was still cold. Heating elements had been damaged, and life support lines were cut. The entire compartment was then sealed off to allow the dead to be kept in pristine condition.

Jenkins was in the room behind the medical bay. He was maybe ten feet from her, along with the Quarian's remains. Her hands tightened against the metal bedframe. His remains were separated and preserved until a full investigation could be completed. The Quarian was mostly gone, but they gathered what remained and had it prepared to be sent back to the Migrant Fleet. That room was also where Chakwas slept. The thought made her cringe.

She didn't want to sleep. Not anymore. The few moments of sleep that she had gotten were filled with the thoughts of Jenkins. She hadn't slept since. With her jaw wired shut it was impossible to say much of anything. Her Omni-tool beeped, and she glanced down at it. Another cubic centimeter of Omni-gel was ready, and it needed to empty it out before it could fabricate more. She held her arm out over the pile of Omni-gel cubes and let the mass fall with a slushy sound. Then she grabbed another miscellaneous piece of gear, tools used for repairing the shuttles. There was only one left now, a shiny new Alliance one. The others had been older and easier to conceal, easier to claim that they weren't Alliance. They didn't need those tools for right now, and so they were being broken down into Omni-gel, and then as quickly as could be possible applied to sections of the ship that were strained.

The doors to the cramped quarters opened, and Pressley walked in. His eyes were red, and a cup of coffee steamed in one hand. "Commander." He stated, closing the door behind him. "We're about to pass through the relay, and then it will be time to arrive at Arcturus. I was wondering if there was anything you needed."

She nodded her head. She had written out directions on her Omni-tool.  _Is the comm room in use currently?_ She had a number of responses written out and prepared.

"It is a secondary medical theatre at the moment. Some of the men from the  _Novgorod_  are in there at the moment. Did you need to send a message?"

She nodded, holding up her wrist again to him.  _Kalin'ren cannot know about this. Encryption protocols enclosed. Prepare to send the following message, say exactly what is written here._  His Omni-tool beeped as she sent him the specifics. He blinked in confusion, looking at the message.

"Commander, this is five pages of gibberish."

She nodded.  _That language is a dialect of Greek. Only a few people understand it anymore. Send it to those comm addresses in the order listed, and have each page of it sent to the proper address._

"What about Vasir? This whole mess isn't going to solve itself."

She blinked at that, having wanted to avoid the whole topic altogether. She started typing, her fingers limp. They needed surgery as well, after that Explosive mk. IX round went off in front of her. That round had basically ruined her armor to the point of uselessness. She no longer had a catsuit that could work. She had spares, but she didn't like the idea of showing her stash to anyone. Especially when the schematics to her own upgraded stealth system were stored nearby.  _Delay until after surgery_ , was what she typed to her XO.

"You should learn sign language." Pressley joked. "How soon do you need that message sent?"

 _Before the hearings at Arcturus_. There would be hearings. She had just shot a critical member of the armed forces. Her helmet camera would have caught that.

"Understood. I'll have that done." Pressley climbed up to the top bunk, and laid down in his uniform. She could see his shoes land on the floor with a short curse, and his head hit the bed with finality. "Sorry about Jenkins, Ma'am. He was a great kid. Neither of you deserved this."

Her heart started hammering, every second proving that she was alive and he wasn't. Damn it all, he was the one that should have lived. Not her. Damn Tela Vasir, and damn the Asari Republics. She felt liquid at the edge of her eyes, and she squinted her eyes shut. Damn it all. She rolled over and faced the wall, trying to ignore the way her body radiated her feelings like sweat, and the trail of tears running down her face.

* * *

Sol System, September 2182

Jack looked at the report from their agent on the  _Normandy_  and his mouth turned sour. "Hannah!" He barked. From the bed behind him, her sleepy eyes cleared the blankets. Her hair was bunched up behind her head and looked like she had been having quite the night. That was mostly true, considering. There really wasn't a point to a monogamous relationship if there wasn't sex involved.

"Bwa?" She said, grabbing a robe and slipping her feet into the ever present Ugg slippers. "The hell is going on?"

"Vasir struck. Jenkins is dead and Julia is injured heavily. She's en route to Arcturus, and the Alliance are going to suspend her unless we can get something to hold ransom over them. We need to act soon."

"Why wake me? Don't you always have a plan?"

He gave her a glance. "Shower and eat something. Think about the best way to hold the Huerta Administration by the balls."

She gave him a middle finger and walked towards the en suite bathroom. He chuckled and queued up a call. Charles was always available for him, and so Jack frowned when he saw that the call wasn't immediately picked up. He just left the man a text burst telling him that he needed to be on comms at first opportunity. He called the next person on his list, who answered.

The Japanese pop music that assaulted his ears made him flinch, and he quickly turned the volume down. On the other end, he saw Kasumi grab the screen and move it so that it was facing her, her hair a vibrant green today. She was in the middle of some college dorm room, as she should be. " _Hey! It's midnight here._ "

She wasn't turning down her music, which was aggravating. "The timetable has changed. I need all of the targets and I want them pulled out tonight."

" _No can do, Oyabun._ " She quipped, smirking. " _One of them is off campus right now. Her boyfriend is taking her to some Halloween corn maze. The other is in their room._ "

"Call in whatever it takes. I need them in our hands now. Julia is injured and looking at a military tribunal."

" _What! That's way more important! We should abduct her!_ "

"No. You will abduct your targets as we planned. Then we will hold them ransom until the Alliance allows the doctor to work on Julia. You'll do more for her by abducting those girls than trying to get past the undoubtedly thick security."

" _I'm the best, Oyabun, and you know it._ "

"You're the best when you have my network of contacts and Charles behind you. Take those away and you might be noticed."

The Japanese woman sighed. " _Fine, fine. I'll need that biotic of yours. The one with the nice abs._ "

"His name is Henry. For the record, those abs are partially cybernetic." The look on Kasumi's face was one of annoyance. She would have to see if he was actually telling the truth now. "Henry will be on site, and Charles will be on overwatch. Everything else is in place, but try not to involve the faculty contacts. I want to have them for other projects as well."

" _Will do. But I want to see Julia after this. Spending half a semester at college is nice, but I don't think I want to get an education._ " She glanced around. " _You could have found something more interesting than a degree in Creative Writing._ "

"Liberal Arts degrees are the most undervalued and underlooked in the entire collegiate system. You don't stand out there. Coordinate with Charles and go get those girls."

She nodded, signing off. He had barely pressed the end call button when Charles got back to him. The man had his jumpsuit on incorrectly, his arm sticking out of the collar along with his neck. His hair was mussed up and the lights of a decontamination chamber were on in the background. " _Jack, this better be good!_ "

"Have you seen the latest updates?"

" _This is my day off!_ " The man said in frustration. " _My first in a month! I've been in a clean room for the last ten hours!_ "

"Oh." Jack said. He honestly didn't realize that Charles was taking the day off. It happened so rarely that people joked about it being the end of the world when he took his full time owed. Charles had been with the organization so long that it was almost unknown to see his name on the off duty list for more than eight hours. "Please give Tesai my apologies. If she can still move, you deserve a few more hours off."

" _You know, it's taken a year for the antibacterial treatments to take. She's been looking forward to this for weeks._ " Charles said with a bit of venom. " _My ears aren't exactly in the best shape right now. What kind of status update should bother me on my day off?_ "

"Normandy almost dead in the water facing a Rachni Queen ship, Jenkins dead, Vasir is dead, and Julia is in critical condition last I saw." Jack looked at the scratch marks on the man's arm. "Quarians can hit octaves far beyond Human ones, right?"

" _Like you wouldn't believe._ " Charles said. " _Tesai hits every single one when she..._ " He realized what he was insinuating and his cheeks turned red. " _Ah, I mean, what happened?_ "

"Go back to your clean room. I'll handle this one myself. While you have become near impossible to function without, that doesn't mean you don't deserve time off. Go have a randy time and come back later." He had done well enough before bringing on Charles.

" _Ah, ok._ " He said sheepishly. " _You sure you don't need my help?_ "

"Positive. Go back to your girlfriend." Jack lied. "Goodbye, Charles." He ended the comm call. He sighed at that. A small message to Henry that he was now dispatched to assist Kasumi Goto at New York University was made, and Jack assigned himself as overwatch. Charles didn't need to worry about that.

Hannah emerged from the shower, wearing her robe and Uggs again. Her hair was wet, and wrapped with a towel. "What's wrong?"

"I just interrupted Charles on his day off." Jack said. "Apparently Tesai is a wild one."

"You would know." She joked. "I've come up with a few thoughts. Something to really get the Alliance's attention. I have a couple of ideas. Since we haven't been able to leave the system since picking up your mother, anything that we do will get some further attention. As such, I say we go for the sweet spot." She moved his hands away from the haptic interface, and typed in a few keywords. The image that came up was of the third most defended part of Alliance Space.

"They would certainly notice us approaching there." Jack said. "They wouldn't want me raiding it again." Pictured on screen was the Mars facility where the Prothean Beacon was kept.

"Doesn't Javik have override codes to shut down the beacon? Lock down the connection until the security level has been reduced?"

"If that stuck up Prothean bothers to share them with me, I am sure that would work. But that section of the base isn't networked. We would have to find some way to connect directly to their internal servers."

Hannah rummaged through his desk, something she usually didn't do. She emerged with a set of old style metal keys, which she then used to open up one of his safes. She of course had memorized the combination to it. "We don't have to do that. I think they will walk it right in for us." She emerged from his art collection safe, which required an old style key so that Kasumi wouldn't be interested in it, and was holding a Prothean data disc. They were so rare and unlikely to work that possessing them was considered to be instant Archeological recognition.

"What are you thinking?"

"Lock it down with Prothean security protocols, and the Alliance will of course want to open it up. Without the proper codes, it will stay locked, and they will either send it to the Asari for their experts to open, or use the beacon to unlock it."

"Method of delivery?"

She shook her head. "Didn't get that far. Just had the thought that if we had a Prothean bauble on our hands we should probably use it to send the viral package."

"You do realize that we only have two of these discs with us." Those had been discs found in the Terminus Systems black market. They couldn't use the discs made at Ilos, since almost all of them were new and wouldn't be considered actual data discs. "We don't even know if they would work."

"Call Javik." She prompted. "He usually answers comms."

Jack sighed. Javik was not his favorite person to call. He entered the comm code for the Prothean section of the Ilos base. Strangely enough, Javik answered.

" _What do you require, lesser creature?_ "

"What would it take to lock down one of the Greater Beacons, enough that we can unlock it at any time?"

" _Why?_ " Javik said arrogantly. " _Your races need to extract whatever knowledge that they can before the Reapers come upon them._ "

"If we hold the beacon for ransom, then the Human government will buckle to our demands. Not to mention most of that information is meant to be part of the Reaper trap. Would it be so bad if we simply cut them off?"

" _I will confer with the Avatar of Dominance. In my everlasting opinion, your reasons are petty, and create the risk of higher consequences amongst the rest of the lesser races. But we shall see what Dominance has to say._ " The connection cut off, and Jack found that to be a more pleasant conversation then most. Sometimes Javik would call him and demand an audience to voice his many concerns. The list was exhausting. Some of them were only complaints regarding the treatment of the other Avatars. Others included complaints about how the very air he breathed was tainted by the germs of the lesser races. Jack let Tesai address their concerns, but he was still copied on all of the concerns and how they were being addressed.

Javik returned within a minute. " _Dominance agrees that the bumbling of the lesser races must be addressed. Each of their beacons will be evaluated. We shall send you a signal code that will lock down the beacon and set it into a diagnostic mode. This will allow us to manipulate it from the greater beacon located upon this world. Not to take away or change the data already there, but at least to lock down access._ "

A package was downloaded to his Omni-tool and required a Prothean adaptor in order to write it to the old data discs. Those adaptors had cost him a favor with the Protheans. They didn't like having a direct connection to their technology in the hands of others. Not to mention it had an automatic translator that could convert Prothean code to English. The only one of its kind that could. Charles drooled when he saw it for the first time, but Javik told him the price. He quickly told the Prothean that he could make one of his own cheaper. Jack could afford that kind of favor.

Reviving a dead race wasn't too impossible. Reviving it while crippling their superior culture was going to be much more difficult. There would be enough DNA to work with when the Collectors showed up for him to do that. Charles didn't want to be connected to the success or failure of a biomedical project. Not his field, and not his specialty. "I will endeavor to find ways of smuggling this code into all of the different beacons. Of course, there is still the beacon in the Perseus Veil that will be needed to lock down."

" _The robotic servants of the Reapers shall be dealt with in time. For now we must stop their vanguard. Do not fail us._ "

"Don't forget that you live and die by the hand of us lesser races." Jack hung up on the ornery bastard. When he turned back around to see Hannah he was greeted by her smirk. She must have been enjoying something about the way that Javik and he talked. "Well, we have a Prothean Data disc to drop on the Alliance. Who do you think would be most appropriate to get their attention?"

"Dr. Hamden. He worked with the original team that opened up the beacon. He also works for Oxford University as a professor for his second career. One of the more affluent departments that purchase post black market Prothean goods."

"Alright. I'll have someone get this in a pawn shop and make sure that Oxford is where the sell will happen." Jack said. "Then it's time for us to go back to college."

"Our faces are known to every police station from Mexico to Yemen. Shouldn't we send other people for this?"

"Can't." Jack said. "The Alliance is going to have at least one team of Infiltrators watching over NYU. With both Abigail and Grace there I know there will be some skilled operatives involved. They will know the moment that one of the girls is taken. The larger wrinkle in the mess is Helen. With her two daughters at NYU, she has been given a home to rent inside the Arcology." NYU was outside the Arcology towers, and was in Old New York. Helen was kept inside the more secure and much more monitored towers. "Getting Helen out is going to be a pain."

"Henry Lawson would never forgive you if you extracted his daughters and not his wife." Hannah said sagely. "What about Henry himself?"

"Noveria." Jack shrugged. "Not possible, even for me. The Salarian government has positioned patrol flotillas all over that system, in conjunction with Elanus Risk Control Services. Line of sight confirmations on all approaching vectors to the inner system every hour. They know what to look for." The Salarians would kill and had killed already for his stealth tech. "I have some thoughts on how to extract him, but the only way to do that is to have him extracted on specific orders."

"Like what?"

"A Presidential Pardon." Huerta wouldn't give that without a credible threat. "Hannah, you've got the hardest job. Find Helen, extract her. Scuba gear is in the shuttle, use the Arcology tower sewer systems. Those tunnels are usually unsecure in comparison to the main entrance, and the local gangs always have holes cut through the sewer grates. The gang there is called the Tenth Street Reds. Hock's people, though not directly. Use them however you will, but kill them if they make trouble. I will assist Kasumi."

"I thought the Tenth Street Reds were a bong short of being a real gang." Hannah said. "Our intel reports listed them as being near worthless."

Jack nodded. "Hock got stiffed on a payment from them. Now they sing his tune and keep their heads down. Otherwise it's all over." That had all been on the Omni-tool of Jones. That had been a gold mine of intel, and his agents had been working sleepless nights to check the intel and sell it to whoever wanted it. Not to mention profit from the patrol routes that he had on Alliance ships that secured the Arcturus relay and Sol relay. He didn't have the protocols for how the patrols acted during a security alert, like the one he just caused by extracting his mother.

He hadn't seen her since. His crew reported that she had ordered drinks from the bar, and had asked for fried chicken. Comfort foods had followed. Chocolate, pastries, and pickles. Good riddance. The woman hardly had a thing to complain about. She had just been removed from a care facility, and was allowed to live her life again. "So the Reds will have a way out?"

"Or dead drops and unregistered vehicles. Something might be available there. But Helen will undoubtedly be harder to pull off. Kasumi will be taking the girls, and will need Henry's help. That means I am making sure that their operation succeeds."

Hannah smirked at him. "Why don't you delegate that to someone else who knows the area. Kasumi isn't the one with the hard job."

"You want me to be your overwatch?"

"No," She chuckled. "Come with me."

Jack gave her an incredulous look. "You're serious." Hannah smirked. "What makes you think they won't bring down everything they have on us the moment we're seen?"

"You said it yourself, Helen is going to be the one that is going to be the hardest. I am willing to bet that you would be more helpful if you came with me."

"We hardly can risk going out to eat together and you want me to go with you?"

"That's two bones I'd like to pick. But, in essence yes. Consider this a date."

"A kidnapping date."

She smirked, nodding. "A kidnapping date." She passed him a kinetic barrier belt. "G ive overwatch to someone else."

Jack considered this. There had to be some way of… "I just got the most wicked of ideas." He grinned back at Hannah. "Grab the synth skin. We have until midnight to nab Helen."

Overwatch was transferred to Captain Qing, who had some experience with logistics and cyberwarfare. Then he grabbed synthskin for his hands and face, deciding that he needed to look a few decades older. More desperate. A few marks on the complexion from skin cancer treatments and cheap surgeries, and he had the perfect look of a desperate for employment man looking for a career to last him into his 100's. He had a few suits hidden deep in the closet for grunge work, and one of his brown tweedy looking ones came out for this. Military grade kinetic barriers and magnetic lined boots completed the costume.

"You better be right about this." Hannah said, coming out of the bathroom. Her face now looked half Asian and half Arab, one of the aliases that they had recovered from Julianne Jones' Omni-tool. "I can't believe how wide that woman's shoulders are." She was wearing shoulder pads to make her own look bigger, and her boots had a slight platform. "The synthskin is programmed with the DNA of the aliases. But under tighter scrutiny that won't hold up."

"Doesn't matter." Jack said. "We just need to get in. We've been sitting around Sol for a week already, and they haven't found us yet."

Hannah huffed. "Let's go. Company shuttle doesn't wait for us."

* * *

They rode into New York from where they were hiding in the greater area of the Canadian Appalachian Mountains. It took hours to get to the Quebec airport via old air car, then on a company transport for the Veridian Construction group. The Northwestern States still preferred to have their manual labor shipped in from out of country, hailing back to the practices of the United States of America. Shuttles came from other provinces and countries daily with workers and laborers. People to do the work that the Americans didn't want to. Communes of them lived in Canada and Mexico and were shipped all over to do basic labor. That was their way into New York Arcology Tower #3.

Janitorial services, food delivery, food and water management, as well as sanitation services were outsourced to cheap labor by the Arcology towers. It was simple to get their aliases into two of those service companies and inside the tower. It wasn't even the right arcology, but the sky bridges between the gigantic towers allowed for travel between. They were not the best in terms of security. Most of the security was focused on the landing docks and the floor entrances, where labor teams and citizens had to enter. Their ID's checked out, and their synthskin would be enough for the scanners that were in the towers.

He was feeling a bit of apprehension as they approached the service doors, and the two rental cops scanned their badges. He sat there, wondering if they would buy it if they saw an old man looking to work in sanitation. They didn't even give him a second glance. To Hannah they leered, but she only gave them a raised eyebrow before they scanned her card and let her in. Jack didn't know if they had been flagged or detected. They wouldn't know from here, and Jack hated not knowing. He hunched his shoulders and stepped into the lift, letting the empty box of cheap cigarettes poke out of his jacket. Hannah waited for a different lift, and they rode up to their respective locations. He was on the fifty second floor, and slipped into the worker's cleaning stalls right off the bat. He grabbed a key to the mop VI drones, and got started on putting out signs to have pedestrians avoid certain hallways. Then he set patrol routes for the mopping VIs and watched as the small floating drones went to town on any speck of dirt they detected. Jack then spilled a solution of adhesive, sludge, air car grease, and melted glass along a corridor. Camera systems didn't cover everything. He spilled a large spill of the liquid, in a hallway bordering an exterior wall.

Then, like a pack of flies, the VI drones descended upon the pile. They would be busy with that pile of adhesive for a while. Then, the corridors were sealed off and marked off, and the pedestrian traffic slowly left the area, avoiding the large spill of putrid chemicals. Security even checked on him, at which he gave them a shrug. "Something nasty here. What can ya do." He told the security officer.

The man looked at the spill seriously. "This is Officer Schwartz. Confirming chemical spill in corridor 52-11B." He didn't have to look at the wall to confirm where he was, confident in knowing the building. Jack filed that away, and asked the security officer to put a call into maintenance for the leak. The officer nodded, and scanned Jack's badge again. He didn't need to do that and it was highly suspicious. But Jack couldn't do much about that. Someone as cheap looking as he was trying to be wouldn't have an Omni-tool to hack into the local network and investigate what that scan was all about. So he patiently waited, watching as the drones had to chip away at the adhesive and sludge mixture, which had dried.

The maintenance specialist showed up, her bleached blonde hair bouncing and her shoulders set. Jack leered, as most men he was emulating would. Hannah frowned, and that would have happened whether she was acting or not. Jack never leered, and he never did anything unwarranted. Not to say he wasn't above such things when necessary, but at this moment he made his part look good. Officer Schwartz left them, ignoring their work after his part was done. Jack noticed that he didn't scan Hannah when she showed up. Odd, very odd. "The problem is right behind this wall, miss."

She nodded, and they both entered into the tunnels behind the walls. Maintenance access hallways ran throughout the building, and sanitation specialists had access to everything. More importantly, the only security that existed behind these walls were cameras in the stairwells. There were emergency exit stairs hidden behind the walls, for when the elevators locked down during a crisis. Ladders could be accessed by the sanitation and maintenance people, in addition. Hannah took them inside one of those ladders, and Jack's cybernetic foot ached as it hit every rung of the ladder, and his real foot ached along with it. He only worked out and exercised to maintain his physical state. Today looked like one of those days that would overly tax him.

They had to climb the ladder down four levels, and Jack finally allowed himself the time to pull out his Omni-tool. The local network was a tight one, and his credentials for maintenance did not include any login for his alias. So it was the old fashioned way. He shut down his Omni-tool, and had to wait until they ran into someone else. Hannah was checking a map she had from Jones' files, and led them across the entire building to another ladder, and had to go  _back_  up five floors. His feet ached, and he almost lost the crappy shoe that covered his cybernetic foot. He didn't hold Garrus accountable for that. It was simply Jack's fault that he didn't account for being shot from two miles away.

Finally, they reached a large ventilation area, but unlike the normal function of the fan, it wasn't generating gale force winds. It was gently moving, and at the far end of the ventilation shaft there was another door. Jack could see the lit end of a cigarette in the shadow of the doorway. He gave a pat to Hannah's rump, making her chuckle and go into cloak. With her outfit, her efficiency and energy fluctuation was going to be off. She didn't have hours that she could remain in cloak, she had less than two minutes. Jack could trace her movements across the shaft, as dirt and dust bounced off her field, and her footsteps hit a few wet areas underneath the fan mount as she moved across the area.

He tracked her steps, and saw the cigarette drop and the telltale flash of static show as she came back into visibility. She waved him over, and he quietly made his way past the rotating fans. His Omni-tool alerted him to the presence of lasers, motion sensors, and thermal detection systems. No wonder Hannah kept near the pool of water. He almost had to crawl to avoid the motion sensor housing, located next to the doorway.

The door was simple, albeit sealed from the inside. The man that Hannah had hit with her stun gun had no Omni-tool and no electronic tools on him. How this was supposed to be a good door guard went beyond him. "You think we should have introduced ourselves?"

"What would Jones do?" She asked. There was hardly anything in her files about the personality quirks of each alias.

"Get mad." Jack said. "Jones was never patient. Not unless she had a long term goal. With a street gang, I think that they would respond to fear best."

Hannah nodded, thinking to herself for a moment. Then she scrunched her face and gave a look of disgust towards the door. Then she knocked on the door, violently. Her fist on the metal echoed throughout the entire ventilation shaft. She had a metal gauntlet on over her wrist, to try to mimic the metal that went into the cybernetic limbs that Jones had. She didn't have the physical strength to mimic what Jones could really do with those arms.

A slot opened in the door, looking more like a cheap engineer's work than anything serious. A face was exposed, and Hannah held up the unconscious guard. "Open up!" She barked.

"Hey!" The man yelled. "You stay right there!"

The grate on the door slammed shut. Hannah gave him an amused look. "Gun?"

He nodded. "Hock made deals with these little street gangs to supply him with money in return for guns and drugs. Demand our rightful money, and let's see what happens."

She smirked. "Date money." When the grate in the door opened again, two sets of eyes were there. "Open up. You missed your meeting."

"We were there! It was you and yours that didn't show up!" Came the angry reply, and Jack knew that there had to be more than a few guns on the other side of that door. "We waited there for five hours. You never came!"

"I'm here now. Let's talk. Or would you rather we solved things the hard way?" She held her wrist out towards the door, just to see if they reacted. The street gang didn't even seem to care. That was inconvenient. Jones was actually good about hiding her cybernetics, and now they had to force these idiots to listen to them.

"Finch?" Jack blurted out. "Is that you?"

"What do you want, you old git?"

"You faked your death rather than paying me back in 2165." Jack mentioned, noticing the leader of the gang through the window. "Funny, I just remembered how much that stung, when you ran off with all that money." Jack smirked. "Remember? Chicago, 2165? You cheated an old partner out of every single shared stock."

"I've cheated a lot of partners." Finch replied, his face souring. "What makes you any different?"

"Turn off your camera and I'll tell you." Jack offered.

Finch glared at that. "I don't have cameras."

Jack nodded. "Then you won't complain if I take them down." A few commands on his Omni-tool, and every non-EMP resistant piece of technology within five meters popped like a crackling firework. Fantastic piece of virus that Charles had written. It seemed like an overload, but really it was the BIOS of every device overclocking and successively cutting power input to critical resistors within the power supply. The system then hiccupped, and sent a surge of power to the afflicted area. What the virus did then was somewhat rude, as it dialed down the basic resistors in the circuit to allow all of the energy to flow directly through the entire device, unrestricted and causing all sensitive parts to break.

There was a shout from the other side of the door as something broke, and the door popped like an electronic lock had just broken. The camera was physically located in a bit of rubbish to one side of the door, and his boot came down on it. Just to be sure. Jack then pushed open the door, no longer locked. Behind it, there were three men and four women in the main room of the ventilation overflow chamber. Obviously the normal flow had been rerouted, as the couches and generally comfortable setup was right where the control valve should have been.

Finch was just the way that Jack remembered him, with greasy slicked hair and a nervous tick under his left eye. He was holding a smoking pistol, and looked surprised. His gang had four guns out, three of the women in the back holding pistols. All of them older models and not a great threat. Jack smirked, and held up his Omni-tool. The place checked out as clean. Then he pulled the small flap of skin that would disable his synthskin.

"It's been a while, Finch." Jack said. "Thirty years, almost?"

The man paled, seeing the Alliance's number three most wanted in front of him. Officially he was number two, but someone in the Reds had made an ass of themselves and the Alliance had taken offence. "Hey, I didn't mean to leave you hanging, Jack." He looked at his gang. "Settle down! We can't screw with this guy."

Jack smiled. "If I had known you were hiding in New York, I would have come for my money earlier. Thankfully for you, that's not what I'm here for." Jack did the math in his head. "Not to mention with inflation rates being what they are, and everything now becoming credits, you only owe me around thirty thousand credits. Everything got connected to the Citadel markets and went down in price." Finch looked less pale at that. "Now, I have an offer for you. I think I can drop your debt to me, in exchange for one tiny little favor."

"You ain't called in your debt in years." Finch spat. "In fact, you've been quiet as a ghost yourself." He glanced around at his whole gang. "Alliance has a bounty on any information leading to your arrest."

Jack chuckled. "I'm not actually here, you realize." The blatant lie didn't even cause anyone to twitch. "This is an android body, powered by a miniature eezo reactor. You damage this, and all that happens is that this entire housing level goes up. Threaten me if you want, but I'm the one with a pocket nuke. I have no consequences to blowing out this entire floor."

Finch worriedly glanced at Hannah. "What do you want?"

"Access codes, three vehicles, and your routes through the tower. Future business pending if all goes well."

"Ain't got none of that shit." Finch said. "Gang doesn't have any vehicles that we own directly. Access codes for what? We got a deal with the cops, but that doesn't cover crap like this."

"You're a small fish in a bigger ocean, Finch. If you don't have what I need, then I will find it elsewhere. That is a fact. When you stiffed me on our agreement, I never looked for you again. You aren't important. But, if you think you want to enter the big game now, go ahead and try your luck. I'm sure that nuclear fire will cure you of any such insanity." His gang members looked worried. "I need access to the upper suites. Give me that, and one car, and you'll lose your debt to me."

Finch looked annoyed. "Nobody's got access to the upper suites unless you live there. Security has it locked down tight. Only ways in are the docking level on the 87th floor, and the high security elevator."

Jack nodded. "So, do you have a list of who is living in the uppermost section of the tower?"

Finch smirked. "Sit down, Harper. All this shouting isn't the way things should be." He offered a beaten up chair for him, and Jack ran his Omni-tool over it first. It was, of course, clean. Jack took a seat, making sure to throw his weight onto the chair to make his body seem heavier. "I think I can help you, but you might have to scale down your terms."

"You know everyone that lives on the upper levels?"

"I've managed to get a hold of some names. There is an entire security company hired to protect the upper levels. They and their families live on site. Some of their names are public record, others are fake names that they go by. I've gotten a good list of the families, though, in case I ever needed it."

"So, what do you want for the names?"

Finch rolled his eyes. "Five thousand for each family. Eight for each normal resident you want." He had slipped his gun back into its holster. "I've got air car ID's and everything."

Jack smiled at that. "Alright, Finch." He pressed a credit chit onto the table for four thousand credits. "Four normal residents. VIPs or better. Your debt is absolved and the extra two thousand is for the fees of paying off your informations." Jack didn't like Finch. He never had trusted the little weasel. "I'm paying for just names? My hackers could do better."

"This ain't just names! Addresses! Cars! Bank accounts!"

"Private or business?"

"Only private. Business accounts are always closely watched. But its enough for the simple things." Finch said matter-of-factly. "I got anything you need on these people."

"Medical History?"

"Some of em, ya."

"Give me anyone with dementia or a lot of existing medical conditions related to element zero. Some kind of cancer would be amazing to find, considering that they would be able to afford the best of health care. Someone with a nurse or visiting medical technicians would be ideal, but anyone with existing medical conditions would be appropriate."

Finch nodded. "You didn't get 'em from us." He glanced down at the credit chit. "But our silence is worth another eight."

Jack smirked. "Ten, and you tell me what medical center I'll find them at."

Finch grumbled, and motioned to one of his men, who brought him a black colored paper notebook. "Sorry about the dinosaur of a method, but I don't trust much that's electronic these days."

Jack nodded. If there was anything to hack in here, he would have gone that route. He adjusted the credit chit, adding six thousand credits to the total. "A pleasure, Finch." He lied smoothly.

His greasy smile was plastered all over his face. "Glad to know that my many debts can be absolved." Finch stood up, the blatant threats still standing. "Hope that whatever you're doing works out."

Jack and Hannah reapplied their synth skin, and stepped out into the ventilation shaft. They made it a couple hundred feet and down a ladder before Hannah spoke up. "You think he is going to sell us out?"

Jack chuckled. "Absolutely. That's why I just needed information on the medical center." He smirked. "Have you ever hijacked an air car?"

"Romantic." She snarked. "Are you going to ask Charles to do it for you?"

Jack held up a small wrench. "Of course not. I taught Charles the basics on how to break into things. I was a young man once." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Still am in many ways."

"So, we just traded terribly for a hunch." Hannah tried to point out. "How does this help us get into Tower #3?"

"We just walk over there right now, while security panics and rushes for Tower #1 and the upper floors there. The simple solution is oddly enough the one that leads to the most likely success." Jack said. "Finch is going to make thousands of credits selling us out, and I wouldn't put it past him to only wait a few minutes to contact a security officer. As such, we should get out of here quickly."

Hannah nodded, and they walked to the access hallway that led to the maintenance tunnels that went inside the sky bridge. There was a security protocol in place, but Jack was certain that it could be circumvented. If not, then they would have to risk walking across and getting scanned at the airlock doors on either side of the bridge. Not the best prospect. But when they got there, the access hallway wasn't even locked.

"Handsome to Angel, what's going on?" Jack commed.

" _Angel here. Angel Actual. Someone is talking about you._ " Charles' voice came over his Omni-tool. " _Every door in the building just unlocked. The panic is about to reach levels unprecedented, and you already had most of the police in the area combing the building._ "

"Well, what about Tower #3?"

" _Target has been moved. She's en route to a safe house near NYU._ "

"We need a ride."

" _Got that covered. The maintenance accessway has an exterior landing pad for supply drops. I've got a ride for you there. If you don't mind driving something heavy and weaponless._ "

Jack looked at Hannah, who shrugged. "Alright then. Have you isolated exactly where they are?" The access hallway opened, and the open air walkway was in front of them. The superstructure was exposed underneath the real access walkway, and the electrical and piping running through the bridge was all around them. In an emergency, the bridge could be retracted from both sides. There was a small landing pad on either end of the accessway. Parked thirty feet in front of them was the most wretched looking vehicle Jack had ever seen. It looked like an air car that had been welded with a truck bed like attachment. A tow cable and large hook was on top of that, and heavy plating had been added to all of the surrounding parts.

Jack smirked. "By God, this  _is_  ugly." He pulled on the handle of the door. It was surprisingly locked. "Charles?"

" _Oh yeah. Forgot to tell you. I had to call in a work order to get the vehicle with clearance to park there. I don't have the codes for it. You'll have to get in on your own._ "

Jack sighed, and brought out his Omni-tool. "Charles! This crap doesn't even have an IF program!"

" _Yeah. Sorry, but this guy is old fashioned. You're an old goat, though. You said you could break into anything._ "

Jack frowned. The vehicle had seen better days, but its armor could take it inside of any radiated area. Its windows were reinforced as well. So bashing those in with a crowbar wouldn't work, nor would shooting out a window. "I don't suppose you know where the owner is?"

" _We don't have time for you to go pick his pocket._ " Charles said. " _He's dealing with all of the doors being open. You got a better way in?_ "

Jack huffed. "I suppose." He came over to the handle on the truck, and noticed that it was a bit worn. Just like the rest of the vehicle. He pulled back on the handle, seeing that a small section of it was warped and bent. On the interior, there was a section that had been chipped, and he could see exposed circuitry behind it. "Here we are." The area wasn't large, maybe a couple of centimeters across.

"You have a way in?" Hannah snarked. "Let's see you steal a car."

Jack grunted his assent, trying to make this look good. With a bit of flair, he jammed the connector of his Omni-tool into the tiny gap. With the utmost regret he watched as nothing connected. He just stood there awkwardly as his wrist was jammed into the handle. Pulling out his connector, he saw that it had indeed tried to connect with something, but the circuitry must not be functional. He must not be the first to try this. With a grunt, he looked into the back of the truck bed. There was a tool box mounted behind the cabin. It had a biometric lock, with no wireless transceiver. The butt of his gun was enough to break the lock. Inside the box were simply metal tools. Perfect.

A crowbar was inside. As well as an ion torch. He handed the torch to Hannah, and took the crowbar. He lifted the handle to the door again, and saw the exposed circuits. Only the very tip of the crowbar could fit in the gap. With a grunt, he pushed the tip in and started trying to rip off the handle.

"How much do you actually work out, Jack?" Hannah said. "That handle isn't even moving."

He grunted, putting his entire effort into ripping off this handle. His entire body lurched, and he even tried getting his foot into the gap between cabin and truck bed to use as leverage. It didn't even budge. "You know," he grunted. "That I only work out to be amazing in the bedroom."

The crowbar didn't even make the handle budge. He let go of it, letting it hit the ground. Hannah snorted, laughing. He just glared and took the ion torch from her. It took almost a minute for him to rip off the handle, leaving long burn marks across the entire door. But in the end the handle was carved and torn open. He was huffing and sweating uncomfortably. But this time the circuitry was exposed and revealed. "Hah!" he huffed. "There we go!"

"That took what limited testosterone you have, hmm?" Hannah said. "Alright, get us in the air."

Jack didn't bother to wait until she had finished her comment before Connecting to the inside circuitry. The open ports had all been blocked off with little plastic tabs. No wonder he hadn't gotten in. Once his Omni-tool connected, the archaic computer in the vehicle was rewritten instantly. The vehicle started and turned on, and the doors unlocked. There was one short awkward moment when they both had to get in on the other side of the vehicle. Apparently the ion torch had damaged the mechanical lock system, and it wouldn't disengage on the driver's side.

But the machine was big, and ugly. It flew like a brick, but Jack grinned as Charles fed his Omni-tool with telemetry on Helen. She was going through the heavily trafficked route that led around Manhattan Island. Jack just simply powered through traffic, coming up behind them by going through the emergency vehicle lane. They were so far behind them that Jack didn't care who saw them. They had the benefit of being a tow truck, and it wasn't uncommon to see them in the emergency lanes.

The vehicle that Helen was being held in looked like a heavily armored frozen goods transport. One that had a reinforced cab and secondary engine ports. He glanced over at Hannah. "How should we do this? Force them down?"

"They might have escorts. They will notice if anything is amiss." Jack said. "Do you want to risk jumping?"

She shrugged. "If you can simulate us swerving, I think my boots can magnetize to their plating."

"That'll get me noticed." Jack said. "Anyone with a gun will be able to bring me down, or bring down the heat."

Hannah smirked. "Ever had your intake valves go out on you?" She nodded towards the bottom of the transport. "We could do that. Then just follow them down like a greedy towing truck would." She cloaked, and the last he saw of her was the shimmer of her opening the door in traffic and stepping out onto the side of the vehicle. He just drove, coming up within fifty feet of the transport and just coasting, seeing the emergency lane as well as all of the other lanes coming into the city of Manhattan. He made a big show of slowing down and forcing his way into the lanes with all of the other people, only twenty feet in between him and the air car in front of him.

Jack hated traffic. He hated it with a passion. He felt it beneath him. But, for the sake of Henry, he would sit content in today's traffic without imagining the murder of every driver around him. Though as he got cut off by some little teenage driver he nearly started shooting at the twerp. He was distinctly reminded that he was not the best at driving. This was why he hired other people to do it.

He saw in the rear view mirror and on the rudimentary dashboard, a small alarm went off as something came near them. Looking to the left, he could see the giant transport losing altitude quickly, and smoke emerging from the exhaust. He had to follow it down carefully, and one other vehicle was going down with it. It was a large white air car, easily seating six. Jack smirked, making sure that his descent towards the city was not too steep. He even let the other vehicle land first, coming in at a higher angle and spiraling down like a vulture would. When he finally did land, the transport had emptied out four men and the van had emptied two.

Synthskin in place, Jack knew he looked about as grungy as he could possibly get. When he got out of the truck, on the driver side now that he could open it from the inside, he gave them all a sleazy grin. "That looked pretty bad. What's wrong?"

"We don't need your help. We've got insurance." Said a man, his green eyes and red hair marking him as an oddity for a Caucasian. A rare one, for certain. "Get your truck and move so ours can land."

Jack smirked. "I'm certified. Your insurance is gonna see me less than one hundred feet away and call me up. 'Til I see that truck of yours, I won't move." He made his accent a bit rustic, and he could see the green eyes center on him.

"You'll leave, and you'll leave now. Understand?" He pulled his coat back from his body, revealing a cheap polo shirt and a gun holster. The weapon looked dangerous enough.

Jack smirked, yellowed teeth in a grin. "Pretty little piece you got there. Excuse me if I don't find it too threatening." He pointed around him, at the older buildings that surrounded them. "Everyone here packs heat."

"Just get out of here before this gets worse for you." The man stated. Jack noticed that his arms were reinforced with some layers of gauntlets. When he opened his coat the support structure for an Engineering harness was revealed. So, he was a combat engineer. A Cerberus type Combat Engineer. "We're on private insurance, we'll get in trouble for outsourcing."

Jack nodded. "Well, let me get my vehicle out of the way, then. Though if I get a call to come back, so help me God, I will charge you extra."

Jack stepped back into the tow truck, seeing no sign of Hannah or Helen. But with a vehicle this old, it had certain perks. He locked the exhaust valve, and smirked as he watched the helium fuel gauge start getting more stressed. "Angel, please make sure to reimburse the owner of this vehicle. It won't be quite functional soon. Click once when you need a distraction." The reply from Hannah took almost thirty seconds, the slim click across the channel barely noticed.

Jack started the vehicle into the air, and then let the intake valves cease functioning. The engine stopped firing, the intake clogging as the exhaust valves stayed locked down. Everything in the engine started looking for a way out, somewhere that it could vent. Jack smiled as he started losing altitude, heat and gasses spewing from the air intake in front. Jack hummed to himself as the truck lost control completely, slamming back onto the ground and skidding into the van that had been parked. It didn't strike at any great speed, but it dented the side of the van and kicked it off of its parking spot. Once the truck and van had come to a complete stop, Jack let the exhaust vents release, smoke spewing out the back of the truck.

Predictably, his truck was rushed by armed men who were shouting and waving weapons towards him. The red haired man was banging on his window as Jack glared back at him. "What!" Jack yelled. "Took off too fast!" The man's eyes narrowed, before he turned back towards the transport. As he was reaching for his wrist, Jack threw the door open and started cursing at him. "Hey! That intake valve was supposed to hold another week, I promise!"

"Just wait until the police get here, you bastard." The man said. "Your insurance is going to hear about this one. I'm gonna see your ass in jail for this."

"For my valves failing and a small dent?" Jack spat. "Hah! I'd like to see you try!"

The man grabbed him by the shoulder of his coat. "Oh, don't worry. I will." He sneered. "Germain!" He asked into his wrist. "Germain?"

He let go of Jack and moved towards the transport, while Jack moved around to the back of the truck to 'fix' what he could. Two clicks echoed on his Omni-tool, and he smirked. With a tap on his own wrist, he activated one of the few stealth systems he could use. It wouldn't last very long, and it took five batteries to run for one minute. He needed Henry if they were to improve this design, as well as other engineers. He slipped into an alleyway, finding himself behind a dumpster. "Angel, where to?"

" _Down._ " Charles told him. " _They're not alone._ "

Jack hated sewers. Hannah seemed to love plans that involved going underground or into tunnels. She didn't mind small spaces. He hated small spaces. When the hatchway to the sewers opened up, Jack gagged on the scent that emerged. Oh yes, he didn't like it at all. But as much as he might not like it, he climbed down the slimy ladder anyways. The tunnels were dark, and the lights had all been shot out years ago. The same had been true in Chicago, and the smell here reminded him of the petty thefts of his childhood. All for rent, at the time. He grunted as his feet hit the cheap paneling that was used for the accessways down here, and brought out his Omni-tool. The synthetic cover over his eyes was starting to degrade slightly, and the view he had of the world around him was hazy.

"Direct me." He asked, glancing at the readout on his Omni-tool.

" _As per my own programming, her transponder only reports in every eleven seconds. You've got motion tracker for when you get closer._ " He was given her last location, nearly fifty feet down a side corridor. He moved backwards in his own, coming to a dead end and having to double back to his starting location. When he got back to the ladder, his eyes had partially adjusted to the rare working light in the tunnels. Flashlights moved in the darkness, but only a couple. They were moving in his direction, though. He stepped into a side accessway, walking past the moving grime that came out of all kinds of pipes, and into another larger walkway. His shoulder brushed the walls and came away with something sticking to it, and he carefully stuck his head out to look at the area around him.

"I can't see anything." Jack said. "One of them is an Engineer."

" _He'll have thermal imaging, motion sensors, the works. Tech armor, drones, maybe even some encounter harness functions. You can't take that on._ " Charles said. " _He will have the advantage._ "

"Hannah can't take him either. He might see her on thermals. Helen is visible on motion sensors."

" _Two hundred feet in front of you, and down. Looks like she is going into one of the main water treatment units._ " Charles updated his Omni-tool with the location. " _The temperature in there is pretty high, might be enough to conceal someone from his sensors._ "

Jack moved, coming up to the water main. He could barely see, but up ahead the light appeared to be clearing up. More lights were functioning in the water treatment unit, and he smirked as he came up to the final section of walkway, seeing the sparking of rounds flying. Hannah was definitely in trouble. It was with a sliver of fear he felt something trigger as he walked, his left foot coming down and a small part of the grimy floor blinking once.

That split second lasted too long, before the trip mine went off, ball bearings going through his kinetic barriers and exploding inside of them. His barriers weren't ready for explosives. Neither was he ready for two other trip mines to go off. His body flew off the ground, slamming into one of the grimy walls. Then he slid and landed face down in the grime. Jack cried out in pain, involuntarily. "Gah!"

He flinched, his legs on fire and in pain. He rolled himself onto his back, his legs not responding well. When he expected to roll up onto his knees, instead he fell back onto the floor, in pain and his body failing him. A glance down at his legs revealed why. His legs looked like cheese. Everything below his knee was gone. His cybernetic foot wasn't responding, that knee bleeding profusely. The nerves must be gone. But his real foot was also gone, and he realized that right now he was useful to no one. "Angel, I need extraction. I just hit trip mines."

" _What! Damn it! My sensors should have picked up on those!_ " Charles said. " _Can you walk?_ "

"It got my leg. Mission has been compromised. There's blood everywhere." They would be able to see his medical history in the last ten years, and that was not an option. "Setting a charge." His hands were shaking, just like when he lost his eyes. "Angel?"

" _Hang on there, She's on her way. Just don't lose it yet._ "

He held the charge loosely in his hand, and Jack slumped to the ground, staring at the dim lighting of the tunnel. His old cybernetic eyes would never have missed a trip mine. Damn it all. This had actually been  _fun_. Jack let his fingers release the charge he had been holding, as the telltale flash of someone decloaking in front of him came. Instead of Hannah's face, someone else was there. Jack scrambled for the charge, but it was kicked away from him. "We got one. He's in critical condition."

Jack glared when he saw the red haired Combat Engineer step over him next. "This bastard." Their flashlights were blinding him, but he could make out the sneer on his face. "Bag him up. We've still got to chase down the other two in these sewer systems." Jack thrashed, and tried to resist, but without legs he was hopeless. They disarmed him and strapped him down to a stretcher, and jack felt his freedom disappear in one short moment.

* * *

Arcturus Station, Arcturus, September 2182

"This hearing is in session. Will all be seated?" The Naval Magistrate announced to the room. Ashley sat with Pressley and Halmabad. There were no aliens in the room, just Humans. It was the first time in a while she was among only her own people. Unfortunately, this didn't make her feel very comfortable. She didn't like to admit it, but she had gotten used to the heavy huffing of their Krogan mercenary. Garrus liked to tinker with gadgets and Desolous liked to leer at all of the females on the crew while chatting with Jenkins.

Right now she wished she could listen to the weird bird like sounds that the Turians made when they talked in their native language. Sitting behind her were a number of senators and admirals. Captains and Commanders sat in the upper sections of the chamber, but there were no news reporters. No press were allowed in here. Sitting in front of her were only three people. Admiral Steven Hackett sat with Julia Constantine, at the bench directly in front of the judge.

The Judge and Magistrate was Admiral Kastanie Drescher, her black hair and widow's peak famous for being the most intimidating of the many Admirals to be on the wrong side of. Famously she had commanded the Alliance's only Dreadnought during the First Contact War, and had disabled a Turian Dreadnought. Today her grey streaks only highlighted her intense countenance. She was one of the most dangerous people in the entire Navy, and today with Steven Hackett representing Julia, Admiral Drescher had to act as Judge.

"The accused stands before us." Drescher stated. "State your name for the court."

Julia Constantine looked terrible. Her jaw was still wired shut, and the cast remained covering her chin. But the ugly purple and black bruise that spread along her cheek and up towards her eye was plain. Her right eye was completely bloodshot. What that was caused by was left to be seen, but her pale and bloodless face marred by the bruise told the court the real story. She was hardly fit to leave a bed, much less be in a court. She tapped into her Omni-tool, and a small text to speech program activated. " _Commander Julia Constantine._ "

"Commander, you stand accused of the murder of a fellow soldier, Staff Lieutenant Leeroy M. Jenkins." Drescher said. "How do you plead?"

Admiral Hackett stood up, Julia still injured and sitting. "Your honor, we plead not guilty." There was some murmuring. Julia typed out on her Omni-tool, and her program spoke again. " _I plead guilty of being responsible for his death. As his commanding officer, I am responsible for the actions and consequences of all command decisions._ "

Admiral Hackett get Julia a look, one that she refused to match. "The accused has prepared a statement." He glanced down at his own Omni-tool to read. "During the mission to Canrum, we were faced with Rachni forces that exceeded expectations. They had repurposed the old Turian military base, and had occupied the area without any outward markings. Their ship deployed against the Normandy, and there were signs that another FTL capable ship was under construction and could launch within hours. It was decided that a ground strike was worth the risk. During this time, the risk to members of our team was high, and we split into two teams to investigate the base.

During this time, we were engaged in battle and friendly fire and I was struck by acid and biotic attacks that damaged my ability to reason and see. At which point I shot Jenkins and then prepared to shoot myself. My senses were impaired, and only the timely shot from Lt. Ashley Williams was able to stop me from doing more damage." Hackett said with distaste. "As the Commander's direct superior, I feel that more evidence must be gathered before we hold this tribunal."

That wasn't right at all! There was no mention of the Asari! Ashley was about to lean forward, when a hand stopped her. Pressley, right beside her, had his hand in a steely grip over her shoulder. He simply shook his head and made her sit back in her seat. "Think before you speak." The man whispered. Then he let go of her.

She sat back, trying to. Why would Commander Constantine avoid talking about the Spectre that had tried to kill her? The Alliance would understand if they were reporting a plot from the Asari. If this were a Turian plot, they would be aggressively looking at this. She felt something bubbling in the back of her throat, thinking about this. That Asari was paste on the ground. They had escaped too quickly to go down and make sure, but Ashley was positive that she was gone. That pressure grenade should have wrecked her ability to do any kind of biotic bullshit and save herself.

"This court recognizes the statement. You may call your witnesses. We have already viewed the gun and camera footage." Admiral Drescher said. Ashley's eyes widened. They were really pushing to finish this hearing. Then again, no Human had ever killed their own Spectre Candidate. This crime was unprecedented. "There is no need to show it in this court." They were covering something up. It had to be. Pressley hadn't budged or moved his lips from their ever present dour look. Halmabad looked confused, but Pressley took a moment to glance at him and make some kind of unspoken communication. Both men returned to their places, dour looks on both of their faces.

Admiral Hackett stood up. "I call first Lt. Shaikh Al-Omar Halmabad."

Admiral Drescher shook her head. "As a Spectre Candidate, he is also under investigation by this court. With the nature of your ship and its mission, none of the crewman on board or deployed on the mission shall be considered as witnesses whose accounts we can trust." She glared at Pressley, whose lips finally frowned. "After all, we cannot rule out conspiracy to assist in the murder of a threat to your position as a possible Spectre."

"You've seen the footage! You know that their perspective is critical to understanding what happened." Hackett said, his graveled voice carrying. "We cannot sweep this under the rug."

"As an Agent of the Office of Intelligence, Constantine is fully capable of doctoring evidence and convincing her crew to speak contrary to what actually happened."

"What of the ship's doctor!"

"We have already heard from George Washington University. Her medical license has been revoked, upon discovery of some rather gruesome research that she participated in back in 2157. She is in the brig, pending dishonorable discharge." Admiral Drescher stated. "The accused has admitted her own responsibility in the matter, and we must trust the word of the only witness that can safely be called upon. Captain Du Monte, please come forward."

Hackett was seething, and the Captain that came forward seemed arrogant. He sat at the bench offered, and faced the Magistrate. "Your medical team treated both of those injured on the combat team. Summarize their report."

Du Monte nodded, and brought up his Omni-tool and allowed it to display information. "The male, Jenkins, had been shot. Clean shot through the faceplate and out the back of the helmet. Rachni plasma doesn't do that. It burns and spreads upon contact. This round punched right through, and we scanned her weapon when it came in. That sniper rifle of hers fired only a few rounds, but we were able to trace both shots, her own and the round that killed Jenkins. Both were from her rifle."

"Thank you captain. When you turned in your report to me, you stated that when onboard the  _Normandy_ , you were restricted to the same deck as the non human mentors and crew. Why was this?"

"Operational secrecy, Ma'am. Yet at the same time the Turians and the Quarians were both invited into locations that we were not."

"Those Quarians were Engineers already assigned to the ship." Hackett pointed out. Admiral Drescher nodded, but turned towards Du Monte again.

"Captain, Did Commander Constantine ever approach you while you were on the  _Normandy_?"

"No, Ma'am."

"Admiral Hackett, if you have any questions for the Captain?"

Hackett frowned. "I have one. After you engaged the Rachni, why didn't you file a report to your commanding officer about how you let your frigate be taken out by a larger craft?"

"I did file my report." Du Monte stated. "Rear Admiral Kohaku received it, and told me that it was passable but not detailed enough for his tastes."

Hackett frowned. "That is another matter I will need to investigate. Your witness does not provide any solid evidence as to the actions taken by Commander Constantine, nor does he provide a motive."

"Jenkins is still dead, Admiral. Along with an unknown amount of others. The Office of Intelligence has not alerted me to her total missions or actions taken, but they assured me that Constantine was their very best. If she murdered Jenkins to secure her position as Spectre Candidate, who else has been removed during her time as an Agent? Can we assume that every political enemy of the state that she was tasked to deal with was actually removed? This is the purpose of today's meeting. The murder of Jenkins is quite evident. How far back this treachery goes is the main purpose of this tribunal, and it will be fully explored."

Julia still didn't move. She didn't react to any of this. Like she had been expecting this. The murmuring and whispers in the officers and admirals gathered around was loud, and Ashley didn't like this at all. When the doors to the court room opened, everyone stood up, trying to look at whoever dared to interrupt a tribunal. Walking forward were four fully armored marines, each armed with a police baton. A fifth soldier was pushing a wheelchair, on which sat a middle aged man with grey hair and day old stubble.

"Admiral Drescher, you asked for further evidence?" A man of African descent stood up. "I present to you a witness that may place some light on the nature of Commander Constantine. Freshly crippled and unable to escape, I give you Jack Harper."

Ashley would never forget the look in that man's eyes. They were a deep blue, light enough that they could be seen even from her distance away. He pulled himself together, straightening his back and bringing attention to his ruined legs. Nothing existed on either side below the knee. Bandages hung down, and a prison uniform hung around him. He was pale from his injuries, but there was no mistaking him. This was the face of Jack Harper, Humanity's most wanted criminal.

Julia Constantine finally turned around. Her eyes were full of rage, and she directed her full anger towards her father. But with her jaw wired shut, all she could do was sit there and sputter indignantly.

"Mr. Jack Harper. Do you promise to answer with the truth in this court of law?"

"So long as your questions aren't driven by an agenda meant to turn our race into the next genophage victims, yes." Jack said simply. "I'll answer your questions."

The man seemed to be perfectly comfortable in a room surrounded by Alliance Officers. Ashley didn't get that. This guy was going to get killed, given a shot from a doctor and then disappear forever. Yet he stood there, casual and not worried about what was going on.

"As this is the tribunal to merit the innocence of your daughter, please describe for the court her upbringing."

"Quiet. Safe, when the STG weren't trying to kill me. Or perhaps the others who had been funding different separatist groups. She was smart, and I cultivated that intelligence with the best education that money can provide. Every tool that she needed, she was given. Every time she was required to succeed based on her own merit, she did so. When I abandoned her at fourteen, she seemed to be able to take care of herself."

"You abandoned your own child?" Admiral Drescher asked, sounding incredulous.

"Yes." Julia's fingers were clenched in her lap, and only Ashley could see that the knuckles were white. "I was wanted throughout the Alliance at the time, so I left. It was a fair bit better than my own childhood, but that isn't the real question. You want to know if my daughter ever killed anyone to get her way."

"That is the subject of this tribunal."

"In that case, then the subject matter must be changed." Jack said. "If this tribunal finds Julia Constantine guilty of any wrongdoing, there will be repercussions across the entire Alliance." He made a limited hand motion with his handcuffed hands. "She did not murder Jenkins. This is all the machinations and scheming of a rogue group of-"

"That is not the subject of this tribunal, Mr. Harper."

Jack Harper grinned. Crippled men shouldn't grin like that. "Is it? In less than twenty hours, Admiral, I take down the entire Alliance and their ability to progress as a species in Citadel Space." He turned his head over towards Admiral Hackett. "I don't ever make a habit of lying, Admiral. I've sold this government weapons and secrets that have kept us all alive. Given us the technological edge. I'm in custody, and right now, no one can stop what's going to happen to us." He pointed to his daughter, and finally matched eyes with her. "Unless  _She_  is able to go free."

"Are you threatening this court?"

"I'll threaten even President Huerta himself if this doesn't get solved, Admiral." Jack smoothly said. "Tick tock. Every major officer that can stop this is in this courtroom. Release my daughter, drop the charges, and get her proper medical attention."

"Mr. Harper, you are a witness, and not a supplicant."

"I only agreed to be a witness so that I could speak to the Admirals in charge of the First and Fifth fleets. The only ones capable of stopping what I've started."

"Rear Admiral White, please remove this man."

"Tick tock, Admiral. I'll be in the jail, when you need me." Jack Harper said, as he was wheeled out of the room. "Auereate Dexio!" Whatever he said made Julia twitch.

As soon as the doors opened, the gavel had to be broken out over the din. Admiral Kastanie Drescher was looking worried. "Admiral Hackett, please confine Commander Constantine to her quarters. As well as the crew of the  _Normandy_ , until we have verified that there is no need to hold them responsible."

"And the threat, Ma'am?"

She sighed. "Real or imagined, we have to assume that something is going to happen. Lock down the relays. I don't want anything coming through." She glanced at the other members of the command structure in the crowd. "This hearing will be delayed for two days. Report to your ships."

* * *

Ilos, Pangea Expanse, September 2182

Charles' fingers flew over the keyboard. There was no news, no updates about how Jack Harper had been found and captured by the police. Or whatever these people were. Hannah had made it back to the  _Acheron_ , along with Helen. Kasumi and Henry had abducted the two daughters in their separate locations without a problem, thanks to Kasumi planning things out two months in advance. But they had lost Jack. He didn't know what to do.

" _Do you know where they took him?_ " Hannah was asking.

"If I knew, I would have told you already!" He said, fifteen VI's going through comm traffic in the Sol system at that moment. "Julia's going into her court hearing, and we have no resources available to us to extract him from whatever prison they will have him held at."

All of the VI feeds reported nothing. No unusual traffic and no mentionings of Jack's name or description. Not even his alias was being mentioned, and Charles knew that it  _should_  have been by now. Their listening posts and VI assisted bugs in the Alliance security systems weren't reporting anything either. It was all too quiet, far too quiet.

" _I should have never brought him with me!_ " He could hear Hannah swearing in the background of the call. " _We have to find him. Charles, you're the best we've got._ "

"I know, I know!" Charles said. "Praising my abilities will get you nowhere. I've gone through everything. I don't know where he is, and if he is in their systems they aren't talking about it. Or they've labeled him as something else."

The door to his control room opened, and Charles saw an interesting sight. All three of the Protheans had entered, along with Liara T'soni. They were walking up towards his level, ignoring the protests of the standing group of Quarians that were manning the other stations and haptic interfaces. They tramped their way up the ramps and came to a stop in front of him, and he could see his girlfriend running along behind them, apologizing to those that the Protheans swept past rudely.

"Human." Javik stated. "Is it true that Jack Harper has been lost?"

"Partially true. He isn't dead, if that's what you're asking." Charles said, half turning to the Protheans. "They would have announced his death in some way, or gathered more people or his lawyer."

"Without Jack Harper, command of this organization would fall to the one called Hannah." He spat the words. "His bedmate."

"Yes, that would be true." He replied, half paying attention.

"She is still contained on the other side of that relay. Locked in a place that we cannot easily go." Javik said. "She is unable to hold command."

"Well, we can just wait a few weeks for the Alliance to chill and calm down, and then she will come back." Charles shrugged. "No worries, this organization will still have someone commanding it."

"Your carelessness is what I fear." Javik said. "We have voted to take action. Find us Jack Harper, or else we shall appoint a new director of this organization."

Charles finally gave the Prothean his full attention. "Everything that we do is planned out to every angle! Jack already has plans for what to do and how to respond to anything the Alliance might come up with! You can't abandon him so easily!"

His console beeped, and Charles cursed as he had to bring his attention back to the screen. "Look! There he is! They've got him at a secure facility inside of the Arcturus System." He pointed, and the Prothean nearly pushed him out of the way. "He's being held on the Alliance Dreadnought Fuji, in the middle of the First Fleet."

"Prepare the SR2. Our answer to their foolishness must be clear!" Javik spat. "I shall fetch the lesser ally myself." He glanced down at Liara. "Would you care to accompany me?"

"It would be an honor." Liara said quietly. "We will need something to conceal the Quarian's part in all this."

"Send for the members of Catalyst." Javik told Charles. "As High Commander of the military, and in lieu of Jack Harper, you cannot deny me this."

Charles nodded. "I'll do you one better. I've got Krogan and Batarians who are ready to go." He clenched his teeth. "But the SR2 doesn't have any weapons systems yet. You'll be going in without any way to protect yourself."

"Understood." Javik said. "Continue with the plan to disable the Mars Beacon. It will not be enough to force them to give up Director Harper, but it will be enough to put them on their guard by your homeworld. We shall find their confidence wanting." Javik was smiling, and on the four eyed Prothean's face, it was a bit disgusting. Charles had never seen him smile before. "To war! The Avatar of Vengeance falls upon the lesser races once more!" With that, the Protheans left. Leaving Charles having to map out how the hell they were going to be getting inside all of the Alliance blockades. As well as somehow getting intel on Jack and if he was really inside the  _Fuji_ , or if he was just being held elsewhere.

Arms wrapped around him from behind, and he felt the thin visor of his girlfriend snuggle up against his cheek. " _Don't blame yourself. Promise me you won't hold yourself responsible for this._ " Tesai whispered. Her arms pulled his up by the wrists, pulling them away from the keyboard. " _Jack actually apologized for interrupting us. I don't think he's ever apologized to us for anything else he has done._ " She snuggled her entire torso against his, something that made his heart flutter. " _You'll find him. You'll find him and Javik will feel useful in setting him free._ "

"I really love you, you know that?"

She stood up, sashaying her hips as she walked down the ramp. "Oh I know. You know you won't be able to take any more time off until you find him. Maybe I'll write a song about it all." Charles had his full attention on his girlfriend as she descended the ramps to catch up to the Protheans. "I'm going with them."

He felt his heart drop. "But, why?"

"You get me the internal comm systems, and I'll cripple that entire Dreadnought. You know what I can do." She was smirking, he knew it. "I know we can count on you." She held up her two fingers, making the Quarian sign of trust. He matched it, bunching his ring and pinky finger together, along with his pointer and middle finger together. "Until I see you again."

"Yeah." He replied lamely. But it was enough. He had a gallon of coffee, and the phantom feeling of his girlfriend rubbing up against him. It was enough to make him go beyond his exhaustion. With a smirk, he started typing. There were VI's to run, and simulations to go over. "Hell yeah!" He shouted. He didn't care who heard him, he was pumped. "Tower to SR2, prepare to launch."

" _This is Amandeep. This ship isn't fit to go into any kind of combat situation! We still need dorsal plating!_ " The Indian's voice carried over the comms. " _Not to mention the still buggy stealth systems._ "

"You told me that it worked, for up to eight hours. I'll hold you to that." Charles said. "You've got combat teams in bound to board. Vengeance is also coming."

A smattering of Urdu came out of the speaker. " _The SR2 will be ready, then. Gods above and below help us._ "

* * *

Author's Note

This was a bit longer in terms of time spent writing. I just started new school, new work, and we had a funeral during the middle of all this. One of my favorite things to see is when someone finds this story for the first time, and starts reading it. Sometimes it's a review, and other times it's a PM, but sometimes I really enjoy seeing their reactions as they go through the story. Also satisfying is when they let me know that it took some ungodly amount of time to finish this story. I will admit, this story is not small. It isn't meant to be. Characters aren't immortal, and consequences are real.

Auereate Dexio is how you say in Greek, "Catch the wind". It was a greeting given to ship captains and those who sailed. In Athens it was considered a kind way of saying farewell to a friend or colleague. It of course references Odysseus, in the Homeric epic. But it also means that you wish the other person the most success that can be expected. The reasons why it matters to the Harper family will be revealed soon enough. But it's something I recently(like six months ago) found as I was translating some Greek. Homeric Greek is annoying to translate, by the way. I had to buy a bigger dictionary to look up different terms because of how frustrating it is.

A big thank you to all those who have helped me out recently. Robotecha, my editor and the guy who gave me the basis for Charles, is invaluable. Now that it is 2016, I hope that all of you are not crushed by crippling debt or bills in the wake of the holiday season. Fulfill all of your goals, and Catch the Wind.


	60. Lucid: Prideful Vengeance

Chapter 60

Situation Room, Arcturus Station, September 2182

"Are you positive that they are coming?" Admiral Marcus asked.

The room was full of Salarians and Humans. The Salarian STG were here in force, with their own listening posts brought in and deployed in the last four hours. Deployed by Alliance forces, but still operated by STG agents. Just this morning they had dragged in two hundred Salarians to Arcturus Station to manage all of these listening posts.

"Would give at least twenty percent chance. VI search teams have been focusing their attention on Sol and Arcturus. Search patterns are a match for previous documented Crucible company search patterns." The female Salarian in command told them.

"We should give them something." Commander Shaw said. The redhead was one of Admiral Marcus' best.

"Clarify." Ibn dans Solus stated. Her eyes focused on the younger man. "Any giving of information would be suspicious."

"Only if they expect to get caught." Shaw stated. "They made off with that entire family. We've transferred Lawson to Third Fleet for the time being."

"We aren't holding you responsible for the loss of the family, Shaw." Marcus told him. "You've done more for us than you know. Capturing Jack Harper has been more important than any other action you've been responsible for."

"Yet we cannot forget that Jack Harper threatened us blatantly." Hackett told them. He was sitting in back, next to Rear Admiral Kohaku. Every ship was on alert, and every frigate was watching every approach into the system. "Do we have any idea what he is capable of?"

"He broke into our secure networks last year. Direct link up from orbit. Sur'Kesh orbital networks are not configured to be accessible, but they went through tidal wave control systems to access our biological agent treatment plants." The female Salarian wasn't the Dalatrass of her family, but she was one of the highest ranking members. "Their methods, recorded over months, have given us patterns to work from. From these we can  _guess_  that Harper's people are moving." The Salarian had a look of distaste admitting that they only had guesses.

"We should give them something to follow." Shaw said. "Point them towards a secure location."

"They'll be expecting that." Hackett said. "Harper is brilliant. It's only a matter of time before one of the officers in the fleet leaks information to the shadow broker. Or one of your STG agents."

Ibn Solus nodded. "Sadly likely. We have hours before information is publicly declared. We should at least consider locations to direct them to."

"We need to avoid Second Fleet, then." Admiral Marcus said. "Sorry, Admiral."

Admiral Kastanie Drescher was looking at the tactical readouts and didn't glance upwards at Marcus' words. She picked up a datapad and walked over to Hackett. "By the same token, we can't have them touching Arcturus itself. Your forces have the loosest lips already, Admiral Marcus."

Marcus took that comment without complaint, though his lackey Shaw seemed angry about it. Drescher stopped in front of him, and though they were of the same rank she gave him a quick motion with her eyes. She walked towards a side room, and Hackett followed, leaving Kohaku and his other Rear Admiral, MIkhailovich, at the doors. "What's wrong?" Hackett had known Drescher since she was his CO during the First Contact War.

"This entire trial is a farce, and you know it."

"But we need to draw out any other supporters." Hackett said. "If the Asari are correct-"

"Those lying bitches haven't given me a shred of evidence to prove that we should hang our best agent out to dry." Drescher said. "Huerta should've never agreed to that loan."

"But he did. A stronger basic credit is worth a few hundred billion in the long run." Hackett replied. "They will renege on that deal if we don't prosecute Julia."

"That girl is one of our best!" Drescher said with venom. "I shouldn't have to bury her like Leng! When he was accused by the Asari, we folded like a house of cards. I'm watching this all happen again, and I don't like it."

"The Solus family owns more than four percent of our debt. The Asari have more than sixty." Hackett told her. "We can't afford to spit upon their good graces."

"To hell with their graces! I owe more to the Harpers than I do the Asari. I'm about to kill our best shot at getting the respect we deserve." Drescher glared at him. "You're being an apologist."

"I am not! I'm just as committed as you are." Hackett said. "But we can't afford to ruin the connections we do have."

"That's fear talking." Drescher pushed her datapad across the table. "We both know what really happened on Canrum. They knew I would oppose this decision, and that was why they made me the damn Magistrate." Her widow's peak was slightly out of place, her hair looking like she hadn't slept. "You have to stop this."

Hackett's lips tightened. "I can't." He pushed the datapad back without even reading it. "I've got orders from above."

"I've got them, too. Those Senators can shove that elsewhere."

"You want to speak out about it? Admiral Marcus might be easily swayed."

"I can't afford his favors." Drescher said. "You have the most at stake in this."

"Anyone who opposes them is going to lose their commission within the Navy. They want this witch hunt over with and decided before the week is out."

"Then our hands are tied." Drescher said. "Unless you assist me."

"What did you have in mind?" Hackett would do anything at this point to help Julia Constantine. The woman had only done what she had been taught how to do. She had followed her orders to the letter on every single assignment ever given to her, and she had never wavered. Jenkins getting killed was not something that fell within her previous habits. But considering everything else she had done, it did not fit her history.

"Lead them right to Harper. Put Julia in charge of the defense. She can prove her worth by keeping her father in custody. Then, when they strike, we can only assume that she will fail and disappear in the process."

"What!" Hackett blurted. "You're asking her to…"

"I would be happier with her alive and with Crucible than dead because of the Asari." Drescher said. "Even if that means her leaving."

"What if Harper brings enough forces to actually rescue him?"

"Constantine has never failed in the past. She will have an entire Dreadnought to work with. If they succeed in rescuing Harper, then the only way that we can reward her is to send her out after him."

Hackett glanced back at the open door. "You would consider letting him go?" He whispered.

Drescher shook her head, but her eyes darted towards the door. "The Quarians have promised us those new gyroscopes and GUARDIAN laser batteries. It would be a travesty if we couldn't follow through on that deal."

Hackett narrowed his eyes. It was true, Harper had been in contact with them on the side. Through some of Hackett's contacts in the shipyard business, and at Ashland-Hislopp, Harper had been feeding them developed and tested technology that had been keeping the Alliance two steps ahead of their Turian allies. He grit his teeth, knowing that Harper was the best option they had to stay ahead. Especially with the apologetic Huerta Administration running them into the ground. Looking back up at Drescher, he picked up the datapad. "Alright. We'll direct them towards the  _Fuji_."

Together, they walked back into the Tactical Command Center. All the way, he wondered exactly how the Alliance could keep all of their black contacts hidden. That wasn't his job, though. The Fifth Fleet was all that he really wanted. He didn't want Admiral Drescher or Admiral White's jobs. But there was no way out of the Navy for him. He knew too much. The Alliance could 'retire' him, but he would never truly go anywhere else. The same could be said for all of them. Drescher and Lindstrom were the oldest of them, and they had the least to lose. He had significantly more.

* * *

SSV Fuji Prison Block, Arcturus System, September 2182

Jack had spent the three hours he had been incarcerated trying not to grunt in pain. The Cerberus trained Combat Engineer had hefted him like he was little more than baggage to be hauled places. He had gotten him the necessary medical attention to close up his wounds, but had bundled him up after that and taken him to Arcturus. IV bag strapped to his old stump, and prisoner uniform already covering him, Jack had been dragged half conscious to each location.

Until that farce of a tribunal. He recognized it the moment he got there. The Admirals were smart about how they dragged him out in front of everyone. There, with every single one of his detractors and hidden supporters in plain sight, Jack could do so very little. But seeing Julia standing there, bruised and broken, he couldn't keep his mouth shut. He threatened more blatantly than he had ever in the past. It would get out, it always would. Charles would know what to do. The Alliance had kept him behind the Sol Relay for two weeks. During that time, he had spent it wisely. The Acheron had been out to visit every single major comm relay in the system, where it had downloaded packages directly onto the motherboards of each comm relay. A package of viruses and cleaning files, they would take every basic function of the comm relays offline. The entire Alliance would be crippled for around six hours. It was petty, but six hours could mean the difference in an operation. Plus, seeing the entire First Fleet running around fixing comm relays was too entertaining to pass up.

Admiral Kastanie Drescher had been pretty, once. Pretty enough to bed. Pretty enough to maintain a subtle relationship as friends once her career took off. She was one of the more vocal supporters of Cerberus amongst the Admirals. She benefited from it greatly, as the First Fleet had the best ships of the line. Fifth Fleet was only slightly behind her in quality, and saw the newer technology after she did. But Admiral Drescher had a sweet spot for him. She always had. Not that she could do anything from her position at this time, but it was nice to know that Julia might get off easy if she was the judge.

His cell was empty, with a kinetic barrier over the entire thing, as well as white noise generators to keep his words out. The two guards standing outside were in full armor, and their helmets covered up everything. Both were men, so he had no eye candy to stare at to make the time go faster. Armor had gotten much more shapely since the 2160's, and he took what perks he could get to being a prisoner seriously. He wasn't going to be here long, as it was. The Alliance was either going to bury him deep in some facility, or kill him and be done with it. He would never see the light of day again, at this rate.

There was movement beyond the barrier. The guards had snapped to attention as an Infiltrator decollated, walking towards him. Not just one Infiltrator, but three. As well as that tall redheaded Combat Engineer. The Infiltrators wore helmets, except for the one in front. Jack grimaced at that. Julia still had the gigantic bruise across her face, and the wrappings around her jaw remained the same. The Alliance hadn't listened when he told them to get her proper medical attention. Jack gave her a slight smile, and sat up straighter on his cot. Without feet or shins he really couldn't do anything else to make himself appear taller or more professional.

Julia saluted the guards, and pointed to the different corridors that ran along the prison deck. It wasn't large, but the Infiltrators moved along it with a tool kit full of blow torches and Omni-gel. They were going to seal the place down, then. The Combat Engineer still stood with his daughter, who moved up to the edge of the cell. With a touch, she turned down the white noise emitters. Jack didn't say anything when she did so. But he did glance at the brute behind her.

"I've been directed to ask you questions." The brute said. "My name is Commander Shaw."

"I haven't heard of you." Jack said honestly. "You must be serious pencil pusher to make Commander this young." Jack turned his head back to Julia. "Ask your questions, Commander. I'll answer what I dare to."

Shaw grit his teeth a bit. Probably remembering how close Jack had come to him when he was wearing that synth skin. "What are you planning to do?"

"If I told you, it would defeat the purpose of being a threat." Jack replied. "I have no reason to reveal a plan that was developed over a decade." He gave her a grin. "But if they fulfill my demands, perhaps I'll tell them how to recover from it."

"I told you that this is pointless, Ma'am." Shaw stated. "This rat deserves to die." Julia turned towards him, centering her bloodshot eye and bruised face on him. The man flinched at the sight. It was particularly gruesome, Jack had to admit. His daughter knew how to use intimidation well. Shaw backed down, and asked his next question. He cleared his throat first, though. "Would you risk crippling the Alliance, after investing so much into it?"

"No." Jack replied. "It's government is fluid. The Huerta Administration was one that I didn't vote for, even though I still file my taxes. Though I keep getting odd notes from the Alliance Revenue Service that piracy and blackmail are not valid forms of income suitable for taxation. I would do very little damage to the economy. At least, the Human owned part of it. Salarian investment firms are all over Terra Nova, now. As well as Brazil. I don't mind going after those kinds of groups. The Alliance as a whole could never be crippled by my intentions. It is more than just a single economic system. If I tried, we would just fracture back into provinces and member countries and the whole 2080's would repeat all over again. That isn't viable." He pointed towards the guards. "The Navy I don't like trying to injure or provoke. They have their purpose, and they fulfill it rather well. You can be sure that I will leave the fleets alone."

"So your threat isn't truly damaging?" Shaw asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't make a threat like that without fully backing it. Within ten hours, you will see my threat come to pass. My terms are clear. Though if you are held accountable for that Asari biotic bullshit, I cannot begin to worry about how my organization will respond."

"Why her? What's so important about her?"

Jack loosened his smile. He just focused his eyes on Julia, not letting his intensity drop. "A father can't have pride? The one that I am most proud of." Julia didn't like that at all. Her eyes narrowed in fury, but she remained standing there. "Her sister might inherit my criminal empire, but Julia was the one that I always held to the higher standard. She was the one that I prepared to fight the Reapers."

"What is a Reaper?" Shaw asked, curious.

"If you don't know, it's too far above your pay grade." Jack replied coolly. "But I've known about them since I first hacked the Prothean beacon on Mars. They are dangerous, and a threat to the Alliance. More importantly, they are the ones behind the Rachni and rogue Asari. That I am sure of."

"Rogue Asari?"

"The Asari Republics are a lot more fractured than the rest of the Galaxy has been led to believe. With so many city-states controlling the economy, and tariffs between each state, things get complicated. Then you have the Matriarchs, who maintain an iron grip over the element zero industry. For Asari, that is crippling. When they become pregnant, element zero is needed in the body of the growing child, in a form that the child can process. Water from special areas on Thessia is harvested and trace amounts of element zero are added to allow Asari mothers that do not live on Thessia to produce biotic children. Thus, the entire future of their civilization and the lives of the next generation are held in an iron grip by the Matriarchs back on their home world. There are a number of cults that act against the government, and one of them are being supported by Reapers."

"How do you even prove something like that?"

Jack smirked. "Do you have a connection to the extranet? Just queue into a search engine and look up Asari Birthing Water. Look at the price and think about how expensive it is, and how expensive it would be to create a child away from the home world." Shaw didn't react, but he did plug it into his Omni-tool. "The secrets of the other races are all dug down deep, but you can find them if you know where to look." It helps when you cheat. But he would never admit to having memories of another lifetime.

"What happened to your foot?"

"Garrus Vakarian shot it off." Jack replied. "I was taking cover behind a banister, and he shot through the ceiling and shot my foot off."

"Why did you kidnap the Lawson family?"

"I don't have them with me now, so it would give me no benefit to explain anything regarding them." Jack stated. "But I can safely say that I was only stopping them from being killed by other interested parties. So in effect I was saving them from elements of the Citadel that would have targeted them." Elements like Donovan Hock. But they wouldn't do anything if he told them.

"Who? Give us something to work with."

"You couldn't even begin to go after them. They would kill you just for knowing, Shaw. You don't have the immunity that I or Julia have." Jack said. "Though what makes me immune to their reach is swiftly disappearing."

Shaw looked affronted, but Julia seemed focused. She typed into her Omni-tool, and Shaw's lit up with her input. "She wants to know if this is the same person that tried to kill you the last time."

"Good girl." Jack said. "That person as well as their associates. They would not be above killing family members to get their way."

"What about Constance Smith?" Shaw read off his Omni-tool.

"You've paid for the care of my mother long enough, Julia. If I had known that you were doing that, I would have set up a trust for her. You didn't have to take care of her like that." Jack said. "Hell, you could have just let her die and everyone related to her would have been proud. Even the Mormon side of her family would have been happy to see her 'no longer in pain'." He scoffed. "She's fine. A bit intoxicated, but fine nonetheless. You must have really gotten to her. She didn't call you a whore more than once when I asked about you."

Julia nodded, but she didn't look angry at that. Shaw didn't seem to care about that question one way or another. "Will Charles try to save you?"

"Most likely. I really hope he is gentle about it. I have other allies that are not so gentle." Jack said. Gatatog Garm would be quite angry to hear that he was captured, for certain. "Whatever you do with me, let's hope that you know what you're doing."

Shaw seemed surprised at how calm Jack was being. "The Alliance knows how to deal with you."

Jack just laughed. "I made one mistake over the last twenty years of my life. You think that because I didn't see a couple of trip mines you people know how to contain me?" He glanced at Julia. "You know that all of them will come for me. What we do goes beyond any single government or group."

"What kind of force does your group normally throw at a rescue mission?" Shaw said dismissively. "A few mercenaries?"

"If only." Jack chuckled. "I've always kept my best in reserve. Hopefully that doesn't come into play."

"Like one of those dreadnoughts? Dreadnoughts!" Shaw read off of his Omni-tool, and then realized what he had read. "You have a fleet?"

Jack smirked. "Privateers and pirates that answer to my name. I don't have one of those 'Prothean' Dreadnoughts. At least, not ones that I can bring in for such a mundane need."

Julia's eyes narrowed at that. "You're sure?"

"Somewhat." Jack said. "But if my associates decide to bring in the big guns, your fleet won't want to be anywhere near me."

"Why is that?"

"My biggest guns in the arsenal aren't so friendly to ships grouped so closely together." Jack admitted. A small lie, but only in scope. His best wasn't for the Alliance, it was for Reapers. "But then again, you can't trust that they would ever deploy it."

Julia had the entire ship on alert. The Dreadnought  _Fuji_  had been stripped of non essential crew, and other than the required staff there were hardly anyone on board. Their replacements were soldiers. Lots and lots of them. Three Infiltrators, and this Shaw fellow. He was a bit naive and odd, but somewhat dependable. He was one of those Combat Engineers that used a lot of prepared functions on an Omni-tool, but had few skills to hack on their own. But he was smart enough to manage the deployment of barricades and defenses throughout the ship. The other two Infiltrators had been placed in Engineering and the Bridge. Their jobs were simple: keep Alliance secrets safe from curious groups.

Five hundred marines were on board, with heavy weapons for every fifteen men positioned in critical positions. Most of those were deployed to the hangar and engineering areas of the ship. It was critical that the Alliance not lose any secrets or the ship itself. So the prison had less guards than the Engineering deck. It wouldn't be surprising if Crucible brought in every piece of cyberwarfare that they had. As well as Don or her father's old crew. Nyra, Amandeep, and Charles. She didn't know if she was going to be able to aim her gun at them. Especially Hannah. Treating Mum as an enemy would be hard.

" _Commander! You're needed on the bridge._ " She heard over the comms. Wasting no time, she took the lift up to the  _Fuji_ 's bridge. There, she was greeted by Colonel Singh, an older gentleman who was a distant relation to Admiral Singh. He was looking over the tactical displays with a practiced distant gaze. Her Infiltrator wasn't visible, but she knew that the woman was up here.

She tapped her feet on the deck, saluting. The Colonel glanced upwards, and replied with his own. "Commander, we've got some kind of problem going on." He pointed outwards towards where the Arcturus relay was pointing towards the Sol relay. But instead of staying in formation, the relay had realigned itself. As a primary relay, it could connect to any secondary relay within range. With a feeling deep in the pit of her stomach, she saw the other relay at the other end of the system also rotating. "Gods above!"

Julia quickly typed into the haptic interfaces, bringing up the details on the relays. One mass had already transferred, but quickly more were coming. A dozen masses, then up near forty. The number kept rising, until more than seventy masses had entered the relays. Seventy ships. The Fifth Fleet only had thirty eight ships here. Scouting flotillas and other groups had been deployed to all systems outside of this one. With the relays no longer aligned to this system, their component parts of their fleet would be unavailable.

For all of the masses that had passed through the relay, none of them showed up on sensors after they had come through. Cloaked ships. Cloaking systems like the  _Normandy_ , or the basic version found on the  _Acheron_? She tried to use the advanced sensors of the  _Fuji_  to find out, but a few moments later the entire system went dark, and their sensors were the only thing that she could rely on.

"Someone tell me what the hell is going on!" Singh roared, his techs scrambling. "Why are comms down!"

"Ship comms are working fine, Sir!" One reported. "But every comm relay from here to Sol is down! When I try to connect to them, all I get is this!"

It looked like some kind of desktop background image of a lighthouse, with the words 'Welcome to Netscape Navigator 9.5'. She had no idea what kind of insidious program it was. But she tried connecting to her own comm relay, which cheerfully told her that she was now using 'America On-Line for Windows 2000'. She blinked. The comm relays were all filled with programs. Programs and operating systems that were more than 170 years old. So old that in order to write over them, they would need physical access. Charles was a madman. With the Arcturus comm relays down, nothing was going to connect from Earth to anyone else. No messages, and none of the connections that the fleet counted on to report anything from ship to ship. She refocused, queueing up the point to point laser communication technology. She sent small packets of information to every other ship in the battlegroup, telling them to activate their point to point laser burst communication systems.

Colonel Singh noticed her typing away and appeared at her shoulder. "You've got laser comms, use them!" He barked at the rest of the technicians. "Get me Arcturus!"

"Aye, Sir. Arcturus on line one!"

"Command, we need orders."

" _This is Drescher_." Arcturus Station replied. " _You stay where you are. We have more than seventy cloaked asteroids, all of them inbound towards Arcturus Station._ " Julia shuddered. There were hundreds of thousands of people on board that station. " _The fleet elements in system are receiving deployment orders. Those asteroids are just as dangerous if they destabilize the station's orbit!_ "

" _We need to have all ships blow those rocks to pieces!_ " Admiral Marcus' stern tone took over. " _How long before they impact Arcturus?_ "

" _Nineteen hours. They're invisible to sensors, but fighters can eyeball them and assist larger ships in aiming._ " Hackett spoke up. " _I'm worried that they're all filled with Dueterium or Element Zero. We blow up one of those and we will start losing people._ "

" _We've got enough time to tow them out of position. But this all stinks of a diversion._ " Drescher stated. " _We don't have much choice. Distribute the fleet evenly on each asteroid. See if we can control the direction of each asteroid, or remove their ability to remain hidden. Get the_ Steven Hawking _out there. We need eyes on all of those masses._ Fuji, _you are to remain with your direct escorts and make towards your assigned mass. Find your rock and tow it._ "

"Aye, Sir." Colonel Singh stated. "Set an intercept course for that rock. This is a mess." Then the Colonel wanted her out of the bridge so that he could focus on just getting them to the edge of the system. With nothing better to do with her time, she headed back for the brig. On a frigate, the brig was at best a sleeper pod with a lock on it. On a Dreadnought, there was more space, and enough room was made to fit up to thirty captives. Eight cells handled that, with some rated for Krogan or other strong races. Elcor-rated prison cells were expensive to have.

Everything was as she had left it. The guards were still standing in perfect formation, and Shaw was looking antsy. Jack was behind the white noise generators and kinetic barrier as she expected. He didn't appear to be making any kind of outbound communication. She motioned to him, and Shaw brought up his Omni-tool to see what questions she wanted to ask. With a deep breath, she cut the noise generators.

"Take your time, daughter. You have all the time in the world to ask me questions." Jack said, gently straightening himself.

She typed out her question to Shaw, frustrated that her jaw still couldn't support her talking. Shaw read it off, his voice grating on her. He was like some dog, doing things without questioning why they happened. "Why did you choose the name Harper?" Shaw stated.

"You certainly like going by your middle name." Jack said. "My mother had me when she was seventeen, and was raised by a Mormon family. In honor of that, she named me after her family. A mediocre name for the son of a whore addicted to drugs. As a child I was exposed to an old series of games and books called Baldur's Gate, and that is where I found the name Harper. A group of individuals dedicated to stopping the worst that comes at Humanity and other civilizations. That became my alias. It was the first time I chose something for myself. As such, when I left at fifteen I took that. You could say it inspired me."

It didn't really match what she knew of him. But then again, her grandmother was not what anyone would expect to create someone like Jack Harper. But it did help explain that her father was terrible at expressing emotions or any kind of emotional support. She nodded at his answer. Then typed again. "Was leaving us worth it?"

Jack frowned at that. She tried not to let this question give her pause, but her fingers were tight inside her gloves. Jack looked at Shaw, and then looked back at her. " _apoosomai aisthenomai koine apodeikoumi ksias dunate eh ees paresti._ " He told her in crystal clear greek.  _I Reject common sense to make the impossible possible._  "I stuck my head inside of a Prothean dark beacon, Julia. After what I saw, and have proven may happen, that is the only way I can look at our future."

"Please explain further." Julia had Shaw ask, but the ship rocked. She twisted, looking upwards. That had come from the upper decks.

"That didn't feel right." Jack said. "Usually when a Dreadnought fires the entire ship rumbles. The in ship comms seem to be down, too. What a shame." He glanced at her with a grin. "Better go check that out, hmm?"

She slammed the activation of the white noise generators to keep him quiet. Then she turned to Shaw and made the universal 'stay here' motion with her hand. Then she faded into invisibility, her armor and weapon active and her systems connected, and the rest of the ship was completely dark. Her sensors were not showing her soldiers. Something was horribly wrong.

Javik grinned as the SR2 slid inside of the operational envelope of the Human Dreadnought. They had no idea that they had come. With the fleet scattered and off fighting the asteroids, most of which were just hollow rocks. Only a couple of them were truly dangerous, but each had been carefully selected years ago for this possible eventuality. None of this would cripple the Alliance, but the debris from dozens of light metal asteroids would ruin any small craft that got touched by it. While  _that_  didn't fill him with the best of confidence, it did prove that Crucible meant to enforce its threats seriously.

Their boarding craft was armored and cloaked in the same manner that the SR2 was. All of it based upon stolen Prothean designs. The original designs were not so  _simple_  and  _efficient._  The original designs were just like the rest of the Empire's ships. Ostentatious, meant to intimidate, and overly large. Efficiency was only useful when you had others to compete with. The Prothean Empire had no competition. It had no need of efficiency when functional was more important.

As such, only certain technology had been made available to the lessers. Only that which they had intended to give to their lesser races, at first. Within the last three years, he had opened that restriction some. The armor that was mounted on the SR1 and the SR2 was the best designs that the Empire had ever had. Masking them with cloaking technology was another layer of complicated application. But one that the Empire would never have considered. Subtlety was not their tool, and in the end their arrogance at every level of society caused their death.

Pride came before the fall, and the fall was hard enough that subtlety was now his best defense. Pride did nothing for him. Yet, in the end, that was all he felt as he saw his force assemble at the airlock doors. There were no Humans in the group. Any of those would simply be identified and catalogued for the Alliance to chase down later. So, he had kept to other choices. Krogan had been a staple in Crucible, and right now Javik had his trained soldiers with him.

He was a General in the Empire. Pride expected that he still remain adept at commanding soldiers, be they of any lesser races. The Krogan took to his training better than any Prothean soldier he had ever commanded. They answered the call to arms, they responded well to his form of taunting. They laughed off his biotic Throws. At least, the ones that Javik used as a teaching aid made the Krogan laugh. His Threshold ability snapped one of their arms off. They didn't laugh so hard about that. Once he had proven his innate superiority over the lesser creatures, they obeyed him. They enjoyed their time with him after that.

"Imperial Guard." He stated. The Krogan stood taller, humps vibrating in anticipation. The Batarians behind them had been almost eager to become loyal soldiers. They understood that their  _fate_  was to die for a cause. "Spare no quarter. Anything that stands in your way shall be as ash on the wind."

"Avatar! Shall we attach to their airlock?"

"No." Javik said, looking at the schematics. "Through the torpedo bay. They would not risk blasting us off the ship when their torpedo tubes are at risk."

"That part of the ship is at an angle. We can't connect there." The pilot told him, a Quarian. "I can get us into the barracks nearby."

"That sounds fine. Deploy the probes."

He didn't know what Charles had made those probes out of and he didn't care. So long as they did their job and disabled the interior and exterior comm systems he would be pleased. With one kilometer of ship to deal with, he did not need further surprises or coordinated defenses. Behind the Batarians there was a Warframe. It was a Prothean design, and his own personal set of armor. It would be more than enough to crush any kind of Warframe that the Alliance could field. The lesser races were dangerous with so many of their own allies as competition.

Last in the area was a small Quarian, her build slight compared to the Batarians and Krogans in Javik's Imperial Guard. She was wearing their normal encounter suits, with a few additions. Her arms and torso were expanded upon, and large element zero nodules ran down the arms and back up to where her helmet was concealed in the mass of technology. "You will succeed?"

"Yes." Tesai stated. "You have my word that I will disable everyone that I can." Javik had few lesser race creatures that he respected. Only one of those was Quarian. Most of that race avoided showing their eyes, and it was an ingrained slight to any Prothean if someone hid their eyes from you. Tesai had been his connection to the outside world, and for the last decade she had taken her meagre skills and turned them into a strength. It was honorable, to see an entertainment specialist become something more than what their fate was supposed to be. The rest of her race bothered him on a basic level.

"Pilot. Alert me when those drones have finished." Javik said, and only had to wait two minutes before he got his notification that the drones had successfully completed their mission of disabling the laser communication emitters and the antenna systems. The comm systems had no way to transmit, now. Javik pointed at the airlock seal that had been made. "Open the door."

Plasma torches were deployed, his Batarians opening the armor plating of the Dreadnought. It didn't take long, but the other side of that bulkhead would be heavily defended by now. If the Alliance was at all effective, Javik fully expected the most difficult defense to surpass to be here. "Bring out the shields." His next command spurred the Krogan into action, picking up gigantic pieces of titanium-aluminum alloy. Each was five inches thick, and specially coated with a ceramic polymer to make the shield even harder to pierce. Each was also slightly rounded on the edges, with an indentation on the right side for a weapon to be mounted on. Huge straps allowed the Krogan to lift them onto their arms, but the weight of these mobile barricades would not allow their holders to move fast. But nothing in the Alliance arsenal could penetrate that deeply.

So when the hallway before them was pierced, a massive volume of fire was poured upon the breach. Two Krogan filled it, their mobile barricades keeping the rounds from bouncing or deflecting inside the shuttle craft. A third held up a large weapon, the nozzle of which started glowing as the entire housing started heating up. "Fire the Cain!" His Sergeant called, a Krogan who had lost much of his hump. His position was only secure so long as Javik found him competent.

The shields parted just so, and the nozzle of the weapon stuck out and fired, filling the entire ship with smoke and debris. No alarms were going off, oddly. Javik grinned when he didn't hear any more shots from the defenders. "For the Empire! Rescue Jack Harper! No mercy!" The Krogan bellowed happily, pulling out a smattering of weapons. Graal Spike launchers, shotguns with larger than normal heat sinks, as well as a few napalm launchers all angled towards the breach, with four barricade carriers leading the way.

Javik's Warframe felt heavy, but he bore it with a smile.  _This_  was what he lived for. "I've got Charles working on comms. It's only a matter of time before we are in. If they get a shuttle out, though…"

"We know we have limited time." Javik told her. "These soldiers shall protect you, or their ancestors shall forget them in their time of need." The Batarians all saluted, a fist over their heart. They would hold the line here. He let the final program for the Warframe initialize, and he moved forward into the ship. He was as tall as the Krogan that he was commanding, now. The Warframe was the pinnacle of infantry technology, back in the time of his people. Bastardizations of it had been perpetrated by the Batarians and the Salarians. His was fresh out of the fabrication foundries on Ilos.

It didn't take long to catch up to the Krogan. They were rampaging and causing mayhem throughout the ship. Controlled mayhem, targeted chaos. That was all he had been able to instill into this squad of Imperial Guard. But they went through Alliance Marines like they were paper. Heavily armed patrols were starting to appear, however. Their weapons were exactly what they expected to find. Markov Heavy Industries heavy cannons, as well as grenade launchers and grenades aplenty. Right now, only the disabled comms systems were keeping the hundreds of enemies around them from coordinating and overcoming them.

That was when his carefully controlled chaos ran into a hurdle. There was a T-junction hallway that they had been moving towards, and the resistance grew too stiff. Grenades were exploding non stop, and his barricade holders were starting to slacken.

"Damn it all, hold! Keep the fire up!" A Human voice was clear above the battle. Javik peered over the top of the mobile shields, and saw a Human in thicker armor standing behind the defenders. He had to go.

"Move." The Krogan parted around him, and he was now in front of the formation. His barriers immediately started draining, rounds impacting him. "You are a hindrance." His right arm had the most advanced Omni-foundry outside of Ilos. It spat a grenade the size of his foot, which attached to the standing commander of the Human forces. Then, it activated, using gravity and magnetics to pull all forms of metal to the grenade. Every single weapon and Human were pulled into a tiny ball, ten times the normal force of gravity slamming them all into their commander. Then, a single Warp on the whole mass of Humanity ended their screams of terror. His hand fell, as blood flowed out of the pile of corpses. If any were still alive, the Overload that went off at the end of the grenade's short lifespan ended any thoughts of still resisting.

His Warframe pushed past the now empty position, a couple of dead men kicked out of the way by the legs of his suit. The next junction would be where they would encounter the most resistance to reaching the area around the prison block, and was also the location where the largest barracks in the ship was. When he came around that junction, he saw something truly formidable.

The Alliance had learned from when they first tried to repel them. This entire area had been turned into a hemisphere of death. Two floors of guns were aimed at them, with the entire barracks turned into a shooting gallery. "Cain!" He said, stepping back from the torrent of fire hitting the doorway. As well as the area around the doorway, as the thin walls didn't stop any of the heavy Markov rounds. Holes and small bursts of red blood came through the walls as his Krogan grunted, standing their ground.

The Cain thundered, and the room erupted into death. "With me!" He bellowed, sending his Warframe through the small door and rushing towards the right hand side of the room. The center of the barracks was in ruins, and dead bodies were everywhere. Humans, decent at warfare but they were ill prepared. With a casual slide of his arm, another barricade was hit with a magnetic grenade and a Slam struck a figure trying to run for cover.

Then, his particle beam cannons came online, swathing over the defenders and cutting them to ribbons. Plasma based weapons were the most jealously kept secret of the Empire, and he gleefully proved their dominance over that side of the battlefield. Turning around, he saw that the left side of the room was still holding. Outer eyes focusing, he saw that his Krogan had not yet stormed the positions.

His cannons and biotics caused the remaining forces on the left to retreat back to the next junction, where the prison elevator was. Turning back around, he saw the corpse of a Krogan fall through the doorway, its head bent at an odd angle. "Guard! Report!"

Three more Krogan tumbled out of the doorway, bleeding and falling over each other. "She killed Farak!" Another hole was made in the wall with a breaching charge, and Krogan erupted out of it, guns blasting towards the same hallway they had been occupying a moment ago. Farak was his second in command.

"Continue to the objective!" He barked. "Kol, you have command."

Behind the moving Krogan, a shimmer moved in behind Kol. Javik swept his arm at the shimmer imperiously, the Krogan screaming as the Pull took him. But the shimmer glowed blue, their own biotic barrier holding back his power enough to keep from being pulled. "Cloaked! She's got a knife!"

 _Empire's ashes._  He had been warned that Julia Harper may be on board. He did not relish the idea of killing someone that might be useful later. Krogan weapons blasted the area, lockers and a changing room exploding with shrapnel as they shot blindly. The shimmer moved, and his advanced sensors could barely sense that there was a Human life sign in the room. With all of the injured and dead, it was confusing to try to find one Human. Thermal vision was likewise useless, with the aftermath of the Cain filling the room. The main part of this barracks was ruined, and the crater left behind had a few half melted railings to mark what had once been an upper balcony. "She is mine. Go."

He covered for the Krogan, keeping up with them until they got near the next junction and then turning around to face the way that they had come. There was nothing to suggest that the Infiltrator would follow them, but he knew it in his gut that this one would try. Harper had told him that the Alliance had precious few biotic females as Infiltrators. The likelihood of this one being his daughter was high.

It was when the Warframe shrieked out a warning that he knew she was behind him. The right arm of the suit had stopped functioning, and it fell uselessly to his side. The joint had been ripped right open, and Javik was shocked that she could do that much damage to it. As such, the hydraulics were jammed. The arm still was operational, it simply couldn't aim. He twisted, finally able to see his enemy.

Red hair follicles, a bruised face, and a jaw wired shut. Armed with a knife and a detonator. Armored in a light set of armor that made cloaking more efficient. It did little more than make her appear more vulnerable. He was prepared to simply blast her with the plasma cannons, but he had to keep down his habitual reaction to a threat. This one required subtlety. When she saw him hesitate, her eyes narrowed on him like a female who had just conquered a man of status. She pressed the detonator, and Javik coughed in shock as the foot of the Warframe reported damage.

"Impudent lesser creature!" Javik shouted, activating the mass drivers in the feet of the Warframe. Unlike the Batarian throwback model, he could direct the force of the drivers at a much greater distance. Using the bad foot, he slammed her into the wall. The good foot sent him forward, slamming her into the wall and snapping the already damaged support strut. She slumped forward, coughing blood onto the floor. Javik took no chances, as the spawn of Harper had already proven to be more than a basic nuisance. His left arm of his suit spat a magnetic grenade at her, attaching to her torso and causing the shards of shattered metal to slam into her at great speed.

She screamed, and then slumped to the ground as the Overload ruined her armor for good. Her weapons were no longer functional, and she coughed weakly on the ground. Yet she still glared at him. Her Omni-tool and armor were no longer functioning, but as light armor it did not hinder her much. She rolled forward, going underneath the damaged right arm and rolling somewhere behind him.

He swung with the left arm, only catching air. Javik himself screamed as something tore through the hip section of the Warframe and bit into his thigh. The tip of her jagged knife ripped a hole along his leg, a crippling shot in any Human. With a snort of derision, he sent out a burst of force using his biotics, raw and unfocused. Human, debris and weapons went everywhere. She slid to a stop near the doorway back into the barracks, the blood dripping from her cheek and down her face. A dangerous look crossed her face, as she slammed some sort of open panel.

Fire retardant spray fell, filling the hallway with soap suds that would soon become difficult once the intake on the Warframe started sucking it in. Javik could not fault the girl for her skills. But not being able to actually kill her was becoming difficult. "Charles. Take over. This has become personal."

" _Vigil is now taking an active role._ " The voice of one of the few respected Humans he knew responded. " _Abandon ship, General._ " Javik grinned, as he slipped out of the back of the Warframe and let it charge. Julia Harper retreated into the barracks, falling back from the might of the Empire's military. Javik silently followed, clenching his fists. He had to wait a moment for his biotics to return to him, and in that moment he listened as his Warframe rampaged through the barracks.

He didn't have any weapon that was meant to injure. All he had were the weapons of a glorious Empire. A glorious assortment that did not ever aim to disable. With a grimace, he picked up a Graal Spike launcher, finding it to be sufficiently weak enough for his tastes. Then he quietly followed the path of destruction in the room. Julia was dodging the Warframe through a row of lockers, the computer controlled armor wildly swinging with its one functional arm. She had her back to him.

With a grin, he brought out his biotics and hit the girl with his most powerful Pull. She had no barriers left, and she was hit directly on the torso. She hurtled towards him, uncontrolled and wildly swinging her legs. Her arms were kept close to her torso, knife ready and gleaming. Javik grinned as he brought the back end of the Graal around and smashed her in the face as she came up to him. Her body tumbled more, drifting to a quick stop behind him. Then, the Pull stopped having its effect on her and she was given back to the artificial gravity.

Blood went everywhere and he worried about having gone too far. Julia slumped to the ground on the floor next to a row of lockers. Her nose was leaking blood at a rapid rate, and was flattened. Her eye was dark with blood and bruises, and her breathing was shallow. But her cold blue eyes were focused on him as he approached. Oh yes, they were still blatantly challenging him. His Warframe came to a stop next to him, and he grinned. "Charles, open this lesser filth."

Her eyes widened as a locker popped open, and the Warframe grasped her with its iron grip. She struggled, and he stepped on her hand. That damn knife tumbled out of her grip, and he could hear bones break. She screamed in either pain or frustration as his Warframe slammed her inside of the locker, and he promptly shut it. Then, for good measure, he used the Graal Spike launcher to nail the door of the locker shut at different angles and locations. A spray of adhesive sealed the holes. He could hear Julia Harper beating on the inside of the locker, futily.

"You are lucky that I was ordered to spare you. If I was allowed to release the full might of my Empire, you would be struck down in the instant I saw you." He grinned. "Charles, she is secure. Return control."

" _Vigil standing down._ " The Warframe admitted him, and he picked up the knife that Julia had injured him with. It was something nasty, monomolecular. It was not something he relished being stabbed by. As soon as he was able to verify that no toxins or viral infectants were on the blade, he decided that it was safe. Honorable, for such a vicious child. With care, he cleaned his own blood from it, and gracefully twirled the weapon. He activated it, and buried it in the bench in front of the locker. Julia could keep it. She fought well with it. Going up against a Prothean general with only a knife, and wounding him. A small wound, but a fatal one on a Human.

When he caught up to his Krogan, they were being pinned down by four large turrets, each heavily shielded and protected from spike launchers and grenades. With a huff of derision, he blasted each one with a wave of his working left arm. The plasma washed over the turrets, and with a roar his Krogan rushed forward. They came to a stop as napalm deployed all over them, the instinctual fear of fire kicking in. Panicked, raging Krogan were not what he wanted to deal with.

"Move!" Javik shouted. Some responded, and others did not. "Charles, we need their forces crippled. Soon."

" _We aren't all the way in, yet! I can't break into the bridge comms!_ "

"As soon as it is ready, alert me." If Charles said that it wasn't ready, he was not going to use up a good weapon simply because it was not completely ready. He could be patient. He had to grab a flailing Krogan and throw him back behind him, the creature trying to put out the fire all over himself. The Humans defending the last hallway to the prison block were using some kind of grenade launcher that was adding to the chaos. Napalm splashed across his barriers, and the bottom of the Warframe's feet burned. He could see the Human soldiers starting to panic as he approached.

Then his shields went down. With a glare he saw that there was one Human in the back, Omni-tool extended and looking suitably guilty. He received a magnetic grenade. As his fellows and their weapons all gathered on him, Javik activated his mass drivers in his legs. His Warframe came down upon the pile of Humans with a vengeance, and the mass driver in his left arm blasted the red haired Human that dared strip his barriers from him. Only blood and bone remained of him. With a grin, Javik stepped on the other marines that survived, and looked around the empty prison. Only one cell was active.

"Position secure. I have found him." Jack Harper looked injured. He was pale and was missing both of his feet. The bandages for his right foot seemed to have some dried blood on them. His own, hopefully. He scoffed at the primitive prison cell design, ripping open the wall and destroying the kinetic barrier generators. Then the door and bars of the cell came off in a single yank. "Director. It is time to leave."

"Nice toy." Was his only comment. Jack was carefully arranged into a hold and the left arm supported him. As they walked through the waning napalm and flames, Jack seemed to look at the devastation with a blind eye. Like it didn't surprise him.

"Imperial Guard! Retreat with the dead!" He barked, the Krogan having abandoned their mobile barricades and now were carrying the fallen. When they arrived at the ruined barracks, Jack started looking at the giant crater.

"You used a Cain inside of a ship?"

"It worked." Javik said. "Your daughter was the greatest hindrance."

"Was? Is she dead?"

"She is inside this locker." Javik stepped in front of it, and let Jack see the methods that were keeping his daughter secure. "She fought well."

Jack ignored him. "Julia. I apologize for this situation, but there is no helping it. I cannot be held by the Alliance. The Salarians would take me away within the week. But everything I told you, I meant. Keep investigating the Reapers. Do not accept guilt, even when you are guilty of the action. In the end, your life is more important than my own. Don't squander it."

A scream came out of the locker, and a fist shaped imprint went into the metal. Biotics, most likely. Some of the Omni-gel fell off at that. "Julia, stay alive. If the Alliance tries to kill you, I'll make this all look like child's play. If the Asari take you, I will come for you." Jack slammed his own fist on the locker. "That's a promise."

Julia did not respond, and Javik did not give her time to. They needed to leave. They fell back through embattled corridors, and ran into trouble. His Krogan were holding the line, but there were Alliance soldiers in between them and their exit. As any good commander would have his troops do, Javik had expected this. What he hadn't expected to see was hundreds of assault drones and robots covering every available surface.

"Destroy these lesser machinations!" Holding Jack, Javik could not charge forward and destroy them all. Blasts with his plasma cannon did little to creations of metal and wire. Less than what would happen to Humanoids, that is. His Krogan were having issues with too many targets and not enough time to let their guns cool. They grumbled a bit, the mechanical nuisances armed with flamethrowers. Evidently someone had prepared for close combat. "Charles, it is an opportune moment."

" _Yeah, yeah! Those drones are being remotely controlled from sixty meters to your left. But that isn't the only thing coming at you. I've got a force of two hundred more marines coming from the hangar with a couple of mechanical exoskeletons. They might be a match for yours._ "

"Feh." Javik said. His plasma cannons was reporting ammunition stores down forty percent. These Humans were hungry for battle, he had to admit. "I need them crippled. We need to leave."

" _Alright, alright. Bridge is going to survive our hit, but this should wreck 'em. Give Jack a helmet._ " Javik had one, a Krogan sized head plate he pulled off of a corpse. The Human looked entertaining wearing it, and Javik would admit that he used more force than necessary to shove it onto his head. Once the neck was sealed, Javik made a mental apology to the dead Krogan that he took the helmet from. His Imperial Guard were strong. " _Ok, I've got it. Tesai, the show is all yours._ "

" _Five seconds before I start. They won't be down for long._ " The female Quarian's voice seemed confident.

"For the Empire! Charge!" Javik bellowed, and his Krogan did as was asked. The tiny mechanical soldiers used by the Alliance were thin, light, and hard to hit with weapons. In the absence of a weapon, they were easily smashed. There was a cry of glee from the first two Krogan, their bulk absorbing the shots of the rifle bearing mechs. Javik sent a burst of biotics over their heads, a Shockwave that threw every mech within thirty meters to its back. They did not get back up, and were trampled underfoot. Three Krogan fell in that corridor, but their fellows simply carried them. The only evidence that they would have been here were blood samples.

As their charge was starting to wane, Javik saw a burst of signal hit the mechs. Some turned on each other, and others simply shut down. It was the marines behind them that suffered the worst. They all jerked their hands towards their helmets, and in the case of those not wearing them they covered their ears. Javik did not have normal weaknesses in his hearing that Humans did, and his Krogan were all wearing sealed suits. He felt as much as heard the wave of sound coming from every speaker system and every internal comms network on the ship, at peak volume.

Quarians were capable of hitting octaves and pitches that shattered eardrums. Judging by the groups of Humans who had fallen to the ground, trying to disable their comms and speaker systems, this was possible. Tesai was hooked into every comm system the Humans had, and already some of the men wearing full sets of armor had recovered, turning off their comms and just using hand signals to communicate. But the greater part of them were still panicking and in pain.

Enough that his Krogan ran through a full barricade, the Humans in it ash by the time they looked up. His Batarian Guards had been holding the line, and had done so valiantly. He stepped behind them, his Krogan dragging the dead and single wounded member of their number. Javik sent out another Shockwave, sending Humans in another hallway scrambling to avoid the biotic wave. His Batarians fell back into the shuttle, and the entire area was finally secure.

"Get us out of here! None were left behind!" He told the pilot. In the main body of the ship, his Krogan were still high on their adrenaline and rage, and were throwing themselves at each other in enjoyment. Or perhaps pride. Yes, that would be the best way to view that. The Batarians stood next to their fallen comrades, speaking small prayers. Some did so with feeling, and others to simply appear as the rest. The true nature of all religions. "Charles, are their comm networks still down?"

" _Yes, they are. But with those asteroids we have to leave quickly. They'll notice that most of them are really cheap polymers around chicken wire eventually._ "

"Charles, you used the comms backdoor! That was supposed to be for later!"

" _Well, I realized that you wanted that backdoor so that we could find out how the Alliance networks are mapped. On some of the critical comm relays, I mounted a few programs that will track and show us exactly how the entire stock market and extranet commerce grid comes back online. We can get this done, I promise you. I wasn't about to waste a perfectly good tool._ "

Jack huffed inside the Krogan helmet, now connected to the entire comm network. "Good. When the galactic network goes down, we know how the Salarians and Humans will get back up. All we have left are the Volus and Asari. Their networks have proven to be more difficult to infiltrate."

" _That's the plan. Did the Alliance get your Omni-tool?_ "

"Of course. They'll find all of Hock's friends on my contacts list, once they decrypt it." Jack laughed. "So, how is our escape plan?"

The shuttle detached from the Dreadnought, causing the entire hallway to depressurize. They barely went a kilometer before the SR2 enveloped them, and their shuttle was back inside of a proper ship. Javik grinned as the ship went to FTL, heading towards an unmapped mass relay. "Consider yourself free, Director Harper."

"I need a Doctor, Javik. Not kind words." Javik just laughed, loudly and deeply.

"I'll spare you my concern, then. But know that I consider today a victory over the lesser minds and races."

* * *

Author's Note

Javik was raised without any kind of pity or mercy by genetic design. The portrayal of him during Mass Effect was entirely too weak. He was supposed to be a much more impressive ally, and it really just ended up with a Krogan type of guy that was less likable than Wrex. Given the resources at Ilos, he could accomplish a lot more.

 


	61. Lucid: The Price of Sex Appeal

Chapter 61

SSV Orizaba, Arcturus System, September 2182

Hackett grinned as their fighters painted the target. Using three fighters, they could all mark an asteroid with their IFF signals, a crude method of marking the incoming asteroids. Effectively creating a triangle around it, all that the gunnery control operators had to do was aim at the empty space in between. Like a cheap video game, he could see his gunners disabling the safety controls that kept the Dreadnought from firing at a stationary or detected object. With the rounds that were put off by this ship, safety restrictions were in place to keep the ship from firing randomly.

Without a targeting solution, these needed to be disabled before they could fire. His engineers were taking their sweet time about it, though. "Please let the Lieutenant know that there are other asteroids that we need to take care of." He told the second in command, who nodded stiffly. It was rare to have him on the bridge here, but the rest of the Fifth Fleet was still behind a relay. He would have to make due here.

" _Sir, we've got it. Firing is now possible._ " He was going to have a talk with the Naval Committee about taking so much time to disable a protocol onboard their dreadnoughts in their next meeting.

"Take the shot!" He barked. The entire Dreadnought shook slightly, and the round exited the barrel at .3c. Hackett smiled, at the rare sight of the round. Every Navy man got a little bit of glee from seeing a Dreadnought hit something. Inside of his boots, he twitched his toes a little bit as he watched the round impact the asteroid, and then pass right through it. The asteroid  _crumpled_ , in a way that he hadn't seen before. Then it ejected objects, which finally showed up on their sensors. "Report!"

"We've got high concentrations of carbon, organic components, and… well, trash." The sensor technician answered. "We just shot a giant trash ball made out of paper mache. Not an asteroid."

Hackett's eyes narrowed. "That seems more like a prank then a devised terrorist action. Investigate the debris, find out what you can. What kind of trash is this?"

"We've got a serial number for some of the take-out containers that just hit Polk-3. But we can't run them with the comm system down." The tech said.

"Hey! That's Yang Chow's! I love that place! It's the best Chinese on Elysium." His partner technician said.

"That's because you only shop for take out near the base." The tech replied with a bit of snark, and then realized where they were. "Sir, some of this is from Elysium."

" _As well as Terra Nova._ " One of the pilots called out. " _This is all trash from Human space._ "

Hackett didn't like this. "Get on tight beam. Find out how many of these asteroids are real. Have our fighters strafe them, frigates take shots, find out how many of these asteroids are actually real." Something stank here. "Contact the  _Fuji._ "

"No response from the  _Fuji_ , Sir. But she is still in formation and on intercept course to her assigned asteroid. Her tight beam might not be able to go directly to us."

"Get some cargo haulers out here. This trash is going to clog the trade lanes. This attack might cost us more in recycling fees than in actual damages." Hackett said. "Tight beam Arcturus, and have Admiral Drescher try to contact the Fuji."

Hackett didn't have to wait long. Soon, reports came in regarding the Fuji. He left the  _Orizaba_ , and grabbed a boarding craft and loaded it with marines and engineers. Combat engineers. If those men were uncomfortable with an Admiral in the ship with them, they didn't show it. Especially when Hackett suited up in the same Onyx armor as the rest of them. They handed him a rifle, even though he knew it wasn't necessary.

The  _Fuji_  was a wreck. The outside was pristine, save for a small puncture near the stern. It had been patched, but there was already a shuttle out there handling the debris. Possibly bodies, as well. The inside of the hangar was barely controlled chaos, with a collapsed interior deck and debris covering many of the fighter sloops. Shuttle docking ports had only barely been cleared, but it looked like a bomb had gone off inside of the ship.

"Get job orders from the hangar chief. Help out where you can." Hackett ordered the men with him, who all trundled out into the bay. He walked towards another officer in armor, whose wavy black and grey tinted hair identified her easily. "Admiral Drescher." He greeted as he walked forward.

"You're going to want to look at this." She said, eyes glued to a haptic interface. "The bridge had its physical comm network connections cut by drones. So here is the only place I can actually view combat footage. This is by far the most threatening."

Hackett saw some kind of humanoid creature in a mechanical exoskeleton wreaking havoc. Small enough that it could fit in a hallway, yet heavy enough that it also could take anything they could throw at it. "Krogan, and whatever that thing is."

"Listen to this." Drescher said.

" _For the Empire! Imperial Guard, charge!_ " Subtly moving her fingers, she dragged the footage back to the barracks, where Hackett could see dead men everywhere.

"How many did we lose?" Whatever those Krogan were packing, it paled in comparison to that mechanical exoskeleton. Then his heart stopped for a moment as he saw Julia leap onto the exoskeleton's back, and start doing damage to different limbs and joints. Though his elation fell as he saw her entering a fight that she had no business in attempting. Yet the alien didn't use its plasma cannons. It still took Julia down, but curiously only disabled her.

" _If I was allowed to release the full might of my Empire, you would be struck down in the instant I saw you._ " He heard. Drescher stopped the clip.

"Harper has made first contact with a race of powerful aliens. Aliens that don't care about recruiting from other races for their armed forces, and who have access to more advanced technology than the Asari." She pointed at the suit of armor. "Weaponized plasma, biotics, and genetically enhanced strength?"

"Shit." Was all he could say.

"High Command can't charge Julia now. Not with this at our throats. She's the best bet at finding her father." Drescher said. "I'm making my decision as judge. She walks free. We have real dangers to deal with."

"The asteroids are almost all made out of garbage and paper mache." Hackett said quietly. "Only three were real. The others just had enough mass that we had to consider them a valid threat."

"They played us, and they played us good." She replied. "Comm relays will be back up soon. Logistics and Supply have assured me they have everyone working on it."

"What about the ship that hit the  _Fuji_?"

"Went through the relay. Towards something we haven't even mapped yet." Drescher didn't look happy. "I'll see if I can find out where. The relays have all directed themselves back towards their original targets. We will need to find the other side in order to shore up any further threats to Arcturus."

"Ask Rear Admiral Kohaku. I hear that he is itching to scout anything with his forces. Keeping them cooped up here has been a bad decision from Command." Hackett said. "Has Constantine received medical care?"

"High Command sacked her doctor, Chakwas. They've appointed another in her stead." Drescher's scowl was famous for being cruel. Hackett was simply glad it was not directed at him. "I doubt his capability to actually do anything of worth."

"Who is it?"

Hackett's scowl matched hers when she said the man's name.

* * *

SSV Normandy, Arcturus, September 2182

"Rise and shine, cream pie. Don't talk though, otherwise those stitches will need touching up again." Julia heard the voice, but the voice was so familiar that she couldn't quite put a face to it. Then she screamed, good and loud, as her side erupted in pain. "Oh damn it all, biotics and your damn metabolism. More painkillers, then I rebuild your ribs." Her eyes focused, and Julia tried to flare her biotics. But it was weak, and her body was already sagging with the effort of leaning her head forward. Her lower torso was behind a sheet, and her arms were clamped down. Her nose was swollen to the point that it stuck out in her vision.

Another hand reached over, and held her bare arm. Her head twisted fast enough that her hair left a red haze. Pressley sat at her side, a pistol on his belt. "Commander, sit still. You're ribs are broken and your stealth tech is damaged. The Alliance had to call in a replacement doctor for Chakwas. He's been patching you up for the last eight hours. He's not exactly… the same."

Julia turned her head the other direction, and could see a beard and pale skin. His upper lips had a mustache, but it didn't look well cared for. His hair was black, and his eyes were blue. "Lawson!"

"Harrumph!" The older man grunted. "You mean Dr. Samuel Heart." He said carefully. "Nobody by the name of Lawson exists here." Henry Lawson had not aged well. His cheeks were hollowed, and his eyes had sunken marks underneath. "Dr. Heart has worked with many Infiltrators. You've gone without a touch up in years, girl. These technologies are not meant to go so long without being serviced."

She coughed, as something pushed on her lung from the inside. "What are you-"

"Stop complaining, you cheek! Upgrades are worth time and money, and you get them for free! So generous with technology, we are." He hummed. "Dr. Heart is well known to have done many upgrades in the last ten years. All of them out of the kindness of his heart." He said with sarcasm. "This time, I'm paying back a favor." His voice turned serious. "Infiltrator technology has been worked on in secret over at Noveria for years. Years and years of research. It's not fair that the owner of all of the patents hasn't gotten their own update."

"What?"

"Just focus on your XO, girl. I'll worry about your heart." He laughed at his own joke. "Dr. Heart never loses a patient. He only gains a new alias whenever they don't make it." He chuckled even louder. "Better get used to me, girl. I've been ordered to replace someone as the ship's doctor."

Julia fell silent, trying to ignore the man moving her insides around. So she turned her head back to Pressley. "Status?" She asked, trying to find something normal.

"They rescued your father and got away. Same stealth technology as ours. Possibly on a cruiser instead of a frigate. The asteroid attack was actually a bunch of rocks made out of paper mache and the same paint we use on our hull. All filled with trash. So Arcturus is a mess, and there are thousands of pieces of debris all over the system. Ships are reporting in damages and micro fractures all over the place."

"Crew?"

"Chakwas has disappeared." Pressley said. "The men in White took her away." She nodded carefully. Rear Admiral White would be able to keep her safe. "Our crew are on board, but we have some bad news. Your hearing has been resolved."

"And?" She wasn't dead and a doctor was working on her. Someone wanted her to look good before she died. Yet if her technology was being upgraded, that suggested something else.

"Admiral Drescher has decided to drop all charges. You were the only one to engage in combat with an unknown alien race allied with your father. As such, your charges have all been dropped. But it came at a price." Pressley was holding a datapad, but looked grim. "They will not repair the ship. It cost millions to replace the armor last time, and the Naval Committee has decided that we will either fly damaged or not fly at all. We don't merit 'a second overhaul'. Without those repairs, Ma'am, I can't reliably take this ship through atmosphere or combat. We've been grounded, effectively."

"Damnit." She gasped, as Henry Lawson jerked her torso on the bed. "Quarians? Spectres?"

"All crew members are here. Turians haven't left the ship."

"Good work, Pressley." She breathed out, feeling something numbing spreading through her system.

"She's going to fall asleep again, here. But the worst of the damage is fixed. The scar on her nose I can fix, I think." Lawson said. "But I owe you that much indeed, girl." His hands were moving rhythmically along her side, suturing shut her stomach. "That much and more."

When she was awake again, she was wearing some kind of medical smock and slippers on her feet. She was still in the medical bay, and sitting at the desk was Henry Lawson, head slumped and snoozing. A bottle of something golden colored sat on the desk, unfinished. No one else was here. She peeled back the medical gown, and saw long rows of stitches running across her body. One row stopped just below her sternum.

Her Omni-tool had been reattached to her arm, but her armor was gone. She keyed the comm button, and notified Pressley that she was awake. He showed up within a minute, buttoning his top button and his pant legs looking slightly creased. He must have just woken up. "Ma'am?"

"That alien. Tell me about it."

"Command hasn't been able to find out much. The only blood sample you managed to get was ruined when the alien took hold of your knife. It did some kind of biotic ability that destroyed the blood on the blade." Pressley said, sitting next to her stiffly. "Other than that, we only know that its guns used plasma. Those grenades of his not only crippled you, but they destroyed the basic synapse connectors in your armor. It's dead."

That made her grimace. That armor was too expensive to simply buy a new one. "We'll find out what it was." Julia said. "Casualties?"

"We lost hundreds. The  _Fuji_  is looking at a month stint in drydock. You didn't see it, but the Krogan that fought with that alien were using heavy explosives like candy canes. The Dreadnought is heavily damaged. People are muttering about how you failed."

"That's nothing new." She said quietly. "I had no idea they had mercenaries like that. They just  _threw_  themselves at us, like their lives didn't matter. Krogan don't do that."

"Nothing about all this fit what we know about Krogan. Command has given us everything they have on it, with orders to investigate and put a stop to whatever is going on. Considering what they were capable of, this has been added to our duties. We are to go into the Terminus Systems, find the Rachni weapons suppliers, and stop whatever it is your father and his mercenary company have accomplished." Pressley put a datapad down, probably detailing all of that. "Bull shit."

"It's a legitimate threat."

"One that deserves an entire fleet! Not a stealth frigate with a broken hangar bay." Pressley looked annoyed. "I spoke to the supplier for our armor. The Quarian Migrant Fleet is the only supplier, and they want millions of credits just for the parts. Then they want us to bring the ship to them for labor."

"Great." That meant going out into the Terminus already. "They willing to ship?"

"For an even greater price." Pressley said. "All told, 67 million credits to ship the supplies and another ten million for the escort, fuel, and labor costs of repairing the ship. Even then we need to provide the drydock, unless we want to work on this in open space."

She didn't have that kind of money just lying around. It would take a bit hit to her holdings to be able to fund that. She just closed her eyes in thought. "The Alliance doesn't like this ship at all, do they."

"They've been treating us as more of a privateer merchant marine ship." Pressley noticed the crease in his pants and carefully pressed it out. "Enough that some of the High Command have equated it with your career. If it gets shot down, they would be happy for it."

"Then they wouldn't mind if we acted like a merchant marine ship." Julia said, an idea coming to her. "That's how we are going to make this situation work."

"Ma'am?" Pressley asked calmly. "What do you mean?"

"Thessia can get away with using sponsorship. So can we." Julia smirked. "Tell Halmabad, Williams, Reddin, and Zorah that they are going to suit up as soon as I am healthy enough to leave. We're going to go find some money."

* * *

Sirta Foundation Headquarters, Zurich, Switzerland, Sol System, September 2182

"Miss Constantine, we are so pleased to see that you have recovered." Hanz Bhoer was the Chairman for Sirta. While she owned the majority share, the day to day decisions were made by Bhoer and his associates. "Please, have a seat. We heard about some kind of battle with the Rachni recently."

"Thank you." Julia said, sinking into a chair. The board room was filled with portraits of the founders of the company, and oddly enough hers had replaced her father's.  _That_  portrait must be hidden somewhere deep. "Sorry to call such a rushed meeting."

"We would have come to your hospital, if need be." Bhoer said with false kindness. The Belgian was a businessman, and used his gentle facade to lure people in. It took years to find out that he was actually some form of sadist, or masochist. He kept that part of his life well buried, thankfully. To most people he was kind, considerate, and fair. What he did during his off time was his problem. "You said that you had a business venture in mind for us."

"Correct. How large was our profit margin the previous quarter?"

"We are proud to report growth in demand to the point that another factory must be constructed. Medi-gel has become a truly galactic commodity. Our other products are starting to get a good reputation, for the most part. Utility-grade Omni-tools and Omni-fabricators from Sirta brand are selling well in Volus and Batarian space. Our armor line, Pheonix, has not seen such good sales since our initial announcement." Bhoers stated. "Growth of the entire company by more than 250%, which is unheard of for a company of our size and history."

Julia smiled at that. "My bank accounts haven't reflected that kind of profit yet." That was only partially true. Her shares had gone up in price, but she herself had seen little profit other than that. "But that has little to do with the deal that I have prepared. I have with me Tali'Zorah, a Quarian who is the daughter of one of the five Admirals that lead the Quarian fleet. Someone who has power to barter for their products."

"That doesn't concern us. Sanctions from the Citadel would crush our sales in a heartbeat!" One of the other board members said snidely. "Any kind of profit that we could possibly make would be tainted by them."

"Considering that some of your earlier successes were on account of them, I wouldn't be so hasty to forget the idea." Bhoers snapped back. "We cannot discount nor discredit any source of possible income. Our Biotic amps are just as much Batarian in design as they are Human."

"Our ship, the  _Normandy_ , has been heavily damaged." Julia said. "The Alliance has decided to not repair it, nor offer us a replacement. However, they have not stated that we cannot get it repaired through other sources."

"You want Sirta to fund the repairs of an Alliance vessel?" Bhoers asked. "You have some offer, then."

"The Quarians may be willing to ship medi-gel anywhere in the Terminus for a fee, and do it safely." Julia had gotten a tentative agreement from the Quarians to ship the medi-gel, where the Alliance could not secure or go with their security patrols. It was cheaper than hiring a mercenary company. But it would also risk bad press if the Quarians were sighted shipping it in the Attican Traverse. "We would also be talking about sponsorship of a different kind." Her ribs ached, and she didn't want to flinch in front of these men. Not when her stitches had only just come out. "I and my crew, the Quarian ones included, would be taking Sirta products into combat. Your best will go into the worst of environments and situations and take them to their absolute limits. More importantly, both of the Spectre Candidates for our race will be wearing Sirta. You'll have product endorsements across the board."

"That's nepotism! You can't market yourself so blatantly!" The same complainer brought up. "This is why you have avoided Sirta for years!"

"I avoided Sirta because I was busy stopping STG teams from taking its information and infrastructure. As a deep cover agent I was able to protect Sirta from harm in ways that you will never know about or become aware of. The records of those missions will be sealed until long after my lifetime." Julia gave her best smile, feeling the raw skin of her cheek stretch. "My costs will be offset by the sales rush that will follow."

"This seems to be a lot to give, for only a small amount of sponsorship." Bhoer said. "We would need proof of concept. Evidence that this would work on a larger audience."

"What do you have in mind?" Julia asked.

"We have never made a Quarian model of armor, and you said that you brought a Quarian with you." Bhoer mentioned offhandedly. "If we are to armor your crew, and you are to support us with sponsorship, perhaps we should start there."

"Sounds fair."

* * *

Two hours later, Julia was walking out of Sirta Headquarters in her new armor. She would get another catsuit soon, but in public this was going to be what she wore. The color she could do without. The pink markings were absolutely the most disgusting that she had ever seen. But the white might be useful in sillicate and snow environments. The Pheonix mk. X was the best armor that Sirta made. It had extreme biotic protection, and would resist extra force. The undersuit had a medical suite, which was unheard of. Medi-gel was directed throughout the undersuit and directly to the wound. The thermal controls were rated for the most inhospitable of environments. Most importantly, grooves of toxin resistant polymers were lining the suit, making it the most effective thing that she could find against Rachni acid.

The light version of the armor was about as feminine as armor ever got. Asari might actually buy this, and that was saying something. It even had fittings for magnetic strips to be placed anywhere along the armor. While light, it weighed more than her catsuit, and that weight was uncomfortable. She was also sure that her body was just as much on display as it had been in her catsuit, the armor fitted very tightly.

"Commander, are you sure about this?" Behind her, her team were all standing in the same. Reddin was wearing the medium grade armor, while Williams was wearing the heavy grade. "This thing is riding up my ass."

Reddin nodded. Julia just sighed. "You both realize that I wore a catsuit half as thin as this for years. Get used to it."

"This armor is giving me a freaking thigh gap." Ashley Williams must have just worn such basic armor that she hadn't felt what fitted armor felt like. "I haven't had a thigh gap since secondary school."

Julia laughed, chirping. "This armor costs more than you've made in your entire career. And you want to complain about the fact that it's fitted?"

"Not to be critical about Sirta, but most people call these things over-sexualized medic markers." Williams said. "No offense."

"Well, we'll get them painted." Julia smirked. "Then it'll be feminine and badass."

"Will you actually use this on a mission, Commander?" Corporal Reddin asked.

"Yes." Julia replied honestly. "Sirta has spent millions of credits studying how to make armor that can take on Rachni. This is their prototypes for each grade of armor, so we will be testing them. This is their best bet."

"How did they test them?" Williams asked with a bit of disdain. She was still standing in front of the mirrors in the lobby, seeing what the armor looked like on her. "Did they ask the Turians for a few specimens, now that Eden Prime is ours?"

"They were part of the shipment we delivered, as well as any dead that could be delivered to them. Apparently they share a research base with ExoGeni on Noveria. Though that is another part of our deal." Julia had already swept the area for bugs, but this was just paranoia as she looked around carefully. "The Sirta Director there is wanted for certain crimes on Elysium, and even though he is a great bio-chemist, they want him extradited back to Elysium to avoid the bad press. It's also the same lab that made that tainted medi-gel, so we will have reason to go in there."

"You're a shareholder. Can't you just walk right in there and take him?"

"I don't have a chair on the board, and even though I own most of Sirta those labs are a different LLC, to keep the risks for the rest of the company low while they experiment with the product." She frowned. "They also have some kind of lab somewhere on Noveria that is producing Infiltrators. Creating them outside of my permission, and using my patents. We're going to shut that down."

"Before they start selling to more than just the Alliance, right?"

"More because I feel personally offended." Julia admitted. "Tali! How long are you going to take?" She called into the other room.

"Commander, I don't like this at all." Tali's accented voice carried. The sound of her feet was different than the normal padded sound that most Quarian boots had. It had a solid metallic sound to it. When Tali came around the corner in her white and pink paneled glory, she looked distinctly uncomfortable. "I'm not supposed to get anything like this until after my Pilgrimage!"

Her old suit was threadbare, but it had never been like this one. This suit was fresh off the production line, and obviously altered for her. It  _gleamed_. "Nonsense, Tali. I want everyone capable of going into combat. If that means that I get you new armor to do so, then that means I get you armor."

Tali crossed her arms, holding herself around the torso. Her visor was the same almost thick lens that she always had, but her eyes seemed to be looking at all of them uncomfortably. "You do realize that outside of the Migrant Fleet, no one makes armor for Quarians. This is the first line of armor made for  _us_  in almost two centuries." She shuddered. "I don't deserve this."

"Tali, consider this an order. Wear that armor." Julia said. "If you want to take it home with you, you can at the end of your deployment." Tali's knees shook in some kind of emotion as she slumped to the ground, back against the wall. "After we get it repainted, of course. Your family's colors are purple, right?"

She nodded shakily. "Yes, Commander."

"Then come on. We have to walk around in this and go through a press conference in it. Can't repaint the colors until later."

"We're getting recorded like this?" Williams said. "Grandpa is gonna be humiliated."

"Part of the show for Sirta. We market their product enough and they pay for the ship."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Halmabad should be meeting up with us soon." Julia said. "I'm sure he is going to say something about the colors as well."

"Wait." William's tune changed. "I thought this was just a sex appeal thing."

"Oh, it is. But when I signed the agreement, I included the men." Julia smirked, and saw Reddin grin broadly. "Sex appeal goes both ways."

Williams stopped complaining after that. Or at least not so publicly. The press conference was not really a place where they were supposed to be present, but as the major stockholder she had a right to be there on the stage when they announced their new line of armor. Especially when they announced that it had the best built in resistance to Rachni acid that was available on the market. That got the press talking, and the photo opportunity to see both of Humanity's Spectre candidates in the armor was proof enough that someone believed in the concept.

Halmabad apparently was slightly color blind, as he thought that the color of the armor was green and white. The poor fellow. His face became so heated and angry when he realized what he had been photographed in those colors that the man almost started a spar over it. All in all, a good day. A very good day to follow up the ones she had spent in the hospital bed.

Sirta did see some immediate sales of their Pheonix brand armor. They weren't lying about the built in toxin resistance. It had been tested against Rachni acid taken from the battlefield. The armor had a small weave of silicate on the outside, sand that had been collected in extremely fine quality and then melted down into glass. Then that glass was incorporated into the armor weave, making it less likely to melt from acid. Then the weave was structured in a way that made the pressure from biotic abilities spread throughout the armor more efficiently. It was quite the achievement, and the materials that went into it were expensive.

But there was a small part of her that liked it. Enjoyed some kind of public attention. When they returned to the Normandy, Williams was halfway out of the armor before the ramp hit the ground. Reddin looked sheepish, and Halmabad looked murderous. Tali had frozen in fear. "Lieutenant?" She asked her carefully. "Is everything alright?'

"I don't deserve this, Commander." She said quietly. "This isn't something I want."

"Part of the contract involves giving Quarians a decent rate when they come to buy their own armor. Not to mention the fact that you can fit three mods on that model."

"What will I tell them?" Tali wasn't looking at her, but past into the ship. Where the rest of the crew were. Where they would judge her for this.

"Officer's privelidge." Julia told her. "You're going into combat. You need more than a Pilgrim's environmental suit. Commander's orders. Now, go and get your head veils and paint done. That armor should match its wearer." Julia risked putting a hand on her shoulder for comfort, and the Quarian almost jumped. Tali finally paid her direct attention.

"Uh, yes, Commander." She replied quietly.

Julia nodded, and then dropped her armor off in her own locker, with orders for the armory team to paint it black, with orange panels and a small red stripe along the arms. Then she exited the Normandy again, this time in her dress blues. The pants were terrible. Fitted, but not up to the standard that she was used to. She left the ship, no escort and no protection. But within a couple of hallways she noticed that another plainly dressed man had started walking next to her, looking like some kind of logistics officer. Except that his fingers were covered with vinyl, and his catsuit looked to be well maintained.

When she stepped inside the Office of Intelligence, it was in motion. Her Infiltrator had left her, and she was now in the comforting space of the central office. Giant haptic screens showed input from VI search bots in all systems, panning between every known and civilized system. She didn't let her eyes drift over that, as there were technicians to do that for the field agents. Analysts and VI specialists lived in those interfaces, and she kept her gaze on the people as she walked by. Most recognized her, and gave her a nod of respect. Others sneered or frowned as she walked by.

The unmarked offices where the leadership of the Office of Intelligence met were secured by turrets, cloaked Infiltrators, and a Cerberus trained Soldier. His shoulders could not be natural. The door scanned her, and she was marked as green. When she entered, it was to a room full of people.

Senator Muhammed Al-Omar Halmabad was at the table, a member of the Alliance Parliamentary committee that oversaw the Intelligence Office. Halmabad's father had a nicely kept beard, and while he wore an impressive suit, his hair was wrapped in a colored turban. To his right was an older woman, with some kind of skin problems. Her face looked like an aged avocado. It wasn't a natural form of aging, either. Sheets of her dark skin stayed dark and grey, while other parts of her face hung loose and full of life. Julia had never met her before.

Rear Admiral White also sat at that end of the table, and next to him were a few analysts, datapads surrounding him. "Welcome to the meeting, Commander." He greeted her, his eyes missing nothing as they stayed focused on his current datapad. "I'd like to introduce you to a contractor that we've had come in to analyze things. This is the second director of the Office of Intelligence. Runya Ross, this is Julia Constantine."

Julia judged the woman in a new light. She had directed the Office for more than thirty years, and during that time had kept the Big Three powers from overly influencing the Alliance. The Northwestern States, Russia, and China had all tried to take control of the Alliance through a variety of methods. Intelligence was one of the largest. Ross was part Cuban and part British. She had kept the Office of Intelligence pure, for the most part. She was eventually retired honorably.

"It's an honor, Ma'am."

"My second cousin likes you." The old woman said. "He knows what I think about your family. He knows what I think we should do about everyone in it." She stared at Julia, boring a hole into her.

Julia matched her stare, but found that the older woman didn't seem to have any hate for her. Just cold logic. "You were asked to analyze the situation?"

"Harper is a useful tool. But only if we can keep him directed. Look what he's done without proper direction. Jones was able to keep him under control. When I first assigned her to the case I gave her every resource she asked for. In hindsight that was a bad decision. Jones went her own way, and Harper disappeared. Now he's got some alien empire under his influence, and he's out in the Terminus Systems. It's a mess."

"And you have a solution?"

"Strap every black op nuke we have to you and create a condition that will let him meet up with you, and then blow your father and every part of his family to hell. It's the only way to be sure." She said without hesitation. "Harper's too dangerous to be alive. Even if the Alliance profits under the table from his involvement in the Terminus, that man has a plan that is going to tear us apart." Ross nodded to herself. "I should have shot him in the head when I had him after the first Shangxi."

Julia tried to not be offended by Ross, but she was known for her hard decisions. She must agree with the courts regarding her and Jenkins. "You think that'll actually work?" White asked, finally speaking up. "That went so well the last time you ordered it."

"The Turians were asking for it. They paid in blood for that colony. Fifty to one odds, we made them bleed for." Ross said. "Tell those Admirals you cahoot with that they need to get that ship fixed. We need you out in the Traverse and the Terminus. Blood for blood, in my opinion. We have six hundred men and women that are going home in body bags thanks to him this week alone."

"You will provide analysis, and not policy. Much has changed since you went into retirement."

"Your standards have fallen since I left. I wouldn't trust this girl with anything. Her mentor is a traitor. Her father is a terrorist. Every action she has made leads her to that eventuality. It's only a matter of time before she leaves us too."

"That isn't your call to make." White said. "Right now, I have few agents that have the skill and the experience in taking down Rachni as well as threats on a level equivalent to Jack Harper." He turned away from Ross. "Commander, in your own analysis, where will you go from here?"

"I obtained a sponsor to pay for the costs of repairing our ship. Sirta Foundation will be paying the Quarians, who have promised to spend the money received in Human space, or keeping it in the bank. All in all, the net loss to the Human economy is minimal." She stated clearly. The Senator was looking at her, his eyes focused on her with some unknown emotion. Reading him was difficult, as he did not stand out much. He hadn't spoken up, and he hadn't offered any kind of statement for her to analyze. "Once the ship has been repaired, we have a few options. Clan Ganar, somewhere in the Terminus Systems, represent one target. We also have a lead on Noveria. Between those two, I hope to identify more information on the enemies of the Alliance and how they are supplied."

"Noveria is a cesspit." White said. "Try not to go in too deeply. A lot of Alliance deep black projects are being worked on there. With all of the bad press lately, Noveria has tightened their restrictions on law enforcement being allowed to land. You'll need a warrant from their system before landing." Julia nodded. "We have a contact for you there. Elanus Risk Control Services runs the security for Noveria, and we have a contact that will help your warrant be accepted. His name is Rahd San." White's forehead crumpled slightly as he said that. "His real name isn't a good idea to mention. He lives on Noveria for his own safety, and so long as he assists us in our investigations we don't extradite him. Don't dig too deeply there."

"Anything on Clan Ganar?"

"Not much. Old group, very quiet for Krogan. Apparently they had almost total losses during the Rebellions. Not sure how large they are now. A few acts of terrorism here and there, but nothing to make them out as dangerous as the Blood Pack or a smaller group." White said. "Your Krogan mercenary may be our best bet on that."

"What about the relay? She is supposed to be working on keeping our borders safe!" Senator Al-Omar Halmabad finally spoke up.

"If in your mission you find out where Jack Harper got his star charts, we need to secure the relays that he has opened. Obviously there is a major threat to the entire Alliance. We cannot move our fleets forward until we've found and secured all of the new relay openings. If he is opening relays, then we might have more than just Rachni on our hands. We've got some of the scout flotillas going out there, but the Traverse has hardly been explored. Your methods  _will_  secure results faster than they will."

"Understood, Sir."

"Commander, Admiral Drescher decided to drop your charges. She cannot do so again. The next time, they will rig the process further, or make you disappear into a black ops mission that you won't come back from." He frowned at that. "The Asari government was pressing for your charges. Thankfully this entire debacle has kept them off of us, but you should avoid Asari space for the time being. You've pissed off a couple of the bigger forces in there."

"Have you rotated all of the codes?"

"Yes. After you notified me that you had been compromised by an Asari, we changed out every code that you've ever known. Your security clearance remains the same, but you will not be alerted to these new codes outside of comm lines. We suspect that Tela Vasir survived. Some of your codes have been used to try to access the network within the last day. We let them access a false database, to see what they were looking for." He passed a datapad over. "They're looking for Harper."

"Why?"

"We don't know. But right now, there is a race to find him. He's stirred up a nest of hornets in there. They've got Huntresses out and a bounty on his capture. They want him alive." White said. "You've got to find him first. Either to deny the Asari his capture, or for our own purposes. He's your responsibility."

"Yes, Sir." She replied. "I will do my best."

"Her best?" The Senator said. "Try to keep in mind the consequences of your failure, girl. The entire Alliance is counting on you to stop him. We don't want your  _best_. We demand your perfection. Anything less will be rewarding the Asari."

"I understand, Senator." Julia said, keeping her clenching hands under the table. "Will that be all?"

"Your father has lost both of his feet now. We've locked down all providers of cybernetic limbs, but we doubt that will net us much in the way of a lead on his location. Don't lose track of your doctor. If he leaves the  _Normandy_  there is a bomb implanted inside of his lower back, and it will go off. We don't trust this to keep him totally in line." White looked over at Ross, who had gone back to ignoring Julia. "You're dismissed."

* * *

Author's Note:

The inspiration for the asteroid attack came from the old Star Wars books regarding Admiral Thrawn. The thing is, Jack doesn't have a large fleet to just drop off asteroids like this. So, an asteroid attack on a budget means that you hire a bunch of cheap labor to make a chicken wire cage around anything that can hold a mass. Ten hours of work and you have a functional asteroid. One that is filled with whatever you can easily get your hands on.

An old sassy black woman is usually the greatest card to play in any kind of argument, or at least that is what Cards Against Humanity has taught me. Not so this time. We also got to see a bit more on Halmabad's father, who is a contemporary of Haego. They are like religious pen pals. Always fun to have those.

Sponsorship and government contracts are nothing new. Back during World War 2, American High Schools were asked to help build bombers and tanks for the war effort. My high school built a B-52 in one of our automotive shops for the war, and in effect sponsored that bomber. There will be more mentioning of this as we go deeper into the Rachni War, but just to be clear this is not the first time this has happened. Nor would this be illegal in any way. The military cannot look down on Julia for acquiring better armor and supplies for her ship at no cost to them. Normally worth a commendation, right now its just something that takes some of the heat off of her.

This is a bit of a fluffy chapter, but touches on a few important topics. A small shout out to  **LogicalPremise's**  "Of Sheep and Battle Chicken:That which Cannot Die", which just had one of the best chapters I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Also to  **Mizdirected** , who has two stories that are not too well known. "Future Continuous" and "Stones Thrown Before the Tide" Are both excellent stories that deserve a lot of love. Go check those out.


	62. Lucid: Bad Medicine

Chapter 62

Feros, October 2182

Jack had sent his android body down into the hellhole that was Feros. Giant dust storms wreaked havoc on the planet. It was for all intents and purposes a giant dead waste of space. ExoGeni had a colony established along one of the better preserved highways, but in his memories they had been established over an area that had the least tectonic shifting over the last 50,000 years. Jack had paid off the group that had first mapped out the area. The data showed that this area had a terrible tectonic history, and that ExoGeni shouldn't be here. So their outpost and colony was on the other side of the continent, and the true worth of Feros was secure.

His android was standing in front of a large hallway, exposed for the first time since the fall of the Prothean Empire. Vorcha were all over the site, tools everywhere. They had been given food in great quantities and told to dig. The simple minded creatures worked hard, knowing that for each segment of the tunnel exposed, more food would be provided. The Blood Pack hadn't cared when Jack ordered a few hundred Vorcha. They didn't care when Jack bought them, instead of renting their services. Vorcha to them were less than Krogan, and therefore of little worth. Plus, their litters would be able to replenish that kind of loss in months.

"What's down here?" Hannah's android asked. The  _Acheron_  was still hiding near Earth, as the Sol relay had been under total lockdown during his escape. It was still on lockdown, and he had told them to wait until it could safely sneak past. The Alliance were hunting everywhere for it, but Jack had hiding places that would allow the  _Acheron_  to hide for a very long time.

"An old creature. Javik disliked the idea of going to them for help, but they might have what we need." Jack said. The only living creatures here were the Vorcha. He had been very specific on that. There was no need to contaminate anyone important with mature spores from a Thorian. His memories were spotty about them, but the reports regarding what the spores were capable of he had remembered perfectly. That was the only reason he wanted to risk coming down here. Reapers were active, and they had changed the game. They weren't playing by the rules, and neither was he.

"What race has Javik ever liked?"

"Liara." Jack replied. "But only her secondary eye tattoos."

"What's the story on this race?"

"They called themselves the Tho'ian. Friends, allies, and rivals of the Inusannon." Jack stated quietly. "They were the races that had the misfortune of running into the Reapers before the Protheans. They were obsessed with control and overcoming organic limitations, according to the few records the Protheans saved from Inusannon computers in their day. They live for possibly hundreds of thousands of years. As such, careful about how you speak." Jack had brought a napalm launcher. That would be decent. Hannah had a Cain. The SR2 had a few of those on board. Javik had refused to go down to Feros. He told them that the screams of the dead still existed in such concentration that even in orbit he was feeling their leftover existence. Or some other superstitious crap like that. "Thorians were apparently touchy about things."

"Didn't the Protheans just pick up the pieces?"

"Just like we did. But unlike other races, Thorian eggs last for hundreds of years before they are properly cultivated. They don't develop sentience until long after. Some of their kind survived the Reapers, and they tried to control parts of the Prothean Empire. That wasn't well received, and the few adults that remained after the Prothean response were transferred to gigantic scientific compounds, reinforced to prevent their plant spores from infecting too many people." Jack motioned to the ground around them. "Scientific compounds like this one."

Hannah nodded. Vorcha had little respect for anything but food providers and bigger weapons than they could hold themselves. Seeing Humans holding two heavy weapons made them a bit worried. But they had delivered the food, so it did not matter very much. The Vorcha were mostly eating their fill, while a few walked with them. Vorcha worked in packs, and the alpha male of any pack was responsible for protecting it. The alpha walked with them towards the opened tunnel, a couple of his biggest males with him. "The tunnel is dug! You promised more work, yes?"

Work meant food. Food meant procreation. The larger a pack was, the more strength at the command of its alpha male. Which was about all that the Blood Pack cared to instill into their culture.

"More work indeed. Let's take a look."

The tunnel led to a stairwell, one that still had an old Prothean door sealing the interior. Jack smirked, as he saw that the walls were damaged. No power ran through this section. Then again, no power was a good sign with Prothean technology. It meant that you could brute force your way through doors. His android body was able to open the door barely, and then Hannah was able to force the doors open wide enough for the Vorcha with them to lever it open. The interior of the chamber had so much dust in it that just the opened door had caused a disturbance in the air pressure. The air inside was cooler than the warm air from the surface. The android's systems tried to mimic goosebumps on the synthskin, and Jack saw the android's skin prickle without any input on his own. Always an odd feeling.

Inside, there was hardly any light. Only the light from the work lights in the tunnel illuminated the old science facility within. There was a smell to the place, something offensive. The Vorcha were hissing. Jack shrugged, moving inwards. Another security checkpoint looked overgrown and destroyed. Old tendrils from the Thorian wrapped around old turret mounts and kinetic barrier projectors like an old lover. Brown and mottled plant algae covered the walls, and the door itself had some kind of old root system covering it.

"This looks valuable." Jack said out loud. "Still looks like it hasn't been disturbed. There might be Prothean artifacts here worth millions of credits. Year's worth of labor contracts." The Vorcha alpha actually drooled at the thought. Power in their society was so focused around limited resources that it was easy to convince them to do certain things.

"Our deal may need renegotiating then." It stated. "We will need weapons for a long job. More than simply credits or food."

"Only if we find something of worth." Jack reminded the creature. "This looks like a good enough place to get started."

The Vorcha were invaluable for clearing plant matter. They were joined by a few others who had finished eating, and they helped clear the plant matter away from the innermost security checkpoint. Jack noticed that the barrier curtains here had been especially targeted and ripped out. The Thorian must not be pleased with being in containment. When they finally got to the plant itself, Jack saw that the description did not match what little he was able to find out from ExoGeni. Shepard had been rather tight lipped about the Thorian, and the Asari Shiala had never opened up to anyone about her experiences there.

They found the creature attached to the wall, instead of hanging over the abyssal deep pit. It's limbs looked so dead and mottled that it appeared to be an old corpse. Hannah was looking around for any kind of Prothean artifacts, but the room was empty of such. Jack just pointed at the giant pile of mulch. "That looks like it is draped over something solid. Have a few of your men dig into it."

The inevitable happened soon after. Two of the Vorcha went climbing into the mouth of the Thorian, and the beast woke up. Coughed itself awake, actually. The plant fibers shifted slightly, and the two Vorcha were sucked inside. This of course spooked the others, who panicked and looked at the giant shifting mass of tendrils and plant fibers. They held their digging tools with purpose. "Wait!" Hannah said. The Vorcha didn't follow after their fellows, but they had been about to.

"This is something we can handle." Jack motioned to his heavy weapon. "Take your people and go outside. I'll deal with this and we can dig for other artifacts as soon as we are done." The alpha male nodded, only too happy to get his people away from all this. Losing two males on this digging project was below the expected death rates of the labor contract. They didn't bat an eye on the loss. Nor did Jack as the Thorian slowly started regaining color, and two of the long tendrils started pulsing, pushing some sort of object down towards the nodes on the walls. Probably the dead Vorcha. Or on their way to being dead.

It took almost an hour of waiting for the Thorian to spit out a Thrall, a Vorcha that seemed green in color. It glanced around, as if taking in the view for the first time. Then it seemed to glare at him, and its pointed green teeth shined in the light of his flashlight. "You are not-flesh." It hissed. "The old growth does not tolerate not-flesh."

"The Protheans talked about you. How your race ruled the stars before their own empire." Jack said conversationally. "I propose a deal."

The hissing ended, and the Thorian's tendrils were all starting to take on a more greenish color. "The Old Growth will hear your offer."

"Your race survived the Reapers. You and the Inusannon both were able to transfer some of your knowledge and experience to the Protheans, who in turn prepared beacons to give us the same inherited knowledge. In effect, I want your race to survive, and survive with the accumulated knowledge intact. We Humans don't have the technology or ability to construct a method of passing down the same inherited information. As such, I offer you the flesh and creatures that live on the surface, in exchange for the promise that something will be preserved."

Jack continued. "In effect, I came here to collect your seeds. Your race is unique, and we seek to preserve that. We wish to take your progeny and hide them with all of the acquired knowledge that our races have gathered, just in case we fail."

"Jack!" Hannah whispered. "What are you-"

"All for the simple price of allowing us to keep you alive." He spoke over Hannah. "We give you the tools and thralls to survive here, and we carry your seeds to locations where they might be protected."

"The young growth know of the great enemy." The Vorcha's face almost split in half as it tried to smile at them. "Then you understand the great cycle." Tendrils moved all around them, and the floor shuddered. "The Old Growth recognizes your trade. The flesh, and the promise to pass down the knowledge of all those who have gone before."

When Jack left the room with the Thorian, he had a briefcase full of Thorian seed pods and a pissed off girlfriend. He wasn't going to apologize for not telling her the plan. She seemed to be giving him the silent treatment for now. But the Alpha male was waiting for him.

"What did you find?"

"My scientists are going to have a look at it. I'll need your people to stay here for a few days more. Once the findings from the lab come back, I will see if we still need your services." Jack gave the Vorcha a toothy smile. "Food will continue to be shipped in the meantime. Weapons, as well." The Thorian would need it. More importantly, Jack had an answer to the biggest problem he was facing. "Pazzik, your services have been exceptional so far. I will return soon to direct you further."

He nodded, and Jack was able to get into his shuttle. Though Hannah seemed confused when he ordered her to remove the synthskin, clothing, and armor from the android body. He wouldn't put it past the Thorian to bug their gear with its spores. "What did you mean, in case we fail?"

"I trust in my ability to make a plan, Hannah." He tapped the metal finger of his android against her android's hip. "But in no way do I consider my plans fool proof or impossible to stop. The Reapers have tools and plans that go beyond anything I can prepare for. Victory is not assured. But if we lose I am going to do it in the most aggravating way possible."

She snorted at that. "You should have told me that was your plan."

"I didn't know if it would work." Jack admitted. "Thorians were not documented as being the most docile or complacent of creatures." Lying to Hannah was not warranted in this situation, but right now he could trust no one with what he actually meant to do with these seed pods. Baby Thorians that would mature in a few dozen years were not what he came here for. No one could know about his plans with these until it was too late for them to stop. Otherwise the Reapers would win.

His memories told him everything he needed to know about manipulating Thorian spores. Between Saleon and himself, weaponizing them would not take long. But this went far beyond anything that he had done before, even that viral mixture that he had deployed against the Batarians. "I promise you, Hannah, I will tell you the moment I know what I will do with these." And not a moment sooner.

* * *

Above Noveria, Horse Head Nebula, October 2182

" _Ma'am, we are in position._ " Pressley reported from the bridge. " _Airlock is secure._ "

"Send the laser comm burst." She ordered. She was wearing her newest armor, and standing next to her was Kaiden Alenko and Ashley Williams. Garrus was standing with them, but was having a small moment with Desolous. "We will board."

" _We will be waiting for you on schedule, Ma'am._ "

"Thank you Pressley." Her face had healed up well enough now that she barely noticed it when she moved the skin of her cheek. Her new molars were doing better. A bit raw, but better. She was supposed to take it easy, and only perform light exercise. This may or may not qualify. "Make sure that those Quarians don't install anything on my ship."

" _Aye Ma'am. XO has the ship._ "

The airlock connected to another ship, this one a normal Ashland-Hislopp Brent class freighter. It was on approach to Noveria, and the  _Normandy_  had docked with it while cloaked. They were so much less efficient during this time, so Pressley wanted the airlock undocked as soon as possible. She had a small bag with her, and Williams and Alenko had the same. Vakarian did not, and simply had every magnetic strip of his armor filled with whatever he needed. The Turians liked order and efficiency. All of their travel bags were meant to be magnetically grappled to the back and sides of the torso armor. That way their soldiers would always have their hands free. He was of course heavily armed.

The airlock in front of them cycled, and the dull grey metal of the freighter greeted them. "Let's go, Vakarian!"

The doors on the airlock across from them opened, and Julia wasn't facing that direction when it did. But she saw both of her Turian mentors just stop talking and stare. Desolous' mandibles were open wide, and his eyes were focused on something behind her. There was an eager trill in his voice when he muttered "Lucky Tarn." to Garrus. Garrus stiffened up, and tucked in his mandibles. Desolous shamelessly let them hang open.

"Let's go." Julia felt her heart flutter a bit. "All of you get on board." Julia felt the room tilt slightly, as some biotic power was used. Then, she felt someone hugging her. " _I am so damn glad you're alright._ " Someone said in Greek, right next to her ear.

Julia couldn't hide her open smile. She turned, hugging her sister back. It didn't matter right now. The only people she didn't want to see this kind of tender moment were on the bridge. Joker would probably crap himself at this. Miranda was full blown smiling, her hair waving from whatever biotic ability she had used to cross the distance. She was wearing some kind of business suit, but it was by no means conservative. Julia looked behind her, seeing the surprised faces of Ashley and Kaiden. More importantly, the other side of the airlock was more than ten meters away. "How did you do that?" Julia asked.

"Oh, right." Miranda said. "I was just excited. That's just an Asari technique. They call it the 'Water Dance'. I just call it damn complicated." She tossed her head back, her hair falling back into place perfectly. "Took me two years of study to learn."

"Sounds Asari, then." Julia said, separating from the hug and noticing that her team had stopped a respectful distance from them. "This is my sister, Miranda. This is Lt. Ashley Williams, Lt. Kaiden Alenko, and Spectre Garrus Vakarian."

"We've met." Garrus said respectfully. "Though this time I hope we don't have any lingering animosity."

"I Threw you off a thirty story building. You lived. I think we're even." Miranda said, laughing quietly. "As for the others, I think we can get away with them. A pleasure to meet you."

"We have aliases for this mission. This is not an Alliance operation and cannot be labeled such. But it is critical to stopping more shipments of that medi-gel we found on Helios. The Rachni don't need any more methods of making this war dangerous."

Her people nodded. As one group they walked across the gap between ships, though Miranda was putting on a show. She swayed in her business suit, and Julia was trying to figure out how she used some kind of biotic move like that in heels. She had obviously been practicing lately. When they reached her ship, the freighter airlock doors sealed shut. The  _Normandy_  detached and disappeared into the blackness of space soon after. Julia smirked, and saw that Miranda had already started judging her people.

Kaiden was glancing back and forth between them with more than a bit of curiosity. "The freighter is a bit small. Miss Williams, you will be a bodyguard, under the name Tiffany Buchanan." Ashley sounded out the name with a look of distaste. "Mister Alenko, your alias is going to involve a bit of work. Ivan Korlov, professor of material science and element zero. Get reading." She handed Kaidan a datapad, and Williams a much smaller one. "You will all bunk here in the hold, behind the curtains on the right. My other guards are behind the left curtains. Mister Vakarian, we were alerted that you already have a mercenary alias. Livinus Peorius, correct?"

"I have others, but that one will do." Garrus answered, his mandibles close around his face now.

"Julia, you've got a room in the front. We have a lot to talk about. Considering this was all your idea, I would love some clarification."

Julia nodded, and gave a loose salute to her people. They gave tight ones back. Except for Garrus. He seemed to be thinking deeply, and didn't notice when she signaled them. But she was only able to keep an eye on her people for a second, before she was led out of sight and into the captain's quarters. The door had an extra lock on it, one that looked like it had been built out of a mixture of Asari and Quarian parts. Miranda pressed her hand against the door and flared her biotics, changing something inside the lock. It clicked, and then she was able to go inside. Julia followed, feeling a bit excited. This was definitely not a sanctioned mission from command, but Sirta kept their promise to her. She would clear up any kind of medi-gel issues and remove any kind of bad press about their best product. If anything bad happened to Sirta, Humanity's market presence would feel it.

The inside of the room was simple, with a single couch and a comm station. A bathroom was in the back, and a small closet looked near to overflowing. "So you met Javik." Miranda said. "What did you think of him?"

"Who?" She could remember no one by that name.

"He's preachy about his little Imperial Guard. Apparently he shoved you inside a locker." Miranda said. "What do you think about him?"

"He's a psychopath. He killed hundreds of people last week!"

"He's an asshole." Miranda said, as if this explained everything. "He and his people believe in some kind of cosmic destiny that ends with them commanding all other races." She said. "Thankfully their empire is gone."

"How many of them are left?"

"Four. Charles labels him as Prothy the Prothean." Miranda winked. "I find it makes thinking of his sneer easier to stomach."

 _Prothean_. She fought a damned Prothean. "How?"

Miranda bit her lip in thought. "I don't think you want to get more Asari after you. Are you sure you want to know?" She took Julia's bag, carefully laying it down to the side of the bed. "Or is this for your job?"

"It's important to someone." Julia said. "They wouldn't believe me about him being a  _Prothean_ ," that word felt odd to throw around. "Not without proof."

"Then don't report it. You have your suspicions, and I gave you a tentative theory." Miranda waved her hand towards the bathroom. "I've got all of your old favorite things in there. Your hair looks pretty damaged."

"I have to dye it a lot. It doesn't like black dye." Julia explained, considering. "I haven't had time to go get my hair done or treated since this war started." Her body was a mess, in all honesty. "I'm supposed to be doing only light exercise until I completely recover."

"Too bad. So why contact me?"

"I have a few days to wait for my ship to get repaired. On one of our previous missions, we encountered some medi-gel. The entire shipment was filled with bad nanites. Not the kind that fail to heal or anything like that. The kind that the Rachni have been using to turn the dead into their soldiers. It was shipped from here."

"Getting a warrant would bring attention to it." Miranda said, nodding. "So, you need someone on the board of a company to get you in."

"You're on Binary Helix." Julia said. "So I need a way into Peak 9, where Binary Helix shares a lab with Sirta."

Miranda frowned. "That's going to be rather difficult, then. We sold our shared lab space to ExoGeni. We were having enough losses, and the company was threatened over a few shared issues with Sirta. As such, we now have a tram connection between Peak 9 and Peak 7. We have to share space with Aramax, but that is better than Sirta."

"What's wrong with my company?" Julia asked with a smile, but phrasing it with a threatening touch.

"They're being arrogant pricks about how much lab space they require. As well as power requirements. Sharing server cooling resources with them was a delicate process that took over much of the meetings. We have resolved much of the issues of our working environment by moving to Peak 7." Miranda said. "But there is a shared mountain face between the peaks. If you are willing to go by foot, perhaps you could sneak in."

"That sounds nice enough." Julia smirked. "But that means that I'll need a disguise to get anywhere close." She motioned to the repainted Pheonix armor she was wearing. "That  _Prothean_ , Javik, destroyed my catsuit. It was falling apart in places anyways, but he ruined it for good. Broke all the synaptic connections."

"Ass." Miranda said. "He wouldn't care about preventing the loss of that."

"Is Dad alright?" Julia asked carefully. "He had lost a lot of blood last I saw."

"He's ok." Miranda replied, both of them trying not to implicate the other with information or intent. "The Alliance doctors put him back together rather well. He told me that you were the one in more pain than he was. Something about being hit by an Ardat-Yakshi."

Julia shuddered, all of the feelings coming back from Canrum. "I don't think we should talk about it." She hadn't been invited to Jenkin's funeral, either. His cousin hadn't wanted any military involvement. She had invited a precious few people to the funeral, and Julia hadn't even been healthy enough to leave the hospital and attend incognito. Nor had she the heart to ask someone to go for her. An Omni-tool message wasn't personal enough. She would visit the grave, and that much she could promise. Cloaked, so that she could express herself and not come to pieces in front of everyone.

"Well, Dad noticed what had happened to your armor." Miranda said. "I've got something for you in the closet. Dad wanted to force the Alliance to cover you, but I just went ahead and picked one up for you from our storehouses. Hannah has a few lying around, and I know you need it."

"Thank you." Julia saw the catsuit, of course heavily modified. Every Infiltrator had their own mods and preferences. Hannah liked her magnetic strips on her lower back and thighs. Julia liked hers on the upper back and hips. Hannah was more likely to hide in plain sight, and her choices reflected that. "Mum was alright with this?"

"She's a bit busy. I haven't heard from her in months, but we agreed to help you wherever we can. The mods are out of date, but they are Quarian in design. Shields and improved exoskeleton." Miranda pulled out the armor from the closet, and held it up to Julia. "You've lost weight."

"I've had to eat with a tube." She scoffed. "You try keeping up on calorie intake when your jaw is wired shut."

Miranda snickered. Her laugh was structured, refined, and altogether friendly. It wasn't in your face or rude like Hannah's laugh. Nor was it surprising or intrusive like her own. "The pictures on the extranet are pretty gruesome." She tapped her wrist, and one of the wall projectors lit up with a picture of her, staring at one of press cameras that had been outside the Arcturus court house. The bloodshot eye and black and blue cheek was just one thing. She hadn't used any makeup that morning, having not had any access to her gear. "The extranet comments have been pretty supportive, actually."

 _She killed a Brood Warrior with a knife and didn't get scratched! What the hell was able to hurt her like this!_  Was the top rated comment. Three hundred thousand likes. Julia's eyebrow went up. The other followed as she saw the number rising in real time. Five in the last second.  _Too bad the Alliance doesn't allow nudes._  That comment had more likes. Julia frowned at that. "Can I dislike that comment?"

"Not with that account." Miranda said. "But I can trace the original poster and drop a hell of a lot of viruses onto their wrist." Both sisters smirked at the thought. "You're very popular on the extranet. Though much of the attention is of course purely physical. Others are military retirees and special interests. Others are more  _personal_." Miranda said, tapping on one of the accounts.

Julia moved a bit closer to the screen when she saw  _Kaidan Alenko_  on it. His actual account, and not his fake one. It even had his browser history, which she usually stayed out of. Unless someone was under investigation or they were named Jeff Moreau, she didn't check browser history. It almost felt like an invasion of privacy, but she let herself look at it.  _Julia Constantine, sightings of; Julia Harper, dating history; Julia Constantine, dating history; Julia Constantine, favorite foods; Julia Constantine, food allergies;_  The list went on. Miranda leaned over her shoulder. "So, is he as good as they say?"

"What!" Julia flinched. "I haven't…"

"What?" Miranda echoed. "You haven't slept with him yet? He wouldn't refuse, you know. He's been with dozens of women since his sports career started." Miranda smirked. "You had him eating out of your hand the last time I heard."

"Until I let his team die on Suen." Julia said. "Now I don't know."

"Julia, you're being an idiot. Men like that don't fall into your lap every day." Miranda said. But she could say things like that. Her life wasn't as complicated. She didn't have to worry about regulations, rules, and governments judging her. "I would have slept with him by now. Regulations or not."

"You know I can't do that." Even if the man was planning on trying. Especially if he was trying. The dates on some of these extranet searches were during her latest recovery. That made things more frustrating. "Even though it seems like he wants to."

"If my girlfriend didn't make me agree not to try, I would be all over him."

"I thought she was open to the idea of you being able to make your own decisions." Julia pointed out.

"Unless she gets to participate, but like anything else, what she doesn't know about she won't care about until we do a deep meld at some point." Miranda smirked. "Not to mention your little date with him you were dressed up like me."

"You can mimic me as well as I can mimic you." Julia stated. "Please don't try anything with him until he's decided if anything is going to happen." That kind of commitment would be able to keep Miranda away from Kaidan. Or any other male member of the crew. Jenkins would have been enamored with her. Kaidan might be, if the looks Miranda had been given so far were any indication.

"What about the Turian?" That was an even worse direction for Miranda to be thinking about. "He looks rather stout."

"Ashley has been trying to sleep with him for a month now. I'm curious where that will end up." Julia replied casually. Miranda was one of those people that could read body language instinctually. Any kind of discomfort on her part would be judged as a lie. Or at least misconstruing the truth.

"Huh. Didn't think the girl who has a collection of Turian skulls would go for one herself." Miranda chuckled. "Well, that might just be enough to turn General Williams over in his grave."

Julia started taking apart the catsuit, and pulling out the mods that had been in her old catsuit. Retooling one of these took hours. "Miranda, do you have any kind of exercise gear at Peak 7?"

"Some. Why?"

"Remember Switzerland, when we were kids? When we accidentally crossed over into the French Alps?"

"Of course. Father was furious. You had the title of most expensive child for a while after that."

Until he left. "I need some skis. As well as a briefing on Peak 9's detection systems."

Miranda nodded. "I'll walk you through it. Anything else?"

Julia smiled. "I'll make a list." She had a plan, now. Sirta could be dealt with. Miranda could work with her directly this time, and they could act like sisters. For at least a little while, the knot of tension behind her neck released.

If anything, Jack Harper had raised his children with high expectations. Extremely high expectations. Attending operas, private island vacations, tutors, language lessons, and etiquette were expected. They worked hard for it, and rare were the compliments that were given by Jack Harper. As such, Julia was an excellent skier. So was Miranda. Kaidan was not as good as them, but said it had been a fun sport in the off season at earth and Bekenstein, though Bekenstein's snows were normally sticky and thick. Noveria's snow was dry, at least in their current ecosystem. It was also four feet thick of powder. Under that was an icy layer of compacted snow, enough that you would be nearly buried if you fell.

Kaidan had five inches on her, though, and when he sank into the powder his face and shoulders were still clear. She had a fall that ended with her almost diving underneath the snow. Thankfully biotics were plentiful today. When one of them fell on the hike around the mountain, the others could pull them out of their hole and get them back on their skis.

The entire range was filled with different company's detritus. Old security towers, new security towers, trees disguised as motion sensors, and Salarian element zero detection nets were everywhere. Anything with a power cell would get picked up here. So she was dressed with a normal technician's outfit as well as a ski coat. Her Omni-tool was broken into pieces and the power cell was contained inside a lead lined necklace. It was shielded and would keep it from being discovered.

"This is the ridge line!" Miranda said over the wind. "Past here you will find the face leading to Peak 7!"

"You'll get the signal and be ready, right?" The wind made her words barely carry.

"You know it!" Alenko said. "Haven't missed on this kind of thing before."

 _That_  she could trust. Miranda might have trouble with this, but Kaidan had trained his entire adult life for moments like this. Julia let out a shallow breath, as much air as she could get in this high altitude. Her breath fogged, and her goggles were the most basic that she could find. She had to rip out the temperature gauges and altitude meter from it, so that she could get past the sensor nets. The goggles were mostly tight against her face, but her lips felt chill in the air.

Once she had centered herself, she formed a Singularity in her hand. It faltered slightly, and she had to force her will upon it more than normal to keep it in its form. She blamed her mental state. It hadn't been the same since that Asari had touched her. Pushing that thought from her mind, she let the Singularity hit the edge of the ridge line. Then, she disengaged her skis and used their bulk on the snow to gently toss herself forward. She couldn't move faster than the snow that was falling, otherwise the motion sensors would detect her. As soon as she came within range of the sensor towers disguised as Noveria's ugly trees, she cloaked.

Another Singularity was dropped near her path, but it was weak. Miranda's, thrown across the great distance. Julia had to throw her arms out to touch it, and almost had her course altered by the gravity-lifting bubble. She started to drift to the right, and knew that she was not going to be at the correct angle. She was supposed to save her own biotics for when they were necessary, but this was going to be bad. She let out a Throw, straight forward. She couldn't decloak, not now. But hopefully Alenko would see the angle and be able to approximate where she was.

She could feel gravity reasserting itself on her when the blue bubble of Alenko's Singularity hit her dead on, reducing her weight and speed of falling. She couldn't fall faster than the snow, after all. With the grace she had been born with, she touched down on the side of the building that Sirta had claimed on Peak 9. It was decorative, and heavily insulated. There were gigantic piles of snow to land in below, but that would only leave a trail. Sneaking in snow was always difficult, and hard to avoid leaving traces. So she grabbed onto the side of the building, waiting for gravity to start coming back. When it did, she swung her body, landing on the small patio that was here as simple decoration. The few tracks in the snow here might be excused by the snow fall, but she made sure that her feet were positioned on one of the decorative railings. The left foot slid, but the right foot held on long enough. Doing a ballet move, she let her entire weight settle onto that foot, and then slowly brought her left foot down on the railing as well.

Reconstructing an Omni-tool while balanced on a railing was not something that could ever go into a resume, but she would make this an achievement somewhere. Once that was put back together on her wrist, and crouched over the railing and activated a prepacked program. The door to the patio clicked, and slid open. As the snow swirled into the doorway, so too did she, rolling onto the carpet and leaving a small pile of snow that would turn into water soon enough. But the dehumidifiers would automatically kick in.

Coming to a stop in front of a few desks, her cloak flickered slightly. Snow disrupted cloaking systems easily when you had to walk through it. She stayed still, until the system stopped flickering and stabilized. Then she risked moving around to look at the inside of the room she had landed in. It was a standard office, one that she was used to seeing. The haptic interface was on standby mode, and the door was unlocked. During the day, the Sirta offices were definitely in use. There were people in coats and comfortable jumpsuits moving between labs and offices freely. It was carefully controlled chaos, with interns and technicians walking all over the place, eyes on their wrists and not on their surroundings. She could see a central atrium in the middle of the building, where a central heating tower was. A cafe serviced the employees and seemed to support some green shrubbery and provide some sort of life in the bleak landscape.

What stood out to her were two armored men, standing in front of a lab door. Julia slid back inside the room, out of view of any cameras, and decloaked to let her system recharge a bit. Shifting her feet back and forth, she tried not to be anxious as she waited the two minutes for her systems to charge. Then, she slipped out the door and down the least populated set of stairs towards the armored figures. No one was near them, and they didn't seem too concerned about what was going on.

Raventek Security Operators. Big goons hired out of secondary school for their size and lack of intelligence. Cheap security. She slipped past them as they both were distracted by some football game, one of the players lining up for a shot on the goalkeeper. She smirked as she passed them, coming towards an operating theatre and lab space. She stopped in her place when she saw what was going on.

Husks, those zombies, were in contained cages down here. Live Husks, contained in large containment cages, some of them strung up and others held down to operating tables. She shuddered, seeing that some of the Husks were wearing the remains of jumpsuits. Jumpsuits that she had seen on some of the technicians here. Sirta had not had any kind of operation like this on any of their books. This was not something she expected of a medical company that she owned. She realized that there was a line marked in the floor, labeled  _Unshielded Technology will cease behind this point_. Julia stopped well short of it, knowing that her cloaking system would drop if she went further. There wasn't anything more than a small comm terminal here for her to hack into, either.

She deployed a small audio tool to the underside of the haptic screen, inside one of the grooves. That might pick up some interesting conversations when it would transmit to her in 48 hours. With that, she stepped out of the hallway quickly. She watched as a technician walked down the glass walled hallway, and the eyes of all of the Husks followed them. The technician seemed at ease, as if this was something they were used to. She glared at that. Something was wrong here, and as the owner of Sirta and an Alliance agent, it was her job to find out how bad this really was. Sirta was not supposed to be doing things like this. Hanz Bhoer would be getting a call from her after this.

Getting out was slightly more complicated. She went for the roof access, and then had to wait for her access codes to trigger the doors. There would be a log on file, but a log without a user attached to it. Questionable, but not impossible to expect considering Noveria's paranoia. Once on the roof, there was nothing but snow. Piles of snow and a tilted roof. Tilted enough that she couldn't afford to get to the edge. She clenched her teeth. She took apart her Omni-tool, stripping it down and slipping its power cell back into the necklace with the lead lined case.

Then, it was just her. She let out a Throw, arcing outwards and upwards towards the far tree line. Now she had to trust that they saw the biotic ability and could calculate her speed and distance while their target was invisible. That didn't fill her with the best of confidence. Even if they missed, she would at least be partway up the mountainside. With a deep breath, she focused her energy into another Singularity. Then, before she could feel any more anxiety, she threw herself into the bubble and trusted that it would be alright. The correct angle and speed made her movements match the rate of the falling snow, except that this time she was moving upwards.

It was more than a half mile to her from the tree line, and Julia waited until the thirty second mark before starting to feel anxious. Then, a bright blue bolt of energy came out of the tree line, striking her perfectly. Her weight was reduced, and she was gently raised up further and further, occasionally using a Throw to let Alenko know where she was going. She was sweating, and when she got to the top of the mountain she could see Alenko looking worried, sweat pouring down his face even in the freezing weather.

When she touched down, gravity reasserted itself with a vengeance, almost as if she had been smitten for all the time she had skipped being in its embrace. She sank into the snow, and with a yelp she disappeared under the powder.

"Hey!" She barked. "Help me!"

"No problem." Alenko replied, hitting her with another one of his biotic Pulls. The man knew exactly how much force to put behind something, and Julia suspected that he had correctly guessed her weight. Not exactly the information she was proud of him knowing, but it was helpful. He used one hand to guide her to her skis, the perspiration on his face showing that it had not been so simple for her to be lifted out. She clipped her boots into the ski, the magnetic strips having been disabled in her boots. Her feet were cold, and her fingers were not responding as fast as she was used to. Once the skis were strapped on, they all went back down the mountain, the falling snow filling in their shallow tracks. Within hours, the only sign that anyone broke into Sirta would be the small listening device she left.

"Julia." She turned towards Alenko, hearing him pronounce her first name. Before it had always been the respectful 'Ma'am', or 'Commander'. He was offering her a candy bar, while another was held in his hand. "You look like you need it."

She glanced down at the deep fried Twinkie that he handed her. "Isn't this stuff illegal in some parts of the Alliance?"

"Some. But it's also the official candy bar of the Titans." Alenko said with a smirk. "Biotic's best choice."

"This tastes rancid." Miranda said from where she was standing.

"You've got to appreciate your Human heritage more, Miranda." Julia said, taking a bite of hers. She resisted the urge to shudder, as this tasted like processed sugar, starch, and then a liquid espresso shot of caffeine. "What the hell is in this stuff?"

Kaidan shrugged. "Whatever it is Hershey puts in any of their food. Ever since they made processed sugar their trademark product, they don't need to reveal what their secret ingredient is. Though heroin and marijuana are at the top of the list of guesses." He seemed to eat his without trouble. "I get paid to have them on me."

"If you weren't successful for other reasons I might be jealous." Miranda said. She pocketed the candy, looking like she wanted to scrape her tongue. She always got that kind of look on her face when she didn't like the food she was trying. On other people they would call it a sneer, but on Miranda it was the face she made when something didn't agree with her. "We should get back soon. Peak 7 will notice if we are gone for too long."

"What did you tell them when you signed us out?"

"That I was feeling up to a few private moments in one of the remote cabins up here. Taking the two of you with me was simply showing that my tastes have not changed. Unlike Father, who stopped dating any woman other than Hannah."

"How does she keep him from sleeping around? I mean, Dad isn't exactly one to avoid women." Julia said. "We're lucky we had the same mother, after all."

Miranda's eyes darkened at that. "Hannah claims that he is attracted to intelligence and secrets. Both of which she has in spades. Julia, did you find what you were looking for?"

"I didn't. Instead I found something disturbing. Sirta's labs are filled with Husks. Husks that they are doing something with that doesn't appear on any audit I have access to." She frowned, her breath fogging the air. "We've got enough for a warrant. I'm coming back, and next time I'm landing there with everyone."

"Since this is technically outside of Alliance Space, will this be a sanctioned operation, Ma'am?" Kaidan had reverted to his normal boy scout self.

"We'll see." If she didn't get a warrant, there was no way that she was coming in here. At least, not publicly.

* * *

Three days later, her warrant arrived. Elanus Risk Control Services, as well as the Noveria Development Council's approval to land at Peak 9. So the  _Normandy_  was going down there. Garrus was leading the security cleanup team, in charge of going into the security hub and retrieving a full download of all information relevant to the facility. He had Spectre Authority, and that was all of the sensitive information. The NDC didn't want anyone else looking at it. She wasn't supposed to, even though she was the owner.

Garrus had promised that anything truly incriminating would be in front of her desk, so long as the NDC weren't going to have a fit about it. He was taking Tali Zorah and Williams with him, both of whom would be excellent support. She was taking Wrex, Halmabad, Alenko, and her sister. Miranda wanted to see how she 'measured up' to Husks. More importantly, she had access to the real blueprints and had been inside the labs at Peak 9 before. There was a small courtyard between the two buildings at Peak 9, and the Normandy's nose barely fit in between. The hangar bay doors dropped, and her two squads plus a squad from the NDC's Elanus Risk Control teams were there. The Elanus squad didn't have authority to enter the labs unless they suspected that the Alliance was breaking their warrant.

Noveria took things seriously, which she could respect. The look on their faces when they all boarded the  _Normandy_  and had to sign non disclosure forms regarding what they saw was even better. The officer that was with them, Matsuo, tried and failed to act nonchalant. But the sight of a ship appearing from out of nowhere made her jaw drop. She was professional enough for a hired security specialist. A rather weak biotic, she made up for it with pleasant conversation. Julia didn't use her apparent ranking within her company, as she had dropped out of the Alliance. She hadn't finished her tour with the Navy before being dishonorably discharged. The charges were false, but Matsuo hadn't stayed long enough to challenge her superior over a dishonorable discharge. It was well known that her commander took advantage of women. His career had been locked. He would not be promoted any further.

Not that doing that would help Matsuo or his other victims in the long run. Her team landed in the courtyard in a mess. Nothing had been cleared from the previous snowstorm. There were still gigantic piles of snow everywhere, and the Humans all sank to their waists. Matsuo did as well, but Alenko, Miranda, and herself were resting on their toes. Biotics could cheat. Unless you were named Wrex. Most people went off the direct edge of the hangar bay door. Wrex and Garrus went off to the left, where the courtyard became a set of stairs. There was a puff of snow and Wrex disappeared under the white. Garrus sank to his neck, releasing a hiss as he hit the cold air. Between three biotics and a few moments of frantic digging, everyone but Wrex was free.

"Wrex!" She yelled. "I'm not paying you to nap down there!"

The snow next to the doors moved, and Wrex burst from the pile. Or at least a Wrex shaped snowman. There was a hole through the snow, about the size of a Krogan's hump. Everyone just stared at the Krogan, as he brushed himself off. "Krogan are naturally better at adapting to new conditions." He grumbled. "I'm waiting for you, Constantine."

He did beat her to the doors. "Wrex, I am seriously wondering if you evolved from a fish at this point." It had to have been ten meters from where Wrex disappeared under the snow to the door.

"Krogan evolved from the same genetic stock as Thresher Maws and Varren. We are natural diggers. These water crystals are like loose dirt to me." Wrex said proudly. Then he watched as the rest of them slowly made their way through the snow to the doors of Sirta. He chuckled as Garrus took the longest to get there, while Julia gracefully made it over the top of the snow with Miranda and Alenko. Again, biotics could cheat. When the teams all lined up at the door, she let Matsuo use her override codes to open the main entrance.

Her faced skewed up in concentration as it didn't work. "Someone manually locked us out!"

Julia nodded. "Wrex." The big Krogan gently moved Matsuo out of the way, and brought his Graal Spike launcher up to the door. It thundered three times, until the spikes had opened a gap between the sealed doors. "Combined Pull!" Four biotics hit the door with directional forces, while Wrex slammed his shoulder into the weaker side of the door. It slowly bent open, and Matsuo's guards helped hold the doors open.

A small glass walled entryway had been sealed shut, the sliding glass doors the only thing in between them and the main atrium. A few of the Raventek guards had lined up, weapons drawn and a man wearing a Raventek Security cap and a technician's uniform was in front of them. Julia smirked as she walked forward, Miranda and Kaidan using their biotics to gently pull the locked glass doors open as she walked up. They kept the glass from breaking and opened the doors with style.

"This, this is private property. You are not allowed to be here!" Said the man in the cap. Not with any confidence, either.

"My name is Julia Constantine. I own Sirta, and I got a warrant from the NDC. Get out of my way or I'll be forced to consider you as a hindrance."

"Ma'am, you'll have to come to the security desk and confirm that. We have a protocol to follow." He said, but without any kind of authority to it. Raventek was not known for its high risk hazard benefits.

"Matsuo. Get rid of him. Team one, with me." She nodded towards the security desk. "Team two, get moving." Her Sirta armor was going to be put to the test today. She walked towards the secured lab with the Husks, Wrex at her side and Halmabad on the other. Alenko and her sister were behind them, their Pheonix Armor painted blue and black respectively. As she entered the hallway, she gently picked up her listening device from the comm terminal. It had not filled up its cache of data, but she would analyze it later.

Just ahead was the glass hallway, where the Husks had been contained. All of the cages were empty, and the lights were turned down. All of the lab tables were empty, the restraints open. Some of the ragged remains of clothing were left behind, but all of this struck her as dangerous. "Someone knows we're coming."

"Good." Wrex mumbled. "Hazard pay."

"What do you do with all of that money, Wrex?" Julia asked. "I never see you spend any of it, and I know that you're making a profit on every single shot."

"I do what any Krogan would do. Save up for the real expenditures." Wrex shrugged. "I always keep enough to replace any weapon or armor I own. My type of work requires that much. Anything on top of that is invested by a Volus."

"Movement!" Halmabad said. "Five coming at us, Human."

Stepping towards them down the corridor were five technicians, all of whom had their hands up. "Don't shoot! She's gone crazy!"

"Who!" Julia barked, holding up her hand. "Empty your pockets and come forward. Anyone draws a loaded weapon and you all die."

"Doctor Kent is going crazy! She just released all of the test subjects!" They all dropped a couple of OSDs, and one of them had a physical key that he wanted to keep. Julia just had a copy recorded on her Omni-tool just in case and let him go. Matsuo could handle them.

"Matsuo, give me anything you have on a Doctor Kent." She told her. Then she moved back to the long hallway. "This is the only way in or out of this section of the labs. Nothing gets past us."

" _Constantine. Kent is a Doctor working on a joint ExoGeni and Sirta project. She's supposedly the director of the project on ExoGeni's end._ " Matsuo responded as they carefully moved forward. " _She was working with the Sirta representative, Doctor Lionel, who disappeared recently._ "

Lionel. She remembered that something was important about that name. She shrugged for now, moving forward. The hallway came to an end, at a large circular lab space that hung over a glacial edge. The mountain could be seen from the windows, and small clamps held the lab space together to the rest of the facility, easily able to be locked down for security.

The interior of the lab was a mess. Lights were flickering, glass was broken, and a few small bloody drag marks were across the floors. "Doctor Kent, I'm a representative from Sirta's board of directors. We need to talk!" Julia yelled out to the lab. She knew there were Husks in here. Her ribs were itching with the EMP going around.

" _You're here to ruin everything! First Lionel, and now me! You promised that we would be safe here, but no! Everything is ruined!_ " The woman sounded like she was in hysterics. " _You won't take me alive!_ " Her voice echoed over the loudspeakers throughout the lab.

"Go!" She said, taking Wrex and going left around the central lab space. Husks rose out of anywhere they could hide. Ceilings, wall panels, and one that thought that a bedsheet would be sufficient. It died before it could let off its awful screams. Wrex was the main target of these Husks, and he brought the business end of the Graal down on the first to reach him. Half of its torso opened up, and Julia raised an eyebrow at the crude blade that the Krogan had mounted on the front.

Three more got sucked into a Singularity and couldn't avoid the two spikes that impaled them to a wall. She herself was only dealing with two, Throwing one into an operating room and the other died by her pistol.

On the other side of the room, she saw that Halmabad was moving forward slowly, almost hesitantly. Alenko was behind him, arms flashing blue as a biotic explosion ripped apart a Singularity full of the Husks. Miranda was in front of them both, some sort of long blade out and cutting the Husks down. She was leaving the armored Husks for the other two, and focusing on the ones that were just wearing technician uniforms or nothing at all.

Julia had to refocus back on her side of the battle when Wrex got piled on by four Husks, all coming from the vents. He had thrown one of them off, but another was lifting up a large shotgun to the back of his helmet. Julia hit the bastard with a Throw, and its gun barked into the ceiling tiles instead of Wrex. A shriek from above caught her attention, and she threw a couple of tech grenades into the open gap above Wrex and the hole that the shotgun had made. The screams that followed also heralded the arrival of six more down from the ceiling, their eyes glowing and their heads split.

"Earwigs!" She yelled, ducking behind an overturned bed. Salarian Husks were downright  _nasty_. Wrex gave out a bellow as his got hit with multiple tech abilities, and her kinetic and biotic barriers crackled as the bed got showered with Overloads. She grit her teeth as her fingers burned, an Incinerate catching her hands. The sheets were good enough to bury her burning hands in, but surprisingly the armor held. She wouldn't hug Bhoer, but she did agree that this model was well made.

Her weapons had been protected by the bed, and when she came up on a knee with her gun positioned on the bed frame for stability, the Earwigs noticed. They were all trying to attach their glowing blue hands to Wrex's armor, obviously to cause more havoc. Her rifle barked with glee, rounds puncturing the technician jumpsuits and send chunks of blue wire and flesh to the ground. Wrex was heaving, sounding exhausted and tired. He was patting out the flames from an Incinerate using one of the Earwigs. The Earwig was trying to hurt him, but his iron grip on its neck prevented it from being able to do much of anything except die loudly. "I hate Salarians." He grunted. "There is a Human up ahead. You go." Wrex's knee was leaking something orange onto the floor.

"You keep them off me." She told him, even though most of the Husks were down. As she moved towards the back offices, there was a bright blast of biotic energy and Miranda arrived beside her. "Why the hell are you using a sword?"

"Guns would be cheating." Was her cheeky reply. "You've been learning about long range combat, while I spent the last ten years learning Justicar training on Thessia. Trust me, up close is where I will do the most damage."

"Fine. Kent must be back here somewhere." Halmabad's shotgun was firing at something, and she had to trust that the man could handle himself. The main office was empty, but Julia didn't trust that. She used her pistol to put holes through all of the desks, the only place where someone could take cover. None of them had any kind of cries of pain or panic. She went around to the left, coming up to the second group of offices. Here, her eyes widened. There were some of the Rachni devices that turned people into Husks, and they had been set up next to operating tables. Operating tables next to medi-gel fabricators. She frowned, and saw that two Husks were still in the process of being transformed. Two figures in the armor of Raventek.

She put them down with her rifle from a distance, and then threw a tech grenade onto the devices. She then circled back to the left, finding the last set of labs. These were marked with some kind of security warning, and an alarm beeped as she walked through the doors. Julia ducked as a shotgun blast took out part of the wall, and she took cover in the door frame. Miranda slid to the other side, thinking she was alright.

"Kent, stand down!" Julia yelled, hoping it was Kent.

"You can't make me!" Her voice was odd, reflected by the comm systems of the lab and from being this close. "Lionel knew too much!"

"Kent, stop shooting at us and we can all talk this over. Why don't you tell us why you started experimenting with Husks."

"You don't even appreciate them! They are our evolutionary goal, yet you know nothing about them! Hah!" It was settled. Kent was deranged. "Homeo Divinus will lead all of the Galaxy to their true path!"

Julia nodded to Miranda. They both stood up, and Julia switched over to her sniper rifle. Then, she cloaked. The armor she wore was very inefficient, and her tactical cloak wouldn't last very long. Long enough to scout out the room, at least. Kent was in a final lab, where two tables had been pulled side by side, and another at the foot of the table. Something was under a sheet, and was kicking against restraints. It may have been Human, but the blue wires traveling up the legs were definitely the markings of a Husk. A Husk that was eight feet long.

Kent was standing behind the Husk, her hair wildly sticking out of her head. Some had fallen out, revealing metallic flesh and blue wire. One of her eyes was blue, a Human blue. The other was that of a Husk, her old eye hanging on and dangling by her cheek. When Miranda tried to step into the room, she got blasted by the shotgun, her armor splintering in front. Phasic rounds, Julia could guess. Her rifle came up to her shoulder, and the sniper round hit Kent, her kinetic barriers, and failed to penetrate. Julia decloaked from that, and her eyes met Kent's partially Husk ones. The sniper and shotgun both went off, but Kent's had not pivoted far enough when Julia's round blew her head right off.

Miranda stood up next to her, giving out a huff. The Husk on the table continued to flail, and the table at its feet jittered as the large Husk lifted it off the ground. It's screams sounded like a Human female, but were dropping in pitch with every breath. "I'll deal with this." Julia said. "See if Kent's Omni-tool can tell us anything." Miranda gave the Husk plenty of space as she moved around it, going to where Kent's corpse had ended up. Julia cloaked, carefully approaching the flailing thing on the table.

Her Kavka would do the trick, here. She was able to approximate where the head was on this thing by the way the mouth and nose distended the sheets. Something was wrong with the face, and long blue tendrils snaked out around the head. Julia was quiet, and carefully angled the knife above the creature's head. Then, she brought it down with all the force she could muster. As well as a healthy amount of biotics.

The restraint for the left arm snapped, and her hands were stopped inches from the sheets. With a feeling of horror, she saw a biotic pulse move out from the Husk and snap the other restraints. Julia was picked up, the extra large fingers holding her easily. The Husk rose from the table, its elongated neck and exaggerated facial features belonging to an Asari. Long tendrils hung from the back of its head, and large cheeks were filled with some kind of technology. It's three eyes, one in the center of its forehead, all centered on her. Another hand rose up, and positioned itself right in front of her torso. The long fingers were sharpened into tips, and Julia screamed in pain as the arm plunged into her.

It screeched in annoyance as its hand didn't actually puncture all the way. This armor held, and held well enough that the only damage that showed was a large dent along her stomach. But it brought its hand back again, and nothing she was doing could get her hands free from its other hand.

Miranda twisted around, glowing with biotics as she jumped forward, moving through the air towards the Husk. It turned its head at the moment her biotics went active, and the technology attached to either cheek activated. It screamed, low and deep, as every molecule in the room simply  _stopped_. Miranda was frozen in the air, the molecules unable to move and unable to let her go. Julia's legs were like stone. Everything was quiet, even the sound waves no longer traveling. Julia felt resistance as she tried to move her toes inside of her boots, and the very air she was breathing had stopped moving.

Everything erupted into pain, as something made the molecules explode. Sparks jumped to everything in the room, making both her and Miranda cry out. Every glass beaker and tool also got struck, as something reacted. The Husk yelled, turning its attention to the door as Miranda flopped onto the floor.

Halmabad was standing there, grinning. "Yeah, I thought that would get your attention. Try this one!" He tapped his wrist, and his armor spat out a burst of tech abilities. Damping hit the area, making Julia seeth as the same effect hit her biotics. But the Husk was even more pissed off, and tossed Julia at Halmabad. She thought she was about to hit the other Spectre when something reduced her weight and sent her to a slide on the floor. The Husk stood up, bringing itself to the full eight foot height. It was still wearing the remains of a Sirta uniform, the pants shredded and the coat seemingly trying to contain long tendrils of blue wire coming from the armpits and backbone.

"What the-" Wrex got hit by the tables, the Krogan catching them with his face.

"Take Cover!" Alenko yelled, as the second table hit Halmabad. The third hit Miranda, just as she had rolled upwards. The extra large head of the Husk probably allowed it to think more. It was looking at all of them, taking out the ones that it believed were the biggest threat. Threat analysis, biotics, and a whole lot of tech abilities. She brought out her sniper rifle, and let a shot off towards the beast. The biotic barrier that she struck was thick. Julia let off a second shot, and then rolled into the hallway and out of its range to switch over to her assault rifle. Wrex was climbing out from under his table, Graal already aimed at the Husk. He looked murderous.

Then he got blasted out the window, as if he weighed nothing. The Krogan's arms waved uselessly as he sailed into the nearby snow drift. Alenko sent a Warp at the beast, but it simply shrugged it off. Miranda had to dive as it tossed more lab equipment at her, screeching. Halmabad tried to lift his table, but couldn't. His hand just tapped against the floor, and he was desperately looking around for help. Between her and Alenko, they might not be able to bring this thing down.

It screamed again, and all of the molecules in the air stopped. Thought it, too, stopped moving. Now that she was outside of this, she noticed all of this with a clinical mind. It couldn't move, but neither could anything hurt it.

"The last time my biotics never got through." Alenko said. Julia nodded, and saw that the creature sat in the middle of the room, its barriers recharging serenely.

"We need to put it down before it can scream again. Or damage its face."

"With a barrier like that? Not without Heavy Weapons, Ma'am." Alenko said. "Unless we get close."

"Son of a-" The Husk started moving again, and Julia darted into the room, rifle spraying. It did little but piss it off. "Miri!"

Miranda rolled to her feet, glaring at the beast. She nodded, and Julia raised her biotics, knowing what would happen. The creature reacted, hitting her with a Throw that rattled her helmet and sent her into the rear wall hard. But it had acted against Julia, and wasn't prepared for Miranda. It screamed in pain as Miranda jumped, bringing her sword down at its face.

The creature blocked, its arm getting cut off at the bicep. But its face was only grazed by the strike. Julia was impressed by the entire maneuver. Miranda rolled to a stop and cussed. Her blade had bent. She tapped a button on the hilt, and the blade slide out. Along her back, where there would normally be a rifle, there was a large metal construction for holding more of these. "Monomolecular blades are expensive, you bitch!" She slammed the hilt back into the metal mouth, a click sounding and she had to pull out another.

"Get back!" Alenko yelled, throwing a bundle of grenades at the thing. That didn't do very much, as it started walking towards the door. Julia and Miranda went through one of the observation windows, her rifle having broken them as she had shot at the Husk. Halmabad, sans table, met them with Alenko in the main chamber. "We need something heavier!"

"It's gonna have so much more to throw at us in here!" Halmabad said, eyes darting everywhere. "We gotta fall back!"

"Dragging more people into this is just going to give it more targets!" Alenko said. "We gotta stop it here."

Julia pointed to the operating theatre. "The other Husks tore up the floor already. We should use-" Whatever she was about to say she abandoned in favor of dodging, as the creature appeared in a burst of biotic power among them. "Run!"

This creature could move around like a Vanguard. Asari Husks were not to be screwed around with. As she ran forward, she noticed the Asari Husk picking up a dropped shotgun. Then it grinned, its teeth moving around inside of its mouth. It started firing, lighting up Halmabad and hitting the man in the head. Thankfully, that shotgun was not that great, and didn't puncture. The biotic Pull that hit him afterwards sent him flying towards the Husk. It was going to slice him open using its clawed hand, if it wasn't for an operating table slamming in between the two of them. Again, she thanked having Alenko with her on this mission.

The Husk screamed, the air around it stopping. Julia felt her body lock up, caught in its ability. The creature almost serenely settled down, its third eye settling on looking at her as its barriers recharged. Julia was trying to breath, but nothing was coming. When it released the ability, it slashed at her, catching her torso and making her roll. Long cuts were left in the armor, but the inner layers had not broken. On her catsuit, that would have torn right through.

Fire erupted from all sides, as each of her allies let loose. The Husk ignored them, throwing a table at her and sending a Warp at Halmabad. The Arab had taken cover and watched as it eroded away visibly. Julia had flipped over a piece of lab equipment, and the table broke into pieces around that. Then, finally, the battle shifted. A hand broke through the floor tiles, dragging the left foot of the Husk down into the gap. It tried to compensate, but something extremely heavy glowed with biotics below.

Julia smirked, seeing the hand of a Krogan pull the Husk down so low that it tripped, falling to its knee. Then it fell completely, dragged down until its leg was completely in the hole. The Graal fired, the leg now pinned to the foundations in the floor, and the Husk shrieked in pain. Then the tile near its head opened, and Wrex yanked its head under. Another bark of the Graal and it finally stopped  _screaming_.

It was still flailing its limbs in all directions, legs and arm twitching and slashing out at anything. Julia just let herself fall back against the table that had been thrown at her, taking deep breaths. "What the hell, Wrex?" She grunted. "Why couldn't you have started with that?"

The tile near her broke, and the Krogan heaved himself out of it. He was covered in blood, glass, snow, and dirt. In that order. "It has a redundant nervous system. Like a Krogan. Had to surprise it. Can't take something like that head on." He stepped on the flailing arm, pinning it to the tile with another shot of the Graal. "If I can guess right, this thing will take hours to realize that its head is gone. That's why Halmabad's damping didn't even bother it." He pinned its last flailing limb, the foot. "So I figured it wouldn't be able to predict me coming from below."

"No offense, Wrex, but did you just dig your way in?"

"Krogan are natural digging specialists." He told her, proudly wiping snow and dirt off of his torso. "This entire section is on top of gravel and loose dirt. Easy to get through. Accessways are underneath this, and once I was in there I found out where that thing was." He shrugged at the Husk that they took down. "Much easier to surprise than a Thresher Maw."

She sighed. Krogan were different, for certain. "Miri, I need that Omni-tool." Her sister handed it to her, clutching her chest. She was getting her breath back, and handed Julia the human hand, with blue wires connecting to the Omni-tool.

"She had it internally connected to her own body." Miranda told her. "I have no idea why she would do that, especially when part of her was already a Husk."

"I'll find out." Julia said. "Who was she?"

Miranda looked around at her crew, as if she didn't trust them. Julia glared, and Miranda got the message. "Our records state that was Dr. Eva Core. She worked with Father a long time ago, before we were born. She's been doing black projects for ExoGeni since."

"Anything in your records about a Doctor Lionel?"

Miranda looked over her Omni-tool, and typed in a few things. "Those files are locked to me. But there is a bit about him being a medical reconstruction specialist." She grimaced. "Hannah locked the file, you'll have to ask her."

"Fine." Julia had taken apart the Omni-tool, and dropped the hand on the floor. The OSD didn't appear to be attached to any blue wires, but she couldn't be too careful. "Halmabad, I need access to this Omni-tool." She handed him one of the dead Husks' tools. "Wipe it and make sure it is in diagnostic mode. I need to know what is on this."

Halmabad was glancing down at the flailing Husk, flakes of its body leaving blue piles of material on the floor. "Right." He grabbed the Omni-tool, and started getting to work.

"Find anything else in this lab. Data is the name of the game today, people. Wrex, check those accessways for any surviving Husks. Miranda, the ceiling. I want this place clear. Don't touch the devices in the far right lab section."

Halmabad had the OSD prepared, and on an Omni-tool that didn't risk her own. "It's not pretty, Ma'am. I found out what that Husk was."

"Well?" She wasn't even sure what that was made from. Asari, at least.

"A mixture of Human and Asari. That's why it's so tall. Human male and Asari, combined at the lab table." He looked distinctly uncomfortable, staring at the still twitching beast. "I found out how they've been making that medi-gel. The stuff we found on Helios."

She took the OSD, seeing the man paling. There was an entry, open and unencrypted. She would have to mark down Halmabad's recent improvement with decryption. It was a journal entry, dated sometime in July.  _Before_  the Rachni had invaded.

_Homo Divinus appears to be a blend of machine-god and flesh, with the capacity for faster thought process and adaptation. Skin cells can become more or less porous, even to the point of possible survival in temperatures and environments outside of what we can now survive in. We have devised that in order to create Homo Divinus en masse, more contact material is needed. Doctor Lionel was able to provide the initial nanites that converted our first Homo Divinus. Unfortunately, contact material is extremely difficult to come by. Prothean Artifacts of the correct nature are impossible to collect._

An addendum was added two months later.  _The Rachni devices produce Homo Divinus! We must have more of them! Initial tests on Lionel's intern have created an impressive specimen, and during the process, we found actively duplicating nanites on his skin! Once collected and added to medi-gel, this could change the nanites that are part of the active ingredient! Evolution can spread across more worlds without the use of large implements. Unfortunately, once the conversion process is finished, the active nanites go dormant, no longer replicating and no longer converting flesh to their divine state. We only have fifteen or so minutes to harvest those nanites and add them to medi-gel during the conversion process. As such, we will need more volunteers to get Homo Divinus off the ground._

Julia shuddered, thinking about how many research staff were involved in this. "How many Husks were there?"

"More than two dozen. Possible three." Miranda said. "The Salarian ones were the hardest to tell numbers on."

Julia nodded stiffly. "Go and get those five who surrendered. They are all accomplices in the murder and torture of every Husk in here. Halmabad, I need to know exactly where they shipped every ounce of this. We're going to find them all. Every shipment is going to turn more people into this."

"Yes, Ma'am." Halmabad said. She glared around, seeing her people getting to work. She was going to tear this lab upside down, until she found this Doctor Lionel, and found every ounce of this medi-gel. This mistake was going to be corrected, and justice provided to the dead. Her hands hit the comm channel for Rear Admiral White. She only got his message system, but that was alright. "Admiral, I've found out where the Helios problem came from. Source is neutralized, and shipments are being located. I will need any free teams you've got to collect them." She felt much better, now that at least she had something to show for all of her efforts. Command might find her likeable again. She doubted that, but this at least would give her some credit.

* * *

Author's Note

This was sort of fun to write. The first Banshee was always nasty. I never liked the premise that they were made only from Ardat-Yakshi. My premise will be rather different for the Husks created be the different races. Human Husks are of course, going to have a special place in my heart. On that note, there shall be a poll on my profile, where you may all vote for what to have as the 'nickname' for Human Husks.

Earwigs are what I conceived of as the Salarian Husk. Their heads split open, and their hands are equipped with Omni-fabricators and Omni-directional jamming equipment. They basically spam grenades and tech abilities like they're candy. The more rare metals near them when they are converted, the more likely that they will be using nastier abilities. Irradiated Earwigs are basically the devil incarnate.

The ability that the Banshee displayed is actually physically possible with enough element zero. Think Stasis, except over a much larger area. It is nothing more than an extension and overpowering of a single ability. It keeps the Banshee from moving or acting in the time that it is active, and so for a good 15-20 seconds nothing can change in that area. The molecules of every particle are in stasis, as are the people touched by the ability.

Doctor Kent is the alias of Doctor Eva Core, who you guys met back at the Revolution of Shanxi. Life hasn't been the easiest for her, and returning to Alliance Space hasn't been an option to her. At ExoGeni, she was able to remain on colonization projects, and finally became a researcher for their technology at their Noveria research outpost. There, she met Dr. Lionel and Dr. Samuel Heart, aka Henry Lawson. More to come, ladies and gentlemen.


	63. Lucid: Turians can Dance?

Chapter 63

Noveria, October 2182

It took a couple of days to finish their work at Sirta and the rest of Peak 9. Every tunnel and duct had to be searched, yielding a few more Husks. All of those were Earwigs, which had the ability to control how much they damped local technology. They could construct anything, and some had sealed themselves inside of walls inside the duct system, curiously. But the replaced walls were suspicious, and Halmabad got a face full of Earwig when he investigated the first hidden Husk.

Wrex found another in the snow, half dead. All of Doctor Kent's work was undone slowly but surely, and Sirta had its second audit of its Noveria offices. Apparently the local director had been paid to falsify their reports for years. Kent had been on the ExoGeni payroll, but they had no information on her. Their previous offices at Peak 12 had very little on her. Eva Core had no records on Noveria. But the Alliance had a few. Apparently she was partially responsible for the Shanxi Revolution. Her records stated that she went into the witness protection program, to keep her from being killed by the Reds.

Her records had been submitted by Allison Hannah Shepard, and further managed by Julianne Jones. The records were empty after that. Thankfully, the tainted medi-gel had been found and contained. Only one alliance outpost had not responded when they tried to investigate the status of the medi-gel. Rear Admiral White sent in two N7 teams and a group of cruisers to investigate. He wanted this mess solved, and under the looming threat of the Rachni he was able to keep the entire investigation under wraps. Noveria didn't want any bad press, and they simply labeled it a black project, one that went bad. No other details were released and Sirta's image was preserved. As she had personally promised Hanz Bhoer.

While that was satisfying, it was nice to feel the Alliance fully supporting her. They trusted her information, and Admiral White didn't care about how this made Sirta look. He cared about how much Human interests would suffer, which she was happy about. Miranda had left before the Alliance had sent their own teams in, as follow up to her own people. It had been nice to have her sister near, but at the same time tense. They couldn't talk about the things that really mattered. They never had, really. Differences in upbringing, differences in lifestyle, and differences in legal status would always separate them. The best that Julia could do was trust that she meant well. The half truths that defined their lives would always hang over them.

She didn't know what Miranda had meant about this  _Prothean_  business. That was most likely impossible. If anyone knew that the Protheans were alive, it would be the Asari. They would most likely keep that knowledge to themselves, though. The race that claimed that it was most for peace was also the one that withheld the rest of the races from understanding Prothean technology. Perhaps Miranda was just making a connection, but she wasn't one to throw a statement like 'Prothy the Prothean' around lightly. Either way, this might be some Prothean researcher or archeologist that had discovered some unknown Prothean technology. The mechanized exoskeleton that he had been using was certainly armored against what the Alliance could throw at it, but it wasn't invincible. Shaw had damaged it, and that was proof enough for her that whatever this was, it wasn't Prothean. It might be based on Prothean technology, but whatever fought her wasn't an actual Prothean.

Miranda's last conversation with her was more of the same. A topic that was safe to talk about, yet at the same time didn't solve or release the tension that always hung between them. Miranda had made the point that Alenko had gone out of his way to keep her from being injured during the raid on Sirta. Small things that had been noticed during their time there, such as when they fought that larger Husk, Alenko had been on her six and had chosen to keep her covered. As well as keeping Halmabad from dying when that creature Pulled him. He really was keeping her covered. Miranda and Julia had plenty of time to discuss and theorize the best ways of trying to get to know him.

Julia immediately shut down the idea of sneaking into his sleeper pod. It was a well documented area, and any kind of wrongdoing there would be noticed. Instead, she decided that she would have private chats with each member of the crew. Which meant that certain troublemakers would end up more visited than others. Jeff Moreau was visited once, and only once. She didn't even bother decloaking when she caught the man sleeping in the co-pilot's chair. He must have been in enough pain that it wasn't worth trying to get into a sleeper pod. The elevator still wasn't working. She didn't judge him for choosing to sleep in the cockpit, or even the escape pod. The backup pilot was injured during the Rachni attack, and she hadn't left the medical bay yet. Joker was her first choice to talk to because she could relate with him, and he didn't judge her very much.

"Ma'am?" The voice of Charles Pressley spoke up. She was brought back to the present by the frustrated looking XO. "You wanted to ask me a question?"

"Right." She said, thinking. "I did."

"Which was…?" Pressley asked, curious. Julia tried to think about exactly what she had come up with to ask Pressley, but nothing came. Every single time she tried to think about a question, it just drew a blank. "Ma'am, One of us should be in the CIC, before Joker decides to try something. If you remember the question, feel free to type it to me."

Julia muttered something in assent, and Pressley walked off without much fanfare. Great job, Julia. There we go, use those social skills. She sighed. Looking around at the second deck, she saw that there was a few other people to talk to. Doctor 'Heart' was inside the medical bay, observing the remaining injuries and working on some kind of data analysis at his main terminal. She knew him from infancy, and this conversation might be the easiest or the most awkward for her.

The medical bay doors opened, and she walked in to see the Doctor sipping from a brandy. A rather expensive bottle, if she could guess. He must have smuggled it in while they were docked at Noveria. "Doctor." She spoke up. "Do you mind if we have a small talk?"

"Julia! Of course! Here, come into the lab." The back room of the medical bay was meant as overflow, as well as a safe location to handle anything sensitive. The tainted medi-gel was examined in this room. "My doors are always open. What can I do for you?" He sank into one of the chairs heavily, bottle still in hand.

"You know about Grace and Abigail?" She asked quietly. Some of her friends from childhood, the Lawson sisters were spoiled brats, but she did like them. Most children of the affluent were spoiled. Herself included.

"Yes. But someone sent me a picture through questionable methods, with a shot of all three of my girls. Roaring drunk, of course. Proof they're alright. A standing threat to keep me in line." He chuckled. "Never leaves anything out, does he."

"But they're ok?"

"Yes. The Alliance let me visit them on occasion. More often enough they visited me on Noveria. Or at Terra Nova, when our research facility was still there." He sighed. "Jack will hold them until whatever mess you're in is finished."

"He might." Julia reasoned. Her father would go to any length. "But you're one of his oldest friends."

"Your father is a monster in Human skin. Forty years ago, when he started this alien business, I thought he was just a crude wanker with a taste for money and connections to the black market. Now, he hasn't changed much. I thought for sure when Hannah ran off with him that he was going to be dragged into some government prison and I wouldn't ever see him again. He might be a friend, Julia, but even I wouldn't do what he has done. I wouldn't open up the Antartic Vault."

"What is stored there?"

"Smallpox. Yellow Fever. Anthrax. Manchurian Flu. Black Death, and every other upper respiratory infection that man has ever encountered. He broke in, and took four samples of everything. Diseases that we've cured and had under control for hundreds of years were opened up. We found out what he did with it." Julia's stomach froze, as he listed off the diseases. He sipped from the bottle. "The mass wave of Batarian plagues were in origin from Asari, Salarian, and Human diseases. All of them modified to strike at the shorter and more robust upper lungs of Batarians. I spent four years at Terra Nova breaking down what he did with a team of Salarians. He's a monster, Julia. After everything I've done for him, I'm lucky I'm not dead."

"You know it was him?"

"I was the one who explained what that old 21st century vault was for. It could have been no one else."

"Did you tell the Alliance about all this?"

"God! No." He spat. "No, but you deserve to know. You can understand what he does. He might even tell you why he does what he does." She didn't even want to consider what that meant. If her father was responsible for the mass plague deaths that crippled the Hegemony, then under their laws she herself would share in the responsibility. Blood ties beget vengeance, as they claimed.

"Would he kill your family if you tell me?"

"I don't know, Julia." He said. "I don't know, and it's killing me."

"There is a few places on board that don't have surveillance." Julia offered. "With the damage to the ship, It's a guarantee that we can talk." Dr. Henry Lawson looked up at her, eyes red and filled with fear. He quickly glanced at the walls.

"No! No, Julia. I can't. He would know. He found me at Noveria, took my family, took Dr. Lionel, and he killed Jones. I've played the game and lost, child. At this point, my life only matters as long as what I know stays inside my head." He took a long drink. "Leave me. Hock or Harper, one of them is going to tell me that I can't share what I know. It's safer for you to end this conversation right now. Before you get drawn deeper into this."

"Good night, Dr. Heart." Julia said, standing up. "I'll make sure to get some more of that blue label for you. For your health."

"You're a kind person, Julia. Even if you're ... er." He trailed off. "Never mind. You don't have to do that, but I won't say no if you do."

Julia left the medical bay with only more questions. It wasn't awkward, but it was still something that didn't fill her with the best of confidence. Her next attempt was to find someone easier to talk to. Two of her crew were in the medical bay and asleep, both with castes on their limbs. She skipped them, and stepped out into the crew deck. Out of habit, she was invisible. Four crew were having a bite to eat before their scheduled time for sleeping.

"The damn bugs have been seen on Sidon. They're gonna be hitting Elysium soon, at this rate." Yervf nar Rayya said. He was her damage control team leader, a Quarian corporal. He was also oddly chummy with his Human counterparts, and liked spending time with the Humans on his team and the gunnery team. "Then it'll be three planets that Humanity has been hit at."

"The Turians only have a moon and their farming planet, and they're working harder than we are!" Reddin spoke up from the far side of the table. "Why do you care so much about Elysium, Yervf?"

"Most of the Quarians that come to work in the Alliance are in the shipyards there. Ashland-Hislopp have their offices there. My cousins are working there. I don't want another Edem Prime to happen."

Julia nodded to herself, and sat down with them. They all jerked towards her, seeing a chair pull back on its own and Julia remembered that she was invisible. With a snort she decloaked, and had an unassuming smile on her face as her crew jumped, Yervf's eyes open to their widest behind his visor. "What was that about Sidon?" She asked pleasantly. "I was just walking by and heard you mention that."

"Commander." Yervf breathed out heavily. "Er, Sidon had a Rachni sighting. Just a few Warriors, but the moon is used by only a few tech firms and isn't well regulated. The Alliance patrols don't want to go down there without more troops, and surface scans only do so much."

"With Eden Prime and Mindoir hit by Rachni, Elysium would cut off almost all of our trade routes." Julia mentioned. "Besides the ones going into Salarian space, but we don't get a fair ratio through them."

"Damn bugs."

"How the hell are we supposed to beat them? We aren't the Turians!"

"We're Human." Reddin said. "We fight differently. We figure out how they communicate, like Pressley talks about doing, and we disrupt that. Just like we did to the Turian comm buoys during the war. My dad thinks that if we can do that, then the bugs will start panicking. Lose cohesion."

"Everyone hates the Rachni." Julia said. "Once we find out where they are hiding, We'll probably hire Blood Pack and Eclipse to hit them with our forces. They hate them as much as anyone else, and they would love the good press. Expensive, but worth it."

"You'd hire mercenaries to fight instead of the Alliance?"

"Yes." She answered Reddin, who had frowned as she replied. "Humans would lose millions of soldiers attacking a Rachni world. I've been on Suen, and seen the Hives there. I'd pay the butcher's bill in mercenary lives before letting us do all of the work. Not to mention it would take every freighter in the Alliance to transport all of our marines for a single push like that."

"Commander," Yervf spoke up. "Pressley told us that we are going to the Migrant Fleet for repairs. Would it be possible to have a day of leave while the ship gets repaired?"

Julia smirked. She was going to visit Admiral Daro'xen. They were due for a chat about this entire technology business. "That sounds perfect. Perhaps two days, so that you can sleep off whatever hangover you will be having."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but my Omni-tool took that incorrectly. What did you say about a rock formation I'll be having?" The Quarian asked, tapping his wrist.

Reddin cackled. "Hang over. When you overdose on alcohol."

"Oh. Oh!" Yervf muttered. "We don't have any kind of fermented drinks. Our food supplies are dedicated to supporting our limited population. Though I've heard that Turian drinks, distilled enough, are possible for us."

"That's great!" Reddin nearly shouted. "You guys aren't getting out of drinking contests next time we're at the Citadel." Julia almost missed Yervf flinching, but she was trying to see how comfortable he really was with the crew. "I wonder if you're a lightweight."

"I wonder what kind of drunk Lt. Zorah is." One of the others at the table mentioned. "Maybe she won't be such a hardass once she's had a few."

"She might need some convincing." Julia said. "I should go talk to her about it, see if she'll agree to it."

"Commander, can you not mention that we came up with the idea?" Yervf asked quietly. "She would never let us hear the end of it."

"I'll blame the idea on Joker and Desolous." Julia said. "Desolous would admit to it, and Joker is sarcastic enough that he might just go with it." She smirked. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, Commander." They all said, as she walked off. She hit the ladder, stopping to make some small talk with the gunnery officer. He was a man of logic, and had little that took his attention more than his job. These were simpler conversations, where job and duty took over the content and topics. She made her way down the decks, the familiar topics carrying her until she got to the hangar bay. There she found the most curious activity going on. Desolous and Garrus were standing next to the Mako tank, playing some kind of Turian game on their Omni-tools. The trilling noises coming from Garrus and the scowl on Desolous' face told her enough about who was winning. Across from them was Alenko and the other marines, who were going through their daily workout. She settled in to watch them go through their drills, and typed up a message to Pressley.  _How many days will it take for the Normandy to undergo repairs?_

His response was swift.  _Three. Engineering crew will need to be on hand for it all. We need to understand whatever second hand parts they install to replace the broken bits. The rest of the crew I don't want mingling with the Quarians and possibly offending them._

 _Should we allow shore leave? The Quarian crew might be happy to have some time off where they aren't considered criminals._  She replied. Her XO took his time in replying.

 _Had to clarify what you meant with Kalin'ren. If Quarians are treated as bad as he claims they are, then perhaps this will help them be ready for whatever we find in the Terminus._ Pressley sent a second burst.  _Kalin'ren can get off my bridge when we are at the fleet, too. That's worth it._

 _Approved._  She typed. Pressley agreed, and Kalin'ren sent out a notice to everyone who was awake about the pending shore leave. Desolous and Garrus shrugged, but the sounds of Quarian hoots and hollers from the power core could be heard across the hangar. Kaidan was doing push ups with the unit when he noticed the message, and Julia was able to catch his wide grin. Next to Alenko, Andrew Ta'u switched to a one handed push up to jostle Kaidan's shoulder.

Kaidan almost fell over when the polynesian pushed on him, and glared at him. But Andrew just pointed with his free hand, right at Julia. He chuckled when he looked up and saw Julia looking at him, but Alenko looked almost embarrassed. Julia smirked, and started walking over, the pile of sweating men and women noticing her walking towards them. Being visible and wearing a catsuit always demanded some attention. "Alenko, if you have a moment."

"Of course, Ma'am." He gave a slight biotic shove against the floor, letting him come to a standing position. "Does the MAKO work?"

She nodded, waving her Omni-tool to detect anything left behind by her sister. She wouldn't have put it past Miranda to put down her own cameras and listening devices. When nothing showed up, she assumed it was clean. "Ma'am." Kaidan said as they sat down inside the tank. "How can I help you?"

"How are your teammates doing?" She asked. That was on her script. Make Kaidan feel happier about having some of his team back, and then see about his feelings. The thought of that made her stomach and torso feel weird, almost locked up.

"They're fine." Kaidan replied, smiling. "They have a lot of therapy to go before their muscles will be fully recovered. They took a lot of acid on Suen, and some Salarians picked them up before they died. They've got to have reconstructive surgery and physical training on the new muscle tissue once they can move on their own again."

"That's good." She replied, forgetting exactly what she had planned to say next. But the silence that was occurring seemed barely tolerable.

"Ma'am?" Kaidan said after a moment. "I noticed that we're going to have some shore leave in the Migrant Fleet."

"Yes. Though I doubt that we will be allowed in the general public. The Quarians are paranoid." Her father had never taken her to meet them in her youth, and Julia hadn't been out to the Migrant Fleet before. Some of her chair members from the bank had been out, but that was it. "I am not even sure we are going to have access to anywhere that you would consider shore leave material."

Kaidan smirked. "I have it on good authority that the Quarians have a dancing hall, Ma'am. If you don't mind, I'd like it if you were my partner."

"Partner?"

"Quarian dancing has a competitive element. Dancing pairs much like our practice of ballroom dance are paired off and judged on their dancing prowess. I was thinking that between us and our biotics, we might stand a chance of beating Tali."

Well. Now she didn't even have to ask. "Sure. I'd like to see how I measure up. I spent last shore leave with Tali, and they danced for hours. Made those suits look like they weren't even inconvenienced."

Kaidan looked surprised. "Well, that explains why they dance instead of doing exercise. I've always wondered how they stay in shape."

"They don't have much else to do for fun, considering they can't risk infection." Julia said. "They don't even have alcohol."

"They do have karaoke." Kaidan said, but strangely without the same confidence as he had the dancing. The golden boy had a weakness. "But I don't know if I care to share that unpracticed ability of mine."

"Tell you what, Kaidan, I'll sing a song of your choice if you sing one of mine."

"I'd like that."

"I should go see what the Quarians are still screaming about." Julia said, letting herself grin a little bit. "I'll see you later."

Kaidan had a big smile on his face as he returned to his men, all of them exercising under the tense watch of Ashley Williams. "Alenko! You've got to catch up to the rest of them! Andrew's keeping count for you." The big polynesian was tauntingly doing one handed pushups, the slight glow of biotics lessening his body weight and allowing him to get away with less effort. Julia waved to him as she walked into the engineering bay. It was controlled chaos. Quarians were at their stations, but those who were supposed to be sleeping were all up and cleaning every surface of the ship.

"What's going on?" Julia asked over the din, seeing Tali directing the Quarians.

"We've only got two days until we get home!" Tali yelled, almost in panic. "The ship is a mess, and the shipyard is going to repair it!"

"Wait, wait." Julia said. "This is all going to get cleaned up anyways. Why bother?"

Tali muttered something in her native language. "What is a ship to a Quarian, Commander?"

"Your planets, I suppose."

"Our ships are our pride and our honor, Commander. What is an dirty ship when an Admiral visits!" She barked to the rest of the Quarians.

"Bosh'Airi!" They all yelled back.  _Honorless Presentation_ , her Omni-tool translated.

"Admiral Daro'xen designed this ship. We cannot besmirch her honor, Commander, if we show up with any kind of stains other than the damage we received from the Rachni." Tali said matter-of-factly. "We would have this on our record even after our children are raised."

Julia nodded, now understanding why even those who were supposed to be sleeping were now hard at work. "Hmm." She tapped her wrist. "Joker, I have an announcement for the crew. Patch me into the comms."

" _Sure, Commander_ ," She heard him say sleepily. Her Omni-tool's background turned yellow, marking that it was now recording.

"Attention Crew. We have forty six hours until we reach the Migrant Fleet. Our Quarian crewmen have just reminded me that the ship's inventor and designer will be overlooking the  _Normandy_  when we arrive. The honor and dignity of this crew will be judged upon how clean the ship is, other than battle damage." She grinned. "In addition to your normal duties, I want this ship ready for the inspection of its life. I would appreciate all of you assisting wherever you are able, to preserve the Alliance's good relations with the Migrant Fleet. Constantine Out." Then she turned to Tali. "I'll get started on the CIC and upper decks. I guarantee that any Admiral that comes on board won't see a spec of dirt."

* * *

The next two days were filled with frantic activity, as Joker and Pressley carefully guided them through the edges of the Terminus Systems. The rest of the crew tried to make the ship match the exacting standards of Quarian levels of cleanliness. Julia went down to her most basic set of gear, as she and a few of the other Humans had to scrape the vents clean near all of the damaged sections. Quarians were going to be going over every surface of this ship, and Julia smirked, seeing that even Kalin'ren had gone over his area. Pressley had a dirty rag hanging from his belt, and his top button undone. The sign of the endtimes to most of the crew, today it just meant that he was working as hard as everyone else. Tali was in charge of 'inspections' in the hour leading up to contact with the Migrant Fleet. Every station gleamed, and Pressley happily reported that their cleaning supplies would need to be restocked at the earliest opportunity.

"Ma'am, we've hit the scouting picket." Kalin'ren said. "We're being hailed."

"Send a challenge. Keep the stealth systems operational just in case." Allies or not, no one was ever one hundred percent trustworthy.

"Challenge sent, and answer received. Only a Quarian patrol would include used Elcor frigates." Kalin'ren stated. "Not that your lesser minds would care to note that kind of difference. We've received directions to land on the Shipyard  _Lucky Break_."

"Take us in."

The Migrant Fleet had its own kind of beauty. Ships large and small moved around like insects, the Live Ships and the largest vessels having smaller ships use them as a source of gravity. Small bands of ships rotated like glittering stars around the larger ships, conserving fuel while still remaining part of the greater whole. Shuttles moved around the fleet with loads of supplies, and fighters of different races and parts flew by in formations, no two ships perfectly alike. Volus cargo tenders and Batarian slaving freighters flew together, and in one case she saw an Elcor cruiser welded to an Asari frigate to make a single complete vessel. Adaptation had its own beauty, and the  _Normandy_  fit right in. It was a unique craft, and even with the Alliance paint Joker was exchanging greetings with other ships as he passed.

At the center of the fleet were the Live Ships, as well as the  _Lucky Break_. Three of the Live Ships were old, covered in patch jobs and welding marks. The fourth one was shining. Its brand new hull and paint made the rest of the fleet truly stand out as being in decline. Printed in gigantic letters, with Quarian Kellish above and English below, she could read  _Klila'Terra_. Gift of Terra.

"It was supposed to be named the Legacy of Harper." Kalin'ren said from behind her. "But the Conclave got a hold of that and ruined it. Hopeful Gift of Terra was the best that could be hoped for, after those worthless gabbers got their hands on it. If you ask really nicely, they'll take you on a tour of the ship."

Ashland-Hislopp's largest job to date, the  _Klila'Terra_  was a symbol of Human capability. Julia saw hundreds of ships floating around it, just like the other Live Ships. The  _Lucky Break_  had hundreds of ships around it, as well. But one of the sloops in the shipyard was opening, and beckoned them in. Joker guided them in, perfectly settling the ship into the magnetic pads that the shipyard deployed. Already, dozens of Quarians were waiting for the area to pressurize, Omni-tools already out and scanning. "I'll ask very nicely Kalin'ren. Try to keep out of trouble while you're off the ship."

"Like you would actually care if anything happened." The Quarian said, scoffing. "Keep your considerations to yourself. They aren't needed elsewhere." He settled in by the airlock doors, glaring at anyone that came near him. Most of the crew despised him for one way or another, or pitied him for other reasons. Julia didn't like him much.

Near the back of the crowd was Tali, still holding a rag and wiping down already gleaming railings. " _Attention crew._ " Joker said over the PA. " _XO Pressley would like to remind you that if you break any laws or cause trouble in the Migrant Fleet, the Alliance is not capable of retrieving you from their prison system. Please think before doing anything stupid. If the Commander has to negotiate with the Quarians for your life, we are all going to feel it. So please, don't break any laws. If you aren't sure what those are, ask._ " He must have been reading from a script. " _All of this goes double for the Marines._ " The entire combat team looked back at her, seeing Julia looking at them coldly. Everyone was in full armor, and had to be cycled through the airlocks five at a time. Quarians were going first, their eagerness hardly contained.

Julia stepped into the same airlock batch as Garrus, Desolous, Tali, and Joker, the pilot badgering Garrus about random facts he had heard on the extranet about Quarians. Desolous subtly was correcting him with his own street smarts and knowledge. She tapped her wrist, setting up a private channel between her and Tali. With everyone in full armor, she could do this. "Anyone important waiting for us on the other side?"

"If we're lucky, no. But the Conclave is meeting today. That means that the admirals will be coming to the shipyard at some point today. They might already be here." She seemed antsy with her new armor, when all of the other Quarians were wearing their original sets. "They'll see me."

"So?" Julia turned her head towards Tali. The Quarian's eyes were closed. "You haven't finished your Pilgrimage yet, so they can't judge you for that."

"But my father would never forgive me for damaging my mother's suit." She said in almost a whisper. "He saved it for me, all of those years after she died. Admirals aren't supposed to do that, not when resources are so scarce." Tali shuddered. "Walking in there without that suit is going to insult him."

Julia nodded. She had never had a mother, and didn't really know what kind of connection this suit would represent. "Won't he be proud of you for becoming an officer?" She asked, trying to change the subject as sprays of chemicals were getting all over their armor.

"He is. At least I think he is." Her eyes opened, their glow seeping through her visor. "My father is a hard person to read."

"He would have to be, if he is an Admiral."

"His part of the fleet is in charge of scouting and data retrieval. His captains are the ones that interface with the outside world most. After he became Admiral, he acted different." The airlock cycled, and they were finally greeted with the view of the inside of the shipyard. Vivid colors had been painted over the inside of the hallways, strips of cloth covering up banks of storage crates with Quarian markings on the sides. Color and patterns dominated each wall, with gigantic letters in Kellish going over some of the surfaces.

Teams of Quarians were already on the hull, examining the damaged pieces of armor and bringing four cranes over to remove each piece. They were moving quickly and efficiently. A small crowd of onlookers had gathered, all standing next to where the Rachni shot had hit the hangar. The lines of shattered fibers going across the hull made the hit look like it had been a hammer blow, shattering the entire lower half of the ship.

The Quarians on Pilgrimage had disappeared into the crowd, and it was only possible to tell them apart by the epithets on their shoulders, marking them as different ranks in the Alliance Navy. The sea of visors and color were almost disorienting. Garrus and Desolous moved towards the crowd, helping Joker get closer to something female that they could flirt with. Tali froze, coming to a complete stop as the crowd parted in front of them. A group of thirty or so Quarians were walking towards them, with a Quarian in purple and black walking towards them. Behind him were more visors, more colors, all of them walking with stiffer backs than the others in the crowd she had seen.

"Captain Harper?" The one in purple asked. He was looking straight at her. She frowned, not wanting that brought up.

Tali must have seen her look. " _Commander, just accept that. The way they are addressing you is the most honorable way you can possibly be treated. Anyone who commands a ship is a Captain. And you know that we all revere the name Harper._ "

Tali's whisper reminded her that she was still on a private comm line, and she nodded to Tali before turning it off. "Yes?"

The party of thirty Quarians had caused a slight ruckus at the mention of the name Harper, and the ever social crowd was drawn into the conversation by default. "My name is Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay. We are honored to have your presence in our fleet."

That was obviously not Tali's father. "It's an honor to be received. We appreciate you taking the time to repair our ship."

"Oh yes, well, we put it together. It's only right that we give it the same honor and consideration as the  _Acheron_." The woman turned her head towards Tali. "Tali'Zorah, you've come very far." Then the Admiral just walked up and hugged Tali, touching visors. "I've been very worried about you." Julia turned away from what should at least be a private moment.

"Captain Harper." Another Quarian stepped forward. "My name is Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh. I heard that you wanted to speak to me." Standing beside her was Kalin'ren. The Admiral was in deep reds and oranges. "Let us talk about my brainchild." She motioned towards an empty section of the deck plating, Once they had been separated by at least ten feet, the Admiral stopped. "Weeks ago, when you first inquired after me, you wrote that you wanted to know everything about your ship."

"Yes." Julia replied. "A lot has come up since then, and I know that you work with my father."

"He is my client, as I am his." Daro'Xen said. "He assists me in my experiments, and I assist him in his. Our first corroboration ended with an agreement to produce ships. Soon, the Quarian Navy will have stealth ships again, as we did three hundred years ago."

Julia's eyes narrowed. "Do you plan on ending the  _Normandy_  line, then?"

"Of course not. Our Navy will never have the power that others do. But that was the price of the Council's aid. Three hundred years ago, against the Geth, we were offered a choice. If we give all of our technology, all of the data within our Prothean beacon, then the Asari would send their fleets in. The Turians would have come in, but the Asari did not let them."

"So you refused aid because of pride?"

"Even if we would have won the Morning War, we would have become like them. Crippled and broken, another race that would become part of the greater, weaker whole. The Geth were our key to success, and without them we would have become nothing. Even now, after fifteen years of being back within the economy, our race has improved little. A few new ships, better quality parts, and a new live ship. So what."

"Isn't that more than the last century of effort?"

"Yes. But still, nothing in the grand scheme. Without a homeworld, and without the Geth workforce bringing income, we are never going to become a great power again. Your  _Normandy_  is just the first of many projects that will make this dream realized. Before I tell you anything, I wanted to make that clear. Your ship means little to me, so long as the technology in it proves its concept."

"Fine." Julia stated. She got the feeling that Daro'Xen was uncaring of anything outside of those goals. "Now, I know that my father commissioned this vessel for the Alliance. I want to know why he wanted them to have it." Subtly, she activated her Omni-tool, setting it to record this conversation.

"I don't know why. But he requested much of the most advanced technology in it. As well as the anti-Reaper torpedo systems."

"What?"

"Don't expect me to dance around what this ship was invented for. Jack Harper ordered a frigate that could dance circles around a Reaper Dreadnought. Once we replace those sub-par engines the Alliance decided to put in, and their power cycling systems, then your ship will be able to outmaneuver a Reaper. The entire design of this frigate was to have a higher speed in non-FTL, as well as a better turn radius than the monsters that you may eventually face." Daro'Xen's hand swept over the view of the  _Normandy_. "Jack Harper wanted a line of craft that could take on Reapers, and fully use stealth technology to appear in their blind spots and  _stay_  there. I wanted a line of craft that could get behind Geth lines, and give me access to their main server nodes. We both profit, some more than others."

"I still don't know if those even exist." She admitted. "I can't trust a single source regarding them."

Xen laughed. "I've seen one of their corpses. If any more exist, then I will design and maintain this line of ships until they are proven false. For my purposes, your frigate does what is necessary. It's armor can take anything short of a Dreadnought firing at you, and even though the Alliance has terrible barrier technology, as a frigate that won't do much for you. Even if we installed some Asari ones, that would require a month to install new emitters and even then, it wouldn't be enough to take a shot from a Reaper. Nothing that I know of will."

"So what, I'm supposed to just dodge their shots?"

"Reapers fire a combination of different heavy metals, heated and accelerated in an ion slurry. Their weapons are designed to destroy any ship that uses the technology left behind by the Protheans. They mostly ignore kinetic barriers, and they melt through whatever we have as armor. Unless, of course, you line every inch of your armor with carbon nanotubes that can direct that heat from the source of the damage. Your armor is expensive due to this. You can take a glancing shot, perhaps. When you can't avoid it, there is a second bank of torpedos, accessible through the ventilation shaft on the port side of the ship. This torpedo bank is meant to be fired at the incoming shots."

"Torpedos can't stop that kind of force."

Xen waved her hand, as if the laws of physics didn't matter to her. "They can, and they will. Liquid nitrogen and helium based accelerants within the torpedo cause the area of space that is struck by the torpedo to be filled with extra particles, particles that will freeze any matter that comes in contact with them. We tested it on solar flares. They were able to limit the amount of heat and force that were exerted." Daro'Xen stood a bit straighter. "The Geth also use limited forms of plasma. This is my way of countering their next step. Make no mistake, Julia Harper. Your ship was designed to fight things that come from deepest nightmares. You prove the concept, and I will bring the Geth back under control, give the Quarians their pride back. I will return us to our homeworld, and to our rightful place as a race to be feared."

"What will prove your concept?" Julia asked.

"Rannoch." Daro'Xen said. "Either you or someone else, but that stealth drive needs to start landing Quarians on Rannoch. We bring back proof that we can access their primary nodes in orbit, and the other Admirals will agree with my plan. Rael'Zorah and Han'Gerrel would agree with me if it's proven viable, and the other two will finally be outvoted. Then we can finally develop the virus necessary."

"You're only good with the hardware, aren't you." Julia stated. "You need the others."

"As well as your father." Xen confirmed. "You have yet to prove yourself a necessary variable. Is there anything else you needed, or must I coddle you further?"

"Is there any kind of connection that could be exploited by someone like my father? Or even you." Julia added a glare to that.

"I will not lie to you. There is a special distress beacon that can only be activated from your end. If you activate that, then your father will know your exact location and situation. Aid will come. That is the only tracking device that I installed when I built this." Xen said, shrugging. "Your father was adamant that no duplicity be permitted with the Alliance ship."

"How many ships have this stealth technology?"

"Yours. Your father's. Mine. Perhaps one or two more in phases of construction. But your intentions don't concern them. Those are Quarian Naval Vessels. Good luck finding them." Xen settled her shoulders. "Are we done?"

"Yes. You've told me enough to confirm my suspicions." Her father had made her ship. He had engineered it to fight some alien race that may or may not exist. The Alliance had no idea why and probably didn't care about it. But she was able to confirm that it wasn't wired to explode, or at least to be remotely controlled. "I appreciate your honesty."

"I'm Quarian. Honesty is the only rule." Daro'Xen said. "I'll be returning to the Moreh. Let me know if you damage my brainchild further. I will repair it, and you will pay me one way or another. Either with credits or Rannoch's soil." Julia's nod was enough, and the Quarian Admiral walked away, disappearing into the crowd of color and helmets. Julia tapped her Omni-tool, ending the recording of their conversation. With a huff, she walked back towards her crew, trying to make it to Pressley. She was waylaid in between by Tali, who was standing awkwardly between the woman she had greeted earlier, and another Quarian male wearing green and black wrappings.

"This is Captain Harper, Admiral." Tali said. Julia extended her hand to the Quarian, who gave an awkward handshake in return. "She's been a good officer in the time I have known her."

"Are you responsible for this?" Admiral Rael'Zorah motioned to Tali.

"I replaced the armor of a crew member. Tali is often deployed on missions where I expect a heavy tech presence. I need her to be able to take a shot at something without worrying about her armor giving out."

"Ah." He said, as if there was some unknown second question answered along with the first. "So you expect my Quarians to go into the line of fire?"

"I expect any soldier in the Alliance to put their rifle to the line when ordered to." Julia replied, without any venom but with some sternness. "Your Quarians are also my engineering teams. I can't just hold them back because you say so."

"Will you replace the armor of any of them going into combat?"

"If necessary, yes." The other Quarians were giving them some space. About five extra feet. "Why do you care?"

"Because any of my Quarians that come back with armor that effective will have an unfair advantage when choosing their ship. You are disrupting our way of life if you do provide this. Our Pilgrimage is not something that can be bought out, do you understand?"

"I have no intention of-"

"That's what your father said, before he started buying off Pilgrimages. This shipyard, your bank, the Live ship. None of it was earned through our own efforts. We were bought, and I fear that you will continue this tradition.  _You_  will change us. We will build our own way forward, one way or another. The Turians tried to buy us out two hundred years ago, and the five admirals had to take a stand against the conclave. Vote to refuse the offer. I  _will_  do so again if you threaten our traditions in this way." Rael'Zorah said heavily. "I would rather throw my career away than let your family dictate the future of my people."

"Father! You can't-"

"I cannot tolerate the destruction of three hundred years of cultural heritage! Money will never buy Rannoch! Money will never be enough for our needs. The Humans and the Council are not worth sharing our culture with if you simply pander to their demands and needs. No, Captain, I know that you might not have any intentions of this, but the consequences of your actions here may be felt for generations. I don't expect you to understand that, but I do expect you to return all of your crewmembers home if at all possible. Unharmed and uncorrupted by your money and your culture."

"Rael, the Humans do not share our laws for inheriting debt and judgement. You cannot hold her accountable for the actions of her father." Shala'Raan vas Tonbay said clearly. "Apologize and move on."

Rael'Zorah turned around and walked away, clearly not happy about any of this. He did not apologize or offer any kind of goodbye. Tali was silent, her head low and arms at her sides. Shala'Raan set her shoulders and followed, rapid fire Kellish being sent Admiral Zorah's direction. "Is your father normally this…" She didn't choose to finish her sentence. Any of the descriptive verbs that she wanted to use would be offensive.

"I don't know, Commander." Tali said. "We're lucky he didn't try to have us confined to the ship." She shook her head. "At least the shipyard's Captain is well known to be friendly to outsiders and those that aren't well liked. He even converted some of the old cafeterias into dancing halls. Since we actually have the space for that." Tali motioned towards the doors. "The rest of the crew is already heading there."

"Any other Admirals I should be worried about meeting?"

"You've met Shala'Raan. She is my aunt, my mother's side." Tali said. "She would like you, I think. Han'Gerrel likes everyone. Unless you're Batarian. He doesn't like them, but he loves most anyone else. Zaal'Koris is a bit eccentric, though you will probably be able to convince him to support you if the fleet is improved because of it."

"No spurned lovers? No family members with a grudge?"

"My Omni-tool doesn't even know what that first one is." Tali responded. "I have a few cousins of distant relation, but no one that would try to hurt you, Commander." She glanced up, looking where her father and aunt had gone. "Let's go, before anything else happens."

The dancing hall turned out to be rather limited. All of the haptic interfaces besides a single terminal had been stripped out, and fabric had been draped in front of the lights to change the tint. The standard Alliance lighting had been removed, and cheaper bulbs replacing them. Emergency lighting and markings were gone, to be used elsewhere. The tables of the cafeteria were gone, and the large open space had markings on the walls, Kellish script covering them. Everything that was not absolutely necessary had been stripped off, including the Alliance metal plates that were required to mark the exits. Faucets and sinks in the kitchen area had been removed, and countertops had been shaved down to provide more material to the shipyard. Nothing was spared from the Quarian need to save whatever materials they could. Glass barriers between kitchen and public space had been removed, in fact there was hardly anything left of the kitchen. The only reason that it was still there was the small area left behind of the sinks and oven housing.

The rest of the room was filled with Quarians. Vivid colors and three fingered hands waved in the cheaply tinted light, the beat of drums and whistling of flutes the music of the day. Traditional Quarian music, she assumed. It sounded almost like the African and Brazilian music that she had been exposed to in her classes at Solaris. But there was a beat, and the thumping of booted feet on the tile matched the beat exactly.

The Humans were all over by the single terminal, standing awkwardly in their armor. Shore leave for them was more about getting out of their armor and having fun, and some of them were not adjusting well. Julia smirked, seeing that everyone that had started moving as a pack, rather than the small groups of like minded individuals that usually happened on shore leave. Faced with so much alien culture, they reacted by getting close to one another.

The music changed, and the Quarians' heads bobbed up and down to look over at the terminal. Tali, in her advanced armor, stood out as she hooked up a translator to the terminal, and some Human music came out of the speaker systems. There was a small area where the light fixture had been left in its normal stark white state, and it shone down on Williams. "We have a special treat today!" Tali's voice came over the speakers. "My Human crewmates want to dance and sing with us! They brought their own music for us to sample, as well!" Chittering and squealing met this statement. "My friend Ashley Williams has volunteered to sing first! She's an Alliance Marine Commander!"

Ashley's blush went right through her well fitted armor. Quarian males were shouting and hooting in the crowd, much like Human males might make noise in a club. She had a shaky performance at the beginning of her song, a popular hip hop song called ' _I don't want no roses_ '. The chorus was obnoxiously easy, and for a soprano a fun song to belt out at full volume. It was one of those songs that got stuck in your head, with a catchy four tone tune. After the third rendition of 'Keep your flowers, I just want you to warm my bed,' she knew that it would be stuck in her head for a while. The Quarians figured out the beat, and on the third chorus they joined in, disjointed voices making the entire experience unique.

The next person to sing was surprisingly Lt. Charles Pressley. He stood up there, the entire crew reflexively straightening their backs. Then he started singing, something that Julia had not heard before. Her Omni-tool claimed that it was 'Heartbreak Hotel', by an Elvis Presley. Her XO hit every note with gusto, his voice carrying through the speakers in a way that had most of the crew both in awe and confusion.

"He's the one who sings in the showers!" Corporal Reddin stated, going across the crew comm channel.

Other members took their turns, and Desolous even put on a showing, claiming that Turians needed their own showing. Garrus avoided the stage, but he did awkwardly dance with Tali for a while. The Quarians liked to stamp their feet and dance as a pack on the faster songs, but once the songs took a slower beat, the entire room shifted. Pairs broke off from the crowd, dancing in practiced motions for couples. Unlike Human dancing, the Quarians had a female lead the couple. The dancing was slow paced, with one arm locked with the partner's in between their bodies. Spinning and twirling were accomplished while the hands remained locked. Julia just stood by the wall, amazed as she watched Tali lead Garrus into a tripping pile of limbs, and Ashley tripped over them, taking Halmabad with her.

Her other crewmembers were doing their own interpretations of either Human dancing or attempting Quarian style. Pressley was slowly dancing with his sensor technician, their hands not shifting as Pressley was walked through the Quarian moves. She laughed as she saw Tali and Ashley switch partners, Garrus and Ashley immediately getting toes stepped on, but not letting out any grunts of pain. Their racial rivalry was shown, as Garrus did his level best to not get his toes crushed. Tali snickered as Halmabad tried to keep up with her, using his free right arm to try to steady himself through whatever Tali was dragging him through.

It made her feel a lot better, seeing her crew reacting more amiably with the Quarians. As well as seeing some of her Quarian crew dragging their Human counterparts out onto the dance floor with them. After that slow song ended, it devolved into a few Quarian numbers with fast beats and loud drums. Slow dancing with a Quarian was one thing, but becoming one with the beat of their music was another. Humans(and Turians) didn't quite get it at first, but by the third number they were with it, at least some of them. Garrus had retreated to the edge of the area, while Desolous had gotten himself acquainted with a group of female Quarians, sashaying his hips and making the dance look easy. Ashley and Reddin had gained themselves a following as well, though Reddin was not as confident.

"May I?" A voice asked from her right. Alenko was standing there, slouching very slightly and smiling behind his visor. "I don't know if you care to dance, but I remember at Solaris that you were quite graceful."

"Good memory." Julia admitted. "I'm not one for these fast paced songs, though."

Kaidan smirked. "Good thing I've got a friend." He made a waving motion, and Julia saw the tall and wide form of Andrew Ta'u take the spotlight. He started signing a New Classical song, familiar to her but she didn't know the name. Some Hawaiian artists had gotten together when the Island became its own nation back in 2064 and had invented a new style of music to commemorate their freedom. It was also a slow song, and chittering rose from the crowd as males stood straighter, and females got to choose their partners. Ashley ended up with some Quarian male, and Tali had a crowd around her, and Julia didn't see how that ended. But Kaidan offered his hand to her, and she checked to see that no one was looking at them.

Only Pressley was giving her a look, but she only caught his eyes for a moment. No one else saw them. Tentatively, she reached out with her left hand. Kaidan instead took that hand, and placed it on his bicep. "You waltz?"

He grinned. "Better than I duck-step. Or whatever you want to call that." He took her right hand, and started gently pulling her towards the dance floor. She let him, feeling a little jittery. But waltzing in armor should have anyone jittery. Dancing in armor is not graceful. It's not built to be. Quarian encounter suits are, as it turns out. She saw some of them doing short flips around each other. Kaidan could dance, as it turned out. In armor, no one really looked great, but in her Pheonix X, she at least could claim that she made it look good. "You know, the crew has a standing bet going. The crew member voted best dancer gets a free weapon mod. Quarian motion sensor, if what I've heard is right."

"Who do you think will take it?" They moved slowly, and she realized that she was the one setting their pace. Tentative, feeling, almost like she was dancing with a stranger. In her past line of work she had done so, every time under an alias. The last time she had gone dancing as  _herself_  were lessons during childhood. She was actually doing something for herself, and the feeling was different. She stepped a bit faster, testing to see if Kaidan could keep pace. He grinned, and set them into an accelerated waltz. He was smooth. The man could barely pass his marksmanship requirements, but he could dance well. Anything athletic, for that matter. "Or is that decided?"

"Depends." Kaidan admitted. "I just bribed Andrew to sing five slow songs. I think we have a pretty good chance." He spun her around, at an almost sedate pace. She rolled her eyes, until he decreased the pull of gravity upon her and accelerated her into a triple spin. When she came back to her feet, Kaidan had a wider grin. "I always wanted to see if that would work."

"When did you figure out how much I weigh?"

"Your sister told me, when we were on board her ship." He answered, neutrally. "It was just as a precaution. I like to know how much force to put behind my support biotics."

"So you asked my sister."

"You both are nearly identical twins, and you are both biotics."

She raised an eyebrow. "You asked my sister how much she weighed so that you could figure out my weight?" He really did go the distance. "Hopefully you didn't ask for every other pertinent detail."

"I don't half-ass things, Ma'am." He smirked, then thought for a moment. "Though that isn't to say that I won't look forward to finding out more."

"Hmm." She said, letting him stew on that. "Not to sound unappreciative, but most women don't enjoy you asking about that sort of thing."

"Most women don't try to fight Husks by going in close with a knife. That big one was going to throw you out the window, right?" It was a bit easy to let Kaidan guide the dance, she decided. He was raised in Europe, where this sort of thing was more important for the children of the affluent. "I wouldn't have been able to catch you if I didn't ask about that."

"Or save Halmabad from being impaled by its claw."

"Actually, I couldn't remember off the top of my head what his weight was, so I just threw a desk in between him and the Husk." Kaidan said, looking slightly sheepish. "What has command decided to label that one, anyways?"

"They wanted to label it a Chimaera, at first. but Aramax Arsenal considered it illegal to label it such when their armor coming out has the same label, and their second choice, Banshee, was also a copyright issue. Someone named an assault rifle line after that, and wasn't about to be outdone by Aramax. So Siren was the chosen name given to those instead." She told him. The Alliance think tank in charge of naming things and cataloging the alien powers throughout the universe decided to name the Asari-Human Husk a Siren.

"Aren't those supposed to be alluring?" Kaidan said, thinking. He had a sour look when he said that. "Because that thing was nasty. Stitches all over the place."

"I'd rather they called it a Maenad or a Harpy."

"Maenad?" Kaidan sounded out the word.

"Demi-god children of the god of wine and revelry. Reveled in bloodshed." Julia replied. "Women that tried to kill anything they came across that didn't have sex with them or offer them drink."

"God, that sounds like a pissed off Asari already." Kaidan said, laughing. They noticed to their right that Tali was dancing a very aggresive number with another Quarian, and had a lot of attention on her. "I think we're being outperformed."

"That's fine." Julia said. "Tali deserves the spotlight right now. She's worked harder than any other officer." It was also nice to just be  _someone_ , and to disappear into a crowd. "I'd rather just dance."

"Of course." Julia spent the rest of the night in the burly arms of Kaidan Alenko, debating in her mind who she was. When all of the masks came off, what was left? Kaidan didn't seem to mind the silent moments between them, but she tried to feel comfortable in this. Yet there was no comfort. Not in being just a member of the dancing mass of people, and most certainly here in Kaidan's arms where any of her crew could report back to the Intelligence Office regarding her actions. Comfort did not come that night, but it was not unpleasant.

Not unpleasant in the least.

* * *

Author's Note

Not all of the Quarians are happy about the situation with Humanity and being a trade partner. That shouldn't come as a surprise. Julia gets a little happy time, finally. It was really satisfying to write that. We're going into the Terminus Systems, people. Not necessarily for the kind of events for Mass Effect 2, but we are going after Clan Ganar now. So Wrex is going to get some screen time. I haven't written much from his perspective yet, and that will be exciting. Next chapter, we feature Grunt.


	64. Lucid: Blood Ties

Chapter 64

Lower Afterlife, Omega, October 2182

"You're positive?"

"My men heard them talking about going after Clan Ganar." The voice on the other end of the line stated. "Thought you might want to know. Considering how dangerous it is to go after them."

"Thank you, Daro'Xen. You continue to prove that you are worth my time and effort." Jack closed the comm call, lips thin and deep in thought. "Charles, what do you think?"

The man sat beside him, dressed in a nice suit. On rare occasions Charles was needed to work on projects outside of Ilos, and he went along with Jack at times during those projects. He also had two Omni-tools and a third on his lower back. The man was more dangerous with those than he was anything else. "I've got Kalin'ren forwarding me their position when he can. They're a few days out from Omega, depending on if they are stopping anywhere. There isn't any Alliance friendly stations out this far."

"Arrange to have the Normandy dock at C-ring. Pay for its fuel and services. Make it under Hock's accounts that we discovered through Jones' contact information. He won't be able to complain about it, and it will give her some sympathies with Hock. If you can, leave a note for him. 'One man's trash is another man's treasure.'" Jack smirked at that. Hock would appreciate the irony for long enough before he realized that Aria charged massive fees for military craft that docked at Omega.

The Acheron was a private yacht, and didn't get hit with the same fees. But the Blood Pack, Eclipse, and Shanxi Reds all had to pay hefty costs whenever they landed anything larger than a freighter. It was one of her ways of controlling the way into Omega. Jack smirked, and smiled even wider when Hannah slid into the seat next to his. Her hair had grown out some, and she had lost a bit of weight. But she was smiling, and he was feeling happy

This was the first time that they had been able to see each other since she landed. He had been coming in a Quarian shipping vessel and she had arrived in the Acheron the moment that they could slip past the Sol Relay. He tapped his new foot prosthetics on the floor. He knew that they would be looking for him to replace his feet, and cybernetic specialists that specialize in Human augmentation were rare in the Terminus. They were all being watched closely by the Alliance. So Jack got the next best thing.

His two-toed feet wiggled, the Quarian shape odd on his Human legs. He still had his knees, but everything below the kneecaps was mechanical now. Some of it was cybernetic, and the bottom half was completely mechanical. More for his stump's comfort than anything else. As well as a medicinal reason to dull the pain.

"So, any idea where you are going to send your mother?" Charles asked. "She's sort of been hell on the crew."

"Nowhere." Jack answered simply. "There is no such thing as a care facility out here. Perhaps on one of the Red's colonies, but those are few that offer full benefits and healthcare to the elderly. Not to mention the possible money trail."

Charles' face blanched. "Uh, what? Are we supposed to just lose valuable PR over her?"

Jack shrugged. "Put her on the front desk of Crucible. Give her a heavy pistol and some training on how to use it, and she can channel her intense dislike of anything alive and happy into something profitable."

"Like our clients?"

"Like our clients who want other people dead." Jack's leg throbbed. He was rushing the physical conditioning, coming into the public eye so soon. "My mother can smell blood and tension in the air. She thrives on it. A bit of booze and a steady income that allows her to take out her problems on our clients, especially Garm, and I will be happy enough."

"What if someone kills her!" Charles said, horrified.

"Good riddance." Hannah stated. "We've lost enough money and time over her already." Hannah's eyes drifted towards his legs.

"If my mother is killed, then I will take full responsibility and wipe out every family member of the person that ordered the hit. Even if they're related to the Vorcha. If nothing else my mother would appreciate going out in a blaze of glory. The PR would be great. But really, it sends a statement to our allies and our enemies. Asari fear matriarchal figures. Krogan find wrinkles and angst attractive. Batarians are slightly offended when they see women in positions of power, with a few exceptions believing in equal rights finding it admirable. Elcor are matriarchal, and Turians find honor in the support of family. All of those races find that killing a mother merits death as an answer in some form or another. So yes, she is staying here. Make sure that word gets around that Constance is not to be trifled with, and that she has full rights to direct clients to our actual agents. A mother as terrible as her should give us some threatening rumors by the end of the week."

"She would agree to this?" Hannah asked, skeptical.

"I talked her into it. She mostly likes the idea that she gets to wear military grade kinetic barriers and threaten anyone that comes near the desk that looks suspicious. If they're coming to come by for a job, they'll need to bribe the front desk in order to get anywhere. My mother's addictions will find a fine source of fuel, and she will be well paid to keep scum out of our hair." Jack closed his eyes, trying not to think of that shouting match that had occurred. Constance Smith had been offended at first, when she was offered a job by her own son. But time, alcohol, and sleazy vidshows had comforted her. When he offered the job again, she wanted to know everything there was to know about Crucible. As well as stock options. "My mother is fragile, and finding a new life for herself. The more that life is bound to the company, as well as to our interests, the better off we will be later. If she dies, it may as well be her own fault."

"That still makes me uncomfortable." Charles said. "We might lose business over this."

"People who walk in off the street are usually too small minded or don't know how we really operate. My mother can screen them easily enough." Jack sipped his drink, supplied by Hannah. It was purple, a Batarian flavor. The Hegemony had opened up the gates of their empire and had released flavors of wine and fermented drinks that had only been available to their elite before the great reformation. They tasted great. They also kicked hard, with high alcohol content and lots of aftertaste. His knees were already aching less. "My mother's pending job activities are hardly threatening to our operations, compared to having two Spectres on this station. Julia is going after Clan Ganar, probably investigating more into the Rachni. Charles, what else can we supply her with on that front?"

"Not much. Our teams in the Minos Wasteland and Hades Nexus haven't found any more Asari shuttles to hit. Trade routes have been quiet, lately. The pirates are getting antsy about it, and no one wants to talk about it. We also had reports of movement along the Perseus Veil."

Jack tried not to jerk in response to that. "What kind of movement?" Sovereign was found by Saren near the Perseus Veil. That was where it had been hiding for the last tens of thousands of years. The area least charted and least scouted by the rest of the galaxy.

"Geth ships. Scout flotillas, two of them. The odd thing is that they were returning to the Veil, not leaving it."

"Only a small part of the Veil is being monitored by us. They may have left elsewhere."

"Well, according to my scans, these Geth ships were old. Models from almost two hundred years ago. But they were showing recent damage, with tears in the hull that would cripple one of our ships. But they don't have air requirements, or life support. Their ships can keep going long after ours would give out." Charles brought up his Omni-tool on his left hand. "The damage is almost the same as the damage on the Normandy, in some cases."

"Have you compared your scans to the ones taken by Kalin'ren?"

"They match. Space mounted biotic weapons ripped those Geth ships apart." Charles said. "Rachni for certain."

"But those are older Geth models, correct?"

"Really old. I'm not sure what they're doing out that far, but they aren't moving towards Rannoch. They're headed to the world of Haestrom." Charles showed them the star map of where the ships were headed. "Old Quarian colony, lots of sunspots and radiation issues. But the system is crawling with Geth."

"Forward this to Daro'Xen. She will act on it, or hold onto it. Either way, the Geth are not our problem. If the Rachni have pissed off the Geth, all the better. Where does the entry vector for those ships go?"

"Anywhere out there. I'll have my people narrow it down."

"The Geth might be the ones supplying the Rachni weapons, and it would be nice to finally give Julia some intel she can use."

"What if you help her with Clan Ganar?"

"Out of the question. I have risked a lot for that relationship, and I don't want Julia ruining it by attacking Grunt. That entire Clan is prickly and easily offended."

"No, Jack." Hannah said, rolling her eyes. "Invite them both to sit down and have a talk. Somewhere they can talk that they won't shoot each other."

"What do I promise Grunt, then? We've already had our yearly meeting."

"Something." Hannah said. "But Julia needs proof that you're not lying to her about the Reapers, and about everything else. You could offer to help them meet, and make sure Vakarian doesn't come."

"I'll leave that to you." Jack offered.

"Oh no," His girlfriend snarked. "Your daughter, your problem. I just had to babysit your mother for six weeks, and I deserve to relax for my efforts. And a date." She nodded to herself. "A good one."

Jack subtly activated a subroutine on his Omni-tool, scanning the local 'secure' spas for open hours in their schedule. The other part of the subroutine went looking for dark chocolate and croissants. Courier services of Gavorn's Grubs n' Grabs would have a shipment of those sent to Crucible HQ within the hour. The spa nearest to Crucible was partially owned and protected by them, and offered a full Hanar-pressure treatment. Eight tentacles were much more capable than any Asari or Human he had ever been rubbed down by. Within thirty five seconds, he had an entire day planned out for Hannah. The final part of his subroutine made a reservation at the local sit down restaurant, and arranged for two of his lesser members of Crucible to post security there.

"Don't worry, Hannah, I have already planned for that. The next ten hours will be helpful for your mental state. Elio is already expecting you." Hannah smiled, and slipped out of the booth, her hand dragging down his arm as she walked away. He quickly changed the subroutine to have the chocolate sent to Elio's, and the croissants sent to Crucible. "Sometimes forethought is worth every effort."

"You just used that didn't you." Charles said smugly. "I wrote one for Tesai a while back, after I saw that on your Omni-tool. Though mine is a bit more expensive to run." The 'She's pissed off manager INI' file was one of his better pieces of coding. It wasn't a VI on its own, but a script that a VI could follow and act upon. INI scripts were what Human designed VIs used to act upon the processes that were stored in them. "Quarian care products are rare and difficult to acquire."

"That they are. I pay for Shev'rash's alcohol." Part of hiring the Quarian was to pay for his booze habit. They eventually just made him his own distillery in the headquarters, where he could have his refined and distilled food. Fermented Turian bone broth that was quadruple distilled was expensive enough. "Now, call Grunt. Tell him that we request a meeting."

"Lovely. I talk to the scary Krogan and you get to drink to our success."

Julia was standing next to Joker as they arrived in the Sahrabarik system. Their ship wasn't cloaked. It was hardly the first Alliance vessel to come to Omega, but it was certainly the first one to show up that was fresh off the line. It didn't come alone. Four Quarian ships escorted it. Old Turian models from thirty years back, all were painted with garish orange strips to mark them as part of the Scouting Fleet. The statement being made was obvious. The Alliance was not here as part of an invasion.

The Quarians were moving closely enough that the picket fleet marked in Aria's purple colors ignored them. A few short bursts of questions regarding their identity, and then it was over. They didn't have to access any databases off world and would have to go on whatever they had here. For some reason, the Normandy wasn't challenged on its approach. They were even given docking coordinates.

"Should I be landing, Commander?"

"Yes." She answered simply. "Where do they want us?"

"C-ring, docking port 344. There's also a well... " Joker noticed something. "Hey, someone's paid for our spot!"

"Who?" She had some ideas. The Alliance knew where they were going, and she assumed that someone was informing other elements. Wrex and the Shadow Broker, though he hadn't sent more than a cursory pair of messages after Noveria. One to a Salarian on the Citadel, a stock broker. The other to a Krogan address on Tuchanka. She didn't open either, but each statement was hardly more than a single sentence. There was only a basic encryption on each, and Julia didn't want to touch them. Of course, she assumed that a Quarian on her crew or at the shipyard had found out somehow.

"Donovan Hock, apparently. Looks like the Alliance is being supportive!"

She smirked. "Pressley, send the finest worded thank you note to Ambassador Hock that you can. Looks like he trusts us to represent his interests."

"Aye, Ma'am." was heard clearly, even though the man was across the bridge from her. The man missed nothing, apparently. She walked past him, his salute perfect even as he was writing out the message. When she got down to the hangar bay, where the airlock was, and her team. Wrex was standing there, his Graal Spike Launcher hung over one shoulder.

"Clan Ganar has an office here. That's where I'm headed first." She told the big creature. "What should I expect?"

"A couple of brutes and one smarter Krogan." Wrex said with certainty. "No Vorcha, though. Ganar doesn't associate with trash. All of their Krogan will be good, smart. Well trained and well armed. Not the common rabble we've run into with the regular mercenary companies." Wrex seemed to think. "Expect them to be better armed than we are. We can't underestimate them."

"I thought I was paying for the best."

"Better armed doesn't mean best. I simply use what suits me. You can't complain to me about not getting what you ordered. You wanted me specifically. Not the best Krogan at killing." He hefted his pistol. "I can also do better than the usual Krogan. I can capture my prey alive."

"Alright then." Julia said, not wanting to say anything else to give reason for Wrex to state his innate superiority. "Vakarian, Arterius. I'll want you with me."

Desolous ambled up, surprised. "Me, Commander?"

"You've been around long enough that I can expect you to take care of yourself. I want your experience on Omega."

"It's a lawless haven. I'm sure enough dirty secrets are buried here that would keep the entire STG busy for centuries. I've got a couple of old girlfriends that are living here, and a few unconfirmed children."

"You aren't old enough to have Asari children." Garrus said. "This must be some kind of excuse to avoid the stench."

"You are aware that children born from Blackwatch Turians are not allowed to inherit land and titles back on Palaven. During my younger years, I had my dalliances with many Turian women, and contraceptives are expensive on Blackwatch colonies. Turns out that I had left behind a few kids. I didn't want them, and now they're old and have grudges." Desolous stated gravely. "I do not wish to risk running into them."

"I would rather have you than go without. The last time I was on Omega, I was sheltered in an air car the entire time. I don't know the location well." Julia told him, sternly. "Are you coming or not?"

Desolous made a rude noise in the back of his throat, taking his armor off the stand and getting it on in under ninety seconds. Turian scales mottled slightly with age, and Desolous shamelessly flashed all of them his aging flesh as he got his armor on. "Get a good look, Commander. Remember, you wanted me to come."

She didn't say a word to the old Turian until he was fully dressed and in the airlock with them. "How many children would take a shot at you?"

"One." Desolous said. "But she has never been agreeable. Nor do we know for sure if I am the father. There was a lot of men in her mother's life at the time. Otherwise I would have set up Garrus with the night of his life."

"With your luck, she probably has no teeth left and is a decade older than me." Garrus shot back, smoothly replying. "So in essence you're just avoiding your responsibilities."

"I am what I am, young tarn. Nothing more and nothing less." The old Turian said. As they stepped outside of the airlock, a couple of Salarians in grubby clothes moved forward, looking at them hopefully. Scavengers, she realized. None of them were wearing shoes, and she could see more moving between the ships.

"Need anything shipped? We can do it for you, anywhere on the station!" The lead one said. "My name is Fargut, and we are-" Any further words were silenced by a Concussive shot. Fargut went sliding into his fellows, who ran like spooked cats. From the doors of the station, a heavily armed group appeared. At their head was a Turian holding a sniper rifle and had black and purple armor. Fargut was two ships away and sprinting at top speed, and the Turian shot him again with a concussive round. She assumed the Salarian was injured from the force of the second one.

"Spectres." He greeted. "My name is Captain Gavorn." She noticed that Desolous was now half-hidden behind Wrex's bulk. The only cover they had outside of their ship. "Aria wanted to let you know that any unnecessary deaths will be responded to with force. Don't come to Upper Afterlife. She doesn't want you fouling up her premium clients." He frowned at them, his mandibles tight against his mouth. "We'll be watching."

"I hope you brought more than just that rifle, then." Wrex challenged. "Even you must have seen the news. We hunt Rachni for sport these days, Turian. You wouldn't stand a chance." Gavorn simply stared at them. He didn't reply to the challenge, and simply shrugged as he walked away. His hit squad of mercenaries stayed at a distance, observing. Gavorn himself stepped away, not looking back. "Watch out for that one, Constantine. A toothless Turian is always more dangerous." Wrex angled his eye towards Desolous, who had strategically been in position to use Wrex as cover from Gavorn's squad. "Very dangerous."

"Let's go." Julia stated, "Get a cab, we're going to Doru district." She walked past the armed group that had been left behind by Gavorn, and walked out into the actual interior of Omega. It was a cesspit, with the dominating smells of rust and decay mixed with food and alcohol. Groups of beggars reeking like they had beer instead of blood gathered in corners, with small marks adorning every wall. Languages of every kind defined the graffiti, vandalism, and street signs. There was no such thing as private property in the streets. Armed men and women of every race were everywhere.

"Get off the road." Wrex said quickly, stepping aside. She followed, and the two Turians stepped with them, as a large group of Eclipse walked down the hallway. At their head were three Elcor. One of them was wearing a harness that was holding a GUARDIAN laser turret. The others had heavy weapons that would normally be mounted as stationary guns, set up on their shoulders. They remained silent until the group passed, and Wrex let them move again. "That was Bakala's herd. She's an Elcor Vanguard, something you really don't want to get the attention of."

"Thank you, Wrex." A few people around them gave them weird looks. Judging by the desperate looks in their eyes, they must not be used to hearing politeness.

"Assume that anyone heavily armed is making a statement. Assume that they will kill you." The Krogan intoned. "I don't have any friends here, either. Clan Urdnot has few members in the Blood Pack. A few of us have a mercenary company here, but it doesn't handle any of the big jobs."

"What's a big job to you, Wrex?" Desolous asked.

"Something like policing miners on Riptide. Threats from roving gangs. Lots of gang violence and threats in the housing units, so you gotta protect those too. Then the miners themselves might go to war against the corporation, or something like that. I like the straightforward jobs, go there, kill them, go home."

"The Shadow Broker employs you for more reasons than that, I'm sure."

"Next time you meet a Krogan that can do advanced math and strategic calculations you can ask me again why I'm employed where I am." Wrex replied. "I took classes at a college for a decade while I worked security there. Taught me a few more tricks, but I never wanted an educational degree. I would lose my reputation if I did."

"Wouldn't it help your species to have a more educated population?"

"If a Krogan education could be offered. But we don't recognize any form of education except apprenticeship. We never had colleges or that kind of thing when we had a civilization, and even now we don't agree with that form of learning." Wrex said. He pointed to one of the shops along the hallway, where two Krogan could be seen working in the shop, fabricating metal joints for landing gear. "Young Krogan have to learn somehow. Either by making mistakes or by going to an older member of the clan and asking to learn. The apprentice either proves himself useful, and takes the place of the older, or shamefully must go out and make mistakes until they prove themselves worthy of the position."

"More reasons to kill each other." Garrus remarked. "Why bother asking."

"You wanted to know." Wrex said. "My culture is simply more expressive about being the best in your field." The walk to the air cab terminal, if you wanted to call it that, was thus filled. Wrex was jovial, finding Omega to be comfortable. Julia wanted to shower, the fecal matter in the air in enough quantities that she could feel it covering the outside of her suit. It wasn't visible, but she could feel it. Even the cab they hired was greasy, with a thin layer of plastic over the seats. The Salarian driver tried to pressure them into buying a map from him, but a couple of words from Wrex and their ride became quieter.

"Desolous." She spoke up. "Tell me about Aria. All I have are Alliance files and they have few details."

"Well, as the rumors go she used to be someone of importance to the Matriarchs on Thessia. Then she came out here as a dancer, and worked her way up. This station has been owned first by the Turians, after the Krogan Rebellions. Then the Krogan took it back. Then the Batarians entered the scene, and tried to take it, and failed."

"The last son of Shiagur held this station for five hundred years, when he liberated it from your people." Wrex said quietly. "Then Aria took power. Omega is still a land of opportunity for us, but not like it was when I was young. Now the gangs and Aria have more control, compared to when she first showed up."

"The Spectres files state that she is a powerful biotic, and a native of Lee-iise, on Thessia. The northern continent is known for their purple skin tone and larger than average-" Garrus chirped over the next word, making Desolous smirk. "Ears. What, were you expecting me to say something different?" Garrus only made a sound in the back of his throat, prompting Desolous to laugh. "We know of some of her past, and that she has birthed two children. Who they are and where they are now is something that we don't know. Aria has a small army of mercenaries, mechs, and gunships that she uses to keep the docks and business levels under tight control. None of the mercenary groups can extort any money up there, not while she watches over it. She harbors ex-slavers especially, the ones trained to capture high value targets. While she runs Omega with an iron fist, she also supplies the Batarian Separatists with their slaves. Organ 'donation', illegal cybernetics, ship security information, whatever pays the bills." Desolous looked a bit somber. "Lastly, Aria runs the best fueling depot in the entire Terminus, with shipyards owned by her people. The bigger mercenary groups own their own shipyards as well, but the fuel depot is completely run by Aria. It's her second biggest source of income, right after the slaving." He pointed at the car following them. "She isn't afraid of civilian casualties. If she wants you dead, she will blow up an entire city block to do it if necessary, no matter who is in it. We need to keep her from taking action."

"Wrex, will attacking Ganar make Aria come after us?"

"Doubt it. She doesn't like Krogan, as far as I know."

"Good." Julia could at least find relief in that. "Answer me honestly. How keen is your sense of smell when I am cloaked. I need to know if another Krogan will smell me coming."

"I'm not an Elcor, but I can smell you if you come close. Urdnot was a great hunting clan in the past, so we have better noses. Ganar was known for their sciences. As long as you stay away from air vents, your scent should be fine."

Clan Ganar's offices were in the middle of an older industrial district. Batarians and Turians worked amongst the factories and processing plants, dirty clothes and dark eyes staring at them as they walked through the low lit corridors. Wrex went on her right, while Desolous was on her left, whispering their own forms of advice. Garrus walked behind, his visor a trusty blue glow at her rear. The office building was large, and the graffiti and detritus of hundreds of years made the bottom floor unusable. The stairs weren't even guarded, and the lights were unpowered. Julia cloaked at this point, and moved up the stairs to the third floor. Here she could see a few signs of life. Haptic screens in offices, take out food boxes, and the smell of fresh urine.

The Ganar office was on the left, where the doors were all reinforced, with old Turian designed intercom systems on the outside. Most were dented or not working. The one on the unmarked office that belonged to Ganar she had to confirm its address before trying to hack it with her Omni-tool. To her immense surprise, the door was unlocked. She tapped her wrist twice, and her team moved into the corridor. Wrex sniffed at the door, and nodded. She counted down with her hand, and they all readied their weapons. The door opened smoothly, and the interior of the office was revealed. An old Volus prefab desk, found on any colony. A few large chairs, empty, and a few fake plants along the walls for atmosphere.

"Welcome to Dagnur's." A voice came from the back, and a Krogan in an older set of armor walked out. "What can I.." He noticed that they all were armed, and his fist tapped the wall next to him, a kinetic barrier curtain dropping in between them and the area by the desk. "Alright, who are you people." The Krogan walked forward, sitting at the desk like nothing was wrong.

"My name is Urdnot Wrex. We want to talk to someone in charge."

"Well, I run this shop, so that's me." The Krogan had sat at the desk to grab a gun that was behind it, which had a nasty looking barbed hook under the barrel. "Dagnur's fabrication services."

"We need to talk to someone from clan Ganar." Wrex said, calmly standing as close to the desk as he could. "It's important. Lots of money involved."

Dagnur stared at them. "Clan Ganar does not answer to pretenders and weaklings." He pointed to the door. "Leave, before I call upon every laborer in the district to destroy you."

Wrex laughed. "I bring the last words of Ganar Ream, son of Okeer. If this is not of interest to you, then we will leave."

"Share with us, then." Another male stepped out of the shadows, his black crest thicker than Dagnur. "Ream was among our strongest. But it has been almost a century since he died. His last words would have little meaning to the living now."

"Leave, lesser Krogan. Take your filth with you." Dagnur said. "You don't have enough firepower to challenge us. We will collapse the entire office under your feet if you so much as draw your weapon. Underneath us is a vat of fabricator dredgings. Good luck surviving."

Wrex looked back at the Spectres, and then back at Julia. "Fine." He grumbled. "Your loss." They all turned around, and stepped into the hallway. Then Wrex grinned. "Your loss indeed." He turned back to the office, and pulled out his Graal Spike Launcher. "Those walls are cheap fiber."

Desolous nodded. "Don't use that big stick." Desolous smirked, and walked over to the wall, and ran his walking stick over the wall, and a slim layer of gel was pasted onto the wall. The cane must have some kind of Omni-fabricator in it. He tapped the cane against it twice, and the gel started glowing. "Age begets wisdom, and wisdom suggests that coming in quietly is far better than going in loudly."

Then they all had their guns out, and the wall fell inwards. The two Krogan inside were ready, though, and charged out of the room at them. Wrex slammed into Dagnur, both of them descending into a pile of teeth and blood on the floor, while Dagnur's partner stepped into the hallway with a long barrelled cannon. Garrus let loose, running forward to get out of the firing arc of the large weapon. Desolous ducked into the archway of another doorway, and held out a pistol that looked Asari in origin. She knew it was a brand of pistol called an Acolyte. Julia herself ran forward at the Krogan, confident that she could take him.

She saw the paw-like hand swipe at her, and she rolled. The kinetic barriers on the Krogan were shuddering from the fire being poured on from Garrus' position. She rolled behind the Krogan, and slipped a tech grenade onto his knee. Her own rifle spat rounds towards the Krogan, but the big creature didn't seem to care that she was trying. Garrus cried out when the big gun fired, the Krogan accurately hitting him with a few dozen rounds a second. Whatever they were, they were green and discolored compared to the normal shots that were used.

The grenade didn't even bother him. There was some blood that resulted, but the big creature shrugged it off, swinging his weapon towards Desolous. The old man was ready, his pistol releasing some kind of balls of energy, which stuck to the front of the big cannon. When they exploded, the front of the muzzle had been warped. "Age before wis-" The Krogan didn't care, grabbing the cannon by the barrel and swinging it like a baseball bat. Desolous got rocked, his helmet denting from the force of the strike. The old man still had good reflexes, coming up to his feet after being struck. Tough old bastard.

Julia did not like being ignored. So she gave the Krogan something to think about. Her Warp gave him pause, as she kept spraying him down with rounds from her rifle. It just looked back at her once, and laughed. Then it went back to beating the hell out of her Turians. Wrex and Dagnur were having it out in the office, now, Dagnur's head being dragged along the floor by Wrex. Dagnur's barbed blade from his weapon was lodged in Wrex's arm, but he didn't seem to be slowed down by the weight. Julia decided that she could better help there, as Wrex wasn't getting through his armor, either.

She leveled her rifle at Dagnur, and shot him a few times around Wrex's bulk. Her shots didn't penetrate his armor, even with the strongest mods. She scowled, realizing that whatever these Krogan were armored with, it was keeping them from getting through. She was about to pull out her shotgun when she noticed a third Krogan coming up the stairs. He was not alone, with four Batarians next to him. The Batarians were actually wearing armor, and the Krogan had the same model armor as the two they were already engaged with. "Shit." She ran for the broken wall, and scooped up Wrex's Graal Spike Launcher. It was almost too heavy for her, so she had to stabilize it against the fallen wall. The Krogan moving forward from the stairs was confident, and sighted in on Garrus.

Unfortunately, Garrus had seen him as well, and had swapped out his ammo block to something better for piercing armor. This time when he sprayed the incoming Krogan it worked, and the big creature slowed down, grunting as Garrus' fire punched through. Julia smirked as its kinetic barriers dropped, and fired the Graal. The sharpened stake went right through the Krogan's faceplate, sinking halfway in. It felt exquisite. "I love this thing!"

"Hands off!" Wrex growled, ripping out a bloody flap of skin from Dagnur's neck. "That's mine!" Dagnur yowled as the skin came off, Wrex's hand glowing in biotic fury.

The Krogan she had shot was shouting, blood pouring out of the hole the spike had created. That must have gone into his frontal lobe. "Human!" It roared, charging at her. She narrowed her gaze on it, and hammered the trigger on the Graal twice more. The first spike went into the Krogan's shoulder, and the second hit the left arm. It's movements had stopped being predictable, the limbs in disarray and the head bobbing anywhere the Krogan could move it. She pressed the trigger again, and a screeching sound came from the weapon, and it blinked green. She had no idea what the symbols on the board meant, as they were in Krogan. Still, the big thing was charging towards her.

She hit it with a Throw, and it did little but make its next step less of a charge and more of a jog. Her rifle didn't even bother it. When it finally reached her, it had gotten up to full speed, faster than any Turian she had seen. It kicked up fragments of the ground, and Julia was kicked by its foot, her attempt to dodge only getting her stepped on and trampled. The impact was felt through her Pheonix armor, the sound of something breaking coming to her senses. Then it was over, Wrex pulling the Graal out of where the Krogan's neck used to be. The end of it was smoking, and Wrex was bleeding from a deep gash over his eye.

Dagnur was lying on the ground, his eyes torn out and growling in pain. The Batarians were retreating, their loyalty only going as far as their employer's blood kept flowing. Julia levered herself up, seeing Desolous helping Garrus to his feet. Desolous' helmet was bent, the right side of the facemask so badly dented that he may have damaged his mandibles. "Charming. Now what?"

Wrex trundled over to Dagnur. "Tell me when your clan speaker is coming to this station, and I will make your death dignified. Hold your tongue and you'll end up like Ream."

"What makes you think I'll say anything?" Dagnur stated, growling as Wrex brought his boot down on his face. "You are lesser Krogan."

"Last chance, Ganar." Wrex said. "We need to speak to someone important. Either you tell us where we can find them, and you live, or you can die here, blind and not able to see your forefathers greet you in death." Dagnur froze.

"Lesser Krogan don't keep to the old ways." He whispered. "You would spare the life of an enemy?"

"By the blood of my father, and my shared mother with Ganar Ream, I swear to spare your life if you tell us where we may find a Clan Speaker."

"He is coming here in a day. Our ships are not used to transport him. I don't know why he is coming, only that he is." Dagnur said. "He is called Grunt."

"Understood." Wrex then pulled out a package of medi-gel, and gently applied it to the Krogan's damaged face. "Ganar Dagnur, if you lied to me, then you know what I will do."

"I have no reason to lie to you." He sighed. "But yes, I know. My entrails will be used to decorate your skull, or so your clan prefers."

"Good." Wrex placed the Krogan's weapon on top of his torso, the barbed tip still covered in blood. Dagnur held it. Wrex then shameless grabbed both of the other Krogan's bodies, pulling weapons and Omni-tools off of them. Julia helped, wincing as she saw the Krogan foot shaped dent on her torso. "Don't touch my guns, Constantine. That one is a couple hundred years old. It's not a rifle you can just swing around."

"You're going to have to show me how to use it, then."

"When you can afford it, go buy your own." Wrex brushed her off, seeing if any damage had been done to his weapon. "Or better yet use that heavy weapon he was holding. Looks like it took the Turian apart."

She glanced over at Garrus, who was clutching his chest, his armor damaged. Nothing a bit of Omni-gel wouldn't fix, but still, something got through. "Vakarian, are you alright?"

"Irradiated ammo." Garrus muttered. "Spirits, that's rude. Illegal Polonium rounds, I'm sure."

"My helmet appears to be stuck." Desolous stated. "A crude method of constraining my gallant good looks, I will admit."

"Vakarian, you're going to see Dr. Heart. Radiation is bad no matter how small the dosage." She picked up the heavy barreled weapon that had injured Garrus, and hefted it. She could barely lift it, even with biotics assisting her. "Desolous, help me out with this." The old Turian grabbed one end of the heavy weapon, and together they all walked back to their cab. Aria's squad of goons wasn't even in sight until they were back in their air car.

"Looks like she doesn't care at all about firefights in the factories."

"We didn't kill anyone critical to her needs. We didn't shoot up the facilities, and we didn't do anything to truly piss her off." Desolous said. "So, where are we going to find out about this Speaker person thing?"

"Clan Ganar's speaker will come in through C ring. Just like we did. We were told to expect him to come in someone else's ship. I have no reason to expect differently." Wrex said. "Krogan don't often need subtlety or lies. Arrogance aside, we should expect another Krogan with the black crest to come through."

"I'll assign shifts. Let's get you back to the ship, then. You can help us look for this speaker."

Bekenstien, Widow Nebula, October 2182

A surcharge of 60,000 credits has been added to your account. His eyes locked on the red colored piece of text. Once again, he glared as more of his hidden accounts were being charged for different costs. Some of the accounts had already been drained, as their accounts were locked to Jones. Every charge was being forward among extranet accounts, in staggering numbers. Hundreds of charges per second were being sent to his accounts, and he had so few individuals with access that he trusted. Systematically, every account he had to depend on was being emptied. Except for the largest.

That he had locked down. He sneered, as the many requests started dying down, his money either spent or locked away somewhere. Many of the expenditures were fraudulent in nature. Others were just confusing, and took as much attention as stopping the attempts. One of the expenditures apparently bought the entire contents of the now defunct 'Brony' museum from the late 21st Century. Thousands of credits to buying the entire franchise from some old bat. He had received a host of useless patents, old technology, and apparently had donated a few thousand credits to different humane causes.

A surcharge of 60,000 credits has been added to your account. Source: Omega transit and fuel costs. Commentary, One man's trash is another man's treasure. He blinked at the red line of text. "Clarify." He spoke up, tapping on the line.

Omega transit and fuel services are billing you for services associated with the docking of the SSV Normandy. Charges associated will pay for fuel and repair costs for your ship while it is docked at Omega. Accept or Decline these charges and we can accommodate any other needs that your ship will have.

Donovan Hock did not like being played. Someone had engineered this entire situation, and it was driving him nuts. A systematic attack on every single illegal operation that he had going in the Terminus was happening, and he could do little to stop it. All because of a small bit of 'lag' in the comm relay system from here to there. Some of that was simply because civilian comm traffic was always delegated to the busy channels. Some channels were always reserved for military needs, and though he could use them, that would generate attention. So, Jack wanted his daughter to go out into the Terminus. Odd that he wasn't trying to recruit her. Also odd that Jack and Hannah had not tried to recruit his daughter to their cause.

Other than the information that Jack had left on his Omni-tool. Acquiring that was expensive. The data referenced his own network with the Reds, and he had sent many of his agents out to go and keep the network safe. Relocation, changing hardware, locations, cars, ships. Everything was going well enough, when this shit storm landed. All of his best agents were out keeping the Alliance from finding out about his dirty history, and so he was sitting here doing actual work. Donovan hadn't had to put this kind of effort into something for quite a while, especially something like this.

"He's moving in on me." Hock realized. "Set all lower chambers to vocal identification code and level three encryption." He told his local terminal. "Alert security to check all perimeters, and get me a list of all ships that have landed in the last two weeks." His hands ached, and Hock groaned. "Can't depend on that. We have to relocate."

Hock stood up, and walked out of his comm terminal room. The barrel vaulted ceilings of his estate were normally a comfort to him, calling back to his Dutch heritage and the trappings of his childhood home. Today the dark shadows and the fading sunset did nothing for him. His fifteen miles of private atoll were worth nothing in the grand scheme of things, but they made him appear to be more than he was. This attack was taking out a few of his sources of income and a few open bank accounts. His stocks and tech gangs were untouched, and the real sources of income out in the Attican Traverse were untouched.

As he walked past his grand patio, he could see a few of his guests politely dining in the waning light, each table with its own chef. This place was built to last, and right now it felt insecure. The stone was local granite, with hidden kinetic barrier emitters on most load bearing surfaces. Kinetic bombardment was always a threat, no matter how close you actually were to the Citadel. Accidents happened, and he knew best that they sometimes struck innocent people like himself.

There was a tram that went underneath his island, all the way back to the spaceport. He stepped onboard, his private security ignoring him as he stepped onto his own tram carrier. It never made it to its supposed destination. It took a side tunnel, arriving at a secondary bunker that he had commissioned just in case the other bunker in his villa was ever compromised. This one had less amenities, of course. But it also had a curious technology that he had stolen from Jack Harper a while back.

Hock had found copies of it in some of Jack's files, back when Jones had been ordered to shadow him. The files labeled it a Quantum Entanglement Communication system. Hock had it developed on the side, through ExoGeni and their Noveria lab. The entangled particles were expensive to produce, yes, but they offered true encryption. Unfortunately they could only be keyed to one other particle so far. Multiplexing a particle that existed in two locations was already difficult enough.

The QEC device sat in the middle of the comm chamber, and Hock pressed the sequence of buttons that would dial its opposite. It was purposefully difficult, and he had to use a protocol that changed every fifteen minutes. When the connection was established, he smiled.

"Director. You're early." The synthesized voice of his lead doctor came through. "How might this one be of assistance?"

"There is a possibility of the project being discovered by forces that mean the Systems Alliance harm. I have prepared a second location in deep space for you and your people to transfer to."

"Indeed. It will be difficult to move L2 at this time. He is stabilized, but not yet ready to breathe on his own." The Hanar on the other side of the connection floated serenely, his tentacles holding up blood covered medical instruments. "What shall this one do?"

"Wake him up. Tell him the truth. He was killed by anarchist plotting through Julia Harper. She has been following her father's plans for years, and on that world she decided to remove another possible Spectre Candidate. Once Halmabad is dead, she will become Humanity's first Spectre, and Jack Harper will have access to everything. The Systems Alliance is as good as dead if that happens."

"This one is not as verbose as you. It rather prefers working with cybernetics and blood samples. Perhaps you should explain to the subject."

Hock debated that. "I can introduce myself directly. Connect this equipment on your end over to the internal comm systems. Simply being the Director will be enough for an introduction."

"This one will awaken L2 momentarily." The Hanar moved out of the direct connection, and Hock had to go to the internal security feeds. He grumbled, looking up the password and encryption for today on this network, as he didn't have things like that memorized. Tech specialists were well paid for a reason, after all. Specialists such as the disgraced Finds-Secrets-Within-Flesh. The Hanar doctor had been experimenting with Prothean technology, bonding Hanar cybernetic technology and connecting it to other races. It had gotten Hock's attention, and his groups within the Alliance black ops picked up the Hanar the moment he was hit with charges from C-sec. The creature had no moral fibre, as it believed that the Protheans meant to have all of their technology shared. As such, it had performed experimental surgeries and implantation of tech.

The cameras within the secure lab came online, and Hock saw the operating table exposed. Normally a massive containment chamber was placed over the top of it, concealing the contents. Today, the person inside was revealed. Lt. Leeroy Martha Jenkins lay on the table, the scar on his forehead long since covered. It was the only damage that the man had received. But in the weeks that he had been shot, Hock had taken the opportunity to upgrade the Human with everything he could.

"Greetings." Finds-Secrets told Jenkins, sitting on the table. Jenkins groaned, coughing as a a tube was removed from his throat. "You have been unconscious for more than three weeks. Please try to avoid talking too much, as your vocal chords have only recently been rebuilt."

"What?" Jenkins spoke up from the table. He blinked, the cameras focusing in on his face. He coughed, fluid from the containment chamber spilling out of his mouth. "Julia!"

"She killed you." Hock said over the intercom. "There was no hesitation, and she killed you at the first opportunity." Hock paused for dramatic effect. "You recognize me?"

"Ambassador." Jenkins said, trying to nod. "What's going on?"

"Julia is doing as her father has asked her. She killed you, just as she will kill Halmabad before this is all over." Hock explained. "Canrum was simply the time that she chose to kill you."

"She wouldn't." Jenkins said, his eyes wide. His right eye's cornea opened up, the cybernetic functions activating. "What the hell is this?!"

"When she shot you, her bullet went directly between your frontal lobes. Then the round hit your thyroid and the top of your spine. I don't care for the medical terminology, but the connections in your brain were seriously damaged by the shot. The mods on her sniper rifle were meant to ruin organic materials."

"Shredder mod. Yeah, that usually makes a big hole. How the hell am I still alive?"

"You died." Hock said imperiously. "You were dead, but thanks to Alliance black projects, we decided to bring you back. Congratulations, Mr. Jenkins. You are the second person we have brought back through the Lazarus Project. When we saw that you could be preserved, we decided to take the initiative and restore you. With a few added additions of cybernetics, of course." The first person brought back was a failure. Jenkins was not allowed to fail.

"I can see in infra-red! Is this still my eye?"

"We've added a new cornea. Yours was damaged by the atmosphere of Canrum. Sections of your spine, as well as your lungs and stomach were damaged. So our best doctors and bio-engineers worked you over. Gave you some of the best cybernetic technology and gene treatments that we know of. I don't have all of the details on those, but Finds-Secrets will brief you on your new abilities. If you start floating in the air, that is normal." Hock thought for a moment. "Apparently."

"This one should inform you that you are capable of independent floating and gliding with the implant that replaced your kidneys. The cybernetic attachment in your lungs is capable of allowing you to survive in highly oxygenated water sources."

"Wait, what?"

"You're capable of breathing underwater, Mr. Jenkins. Compared to some of the things you have the capacity to do, that shouldn't be a surprise." Jenkins was looking around wildly, his breathing getting erratic. "Calm down, you've only been alive again for a short amount of time. You can't let yourself become too agitated."

Jenkins' eyes were still wide. "Why?"

"I improved you, Jenkins, because you are the only one who might be able to save Halmabad from a similar fate. Julia Harper is going to kill him, and you're going to be there to stop her from doing so." Hock let Jenkins focus on him, and not the Hanar sitting next to the control console to activate the drug intake valves. "Julia Harper is a threat to all mankind. With your death, the Normandy is now under her complete control. It's only a matter of time before she starts taking orders from her father. What kind of damage could the first Human Spectre do, Jenkins?"

"I dunno. Some?"

"A Spectre would have access to the Presidential Cabinet. The Alliance Senate. The Council themselves. Unprecedented access to the Citadel. Under Jack Harper's orders, Julia may murder the Council, and frame the Systems Alliance. I'm trying to prevent that from happening, Jenkins. You're the best chance I have of doing that."

He could see the gears turning in the back of Jenkin's head. The man was sharp, and lucky. Luck like this wasn't in every man. He had that fire, that force that people could get behind. "I can't just fight her. God, she's done everything she could to help me." Jenkins leaned back in the bed, looking forlorn. "Why would she ever trust her father. The guy's crazy, as far as I can tell."

"Your location was discovered recently, Jenkins. You've been woken up because we fear that Jack Harper is already coming to kill you. You're being relocated, somewhere you can understand all of your upgrades." Hock noticed that some of his agents were already reporting sightings of armed forces in the area. "Though it appears I am the main target. Trust me, Jenkins, Julia Harper becoming a Spectre will lead to the loss of everything we have worked so hard for. I have all of the evidence you can read, and more. But first, you will need to evacuate off of Earth."

"Where are we?"

"Costa Rica." Hock answered. "Some of the best medical technology in the world goes through that country. Unfortunately, what also allows that facility to remain undiscovered is what allows Harper to act without the government's notice. You'll find a shuttle ready to take you to another facility."

"Hey, aren't shuttle plots checked with Luna-2 for Costa Rica?"

"Yes, I believe so." Hock replied, surprised that Jenkins would mention this. "Why?"

"Luna-2 is right on top of the Solaris School. Harper's old place." Jenkins said. "If I were him, I would have every detection grid I could aimed at shuttles coming and going. I still don't think Julia is becoming her dad's patsy. But I know for sure that Jack Harper has killed people before. You want me to trust you? Let me handle getting us out of here."

"You just woke up on a medical bed, Jenkins. What makes you think you know better how to get out of here?"

"Believe me. I know a guy. I've done a job for Don Pablo once. He will remember me." Hock blinked. Don Pablo was not someone you crossed in Central America. He owned hundreds of thousands of men and factories, producing the illegal goods that kept the black market flowing in that region. He had refused to work with Hock in the past. "Get me a comm terminal."

Hock could feel his gut tighten. He couldn't afford to lose any of the technology or people involved with this project. But Jenkins had to trust him. With Jones dead, he needed someone to be good enough to stop Jack's people. Or even Julia, if it came down to it. "Get him a terminal, Finds-Secrets. I'll trust Jenkins to prove his worth. Though you should know, Jenkins. Under Julia's watch, Jack Harper escaped from Alliance Prison. Almost as if it was intended. Four hundred marines died during the firefight, and yet she came out virtually unscathed. When you have a moment, you can start putting the pieces together, like I have. It all leads to a very disturbing picture."

Jenkins looked a bit concerned. Hock would chip away at whatever loyalty he still felt for her. Oh yes, Jenkins would sing his tune. With every action he took, Jenkins would become more and more a part of his network. Especially with Finds-Secrets planting a cortex bomb inside of his skull. It never hurt to have a backup plan. "We can talk about that later. Just let me get your facility evacuated."

"You have my trust, Lt. Jenkins." Hock narrowed his eyes. "I will be in touch."

Lower Afterlife, Omega, October 2182

Jack Harper knew the moment that trouble started. The doors to Lower Afterlife opened, and six Krogan in brand new armor walked in. His eyes locked on them, seeing the tech armor active. Omni-gel layered the armor, glowing and standing out. This was better models of armor than he had seen on any Krogan. Worse, he could see the armor glittering with filaments. They could resist acid. So napalm wasn't going to work on them. They also might resist plasma weapons.

The Krogan also blatantly were wearing Clan Ganar's colors. They came directly towards the upstairs booth, where Jack was sitting. All he had with him was Charles and Hannah. A few of his Alpha team from Crucible were around. Henry Gunn and Gatatog Don were in the upper gallery, and Kasumi was somewhere on the station. She was working on a small side job, but was supposed to be shadowing the Krogan. As they had arrived without his knowledge, that meant that Kasumi was not here.

Jack sipped his drink, as two Krogan deposited themselves into the booth. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Desolous Arterius turn from his seat at the bar. Shit. Julia was here, too. Clan Ganar had brought in more than just their usual suspects. Usually it was just one bodyguard in cheap armor and Ganar Grunt. Today there were six of them. All of their weapons were dangerous. The mods sticking out of their sides were worse. Jack recognized them from his memories as Collector tech. Julia, what did you do? He ignored the need to chastise his daughter, and smiled at the Krogan that had joined him. One was Ganar Grunt. The other who had sat down was old. His skin was hanging on his face in places. His hump was extremely large, and pressed up far enough that his neck hung at a lower angle. His neck had a section that was mottled and grey, and the eyes were unconcerned with the world around them.

"Okeer." Jack said quietly. "What are you doing here?"

The old Krogan smirked, his eyes settling on Charles. Instead of Okeer, or who he assumed was Okeer, Grunt spoke. "We have come to hold you in judgement. Your accord with us has been broken."

"Explain." Jack said. "I do not remember doing anything that would have broken the accord we have."

"Not you, your daughter." Grunt stated. "The mistakes of the children are the responsibility of the parent. Blood is begotten by blood, and the actions of the child reflect the parent's lineage and bearing."

"My daughter broke all ties with me. If you are under the impression that she and I share responsibility for some kind of action, then I must protest."

"This isn't a judgement." The voice was quiet, from Okeer. Or whoever he was. "Our judgement was already made when we arrived. The actions of your daughter have thrice wronged my people. Clan Speaker Grunt does not have the authority to declare blood feud against your clan, Harper. I do. As Clan Shaman, I will declare you and your blood to be worthless. Void of scorn, void of respect, and void of the right to live. You may state your last words at this time, if you so decide." So, this wasn't Okeer. This was just a Shaman.

"Boss, be careful. That Shaman is older than Patriarch. What he just declared would force any Krogan allied with you to check with their clans to see if Ganar's claims restrict their ability to work with you. Whatever you say, that Shaman has to live. He's the only one who can take back a declaration like this." Gatatog Don said. "So try to be respectful, but threaten the shit out of them. We're ready here."

Jack sighed. "If you are going to declare me a blood enemy of Clan Ganar, you have to be very specific about what my blood has done. State exactly how we broke our accord with you. Then I will give you my reply to your declaration."

The Shaman nodded, and turned to Grunt. "The first offence was the murder of Clan Ally, Clan Eriasha upon the world of Astaria. The second is the murder of the same ally, with targeted assassination missions that swept through our shared agents in the Eclipse. Lastly, for the murder of Krogan here, in our offices on this station. For these three things we are bound by ancient rite to declare this feud."

"You're allied to those bitches?" Clan Ganar was allied to the same Asari helping the Rachni. "They're insane!"

"You've offended our highest benefactor. Arda and Nazara have both declared this fued to be just." The Shaman said. "State your last words, Jack Harper. Your allies may leave, though the female is of interest. Arda's interest is rarely survivable, Human. Pray to your gods that we damage you little."

"Six Krogan, against me in a prepared position? I doubt your chances."

Grunt grinned. "Six is enough to destroy any rival clan. Though we did not assume six was alone enough." Jack took a slow glance around. All of the waitresses had stopped moving around, taking cover behind the bar. Most of the patrons had cleared out. Walking right into the middle of the lower concourse were sixteen Asari in unmarked armor. All of them had weapons that belonged on a Rachni and not in the hands of a peaceful race. "We came prepared to end you, Harper. As of today, Clan Ganar declares blood feud. Today you will die, and we will stand victorious on your steaming corpse. We are the true Krogan, and we serve a higher power. Your daughters will be murdered, both here and at Astaria. Arda itself will be overseeing the death of your favorite daughter. This exchange is over." All of the Krogan fingered their weapons, waiting for Jack to make the first move. All the while, his fingers clenched and his back was slick with sweat. This was not what was supposed to happen. That mantra repeated itself in his head, but fell to the wayside as his mind came up with a plan of action. He just needed more time.

* * *

Author's Note

Here we go, big old scrum between Jack, Ganar, Asari, and Julia's people. Also, I am so glad to announce the return of Jenkins! Leeroy Jenkins! One bullet through the head didn't kill his dad, and it won't kill him. I was very pleased with how this chapter turned out. I wanted to show how Julia's actions have basically ruined the credibility of Jack, and now the different groups are starting to surface. Clan Ganar has always been super scary. To me, in the games, Okeer represented a terrifying prospect.

LogicalPremise also thought this way, and his Okeer is nasty. Downright nasty. So yes, Okeer will have his own story. The Krogan have just as rich and fertile of a culture as anyone else, it just seems that Bioware didn't want to go into it. I know that animator budgets were tight, but I really wanted to see more racial traits exhibited by the different races. We saw some of this the second game, where on Tuchanka you can see different Krogan from different clans have different color of crests. We've seen some different Asari skin colors, and I love the idea of different racial traits for Volus. By the way, LogicalPremise has kept updating his main story, and his side stories. One of them is dedicated to understanding the technology of Mass Effect Premiseverse. It's worth a read.

 


	65. Lucid: Panic at the Disco

Chapter 65

Lower Afterlife, Omega, October 2182

He knew that Hannah would turn invisible and tumble her way out of the booth. That was why he kicked the loose bolt on the bottom of the table, sending the table top towards the Krogan. This was for multiple reasons, the first simply to cover Hannah's fine ass. The second was for Charles. He had disconnected the bolts under the table as  _well_  as Charles' seat. The Krogan had been looking at Charles as if they knew him, knew what he was good at and why Jack employed him. He was not an asset he could afford to lose. Jack kicked Charles' seat, and watched as the programmer fell, already screaming. Hannah was cloaking, and Charles was falling. The next step was to cover his own ass.

Jack thanked Daro'Xen again mentally, as the functions in his feet activated. The grenades that he had placed as a safeguard for unwelcome clients wouldn't do much to their armor. They would probably feel like they were passing gas with armor of that thickness. It would only buy him time, time he took advantage of by firing chemical thrusters in his Quarian boots. They were much heavier than any normal boots he had, and they had to be connected to them from the hip as well as the knee.

He grunted as they engaged, the aching stump of his left foot burning as the new prosthetic foot pushed against him. His right foot was older, a few years. Still a bit raw from the new boot, but it didn't pulsate with pain like the left. He already knew that the scab on his kneecap had broken open, and the wet feeling of blood on his stump was one that wasn't wanted. At least the guy who did it to him was dead. Shaw got destroyed by Javik, and Jack felt no hard feelings. Guilt wasn't something he often felt. More often than not, his guilt was related to a failure to succeed in basic mission objectives.

He grunted in pain involuntarily as he landed on the highest level of the bar, landing next to Henry. He didn't land clean, his sniper having to grab hold of him to keep from sliding off the edge and falling back down. "Get out of the way!"

The Ganar Krogan had not been inactive during this time. Jack tried to roll, watching as Don reached over him, grabbing him by the seat of his pants and throwing him behind the Krogan. Jack then saw a harpoon puncture right through Gatatog Don's armor plating and retract, barbed hooks digging into his chest cavity. Don started sliding, and he let go with his hands as the enemy Krogan started retracting the hook. "Don!" Henry was holding on to Jack, and not his friend. With a grunt of exertion, Don fell over the edge and down towards the Ganar Krogan.

"Get some cover fire on them! Where's the backup team!" Jack barked, scrambling behind Henry. The sniper fired three times, his rifle starting to glow. Jack grabbed a combat rifle from behind Henry, sliding it into the crook of his shoulder and coming up to the edge of the railing.

"Backup team got held up. It's just us." Henry said. "They're coming up the stairs." One of the armored hulks had remained to put down Don on the third floor area. The other two were marching their way up the stairs, their black and gray helmets hiding any kind of emotion that they might be feeling. Not that he could actually convince a Krogan to stop trying to shoot him. Jack didn't like arguing with them for good reason.

His rifle wasn't even bothering them. Henry's sniper rifle was, though. Large cracks in the lead warrior's armor were showing near the right shoulder. He aimed the rifle for that area, the rounds mostly scattering. "Henry!"

The sniper tapped his Omni-tool, and the lead Krogan received a face full of Incinerate, which against a normal target would do rather well. This time the Krogan came sweeping in, and Jack saw the floor tiles starting to vibrate with each step as the Krogan built up momentum. His partner was also charging, their foot falls coming hard enough to rattle the floor where Jack and Henry stood. Then their boots hit the oil slick, and Henry's trap sent both of them careening into a booth, modular pieces falling all over the place. Both of the Krogan ended up sliding off the deck, and falling down to the third floor. "That won't hold them long." Henry muttered. "Crap, your daughter is here."

"Don't make disparaging comments about your fellow stockholder!" Jack stated, telling his Omni-tool to send a message to a certain Batarian. Anto was an expensive bribe to make, but the man was honorable to a certain extent. Aria's man through and through, Jack nonetheless had a deal with him. He ignored anyone dangerous that would show up for a business deal and Jack would pay him under the table to report no problems with the client. Like Clan Ganar. But now that everything had gone completely to hell, Anto needed to know so that they could call in the heavy artillery. "We've got to cover our people until Aria's turrets activate."

"Won't she just turn them on us?"

"The turrets themselves are EMP hardened. But the rotors are all networked to the Shades." The Salarian tech gang made a habit of turning any device with power on this station into part of their massive botnet. "We've got their codes for now, so if the turrets become a liability we can simply lock them down to a certain angle of fire. Aria will notice, but there will be a number of possible offenders." Henry put out some concussive rounds, talking into his Omni-tool and managing his team. Jack could see the Krogan from earlier making their way up the stairs again, this time more carefully. "Kasumi, where are you?"

" _Busy, busy. So many Krogan, and I followed the wrong ones!"_ The Japanese woman said. " _I've got another group of six heading for that Alliance ship."_

That wasn't tolerated. "Intercept them."

" _Too late for that, Boss-san."_ She reported. _"The crew has engaged them. They've got a lot of guns firing back at them, and they managed to piss off Aria's people."_

Jack was shooting at the Krogan, but they didn't seem to care. Both had shotguns, though one had switched his out for a rifle. Jack tapped Henry on the shoulder, and both had to roll as explosive rounds tore through their booth, the poor cover falling apart after only one burst. He could feel some of the shards of the plastic sticking through his suit coat, and grimaced. His knee was bleeding profusely now, complaining about his movements. "Molotov!" Jack spat, picking up one of a few bottles full of alcohol. A napkin was then lit on fire from an Incinerate was added, and Jack and Henry both tossed bottles. The Krogan actually shot those down, Jack taking a round right through the ballistic vest as he tried to make the throw. The explosion from the round exploded behind him, and he felt something give.

Henry pushed him down, standing over him and letting his sniper rifle fire five times, the vents spraying steam as he fired his last shot, the rifle already in the red when he activated the Assassination protocol. This time, he heard a Krogan cry out in pain from the shot, and Henry took a full spread of explosive rounds. His armor handled it well, and the man overturned a table full of drinks into the path of the Krogan. Fire licked at the new fuel source, and the Krogan had to step back from the fire. Or at least one of them did, the other dared to come closer.

Henry was blasted by the shotgun it was carrying, his biotic and kinetic barriers dropping away to nothing as his body was riddled with the force of the shot. The Krogan seemed immune to anything at this stage, and Jack saw the shotgun get leveled at him. Of course, that was when Aria decided to get involved.

* * *

Charles fell, sliding out of the modular booths that at one time he would have complimented. Their design offered easy cleanup and replacement. Locally produced and locally supported, there was no need to put much other effort towards the furniture. Well, he finally had a complaint about them. They freaking sucked at keeping you from getting blown apart by the grenade you hide under the seat of your visitors. Jack's catch-all plan was to have grenades underneath the cushions of visitors. Some were toxin-related, and others were explosive. With Krogan, their noses would detect the toxin before it could have any effect. So explosives were the way that Jack went. Charles felt himself slam into someone else, or the ground. It was about the same either way.

"Human! Ugh, why couldn't you have been female?" The scratchy voice of a Turian groaned. Charles didn't recognize him, as he rolled to a kneeling position. The Turian was old, and his torso was covered with the shattered remains of a drink. As the one on the table was still intact, it must have been one of the drinks from Charles' table. So it would have been either Krogan or Human, both of which would smell offensive to the Turian. Just great. "Who in the spirits are you?" His chest burned, the ballistic vest under his suit doing little for a twenty foot fall. Thankfully, as a biotic he was used to being thrown around. His weekly workout with Liara did that much for him.

Charles would have answered, but one of the Krogan slid down the wall and landed next to them, inside the booth. He slid so hard that the seat bent. Unfortunately, at the base floor level the modular functions of the booth were more robust. The seat held together. The Krogan had heavier armor than any Charles had ever fought. He had only fought Don in practice  _once_. So this was terrifying. Both Omni-tools on his arms glowed, the buttons he inserted onto his palm activating different abilities. The first was an Overload function, that used two deployable wires rather than a small Omni-fabricated magnetic particle. The wires went past the Krogan's kinetic barrier, and clipped onto his arm with their magnetic tips. Then, the full might of his left arm's Overload systems were emptied into the Krogan.

The beastial humanoid didn't even grunt in pain. But Charles did strip its barriers. His second Omni-tool was firing off an Incinerate, the entire contents of the Omni-fabricator firing off. Without a barrier, the Krogan's helmet burned, his face exposed and the upper torso barely showing. Unfortunately, the Krogan didn't seem to care. It just stood up, and finally grunted in pain as it centered its eyes on Charles. "Capture, not kill." It muttered. "Hard to do that with your attempts at survival." The Krogan reached forward, its claw latching on to Charles' shirt and suit coat. Charles was dragged across the table, spilling the Turian's drink on the way. The Krogan pulled out a pistol, and held it up to Charles' head. "No more funny business."

"Hey!" The Turian called. "What about my drink, you idiotic lizard?" People hiding in nearby booths ran. You did not insult a Krogan that just took more amperage than a shuttle and ignored it.

The Krogan turned his head towards the Turian, and scoffed once. Then it turned back to Charles. "You're coming with us. Shaman's orders."

"Excuse me." The Turian grumbled, all of the sudden inside the Krogan's guard. A heavy pistol, FLC-43, or rather a 'Falcon', was presented to the Krogan's collar. "You are going to pay for my drink."

The Krogan's eye centered on the pistol, which was aimed at its thickest bone. "I'll kill you for that, Turian."

The Heavy pistol barked three times, as the Turian leaned forward and shoved the barrel of the gun into the skin of the Krogan's neck. The first shot was tilted to the right, pointing almost at the same angle as the hip. The second and third The smell of charred flesh came from the Krogan, and it let out a quiet sigh as its body went limp. "No helmet, no way to protect your three hearts. Now, do you have enough credits for me to get another drink…" Charles just leaned back into the seat, trying to get blood back into his extremities.

He really shouldn't have been here. He should have been back on the ship, managing everything from his console. But Jack had wanted him to be here for when they met with Darvok, a Batarian in charge of setting up a defense grid around a mining site. There were enough quirks that it required Charles' direct attention. More importantly, Darvok was a technician and programmer for the Hegemony. It would be good to have that kind of relationship set up. He looked up, and saw that life was about to get worse. Three Asari were walking towards him, biotics aglow and SMGs out. "Crap!" He ducked behind the modular seat, knowing that he had a pistol and a couple of Omni-fabricators. But all of those needed time to be able to recharge their materials for any further uses. His spare Omni-tool might be of use, but he didn't have much time to be able to deploy that. "Uh, my name is Charles, and I was wondering how much your going rate is?"

"Hmm?" The Turian said. "Charles?" He sounded out. "Charles Archer?"

"Yeah!" He answered excitedly, seeing the Asari only twenty feet away now. "I can pay whatever your rate is, just help me out, ok?"

The Turian aimed his heavy pistol at Charles, his washed out scales glinting in the light. "I'm Desolous Arterius, a Spectre. I would normally settle for your arrest, but today was my day off. So…" He glanced over at the Asari. "Two drinks sounds fair. Bring me that and I'll keep the Krogan off you." The old man said. "Then you can pay for me next hour of dancers."

The bar was empty, and the Asari were still moving towards him. So, with a heave, Charles picked up the massive shotgun the Krogan had. The heavy pistol he pried out of the Krogan's fingers, and aimed it downrange towards the Asari. They had taken cover, but had moved into range. All of them were wearing Rachni based armor, which meant Charles had only a slim idea of what it would take to kill them.

The heavy pistol barked, the rounds hitting the first Asari on the arm and barrier. When the weapon was closer to overheating, he took cover, seeing the Asari smirking as she walked towards him confidently. Charles never liked combat. It was always bad for the people that weren't suited for it, like himself. While he did this, his right Omni-tool activated the subroutines to control his drones.  _Those_  he was good at.

"Nurgil!" He called. With a beep, his drone flew down to meet him. It had been in his pack full of supplies, "Come on, boy, Daddy needs you help!" He fired his pistol at the nearing Asari, finally getting them to take full cover. His drone had been made with the remains of Tesai's Pilgrimage armor, at least the helmet and gloves and gauntlets. It looked like a disembodied Quarian head, with two arms hanging from an Omni-fabricator and propulsion system. It could fly, and handle sensitive materials. It hovered right next to him, the simple VI in it detecting weapons fire and hiding from the source. "Oh, yes! Alright, Nurgil, Daddy needs two drinks, copies of the spilled one right there. Can you go get them from the bar?"

With a whirl and a beep, Nurgil and its single glowing green eye flew off to the bar. "You programmed your drone to get drinks?" The Turian remarked, hefting the shotgun from the Krogan on the other side of the booth.

"Hey! Some people like having a coffee drone!" The Turian looked amused. "You have no right to judge my obsessions!"

"I'm only judging it because you are using a drone to secure my aid in keeping you alive. I hope that your drone can mix a drink well enough."

His pistol was starting to look a little warm. Oddly enough, the Asari were not trying to kill him. They were trying to capture him, just like that Krogan. That was actually worse. To know that Charles had some kind of value beyond as a technician. He always knew that rumors of what he was capable of would get out of Crucible, but this was not how he intended on having his reputation responded to. Desperately, he sent out a Throw at them. His biotics were always weak. It showed here, only making the Asari stagger rather than actually get thrown off. In return, they sent out a Singularity right at him. Charles wrapped his legs around the table, as his body went weightless. He drifted slightly, aware that any kind of Throw or Warp would be the end of him.

By using his legs, he could still fire his gun. His wrists beeped happily, letting him know that his Omni-fabricators were ready for use again. With a gleeful yell, he blasted the Asari nearest to him with a damping effect, with a liberal use of Overload. She screeched in agony, as her biotics flickered and died. Damping did that to people. Charles had to duck down to avoid the others starting to shoot at him with their weapons. Now that he had demonstrated an ability to resist them with, they were taking less chances with his capture.

But thankfully, Nurgil chose that moment to return. Bearing a coffee hanging on one of its Quarian fingers, and its two palms full of glass cups with something blue in them, Nurgil happily chirped as it arrived. Then it delivered one drink to the Turian, one to the dead Krogan, and a coffee to Charles. "Aww, thanks Nurgil! Daddy's so proud of you!"

Nurgil had a lovably simple VI in it, and it reacted happily to compliments. It helped when it always considered any user input a compliment. So it chirped happily and spun around. "If you put so much effort into a drone that can make a drink," Desolous muttered, trying a sip, "Why not put weapons on it?"

"Oh." Charles said. "Well, Nurgil is just programmed to make drinks. He has a combat protocol, but it isn't anything special."

"I will admit, that drone made a fine drink. Faster than it normally takes, too." Desolous mentioned. "I guess I'll help you out. But that Asari had better be pretty." The Turian took aim with the shotgun, aiming not at the Asari hiding behind cover, but the cover itself. His mandibles went wide with exultation as the gun fired, the muzzle moving around even under his experienced hands. The rounds went right through the cover, and the Asari's torso was splattered all over the booth behind her. Then he took aim at the other two, who gave Desolous a Singularity to work with. Now both of them had their legs wrapped around the table support.

The Asari were now waiting to advance, not wanting to come within range of that shotgun, and they couldn't leave, or else they would be hit with biotics in the open. Charles still didn't feel like he could get his biotic barrier back, but his kinetic barriers were fine. "Maybe we can make a break for it."

"I said I would help you, not run away with you! The dancers are going to come back  _here_ , and so I am not going anywhere." Charles just gently tapped his head against the plastic of the seat he was hiding in. When he brought his head up, he saw a much more terrifying sight. Gun turrets were rising out of the walls, and taking sight on anyone with a gun. The way that the booths were constructed, there was no way that they could find any cover against the big turrets. Each was even shielded and plated around the edges, so tech abilities couldn't puncture. All in all, there was no way Charles would survive if those things fired once.

Near the entrance to Afterlife, he could see a few people entering. Unmarked armor for mercenaries, as well as a Turian with purple markings on his armor. Lastly, across the bar at the only other public exit, another squad of troops walked in. All of them were Batarians, with someone in powered War Priest Armor in front. The War Priest spoke up, his voice amplified by speakers normally used for the music. Jack had said that his name was Anto, at one point. As far as Charles knew, Anto didn't ever take to the field of battle.

"Aria has declared you all to be worthless in her eyes. All those who wish to be spared, cower in the dark. Only the slain will survive this day." Charles lost count of the number of sources of death that could possible occur, and chose to just curl up under the table where he might die with some dignity. Oddly enough, Desolous was already there.

"This is my table, find somewhere else!"

"Aren't Turians known for sharing?" Charles tried.

"No!"

* * *

Dancing was always fun. For some people. Dancing until the Ganar representative showed up and acting high were not Julia's favorite activities. But it was one of the only ways to observe this place. Afterlife was for business deals and for people to forget their lives. On this station, there were a lot of reasons to do so. Hope was a rare thing here, for those that didn't stand at the top of the food chain. So Julia remained in the pile of sweaty, drugged out nutcases that wanted to lose themselves to something. Every few minutes she would go back to the bar for water or a fruity drink. Something light, that she could process. After four hours of this, she was frustrated and feeling tired.

More importantly, she had finished scoping out the place. Desolous had shown up, completely uninvited. She hadn't included him on the mission list after yesterday's mission. Yet there he was, sporting Blackwatch colony paint and with two dancers all over him. She was surprised he still had his pants on. Her other observers were the most unlikely that her father would expect from her crew. Charles Pressley had shown up, and had found a dark corner to hide in and drink in. A crotchety old man alone with his drink, and he had brought a relative to sit with him. Kaidan, with a lot of make up and his hair left unwashed for two days, looked morose and related enough. But he and Pressley had settled in for quiet drinks when she had gone for her first fruity drink. If anything, Alenko looked to be napping.

She couldn't bring her Quarians in, but Wrex was nearby with a squad of marines. They were in an air car, somewhere. Wrex was showing a few of her combat team the sights, Williams and Reddin in the Asari armor. Halmabad was in unmarked Pheonix, and Julia hoped that she wouldn't have to call in their help. The local goons were somewhat terrifying. She had seen a few people that stood out as criminals she would normally try to arrest. The Alliance had standing bounties on some of them, and a few off the top of her head were worth money. Especially the head bartender. He was an old slaver, one with deep connections to the Blitz. There were Eclipse mercs, Red mercs, and every other mercenary company in attendance here. Few Krogan were here, and those that were usually sat off to the side and drank their glowing green ryncol with their own kind.

Then she saw Hannah come in. Mum was wearing a nice vest over her catsuit. She had a sour look on her face, the look that someone gets when they just ate something they disagreed with. She looked over the bar, and Julia lost herself in the dancing. Today her hair was electric purple. The color that someone did not expect her to ever use. She could admit that Kasumi made her a little bit tolerant of hair dye. Spending a few years with her meant that their hair color changed often. Hers was naturally electric blue, thanks to genetic engineering. She dyed her hair every couple of weeks to keep that heritage from speaking out too much. Her eyebrows required constant maintenance. If Sony wasn't looking for her, she would probably have gone back to her regular color already.

Julia had tried every kind of hair dye that Kasumi had. So she was used to this, seeing hot purple flying around her head as she danced. When she was finally able to risk looking at the doors again, she saw a small entourage of Crucible team members. Don was there, the Krogan that she remembered from childhood. He was nice, for an alien. He walked in with Henry, the sniper who had a cybernetic arm. A couple minutes later, her father walked in, with Charles at his side. Charles looked pale, like he hadn't seen the sun for decades. That might be true, and with so many people living in space these days pale was the new tan.

Charles was almost never seen in public. The Alliance would love to take him in, but that wasn't who they were after today. To be honest, Julia wouldn't enjoy bringing Charles in on his charges. Almost everything that man had done was simply conspiracy and collusion with Jack Harper. Kaidan had at one point called Charles his best friend. She hadn't asked him about that relationship, and didn't want to. It would probably prompt a question about Miranda or her father in return. No one wanted that.

" _God, I'm drunk. What about you?_ " Pressley stated over the comm line for their team.

" _Gonna take a lot more than that piss drink to put me down, geezer._ " Kaidan replied. Looks like Kaidan hadn't seen her father. Pressley had, and was reporting it.

She clicked her line twice, to confirm that she had seen him. " _Get me another one, young'n. We've got a few more hours before shift starts._ " Julia went back for another water, as Pressley reported that he didn't see their target. She sat at the far end of the bar, able to face the outside doors. That was when she saw them come in. The Krogan from clan Ganar had arrived. Six Krogan, all heavily armored and carrying weapons bigger than normal. Two of them had Graal Spike Launchers. Another hoisted the same heavy repeating cannon that they had faced earlier. A fourth held a CAIN. Her blood chilled at seeing that in this crowded club. A few of the bartenders noticed the heavily armed Krogan, and the lead one immediately stepped out, taking stairs three at a time to ascend towards Upper Afterlife. Others were talking on their Omni-tools, as a second armed group came into Afterlife.

" _I think I've had enough to drink here._ " Kaidan said, seeing the second armed group. " _This is looking like it's going to be a really bad hangover._ "

Julia backed up, as the people on the dance floor realized that there was about to be a firefight. Instead of trying to escape to Upper Afterlife, the hopeless mob moved downwards, diving into private rooms and fortified chambers underneath the main dance floor. The bartenders were taking cover behind the bar, where a grate was open and letting the waitresses and workers into a bunker-like section. A few of the bartenders were reaching for weapons, but they were Batarians, and they were already wearing ballistic vests. She was in the rest of the crowd, and Julia let her cloaking field activate as they all backed away from the front doors. "Listen up. The ceiling is falling." With that keyword stated, her combat team would turn their air car around, and be here within a minute.

" _You got it._ " She heard from Wrex. " _Lots of guns moving out here._ "

Julia nodded to herself. With the crowd moving, she stepped over towards Desolous. He looked incensed, as the dancers he had been sitting with had left. "Get ready." She told him, as she grabbed hold of the wall and started climbing. The Krogan she wanted were on the third floor. She was already sweating when Desolous replied.

"I pick the worst time to take a break! Spirits, I just wanted to have a nice break from all of the Humans…" Desolous muttered, pulling his rifle out from where it sat on his lower back. "Those Asari were damn expensive!"

Julia ignored him, getting up higher. When she finally reached the third floor, she could feel her legs shaking a tiny bit. There was a small platform above the second floor booth that she could rest her legs on, and crouch on top of it. Then, she reached into her sleeve and took out a small piece of fiber. Made from partially organic materials, it looked like a straw. It allowed her to pick up sound waves, even when a white-noise generator was set up. She knew how Charles and her father worked. They would use something like that to contain their meetings and keep things safe. This device extended, reaching barely into the booth where her father was.

"-of today, Clan Ganar declares blood feud. Today you will die, and we will stand victorious on your steaming corpse. We are the true Krogan, and we serve a higher power. Your daughters will be murdered, both here and at Asteria. Arda itself will be overseeing the death of your favorite daughter. This exchange is over."

Julia blinked. What the hell was going on in that booth? Someone else knew that she was here. These Krogan knew that she was here, and they were going to try to kill her. "New Orders." She whispered in the clear. "Ganar plans to wipe us out. Crucible forces should be considered allies of convenience until Ganar has been pacified."

" _Krogan don't get passive, Constantine._ " Wrex muttered. " _We're going to come in through a side door. I've got to call Aria first._ "

Julia was about to reply when the booth exploded. Charles was flying through the air, screaming in fear as his biotic barrier flickered. He fell past her, somehow typing on his wrist during the fall. The booth didn't explode so much as it fell apart. The entire thing looked modular, which at this moment she did not appreciate. Her handhold fell apart, the entire housing sliding backwards and releasing two Krogan as well as Mum. The eight foot fall only emphasized this. She knew the feeling of being pinned by Hannah, and it came as a slight surprise when her cloaked form fell on top of her own. "Mum!"

"Julia. Thank god." Hannah said. "Are you here to arrest us?"

"I'm here for Clan Ganar."

"That pile of horse shit is all your fault, Julia. Go right ahead. If you promise not to attempt an arrest, we'll even throw in some cover fire."

"Done." She'd take assistance against this big of a host. "My people won't try anything."

Hannah, still invisible, climbed off of her. "Alpha team, Alliance forces will be deployed. They're friendly for today. Give them cover fire." Hannah grabbed her by the hand, and pulled her to her feet. "Let's kill these backstabbing Krogan."

The two Krogan on the floor near them had gotten to their feet. Both lacked helmets, though they hung from their humps. It wouldn't be long before every inch of their skin would be sealed within armor that was almost as thick as her fingers. They were coming to their feet, one of them bleeding heavily from something. One was younger, and the other had folds of skin that looked deadened and gray. Older by far. "She turned invisible. Like a Salarian." The younger one's voice carried, as he sniffed the air.

Julia smirked, and moved forward quietly. Hannah had always broken down the basic maneuvers between multiple Infiltrators. When you had multiple people that could cloak, you had to perform basic strategies that were predictable to other Infiltrators but not to your target. So if one set of footsteps was heard, the second would not be immediately apparent. Hannah had drilled her and Kasumi on this constantly. Even if you couldn't see the other person, you knew where they would be coming from. Julia knew that Hannah would be coming from the right. So she went right up the middle.

The first thing she did was come in low, looking for weaknesses in the joints of the armor. It looked like the hull of a shuttlecraft, with extra reinforcement and segmented plating over each and every curve. Unlike most Krogan armor, which may or may not be space-worthy, these models were in amazing shape. All of their joints were motorized and reinforced. She leapt at the tall Krogan, both of these some of the largest she had ever encountered. The older one was almost seven feet tall, and had more than a foot in height over her. The younger one was near eight feet tall, the largest Krogan that she had ever seen. Large enough that she needed to jump in order to reach his exposed helmet.

She used her biotics, lightening her weight and rising through the air silently. She felt as light as a feather, and when the old Krogan slammed her with his fist that lesser weight became a liability. She screeched, getting thrown into the wall.

"Can you smell the change in the air, Grunt?" The old one said. "She isn't visible, but you can smell her scent, feel the air around you displace as her limbs move. Like a Salarian, these Humans are. They prefer to fight from the shadows. The biotics, they are like the smell of fresh rain. Smell that, and you know they are close."

"I will not fail-" Grunt started to say, before Hannah's knife went in. She had come from behind, her knife stabbing into what may have been the only thin section of the armor. Blood poured out from between his legs, and Grunt roared as Hannah became visible behind him. "My quad!" Hannah's kavka was covered in blood, and she rolled out of the way of the reflexive slam of the Krogan's arm. "You!" Hannah got behind a booth, but it wasn't enough. Whatever came out of Grunt's shotgun was equivalent to a missile. The booth flew into pieces. Hannah went rolling, smoke curling off of her form. "There are two of them!"

The older one angled on her, his rifle leveled at her general direction. "They smell similar. Kill the first, we only need to question one. Then the smell will be clear." The old Krogan opened fire, his rounds making a measured spray against the wall. She rolled forward, knowing that her biotics had a few more moments before they came back. Her cloaking field was fluctuating, and in a few more moments it would drop. Before that happened, she needed to take this old Krogan out. She had to drop to the ground, and roll. As her tactical cloaking field collapsed, she had her pistol locked onto the Krogan. "That won't hurt me, Human."

"This will." She said with conviction. Then she activated the marking system in the pistol. Two lasers activated on either side of her pistol, and marked the Krogan's armor. Specifically his head. "Now!"

Her crew were all known quantities. Except for the bridge crew, every single one had been mentioned in terms of capability and combat strengths, and anyone with a hook into the Alliance networks would be able to pull that information. As such, she unleashed an unknown quantity. She grinned when the Warp hit the old Krogan, making his barriers ripple. They didn't drop, though. When Pressley opened up with the heavy weapon they had taken from Clan Ganar yesterday, the old Krogan actually noticed.

"Die you son of a bastard!" Pressley roared, the gun spraying the Krogan with every ounce of deadly force it had. When they found out that it could lock onto a marked target, Julia had laser markers placed on her pistol. She maintained the lock, as the old Krogan started taking hits that could actually penetrate his armor. He staggered, the old creature bringing his rifle around and returning fire at Pressley.

The rounds were not irradiated like the ones in the gigantic repeating cannon, but they were explosive. Pressley was only wearing a ballistic vest, and the shockwaves from the explosive rounds went right past the kinetic barriers. His gun wobbled, and a blast on one of his legs knocked Pressley down. Julia opened up with her pistol, the old Krogan not even caring that he was being fired upon. "Swirlie!" She yelled. Alenko stood up, glowing with biotics. She did so as well, being closer. Her Throw hit the old Krogan in the shoulder, making him stagger towards the edge of the railing. Alenko's Throw hit in the  _exact_  same location, sending the Krogan over the edge of the railing and onto the main floor. The warpball maneuver knocked the old bastard right on his ass, and through the railing. The finishing move was supposed to be for using on a tight formation of opponents, but this worked too.

Then she had to run for cover, as Hannah ran past her, limping. Ganar Grunt was marching towards them, the front of his shotgun shredded by some sort of tech grenade, and his face torn by a small bleeding cut on his lip. Hannah jumped over a booth wall, taking cover and breathing. Julia slid in opposite of her, and Alenko joined them, giving Grunt a spray from his sidearm. It did little. "Hold his attention!"

Grunt glared, as she turned invisible, moving to the railing. Pressley was down, clutching his shoulder and behind a booth wall. His ballistic vest was definitely punctured. She dropped next to him, and picked up the heavy weapon. This of course broke her invisibility, but they needed this thing. Wrex had called this weapon a weapon of distraction to keep gunships off of your back. She just called it a Hammerhead. That's what Turians labeled them. When she stepped around to the old Krogan, he had gotten back to his feet in the broken remains of some drinks. His rifle was leveled at her, but her catsuit wouldn't be much better than Pressley's ballistic vest.

A sniper round from above pierced through the Krogan's armor, sending his burst of fire off focus, tearing into the bar behind her and igniting the burst bottles of alcohol. Fire spread across the floor, spilled drinks and synthetic leather fibres giving it fuel. The old creature could smell her easily, and Julia didn't let him recover from the sniper round. She opened up, the rounds from the Hammerhead slamming into the old Krogan's torso. When she started so see chunks of armor, she grinned. Then a concussive shot knocked her into a booth. It had come from the same sniper. "Hey!"

" _Can't kill that one. Drive him off but let him go. He declared a blood feud with your family, and is the only one who can cancel that. Wounding him without killing him might impress him, but mercy won't_ " The voice of Don came across the comm channel. " _Don't shoot to kill._ "

Julia scowled. The old Krogan had taken cover, and she could see other people now approaching. Asari in segmented armor. All of them the same as the ones she had seen on Asteria. "Wrex, where the hell are you!"

" _Coming, Constantine. Just keep your tail tucked in._ "

Pressley was injured, and the rest of her team needed fire support. Those Asari were going to rip them apart. She cloaked, seeing them start to harness their biotics. She took careful, slow steps backwards, and gripped the railing and pulled herself behind it. Warps and Throws struck the area, the floor panels ripping open and shredding in response to the massive force exerted upon it. Booths bent and rippled, and shards of the floor panels slammed into the walls around her. Alenko's barrier glowed as a larger piece hit him, tearing gouges in the synth leather of his piece of cover.

"Desolous,do you have an angle on those Asari?"

" _Day off, remember?_ " The Turian replied. " _I've already got a Human to guard._ "

She noticed fire coming from the booth where Desolous had taken cover, and shrugged. Whether or not he wanted to, he was involved. She didn't know how much he had drank or how good of condition he was in. Rolling out of cover, she saw that Grunt had returned his shotgun to his back, the muzzle completely ruined. He now pulled out a large rifle, with an Omni-fabricator built into the grip.

"Ganar Grunt!" She called. "We want to talk."

The big Krogan looked at her, but didn't aim his weapon upwards. "We've declared blood feud. What is there left to be said?"

"We want to talk about the Rachni." Anything more that she wanted to say was interrupted by the old Krogan charging them, Alenko flying across the booth and slamming into the wall. Hannah rolled, her pistol roaring as it shot at the intruder.

"Clan Speaker! You soil your tongue by addressing these lesser creatures!"

"They want to know of our ancestral enemies. As  _you_  always have told us, education is best dispensed through force." Grunt grinned. "I don't have to speak to them, simply-" Julia saw the cannons appear from above, the huge guns extending from the roof. The loudspeakers started blaring, but the damage to this section of the bar had destroyed the sound systems. She didn't know what they were shouting. "Shaman, those cannons are rated to damage us."

"Quiet, Speaker. Those cannons were installed by Clan allies. Aria will need more than simple force of arms to stop us." The Shaman glared at the front door. "Though we have a greater concern. Urdnot Wrex has arrived."

Julia beamed from behind her piece of cover. Her team was in the bar, right next to Wrex. He was hefting his Graal with purpose, standing next to the Turian that they had met at the docks. Gavorn, if she remembered correctly.

Julia heard rather than saw the moment when Wrex came into range with Ganar Grunt. There was a thunderous crash, and then the gigantic Krogan was wrestling with Wrex. Alliance marines followed behind, shooting at the Asari and leap frogging around each other to get into position. She rolled, trying to avoid the crush of Krogan hitting each other.

"Urdnot Wrex!" Grunt declared. "You killed my father! Prepare to die!" Julia tried not to snort at that.

"Unoriginal. Just like your father." Wrex replied. He had abandoned his weapon in favor of wrestling with Grunt, using his biotics to grab hold of the younger Krogan's arm and push him up against a wall. "He was never a true Ganar."

Grunt glared. "My father and grandfather are of the purest blood! You will respect this!" Then Grunt glowed. Or that was it appeared to be. Something flashed across his skin and armor, and he started pushing back against Wrex. Even with his biotics, the old Krogan was starting to lose. As the element zero flickered and died down, Wrex's arms were shoved to the side, and the nine inches of height Grunt had on Wrex were put to use. Grunt brought his skull down on Wrex, hard enough to crack something on Wrex's face. Wrex fell backwards, staggered. "I am true Krogan! You are nothing!"

Wrex came around with a few punches, but Grunt casually blocked all of them. "You're my nephew, alright. Your father hit like that too. Right before I ended his life."

Grunt roared, coming at Wrex again. Wrex let him come closer, dodging where he could. Something was on his mind. Wrex kept stepping backwards, coming near where Desolous was hiding. The old Krogan reached out and stole Desolous' drink, earning a yell of indignation. Then he promptly slammed it into the skin around Grunt's eye. Julia could see the rest of her fire teams ignoring Grunt, in favor of keeping the Asari pinned down enough for someone to get off a shot. Alenko was doing his best to take advantage of things, but the armor the Asari wore was distinctly strong. It did a very good job of resisting biotics.

Julia reached over to the Hammerhead, and leveled it at Grunt. Grunt had somehow ignored the bottle that had been shoved into his face, and now was holding Wrex up with one hand, choking him. He also was holding Wrex in between them, so that she couldn't shoot Grunt without harming her own ally. She cloaked, moving closer towards him. Grunt's arms were longer than Wrex's, and Wrex was trying to get Grunt to release his grip. Biotics couldn't get through the young Krogan's armor, and Julia wasn't even tall enough to get near his exposed face.

But she could get close enough to his arm. Wrex was starting to gurgle, choking under the grip of Grunt. She leveled the Hammerhead at his arm, and fired a few rounds. His reflexes were amazing. Before she had even finished the first burst, Grunt had kicked the weapon away, and spun Wrex around to slam into her. She was crushed under six hundred pounds of Krogan, and Wrex was just trying to breathe. Arms flailing, she wasn't even able to lift her mercenary even with her biotics strengthening her arms. But she could wait until Wrex could roll over.

Grunt had been engaged by Aria's people, now. "Ganar Warriors! Protect the shaman!" One of them took the front path, his purple colored armor a familiar sight. Aria's War Priest stood in front of him, looking at Grunt with distaste. "You are nothing, Batarian. Simply a collared pet for Aria. Walk away now, and I won't have to prove that to you."

The Batarian took a stance with his feet. "You've pissed off Aria. The Queen of Omega wishes me to grant you her judgement, here and now." With that, the mass drivers activated and the War Priest hit Grunt with all the force they could muster. Grunt caught the War Priest, his boots only sliding on the floor. The arm-mounted mass drivers fired, and Grunt actually felt those strikes. Then Grunt kicked the War Priest, his entire torso rattling.

"I am Krogan!" Grunt's shotgun blasted the War Priest in the face, followed quickly by a head butt. The helmet broke under this, and the Batarian dropped to the ground in pain. Grunt just laughed, as fire from Aria's troops was leveled at him. His barriers soaked it all up, allowing him time to close and start blasting them away with his shotgun.

During this time, Wrex rolled off of her, coughing. A whining noise came from his throat, and blood dribbled out the side of his mouth. "Wrex, did you bring what I asked for?"

He nodded, sliding Julia a long weapon case. With a big smile, she opened it. She tried to ignore the sounds of Krogan exchanging fire with the turrets, and loaded the weapon. It then took an agonizing fifteen seconds to prime its first shot. Only then did she let herself stand up, Wrex and Kaidan at her side as she aimed the weapon.

"Grunt!" She yelled. A stupid name for someone that was anything but. "Stand down, or your shaman dies."

Ganar Grunt turned around, the upper half of a Blackwatch colony Turian in his left hand. The right held the shotgun that tore him in half. He turned around, giving her a toothy grin. What was even more odd was that his eye looked like it had scabbed over already. The bottle was no long in his eye, yet Grunt seemed to have recovered from it. But his eyes narrowed on her when he saw the M-920 Cain in her hands. "Ganar warriors. Take the shaman and leave. I shall remain."

She saw a shard of glass fall out of his skin, the area bleeding for only a couple of seconds as he said this. The scab formed immediately, and Julia started feeling very worried. Grunt was hardly scratched, and he could regenerate fast enough that his skin was visibly being restored. It really would take something of this magnitude to kill this Krogan. "Do you surrender, Grunt? I have no issues killing you here and now."

"You wish to take me alive. Why?"

"We have questions about your clan's relations with the Rachni."

Grunt grinned. "Is that all? Arda's creatures, the lot of them. We follow the far more powerful Nazara. If we encounter any of Arda's creatures, then we have every right to destroy them. The only relationship we have with the Rachni is target practice. They avoid us and we kill them if they dare enter our territories." He answered simply. "If that is all, can we get back to gloriously killing one another?"

"We don't want to kill you! We want to ask questions and have everyone walk away from this!" Julia stated. More to the point, Wrex needed time to recover, and the Asari were locked in combat with her teams and Aria's people. So a small bit of a lie, but enough of one that she could buy time. Grunt seemed unamused. They were on Omega, after all. No one here was honourable if they could help it. "The Rachni are killing hundreds of thousands. If we can stop their supply of weapons and armor, then we can cripple their war effort."

Grunt grinned. "Now, you are talking business. Even though I am bound to crush your skull, you still represent your government. You understand me. Yes, we can sell this information." He grinned even wider when one of the Asari moved closer. Her armor was shattered along her sternum as well as her shoulder, probably from her fireteams.

"You cannot do so, Ganar! That information is not to be-"

Grunt blasted the Asari with his rifle. Chunks of her upper body rained on the local booth. "Do not presume you can command me!" He chuckled. "The location of the Rachni world for my safe escape. Cover me and mine, and I will give you the location you need to break the Rachni."

"How can I trust you?"

"I would allow you to carry my rifle. Keep it until I am safely at my ship. You would not trust me to swear any oath, I am sure." Grunt stated. Already his killing of one of the Asari had caused a ripple effect, with Ganar warriors now opening fire into their supposed allies, while those supposed allies rained biotic fire down upon them. One of the Ganar had a gigantic hole burned through his armor, and she saw the multiple Warps go into the hole and the inside of his armor explode violently from a biotic explosion. "You and I both have an interest in preserving the Shaman."

She didn't care about the Shaman. "I'll need more than a shotgun to prove your intentions."

"You already took one of my balls, Humans! What more do you want!" Grunt stated with a glare.

"Swear by your better grandfather." Wrex stated, coughing. "Not Okeer the Traitor."

Grunt sighed. "I swear by Olg, father of Jarrod, to a temporary alliance, until our Shaman has been safely evacuated." She looked at Wrex, who nodded. "Only because you are related to him do I make this agreement, Urdnot. You still killed my father."

"Enough! Wrex, I need an exit."

"Can't." He said. "I made a deal with Aria. We kill the Asari, and she lets us continue having her services. I'll cover you, but I need some of your people to finish them off."

"Fine." She looked at Grunt. "Looks like we are making all kinds of deals."

"Covering the Shaman's escape includes silencing his opposers. I do not find any disagreement with this." The gigantic Krogan said. He fired another heavy round, the Omni-fabricator mounted on his wrist bonding with his weapon for a moment, and the concussive shot striking one of the Asari in the back. Her barriers flickered and died, and Julia's fireteam were all too eager to take a shot at the Asari with her barriers down. Biotic Throw and a grenade struck her directly, Williams and Alenko both putting pressure on the Asari. Other people in the bar had started shooting at the Asari, as well as each other. The chaos had spread, and now Aria's people were overwhelmed with just keeping their servers and paying customers from killing each other. The turrets had all been shot up by whatever the Ganar had been carrying with them.

This time, without the Krogan to support them, the Asari started falling. Individuals first, and then finally groups of them started having their armor shatter and their weapons break down. Their temperature regulators were spewing clouds of hot air from their weapons in between bursts of fire. Plasma weapons had higher thermal output than regular guns, and that was starting to become a liability for them. She saw one Asari being ground into a floor tile by an Elcor, the teeth in the Elcor's hands making bloody work of the Asari's face and hands. Elcor ate through large orifices in their hands, with the ability to bite and crush anything that ended up beneath them. Elcor were not carnivores, but anyone knew that with enough force you could kill someone. She turned away as the Asari's hand got sucked up to the wrist in the Elcor's hand. She didn't want to see that. She let her vision fall to Hannah, who was hiding in the remains of a booth, medi-gel being slathered on her exposed skin by what appeared to be a malfunctioning medical unit.

"Hey, Mum, are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. You get out of here before you have to do something legal."

"Is everyone else okay?" She thought she had seen Don take a nasty fall at one point.

"Yes. But you won't be if you stay much longer. Aria is going to be looking for someone responsible for all of this. Get out of here while you still can. Though I have to ask, Mister Grunt." Hannah grimaced as she stood up. "What is happening with Miranda?"

"She was on the Asari world of Asteria. Arda was going to visit her and that world  _personally_." He grinned. "The resulting destruction should be exhilarating."

"What is Arda?" Julia asked. "And Nazara."

"I have only seen Nazara's divine form from a great distance. But even then I was silent and in awe. Nazara is a God amongst creation, and Arda, his sister, is a lesser partner. The Krogan of course have the mightier deity to bring us through these times of trial."

"What are they, though?"

"A God of metal and flesh. We feed it the cast offs and offspring that are not worthy of being called Krogan, and it rewards us with the knowledge to cure our diseases, improve our technology, and hide our new homeworld."

Julia hesitantly looked over at Hannah. She had her eyes closed, either in reaction to his words or the pain of her wounds. "Does it look something like this?" She activated her Omni-tool, and brought out the image of a 'Reaper' from her father's files. The ones that she had been given showed both a complete and incomplete version.

Grunt narrowed his eyes. "Your image lacks the color and glorious light that follows our God. But in basic essence your image is a match for Nazara." He stood up, taking a moment to fire another Concussive round against an Asari that had gotten too close to his Shaman. "If lacking the important auras and feelings that should be evoked."

"So Arda is another one of these."

"Of course." Grunt replied. "She will burn Asteria to the ground at her coming. Just like Nazara did to us."

Julia did the short calculation in her head. "Mum, I can't-" She stopped. "I can't go there."

"You won't have to." She heard from the side. Jack Harper was walking towards her, his right leg bloody and his suit covered in debris and liquids. "I'll go and save her."

"Just like you saved me?" She shot back. "Or is Miranda going to be taken away by some Reaper thing like I was the Alliance?"

Jack eye's hardened. "You cannot go to Asteria, otherwise the Asari will go after you. I, on the other hand, have a friend named Javik that would love to save your sister. I will not abandon you both. Not when I have committed my entire life to stopping these bastards." He looked around. "Henry, you're not coming. That shotgun blast shattered your cybernetic ribs. Don, if you want to come you may." Jack looked over at the Krogan, Grunt. "Thank you for alerting me to the threat upon my daughter. Next time you try to kill me, I'll consider making a new genophage just to wipe that smirk off of your face."

"Heh."

* * *

Getting to the docks was easy. Aria had opened fire on some Asari in front of her Upper Afterlife, and the resulting firefight had caused everyone in the upper rings to take cover. The armed groups that were guarding the docking ring didn't stop them from moving through, especially after Wrex tossed them a credit chit. The Ganar ship had parked three spots down from their own, and their Shaman labored with his breath as he made it up the ramp. It seemed that Pressley did more damage than they originally thought. Her XO hefted the Hammerhead, a grim look on his face any time one of the Krogan dared look back at them. The Krogan rumbled as they all stepped onto their ship, and Grunt was the last. At the foot of the ramp, he turned around.

"Human." He stated. "What do you call yourself?"

"Constantine." She replied.

"Here." He touched his Omni-tool, his hands graceful on the large buttons despite the normal typing method that she saw Wrex usually use. A message was transmitted to her Omni-tool, as well as Pressley's. "That is the location of the Rachni's planet. They serve Arda, yes, but not Nazara. They do not deserve to be spared, even if we are allies of a sort. This may be of aid to you. Next time we see each other, the blood feud shall continue." He grinned. "Your clan is a worthy foe."

"There is no stopping the feud?"

"Of course there is!" He laughed. "Ask your ally, Urdnot." He trundled up the ramp into his ship without any word of goodbye, and his back was to them the entire walk. His warriors were at the top of the ramp, the three that had survived glaring at them.

"We didn't kill any of them." Williams said, quietly. "They just kept  _coming_."

"I killed one." Desolous said as he walked up. "Shot all three of his hearts." The old Turian had seven bottles of wine clutched in his arms, with every pocket stuffed with more. "What? He had to pay for a new drink!" The old Turian ambled past them, clinking as he did so. "Garrus? Garrus! Your mentor has some medicine for you!" Julia just shook her head. Desolous was dangerous, but motivation and assisting others were not his strong points.

"XO. What's our status?"

Pressley stepped up beside her, heavy gun thumping against his pant leg. "Two injured, one dead. Not much left to carry out. Alenko managed to keep the biotics from doing the same to us. Urdnot Wrex is injured, and we don't have the best of reputations at the moment. The Quarians managed to drive off the Ganar Krogan when they forced their way into the hangar bay, with the use of pressure grenades. Lt. Tali'Zorah was able to move the MAKO into the hole, and stop the boarding party. Though it will need a new coat of paint, our ship has held together in our absence. The Normandy is relatively undamaged, besides a breaching charge in one of the hangar bay airlocks." Pressley reported, reading from off his Omni-tool while keeping his Hammerhead up. The Salarians that had gathered by her ship scattered, their offerings of cheap repairs and fixing jobs forgotten in the face of the massive gun. "Ma'am, I believe that we should discuss our next direction."

She nodded. "Comm room. Bring the heads of teams." Her mind should have been on the Rachni. They had a lead on their homeworld. She should be proud of that accomplishment, but instead she had her thoughts elsewhere. Miranda. Damn it all, she was in the one place she couldn't go. Wanting to avoid the crowds getting on board, she cloaked and kept to the side corridors while the team leads assembled. All she could think about was the fact that one of these monster ships was near Miranda. They could disable tech just with pinpointed bursts of signal, and though she hadn't seen them fire at anything, the large frontal cannon looked dangerous enough.

When she finally got inside the comm room, it was full of those that Pressley had invited. Lt. Zorah was there, happily chirping about something to Garrus. Desolous was not here, thankfully. Williams was, along with Alenko and Joker. She decloaked and took her place at the head of the table. "So, where are we going?" She asked.

"Asteria." Pressley answered with a neutral look on his face. "For multiple objectives. The first being a few Alliance agents on Asteria that need to be evacuated. The second to confirm that the Rachni have a new class of warship that can exceed the strength of anything in the Citadel Fleets." He looked around at the rest of the team leads. "We all agreed about this taking priority."

"No." She heard herself say. "We cannot risk this. You know that!"

"We can't go to the Rachni world as it now stands." Pressley stated. "Zorah, please explain."

Tali tapped a few buttons on her wrist, bringing up the haptic interface on the wall and displaying the galactic map, with all of the relay connections that existed. A small red dot appeared near the Persius Veil, hundreds of light years away from any known relay. "There is the coordinates that clan Ganar gave us. Far away from any historic territory that the Rachni ever owned, or that their ships were capable of traveling to in the past. Unless of course they can use cryogenic storage, which basically means that they have sent out ships more than a hundred years ago in order to fight this war." She tapped a button showing paths to the star system, unmapped as of yet. "Which does not make any of us feel confident about our chances if we are just looking at the vanguard of what could be a larger conflict."

"The  _Normandy_  doesn't have the fuel capacity to get there." Joker interjected. "This planet is so far from civilized space that the only thing near them are the Geth and Quarian space. We would need one of the advanced range scout ships from Rear Admiral Mikhailovich, and that guy doesn't break the rules at all. They're the only ships in the fleet that can even range that far."

"But," She started to say. "We shouldn't go into Asari Space."

"Ma'am." Pressley stated. "That's where the Asari we've fought came from. We've sighted Rachni on that world, and I have a statement from Rear Admiral White that allows us to go there, so long as we are not discovered."

"What?" That conflicted with the orders she had been given in the past. "I don't believe that."

"God, Commander, can't you just let us help you!" Everyone turned to look at Joker. "Some of your family sucks, yeah, but we can't let the whole Jenkins crap fest start all over again. If you lose your sister, you're going to murder everyone in their sleep. So yeah, in the interest of  _not_  having that happen, we've all decided that we need to go to Asteria and save your bitchy sister."

"Plus." Alenko offered, "We sort of owe her. She's the only reason we were able to get into Noveria. We can't just let her die."

Julia felt her lip quiver. Without a word, she turned around and left the room. "Don't leave the system until the Alliance gives us orders to mobilize. Hackett's approval only." She cloaked, seeing the look of hurt on some of the faces of her crew. Tali she couldn't see, but the eyes were wide behind the vizor. Once out of view of the comm room doors, she ran. Her catsuit thumped against the floor, feet sliding as she stopped near a ventilation shaft entrance. From there she crawled, feeling terrible and betrayed all around. She couldn't save her sister, not without risking the Alliance and her own life later. Her crew were all a collective bunch of fools. They just couldn't realize it.

The vents had a room inside of them, one that wasn't on the blueprints. The same one that Tali showed her last time, she crawled to. No one was there to witness her large hips barely fitting through the entrance, or her unceremonious flopping on the floor. The terminal was still where she had seen it last, with a bit of dust over the haptic screen. Probably from the repair crews that worked on the hull. She slumped in the chair, and turned off her Omni-tool. The only thing that she wanted to do right now was hide. The only thing that had remained true to her was Miranda in all of this. The Alliance was her government, the only one that Humanity could get behind and support. The Reds weren't very powerful, and the oligarchs that controlled them did not share power. At the same time, to the Alliance she was a tool. A very fine tool that they could and would sacrifice in order to preserve the peace that existed between them and the Council. She was loyal to them, but only because the alternative was not viable.

Humanity needed a strong government. Something that could keep the peace between themselves and all of their varied elements. Her father had caused chaos in that relationship, and his trails of drug and weapons sales led to tech gangs and other groups. All of them chaotic elements that she spent much of her early career hunting down all of the leads and fixing the damage that her family had caused. She had cleaned up almost every single loose end. The only ones that remained had been in the Terminus, and she couldn't deal with those. Yet for all of that she couldn't go to Asteria. The Asari would  _know_. They would come after her and kill her for interfering in something. She didn't even know what that something was. They were going to kill her for getting near it.

It was similar to some of the assassination missions she had performed. Someone would get too close to something critical to the Alliance or one of its contributors, and they needed to be put down before they found out and ruined that contributor. Affairs, fraud, murder, and deceit existed on every level of the Human race. It was foolish to believe otherwise. She defended it, and knew that her own past was full of trouble. No establishment was perfect, but so long as it did what it was promised she would do her best to keep it alive. But right now, that meant letting Miri die.

She wasn't okay with that. Why should she be? The only family member she trusted, being left to die on an Asari world? Dad was even going after her. But he had a  _Prothean_  and mercenaries at his beck and call. He wouldn't be going personally. He never went personally. He would probably use an android to go save his daughter. Somehow this cheapened any feelings of pride in her father that she had. But here, in the secret room on board, she could at least wallow in that feeling. When she was out there, with the rest of the crew, she felt nothing. She was a source of cold logic. But once away from it all, and it was just her own emotions she was feeling, it all came out. Not tears, but the pain of thinking about losing her sister was almost physical.

"Julia!" She jerked her head up, seeing Tali dropping through the vent entrance. The Quarian fit better through the hole, her hips not quite as wide. "Thank goodness!"

"What do you want?" Tali didn't come here as her officer. She would at least respect that. The Quarian was one of the people she could trust implicitly.

"I wanted to say sorry." She slid into a crouch, and then gently set herself down on the dusty floor. The Pheonix armor gleamed in the dull light of the terminal. "We just thought that if we could give command a chance to send us to Asteria, you would be happy."

"Give command a chance?"

"Well, Admiral White spoke with us about clan Ganar. Apparently you've given all of the Fleet Commander conniptions about the new Rachni homeworld location. Mikhailovich is even allowing  _three_  of his six long distance scouts to be sent on this mission. We've done enough that the Alliance is giving us some cover." Tali tapped her wrist. "Officially, we are supposed to be escorting the long distance scouts to the closest fuel depot near Lassoth. Unofficially, we are going to Asteria to extract two critical operatives that the Alliance sent in. Both are Infiltrators that were sent to follow up on our findings last time. White says that they were in a town called Haven, and a ranch called Acorn Hill. They haven't reported in since yesterday." Tali was reading from a mission report. "We are supposed to get in and get out with the agents. But we have been given as much leeway as necessary to avoid detection."

"Let me get this straight." Julia started saying. "You all decided that going to Asteria was a good idea?"

"Some people disagreed initially. Pressley thought it was a terrifically stupid idea. But I voted for it from the beginning."

"Because Miranda is a Harper?"

"No, though that factored into it a tiny bit. I don't have siblings, Julia. I have a cousin, and that is all. Losing him would be catastrophic. I just thought… you would feel the same if your sister was gone too." Tali barely glanced upwards as she said that. "Or worse."

"So, the whole crew voted to go on a risky mission into dangerous territory."

"Joker and the bridge crew believe that the Rachni probably have some 'ultra sneaky plan' surrounding Asteria." She made quotation signs with her two fingers, which looked somewhat funny as she didn't have to turn any fingers down to make the symbolism. "Though personally I believe that Joker is reflecting Pressly himself. He didn't stop us from voting, nor did he complain when the vote was brought up."

"Alenko and Williams?"

"They both agree that we should go. They didn't explain why. Garrus was at first against the idea, but when he and Pressley were the only ones that voted against, he withdrew his complaint. Though he thinks that we are being idiots."

Julia could feel it start on one side of her face. Her lips trembled, until she actually smiled. A real one, and not something she had to force herself into. "Ok," She said quietly. "Ok." She stood up. "Let's go to Asteria."

Tali did a little dance. A very graceful and well practiced dance. "Yes! Keelah, yes! I'll go tell Joker!"

The Alliance was made up of its component parts. Sometimes those parts combined to make decisions that she or the government might not agree with. It was, she reflected, the first time that she had actively made a decision against what her government may have wanted. Standing up, she grinned at Tali. "I'll tell Joker myself. Right after I get out of these damn vents."

"You know, at this rate my people are going to write songs about you."

"Don't tell me that, Tali. It's hard enough just knowing that to your people my father is some sort of hero." She glanced back at the Quarian, who was giggling a bit as Julia approached the tiny exit. "Hey! Don't laugh! Turn around!" That just made Tali laugh harder. Julia grumbled and cloaked, so she could at least feel somewhat better about squeezing through the tiny gap.

Author's Note

* * *

This chapter didn't roll correctly from the start. I am so sorry that it took forever. During the process that this chapter was completed, I found out a few things. The first was that during one of the trips my wife took outside the United States, she picked up some Chinese malware. This malware had turned my entire home network/router/computers into a large botnet. I own 5 computers, and three mobile devices. Once one of the botnet components got cleaned up, the rest of the botnet went on alert and tried to activate  **Ransomware**. If you guys don't know what that is, here is the quick rundown.

Ransomware is installed onto a machine after an initial package of malware has arrived, and allows the secondary package to install onto your directories. Once it gains access to your users directory or system profile directory, you are basically screwed. It will install an administrator profile over the top of your own, and change your passwords, and unless you pay someone money they will keep your computer locked. Unless of course you have bitlocker or Ccleaner in place first. I did, and that helped. My wife's computer was off getting repaired, and the bot on it stopped checking in. That led to the awkward moment when my entire network lit up, and locked itself down and I then entered a stupid fight with my own computers, having to take them offline and take them apart and cure them.

Three days of effort later(all this while midterms were going on) I had cleansed the network and all of the computers. Mac products and Windows products alike(funny enough, though, none of the botnet or crap like that even stuck to the Iphone. It all went after android products. That was how that went. So I got rid of all of the malware(there was a lot) reflashed a PC(It did not allow me to log in to it, so I just laughed and remotely accessed the drives and took the information I wanted saved and rebuilt it from scratch) and had a big fat ping war with my own damn router until I disabled the internet adaptors. Long story short, I lost a few bits of the story during the resulting craziness. So this is what I recovered and got back and put together for you all.

So yeah, if the logic bomb I just put together goes well, someone will see just exactly how I feel about this mess. So yes, combine that with 7 IT courses at once and you know how I feel. But next time, we are going to Asteria. As a note of recommendation, please go read and check out  **jamiepage19** 's Parallel Lives. It's an awesome story that just got picked up again. It has some interesting twists and turns, and is a great read. I hope that the rest of you are having a great time during the Ides of March.


	66. Lucid: Murder Under Purple Skies

This one is a good one!

 

Chapter 66

Haven, Astaria, Hecate System

"What the hell. I mean, seriously, what the hell were they thinking?" Elsaenrae simply nodded her head, her almost turquoise skin glistening. She wasn't fully paying attention to her, but then again, she was a Huntress. Not any kind of doctor. Elsaenrae was simply a biotic artist, like the Thessian craftsmen of old. Warping granite to shape it into various artistic poses and themes was her pastime. It was what originally attracted Miranda's attention to her. It wasn't every day that you saw an Asari carving stone with her biotics.

She sighed. "What makes you think I'll be able to give any kind of helpful input with a sentence like that?" The Asari didn't even bother to look up from her data pad. "I don't even know anything worthwhile about comm protocols."

"These people were forwarding all of their findings somewhere! It's all here, buried in tiny pieces in their quarterly reports. Small bytes of data are being lost in each report, like someone is data mining the stream as its being sent." Miranda muttered. "It's bothering me."

"So call up your sister. Bother her about it." Her girlfriend was far more concerned with some vid interview by someone in her field than any of Miranda's complaints.

"I can't. She would realize that I stole my own copy of the data. She would have to report that, and I don't own Sirta. She does."

"Alright." Elsaenrae finally got up off her couch, her loose robe flowing around her toned legs as she walked forward. "You've got my attention. Break this down into words I'll understand." Just to show Miranda how much she was actually interested, she ground herself into the back of Miranda's shoulders.

"All of this basically comes down to something stealing small pieces of data that have been buried in the main reports that go through Noveria. But before this all reaches Sirta's HQ on earth, these small bits are gone." Miranda couldn't identify which were gone, only that some of the data had not made it. "Something that Dr. Core was putting into her notes was being taken apart elsewhere. I can't even figure out what it was." Miranda wasn't a programmer, and she didn't trust this getting out to Dad. He would just weaponize this somehow.

"Can't you just send this same kind of encryption through Noveria and see where it goes?" Elsaenrae asked. "Just have it send you a message when it gets to where it is going."

The Asari's fingers dug into her shoulders, and Miranda made a happy groan as her girlfriend found the knots of stress lining her spine. "That sounds remarkably bad. Charles would tell me something about how it isn't a secure method."

"It's not like you will be the source of the signal. Just have it tell one of your spam accounts where it went." She felt the fingers digging into the tension points along her back, reminding her of Elsaenrae's other skills. She could give a massage to a Volus and they would feel it through their suits. "Just send it off. Your encryption is better than the STG." Then Miranda had other reasons to not pay attention to the work she had been doing.

It was almost a day before her spam account was hit. Then everything went to hell. All of her accounts, and she did mean  _all_  of them, went dark. One by one something found and destroyed all evidence of passing through encryption, and was getting closer to her actual accounts. She flushed everything, just as Charles had showed her how to. Information was cleared and deleted, and as fast as she could go she deactivated her accounts and public spaces. But, as fast as she deleted them, whatever was coming after her was learning her encryptions. It was getting faster and faster at breaking them, and Miranda was losing the race. She was finishing the last purge of her bank account when it finally caught up with her. Her screen froze, the entire terminal locking down.

Her fingers caused no response, and the lights in her home dimmed. Miranda started looking around wildly, unsure as to the cause of all of this. Her terminal went black, an empty command line now the only thing left on her screen.

_Why do you seek for the buried?_

Surprisingly, her terminal allowed for her input. She didn't want to give away anything, however. Being raised at Thessia and Earth had given her a very clear idea on what you do if someone else has the upper hand. Right now she had no control over all of this, and was using her girlfriend's terminal at her girlfriend's house. "Did your stuff just break my terminal?" Elsaenrae asked.

"No!" Miranda replied quickly. "We just need to disconnect it from the extranet."

"Those controls are built in. There isn't a physical switch." She appreciated all of the little details that Charles and her father put into everything so much more in this moment.

_You seek for answers only found in the grave._

Her Omni-tool flickered and died, and Miranda started getting really worried. "Where is a comm terminal in this town?"

"Well, I'm sure that the central building has one, and maybe that clinic up on the hill. We going to call your family?" Miranda nodded. Right now, something had just tore through all of Charles' encryptions like they hadn't truly existed. Her Omni-tool, while risky to have compromised, wasn't where she kept all of her information.  _That_  OSD was kept in her bag, disconnected from the grid unless she needed it.

 _Miranda._ The words appeared in the command line.  _A unique creature. My name is Arda._

"That thing is talking to you. Athame's eyes, this is too much." Elsaenrae pulled out her set of tools, and removed the power cell from the terminal. As she did that, the command line interface on her wrist activated, her Omni-tool now displaying the collected messages.

 _I shall darken the sky of your world. Prepare for my coming, Miranda._  She tore the Omni-tool from her wrist, kicking it off to the side of the room. She still had her biotic barrier, but her armor wasn't turning on. Her guns didn't want to respond. They simply displayed a 0E00004r error. She had no idea what that was, and the extranet was not accessible. Every single piece of technology in this house had been disabled. Even the lights dimmed and went out. Miranda looked down at the armor laying on the shelf, debating if she should use it.

Elsaenrae answered that question for her. "Can't disable commando leathers. Come on, today you're a Huntress." She tossed her an extra armor she kept around. "Not to mention your creepy bladed weapon obsession might come in handy here."

"It's called a sword." Miranda reminded her, pulling her hair into a tight bun. Asari helmets were hell on loose hair. "And thanks."

They went out into the streets, their quarter mile long driveway requiring them to take out Elsaenrae's bikes. The mechanical creations were supposed to be augmented with a tiny bit of element zero to reduce their weight, but today that wasn't working. Neither was the air car, and Miranda had to sling the few things she cared about into a rucksack. Her magnetic strips on this armor thankfully still worked, but that was about the only thing working.

The streets had both Humans and Asari out in them, asking their neighbors about the strange power outage. Two air cars had slammed down into the ground, and the injured were being helped from the downed vehicles. Shock was evident, but nothing more. No one had their weapons out, no one was in panic. The sight of the two of them in armor brought the locals attention on them.

"Elsaenrae, do you know what is going on?" One of the Asari asked. Miranda didn't know all of them. This one looked like one of the Asari that actually had a clan. Most of the Asari here were clanless, which is why they came to the small colony of Asteria. Even though the planet was owned by many of the different families back on Thessia, clanless could actually make a life here.

"Something bad. This looks like wide scale EMP." Miranda stated. Elsaenrae could be descriptive, but only when it came to art. "A strike affecting the whole town would take a ship of some kind. We should expect an attack soon."

"Who would use that kind of technology?"

"Batarians. Eclipse. Certain Krogan." Elsaenrae replied. "Either way, people need to get to cover and prepare for what's coming. The Rachni don't bother with EMP, but they haven't been seen on this continent yet."

All of the Asari shuddered at that. They knew that Rachni had been sighted elsewhere on the planet, but the authorities claimed that their fleet in orbit had contained the outbreak. Many of the clanless didn't believe them, and Miranda didn't either. "My comms aren't working. Tell everyone you see to get into the vale. We have a safe haven there." The Asari ran back towards her house, shouting at the few people that had gathered outside. Elsaenrae just looked back at her, turquoise skin tight around her eyes.

"I'm thinking we get out of here."

"Agreed. Holing up here won't help us."

"Good. Then we should take a road less traveled." Elsaenrae started moving towards the cliffs that bordered one edge of the town. Miranda grinned and followed, seeing her biotics light up as they approached the edge of the cliff. It was a mile away from their home, and even though it had a vertical drop, there were more neighborhoods at the bottom. A few isolated farmsteads beyond that, in the curving valleys and following the larger rivers and bodies of water.

The Singularity made her give a little scream of delight when their bikes passed through it. It wasn't a truly null gravity Singularity, but one that reduced their weight to nearly zero. The bikes threw off Elsaenrae's calculations, though, and both of them saw the ground approaching rapidly. Rather than feel scared, Miranda laughed, letting her own biotics flare. Changing her course was simple. It took a bit more concentration to alter the course of her girlfriend, but she felt some elation when they both landed in a heap at the bottom. Contrary to the romantic way people view biotics and cheating gravity, a lot of the time you ended up in a heap or a pile of limbs when all was said and done. Add bicycles into the mix and anything romantic about it disappeared.

Once they were back on their feet, they took the mechanical monstrosities through the dirt trails that wound their way through the valleys and out into the floodplain. Once they were out there, it was almost fifty miles to the next town. A few isolated ranches were out this direction, hosting a mixture of Thessian and Earth animals. Miranda could see smoke in the direction of one of the low rising hills, the back end of an air car sticking out of the mess.

Before they even reached the floodplain, she saw the clouds turn red. The skies here were purple normally, yet the clouds above had turned a red color. Lightning arced between some of the larger cloud formations, as a metal leg extended through. She recognized this. All of the higher ranking members of Crucible had to stick their heads into the Prothean mind rape machines, as Hannah so eloquently called them.

There was a Reaper here. As soon as it cleared the cloud layer, it screamed, and Miranda spasmed. Elsaenrae dropped right on top of her, screaming right into her ears. Her bike followed, striking Miranda in the helmet. Her breath caught in her throat, seeing the Reaper's foot come down on a nearby home. Then everything went dark as the shadow covered them both.

* * *

Julia was not smiling as they came through the relay. The debris of four ships littered the space around them, one of them being an Asari frigate. The others appeared to be civilian craft. She could tell because all that was left were the forward prows of the Asari ships. The natural curvature could only have been Asari in design. The frigate looked like a flower had opened, the melted layers of ship peeling back from a central point. A single shot had cored it, melting or blasting through every single part of the ship. None of the bodies hanging around it in space had life signs showing. In fact, there were so few bodies that it was as if something had already gone through the area looking for survivors. A hopeful prospect.

"Anything?" She asked quietly.

"Comm stations are quiet. Mostly." Pressley replied. "Some repeating distress signals, and a few com buoys. The only signals coming from Asteria are  _weather reports._ Ma'am, I recommend we drop you and hide in the asteroid belt here. The Alliance agents are hopefully still trackable."

Julia nodded. "Get us close to the planet. If you need to, take a bit to cool off and hide near the gas giant. Stealth takes priority on this mission."

"What if we see one of those giant Rachni vessels?" Joker asked.

"Pray to your god, Human, and I'll pray to mine." Kalin'ren stated. "Though mine is more likely to listen."

"Aren't Quarian deities all about keeping your relationships with other people pure?" Joker asked informatively. He must have been spending time with Ibn. "That seems rather insensitive."

"I don't have anything left to worship that would reply to me more than my own fecal matter, Human. The only thing I worship is stark pragmatism. Beauty in its own right. Though you might not be able to comprehend the fulness of its complications."

"Yeah?" Joker said, rolling his eyes under the brim of his hat. "For your information, I worship a mixture of Fornax and food. You know, stuff with culture."

Julia snickered as she left the bridge. She still wasn't fully comfortable about the idea of going down to Asteria. But Miranda was here somewhere. "Commander." Kalin'ren stated as soon as she was at the ladder. "You might want to come see this." For some reason he was treating her with a tiny amount of respect. Usually Kalin'ren muttered about lesser races and their inability to see the same light range. "There is activity on the relay."

She came back into the room, seeing the oddest thing occurring. The relay that they had just come through was changing direction. Normally relays were locked into position facing their connecting relay. In some circumstances a relay would rotate to face different connected relay. But she had only heard of that happening once. "Crucible. Joker, a stealth ship is about to come through that relay. When it does, I want you to follow it."

"Something I'm more comfortable with, Commander." Sure enough, the shorter form of the  _Acheron_  came through the relay. Joker was behind them like a starving man to a buffet. "Feels good to be a predator again." She grinned as she watched the back of the  _Acheron_  form up in front of the cockpit. It was still a few thousand kilometers away, and barely visible. Joker and his co-pilot were both keeping track of it, and the ship had settled into a semi-straight line for its course. They were planning to go right for the planet. "They are moving super slowly, Commander. Their stealth tech must be very power draining."

"My father spent more money on a bar and ballroom than making room for power relays on board." Julia said, remembering her childhood with that ship. "I'm surprised he hasn't moved on to a better ship." It was a mystery, when he was pushing millions of credits through Crucible.

"Well, I guess he has to have some hobbies." Joker replied. "At his current speed, that ship will hit Asteria in three hours. One of the moons, I think."

"Follow him in. It's likely that he will be heading to…" She glanced around at the bridge. "the highest concentration of Humans." Miranda would be Jack Harper's only target. There was hardly any reason to believe otherwise. "Do we have any access to census records or other details?"

Pressley came up to her, a data pad prepared. "After our last disastrous mission I made sure that all of the Asari border worlds' census data was collected by Alliance agents. Not all was collected legally, so we should not make our possession of this known to the Turians."

"Not worried about Wrex?"

"I've got eyes on him." Her XO responded. "Tali'Zorah has people keeping an eye on him at all times."

"Glad to see that you trust a Quarian to keep an eye on our gusts."

His lip twitched a tiny amount on the left side. She considered it a small victory. "I am known to be pragmatic, Commander."

* * *

Crucible HQ, Omega, Sahabrik System October 2182

"Ma'am, I've got someone on the line. They want to speak to Jack." One of the damned happy interns stated. He had one of those cheeky smiles that were fake, and his eyes betrayed how much he hated her. That was fine. No one knew hate like Constance. She didn't smile. Whenever her lips moved, it was into a practiced sneer.

"Who is it?"

"Aria T'loak." The man replied, looking worried.

Constance knew who that was. The woman who had the most power on this sorry piece of architecture. "I'll take it. I haven't dealt with enough people yet today anyways." The number of street entries had dropped sharply since her son put her in charge of the front desk. Complainers she was allowed to shoot at. People who shot at her found out that the front desk had military grade kinetic barriers and two linked assault cannons hidden in the company logo that were keyed to her keyboard. She had not had the chance to use those yet. No one had been enough of an asshole. When the purple-colored Asari showed up in the front doors, with a full entourage of Krogan, Asari, and a few Batarians, Constance was honestly surprised.

"What do you want." Constance said with a week's practiced unconcern. This job had been fantastic so far. She could get drunk if she wanted, she could threaten clients, and in general risk her son's entire corporate front. But for all that she had threatened and taken a shot at one major complainer, it seemed as though people here only respected her more. Omega was truly a land for the asses.

"Jack Harper caused one of my bars to get blown to hell. My techs went over the security footage, looking for who was responsible." The Asari had no tolerance for anything resembling trouble. Oh yes, Constance could tell. "He's got a lot to answer for."

"Shut up." Constance told her, before she could go any further. "You walk in here, thinking you're hot shit, that I'm just going to rat out my son?" She could see the intern's eyes go wide at the seat next to her, and he slowly started taking cover behind the desk. Not that it would do any good against some of the heavy weapons directed against them. Aria's bodyguards were already fingering their weapons, but the Asari herself frowned.

"You're his mother?" Aria asked curiously. "You don't look dangerous."

"I'm the same kind of whore as you, simply farther in my life cycle." Constance replied. She didn't honestly care about Aria T'loak. She was some Asari bitch that had taken control of some territory. Controlling, willing to do anything to keep her power, Constance knew their type. She was like her, able to see where this was going. "Don't assume that simply because I birthed my son that I share any kind of responsibility for his shit. You want to come in here, complaining that he caused something, I don't have any problem with that." Constance grabbed a data pad and set it down on the counter of the desk. "You can fill out a complaint form like all the rest."

"You don't understand, do you." Aria stated. "I could have this entire building jettisoned from this station, and I wouldn't even care. This company has only been a pain in the ass since it got here."

"So, do it." Constance said. "You wouldn't have come here to make that kind of threat unless you have some kind of leverage."

"You would condemn your own flesh and blood to die?"

Constance laughed, hard. The intern squealed, and ran into the back room. She could see the two security guards for Crucible standing behind cover awkwardly. They weren't heavily armed, at least not for this conflict. "My son doesn't care. He's already left me to die once." Constance glared at the self-proclaimed queen of Omega. "So, you want something from him. Something you can't get yourself."

"Just tell me where he is and I won't have to kill anyone to get there."

"You kill any one of these impressionable boys and I'll personally send you to Hell." Constance said. "I really don't give a single-"

"Ma'am! Don't antagonize the Asari!" Her intern had the gall to act up now. That moral fiber that made him a great social force also made him a gigantic liability. It was unlikely that he knew about the amount of explosives built into the underside of the lobby floor. That was the first thing Jack had told her.

She pulled out her own pistol, a heavy thing that had a stability mod for her geriatric shaking fingers. "I'll antagonize anyone I damn well please. You interrupted me." She leveled the weapon at the intern, making him take cover behind the furthest back desk. "As for you, if you want to fine Crucible for a bar fight, fine. We'll figure that out in a reasonable manner and let the damn lawyers figure it out. If you just came to bitch at me, go right ahead." She set the pistol down. "That's my official job, after all."

"Alright then. From one 'bitch' to another." The word sounded odd coming from the Asari's mouth. "I need to know why you all seem intent on turning my asteroid into a battle ground. If I don't like the answer, I'll just settle things right here."

Constance rolled her eyes. "Let me ask my worthless son." She brought up her terminal, and with shaking fingers she typed out a basic question to her son, articulating it as she wrote. She was never a great typist. She hunted and pecked with her pointer fingers, the message coming slowly. She even took more time, just to make sure the Asari was kept waiting. "Dear worthless son. Some bitch named T'loak wants to know why you got her bar shot up."

The response was immediate.  _Tell her I'll pay for the bar. If she wants, I'll even try to explain the succulent details of a Krogan blood feud, considering she is the target of more than three herself. As for the Asari zealots, those I will be dealing with as personally as possible. The rest of the shot up bar is of no concern to me._

She looked back up at T'loak. "He says to piss off. I'd say that letting this piss hole become this lawless makes this entire mess your fault. So get your ancient ass out of my office. We'll pay for your bar. But don't assume we'll deal with any of your shit because you say so."

Instead of being offended and telling her goons to kill them, Aria T'loak only laughed. It was at this moment that Constance realized that she had found her first friend on Omega. Or just the first person that she actually understood and had tolerance for.

* * *

Asteria, Haven, Hekate System October 2182

Insertion into atmosphere was supposed to be a loud, burning indicator that someone was coming in. Her father knew this, and so did she. There was heavy cloud cover over the site, and the Normandy had to dip into the exosphere to insert them. The  _Acheron_  was ahead of them, dropping its own troops. Modified Alliance jump packs were being pushed out of the ship, and the  _Acheron_  had gathered some debris from orbit to use for cover. Following the burning metal and processed parts were six jump pack equipped humanoids. Julia had the pleasure of taking her own jump pack equipped men and following them down. Her father knew what they were up against, and his stealth techniques would be suitable.

" _Alright Commander. We will be on the far side of the moon when you need a pickup._ " Joker said. She didn't reply. That comm had come via laser burst, and her reply would take too long before she would hit the cloud layer and it would be impossible to send the signal reliably. More importantly, laser bursts were so focused and directed that you had to have a VI helping you aim the signal in order to hit the other end. She pressed on her foot and hand mounted pedals, kicking on some of the chemical thrusters and bringing them directly over the group dropped by the  _Acheron_. A few thousand feet above them, still, but Julia planned on getting the literal drop on her father. Tracking them would be easy. Due to lack of training, Garrus could not come with her this time. Neither could Urdnot Wrex.

This time she took the only alien that was rated for jump packs on the ship. Looking over at Tali'Zorah, she could see the Quarian already compensating for the atmospheric pressure changes and straightening out her jump pack. Halmabad, Alenko, Williams, and Reddin followed. Trailing behind them were two more of her Quarians, carrying a heavy piece of machinery between them. Knowing that they were landing next to one of these monster ships, they brought some hardened technology. Sure enough, Julia could see her jump pack starting to malfunction the moment it hit the inner atmosphere. It flickered and died, but Julia didn't panic. Her comms were quiet, and her EMP hardened Sirta armor didn't even fluctuate at all. None of the jump packs behind her malfunctioned, and her rear facing camera gave her a clear view of her team. No one panicked. The clouds ahead of them were filled with water, and the droplets of water splashed against her helmet and left long lines of moisture streaked across the vizor.

She fell through the cloud layer for almost a minute. When she came through the first layer of clouds, she could still see the  _Acheron_  group below her. But they were still moving under their own power. Their jump packs must be EMP hardened. She scowled at that. There was no way for her to increase her speed or change her direction now. The outside temperature was approaching breathable, and the altitude meter finally dropped to five digits. The second and third cloud layers were too close together to keep close track of her father's team, but once she had breached fifteen thousand feet the clouds started clearing. What she saw was alarming. The hills and mountains below had tiny metal roofs and a single road passing through the town. The zoom features of her helmet gave her all the detail that she needed. Standing over the middle of the settlement was some kind of ship, but it looked more like a creature from above. The same thing that had been spoken of by her father and apparently ratified by Mum. A Reaper was sitting on top of the settlement, a large crater beneath its feet. Also visible now that she had broken the cloud layer was the  _Acheron_  group, who were using their chemical thrusters to drop to the southern side of the settlement.

She had to open up small pieces of metal, and manually angle them with her hands. This was the only way that she could control the direction of their descent. Checking her rear camera, she could see her team slowly following her example. Tali was right on her tail, the Quarian seemingly taking to the air as gracefully as any biotic. Kaidan and Halmabad were behind her, and the other marines were slowly turning and orienting themselves. She didn't dare open up her parachute system at ten thousand feet like the regulations told her to. Thankfully the rest of her team followed her example, keeping a somewhat tight formation. Below her, she could see the  _Acheron_  team hitting almost four thousand feet. They still hadn't deployed their own parachute systems. The gravity here was twenty percent stronger compared to earth, so they were entering the extremely dangerous zone of high risk. Finally, and only once they were behind a tall ridge line, did their team open their parachutes. At only fifteen hundred feet they started slowing down, and Julia lost sight of them near a heavily wooded lake. Her team was now reaching the four thousand foot mark, and were probably getting very uncomfortable. Unlike normal, when the jump packs were online, they would have to manually activate the parachutes and direct them. She waited, seeing the ridge line below them still. Whatever this Reaper was, she didn't want it to see them landing. Without chemical thrusters, she and her team were going to be coming up short of where the  _Acheron_  teams were.

At thirteen hundred feet, the ridge line finally was between them. She flickered her biotics strongly, letting her body glow blue. That was all the warning she gave Tali, as she deployed her chute. The clear plastic material wasn't like the parachutes that were used on earth a century ago. These were not white and billowy, or gave away your position. These were made of clear synthetic material, something that wouldn't create a large radar image. Her entire body shuddered to a halt, almost choking her and slamming her shoulders with the entire force of her fall. The compensation systems that the jump packs normally came with didn't activate, and she wheezed for a minute as she slowly started falling towards the ground. Pulling on the tether lines, she was able to direct herself, but it wasn't quite enough. With a sigh, she saw that there was no avoiding the lake ahead of them. Her rear camera gave her the view on her team, all of them behind her and with their parachutes out. None of them seemed to be having trouble, though Reddin was very low in the air. Her chute must have deployed late. Comms were totally silent, as she had ordered.

The lake turned out to be more annoying than she thought. It really was just a salt pan. Thin layers of water over loose silt and mud at the start of a flood plain. Her team hit that mud with all of the dead weight of jump packs and armor. Compensation systems never engaged, and while this situation had been talked about in training, it was not something that they regularly taught by example. Julia saw Reddin face plant, her Sirta armor almost diving into the loose mud while she screamed. Julia managed to keep herself upright, but the jump pack hit with the bottom right corner first. She landed on her feet, and sank up to her knees. Tali seemed to land cleanly, sliding out of her jump pack and shotgun aimed towards the ridge. Halmabad landed in a deeper pit, sinking up to his chest.

She popped open her helmet. "Stow the jump packs in the tree line. Let's move." It took some effort to get all of the jump packs stowed in the trees. All of them had mud all over their armor, and with the detritus they had picked up moving the jump packs, they looked like a crew of savages.

"Corporal Ibn, I need to know when your device is working."

One of the two Quarians besides Tali she brought stood up. His entire suit was a mud covered mess. "Commander, I'll need a couple hours. You light up three flares and I'll know to call in the ship. That drop stirred up some of the components, and it'll be a bit more time than we originally thought before it'll be ready."

She scowled. The atmosphere here was thick. It was a bit thicker than earth's, and it gave the sky a purple coloration. It also meant that in order to get a signal through they needed to have a VI-assisted device that was also EMP hardened. Corporal Ibn had come up with the idea in transit, and it seemed to be workable. But if it got shaken up during the landing its hardened shell might be exposed. Any repairs Ibn would have to do he would have to do using the in built repair protocols. A few more hours than expected would be the best she could hope for. But Quarians had proven her wrong before.

"You keep working on it, and while it runs its tasks get the jump packs up and running. We might need them later."

"Without EMP hardening, I doubt we will be able to get much out of them. Maybe a couple dozen feet."

"I don't need them for jumping. I might need them to move wounded. Get the gravity distortion online, and we can use that to move the wounded we might find. The agent we're looking for is somewhere over this ridge."

"We might just have a better time bolting it to their armor, Ma'am."

"If they even got their armor on before this all went down. Just plan for the worst." Ibn nodded, and found a decent rock to set up at. Julia stood up, wiping the mud from her hands and moving north. "The rest of you, with me. We're going to track down where the team dropped from the  _Acheron_. Halmabad, in front."

Her other Spectre candidate stepped forward, his arm aglow and a haptic screen around his face. Halmabad was not great at fighting. Given a vehicle, or devices, he was a wizard. But another untapped talent was his upbringing. His father raised him inside the United Saudi Arabian Federation, and every summer the man had spent time with his father on hunting expeditions. The targets of those expeditions were rumored to have been tribal groups that still resisted the government after Saudi Arabia had conquered Iran. He had many slightly illegal mods on his armor meant for tracking and hunting down sentient beings. Only recently as she had 'toured' around the crew had she discovered this.

Using his mods, they found the landing site for her father's team. It wasn't far past the lake, and she was pushing all of her people hard to get there. Huffing and heaving, they made it to the small clearing and downed tree. One of the jump packs had impacted the tree, and tiny pieces of wood were everywhere. It was a much larger version than normal, and she could see some orange-red blood tinting the tree trunk. "Krogan." Halmabad helpfully reported. She pointed the direction of the footprints, and the Arab Spectre-candidate immediately got to following them.

"Don hit there." The tree must have been where Gatatog Don went down.

"Isn't he the same Krogan as the one in Krogan Ninja Turtles?" Reddin asked.

"He's the one who got run over by that Turian mecha-tank." Williams helpfully supplied. "And he built that crappy shuttle for them to blast through the Salarian tech gang base."

"He built that himself, actually." Julia said. "Bought all of the parts from a crappy ship dealer and made it from three different broken shuttles. It was funny at first, and then the director decided to put it in the film."

"Wait, wasn't that developed by ValeMach studios? Not Harper LLC?"

"Front company. I still own the rights to the whole franchise." The trees were starting to thin as they walked up the ridge, and there was some heavy breathing coming from everyone. "Hold up. Halmabad, get up here." The Krogan footprints had disappeared. The dirt and ground here was thicker, more stable.

"Ma'am, don't move. We've got contacts ahead."

"That would be smart." A new voice announced. In one of the trees, She could see Henry Gunn angling a sniper rifle towards them, while Julia saw some of the dirt slightly disturbed near the tree. Hannah, possibly. "I thought you weren't coming after all." A cigarette glowed behind one of the trees, and she saw her father step out from behind it. Seemingly the real person. She wasn't sure an android could cough into his hands and spew that dark colored smoke.

"You assumed we wouldn't come?"

"I assumed you would let your fear direct you." Jack stated. "The Eriashi cult is one of the Republic's greatest secrets. They have killed in the past to keep others from discovering them. Glad to see that some old hags aren't keeping you from your family obligations."

She frowned at that. "Ironic considering our upbringing."

"One day, you might appreciate everything I taught you. Provided for you." He looked like he was going to say more, but the open hostility from her glare made him think otherwise. "I assume that you're here to save your sister?"

"Among other things, yes." Julia said neutrally. There was no sense in hiding it now. "I assumed you would have the best method to track her down."

"I don't." Jack admitted. "We were heading towards her shuttle. Miranda's weapons and armor are there, and I doubt she would go very far without them."

"Is it still operational?"

"Not really. Got hit by some kind of missile, but the passenger compartment is heavily reinforced. She might be there, waiting for pickup."

"What about her girlfriend's house?" That was the reason for Miranda coming here.

"Sovereign landed right on top of it."

"Sovereign?"

"That's the Reaper's name. Or what it calls itself." Jack said. "These things are the source of all of the different Husks. The Rachni 'corpse animation' technology is from these things. As we get closer to the colony, we should expect to see Husks of any variety. Even Rachni ones."

"Rachni consume their dead to be used as nutrients or armor components." Julia stated, remembering the report Pressley had written.

"But we aren't dealing with Rachni. We're dealing with their masters." Jack stated with a puff of smoke. "They don't care about the cultures they destroy. In fact, they sometimes try to take control of the cultures' origins if it suits their needs. The Batarians, as you saw, were influenced anciently. Six thousand years of their history were dedicated to the worship of those things. It's been more than a millennium since the Rachni fell under their sway, and they've developed plasma technology. Think about what might happen if these things influenced the Geth."

Both teams had come out from the trees, weapons pointed at the ground. The threat of violence still existed, but since their leaders were talking each of the team members had stopped aiming their weapons so blatantly. Shev'rash vas Lucky Break was standing in front of their team, and at the mention of Geth he shuddered. Julia saw Tali doing the same. "You've made your point. But you have to admit, the entire idea of Reapers sounds far-fetched. Impossible to logically believe."

"It's not impossible. It's just unlikely." Jack retorted. "Get out of your little box of assumed philosophy and knowledge and consider it for a moment. These Reapers are subtle in their habits. They don't show up unless they can silence all of the witnesses or leave little or no trace." He pointed in the direction of the colony. "So what would drive a Reaper to strike here, wiping out an entire Asari patrol? What would cause it to act this way?"

"Nothing less than a direct threat to their goals." Putting aside the  _other_  things associated with these Reapers, she could see that. "What was Miranda working on?"

"I don't know." Her father admitted. "But Elsaenrae's house was off the grid. She always came here when she needed to think something out, or work on a project that she knew I would disagree with. The Reaper landed right on top of her house, so I assume that she had something of critical interest. But what stands out to me, at least, is that the Reaper has not left yet."

"Miranda is still here." Julia smiled at that. "It's still looking for her."

"I hope." Jack said. "We brought a few special pieces of equipment for the mission, but Don gave himself a concussion on the way in. He hasn't been able to think straight since he landed, and we are worried that his brain got jostled by the crash. Perhaps Lt. Halmabad would be willing to use our equipment instead. That is, of course, if you're willing to put aside our differences and work together today."

"The Alliance won't have any problem with this. We wouldn't be able to report where we attempted capture. Though my team can contact our ship at any time. I hope the  _Acheron_  can do the same."

"I'll leave that up to your imagination. If we need her, she will fly like she should. Halmabad, here you are."

Jack reached into his backpack, and withdrew a large antennae with an attachment piece for an armor port. He scanned it first, of course. But once he installed it, he started chuckling. "Whoa." He glanced at Jack. "I didn't know that this had left the concept table."

"It's not widely distributed technology, I can assure you. I just want to use it to find my daughter and leave." Jack responded, smirking. "You want a device when they hit the market?"

Halmabad nodded. "This would be amazing. You would need to have some kind of hardened armor ports just to be able to hide from this." At her confused glance, he turned to her. "Sorry, Ma'am. This is a highly attuned Element Zero detector. Given enough time and juice, it can sense the element zero in our Omni-tools."

"So you can see me if I cloak?"

Halmabad shook his head. "Not easily. The detector isn't keeping active track of the area around it. It just sends out really pinpoint lasers in an elliptic around itself, to find element zero. But it hasn't been attuned or anything."

Jack shrugged. "The antennae broke. The tree defeated my Krogan handily. I trust you can configure the tech? We're looking for someone with similar amounts of element zero to Julia." She ground her teeth as he casually mentioned her name among her crew, like he was their friend. This entire situation was equally cheery, yet at the same time threatening. Like an odd family gathering.

"Stay still, Commander, I need to establish a baseline." Halmabad said. "Then I'll figure out how to scan around the crap that ship has been putting off." Julia stood still, settling to fold her arms and glare at her father. On his back she could see a Cain. On Hannah's back she could also see a Cain. As well as her own back. Enough firepower to level a mountain was deployed on the ground. Usually a squad only needed one of these in  _any_  situation.

"How much does it take to put one of these things down?"

"We don't have enough firepower." Jack said. "But if it comes after us I have a few tricks. Not much, but perhaps enough to disable its main weapon. That's the only weak point they have. You can only damage them when their main weapon is glowing and about to fire. Other than that, you would have to board them in order to get any kind of real damage in."

The tail end of the ship stuck up over the hill, and she could see it just standing there. She didn't like the idea of being the subject of its attention or main weapons. There was motion in the trees, as someone moved towards them. Their flickering cloaking field fell apart, and Julia got tackled by the person. She moved to draw her knife, but a slim hand pinned her arm to her shoulder. "Magical girl-san!" Julia had to close her eyes as what had to be Kasumi screamed into her ear.

"Kasumi! Get off!"

"No! I haven't seen you in years!" The small Japanese woman squeezed her middle tightly, Julia's breath coming short. Kasumi had decloaked, her catsuit stylized with a couple of electric blue lines that didn't need to be there. She was also pinning Julia to the ground, one foot around a tree stump and the other knee pressing into her stomach. Julia rolled, flaring her biotics and trying to get the woman off of her. "I've missed you!" As if Julia wasn't trying to remove her, Kasumi easily shifted her grip to a martial arts pinning maneuver, Julia's armor not letting her get the leverage she needed to roll away and escape.

"Damnit Kasumi!"

She just laughed, squealing some sort of statement. "Kasumi." Her father said. "Did you see anything?"

"Oyabun!" The woman whined. As if anyone could forget her father was there. "Nothing is moving. But something grabbed people from town. I've got footprints but it looks like something is flying around and grabbing people."

"Any pods or air cars still working? Any Reaper tech in the open?"

"No." Julia tried to get her arms out from Kasumi's pin, but the woman was having fun holding her down. "Big bad and tentacles hasn't moved much. It's sitting right on top of the big cliffs. Lots of lights in that area, though. They've had more than two days here, too."

"That means they have air power. We will need to take the least direct route." Jack looked down at Julia. "Kasumi, can we focus on the mission?"

She cloaked and jumped away, so that Julia wouldn't try to kill her. She jumped from a pinned position up into a standing one, glad that she had practiced that move at least in her Sirta armor. She glared at one of the nearby trees, where she was somewhat sure Kasumi had retreated behind. "Damn ninja." Out of habit of being around Kasumi, she felt her belt line. "And give back my stuff." With her pistol missing, it was only a guess that her fingers had found other targets.

Her pistol was thrown from behind the tree. So was a half eaten ration bar. A casual check revealed her food compartment open. She sighed, retrieving the pistol and eating the other half of the ration bar. She turned back to the team from the  _Acheron_. "How are you doing with that calibration, Halmabad?"

The man turned to her, but still kept Jack in view. "I've filtered my scans with the EMP-hardened drone that they have in orbit. Yeah, I saw that connection." Jack was now frowning. "But I've found something troubling." He tapped his Omni-tool, bringing his display output up all the way. His interface displayed the entire area on the ground between the two teams. Every element zero signature in the area was highlighted, down to the element zero in the nervous system of Asari. The entire valley was full of signatures marking homes and air cars. But there were no signatures of any living beings anywhere in the area, barring the area under the ship.

Underneath the 'Reaper' was a few hundred signatures that matched Asari element zero nodules. The concentration was tight enough that the people had to be piled on top of each other for them all to be there. There was also concentrations of element zero that didn't match Human or Asari levels. "What are those?"

"From what I would guess, there are four of those Siren things down there."

Julia closed her eyes, thinking about Noveria. "God, no." One was bad enough. "I thought that thing was unique!"

"I told you. The Reapers are the source of the Rachni technology. Understanding that technology to its fullest should only be expected." Her father said. She was pointedly ignoring him in favor of looking at the horrified faces of her team.

"Those things," Kaidan muttered. "We should nuke that spot, right the hell now."

"Agreed." Williams said. "Drop missiles from orbit, something. The MAKO would be helpful to have right now. Those things will tear infantry to pieces."

"Hold it." Halmabad spoke up. "We've got civilians down there. As well as what might be a match for Julia's nodule count. Their mother must have lived inside of a reactor for how high their count is. I can't confirm because of how many signatures around them are throwing off the scans." He pointed at the large, hazy object that hung over the entire image. "That ship isn't showing up at all in the scans. Whatever it is, this eezo scanner isn't picking up anything from it."

"We theorize that those ships harness dark matter." Jack stated. "Miranda might be captured. Or she is outside the range of our drone. She is capable enough."

"But if she's down there, we need to verify that."

"Let's not get too hasty. What if that thing sees us?"

"Only those who can cloak are going further. Kasumi, Hannah, and Julia. The three of you are the only ones that can risk moving closer to that camp and verifying if Miranda is there. If things start getting bad, we'll have to attract  _His_  attention on something in orbit. But that has its own risks." Jack stated imperiously. "The  _Normandy_  might be capable of fighting it, but that is assuming that we can keep it in atmosphere."

"Wind shear alone will tear us apart if we try to match speed with that thing down here." She remembered that the ship they had seen near Helios hitting a speed of three times their own. In atmosphere, the  _Normandy_  was limited to moving at speeds that didn't tear it apart. That ship was two kilometers long and didn't have the same limitations. Or the need to be within a 45 degree angle of the front of the ship to fire. It had to have extremely large power reserves as well, just to land on a planet. "I don't see how we can take down its barriers if it can land on a planet."

"When these things lift off, they have to divert power from barriers to engine and gravity systems. According to the Protheans, the minute it takes for them to break orbit is one of the few times their barriers are weak enough for our weapons to pierce thiers."

"We're an experimental stealth ship, not a ship of the line." Julia retorted. "We won't take that risk. I'll go in with the others. Halmabad, you and Williams get the mortars deployed. If one of those things sees me, I'll want fire support. Things will go to hell if that ship sees us."

So that was how she ended up walking down through these valleys, staying behind hills and houses where they could. Where they couldn't, they cloaked. Kasumi moved like a ghost, truly leaving no trace on the ground. Hannah was a bit more of a brute, leaving footprints where she stepped. But she also had a Cain. The heavy weapon wasn't light in any way, and only folded up the heavy muzzle. Julia left her own footprints, but she didn't want to risk letting off any biotics to lighten her weight. If her father was using element zero detection technology, there was a chance that the ship had the same.

They didn't talk much, though Kasumi was humming something the entire walk. Hannah was professional, while Kasumi had energy to burn far beyond that of any biotic. Apparently when she was genetically altered by Sony, they made her metabolism so high that the girl thought she had ADHD. She was simply at the human limit for energy output. They had designed a woman that was an exceptional performer, with little thought for herself. Kasumi had a very strong individualistic streak, but she got lonely very easily. She didn't like being on her own. Kasumi, therefore, was almost always at her side as they ran across the valley floor. The woman was interesting. Her hair needed to be dyed every other week, otherwise her electric blue coloration would come out.

She mused on this as they approached the actual town of Haven. Then it stopped being easy to move from piece of cover to piece of cover. The ship hovered over them now, it's shadow covering a quarter of the town's interior. It had four legs that balanced it on the ground, while two more moved it to different locations. A single, larger limb was in the middle, and this limb had a nozzle on the end. It looked  _wicked._  It also did not touch the ground. There would be no sabotaging it directly.

Underneath the body, almost completely in its shadow, there was a building that had not been torn down. It also had power, and lights were on inside the windows. "Hang on." Hannah said. "Inside, quickly!" Their first enemy infantry had been sighted. It was an Asari, or had been one. Blue wires trailed out of its crest, and its arms were gone, replaced by some kind of vine-like tentacles. The ends resembled hands, but all signs of bone or joint were gone.

Two of them were walking in a patrol. They were wearing the remains of civilian clothing, and their feet ended with slimy looking feet. Extra toes made from blue wire extended out from the heel, suggesting some sort of augmented physical abilities. Hannah grabbed her, gently, and all three of them slipped inside the home they were using as cover. The windows had been blown out, just like every other building that they had seen so far. They all decloaked inside, saving energy where they could. Crouching, they watched as the Asari husks wandered past. Not aimlessly, but with a purpose.

All of the husks seemed to keep some of their previous intellect and understanding. Human ones were reported to be capable of using the weapons they encountered. With their augmentations, they could even use squad heavy weapons one handed. The Alliance was calling them Lurkers now. Simply because Husk wasn't descriptive enough when other race's dead were getting up too. Lurkers for the Human ones, as they used the most subtle tactics. Earwigs, the Salarians, were loud and somewhat weak. But if they got a hold of any tech they would tear it apart, or break it down for their own weaponization. The only Krogan that had been documented on file was on Suen.

The Turians called theirs the Lost. Spirits that had not found their way home. They didn't like fighting their own dead, and they had a bit of superstition around dead bodies. The Alliance classified them as Marauders. They hunted in packs, and used squad tactics in ways that Earwigs and Lurkers did not. This was the first time that Asari Husks had been documented. The Alliance had no name for them yet. Being the only one on site, she called dibs. The Human-Asari combination were called Sirens. She was totally calling these Maenads. As they waited for the patrol to pass, she contented herself with this.

"Alright, let's move. We've got to climb up this cliff face to get to the camp. Either that or we walk around to the main road into town." Hannah took out her rifle, using its scope to look at the road. "Cliff it is."

Julia took out her own scoped rifle, and looked up the road. Sitting in the middle of the road were a group of Husks, all surrounding a larger one of their kind. It was wearing the remains of some kind of dress, but the skin of the face was stretched over an enlarged skull, pink and blue skin mixing together between blue wired stitches. It had to have been two feet taller than the others. A Siren, then. "Agreed." Those things had sensed her when she was cloaked. Or their wide area stasis ability was just tailored to fight people like her.

"What's out there?" Kasumi said, from inside the pantry. Her fingers were always finding things. She didn't expect otherwise, even in combat.

"Take a look." Julia offered her rifle.

"Wow." Kasumi said, glancing at the beast. "That is almost as bad as that clone of Bill Gates. The fat one."

"Alliance has started calling that a Siren. It's what happens when an Asari and a Human are both placed on the same one of those converter devices."

Hannah nodded. "Doesn't sound as bad as Prothean husks." She waited, almost baiting her. Julia chose to ignore that statement. "Kasumi, scrounge up some climbing gear. I'm worried that the closer we get to that ship, the less that our systems will work."

"I got closer earlier." The woman replied. "No fluctuations of the cloaking field, even when I got near it's foot."

"You can't risk that kind of exposure!" Hannah chided.

"I was there for all of ten seconds. I wasn't able to find any kind of landing gear or shards from the metal touching down." Kasumi said off-handedly. "I'm not that naive."

"Mum, can I ask you something?" It would be safe to ask her this, with just Kasumi here. She was trustworthy.

"As long as it isn't about being almost menopausal." Hannah replied with a smirk.

"What can you tell me about Richard Lionel?"

Hannah's face soured. "Why do you want to know about him?"

"Dr. Kent, or Dr. Core, said that he was the one who came up with the original Husk treatment. There were documents that showed him creating tainted medi-gel far earlier than the Rachni and Eden Prime. I need to know everything he knows. If he created Husks and sold that technology to the Rachni, or they got a hold of that somehow, I need to know."

Hannah sighed. "Dr. Lionel was a facial reconstruction specialist. Gene mods, bio-engineered toxins, plastic surgery, hair follicle restructuring. But he went into black-work after the incident that led to the Alliance kicking me out. I know where that tech came from, though." She tapped her wrist, bringing up an image of a small Prothean statue. "That is a Reaper artifact. They leave them behind for people to get tripped up by. Lionel is a bit deranged, but he serves a purpose. Don't assume he was the source of the information."

"Miranda said that you locked the files regarding him."

Hannah nodded slowly. "Lionel was the one who rebuilt my uterus and fallopian tubes. I didn't want that on Crucible's files. Too much of his work points back to my old identity." So, mistrust was not just part of the Alliance. Hannah didn't trust some of her people, just as Julia couldn't trust some of hers.

Julia nodded. That answered her most relevant questions regarding the doctor. There was more she wanted to ask, but by now the patrol had gone past them. "Let's climb." She said. "I'm going up the direct route rather than inching up the main road."

They all cloaked, their batteries at full charge. Then, they started climbing. Julia was the one at the most risk. The Sirta armor was painted black for the most part, and had a layer of reactive paint on top of that. The same that went on the vinyl layers of her catsuit. But power regulation was worse, since the armor was not electrically conducive like the catsuit was. She had minutes to get up that cliff. Unlike Hannah or Kasumi, who could remain cloaked for longer periods of time.

The moment she cloaked, she ran with all she had for those cliffs. One hundred and thirty feet of rock. At a full sprint, she almost grasped her biotics, but held herself back. Still, she could launch herself up onto the cliff face, the magnetic grips in her boots and gloves activating. The stone here wasn't solid, nor did this give her a perfect grip. Instead it simply gave her more of a grasp when she did find a place for her hands. Like the monkeys they evolved from, she scrambled up the rock face. Up ahead, she could see small rocks being disturbed. There was a hazy image around those rocks, so she assumed that it could only be Kasumi. She envied her natural grace and dexterity sometimes. Then again, Julia was the only one wearing real armor.

She slowed down over thirty feet from the ground, and just had to keep going, taking in air as fast as she could. She didn't look back down, trusting that none of the Husks would be able to see her. At the top, she could feel her arms trembling a bit. Her field was already starting to flicker with all of the dust on her hands and feet. The top of the cliff was open, with the only houses nearby piles of rubble. Scrambling, she dove behind a tree, the tree itself a few feet from the shadow of the great machine. She kept her vizor down, containing her breathing inside of her helmet. A few seconds after she arrived, her cloaking field fell apart. It would be a minute before she could run it again, with how much power she had drained.

"Psst," Looking up, she saw Kasumi, decloaked and hiding from the machine on top of one of the tree branches. The tiny woman was threatening to snap the tiny limb, but somehow it held. She was also holding out her hand. Julia shook her head. Kasumi shrugged, and pulled a rope down from the upper branches, which were thicker. Julia took that, and climbed up to a thicker section of branches where Hannah sat. The branch bent under her weight slightly, but the rectangular leaves didn't shake much. Hannah was pointing at the only building still standing.

She drew her rifle, slowly. The building was crawling with Husks. Not really in any organized fashion, but milling around. All of the windows had been broken, and they could clearly see into them. She sucked in a breath when she saw one of the interior rooms. There was Miranda, strapped to a chair. She was surrounded by Asari, one of whom stood there in carapace armor. One of them was glowing with biotics, standing in front of Miranda. It was familiar, almost. The Asari had her hand on Miranda's forehead, and her sister was covered in sweat. Then she realized what was going on.

"God," She said. "Miranda."

"Where?" Hannah was above her, trying to see. Her rifle was extended, the scope searching. Kasumi was right behind Julia, hanging from the branch above and trying to look from the same angle.

"She's in a chair. An Asari is melding with her."

"Interrogation." Hannah muttered. "I see her. Odd, that's her girlfriend melding with her." Hannah leaned forward, her branch creaking slightly. "That's the same armor of the ones we fought in Afterlife."

Julia moved her scope, looking through the other windows in the room. "There are Lurkers in the way. We can't get close." The Human Husks would disrupt their cloaking fields if they came too close.

"These things have limited intelligence, Julia. They don't notice certain things." Hannah said. "Kasumi, use your dart gun." Kasumi cloaked, but before she did Julia saw a small gas-canister powered weapon. Something that would fire a dart, she assumed. The only sounds they heard were tiny  _pfft_  noises. Zooming in on one of the Lurkers, she saw a small dart sticking into its shredded clothing. The synthetic leather jacket fluttered as the creature moved, the small dart hung from where it stuck.

"What are in those?"

"Purely chemical reactive explosives. Two stages of activation. When it impacts the Husk, chemical primer is armed. Once the target starts moving fast enough to shake up the canister, the rest of the chemicals are added. Turns them into walking landmines." Hannah smirked when she said that. "We needed something that could reliably explode around them."

"I want some." Julia said. "I'll even pay for it." Screw Citadel weapons rules. She already owned a Cain. If they worked on Lurkers and such, she would use them.

"Later." Hannah said. "That only helps us when things get bad. That doesn't let us get over there."

"What if we didn't have to go over there?" Julia asked, thinking. "Maybe like the time we saved Kasumi."

"I don't love that idea." Hannah replied. "We would need to get this ship off of us. But now that we know that Miranda is here.." She got quiet. "I'm letting Charles know. He's going to be using a drone. We'll alert your people on the ground, but let's hope the ship takes the bait."

Hannah tapped her wrist.

* * *

Pressley sat, moving his toes inside of his boots. They were in the darkest part of the moon, right where the horizon crossed. The sun was glinting slightly into his eyes, if he stared through the forward viewport. It had been more than an hour now, and things were still quiet. Anything could have gone wrong, now. He had stopped pacing so that the bridge crew could calm down, and substituted walking for moving his toes. No one saw people shifting their feet if the boots never moved.

"Sir! Activity on the relay!"

"What have we got?"

"Scout flotilla, from the Alliance. 42nd Scouting group. Older models, but reliable." His navigation specialist stated. "Nice of them to try to help the Asari evacuate."

"I won't say no to assistance, but I don't remember the  _Waterloo_  and the  _Nicea_  being anywhere near here." Pressley considered. "Prepare a drone. Automated distress signal. See how our allies respond. We can't expose ourselves yet."

"Launching drone, timer on signal is four minutes. Course corrections are programmed, and now we wait."

"Prime systems. Vent heat where we can. We might need to move." He no longer paced, given something to focus on. Standing behind Joker, he waited for the drone to hit its target range. He squinted, seeing the drone hit its target range, and then disappear. Disappear spectacularly, as a matter of fact. It was destroyed by something. "Joker?"

"I dunno. Sensors! What was that?"

"The heat around the explosion suggests that it was more than just a kinetic strike. Someone hit the drone with a missile? Or a GUARDIAN laser?" His sensor tech said, with no conviction on any of her statements. "Sir, I can't confirm from here. We need active sensors in order to find out what destroyed it."

Pressley ground his teeth. "That scout flotilla has no idea what they are getting into. The drone was destroyed the instant it started going active. That means that whatever is out there saw it coming. Had the drone in its sights before it sent out any signals."

"Those guys are gonna get ambushed in less than thirty minutes." Joker said quietly. "If they're making cruising speed from the relay."

"None of those ships are new. If those signals are legitimate, they all are poorly armed and armored for combat against whatever tore through those Asari ships."

"Yeah, but they saw those Asari wrecks out there." Joker pointed out. "They will see those and execute standard protocol."

"Which," Pressley reminded him, "is to search for survivors and look for distress signals. They are headed right for that ambush." He sighed. "Joker, take us up slow. Stealth systems online, keep us quiet. We'll need to know what we are up against. Once you are on the other side of the moon, do a full rotation. Passive sensors and eyeballs only."

Pressley focused his attention on the forward viewport, and waited. The light of the sun hit the panels of the ship, and made his eyes hurt for a moment while he adjusted to the brightness. Even with this, the Human eye could only see a few thousand kilometers in any direction. There was nothing to see except the normal space dust and debris. For the minute it took to come out of the moon's orbit, everyone who could had their eyes facing out of a viewport. "Sensors." He barked.

"Nothing, Sir." She replied. "I've got nothing. That field that is keeping signals from leaving the planet is interfering with our passive sensors. I still need active to confirm anything."

"Joker. Take us to the drone's last known position. Come at it from an oblique angle. Keep the planet between us and the site. Let's see if we can see using that method." Simple, but with signals jammed it was effective.

"What if it was the  _Acheron_?"

"I'm not going to assume it was anything until we can confirm it." Pressley replied, frowning. "Stop guessing and do you jobs. If the signal is being jammed, filter the sensor's wavelength."

"I, uh, don't know how to do that from here, sir."

"Lt. Harris." Pressley said slowly. "Please replace Lt. Joya."

Harris replaced Joya in the seat, and immediately got to work filtering the wavelength. Joya looked like she had been humiliated. In a way, she had been. Not knowing a critical function of the basic technology was a crime in his book. Even if that technology or its function was no longer standard practice. The  _Normandy_  was the most demanding post in the entire Alliance Navy, as far as Pressley was concerned. If you weren't fit for your job, someone would replace you. He considered himself part of that list.

"Sir, filtering the wavelength would mean recalibration. I'll need time for that." Harris replied. "Ten minutes, give or take."

He frowned at this. That was a third of the time before the Alliance flotilla would get here. By that time the ambushing craft may already be in range of the Alliance ships, and they would be ten minutes too far to be able to do anything to save them. "Alright Harris. We're going to risk active scans. Joker, take us back behind the moon. I don't want any of our signals bouncing towards that monster on Asteria's surface."

"Got it, Sir."

"Load torpedoes. I want the guns hot." Pressley said, looking at Kalin'ren. The ubiquitous bastard simply shrugged, passing along the command to the gunnery crew. The ship took on a new life, as consoles and gunnery control monitoring systems came online. "How long will we have on the stealth systems with the buildup?"

Kalin'ren considered. "We've got two hours before the trouble starts." The Quarian typed into his console. "Plenty of time.  _And_  we dumped the charge on our drive core at that moon. We can jump at any time."

Pressley waited until they had reached the dark side of the moon, a few hundred thousand kilometers from where they had parked earlier. It had already been eight minutes since the flotilla had arrived. Twenty more and they would be in range of that jamming field. "Active sensors. No more than five seconds." That should give them enough time.

The ship flickered as the sensors went off, bouncing back signals from something close.  _Too_ close. "Contact! Shit!" Harris yelled. "Rachni, Sir! Frigate class! Two hundred K off the port!"

"Do they see us?"

"They're changing course. They might not know where we are, but they know someone is around here." Joker stated. "They have crappy maneuvering thrusters. It's making them overcompensate."

Pressley grinned at that. "Wait for them to leave visual range of the planet. Then I want you to open up with a full spread. Hit them with everything." He clenched his fist on the console next to Harris. "Find me their power couplings, and give that exact location to the gunnery crews. I want that ship dead before they can return fire."

"Sir, I've got other problems to report" Harris spoke up. "I don't see the Alliance flotilla. No ships anywhere near the relay, either."

"Could they have gone back through? Or moved behind one of the planetary bodies?"

Harris was quiet for a moment as he did the math, Pressley also doing it in his own head. "They might be discharging their cores behind the gas giant."

"That would be within protocol." Pressley muttered. "I don't know enough about that group. They're in Fourth Fleet." Fourth Fleet wasn't known for anything special, unlike First or Third Fleet. "Is there any signals still being displayed?"

Harris shook his head. "Still just the echo of the original signal. But the signals are Alliance."

Pressley nodded. "I wouldn't want any more lives to be taken by these bastards, anyways. Joker, what's our range?"

"One hundred K." His pilot said. "We can get closer for the main guns, but not too close if we want to be out of the range of our own torpedoes."

"Take us into forty. I want to see that bastard explode." He grinned. "You said that they're having maneuvering trouble?"

Joker grinned back. "Yeah. The ship's got issues with rolling. What have you got in mind?"

"Tell our torpedoes to hit their topside maneuvering. They won't have the ability to stop any rolls. As for the main, hit right in front of their engines. If that's where they use our tech then their armor is going to be thinner at that point."

"If I may," Harris spoke up. "We should aim for the thinnest point of their ship. Nobody knows what the configuration of these things actually is."

"Those engines have to be hooked up to some sort of power systems. We hit the engines and they're dead in the water." Pressley retorted. "Joker, are we in range?"

"Forty five K, and we are ready."

"Give those bugs what they deserve then. Fire."

Two brilliant blue streams of molten metal spewed at the Rachni vessel, followed by four torpedoes. Their ship rocked slightly at the explosions, and surprisingly the Rachni vessel wasn't destroyed outright. It had tried to evade, but the  _Normandy_  was too close. The entire top half of the ship was bleeding bugs and atmosphere, cracks developing over it. The engines still ran, somehow, but without the top facing thrusters the ship was unable to counter its spin. Their weapons fired back, but without a direct solution they just scattered over the depths of space. Pressley grinned. "Again. Then come around from below. They won't be able to stop us then."

Joker kicked on the engines, and Pressley felt the ship accommodate the shift in speed. He leaned right over the man's shoulder as they blasted a second round of Thanix into the main body. This time they punched through, some of the molten metal coming out the other side. Like a dancer, they tumbled on the other side of the Rachni vessel, and came about. The Rachni were trying to run, kicking on everything they had.

Their last round of Thanix spat at them, one of their beams passing over the Rachni and back out of the dark side of the moon. The other bored right into the main part of the hull. Pressley's moment of elation was replaced by horror. "Damn! Joker, give all you've got. Get us to FTL!"

"What's wrong?" The pilot asked, still high on having put down a Rachni ship. "We killed 'em." Even with his question, he was pulling the  _Normandy_  around and angling for the quickest way out of the system.

"That monster ship on the ground is going to see our shot." It wouldn't take them long to realize that meant their orbital support was gone. "Move it!" Pressley gripped the chair tightly, waiting. He didn't have to wait long. At speeds that shouldn't be possible, the two kilometer long vessel appeared behind the moon. He sucked in breath, shocked. Breaking atmosphere had only taken that thing thirty seconds. Another minute and it was at the moon. It's top speed was so much greater than their own it was unfair. There was only one way out of this. "Emergency Jump! Now!" Julia was on her own until they could lose this thing.

"It's copying our vector! They see us!" Harris shouted. "That shouldn't be possible! We're cloaked!"

"Jumping!" Joker barked. It was shaky, but the ship made it to FTL. Jumping inside of a system's gravity well was possible, just not recommended. It put undue pressure on ships and made the drive core build up massive amounts of charge.

"It's still coming." Harris said. "Last sensor logs show that it was jumping after us."

Pressley sighed. "Joker. Listen to me very carefully." Then he leaned down so that the pilot was the only one to hear what he was about to tell him. Joker looked pale once he heard the whispered order. "It's mathematically possible. Do it."

Joker's hands shook as he typed a warning for the crew. "We're all going to die if you get that wrong, old man!"

Pressley actually chuckled. "Try following this, you bastard." That gigantic ship would never be able to make this maneuver. Pressley was able to consider that for only a moment, before the mass effect field started fluctuating. He took a seat, as the red warning lights kicked in. "Do it, Joker!"

* * *

Julia hung on for dear life as the 'Reaper' took off. Kasumi fell out of the tree, and Hannah's branch broke in the buffeting winds. Julia hung on like a cat would, dropping her rifle. The ground around what had been the landing site was glowing red, as if heat had been put off by the limbs of the ship.

The winds and force of the take off had also triggered the second stage of the chemical explosives that were on all of the Lurkers. The Human-like creatures were exploding left and right, taking out more than just themselves. One of them even took a chunk out of a Siren. When the wind cleared, the tree was almost devoid of leaves and tilted. Julia hung from the underside of the branch, appreciating real armor over and over again. Small shards of stone were on one side of her armor, and her kinetic barriers had been drained. She dropped the ten feet to the ground, and looked towards the building ahead of her. She didn't see Hannah or Kasumi, but gave a cursory inspection on the area around her. There was no sign of them, or of shapes in the debris that matched humanoid shapes.

She couldn't wait to find them. The best shot she was going to have to get close was right now. One of the walls had collapsed, but the room where Miranda was being held remained. Everyone inside had been knocked over from the blast, and Julia started walking forward. All of the Husks outside had been either blown away or knocked over. She moved forwards, feet stepping on grass wherever possible.

"Arda! She's leaving us!"

"She wouldn't! I don't want to fly in that crap heap you call a shuttle."

The Asari speaking didn't have the chance to complain about that comment, as the tech grenade latched onto her neck and she coughed instead, triggering its chemical payload. The one in Rachni armor received her knife to the back of her neck, right through the amp. Her kavka sparked a tiny bit, and the bodies jerked as they fell to the ground. Quietly, she pulled them to the corners, and approached the flipped over chair that held her sister. Knife still out, she cut the cords that held her to the chair, and saw her slump onto the floor the moment her limbs were freed. Looking to the left, she could see her girlfriend, or at least who she hoped was her girlfriend from the pictures she had seen. She was bleeding from multiple injuries to the face, whereas Miranda was only bleeding near her shoulders. The chair had shielded her from any further harm.

"Miranda. Wake up. Come on." Her sister didn't even groan. She wasn't wearing a helmet, so she might be unable to hear or sense anything. That ship had made everything quake when it took off. "Good thing you're not too heavy." She righted the chair, setting Miranda down into it. "Alright, Elsaenrae, you too. Get up." She whispered to the Asari.

" _Commander?_ " She heard over comms.

"Williams, status?"

" _We've split up with the other group. They're coming from the east, we're coming from the south. We're coming in on your location now._ " There was a loud explosion from the other end. " _Artillery is live. They've got some defensive positions."_  Julia could hear the explosions in the distance. Not close enough to see with her own eyes, but within a few miles.

"I've found the prisoners. Securing them and moving out."

" _Roger that. Scanner says there is over four hundred Husks coming out of the buildings. We'll hold their attention here._ "

The air in front of her shifted, and Hannah appeared out of cloak. "Is she alright?"

"Not sure yet. Grab Elsaenrae and let's move." Hannah had thinner shoulders, so she was the one to pick up the Asari. With both women in fireman holds, they stepped over the edge of the windowsill and out into the debris covered field. They weren't alone. Two of the Asari Husks were standing in the field, their eyes locked on them. The blue wires behind their head rippled, and their weird tentacle arms started spinning. Almost as if it had no joints, the entire arm swiveled, getting as fast as an antique helicopter rotor before releasing a biotic ability.

Hannah was staggered by the strike, her barriers holding. Julia didn't even see her barriers ripple when the ability hit. But she saw it stay, and realized that it was a powerful Warp. Elsaenrae, on Hannah's shoulders, screamed as her skin was torn open. Her blood sprayed, and her biotics flared as she tried to raise a barrier. It wasn't enough, as her face started bleeding even more profusely even after her bluish purple barrier was raised.

The Maenads' other arms started to rotate, and Julia one handed her pistol to blast them. Instead of hitting them, one of the Maenads extended both of its tentacle arms to the side, and a bubble of force appeared around them. Her rounds barely shifted it.

The other Maenad then used a Throw, coming at speeds that could barely be followed. Thankfully, she had trained with a Warp ball team. She instinctively rolled, using Miranda's legs to stabilize herself, and her back to be able to come to a kneeling position. Pistol ready, she blasted the biotic barrier that was around the two tentacles horrors. Both screeched as Hanah hit them with an Overload, and then pistol rounds from both women collapsed the barrier and entered their skulls.

"That's new." Julia muttered. "Biotics." Off in the distance, there was a scream. One that she was familiar with. "That's a Siren."

"Haven't fought one of these yet." Hannah said, drawing her Cain shakily with one hand. "But your files suggested blowing it to hell."

There was a rippling in the air, as something ran towards them. Glowing with biotics, and with blue wires trailing from its eight foot frame, a Siren was catching up to them from the other side of the building. Hannah chuckled, and released the trigger on her Cain.

Seeing this, the Human-Asari creature  _screamed_. The air around it froze, a bubble of biotic energy forming a barrier of frozen particles. The shot from the Cain hit, and Julia's helmet automatically darkened in response to the bright light. But when the flash cleared, the area around the Siren was empty. Debris had been blown back. It was smoking, some of the blue wire of its spine missing. One of its cheeks, formerly packed with technology, was gone. The third eye on its forehead was still focused on them, lidless and eery.

"The hell?" Hannah said. "Jack, I need some fire on my position. Right now."

She didn't hear whatever the reply was, but Hannah's scowl was enough to know it wasn't what she wanted. Hannah not so gently set down Elsaenrae, while Julia let Miranda down on a pile of rubble. Thier rifles barked, the red hot barrel of the Cain remounted on Hannah's back again. The Siren glowed, their rounds not penetrating. It grinned at them, double sets of teeth showing in the stitched together gaps of flesh. The third eye focused in on Julia, it's left arm uncurling its long pointed fingers.

Julia would have rolled, but a hand gripped her leg. Looking down, she saw a Lurker emerging from the debris all around them, sunken eyes glowing. "Piss off!" She growled, ending its life before starting to run away from Miranda. But it was too late. The Husk had held her down long enough for the Siren to get its own biotic ability out. Julia felt like she had been picked up by a shuttle, and she flew for twenty feet before impacting a pile of debris kicked up from the ship taking off. For all the force exerted upon her, she was only slightly jarred, the armor doing its job. It was going to need some Omni-gel after this, she was sure.

When she staggered to her feet, the Siren was already in front of Hannah and Miranda, the air around them frozen. Hannah's rifle was shredded, and her arm was being cradled into her chest. Julia stood up, stepping to the right so that she could draw the Siren off of them. On the far side, she could see Kasumi also walking around, the debris sticking to her cloaking field and showing where her feet were going.

Julia smirked at that. Flanking might be the only way to injure this thing. It worked on the last one. But this time they didn't have Wrex and his resemblance to a mole to help them. As soon as the Stasis field dropped, she put rounds into the Siren, making its barrier ripple. She held back on her biotics, as they wouldn't do much in the way of harm. All they would do was get its attention. It screamed at her, walking steadily towards her.

Then it twisted, as if its spine was able to rotate. It's arms impaled something, and with a wet gurgle Kasumi was revealed on its claws. "No!" Julia yelled, going full auto on the creature's legs. Her rounds actually pierced this time, small craters opening in the skin of its thighs. It stumbled, as it's knee exploded in a burst of blue wire and bone.

The Siren jerked, throwing Kasumi away from itself and onto the rubble. Liquid flew through the air from the holes in her torso, the blood raining over Hannah. Then the Siren's wrist glowed as it gathered biotic energy, and threw it at Julia.

Julia screamed back a challenge, letting her own biotics out. Her Throw did nothing to it, as the creature was too heavy for her to lift or toss. But she happily interrupted its own biotic ability, causing the hand to rippled with a biotic explosion. It did not enjoy that in the slightest, but the shotgun blast from Hannah ripped apart what was left of its arm. The blue wires sticking out of its thigh were trying to reach their counterparts in the ankle, squirming in between the ruined chunks of flesh.

"Just die already!" Hannah yelled, before bringing her shotgun to bear on its other leg, blowing it to pieces as well. Her shotgun vented heat, and Julia's rifle was nearing its temperature limit. Everything froze around them, the one remaining cheek of the Husk glowing blue. Her breath froze, her lungs immediately burning with the need for oxygen. Then, the damaged cheek of the Siren sparked, and the particles started moving again, albeit slowly. Their technology in the sides of their face must control the Stasis effect.

Julia could move inside of her armor, and breath slightly, but that was all. With every moment the effect was slacking, and she saw the creature moving faster than she was. It was slowly drawing its hand back, pointed talon-fingers angled to go right through her neck. To her left, Hannah was somehow moving through the Stasis, her arm coming in from the side toward the creature's face.

Then the Stasis effect ended, as something from Hannah's arm destroyed the remainder of the creature's cheek. Element zero and blue wires went everywhere, and the Siren's head rolled backwards with the strike. Then the neck  _snapped_  back into place, the arm that had been lined up to strike Julia instead burying itself inside of Hannah's torso. The catsuit did nothing to stop that kind of force, and ripped open around the fingers. Hannah slumped as soon as the hand pierced her, and Julia screamed.

Her kavka was in her hand before she could think to avoid close combat with this thing. Her biotic leap took her off the ground and slammed her knee into the wire-infested remains of the face. Then her blade plunged in, again and again into the cranium. She could feel its arms slamming into her back, the scratching on her armor like the sound of metal scraping. Five stabs, and she was finally at the base of its skull. Just as Wrex had said earlier, there were two nervous systems in this thing. The Asari brain was gone, halfway extended out of the back of the damaged skull when she started. The Human one was buried deeper, inside the torso and under the collar bones. With a cry of fury, she slammed her knife through the blackened flesh and silenced it, it's screams falling away to nothing. Her helmet flickered, reporting damage all along the lines of her armor.

She stood up, looking around. Hannah was facedown on the ground, as was Kasumi and Elsaenrae. The Asari's neck was at an odd angle, having been stepped on during the attack by the Siren. Miranda was where she had been left, bleeding slightly still. Julia rolled her arms, the left arm joints by her shoulder squealing. Miranda was alright, or as alright as anyone could be in this situation.

Hannah was heavy to roll over, and Julia groaned with the effort, even as her hands started shaking. Instead of seeing the cut up torso and intestines of her mentor, she saw sparking wires and technology. "What the hell!" She ran for Kasumi, clenching her fingers. The woman was heavy enough for Julia to assume the same of her. Both of them were just android bodies. "You weren't even here!" Neither of them were actually at risk, or didn't bother to come. "Damn it all!" She just left them. It wasn't like they actually cared. If they would, they might have really been here instead of just sending some fake copy of themselves.

"Williams!" She nearly yelled into her wrist. She saw that the wrist section of armor was torn to shreds, her Omni-tool non responsive. "Gah!" She didn't even know where it would have come off. She was willing to bet that her father had sent an android instead. He didn't actually care. If she hadn't come, Miranda would have died. Slumping onto the ground near her sister, she just breathed. Then she disengaged her gloves, applying medi-gel to her sister's wounds. Once they were treated to the best of her ability, she went over to the two androids and stripped them of weapons and tech mines. Their Omni-tools were dead, probably a self defense mechanism. She took them anyways.

With a second Cain, she propped it up next to Miranda, and sighed. She almost missed the crunch of dirt around her. She whirled, rifle leveled and finger on the trigger. Standing just outside the range of a grenade toss was her father. His team was standing further away, injured and not so injured. His Quarian Vanguard was missing an arm, wires sparking. Don was standing next to him, a sparking hole in the middle of his chest.

"None of you. None of you actually came?"

"The Reapers are too dangerous to actually risk ourselves. Even if it is my own flesh and blood." Jack said. "This was the safest method of getting her out of here."

"You said you were coming for her." Julia stood in between him and Miranda. "For once in my life I thought that meant something. That you were actually going to be here for her." For both of them. "So, was this as far as you were actually going to risk yourself? An android body?"

His team were already collecting the two downed androids. Don was carrying Hannah, while Kasumi was picked up by Henry. "My feet are too damaged for -"

"Shut up." To her surprise, Jack did. He just stood there, staring at her and Miranda. He took the time to extinguish his cigarette, and with a neutral look he simply waited. "I don't want to hear your excuses. You weren't there when we needed you as kids. Not when it counted. That hasn't changed. I'm taking MIranda back with me. You should leave before she wakes up."

Jack sighed. "Is that what you really want? For me to walk away right now?"

"Yes." Julia spoke quietly. "You've done enough damage. You said that you've dedicated your life to fighting these things? Then that means this is all your fault. Asteria, Eden Prime, Galatana. You provoked them, and now the rest of us are suffering for it."

"We shall see how the history books turn out. I am not apologizing for what I have done. When you need me, you know how to find me. Goodbye for now, Julia."

He then walked away, his team disappearing into the trees. Julia couldn't contact anyone, and her sister didn't wake up. Only scattered husks came near her for the next half hour, thankfully just Maenads. One Lurker moved around, its legs ruined by some effect. She put it out of its misery, and the other Husks she killed from extreme range with a sniper rifle. It was a surprise when Williams stepped around the building, weapon out and scanning the area. "Over here!" She yelled. Williams lowered her weapon, smiling. She talked into her wrist. "I found them!"

"More or less. Had to fight a Siren." She repositioned Miranda's body, making sure her head was better supported. "What about you?"

"Halmabad killed two Sirens, Ma'am. He's a bit injured, but he brought them down with some tech abilities. We dropped a rock on one of their little Stasis bubbles. Got to watch as it was slowly crushed into a thousand tiny pieces."

"Is everyone ok?"

Williams shook her head. "No. Reddin might lose an arm if we don't get her back to medical soon. Tali is moving our injured, but it isn't looking good. Halmabad needs evac. Some of those blue wires sprayed something into his wounds, and he isn't doing well. We also found the remains of the Alliance listening post and the agents that manned it. Their data was wiped, but we took anything that might incriminate us."

There was the sound of engines nearby, as they saw the  _Acheron_  lift off from behind the ridge line. She glared, watching as her father just left. Maybe it was better this way. She didn't know and didn't want to think about it. "My comm is dead. Call Ibn, have them signal the  _Normandy_. We need to get out of here."

Williams nodded. "Ibn, what's the ETA on that device?" She scowled at the answer. "Got it." She tapped her wrist. "It's not gonna be up for a while. Unless the  _Normandy_  sees us, we've gotta get to cover."

Julia nodded. "Hold that thought." She stood up, going over to the Asari that she had killed inside the building. She took the Omni-tool from the normal-dressed one. The one with Rachni carapace armor had an integrated Omni-tool, but also had more technology that could be salvaged and investigated. Dragging it over to where Miranda was, she got to work ripping out the Omni-tool's OSD. "Where's Halmabad?"

"Hand is bandaged up, Ma'am. He can't type."

She scowled. She wasn't a great programming specialist. Most of what she had were pre-packaged scripts that could be applied to a system. With her own device out of commission, there was no easy way for her to hack into this OSD. "One of the Asari had a ship around here. Somewhere on this OSD is the biometric lock and encryption keys. We get those, and we can get our own ride out of here."

Williams nodded. "Better idea." She tapped her wrist. "Halmabad, you still got that Eezo scanner working, right? See if you can find anything that looks like a shuttle. We might need it." A minute passed, and Williams listened to Halmabad. During that time, the rest of the Alliance team was coming around the house, bearing Halmabad and Reddin on their backs. Weapons were out, but they loosened up at the sight of Julia. Reddin looked more injured than Halmabad, though his tech armor ports were sparking and looking ruined.

"Commander, I found that shuttle. There's one not a mile away from here. How it hasn't been taken out like the rest of the tech in this area I don't know, but it looks worthwhile." He looked at the dead Siren. "Commander, would it kill you to use a gun for once? Always with the knives." Halmabad groaned from his place on Alenko's back, arms wrapped around him and one bandaged. The glove was shredded and hung limply from his wrist. The bandages were a little bloody, but any wound on the hands was considered semi-crippling.

"Let's get that shuttle." She said. "Williams, take that spare Cain."

Williams looked like a child, her gleeful smile something that Julia should have taken a picture of. "This'll kill anything." She said reverently, mounting it on her back.

Carrying Miranda was draining, but as they approached the shuttle, her team seemed to reliably keep up. "Tell Ibn I want his device on the high ground. We need evac soon, if this isn't what we need."

Williams held up her hand, and they all came to a halt. "I've got motion. Sensors say Rachni."

"How many and how close?"

"More than fifty. Quarter mile out, possibly more in the area."

Halmabad groaned, twisting his head so that it lined up with his injured wrist. "That's where the shuttle is."

Odds were that it was a Rachni-infested shuttle. "Any Brood Warriors?"

"One." Williams said with a bit of worry. "Orders?"

Julia knelt, placing Miranda gently on the ground. "Prepare the Cain. We can't risk a firefight with Rachni. They would sabotage that shuttle before we would finish taking it from them." Her own Cain glowed as she hefted it. "It would be a shame to let the Rachni have another way off this rock."

Twin explosions tore through the Rachni infested area, one of them centered on the armored Brood Warrior. Giblets and tree trunks were the only survivors, the shuttle itself in pieces. For good measure, she and Williams sent in two more rounds to cleanse the area and collapse and more tunnels. Nothing else moved. Williams was cackling, laughing loudly at the sight of the slaughter. One Rachni Warrior still stood, shaky on two legs. Julia put it out of its misery with a few bursts from her rifle.

"Oh yeah!" Williams yelled, blasting a few wandering Rachi workers. "Too bad we can't have this happen all the time."

" _Commander Williams?_ " William's wrist spoke up.

"Go ahead." She replied, still riding the high from the one sided battle.

" _The laser device is operational, but there is a problem. There was no response from the coordinates we were given._ "

William's face skewed. "Cut the techno babble and tell me what that means."

" _That means that the ship isn't where they said it would be._ "

Julia grabbed William's wrist, grumbling about having lost her own comm system. "Expand the target range. Take the risk and use that. Halmabad has access to a drone in orbit, cloaked or stealthed in some way. Bounce the signal from it and see if you can find the ship that way."

" _One moment._ " Ibn replied. The Corporal took thirty seconds to reply, during which Ashley walked with Julia back towards the rest of the group. " _Commanders, I can verify that the_ Normandy _is not in the system. Or if it is, it is hiding behind the gas giant. But we've triangulated using that drone and there is nothing behind the moon._ "

"You can clearly say this?"

" _Worse, Commander, we've got something else. That big blighter is coming back here. We've got minutes before it comes back._ "

Julia did the math and didn't like it. "Alright everyone. Meet on our position, and bring every bit of supplies we've got. Ibn, take the device. Get out of there. Find cover, you're too far away from us to hide in the same location." After that, she dropped Williams' wrist. Around them, the rest of their team had gathered. Julia moved forward, taking them to the site of the Rachni. "Everyone follow me."

"Commander?" Alenko said dubiously. "Are we really going in there?"

In front of them was a Rachni tunnel. The only location that might offer them enough cover from when that gigantic ship came back. "Yeah. I'm sorry." She knew that going into a Rachni tunnel was at the very bottom of Alenko's bucket list. The look on his face was clear panic. "But it's the only place that is safe."

Kaidan shuddered, before stepping into the tunnel behind Williams. Tali seemed curious, the only one who was looking at this experience positively. Julia, carrying her sister, was the last to go into the tunnel, taking a long look at the purple haze of the atmosphere. The  _Normandy_  couldn't take on that Dreadnought. Pressley would run, long before risking a fight with that thing. But he would come back for them. He was a reliable old codger like that.

"Arete Dexios." She murmured.

* * *

Author's Note

This update has taken a bit more time than usual, and the next may take a bit more time as well until my schooling will be over. But this took a bit more time to make sure everything went ok. Writing the entire section here was a bit interesting. All of it I took some extra time to make sure everything was alright. Sirens always take extra time to write. They're just different to write. But then again we haven't seen all of the things that the Reapers have to offer. It'll be fun to present those to you.

I have spent more time this week programming than I have sleeping. Not only that, but my dear car and I were involved in a car accident. It is not the most kind year for my wallet. At least no one was hurt in the crash, but after everything I am down a vehicle and am still taking 25 college credits. That basically means I come home to sleep, make food, and spend the rest of the time at the school. I got this nice tan on vacation, but it all disappears while I spend twelve hours a day in a lab in front of a computer screen. Also, I really like SQL, Java, and HTML5. C# can go die in a hole.

A special shoutout to  **Roku-Molester of Science**. I just read his Talia – Mage of Ferelden, which is a fantastic story. Go check it out.


	67. Lucid: Hunting Grounds

Chapter 67

Asteria, Hekate System, November 2182

Julia sat next to Corporal Ibn, the Quarian's suit covered in dust. After two weeks, she had finally tracked down her wayward crew. They had been hiding in an abandoned copper mine in the hills. Asteria was loaded with old digging sites, from when the planet was originally settled hundreds of years ago. The Rachni had made tunnels connecting to all of these mines, and had made nests in some of the deeper places. Julia and Ashley had made short work of them, but were down to one shot left for one of their Cains. There had been no Queens that they had seen, just a couple of Brood Warriors. They were burned to a crisp. Finding them would have been impossible without the hacked data, and the Asari forces on planet would have been busy for years.

The OSD she had taken from the Asari had a complete map of the Rachni tunnels, which were used with extreme prejudice. The complete numbers of Rachni on the planet were also guessed at, but the Asari, Haela, didn't know for sure. She was somehow involved with 'controlling and directing' the Rachni. She wasn't sure how. Judging by Haela's guesses, there had been more than five hundred Rachni here. For some reason having a Queen on the planet would make it impossible for Haela to do her job. Her journal entries did not explain why, but it was implied.

"How much longer on that drone?"

"It's orbit will deteriorate within ten hours. Then we will be blind." Ibn replied. "Comm relays throughout the system are still down, so we don't have any other means of communication. We will need food supplies soon." He wasn't talking about food for the Human soldiers. Julia had been able to sneak in and steal enough of that to keep them alive. Finding dextro food for the three Quarians was another story altogether. This planet didn't have any Turians or local dextro food sources.

"The Asari ships are still there?"

"Yes." The Asari Republics had moved in after their patrol fleet was wiped out. "They're not going anywhere, Commander. But the crust has so much odd particulates that they won't find us either. "Commander, those blue  _jeros_  are going to sit in orbit for a century. We need another way out of here."

"We've talked about that. I'm not leaving without you. Even if i am able to sneak onto one of their shuttles, they are scanning for anything leaving orbit. Even with my abilities, there is not an easy way of getting out of here and getting help."

"At least we have the local news nets." Ibn said. "Using those, Halmabad, Zorah, and I were able to put together a small data mining link. A few cameras have some older security protocols that we were able to data mine from. The Asari ships in orbit have deployed some temporary satellites for the public to be able to use. But those same satellites were being closely monitored by the groups in orbit. They couldn't risk anything. Asari code was some of the best in the galaxy. Turian codes, she could reliably crack. Salarian she might take the risk. But not Asari comm codes. They were jealously protected, and each of the city-states had different variations of encryption keys in their comm relays.

Their VI systems were also hardened, and were behind three layers of protection. Julia wouldn't want to try hacking that without a team of people, and physical access. No, there would be no way for them to send any messages that way. Even if they could get a hold of a comm connection, she would need to send her message through Asari channels and through their data nets before whatever she sent could reach anyone of value. "Ibn, take a couple of people and go back out of the cave in a couple hours. Check behind the moon again, and see if the ship is back."

"Aye, Commander." The Quarian said, rolling into a hammock to catch up on some much needed sleep. His team had been making their camps livable. He deserved any sleep he could get. She left him, stepping over to the office spaces. Two cubicles had been left behind by the mining company here, and Halmabad had been moved there for medical care. He was still not doing well, some internal bleeding occurring before they were able to stabilize him. His lung was punctured by one of the Sirens, but the armor from Sirta had stopped its armor from getting any further. She was going to leave the most glowing reviews for it when they left here. Reddin was only injured because she was hit so hard by the biotics that she was tossed through a house. Her armor had taken the worst of the damage, the talons of the Asari Husks leaving deep gouges through it all. Omni-gel now filled the pitted areas, colorless grey lines marking how close she had come to death.

The back of her own armor was the same. Claw marks and cuts went deep into her back, anatomically where her heart and lungs would be. Sirta deserved another investment. She had to ditch her armor whenever she needed to raid somewhere for supplies, however. The deep damage done by the Siren had screwed up some of the kinetic barrier emitters. She couldn't risk getting shot at from behind, now. Her biotic barrier would be the only thing she could count on there.

Stepping past the cubicles, she came over to where a pile of plastic and blankets were set up. Here, she found Corporal Reddin standing next to the cook pot. Even with a broken arm the woman was a decent cook, and she had saved their lives so far. Julia couldn't cook. She could filet the meat that they brought back, and make rice. Miranda was better at cooking than she was, and Williams was a lost cause. When feminism changed in the late 2050's into a movement to 'cast off' the trappings of what women were expected to do, cooking and that relative skill fell by the wayside. Food and nutrients could be processed artificially, and every home could just use nutrient processors to support themselves. Women stopped cooking for the most part.

The Islamic conflicts in the 2060's brought that skill back, when troops were deployed all over the world. Women were deployed in the armed forces in larger numbers than ever before, as the most extremist Islamic forces had a superstitious belief about their souls being lost if killed by a woman. As a result the nations allied against them deployed many women into combat. Cooking became an important skill once again. Miranda was good with Asari foods, having spent a lot of time on Thessia. She helped identify the materials that were going into their supplies. Reddin was simply good at cooking, though she wasn't great.

Her sister sat off to the side of the cooking area, settled on some of the blankets. She was still wearing Asari commando leathers, and sometimes went out to talk with her remaining two contacts on the planet. For that she acted like her girlfriend, Elsaenrae. Julia had run out of blue body paint and hadn't packed any head tentacle wigs. So just making the skin around the visor blue was all she could do. Her blue paint was almost gone, as she had only packed enough for three days worth.

"Hey." Something had changed recently. Ever since she had woken up, Miranda had been quiet. Very withdrawn, and only once Julia had asked what had happened. Miranda had just shuddered, and started crying. Julia didn't have the heart to find out what really happened. Miranda had been held by those Asari for two days. That was all that Julia had been able to find out. That was from journal logs she found in the Asari's OSD. Miranda had been forced to endure Asari bonding rituals and their form of interrogation for more than eighteen hours. She had slept a few hours, all documented by the Asari. Her waking hours were supposedly split between the interrogators, though Julia didn't know their names. The OSD scrambled their names, and only a week's worth of work had identified the name of the owner of the Omni-tool. Elsaenrae was not mentioned in any of the journals.

Miranda glanced up at her, from the cutting board she was holding. Her eyes were empty of emotion, and bags were under them. She hadn't been sleeping well, nobody had. But Miranda was different. She would only sleep when forced to. Even then, sometimes you could hear her screaming in her blankets. She tore the skin of her palms when she was asleep, nails digging in and breaking her skin. Gloves only did so much. Miranda had found the shattered remains of her weapons when she and Julia went back to the site where Haven had once stood.

One sword, and a few broken chunks of her shuttle were still at the impact crater. Asari forces had been there for a day or so, before moving off to deal with other groups of violent forces. Judging by the local news sources, at least a third of the planet was being ravaged by armed groups of slavers and a few Rachni hotspots. The sword had been partially melted by the ship taking off. Julia didn't understand how it moved, but when it took off the entire area had been heated enough that the house and its remains were all melted together. Miranda hadn't replied with more than monosyllable answers after that. Even when they buried Elsaenrae.

She just flickered her biotics and cried. Then, she withdrew into one of the office spaces and didn't come out for two days. Even now, after Julia had addressed her, Miranda did little more than glance her direction. "We need to find out some way of getting food for the Quarians. Either that or a way off the planet."

Miranda took a few seconds before she nodded. "Neither are viable."

"Why?"

Miranda raised one eyebrow. "That thing will come back."

"Three Dreadnoughts are in orbit. Along with thirty other ships. A single ship wouldn't be able to get through all of that."

Miranda's lip quivered. "It came here for me."

"I know." According to Clan Ganar, of course.

"You don't  _get_ it." Miranda said sourly. "It found me. Disabled armor, weapons, Omni-tool, and shuttle. All before it ever hit atmosphere." Then she closed her eyes. "Doesn't matter how many ships there are. It's a Reaper. Dad actually thinks we can fight those things." She trailed off.

"It can't find you right now. You're safe here."

Miranda opened her eyes, furious. "Shut up." She stood up, cutting board and utensils going everywhere. "They will find me again. It doesn't matter where I go." Arms shaking, Miranda walked away. Julia chose not to follow. She just remained, standing there awkwardly. She must have been there for a long time, because it took someone tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention. She turned, seeing Kaidan Alenko standing there.

"Hey." He said softly. "I saw that your sister was actually angry. Better than the way she's been."

"Not really." Miranda wasn't herself. That much was certain. "How are you holding up?"

Kaidan's eyes were slightly sunken. "Hungry." He gave her a smirk. "But that's all of us biotics." He pointed at the pile of blankets. "Though we figured out that Tali snores louder than any of us. We shouldn't disturb her, though." Julia blinked, and saw that one corner of the blankets shifted slightly. She moved the edge with her foot, and saw the left foot of her Quarian engineer underneath the pile. She had been perfectly hidden underneath.

"They're down to the last of their rations." She said quietly, replacing the blanket and stepping away. "We need to do something, but I don't know what."

"There has got to be a way to get them out of here. Maybe they should just turn themselves in, have the Asari transport them back to the Migrant Fleet."

"The Asari Republics have locked down all refugees to the planet. They would die in custody." Not to mention notice that all of them were members of the Systems Alliance Navy. "We need someone else to get through."

"You have any friends in the Asari government?" Kaidan asked. "I only know a Warp Ball player, but after dating with me for a few months we broke things off. I don't think she would be able to get through this blockade."

"No one would be able to get through this. Thirty Asari vessels up there, and that's just what the one drone we have can see. We're lucky there is enough debris to hide the drone this long."

Kaidan shrugged. "Well, we're also lucky that they haven't come after us yet."

"Save your breath on that one." Julia replied. "The Asari see crime as a sign of rebellion. Violent crime especially. It rarely happens on their worlds, and any time there are signs of violent crime they investigate. They might just send Huntresses, hopefully."

"What else would they send?"

"With the Asari? On a Rachni infested planet? Let's hope they just send Huntresses." Asari didn't have a history of burning out their prey. They had other ways of catching criminals.

* * *

Sahran, Asteria, Hades Nexus System November 2182

"You are positive?"

"Yes. I haven't seen anything come out of here! I just deliver to that monastery every other week." The young maiden quivered, trembling in fear. "Is that a crime?"

"It can be when every person inside of the monastery has been killed. As of now, all you are suspected of is conspiracy. If anything further is revealed that convicts you, your life is forfeit." The maiden had wide eyes, and her attention split between the contents of the rooms and her. "You may leave."

The maiden bolted, her feet slapping the wet tile floors. Coming to a standing position, she glanced at the other two Matrons standing with her. Their armor was ornamental, yet functional. The red highlights above the collarbones and on the lower back were symbols of their conviction and dedication to the Code. The symbols were an outward sign of their commitments to the law. To justice, and to leave their other lives behind. These two were specially selected due to their family. Specifically, because their children had been killed by the Rachni. They had little to live for beyond the demands of the Code.

"Is there anyone else in the village that knows of this place?"

"No." They answered simply.

"No signs of my daughter?"

"Rila is not here." H'sha stated. She was named by her Batarian father. "Many of the bodies are gone, or dragged into the tunnels left by the Rachni. Some were still alive when they were taken. Their blood was left where their hands gripped the doorframes."

"Two Rachni corpses were in here, but were broken down." Yanna stated. H'sha and Yanna were the only two Huntresses that she dared bring here. "Their acidic blood has still marked the floor."

"Then we shall seek them. The Code is clear."

"Yes, Justicar Samara." Samara nodded. There was still hope that her daughter was alive. Somewhere on this world, one of the pure blooded Ardat Yakshi still might live. "What about the stolen food?"

She blinked. "Stolen food?"

"Yes. The entire stock of food that was here is gone. Someone cut the biometric lock open and took everything."

Samara turned her head, concerned. That was not expected. "Show me." The lock was cut open, but the metal had been split with a single cut.

"The locks were cut, but I don't know of any knife that could have been used to do this in a single strike." H'sha said.

"I do." Samara said clearly. "Theft is a crime unforgivable in the eyes of the law. The Code is clear." She let her Omni-tool start scanning the room for further signs of biological signatures. "Before these thieves are brought to justice, they will answer my curiosity." Her wrist beeped, and she looked down at a small piece of detritus. Her Omni-tool had identified something other than the Rachni and Asari that had been here. "Human." Odd. Not outside the Code, but not unexpected for the lesser race. Their behavior was well documented.

"Humans?"

"Yes." She told them. "Humans were here after the Rachni. Considering the pristine condition of the doors, they did not enter through the main entrance. The only other way in here is through the tunnels."

Yanna flinched. "The Rachni must not have noticed them."

"Our prey has entered the tunnels. May Athame watch over us." Samara didn't wait any further, before plunging into the tunnels. The wicked would be brought to justice, and her own interests did not matter. It was simply coincidence that her work brought her here. "Do not spare the wicked. Assume that anything other than an Asari is a threat." Samara led the way, only the smallest part of her resolve shaken. For the Code, not even the life of her daughter would deter her. Justice would be served.

* * *

Penelope, Ithaca System, November 2182

"Three more ships have entered the system." Charles said from his chair. "At least ten are on the other side of the relay. They'll see us coming. Even if we had more ships available, we couldn't get past that. Five of their new Raelin-class cruisers are sitting on that relay. Their sensors are powerful. I don't know what they can do, but it might be enough. Javik says that they might be caught up to Prothean sensor standards."

Jack's mouth tightened. He had made three attempts already to get back to Asteria. The third attempt had overloaded the stealth drive, and he had to retreat. Every single damn time the  _Acheron_  had to leave before they were able to find any signs of his daughters. It was galling, to come so close and then have to turn around. The Asari were actually getting their act together, and were working together to lock down the area. Asteria was now one of the most defended locations in Asari space.

"Charles, I don't care about the number of ships. Just tell me when we can make another run."

Charles frowned. "That's what I've been trying to get at. The  _Acheron_  just can't take this kind of strain anymore. The power relays are losing efficiency faster than we can refit it. Amandeep just told me that we can't keep the stealth drive operational for longer than three hours at a time. With prolonged use, the drive might fail altogether."

"What about the SR-2?" Jack asked quickly.

"It took some shrapnel into the exposed conduits when it escaped the fleet at Arcturus. It won't be ready for a long time." Charles said with concern. "The Quarians claim they don't have a stealth ship functional yet, but I don't trust Daro'Xen enough to assume she hasn't already gotten at least a shuttle functional."

"A shuttle wouldn't be able to make it through with enough time. All of our projections are such that a shuttle would only be able to contain heat for less than two hours at best. Three if you turn the main compartment into a collection sink for the heat."

It was more than the  _Acheron_  could do. But it wasn't enough to get past all of the ships guarding the ways to Asteria. The cigarette in his hands was crushed as he closed his eyes, thinking. His hand burned slightly, hot ashes touching his skin. The only thing he saw when he closed his eyes was Julia, glaring at him as they left her there. "What about our other allies?"

"Benezia can't risk going there. She doesn't have an alibi to be there." Jack sighed at that. "Eclipse don't have a presence that they would be bribed for, and the Turians aren't in the area. Systems Alliance ships are only allowed to land at the spaceport and pick up Human refugees." Charles was going through their contacts, his eyes flashing past all of the hundreds of names. "Oh wait. I've got a hit."

"From who?"

"One of our contacts. She thinks we're the Shadow Broker." Charles smirked at that. But that information dealer was not someone to smirk about. Jack had plenty of reservations for the fat alien. "She reported an Asari ship landing to drop off something other than Commandos."

"Technicians? Priestesses?"

"Worse. Justicar." Charles said. "Probably checking out the monastic orders that exist on Asteria."

"There are only a few dozen of them. Who was it?"

"Samara. No last name or clan name given." Charles said. "I don't recognize that name."

Jack frowned. "I do. Asari Matriarch, mother to certain Ardat Yakshi children interred at their monasteries. Very capable, and easily stronger than Javik or Benezia when it comes to biotics." She was also a very well practiced Huntress before she was a Justicar, and he knew firsthand how dangerous she was. "We need to get her away from there. She will view any crime as a death warrant."

"How do we do that?" Charles asked. "We hardly have any contacts left on that planet."

Jack quickly did the math. "Get me our Eclipse Contacts. Forty thousand credits for information leading to an Asari matron by the name of Morinth. This is top priority, Charles."

"Alright." Charles said. "What do I do once we have that information?"

"That won't bring us anything. The woman we are looking for has four hundred years of experience dodging Justicars."

"You want me to find that kind of person?" Charles stated. "On top of everything else I am doing?"

"I could ask Hannah." Jack said, glancing Charles' direction but not actually giving him attention. Samara just compounded the problems they were experiencing. Julia was still stuck down there. "The Alliance still quiet?"

"Yeah. It's odd, though. The  _Normandy_  hasn't even checked in. Admiral Drescher hasn't reported them back, or any kind of update for the last two weeks. Though there was a bit of evidence of debris from something around the gas giant. More than just a shuttle. Something of Human origin was destroyed there, but the Asari had already gone over the area." Simply put, the  _Normandy_  was not his concern. His daughters were more important, and the lives of those on board were just pieces on the game board. Julia was the important piece, here. Their lives were forfeit if that was what it took to get her off of the planet. "I'm really considering abducting one of the Asari Admiral's daughters and seeing if we can get in that way."

Jack nodded. "Tell Henry to go in. He and Kasumi would be excellent for that extraction. Tell him that he may kill anything that resists him. We don't have time to exercise restraint." Jack actually paid attention to the list of Asari children of the Asari commanders. "Oh yes. Her. She looks shy. Introverted." He tapped the screen, bringing up the image. "Fri'a Mealei. Currently working on Earth." The picture listed for her travel visa had a shy smile, with a pronounced red stripe going up from the bridge of her nose and tapering to the top of her forehead. "Office of Disease Management. That sounds relatively easy to infiltrate."

He heard the sound of Uggs twisting on the floor behind him, his girlfriend emerging from cloak. "I heard my name?" Hannah chirped. She had whiskey in one hand and a pint of ice cream in the other. Jack gave her a look. She chose to be affronted. "What? You can't judge me!"

"I'm the one who gets to see you naked, so…" Jack implied. Charles looked ready to leave the room.

"You've been drinking yourself to sleep. I don't want a hangover, so I'm making sure I eat something too." Hannah said. "I trust this is going to help get them back?"

"Yeah." Jack admitted. He noticed that she was holding his favorite brand of whiskey. "We need a kidnapping. Express job."

Hannah smiled. A real one. "The things we do for those we care for. Alright. I'm in. Charles, tell the captain to take us to the Migrant Fleet. We'll be able to get a ride from there." The younger man needed no further urging, and got out of the room before anything happened.

"You sharing that?" Jack motioned at the whiskey. Some of the ash from his crushed cigarette floated off his fingers as he did so. Hannah flashed him two spoons, tucked onto the magnetic strip of her catsuit. Two metal bottomed shot glasses were also attached.

"We're going to get them back. As you said, whatever the cost."

Even if it meant causing the Asari enough panic to send their fleets reeling back to Thessia in wild retreat. "Whatever the cost." He clicked spoons with Hannah, he tried not to think about those methods. Things weren't dire enough yet. But if pressed, Jack would break them.

* * *

Pamyat System, Hades Nexus, November 2182

"Damn." Pressley muttered, looking at another busted power conduit. The entire starboard side of the ship was half melted. That dreadnought had caught a single whiff of them in a two hundred thousand kilometer area of space. Then it had hit it with  _everything_. Beams of molten death were carefully angled to carve across the maximum amount of space searching for them. Then the missiles had hit. Some of the older damage from the Eclipse mercenary ships had never been repaired. When one of the missiles had hit too closely, some of the damaged metal had broken off. It couldn't have been more than six inches of metal. But in the vastness of space, sensitive enough sensors could find metals of that kind of size.

That bastard had borne down on them like a hawk. When they had turned so hard in FTL, the dreadnought had not been able to turn as hard as they did. Their ship was able to get almost to the Pamyat System when it finally caught up. When the  _Normandy_  blue-shifted into FTL, it was impossible to stay cloaked. That ship's sensors found them, and they were only able to get one hundred K between them and it before Joker could get them out of FTL. Then they had seconds. Pressley wanted to give that mouthy pilot a medal at that point. His lead foot saved them. The closest they had come to being destroyed was fifteen meters. Due to quick flying on Joker's part, the beam only passed over the top of the frigate.

It had the misfortune of melting off the brass and copper fillings that made up the interior of their comm antennae. It also burnt out the kinetic barrier emitters and pointer lasers meant for communication. Right now the  _Normandy_  had no kinetic barriers on its dorsal side. In fact, nothing was working up there. Worse, it meant that they couldn't enter atmosphere or FTL. Any small particle would tear giant holes through their armor. The armor was fine, though. No more spending unnecessary funds on Quarian made armor.

As he mulled on this, he ripped out the casing around the conduit, and with no power running through it, it was safe to handle the components. There was a small  _crackle_  as his suit touched the components. He grumbled, watching as the grounding rods built into his suit's wrists glowed for a moment. One of the best inventions that had come out of Russia in the last century. The power conduit came out, the smell of burnt copper in the air. "That's five." He grunted. "You getting that, Kalin'ren?"

The Quarian muttered something bigoted. "You just keep going. I'm sure we'll find more substandard parts that couldn't handle a little heat. Just getting the ship to restart after the last week has been effort enough. The overload we went through when we had to keep the stealth drive working was hard enough. The core needs to be discharged, too. Static on everything."

Two weeks of careful movement had finally gotten them inside the gravity envelope of Pamyat. Joker had to stress what power conduits still ran to give the armor enough juice to keep the stealth drive running long enough to get them into the asteroid belt. "Yes." Pressley replied. "How much would it take to get these running again?"

"You and I are very much alike, Human. I only say that with the barest hint of respect, mind you. You are a good navigator, good with both manual and digital input structures. But give you a wrench and you are just as useless as that Harper girl."

"You aren't good with a wrench?" Pressley asked. "I thought all Quarians were good with tools and repairs."

"I thought your entire race was warmongering asshats. If it isn't in an Omni-tool blueprint writer, I can't do it. But don't you dare mention it to the rest of your insufferable race." The three fingered hand pointing at him meant business. "It would be dishonorable to assume otherwise."

"We all have our images to maintain." Pressley agreed.

"And people we report to."

Pressley was quiet. "The world is what it is. But so long as your goals are the same as mine, I'll look past it." Kalin'ren was a Quarian. An oddball of a Quarian, but still one of their race. He was loyal to something. Right now that corresponded with the  _Normandy_. "We're going to need new conduits." He changed the subject.

"As well as new emitters." Kalin'ren said. "But worst of all, we need a comm antennae. Without that, things are going to get very bad very quickly. Without emitters, we can't go to FTL. Without comms, we will run out of supplies. We've got enough food to go for a month here for Humans. For Quarians, a lot longer. Worse, the thermal vents are partially melted. Just the hinges, though. But that is still another thing that the fabricators can't replace. But this is the darkest and most uncivilized part of Asari space."

"There are few places that we can go." Pressley said. "Places here in this system."

"The only places here are mining consortiums and pirates. You know which prefer Quarians."

"Well, the Asari don't tolerate their own kind becoming pirates. Mercenaries for certain, but pirates are not tolerated." Pressley stated. They had both made their way out of the upper vents and back into the bridge area. "When Asari start stealing, things get quiet. Killing for profit is fine, so long as they keep the killing away from home."

"How can you prove that?" Kalin'ren muttered darkly. "Asari don't exactly kiss and tell." He chuckled at his wording. "Not about this, at least."

"I'm an old man, Kalin'ren. Part of what I've done is screw up. I served six years in the Alliance as my first stint." Pressley smirked. "Then I went into piracy."

"You were a pirate?"

Pressley looked around, seeing that the bridge was empty except for one technician on navigation and Harris at the sensor station. Neither of them were paying attention. Then again, anyone with half a brain was sleeping. Repair teams were documenting all of the damage as they coasted into the system. Engines had been off for days. In fact, the core had been off for a while there. He gave Kalin'ren a smirk. "Come on." Bringing Kalin'ren into the tiny room where he slept, he shut the door. "After peace was declared with the Turians, I did my time and spent the rest of my deployment watching the borders. Chasing Blackwatch. Chasing Batarians, anyone that was a threat. Then, I was contacted with an offer. Join the Corsairs, take the fight to the enemy. So, I did. Spend the next decade out here, bouncing between the different Terminus and Traverse hellholes."

"Some of our people do the same. Pirates enjoy a tech specialist. Or someone that can modify their crappy ships well enough to keep them running." Kalin'ren added. "Was it worth it?"

Pressley grinned. "You can never understand how a society works unless you can see it from the top and the bottom. As pirates, state sanctioned ones, we had the right to use old military equipment that most military men were already familiar with. Same as the Turians and Salarians." He motioned with his hand, remembering back to when he had to share a bunk with people who lived their entire lives at the bottom of the food chain. "But we had to prove ourselves. Through war, through piracy, through crime. Otherwise they would have walked all over us. I enjoyed it. I got paid well. I bought a house on Shanxi with the money. Bought guns, food, even my own little air car. Eleven years and I was one of the better known navigators. Not that anyone would have cared."

"No honor among those who steal, according to your people."

"Well, not that. We were bigots and racist idiots. Not everyone came back, and with every year I was looking at newer and newer faces. Few of them had a military background, and instead of honor they were just looking to score. But among the Corsairs we were originally supposed to represent the Alliance's interest. That disappeared. Only the bigotry and hate remained."

"So you left because the pirates actually became pirates."

"Nah." Pressley muttered. "My wife convinced me."

"Did she not like your choice of work?"

Pressley laughed, full and loud. His wife was a firecracker, that was for sure. "She told me she was selling the ship, and that we were going to be living on Shanxi. Had to kick out my renters because I knocked up my damn captain." He laughed again, thinking about the story. "She knows how I feel about it. Wants to join me every day. Says that she could keep everything in line."

"Would she?" Kalin'ren asked. "Female Quarians make more impulsive captains, but better multi-task leaders."

"God, no." Pressley muttered, laughing. "I held the ship together, she just learned the languages. She was the face of the operation, and I kept it all running. The kids love her, but tolerate me."

"I don't have any kids. Though with you for a father one would hope they could succeed."

"One's a dentist. The other's a damn pharmacist."

"Your child is a drug dealer?"

"The legal kind. Dealing illegal substances would risk his career. Course, his mother supplied all kinds of things back in the Corsairs. We would get regular shipments of military grade antibiotics and medicine. We sold half of each load for further profit. Kid gets it from her, I swear."

"Would any of the pirates out here recognize you?"

"No. I've been out of the business for too long. Even if I tried that, only a Corsair would even know about me. Retired from that, lost my reputation. Of course, the Alliance made me start over as a junior officer again when I returned to the Navy." He looked down at himself, with his ramrod straight posture and military standard muscle structure. "I couldn't act like a pirate if my life depended on it."

"Quarians are unlikely to be viewed with any kind of respect among that kind of crowd." Kalin'ren said. "But we have an unscrupulous doctor and a pilot with a bad mouth."

"You can't be serious." Joker, as a pirate? "Good God, you are."

"Keelah. Sorry to say this, but I am. The only place we are going to find power conduits in this system that doesn't lead to the Asari knowing we were here is on Volkov."

"Our FTL incapable ship just lands in a lawless port and you expect to just be able to find what we need? Much less escape without being shot to pieces? They'll fire the moment they see Alliance markings."

"Then we better start scraping off one of the shuttles."

Pressley closed his eyes. "I can't believe I'm saying this." He tapped his wrist. "Lt. Moreau, to the hangar bay. Prepare for away mission." He looked up at the Quarian. "Try to keep any mention of my wife, piracy, and previous crimes to an absolute minimum. Tell Harris to dreg up the nastiest looking sets of civvies that we got."

"Think we can trust the Spectres?"

"They might just abandon ship. Their charges aren't here, and Desolous doesn't care about our fate. So long as he keeps living his life of retired enjoyment, he is satisfied. Spectre Vakarian  _might_  help us. But I don't want to ask him for help. I wouldn't put my life in the hands of a Turian."

"That makes two of us. I'll get started scraping the Alliance markings off the shuttle."

The walk to the hangar was jovial. Or at least as jovial as he dared. When he got there, a bleary eyed Joker was standing in his uniform and leaning heavily on a crate. "This is a joke, right?" The man asked. "Ha ha. Very funny. Can I go back to bed now?"

"You will deploy with a squad of marines. Take the worst with you, and only those that could do a convincing job of acting like complete idiots and hired mercs. Your mission is simple. Get me a comm antennae and power couplings."

"Ok, just let me have a line of credit."

"That's part of the problem. Leave no trace of our passing. I'm about to grab Dr. Heart and get some zip-lock bags around individual medicines. You'll sell as many as you can, until you get at least three power conduits, two kinetic barrier emitters, and a comm antennae."

"Why me?"

"Because I don't trust Dr. Heart not to run off."

Joker closed his eyes, and scrunched his eyebrows. Expletives were muttered under his breath, and the tired pilot glared at him when his eyes opened up again. "There's only one way I would even try to do this. That's if you come with me."

"What? And leave this ship with… Harris?" A sensor technician. Joker wanted him to leave the ship with an untried comm technician.

"Sir, you are one of the most intimidating people on this ship. You and that Hammerhead cannon are coming with me. I can't run worth a damn, and I'll be loaded with credits and drugs. I need  _you_."

Pressley gave that boy a hard stare. Joker had the gall to match it. "Fine." He replied after waiting a requisite eight seconds. It was a logical expectation. It simply put the ship in the hands of a sensor technician. "I'm getting a couple of marines from the gunnery station. Go find a suit."

"What?"

"Go find something that makes you look rich."

"I've got a button up shirt."

"That's it?"

"Unless you've got something better."

Pressley ground his teeth. "You bleed on my damn suit and you'll pay for a new one." Joker nodded grudgingly, and with Kalin'ren's help, they had the shuttle scraped up and ready to go. Metal shavings from the process were everywhere, even over where Wrex was curled up and sleeping. As helpful as that alien might be to have, Pressley didn't want to take him. Julia wasn't here to enforce any kind of obligation to work with them. Less than an hour after that, their shuttle calmly left the hangar and started moving for the moons of Volkov.

* * *

Mexico City, Mexico, Sol System November 2182

The Alliance's many member nations and worlds liked to keep different departments separated to please all of the different said states. As such, the biological contaminant department was split up between five different locations. The one in Mexico City specialized in viral contaminants. Security around it was decent, but nothing that she couldn't get through.

The building was one of those older 2120 styles, where everyone tried to emulate the Romans yet again. Large columns and pillars that held up impossible amounts of mass. Before the discovery of Element Zero-fueled alloy production, heavy ribbing had to be hidden inside of columns and support walls to keep the heavier buildings up. This also meant that the windows were reinforced, and due to building shifting the window frames would 'settle' into place. Oftentimes that meant that the windows would never be able to open. Entrances were limited.

After an hour of study, Hannah concluded that the only ways in were past the scanners or through the sewer entrances. The ventilation systems were triple layered, probably because of the nature of the studies performed there. She couldn't use the croissant excuse for not being able to get through those this time. She didn't have much time to wait, however. The building was a completely secured facility. It's director was reported to be quite brilliant, and the Alliance required all staff to live on site. Mexico was one of the safest places to live in due to its neutrality during the Islamic Wars. Overcrowded, but nice. Due to the crowding and how expensive it was to live in Mexico City, apartments were built right into the building. Fri'a didn't have to leave for any reason.

Which was just fine. Hannah had experienced tougher missions before. Today she just had to simply get in, kidnap some Asari scientist, and get out. Easy in theory, more troubling in execution. Security here had scanners meant to find and track any kind of particulates that did not belong. Just tailing someone coming in wouldn't be enough. There was an air car garage, though. Engineers here were all crazy for homemade food, and a food truck came there during lunch hour to sell tamales. Hannah had to hold on to the bottom of that food truck for a half mile just to get into that hangar.

Borrowing one of their keycard ID codes was easy. Using a needle to give that unfortunate employee a fast acting poison, she watched as the woman started puking immediately, shivering and experiencing the first stages of fever. The poison wouldn't be untraceable. That was factored into her escape plans, as it was easily available through local gang forces. After she got out of here, they would have plenty of sources to find that poison.

The scanner beeped happily as she stepped through it, her currently black hair bobbing around the wide neck of her 'borrowed' lab coat. The spray tan to look as normal as everyone else in this part of Earth made her skin itch, and she avoided itching at her beck as her loose hair tickled the skin there. The hallways were quiet, calm, and reserved. She was able to walk past both sensor banks, and swipe her card at the entrance to the bio-toxin lab. Just inside, she saw one of the few banes of her existence.

A Chihuahua was sitting at the foot of the platform, with a spike collar and small decorative shoes on his feet. It may as well have been an alarm system. Dogs were annoying, loud, and obnoxious. They also had a sense of smell and always  _knew_  she was up to no good. It saw her and went ballistic, barking and making tons of noise.

Then the hell beast was joined by two more of its kind, one in a stylish pink sweater and the other in a green sequined shirt. Their infernal noises brought even more attention, and all three of the yapping creatures came to the front of the lab space in their color coordinated booties. Every single technician in the area was looking up at her, and Hannah just wanted to roll over and die. "Callate!" A voice sharp enough to make Hannah wince sounded out. The dogs scattered, the one with a spike collar diving under a table for cover. The other two remained, growling but not barking. "Cortez! Get out here and protect Baby Duchess and Posh Spice!"The chihuahua with the spiked collar barked fitfully beneath the table. But he did not come out. "What did you do to my dog?"

The woman addressing her was dressed in a nice pantsuit with a lab coat. Her Hispanic features were complemented with an expensive hairdo. "I jus-"

"You were being inept. Tell me what you need and maybe I won't fire you." Hannah wanted to rip her head off. The woman didn't care.

"There is an ancient Asari tablet that was recovered by one of the British Museums. We were hoping that your lab assistant might be able to assist in identifying the areas of interest."

The glare returned by the woman was thick. "Send a memo next time. This lab is for the study of viral contaminants. Not for flights of fancy or anthropological finds. Get the hell out of my lab."

"But-"

"Callate!" She barked, and the hell beasts realized that they were not the targets of ridicule at this moment. They erupted into barks, and Hannah walked away before she could be targeted by the she-devil any more. Civility was no longer an option. Time for plan B. Hannah found a break room to stew in, avoiding the looks received from the other technicians and doctors on site. Cameras covered most hallways and walking areas. Hannah didn't like Plan B. Stepping into the break room, she saw an appropriately empathetic target.

"Hey!" She approached, seeing the victim look up and smile. He was young, looked to be in his actual twenties. "You got any alcohol?"

He laughed. "Dr. Romiero does this to people, I swear." He offered his hand to her. "Daniel Martin, her intern. Sorry for all the trouble she caused."

"Is she actually going to fire me?" Years of practice let her slip into some emotionally weak tone and be completely convincing.

"If she remembers who you are in the next eight hours. Avoid her and you'll be fine. Avoid her dogs and you'll be even better." Daniel pulled out a small bottle of something green. "Here. It's fermented, at least. Packed full of probiotics and organic ingredients."

She tried it, and coughed. Daniel was one of those health food nuts. "What is this?"

"Kombucha. An acquired taste. Though not as acquired a taste as daring to mention a science outside the realm of medical examination." Daniel said. "There are curse words better to mention than the word anthropology. Fri'a isn't even much of a anthropologist."

"My department thought that she would be helpful in identifying some of the glyphs and flowery symbols that are on it. I have no idea how to read any of it."

"You would hate their case files." Daniel muttered. "No one can romanticize a viral infection like an Asari can. Tell you what, I'll go ask if she knows anything. If Fri'a does, I'll send her this way."

Hannah kept herself from smirking. The Asari showed up after only a few minutes. The rest of the kidnapping went perfectly. Date rape drug worked perfectly. Then she walked over to the nearby shuttle bay, where an air taxi was waiting. "Hey, Nick!"

"Give back my license already!"

"Not until we hit orbit." Fri'a was dumped into the back seat, and Julia smirked. "Then I'll return your shiny new license and your vodka."

Nikolai Arkhipov muttered expletives under his breath, but took her out of atmosphere. From there, she was one step closer to being back to Jack and eating some nice croissants for all this trouble. Maybe he would actually be prepared for their romantic moment this time. But to finish so quickly on earth meant that they had more time to try to save Julia and Miranda.

* * *

New Kursk, Volkov, Pamyat System October 2182

"You're charging far too much for this, twinkie."

"You want the goods, you pay the price. Unless you've got something I want." Joker was too good at this to be faking it, Pressley decided. There was a story here, and he was still debating whether Joker was going to fess up to it at some point. "I want parts. Specific parts. You tell me what you have access to, and I'll consider sweetening the deal."

The junkie talking to him had nothing. They could see that. His gun was worthless, and his coat reeked of alcohol. Cheap half synth stuff. It had a distinctive smell to it. It also was one of the few liquors that still destroyed kidneys these days. "I got gel. Just some squirts of Omni-gel."

Joker gave him a glare. "I got gel. Gimme credits or your hit somewhere else." The junkie left, muttering and hands clenching. Joker had been sitting on some shipping crates, while two marines in crappy mismatched outfits stood in the back. They still had almost everything they had brought with them. "Chuck, I'm not seeing much options here."

Pressley hunched against a different crate, keeping careful track on his posture. "I know. But I'm seeing plenty of juicers."

Another juicer showed up, this time with some stolen credit chits and personal information to sell. Joker worked him like an expensive escort. But even with three hours of selling anything that they could snatch from Dr. Heart, they were still short a large amount of money needed. Power conduits were expensive, and Kalin'ren was arguing with a Salarian shopkeeper about the price of just parts. He only came back with one of them, and even that was a stretch. "This Volus model might work, but we would have to make our own power adaptor coupling. We would need Tali or Ibn to do that." Pressley groaned internally at that. Kalin'ren turned back to Joker. "But I saw something through one of the viewports. Something that might help us."

Pressley left Joker's side as a different juicer came forward. One of the more desperate ones, so that would go predictably. He followed Kalin'ren to one of the viewports, the Asari station had large windows meant to be aesthetic. The long scratches in the glass from dust and particulates didn't dim the view at all. Whatever the Asari were using for the glass, it was better than what the Alliance had access to. "That is a wreck."

Pressley's words were a muttered statement at the sight of a ship that was docked nearby. It was a modified Alliance frigate. It was also old and decrepit. Long burn marks were along the fins, from too many bad re entries. But there was a very welcome sight on the top of the craft. The original antennae still was installed. A bit worn, but exactly what they needed. "Think they will trade?"

"Not a chance in hell." Pressley knew that people with that old of a Human craft were either desperate or just preferred things that way. "But in this case, I have a terrible idea."

"You're giving me a look." Kalin'ren muttered. "I don't like it when anyone is scheming about me."

"With you, Kalin'ren. Scheming with you." Pressley muttered. "Let's grab Joker. We're going to get that antennae."

"How?"

Pressley laughed, smirking. "You're going out there and scraping their ship clean."

"You're kidding me."

"They'll be watching you, of course."

"This is racist and you know it."

"Get to it. Offer them a really cheap price." Pressley walked with him towards the docking cradle where that ship was docked, slouching and swaggering his hips as he walked. The old walk and the old lifestyle were all coming back to him. Things long forgotten returned to the forefront, and Charles Pressley, XO and Naval man, was behind him. Chuck Pressley, the Turian-hater, the reliable navigator, rose to the forefront. "Shit." The mounting of the docking cradle had more than just the expected fee collectors and common thugs waiting for the ship to park. One of which Charles actually recognized.

He dragged the Quarian behind a pile of crates as soon as he saw the group of thugs. Kalin'ren stayed quiet, and didn't resist when he pulled him back. But Pressley had been noticed as well. "Are we leaving?" Kalin'ren whispered.

"Yeah." Pressley eyed the walkways. "I'll take the long way. You take an airlock." He didn't wait for Kalin'ren to respond. He just got up, and put his hands in his pockets. Then he started walking, moving quickly into an internal hallway. Kalin'ren abandoned any kind of subtlety and dove into the vents. Quarians, for having only three fingers, could rip off vent grates with surprising speed. Pressley wasn't quick enough in getting away, however. Four thugs surrounded him, guns not drawn but threatening nonetheless.

"Chuck." Pressley shivered.  _That_  was not a voice he ever wanted to hear again. "I heard you went stale. Disappeared with your captain one day." He turned slowly to face the Turian, his black skin and fluorescent orange paint marks as remarkable as the last time he had seen him. The Black Watch tattoo on his neck was still there,and the scarred remains of his right mandible hung just like before.

"Elanos." Elanos Haliat. The name rankled parts of him that hadn't risen to the surface in decades. One of the scars on his mandible had Pressley's name on it. "Nice to see you alive."

"I can't say the same." The Turian muttered. "Your boys died, you know. I caught up to their ship the year after you left. Maybe if you had been there they might not have died." He started pacing in front of him, his mandibles wide in some form of adrenaline high. "I'm gonna cut you into such tiny pieces that your own wife wouldn't recognize you. Might even risk the pain to eat some of you. Only the best respect for the dead, after all."

"Agreed." The flashbang grenade rolled out of his ruined pants pocket, sliding down his pant leg and dropping on the floor in front of everyone. Pressley's eyes were closed when it went off, but the shards from the canister tore into his ankle. He growled, as something broke through the bone, and rolled to the side. Then he was off, running at top speed away from these men. Someone flailed, knocking him over partially. It made him open his eyes, and the blurry mess only showed someone's arm flailing messily. Pressley kept running, feet thumping but hearing nothing.

The only thing he could hear was the high pitched ringing of the flashbang, but he kept running. One thing that you never forgot about fighting the Turians were their screams. They came at almost the same pitch as the ringing in your ears, but rose in pitch as they expressed most of their air. He felt claws tear through the skin of his arm, and that high pitched scream come at him. Pressley just kept running, letting the other flashbang grenade in his hand hit the ground. This time he couldn't hear anything. Blood was running down his face, hot and wet. But he ran, his eyes adjusting better and better with every person he ran into and every bulkhead he bounced off of.

Something finally tripped him, and Pressley fell to the ground with a heavy thud. His hand went for his pistol, the Hammerhead still mounted on his back. A hand held down his arm, and he could hear mutterings from above him.

"Old man, jeez don't kill us!" Pressley relaxed, hearing Joker's voice. He looked up, seeing the Lt's panicking face. "Oh good. You won't throw the grenade." Pressley glanced down at his other hand. Those old habits had come back with a vengeance. He was sitting there with one hand on his pistol and another with a grenade primed. "Please turn off the grenade, old man. Please please please."

He turned off the grenade. Joker fell over in relief. Then he heard the screams. Elanos was still out there. Eyes wide, he got to his feet and pulled Joker by the wrist and moved for an access hallway. His two marines followed, loyally keeping pace behind them as they disappeared into a shaft that could barely fit a man kneeling. He was cuddling Joker at this point, but that didn't matter. The door closed softly, a bit of Omni-gel in the hinge keeping all of its sound to a minimum.

Elanos was in the antechamber soon after, eyes wild and a pistol in both of his claws. One of his hands was red with blood, and Pressley looked down at where he was bleeding all over Joker. Thankfully, the airflow in this accessway was inwards rather than out. "Chuck! I'm going to kill you! Drink your blood and puke it all over your worthless corpse! You hear me, Chuck! Then your wife and kids too!" Haliat kept yelling this over and over, charging forward into the next hallway. It was at this point that Pressley saw the rest of his merry little gang, all bearing weapons and following their leader.

"I got it in my mouth! Aw, no!" Oh, right. He was bleeding on Joker. "I've got old man all over me!"

"Start crawling, men. Make our way back to the shuttle. We don't want to run into those people again."

"Who the hell was that guy?"

"The man behind the Skyllian Blitz. I shot him once." He wished he hadn't missed that shot now. Perhaps they might have ended the massive raids that occurred on Elysium. "Sorry for bleeding on ya." Now his suit was actually ruined. Finding a dry cleaning specialist that could get blood out of his suit was going

"We gotta get you back to the shuttle."

"Call Kalin'ren. Then we get to do something that we aren't going to report back to the Alliance unless we have to." Admiral White would know, of course. He would need to be prepared for any fallout of any decisions made off the grid out here. Especially the fact that Elanos was still alive. Pressley led the way out of the vents, and the juicers lined up near where their crates were took one look at his bleeding forehead and arm and booked it. They found Kalin'ren sitting on said crates, with a shotgun and his Omni-tool out. "Good. Let's go."

"Your friend was doing something with that frigate we were looking at." Kalin'ren stated. "Bought something that set off my radiological alarm."

Pressley used what was still clean on his bleeding left sleeve to wipe his face. "You get a picture?"

"No, but it makes me worry."

"Haliat is crazy. Crazy enough to try to raid Elysium, but still crazy."

Joker had the shuttle started, and had been spending his pre flight check wiping 'old man' off of his face. Pressley thought a little blood wasn't all that bad. But then again, that was a long time ago. Once the last crate was loaded, he stretched his back and assumed his normally rigid posture. "What did you do to him, Sir?"

"Classified." It wasn't, but that was the best way of avoiding it. "My commanding officer at the time decided that this should be buried." He was going to have to call her. Rebecca was going to be pissed beyond all belief that Haliat was still alive. "Joker, get us out of here. We're going to have to act quickly now that Haliat knows I'm here."

"Laser comms are connected back to the ship. What do we need?"

Pressley grinned. "Kalin'ren is going to help us prepare cleaning supplies meant to strip helium burns from ship plating. Tell the gunnery crews that I need the Stepford self-guided artillery cannons to be modified. Switch out their payload for supply drop casings. Make sure that they paint them to look like a toolbox."

"Supply drop casings?"

"Then paint the Stepfords to look like paint cans. Kalin'ren, think you can steal those parts we need?"

"With automated artillery?"

"You take their emitters and they won't be able to chase you down when you go EVA. You'll just coast into space with all of the things we need, while I set up a distraction."

"Alright, Sir." Joker muttered, blood all over his beard. Poor kid was going to scare someone when he got back on board.

"Crazy pyjak. Quarians don't fight like this."

"Humans will fight whatever way ends with us winning. Now, get back to the ship and start getting your bag of tools ready. We're doing something morally reprehensible."

* * *

Asteria, Hades Nexus System, November 2182

"Commander, we've got a message from someone." Julia awoke from where she had cuddled next to Miranda. She could feel her sister also stir, and both of them took a moment to pull their hair into some semblance of normalcy from where they had been sleeping on it. She was certain that some of the dirt from her stakeout last night was still in there. It was looking a bit ratty as it was, the bun frizzing at the edges now that her hair hadn't received any shampoo in two weeks. Being a natural redhead had its problems.

"Who is it?"

"It's all in code. The signal is being bounced off of our drone and down to that repeater you had us set up. All text, no video. But someone is tight beaming this to the drone from the relay. Or another drone setup next to the mass relay." Ibn stated quickly, his visor dirty as well. "But whoever it is knows the exact location of the drone we are transmitting from."

"Would the  _Normandy_ know about it?"

"Sgt. Harris might know. He's smart, or at least smart enough."

"Then we have to assume it's the person who deployed it initially." Miranda said, her eyes not even looking at Julia. "I'll send the challenge."

A looted terminal blinked under her fingers as Miranda typed away, and the text changed to something legible.  _Hey, Campers. This is Charles._

"Oh good. He owes me a favor." Miranda said. "Speech to text is now active. We can talk into the terminal and it will change the input to digital text." She tapped a button to activate it. Curiously, she had refused any Omni-tools so far. Julia didn't question her on it, but knew it had something to do with what had happened. "Charles, where the hell are you?"

_After our third attempt to pick you up we realized that the drone we dropped had changed its orbit. Took a bit to find you._

"You've been trying to find us? Where's the  _Normandy_?" Julia cut in.

_No idea. But right now boss is threatening the Asari admiral so that we can bounce this tight beam transmission off their arrays while boss ransoms back her child. We're piggybacking the signal. They'll find your drone and signal repeater soon enough._

"Great. We were about to lose the drone anyways." She huffed. "So what, Charles. We can't get off world and we can't get supplies. You tell us why we should be listening to you instead of piggybacking on your signal and calling the Alliance."

_I wouldn't try that if I were you. That would bring attention to dangerous places. For you and for everyone else. But you especially. As to why, your dad decided that we are going to give you a way off world. She's a bit dinged up, but it'll keep you going. Here are coordinates that you will need to be at within twenty two hours. A ship will be there to pick up and evacuate Humans from the planet, with fake ID's for everyone in your crew as well as bio-sign maskers for your Quarians._

"Why are you doing this?"

 _I disagreed with this decision, I'll have you know._ The screen showed some kind of snarkiness that Charles was known for.  _But your dad wanted to do this. So I'm delivering. Get there in time, before their hunters find you. They've sent some of the best._

"Huntresses?" Miranda asked hesitantly.

 _Something called a Justicar. Get out of there, you two. Time's up on my end._  The feed died, and the terminal darkened. Miranda's face disappeared into the dark of the cavern, as their sources of light dimmed. But Julia had seen her eyes widen. "What's wrong?"

"Those coordinates are taking us right into the space port. We will have to leave the tunnels for some of that." Miranda paced a bit. "I've met a Justicar. All of them are Matrons or older. It's what they based the Spectres off of."

"I doubt that one Asari is going to be able to find us. Let's get the Quarians loaded onto carts. We don't have any food left for them, so they'll have to keep their energy use to a minimum. Alenko, get the carts ready." Asari used large carts in most of their farming and harvesting work. They were rich enough that they had hovering carts for their labor. Blankets and supplies were loaded, and the carts were clipped to the magnetic strips that ran along their armor backs. Julia and Miranda were pulling a single cart, Tali curled up sleepily in the middle of canned and plastic wrapped food. "Leave nothing behind! Chemical contaminants are to be hit with acid and purged. The Alliance was never here."

Three Quarians on three sleds, as well as the remains of the Alliance agents on a fourth sled were soon gathered at the entrance to the lower tunnels. Alenko shuddered at the sight of the Rachni webbing. "Aye, Ma'am." The empty CAINs sat next to Tali, the engineer surrounded by radioactivity signs and warnings. Alenko passed over their cart, double checking their work. "I don't like this plan."

"It's the only one we've got." Where the hell was Pressley? It shouldn't be her criminal father coming in to save them, it should be Pressley. He had their ship, their friends, and the only chance Humanity had to get Spectre training on board. "Move out."

* * *

Author's Note

I got a dog recently. This cute little bugger wakes up at 4 in the morning or 6 in the morning. Due to that, I've had some quiet hours in the morning to get writing and work in. So, you guys can blame [redacted] Sunshine for it. We got a cute little Golden Doodle(But he won't be small for long) male who is super mellow and calm. He just radiates calmness, to the point that I am going into conniptions every time I see him yawn or do something cute.

We also hit 200,000 hits in the last chapter. Thank you guys for so many nice touches that you have all done for me. Favorites, reviews, everything. There are too many of you guys to name, and I owe my beta lunch. Definitely lunch. Maybe a real dinner sometime. My wife has also been coming up with some of the character development, so everything with Pressley and his family you can credit to her.

Also, I absolutely hate Chihuahuas. I don't understand why the breed can be loved. They just tear at my clothes and piss on anything they can get to. So yeah, never going to own one of those. More coming soon, since finals will be over next week.


	68. Lucid: Ain't No Rest for the Wicked

Chapter 68

New Kursk Station, Pamyat System, November 2182

Pressley smirked as he saw the hell being raised by Kalin'ren. The Quarian had gotten an agreement from the  _Oakland Raider_  to clean their helium burns and scorch marks from bad reentries. Then Kalin'ren took their comm antennae and shot it off the old frigate into deep space. Unable to talk or get signals, the  _Raider_  panicked. They sent three people into their airlock in full armor. Once the door cycled, they struck.

Joker, being the damn fine pilot that he was, brought their cloaked craft alongside the other frigate, on a perpendicular axis. When they opened their doors, the  _Normandy_  opened its own. Still cloaked, the three idiots didn't even realize what had gone wrong when they depressurized. Pressley, standing there with Wrex and Garrus, let loose with the Hammerhead. Wrex used a pistol, while Garrus used his rifle. Pressley trusted the aliens with this mission, but only with securing the bridge. He wouldn't trust them with anything more than guarding and murdering. Sgt. Harris was behind him, prepared with an Omni-tool full of every old protocol and back door that Pressley knew of. That was for resetting their operating systems for access and rerouting their protocol.

The three pirates took the hits, and their helmets burst. Wrex's in only two shots. Garrus in three. Pressley required a longer burst. "Harris! Go!"

His officer dove for the control panel in the other ship's airlock, connecting to it over an archaic method, bluetooth. In a few moments, the airlock beeped happily, ready to connect and receive them. Pressley stepped across, Wrex gracefully stepping with him. Garrus was slower, and he fit into the airlock carefully. The doors cycled, and back at the  _Normandy_ their second group of marines were going to enter their own airlock. Reinforcements were at least a minute out. But right now while they were hitting, Pressley was bringing his hardest hitters. Even if he didn't trust them.

The hallway beyond the airlock was atrocious. Greasy crates and old storage capsules lined the walls, with hardly enough space for a single armored man to walk through. There was no one in the hallway. "They've got a Krogan here." Wrex muttered. "He took a crap over there, after drinking ryncol."

"Fine." Pressley replied. "Frigates like this are small, with no room for luxuries. I served on one of these back in the First Contact War."

"Incident." Garrus snarked. "That was no war."

"Oh? Were you there?" Pressley replied. "I seem to remember watching at least a half million Human lives destroyed." Shanxi was bad. Hundreds of thousands of dead Humans bad.

"Every other branch of my family died out there." Garrus replied smoothly. "So yes, I was there in spirit. For that was where the lives of my family were ended."

"Stupid Turian traditions." Pressley muttered. "You weren't there. The rest of your family died and you call it a simple incident?"

"Of course. The Krogan tried to fight us, and we called that a Rebellion, not a war."

"We certainly thought otherwise." Wrex muttered. "Nearly a trillion dead. What would it take to call something a War?"

"Turian deaths were only in the millions. The only War we had on record was a civil one. That had enough blood feuds and vengeance killings in the centuries that followed to be called that. Right now, I don't really care about the Humans that took the life of my uncles. So, still an incident."

"Stow it." Pressley muttered. "No more political correctness debates. Between the three of us we could probably get the whole thing started all over again." He moved forward, his Hammerhead moving back and forth between doorways. No movement from anything. "We should have seen someone by now." Frigates were tiny, with room for thirty people. "Let's hope they are on shore leave."

"Let's hope their Krogan is." Garrus muttered. "I'd hate to start some war over this piece of crap ship."

The armory, or where it would normally be, was a rusted mess. It had been turned into storage, the room filled to bursting with supplies. None of them were Alliance standard, but out here they would perhaps have a use. The bridge would have proximity sensors, and so they moved quickly. Fifteen seconds inside this piece of crap, and Pressley was already falling into bad habits. He corrected his swagger immediately, and kept the Hammerhead at its proper angle.

The bridge doors detected their entry and opened for them, Harris giving him the thumbs up. It was with great satisfaction that he got to see the awestruck face of the Human sitting in the captain's chair, right before Wrex picked him up and held him against the wall. "Clear!" Vakarian muttered, searching the tiny room. "How these defeated any of our Navy I'll never know."

The bridge was not in its original form. The original bridge only had four terminals and haptic interfaces. This one had six, and the captain's chair was replaced with some monstrosity of a lazy chair. It had a small armrest that contained dangling souvenirs from different places, and it looked like most of the wiring and terminals had been replaced. "Harris!" He barked. "Get moving!"

Harris slid into one of the chairs, the plastic cover tearing as he sat in the aging thing. His fingers flew across the haptics, as he started the sequence that would bring the ship back to factory reset. "Sir, I've got problems. Their systems are Salarian!" He looked worried. "I don't know Salarian!"

Pressley only know of one person who would. "Have Kalin'ren get over here. Can you take control of the ship?"

"I'd need codes. Resetting everything back to factory standard would take hours, and the systems are a mashup of stolen firmware and crappy patch jobs."

Pressley looked at the man who had been sitting in the captain's chair. "Well?"

"The cap! He's in the bar right now, go bother him!" Great, a crewmember.

"We don't need this to fly. The Alliance mothballed this line decades ago. Just get us access to the conduits."

"Alright, alright. We don't need Kalin'ren. I can do this." Sgt. Harris started typing, and Pressley waited with his gun facing the door as the minutes counted down. Finally, the contingent of Alliance Marines arrived. He grabbed them, and moved for the other airlock on this piece of crap. It was the one connected to the station. Two of his marines were Quarians, but they were actual Alliance members. He could trust them.

"You three, secure this door. You two with me, we have to check every inch of this ship for hostiles. Any of you familiar with these frigates?" No one admitted it. "Alright, well the airlock is always a little sticky. If it starts to cycle, remember that it will be two minutes before decon will be complete. You've got that long to prepare for five people." With the mess of crates and storage units on the floor, there was no cover here. "See if you can clear this crap. Deployable barricades are in the walls. Get those out, set some traps. Barricade off the entryway if you have to."

Frigates had small, contained engineering areas. Accessing them was always a pain, as they had their own airlock system. Back when the Alliance first deployed these ships, it was thought that extra airlocks to seal off different parts of the ship would be effective. The Turians cured them of any such worries, but on these models they would have to endure a two minute cycle as someone would have to access engineering.

"Corporal, you both check the bunks. If anyone's alive, secure them. If they resist, kill them." Pressley noticed that the entrance to engineering as he recognized it was gone. In its place was a new door, of Salarian design. "Harris, I've found your Salarian system."

" _Where?_ "

"Looks like a Salarian tech gang replaced their engineering area. Can you override the door?"

" _Hang on. I am cycling it now._ "

Pressley held up the Hammerhead. One thing he liked about this old model was how durable all the parts were. There was no cheapest bidder on these models. They could take a pounding. When the door opened, he saw two Salarians in the engineering area. A third was in some form of bathing unit. All three of them reacted quickly, reaching for weapons. Pressley was ready, his gun blasting the one at the controls first, and then sweeping past the bathing unit and into the one trying to go for a Napalm launcher. The Hammerhead overheated as it reached him, and the Salarian lived. Pressley kicked it, sending it to the floor, where the butt of his heavy machine gun crushed its skull. Green blood was all over the place, and holes in the metal from his rounds caused one of the displays to darken and two of the terminals to short out.

" _I've got fire in the engineering room! What's going on, sir?_ "

"An incident." Pressley replied. "Clear."

" _We found two of the crew. They are secured._ " His marines reported. " _Hung over, but secured._ "

The green blood from the three Salarians had to be wiped off the displays for Pressley to see. "I've got secondary access to the ship's systems from here. Harris, what do you need?"

" _Route power to external cameras, or something. I need some sort of feed or view on what's going on outside._ "

Pressley reached for the controls, and would have been able to do what Harris had asked. But one of those Salarians must not have been so dead. A plasma torch went right through the back of his knee, and Pressley fell to the floor. Glancing down, he could see his Alliance standard Onyx armor punctured right through the knee. Past that was a bleeding Salarian holding a plasma torch.

"Knees are expensive!" Pressley yelled, punching the spongy-skinned alien. He hated Salarians when they got into close combat. Unless you were stabbing them, their skin helped any kind of bludgeoning force be displaced. The Salarian's right eye rolled, going back into his head. The left one stayed focused on him. Pressley roared, trying to choke the little bastard out with his right hand, while swiping the nozzle of the plasma torch away from his knee. The joint of his armor was melted, with a burn hole going right into his knee.

Of course, choking a Salarian never really worked. But it made him bleed faster. Pressley brought his knee down on his chest, and heard one of the bones cracking. The Salarian tried to tap something on his wrist, but Pressley just punched him again. He croaked, like a frog, before Pressley's full weight cracked the rest of his ribcage and made him give his last gasp. Pressley groaned in pain, and tried to put any weight on his leg. He collapsed, looking more like a turtle than any kind of Human. "Harris!"

" _I'm not seeing any feeds. You touch the wrong interface?_ "

"One of these little bastards just took out my knee! I can't put any weight on it." Pressley dragged himself into the chair. The chair creaked dangerously, and bent enough that he tried to stabilize himself with his legs reflexively. "Son of a… Gah!" He was unable to move at all. "Get me a team, Harris." He drew his pistol and put a round in each of the Salarian's heads.

" _I'm reading more gunfire in engineering! Sir?_ "

"I'm old, Harris. Life insurance won't cover me if I die outside of Alliance Space. Can't take any more risks. Just making sure that these little bastards are dead."

" _Help is on the way, Sir. Though if it isn't too much trouble, could you release the feeds to the bridge?_ "

"You're a good officer, Harris." He reached for the console, which was just far enough for the chair underneath him to snap under the pressure. The Hammerhead must have hit the darn thing. With an undignified cry, Pressley hit the floor. To make matters worse, it was Garrus who walked through the engineering room door to aid him. Harris had been due for a commendation right up until that point. "What are you looking at?"

"Three Salarians and an idiot who went in without support." The Turian snarked. "Dr. Heart is all ready for you. He was monitoring squad vitals, says that you'll be needing a new ACL. Whatever that is."

Pressley let his head thump against the bloody deck plating. "This piece of crap better have the parts we need. Harris, you have the team. Get us those parts."

" _It's gonna be a few hours, sir. And once we strip the emitters we won't be able to keep this ship from being boarded through maintenance access shafts. Once we start stripping this thing, it's gonna be rough. Didn't You piss off some other big guy on this station?_ "His troops had the good sense to not look at their commanding officer being assisted by a Turian Spectre back to the  _Normandy_. Pressley's glare was murderous. He didn't remember piracy being this kind of trouble back in the Corsairs. Then again, he didn't get to see his wife at the end of the day like he did back in the Corsairs.

"You really are meant to command a stealth frigate, Pressley. You have no subtlety."

"Just shut up and get me back to the med bay." The whistling bird like sound of Garrus laughing carried all the way until until Pressley was deposited into the bed and the tender mercies of Dr. Heart.

* * *

Blackdamp, Asteria, Hades Nexus, November 2182

The Rachni tunnels went all over the underside of Blackdamp, especially the spaceport. Julia was able to download a copy of the spaceport map from a couple of dead Asari, as well as access codes for public access hallways in the spaceport. Julia took her crew into the spaceport, through one of the old tram rails. The Rachni were active here, as were the Asari forces keeping them pinned down. Julia could hear their gunfire tearing through one end of the railway, with only a couple of Warriors and Workers on this end. Julia killed them using biotics, Pulling them into side hallways where her team could shoot them quietly.

"Almost there." Julia said. "Just a security gate ahead of us."

"It will be manned." Miranda warned. "I'm surprised we haven't seen anyone yet."

It wasn't. When they got there, five dead Asari were slumped in their positions. All of them died from something biotic. One of them had their entire skull inverted through her nose, the back of the skull splattered and covered with bone fragments and brain matter. The others died from weapons fire. "What the hell happened here?"

"Whoa." Williams muttered, picking up a few bags of material from the right hand of each corpse. "Red sand. This stuff is totally illegal."

"Not on Asteria." It was why Eclipse had a significant presence here. "I don't believe that is why they were killed."

"Someone killed them. Rachni don't use biotic combustion abilities." Julia turned to her sister, who was currently pulling the cart with Tali on it. "Miranda, do you know what would cause this?"

She took a long look at the inverted skull. "Maybe a Reaper weapon. But I have no idea. When it comes to biotics I was only able to learn for five years. It would have been another fifteen to learn everything that they wanted to teach me." Miranda gave a small smile at that. A rare sight in the last two weeks. "Another twenty if I wanted to learn the basics of their best techniques."

"Let's move. Dump that red sand back on their bodies where you found it." Julia ordered. She didn't see the blinking activation light of the Omni-tools on their bodies when Ashley put the red sand back. The team edged away from the bodies, pulling the carts through the checkpoint and carefully pulling their Quarian teammates across the security gates. They weren't moving much, and they were laying in the fetal position on the carts. Blankets were used to cover them and help them maintain body temperature. Twenty hours without food was making them weak. They at least had IVs and medicine to help them sleep through the process.

They all took turns pulling the carts, with the guns and gear that they had taken from Rachni and other corpses. It was not an insignificant pile. Julia's original plan was to trade some of the gear for entrance into the spaceport. Without anyone here, they just carried it all with them. Past the security checkpoint, the normal congregation area for tram customers was empty, torn up, and partially melted. The Asari had fought hard to retake this area. Another cart like theirs was full of Asari bodies, arms placed crossed over their hearts. None of the ones killed at the checkpoint had that decency.

The streets were empty. Doors were shut, locked, and barred. There were tracks from vehicles, but none of them were on the ground. They were parked on top of roofs, or anywhere that could be secured from Rachni intrusion. The roofs weren't meant for it, though. Some of the weaker buildings had partially collapsed as a result. But the streets were clear, the buildings secure, and the actual city attached to the spaceport well lit and functional. The Asari were holding this territory against the Rachni, and they were doing it without dropping orbital bombardment.

The actual spaceport was secured by large defensive towers, automated to target any Rachni entities. She knew that because it was clearly printed in Asari on each of the towers, which themselves were independent of their buildings they were mounted on. A single pair of guards filtered entrants to the spaceport. This was where the crowds of people were. They filtered between refugee camps and the buildings of the port, looking for food or a way off the planet. Humans and Asari were here in droves, and the fifteen berths in the port were all the subject of interest to the refugees. Every single one was full. Just as one ugly Volus freighter took off, they could see another on approach.

"That's her." Julia pointed out. The engine configuration matched the  _Acheron_. The armor plating that was placed around where the wings would go was terrible. It looked like someone had welded a Kowloon freighter in all of its sections all over the  _Acheron_. The wings with all of the thrusters had been moved outwards, beyond the cargo sections. But the body of the ship, the thing that made the yacht recognizable, was hidden behind those containers. The  _Acheron_  was coasting in as if was unwieldy, the back heavier than the front. Julia smirked, seeing it. "He came through."

"Of course he would." Surprisingly, it wasn't Miranda who said that. It was Kaidan. She gave him an open look of surprise. "Ma'am, your father broke the law and gave me and Charles the tools we needed to not get kidnapped and sold to Terminus slavers. Charles and I were spared. We were just kids with biotics, nothing more. If he was willing to break half the tech laws in the Alliance to save us. Yeah, he would help us."

A very selective  _us_. "Docking bay four. Let's move." That section of the spaceport was supposed to be for deliveries of supplies only. Oddly, the guards that were supposed to be here were gone. "Wait." She brought out a small black light, and flashed it around the security checkpoint. Small specks of blood were revealed. They went towards a side room, where the door was slightly ajar. She tapped it with her foot, but felt resistance. She pushed harder, and she heard the scraping of leather fiber on the floor. After hearing that, she didn't need to push any further. "The guards are dead."

"How?"

"Doesn't matter. But it means that someone is after the same thing we are." She saw no refugees or authorities within forty feet. "Pistols."

"What do you think, Ma'am?"

"They're after our ride." Julia replied to Alenko. "I don't believe in sharing. Williams, take point. As soon as we pass the entryway, switch to main weapons." Julia focused, taking the time to focus her biotics. It took five extra seconds to get the focus necessary to get her barrier up. It just took that much longer to center herself. When she opened her eyes again, it was to the sight of all of her team on their feet. Her Quarians, though shaking, were all standing and at attention. Williams was holding her rifle with meaning, even though she hadn't slept in thirty hours. Reddin was holding a shotgun, and was smirking.

Miranda looked uncomfortable, standing there with a looted shotgun and a decent pistol. Her armor was an Asari model, but they were out of blue body paint. Her helmet was on, and last but not least Kaidan with a looted rifle. It looked entirely too feminine in his hands. Asari weapons were just like that. Her two marines behind them had the sleds and were smiling. She leaned into the doorway and scoped out the hangar bay. Crates were in every available space around the docking cradle. Long walkways ran between the open and empty crates and the large semicircular area around the berth. Walkways ran along the ceiling, and many of the lights that were filling the space were covered in dust and grime, giving the entire chamber a darker look. The sun was setting on the other side of the spaceport, and the deep purple in the sky didn't add to the light level.

She started talking in a clear whisper. "Williams, Reddin, take the lead. Alenko, stay with the carts and make sure that they get to the ship. Secrecy is still paramount. Ibn, you and Halid take the right with Williams. Reddin will follow my sister and I. Tali, stay in cover. Once that ship sets down I want us boarding." She glanced at every team member for clarification. "The  _Acheron_  has two forward turrets for anti-personnel. They should be able to be accessed once inside. Understood?"

"Clear!" Her team reported back in clear whispers. Julia motioned with two fingers, and Ashley took the lead. Ashley moved into the hangar, followed closely by Reddin. Both women moved with purpose through the doorway, and after a moment's notice Julia followed, cloaked. Miranda moved with her, going left and moving behind storage crates. Tali sprinted, coming to a stop behind another set of crates left empty on the side of the doorway. Alenko didn't come in, but Reddin and her two Quarians slid into cover behind a fuel converter.

Ashley didn't see Julia, as she was cloaked, but she seemed to know what to do. After two weeks of moving with Julia and engaging the Rachni, she had a good idea of where Julia would be. She was a great soldier, and fully deserved her rank. Which was why she didn't expect her to be taken down so quickly. A sniper round took her in the shoulder, and struck her armor hard enough to cause a small amount of splintering.

A ball of biotic power arced out, and struck Ashley's rifle. The rifle shattered into a hundred pieces, but the biotic ability kept going into Ashley's arm. Every piece of her shattered rifle got carried with the ability, as it entered into her wrist and  _curved_  into the natural line of her arm. Armor broke apart like the rifle had, followed by chunks of skin and her tendons. It almost went in slow motion as the bones in the arm shattered as well, all of the objects still following the ability as it went deeper into her. Then with a small  _pop_  it all collapsed, every object slamming into the open wound with force, bone chunks and her rifle barrel puncturing through her armor. Blood and bone that hadn't been picked up by the ability fell onto the floor around her.

Ashley fell onto the ground, eyes wide at what remained of her arm. She was already turning pale, small keening noises coming from her throat. "Down!" Julia yelled, hearing the sniper fire again. She didn't know who it hit, but her team knew their jobs. "Alenko! Counter the biotics! Tali! Damping! Give us a target!"

"One on each angle!" She said after a moment, Julia moving carefully forward into the left side of the hangar. There was an Asari there, wearing the armor of a Huntress, a thick barrier around herself. She also had tech armor, and her biotic barriers above that. Odd that someone would put kinetic on the inside layer. Usually it was the personal biotic ones on the inner layer. Her shotgun was more dangerous, though. It was something Julia had only seen in magazines. Alliance called them Merfolk. A couple of variants existed, but they were a rare overpowered weapon that the Asari had invented sometime around the 18th century. They were a relic of a different time, when the Asari still had weapons meant for fighting the Rachni. This one was meant to pierce deeply into a target by shaving off strips of ammo blocks in the form of needles. Three needles were fired as its normal burst, where the back half of the ammo block was tungsten and the front half was aluminum. Expensive ammo to produce, it fell out of favor.

This Asari was in perfect cover, and blasted Alenko with her shotgun at extreme range. Two of the needles missed, but the third impacted the man's chestplate. Kaidan dropped behind cover, and Julia leveled her own rifle at the Asari. The woman was targeted by her squad right after, rounds striking the crate she was using as cover. The Asari ducked, and Julia came in close enough to blast her. Then she was in the air. She must have left some sort of sign of her passing, because the Throw that took her off her feet hit her directly. Her armor took the force of the damage when she impacted a wall, sliding down almost next to Tali.

"You are thieves and murderers. May Athame have mercy upon you, for I shall have none." A voice boomed out from the dark center of the hangar. "If you lay down your weapons I will make your deaths painless." The voice was deep, and rich in tone.

"What kind of choice is that?" Reddin yelled. Sniper fire pinned her down, making the woman take cover. Julia's stealth field flickered and died, as she slid back into cover next to her sister. The  _Acheron_  was on approach, it's running lights easily visible. It was maybe two minutes from touching down.

"The only dignity the code offers is your choice. Ignorance of this mercy only delays your death." A biotic ball came from the left wing of the hangar, and the entire team ducked. But the men and women of her team were not the target. Ashley, pale and bleeding, got dragged out from behind cover and pulled back behind the crates.

"Williams!" Julia yelled. "Alenko!"

Kaidan stood up, arms aglow with biotic power. The sniper hit him hard, his helmet getting rocked and sending him back to the floor. Without anyone to intercept her, Ashley went sliding behind the leftward crates and deep into Asari territory. "My Reave will cause her to slowly bleed out. Why should I not give her mercy?"

Miranda grasped Julia's shoulder. "Justicar! She'll kill her without a trial."

Julia quickly analyzed her options. She glanced around, seeing her entire team pinned down around cheap shipping crates and a fuel converter. There were three enemies identified so far, one on each side and one one in the back. The sniper could shoot twice before overheating, based on what she knew about Asari models. "Double up! Forward on me!" There was no other way about it. Williams would be dead if she didn't move forward. As one, her team left cover and charged. Those in heavy armor took point, while her Quarians let out high pitched squeals and jumped up on top of the crates. Tali moved with Alenko, staying between him and the sniper. Her kinetic barriers were the second strongest behind Reddin. It was definitely something that Julia would write down and recommend a commendation for.

The sniper did fire, at Ibn. He and their other Quarian crewman had moved on top of the crates, jumping the four foot wide gaps easily. Tali had reminded her that Quarians were excellent sprinters and jumpers, far better than the Human baseline. Their easy hops while keeping rifles shouldered was admirable. They both took a shotgun blast as they passed Julia, covering more ground from above. She could see Ibn take two needles, but his suit automatically adjusted for it. He was on damage control, so he had to be able to. His companion took a sniper round to the arm, falling off of the crates.

But Ibn powered through, and dropped between the rows where Ashley had gone. Julia wasn't able to follow, as a Throw slammed a crate into the access path between her and Ashley. The only way to get to her was to cut through where that shotgunner was standing. She cut left, seeing the Asari at the end of the line of crates and her shotgun leveled at her. Miranda wasn't wearing great armor at the moment, so Julia stood tall and charged. The needles hit her, but didn't penetrate her barriers. So it was with glee that she fired her rifle at the Asari, seeing her take cover. "Go!" Julia moved forward, gracefully coming around the corner and engaging the Huntress in close. She was good, Julia had to admit. But Miranda was capable of engaging from a different angle.

She used her biotics to leap up on top of the crate and get an angle on the Asari. Miranda's shotgun barked, and her barrier shattered. Small cuts were made into her armor, but they didn't penetrate. Julia held the Asari tightly enough by the right arm that Miranda's second shot did. The helmet was a good one, but the Asari went down with a shotgun blast. As soon as she dropped, Julia started running forward. Miranda tried to jump across the gap and follow Ibn, but she was struck by that damn sniper. The round pierced, and with a small outcry she dropped between the crates.

Julia rushed forward alone, and came around the corner to see Ibn locked in close combat with an Asari. Her armor was more ornate than functional. It exposed her skin in a way that no modern armor would dare, and what looked like a heavily carved metal band around her neck was the only thing holding it tight around her torso. Her belt held all of the modern technology she needed, but the armor looked archaic.

Ibn had lost his gun, and was being beaten to a pulp by the Asari. "Ibn! Get clear!"

"Not without Williams!" He yelled, trying to bring his leg down on the Asari. She nimbly dodged, just enough to watch where his foot was coming from. It was a practiced motion. Hell, the Asari  _knew_  exactly how to counter Ibn's hand to hand tactics. She used an uppercut to his sternum, which was an inch higher on a Quarian, and then gently kicked him back. Williams herself had drawn her pistol with her left hand, blood pouring out of her elbow and her shots shaky. But the woman was still hitting her target. Julia couldn't risk her own shots in the confined space.

The Justicar, if Miranda was correct, noticed Julia but didn't seem to care. She simply lined up another glowing ball of biotics, the same as the one that destroyed Ashley's arm. It had multiple small spheres of energy within it, all spinning around a the centerpoint. "Get out of there!" Julia yelled.

Ashley wasn't going to get out of there. Julia wasn't close enough to stop it, but Ibn was. His kinetic barriers cranked up to their highest setting, effectively overloading the system. Then he stepped between the Justicar and Ashley, holding his arms out. The Asari smirked, her features dark. It took her two seconds of concentration to put together the biotic ability. Then she threw it towards Ibn and Ashley. Ibn didn't have any time to say anything as it went through his barrier and straight into his visor. The faceplate shattered like so many windows she had seen. When the contents of his skull and helmet were all sucked into the path of the power, the power burst, showering Ashley with the entire mess. The headless Quarian dropped to the ground, and the Asari strode forward in a practiced movement. She had done this before, enough that detonating the ball of power was second nature.

"I am looking for the Asari taken into the tunnels." The Justicar said casually. "The ones from the monasteries. Tell me where they are."

"Go to hell!" Julia yelled, using a Pull on Ashley to get her back to their lines of cover. The Asari shrugged her shoulders at her words.

"I shall extract the knowledge from your corpse, then. May Athame guide you into the afterlife you seek." Then the Asari looked up, her eyes narrowing. She jumped back, retreating into the crates. The place where she had been standing got hit by heavy ship cannons. Or at least heavier than what most non-Krogan races could carry into combat. Gashes were torn in the deck of the hangar, and Julia heard one of the better sounds of the day.

" _Infantry suppressing guns operational. Touching down._ " The  _Acheron_ coasted in like an ungainly angel, and Tali's voice was a sign of at least something going right. Julia ran back out into the main area, seeing her marines moving forward with the gear. Tali was with them, Omni-tool out and fingers typing at great speed. But the ship was going past them, it's cannons no longer able to strafe as it parked.

Julia took the chance, moving with Ib's headless corpse to the ramp. To the right, she saw Reddin coming back from the section of crates, her armor damaged along the collar but holding. Blue blood dropped from one of her gauntlets, and she rushed over from the murder of the enemy sniper to help their other Quarian crew mate to the ramp. She had taken on the sniper alone, without fire support. Definitely stupid. But it probably was the difference made to their fight.

"Get the sleds! Let's move!" They hadn't even broken that Justicar's barriers. "Alenko! Cover them!" She herself took cover behind the same crate she had started out in. Miranda was beside her, both of them able to see some sort of biotic power lighting up in the back of the storage area.

"She's a Matriarch. At the height of power and knowledge." Her sister was looking worried.

"We've got this." Julia replied. Then the biotic ability fired. Every crate on the left side of the chamber rose up into the air, orienting the sharpest edges towards them. Over thirty crates angled themselves towards them, each crate a half ton and ten feet long at a minimum. All of them made from nonconductive steel carbide alloys. Julia could maybe block one. Kaidan one, and Miranda another. That left entirely too many. Julia let out a little bit of a squeal as she and Miranda tried to throw up a biotic barrier over their cover. It wasn't bolted down like the fuel converted was.

The crates hit like missiles, ripping up the floors and striking hard enough to shatter their own crate. Julia went flying, struck by one of the crates. When she opened her eyes again, it was to a very different perspective. Crates had covered the entire entryway, as well as the left wing of the Acheron. Julia's gun was somewhere in this mess. She had been hit so hard that her weapons had all come off, and her armor was dented across her thighs. It had actually cracked along her hip, which explained how she had gotten launched.

She could only see Alenko standing. He was behind the fuel converter, which was completely speared by one of the crates. He was shaking, staring at an area an inch past his visor. The steel carbide crate had gone through the converter, oil spraying through the area. If he hadn't been ducking, he would be dead. Julia tried to get up, but saw that her legs were pinned by the nearby crates. "Alenko!" She barked. "Kaidan!" He responded on the second call, rolling to his knee and setting his rifle into his shoulder. The barrel focused on the crates, as if he didn't know what to expect. "Get this off of me!"

"You got it." Three sounds like tennis balls followed, and Kaidan looked down at his arm in horror. Three glowing blue rounds had struck him, sticking to the armor and glowing brighter. "Incoming!" He tossed his rifle to Julia, and quickly held his arm away from himself. With the rounds sticking to him, he grimaced and placed his arm behind a crate.

The Phoenix Armor was well rated. Kaidan cried out, but the arm didn't come to pieces. Julia recognized the rounds used on him, though. They came from an Acolyte pistol, a heavily regulated weapon. It's ammo blocks had to be specially manufactured. The shavings were charged with enough force and energy that they would stick to a surface. They simply overheated far too quickly to be of use for anything other than execution weapons. They fired too slowly to be effective as a main weapon.

"Sound off!" She called out. Alenko was cradling his arm, sliding behind some of the collapsed crates to take cover from any further attacks. He nodded to her. Instead of getting his barrier back up, the man started moving the crate holding her legs pinned.

"How she Pushed all of these I don't know." Kaidan muttered. Blood from his arm was running onto the floor, but she could see gel firming up around his wounds already. "How strong do you think her barrier is?"

"Too damn much." Reddin yelled from a position by the  _Acheron's_  ramp. "We're alive here." She was there with the surviving Quarians. "Lt. Commander Williams is over here, but she isn't looking good."

No one else was sounding off. Damn it all. Her men were dying out here, and she didn't even know what they were fighting over. Her squad comm said that her other two marines were dead. Flatlined. Hopefully their dog tags weren't crushed with their corpses. Not a single trace of their involvement could be left behind. That was getting harder and harder each second they were engaged. The squad comm line only said that the two downed men were within thirty feet of her. Hopefully that meant that someone had their arm cut off and were still alive.

She could hear heels clicking, and glanced up to see the Justicar making her way over to them. Julia hadn't noticed the heels before, but now she was certain. This woman was just showing off what she was capable of, and wasn't even taking them seriously. Wreathed in biotics, she casually Threw Reddin back through the entryway. Julia could never have made that angle on a Pull or a Throw. Maybe Kaidan could have pulled someone out of cover and into a targeted location.

But here she was, with her legs pinned and Kaidan's rifle. The Justicar had her Acolyte pistol leveled at her, deadly purpose as plain as her emotionless glare. Almost as if Julia was nothing to her. "You killed my Huntresses in training. This speaks of your skill."

Tali and the other surviving Quarian were charging, chittering and screaming. With only a sideways glance, she sent three charged rounds from the Acolyte into the faceplate of her crewmember. He promptly exploded, his basic Quarian encounter suit not built to take that kind of punishment. His face was exposed to the air, and would have died from exposure if it hadn't been for the biotic attack that finished him off. Tali came to a stop, not even holding weapons. "People like you are supposed to be killing Rachni, not us!" She yelled, her voice shaking. The Asari only gave her a dead look, her pale eyes searching for any signs of a threat. Finding none, she continued walking towards Julia. Alenko was clutching his damaged arm, the right one. The same one that he started all of his biotics with.

Julia tried wrenching her legs out from the crate, but to no avail. Her rifle would be worthless. The Asari's barrier was a visible bluish purple aura. Julia made a show of setting her rifle down. Then she lashed out with four tech grenades. One of which was a pressure grenade. The Asari's eyes hardened, and with a glow she slapped the pressure grenade over towards Kaidan, accurately using a Throw on the pressure grenade as well as one other. The other two went off, and her aura dimmed. When the explosion cleared, the Justicar's eyes were centered on Julia. The rifle barked, hitting her barrier.

Over the sound of Kaidan's shrieks of pain, the rifle blasted at her. She replied by simply firing her Acolyte once, the round sticking to the rifle. Julia actually threw the rifle away this time, and watched as the Asari prepared another one of those murderous balls of biotic death. Julia grimaced, but kept her eyes on the Asari. Her biotic and kinetic barrier were strong, and might be able to take the hit. "I will ask you again." The Acolyte was in her left hand, and the ball of doom was in her right. "Where are the Asari taken into the tunnels?"

"The only Asari we found down there are corpses." Julia answered truthfully.

"You did not murder my daughter." The Asari said slowly. "But you still have caused the pain and suffering of many. May the Goddess grant you peace."

Another biotic power came in from below, and the Justicar wasn't able to see it coming. It was a Warp, and a strong one. It struck the ball of doom, and both powers detonated. The Justicar tottered on her heels, and then a secondary explosion happened.  _That_  one sent her almost forty feet. It also had enough force to dislodge the crate from her legs. From her left, she saw Miranda moving out from underneath a crate. "Goddess grant that you break your leg!"

Together, they stood. Miranda hefted her shotgun, smirking at whatever mental imagery she was going off of. Julia only had one weapon left. The  _Kavka_  left its sheath and rested comfortably in her hand. "Good shot."She did a mental tally. Williams was crippled. Alenko was near unconscious. Two of her three Quarians were dead, and her marines were dead. Reddin was showing signs of trauma to the lungs, and needed a doctor soon. "We've gotta finish this and get out of here."

"Aye, Commander!" Tali muttered happily. Almost thrown back to where she started, the Justicar stood up. She was bleeding from multiple long cuts and a single large bruise along her exposed collarbone. The left side of her face was also bruised. Her eyes were radiating no fury or anger, but just focus. Those pale eyes focused on Miranda. She wasn't able to see the entire starboard cargo pod from the  _Acheron_  dropping. Not until Tali had already triggered the release. The Kowloon standard cargo pod dropped like a drum, and without any crates in the area she had nothing to hide under or behind.

Her pale eyes left Miranda and focused on Tali, whom she leveled a thick look of distaste. She stepped back towards one of the crates still on the hangar deck, letting off another one of those biotic attacks. Tali had to manually operate the release control, and saw it coming. She didn't move, but made sure that the release was accomplished. Though she did twist her body and bend over so that her head was covered.

The cargo pod hit the ground at the same time as Tali's intestines. The ball of power hit her right in the lower bowel, pulling intestines and organs out with it when it came out the other end. One of them sprayed black ichor onto the ground, so that had to be a kidney. The clinical part ofher brain almost declared her dead before the emotional part kicked in, reminding her that this was her friend. Julia sheathed her Kavka, rushing to her. "Tali!" The Quarian was holding her shaking hands over the hole in her stomach, the armor that Julia had gotten her only allowing the biotic attack to puncture a tiny portion of it. "Hey! Stay with me!"

The Quarian was crying inside of her helmet. She could hear her. Hear her rasping something in Kellish, soft little keening noises. Julia engaged her armor's medical suite, which quickly injected medi-gel to the site and sealed the tear in the armor with Omni-gel. "That Justicar isn't dead. Where are your people?" Miranda asked her.

"Use an Omni-tool already!" Julia barked, picking up Tali and running with her. The little Quarian was still murmuring, quivering in her arms. She didn't dare look at the translation from her wrist. She knew the ship, and that next to its ramp was the small medical suite. She came in at a sprint, the expensive sensor doors opening fully to greet her with a very welcome sight. A fully automated medical suite was sitting there, already active and waiting for input. "VI! Open the suite!"

Julia couldn't suture anything if she wanted to. She was terrible at first aid. That was why she owned Sirta. After depositing Tali, she had to pull her hands back quickly to keep them from being stuck inside the medical suite. It was programmed to handle Quarian injuries, and Julia took that as a good sign. Rushing back out onto the ramp, she saw Reddin limping forward with both of her marine's corpses. Her heavy armor was completely ruined now. Alenko was being helped forward by Miranda, and Julia ran forward to the corpse of Ibn. His blood had covered the ground, and Julia threw him up the ramp and dragged the headless Quarian up the ramp as well. Williams had made it to the top of the ramp, clutching her arm. "Can you pilot this thing, Commander?" She asked.

"I was raised on this ship." Julia admitted. "Reddin, secure all personnel. Guns we are going to have to leave behind, we've gotta leave."

"Already policed the weapons Ma'am. Carts made it aboard. All signs of Alliance agents on planet secured." Julia heaved a small sigh of relief at that. "Oh god."

The cargo pod was shifting slightly. "Was that loaded?"

"No." Miranda replied. "That was empty."

"So she might be able to move it?"

Miranda was shaking a bit. The cargo pod had to be at least ten tons. "Maybe." It was hard to know what a Matriarch was capable of. Reducing the mass of an object was the basis of space travel across great distances. The Asari were masters of this. As a portent of their doom, the cargo pod started shifting, rising slightly. "We should go."

"Won't we need to release the other pod in order to break orbit?"

Miranda's eyes widened. She sprinted for the controls, trying to get the pod off. Julia ran for the cockpit, her left leg joint not bending all the way. The damage from that massive biotic attack had ravaged her armor. The cockpit was already mostly active when she arrived. She linked her Omni-tool to the internal comms, and tapped her wrist as she slid into the chair. The very nice leather chair.

" _Hey kiddo._ " She glanced down at the comm terminal. Charles was on the screen, and smirking. " _You guys are shooting up the hangar. What's going on?_ "

"Asari Justicar. Unlock the landing gear."

" _You're scheduled to leave in two hours. Docking authorities aren't going to approve leaving before then._ "

"I don't think you may have factored violence in the spaceport into your exit strategy." She tried to unlock the command interface locally, but nothing responded. "Can you at least get us off the ground?"

" _Uh, well, hang on._ " Charles ducked out of the vid feed. " _Jack, they're under fire. What've we got?_ "

" _Kill the bastard and then hide the evidence. I told you we should have sent some of our team with it._ "

" _Julia, who is shooting at you?_ "

"An Asari Justicar. We pinned her under the cargo pod, but that doesn't seem to be doing anything more than inconveniencing her."

" _Samara. Alright, go to plan B._ " The vid feed changed over to her father's face. " _Now you have no choice but to leave. But from there you'll have a couple of options. You could go and find your crew, and the_ Normandy _. If the ship is still functional. I've been looking for any signs of Alliance escape pods or ships in the Pamyat and Sheol systems. Nothing came up so far. So you can either go after them and find out where they are, or you can risk jumping through the relay. But fair warning, the stealth drive on the_ Acheron _is shaky. It doesn't last. So whatever you do, plan for only two hours of stealth._ "

"Is that why you gave us the ship?"

" _I'm getting a new one. I won't tell you what kind I'll get, but you needed something with a stealth drive. Charles will help you get to orbit without notice._ "

" _I will? What-_ "

" _He will help you get to orbit, but from there you are on your own._ " Jack gave her a serious look. " _You've got injured. Choosing to look for your ship or tending to them is your decision. But,_ " Jack typed something into his wrist. " _Here is a list of every doctor trained to handle Human injuries in the area._ "

"I've got a Quarian injured." The only one to survive the mission. She didn't want to think about the dead. "Anyone on that list that can treat Quarians?"

" _Nearest one is on the Citadel. Looks like you'll be breaking through the blockade after all._ " Jack said. " _Hang on._ " He was looking at a nearby vid feed, one that she couldn't see from the angle of her connection. " _I just got a hit. Your XO just had a bounty placed on his head. By one Elanos Haliat. Sighted in the Pamyat system. As an added bonus, Henry Lawson is familiar with Quarian medicine. Our implanted tech firm was based on many of their designs. Go there, Julia, and you should find your ship. Charles, make sure they get out of the system._ "

" _I guess. Ok! Let's drop any unnecessary weight and get you in the air._ " Charles' hands flashed, and she could feel attachments to the original hull dropping off. " _Docking authority is wondering what we are doing in here, by the way. Apparently security isn't responding. Isn't that just dandy._ " He whistled, as the  _Acheron_  shuddered and took off. " _Good thing they don't have much in the way of fighters in this system. Ok, we're just going to go full burn and go to FTL at first opportunity._ "

Julia nodded. "I'll be with my crew. Are there any other sources of medical supplies onboard?"

" _We left the entire bar for you. And, uh, Hannah left half her closet. There should be a few medical manuals in the Engineering bay. There might be some bandages and antibiotics under the bar, if the medical room isn't enough._ "

"Just get me out of this system. I've had enough of Asteria." She said quietly, at the door of the cockpit. With a tap on her wrist, she activated her comms. "Attention crew. This ship and all of its contents are ours. Lock down all hatches and prepare for a rough ride. We've found the system where the  _Normandy_  is." After announcing that, she queued up basic first aid protocols for her own wounds, and started for the lower decks. With Tali in the medical suite, Ashley was going to need their help. Though at this point it was likely that they were going to need to amputate.

* * *

The Deepest Emanation, Kahje, November 2182

Javik stepped through familiar defensive lines. No one fully realized that underneath the oceans was a fully functional military complex. A sealed and air filtered complex. During the war with the Reapers, this planet was abandoned to preserve the Hanar. It was thought that when the sleeping Protheans would awaken, they would need the lesser races to bring back the Empire. It was with pride that he walked past active barrier curtains, Defensive cannon emplacements, plasma induction vents, and of course adaptive gravitic force traps.  _Those_  were his favorite. It was a testament to the instructional VI's and Hanar technical skill that this facility was still operating after fifty thousand years.

There were many signs of parts that were replacements, done with lesser metals. The panels in the front were all not the original paneling, but rust would have destroyed them long ago. He grinned, seeing part of the Prothean Empire still alive. It was small, and contained to just a few Hanar followers and VI 'interpreters'. There were hundreds of them in the facility's entrance. At his side were the only other Protheans in existence. All three surviving Avatars stood with him, and slightly behind them was Liara. Hanar were visibly deflating and dropping to the ground around him, a kaleidoscope of color being thrown across the walls from their method of communication.

He wasn't the Avatar in charge of dominating lesser races. They had not survived. But he had spoken at length with Harper about this. The Hanar were isolated, culturally and physically. They were not compatible with any other race, and found Asari to be threatening to their cultural identity. That made him even happier. Barring Liara, of course. But her thought processes were more like a Prothean than any other race at this point. Her arrogance regarding their ideals was almost greater than his own.

Each of the Hanar were using the basic technology that made their race a galactic threat. According to the records left behind on Ilos and in different Beacons, the Hanar were first given the ability to levitate and survive out of water by a genetic researcher by the name of Pajan Heshok. The contra-gravitic levitation packs were critical to their ability to move outside of water. The Reapers would disable that technology with a single burst of EMP. It was the main reason that they were not used in the original war.

Now that technology was hardened, and the Hanar had their own small Navy. They were  _worthy_. More so than any Krogan or Batarian. It was with pride that he saw what the Hanar had done to the old walls. What was originally stale were replaced by bright murals, made from the bioluminescent ink that was within the Hanar. It reflected and reacted to the nascent emotions and statements of nearby Hanar. But it showed clearly the primitive Hanar and the Protheans. Specifically individual scenes of the lead researcher. He opened his mouth wide, in awe as he entered the main interior space, all of its acre wide space dedicated to the Protheans.

Murals, sculptures, and more bioluminescent ink paintings covered every inch of available space. All of it were scenes from his people's history with the Hanar. All four of his eyes opened to their widest point, trying to take in everything. His biotics even flickered, as the leftover emotions from his people were over everything. The Hanar had preserved it, and unlike every other artifact left behind these were of happy moments. For the first time in his entire existence he felt something other than arrogance and despair. This was joy, glory, and the deepest of all satisfaction.

He took a knee in front of the largest. His fingers traced the inner and outer eyes, the feelings of awe from the Hanar flowing into his soul. Realizing that his mouth was still open, he closed it softly. He blinked, closing his eyes and refocusing. "Where shall I stand?"

One of the Hanar floated forward, glowing as brightly as he could. "This one requests that the Enkindler steps forward to the central marked space. It has been left empty as it reflects color and sound most perfectly." The Hanar pointed to a circular raised platform in the exact center of the room. Channels where water flowed between the sculptures all centered on this platform.

Hanar were floating in, filling every available space. The species didn't mind being in close proximity to one another. So the wall murals disappeared behind a wall of jellyfish. But rather than feel inconvenienced he felt happy. "What do you think?" He asked quietly.

Vigilance glanced at him with an inner eye. She too, had been deeply affected by this place. "I have no words at this time." She always had words. Vigilance was always worried about something. Superiority shook his head, he too not saying anything. Superiority was often quiet, but when he spoke it was with the full weight of a fully developed opinion.

"No Asari has ever entered this chamber to my knowledge." Liara said quietly. "They must have preserved the very essence of our race through these means. Anthropologically speaking, the early Hanar must have become dependant upon us, to the point of reverence at the time of the war with the Great Enemy."

He nodded. Stepping onto the central platform, he could see small fibres rising from the channels of water, the function Prothean in nature. "Is what the Avatar of Recollection stated true? Have any other races stepped inside of this place?"

"None of our records indicate that the Deepest Emanation of Kahje has ever been breached. Nor can the Asari take this information from the minds of those who enter. Those who enter this place are forever forbidden to leave. They must spend the rest of their time in the currents here, in reverence and meditation to the blessed Enkindlers. To you, that is. If you are truly Enkindlers."

Javik rose to his full height. "I have access to every single Prothean Beacon in the galaxy. When I called you, you gave me the specific instructions on how and where to get here." He leveled all four eyes at the jellyfish. " _We_  are Protheans. We are the four remaining Avatars of the Prothean Empire, and to you, those who bear responsibility for causing you to be involved in our war. A War that claimed the life of every other Prothean, and by following our words you have doomed yourselves to die by their hand."

The room darkened so visibly that he was worried that he had said something heretical to them. Only one of the Hanar still glowed, the same one in charge of speaking. "This one does not understand. Are not the Enkindlers here to uplift us?"

"All races in our cycle understood a simple truth. That the Protheans were supreme in every way. That we, and our Empire, were to be eternal. That all other races not Prothean were to be manipulated into service to the Empire." If possible, the room darkened even more, the sculptures all dark and nonreflective. "Until those races proved themselves worthy of joining us." He motioned to the largest sculpture of the scientist that was in charge of this facility. "Pajan Hashek turned you into a race capable of expanding into the stars. Capable of becoming like us. It was done, as well as the teachings of our most basic sciences and technologies, to ensure that the Prothean Empire would have another race to support it. When we fell, instead that was intended to support us when we were to return."

"This one does not believe that those who taught us intended this!" The Hanar was glowing a dark blue, a glow that suffused throughout the crowd.

"It was intended that you would join the Prothean Empire. I come as a fulfillment of this promise." Javik said clearly, watching as the deep blue anger moving through the Hanar turned into something else. "All of the other races that we left behind have failed us. The Asari sequester their knowledge and hide their gifts. The Quarians were removed from their homeworld, though they had great potential. The Salarians are breeding themselves into a race without hormonal reactions, away from what we intended for them. Only the Hanar have remained loyal."

"We are loyal to the Enkindlers! To the idea of all being uplifted to glorious harmony!"

"The Enkindlers died! Killed by an enemy none could predict! Pajan Hashek died here, spending the last decades of his life guaranteeing your survival as a race. The great enemy comes again, and they will kill you just as they killed us. The Hanar, as a race, now face their culmination. Fifty thousand years ago we uplifted you to fight with us. Now, you must make a choice. We raised you from the depths of weakness to become what you are today. For that I come here today to demand your allegiance."

" _I_ cannot allow this!" The lead Hanar cried. He was distraught enough to express himself in the first person. "You will leave this holy sanctum! You are no Enkindler!"

Javik held up his hand. "VI. Lock down this facility, by order of the Avatar of Vengeance." Two flowing sculptures were crushed by the weight of the sliding doors, as every entrance was sealed. The hordes of Hanar were glowing in awe. "Access file of Recollection, fall of the Citadel."

Javik didn't look at the haptic image. He knew it. All of them did. But the Hanar all made flashes of light and noise as they saw the Reapers crush the strongest that the Prothean Empire had to offer. Wave after wave of the dark ships coming through, destroying and purging his people from their seats of power as if their resistance did not exist. The lead Hanar was by now a quivering mass on the floor, its tentacles curled around a statue of Pajan Hashek. "This one withdraws its claim. Only an Enkindler may command our Beacon. What do you demand of us?"

"That you no longer hide in the shadows. You have worshipped us, and prepared for our coming. For this loyalty, we can no longer call you a lesser race. The Reapers shall come again, and this time the Hanar will answer. War is coming to you, and you shall meet them on the field of battle."

"We are Hanar. We are not meant for war."

"You are no longer Hanar! Do not refer to yourselves as such again." Javik said with vigour. "This day, I welcome back the Hanar to the Prothean Empire, as you were during our cycle. You are uplifted. You understand our technology. You do not pander or bow down to the other races. You carry yourselves with pride, and speak in our name. As the assembled Prothean Avatars, we name you and your race as Prothean. Not in name, but you will join us, as the Zha'til, and the Enduromi. The Prothean Empire is created anew, and though my race may not survive this, yours shall. Thus, you shall ever remain the voice of the Enkindlers."

"We do not deserve this honor," The Hanar said slowly. His color almost darkened. "We are not strong enough."

"No other race deserves it as much as you. Your entire culture has come to this single foci, creature. Now, will you remain as children, as Hanar, or will you become my brothers?" Javik glowed with his biotics, performing the careful balancing act that placed him hovering amongst the jellyfish. "Will you become Prothean?" He had to show them that he was like them, and that they could be like him in their physical differences.

The glow started from the center of the room onward, as all of the Hanar puffed their ventral tentacles and glowed with golden reds and yellows. " _I_ Shall.  _We_  Shall. We are the Voice of the Enkindlers! The Prothean Empire shall rise again, in all of its glory!" The entire room became a wash of bright colors, as the Hanar started swarming. The only one that remained still was the same one who spoke. "I am the Prime Voice, Truth-In-Deepest-Currents. What is your command, Avatar?"

Javik  _grinned_. The Prothean Empire had a future. Not the future that his ancestors had imagined, or one engineered by some Human. But a future nonetheless.

* * *

Author's Note

I love writing Javik. Finals are over and I have been super productive. All of those weeks where I was doing so much school has made me very productive in terms of time spent. So, ladies and gentlemen, enjoy.

I also have a few scenes coming up here soon where I need some input from you guys. Send in any PMs describing what you guys think Julia's house is like. The place that you think she would call home. So far, I have made no plans for it. I have some idea of what is in it, but it occurred to me that Julia's home is undeveloped. So, please let me know what you guys think.


	69. Lucid: Pop Goes the Weasel

Chapter 69

Zakera Ward, The Citadel, December 2182

It was a macabre crew that got off the  _Normandy_  when it pulled into the Citadel. Joker was being carried between Cpl's Reddin and Joya, a gunnery officer. He looked as arrogant as they could come, his smirk wider than she had ever seen. Being carried down the ramp by two pretty women was probably the reason. The ship was in fine condition. The emitters were replaced by some older models, but they still functioned. Enough to get them home. Pressley had really come through for them.

Speaking of the man, he was pushing himself down the ramp on the only wheelchair that the  _Normandy_  had. Original complement was three, but two were turned into Omni-gel to seal holes in the deck plating. S o Pressley was rolling down the ramp in Joker's custom ride. Or whatever he called his decked out wheelchair. Pressley needed a new knee, and Dr. Heart was not able to fix that onboard. He was also concerned for Pressley's health, as he was older than the rest of the crew. He patched up the wound and kept Pressley on a wheelchair, who had to share it with Joker for when Joker needed to get to a different deck. Things had remained awkward between them.

The dangling set of faux balls on the wheelchair frame came to a bouncing stop when Pressley hit the bottom of the ramp. "Wipe that smirk off your face boy." He barked at Joker. "I've already requisitioned two replacements."

"Yeah. Hope your knee is going to be okay." Joker said, with a bit of respect. That was new. Julia tried not to lean towards them. "You got a ride to the hospital?"

"I do. Thanks for asking. Though next time we'll settle things over Skyllian Five. Not some Ro sham bull crap."

An older woman stepped forward from the crowd, wearing a black shirt with the words 'Wench & proud of it!' in purple lettering. She had gray hair, but only on the sides of her head. The rest of it was dark brown. As she walked past where Julia was cloaked, she saw that a skull and crossbones were on the back of her shirt. "Charlie!" She said, her voice carrying. "You look ridiculous."

"Becca. You look great." Pressley said quietly, the ends of his lips rising in a smile. "Mind pushing this old man to a doctor?"

"This old man, this old man," She sung softly. "He got cocky and got canned!" She grasped the back of the wheelchair, smiling.

"Hey!" Pressley growled, but it had no bite. He settled into the wheelchair, as what had to be his wife pushed him out of the hangar. Joker was pulled between the two female Corporals, and was ostensibly on his way to the bar. If anyone deserved it, it was him. Slipping both the  _Normandy_ and the  _Acheron_  past the blockade was a work of art. Too bad they couldn't ever admit to doing it.

Then the real injured came out of the  _Normandy_. Tali was in a sealed pod, the same medical suite from the  _Acheron_. It was the only thing keeping her alive. Kaidan was pushing the pod along with three other Quarians. He was shaking, the aftereffects of the pressure grenade still causing some jitters. Julia should have been right there with him, standing at Tali's side. There was only one doctor on the Citadel that specialized in Quarian intestinal tract replacement. Tali needed intestines and a new kidney. Most of her lower intestines were gone, along with nerves and muscles from all across her lower bowels and lower back. She needed a lot of help.

But if anyone was going to take a shot at them, it would be now, when they were disembarking. She was on the lookout for any Asari, or anyone with a look of distaste. Kalin'ren was on the bridge cameras, on the lookout for anyone or anything trying to infiltrate the ship. Thermal imaging showed that there was a cloaked Salarian somewhere in this hangar, and she wasn't taking chances.

Ashley was next, being helped out by Andrew T'au. The burly Polynesian was carrying her, the stump of her arm ending just below her shoulder. Tali had needed the medical suite, and without it Ashley's arm had gotten infected from all of the foreign matter. By the time they got to Dr. Heart, more than a day later, it had all started turning black. Williams had been stoic through the process. Already her superiors were covering the replacement of her arm, talking about using a prosthetic for a short amount of time and then moving her onto cybernetic enhancements when she reached Arcturus.

Kaidan needed time to recover from the pressure grenade that the Asari redirected. Time was all that he needed. Dr. Heart was escorted off of the  _Normandy_  by two Cerberus Soldiers, and was going to be kept under lock and key until they were ready to leave again. With most of the officers injured and out of action, the ship wasn't leaving. But the Alliance was sending a team of engineers and planted operatives to watch over it for her.

The Turians stepped off the ship, Desolous looking around with a look of anticipation. Garrus was swaggering, dragging a screaming Krogan that they had captured when it tried to retake the pirate ship. Apparently he had quite the rap sheet, and Garrus had taken him down. He was bringing him in to face judgement, after putting shots in all of his joints. He was humming happily as the pirate was dragged down the ramp.

Her Quarian crew walked slowly, not very excited. Shore leave for them was a somber occasion this time. They carried two bodies. Three of her ten Quarians that she went out with initially were dead. Her officers outside of Joker were injured or crippled. They were taking two weeks shore leave. Julia needed it. Everybody else needed it. They had spent two weeks on edge, worried about being discovered. So the  _Normandy_  was going to be parked for the time being.

The  _Acheron_  was inside of a rented large cargo hauler. The entire ship could be hidden inside of a cargo container of Volus design. As it was capable of stealth, all they had to do was cloak the ship when they passed by any scanners or inspection vehicles. It could stay hidden long enough for her to get it where she wanted it.

The last person to exit the ship of her crew was Wrex. He was carrying three duffel bags and his Graal openly. Curious as to what he was doing with everything he owned, she followed him a short distance. Instead of heading for the main entrance, he was walking over towards a comm terminal. "Hey." He said to the terminal. "I'm leaving. I'll be back in a couple of months." She noticed that the comm terminal was active, but not connected to anything. Nor was his Omni-tool connected to anything. "I'm keeping a promise." He sniffed his nose.

He knew that she was here. "Where will you be?" She whispered.

"My daughter is having a few whelps. I need to be there for her. She's my only biotic child, so if she has a son I need to be there." He grunted. "Or kill anyone stupid enough to try anything. Call me if you're going after a Maw or Rachni." He started moving through the screens on the comm terminal, his fingers painfully inept at the controls. He 'ended' the call, and then walked away, not even looking her direction. Who knew that Krogan could be so subtle.

She gave one glance towards her ship before leaving. She stayed in crowds, moving through access walkways where she could. No air car or any other forms of transportation to get her to the factory yards. It was there that she met up with another Infiltrator, someone she could drop off her reports to Admiral White. She wasn't avoiding him, per say, but she didn't want to admit how much of a colossal failure her simple extraction mission was to the man's face. She had few superiors that liked her, and she didn't want to lose his trust. More importantly, someone was going to fill in for Jenkins. White was supposed to decide that, but he had not given her anything on that so far. She was down enough people that she had to wait for more engineers to come out of the next batch of graduates. She had requested Quarians, and with good reason. Humans wouldn't be able to work at the same pace.

But she needed someone to turn to beyond Pressley. His knee injury only made this even more apparent. The entire ship stopped running effectively. Tali out of action, Pressley injured, Williams crippled, and Jenkins dead. All of her command staff were out of action except for Joker. He was now the second in command, and she didn't like that idea one bit. Which was why the members of her crew that she trusted were all being silently moved. Williams was never going to arrive at Huerta. Alenko was going to disappear with the help of the Quarians, and Miranda was already at the  _Acheron_. The Titans were also there, though it was not their favorite place to be. Some of them did not have fond memories of this ship.

The shipping company that the Quarians used to get their shipments out of Alliance Space was happy to ship the  _Acheron_  for her. Their official record was that she was sending ten tons of processed metal and the remains of a pirate vessel to Terra Nova to be recycled and given to the Quarians. All of those parts were in the shipping vessel already, and the  _Acheron_  was just the unmarked goods.

So when she entered the cargo hauler, she saw Alenko in there first. Since she was cloaked, he didn't know she was there, and was talking to Miranda outside of the entrance ramp to the  _Acheron_. She had her arm reaching out, and was holding Alenko by the wrist as she walked him through some Asari biotic technique. Julia contented herself watching this, all from the safety of of the shadows. But as she watched something started bothering her. Miranda was trying to show Kaidan the hand positions the Asari used, and was doing it by near sexually assaulting him. Alenko looked a bit red in the face, but Miranda looked like she was enjoying herself.

"That isn't kosher." Julia muttered to herself. Miranda knew better than to flirt with someone she was interested in. Her hands on Kaidan's arm were not the guiding type. Kaidan knew it too, and took small steps away from Miranda. Small ones. She kept up with him, making sure to stay in bodily contact. Julia frowned. Well, two could play at that game. Miranda was wearing borrowed clothes from Hannah, and they weren't very fitted to her.

A catsuit was designed to be skintight, specially fitted, and overall sensual. Julia drew the zipper down enough to draw Kaidan's eye. Then she went back outside of the hangar to decloak and enter. Sure enough, Miranda was well back from Kaidan when she came into sight range. The man smiled when she walked forward, and came to a near salute. "Ma'am."

"We're off duty for a week and a half, Kaidan. I don't want to see a salute until then." She smirked. "Once everybody has arrived, we will go to Terra Nova."

"What's on Terra Nova?" Miranda asked. "I thought you hated the desert."

"Most of my banking presence is there. But it is also the location of Sherry Miller's home. The author of romance novels has a reclusive estate up in the Herod Mountains. As one of my better known aliases, that's where we are going to stay." Or rather hide from everyone who wanted a piece of her. The Alliance would have questions for her, but not until she had to come pick up her new crew. Admiral White had promised her that much. After two weeks deployment in high stress environments, he wanted all of her crew to be separate and calm. Separate to keep them from talking too much about where they were or what they went through, and calm so that he could order them to go out and do it again if need be.

While they had been gone, the Rachni had started a full assault of the Attican Traverse. Thankfully, Pressley's speeches and reports about what Rachni ships were capable of had gotten around to the entire fleet. There were losses amongst the Alliance Navy, but not as bad as it could have been. One Rachni ship had even been spotted near Elysium. It had been blown out of the system by a dozen angry frigates. None of the ships had been as powerful or as large as the Queen ship that they had killed. It was assumed that the Rachni had these, but kept them in the far reserve. A total of nine of their ships had been seen so far in the war. One Queen ship, and eight other ships. The  _Normandy_  had two kills. Only one other ship had that distinction so far, and they got lucky. One of their kills was arguably an assist. Six 'frigates' and two 'cruisers' had been sighted. While she had been down on Asteria, Joker and Pressley had killed one of their frigates. It wasn't official, but they were very proud of themselves.

So, with Kaidan's eyes on her, she led the way up into the cargo hauler. "Come on, Alenko. We're off duty and I plan to put my metabolism to the test. That bar is calling to me."

"Joker is already there." Kaidan said with a grin. "Ashley's arm came earlier, but she said something about adding a few details to it. Dr. Heart will have it taken care of soon."

That was how their one week vacation started, and by the end things were very different.

* * *

Ilos, Chamber of Echoing Truth, December 2182

"Let me scan your dice again." Tesai threatened, her Omni-tool glowing. "That is complete bullshit." Charles enjoyed hearing his girl pissed at someone else. It was rare enough to happen in his regular day, and she rarely got annoyed with him. Frustrated, sure, but no one could be perfect with their lives. "That thing should be dead!"

"We scanned all of the dice at the start of the game, Tesai." Javik said loudly. "The Wraith remains. It made its save." Charles had no idea what would happen when he introduced Javik to some of their games, that the Prothean would take to anything outside of his culture. Or that he would even become obsessed with Warhammer 40k. Apparently the 'basis' of the Human Imperium was one that mirrored the Prothean Empire. Not that they had entombed their leader in a giant iron lung, but that they had ten thousand years of time spent in space. "Your worthless argument is delaying my turn."

The Warhammer game had a reboot in the 2140's, and a few people still followed the game. Though the original owners had made the license an open one, so anyone could play the game without paying for their products. Omni-fabricators kept the price super low, and 3D printers broke the entire market. One of the descendants of the original owners still owned the rights to the plot and universe, and added to it occasionally. "My turn hasn't ended, Prothean." Daro'Xen was another surprise joining them on game night. She heard about Necrons and decided that she was going to play. "For your troubles, I'll just let the Gauss cannon speak for itself."

Her Monolith  _murdered_  Javik's entire command squad. Seeing his inner eyes focus on Xen in rage was worth it. "You will pay for that!" His fist clenched. His Space Marines were colored in some garish combination that made his eyes hurt.

Charles chuckled behind his lips as he watched Javik spend his entire turn blowing the hell out of the Necrons. Meanwhile he just say happily waiting for his Basilisks to express themselves. Sweet, sweet artillery. There was nothing like it. Tesai's Eldar he spared only because of a bad directional roll on his artillery strike, taking out the Wraith that was troubling her. She thought he was being nice. He simply missed her fast attack squad. She assumed his intentions were good. He wasn't going to correct her with two other gigantic threats on the table. With Daro'xen obsessed with anything robotic, it was natural for her to choose Necrons. Tesai unsurprisingly went for the most artistic of the races, the Eldar. He decided he liked Humans. He had high respect for them.

But not for any of these awful xenos races. The forces of the Imperium would conquer all! But at the same time this would make him allied to Javik, who had the worst history of holding grudges into the next week or month's game. Even to the point that he would charge diagonally over the board to take out anyone he had a grudge against. Charles currently held that ire, but with Xen taking his attention he could spare his precious tanks and point them towards Xen.

Their game ended amicably enough, and they all left praising Tesai as the victor. Javik had made good on his promise and murdered both Xen and Charles, fulfilling his need for vengeance. Tesai simply sat and waited until given the opportunity. Having fulfilled his grudges so well, Javik hadn't cared when Tesai won. She simply controlled the territory. But when they went to exit the 'cultural exchange' hall, they could hear raised voices.

"Is it wrong to ask that of you? After this long together?" Hannah's voice seemed strained.

"You've mentioned it before. Considering the reasoning, I still don't believe it is necessary." Jack seemed calm, but Charles had spent years learning when to recognize when Jack was uncomfortable with a situation. "Why bring it up again?"

"Your only two children were almost destroyed by a Reaper this month. You've been drinking enough to blackout."

"Would you be the same, if your daughters were the ones in ground combat against a Reaper?" He asked sardonically. "Loaded question, I know. You helped raise them. Even if I am under added stress, that does not mean that we bring up this subject. Last time we discussed this we both ended up yelling about it." Jack's voice seemed hushed. "We aren't going to do this again. You know I don't care about it."

"What do you mean you don't care about it!" Hannah had a certain nastiness when she was pissed about something. He could hear that whatever argument this was, it was important to her. "You obviously care about the physical portion." Charles held out his hand, and the two women stopped behind him. Javik stopped instantly, his reflexes much better than theirs. Jack Harper's voice came from around the corner, calm and not argumentative.

"I don't see why you're getting so worked up over this. I am wanted by every legitimate government that would care to recognize such things, and there is no reason for me to want any tax breaks over this."

"Tax breaks? Is that what you think this is all about?"

"Why else would anyone ever get married?" Jack replied casually. He was greeted by silence. "What?" He asked, making Charles feel curious.

"I…. You!" Hannah muttered, and Charles risked a glance around the corner. She was so red in the face that it was matching her hair. "We've been dating for a bloody decade!" She muttered other expletives, before glaring at Jack and cloaking. Charles flinched. Jack stood there, looking at the place that Hannah had just vacated.

"A Prothean female would have communicated her intent to claim a mate with her inner eyes rather than such loud complaints." Javik stated.

"That's very refined, Javik." Tesai replied, convincingly enough that the Prothean felt vindicated for making the statement as well as keeping them from making some odd comment that would be taken as an offence against his culture or an invitation to offend theirs further. "Charles, go talk to him." She pushed with a bit of force.

Anyone emerging from behind a row of columns was going to look suspicious, so Charles swaggered. "Hey…?" He said lamely.

Jack looked up, seeing Charles. "You heard that, I assume?"

"Sure." He said. "Sounds like Hannah is mad."

"She thinks that marriage is important. That it would improve our relationship." Jack said dismissively. "Considering that my family has a deep Christian background, she thought I would agree. The opposite is true. In our case, we already live together, qualify for a common law marriage, and have a shared income. If she wants a piece of jewelry I can get that, but I don't see anything changing or improving the relationship we already have if we go through with that."

"Um," Charles started, not sure exactly how to approach this. "How important is it to her, you think?"

"It's a personal life goal rather than a professional one. So it would take priority to her if we weren't fighting the Reapers." Jack shrugged. "That document we signed is more binding than any marriage would be at any rate."

"Isn't that the one that keeps you from having any affairs?"

"That binding agreement obligates me to emotionally support Hannah as well as physically support her. She agrees to whatever bedroom hijinks or fetishes,"

"Too much information, Jack." He interjected before anything truly horrifying was mentioned. Tesai was rightbehind him, after all, and he didn't want to give her ideas.

"Too much information would be my explaining the compromises and amendments that have occurred to that section of the document." Jack said with a smirk. "But yes, it is the same agreement that puts her in charge of my will, as tenuous as that is."

"So what's your problem with marriage, then?"

"I see it as a farce." Jack said. "My mother's parents lived together for ten years before they decided to get married. They divorced and left her broken and abused less than two years later. My mother used all three of her marriages to extort and take money from her husbands, leading to even more abuse and trouble for me. It's a play. It might mean something to Hannah, but for me it would only sour our relationship."

"So you don't want to marry her because you care about her?"

"In essence, yes." Jack said, clearly not enjoying this topic. "Now, is there something more important to talk about?"

"You missed game night. Tesai beat out everyone else."

"That's because you had Javik coming down on you like a bat out of hell." He replied. "I was making sure that our project on Virmire is coming along."

"Oh yeah!" Charles replied. He wasn't very involved in that one. It required very little contact or management. "Don't we need to start storing some of the product?"

Jack nodded. "Miranda was supposed to be working on that project before she went to Asteria. Now, though, we are running out of space in the warehouses. The other groups are going to hit any transports we bring in."

"How are we going to move all that stuff?" Charles shook his head. "Everything there is going to be worth thousands on the market."

"That's what I was working on. There is a Volus that I would like to arrange a meeting with. His name is Kumon Shol."

"He's nuts!" Charles stated. "We've worked with him before, trying to dig up Klencory for artifacts."

"This time, I have something that he won't refuse." Jack motioned to his Omni-tool. "Javik and Liara have found the Prothean records of Klencory in the Ilos database. With the access granted from the Prothean beacons on Earth and Kahje, we've opened up thousands of new files. I've got Xen going through them now. But Kumon would pay for such information. He already buys much of our black market artifacts as it is. But for this, his heavily armed fleet would be willing to ship our goods anywhere."

"Where are we even going to store all this? Ilos?"

"No." Jack said. "Ilos isn't going to be where I store this. Virmire wasn't totally secure. They could track us here." He tapped his wrist, bringing up the image of Sidon, Elysium's moon. "No, I was thinking someplace a little more accessible. When we saved that group of AI researchers from Blackwatch, Sirta was able to pick up some of the land that they were using." When the current Rachni War started Sirta had used that location to store excess amounts of their product. Charles remembered that because Jack had drilled the location into him. "I want that entire location transferred to Julia's private ownership. Automated drones instead of staff. Kumon delivers to the site, and none of our mercenaries are seen anywhere near them. Julia gets the credit when it all blows over."

"She won't be suspicious at all?"

"Of course she will." Jack muttered. "But it will make her look humane. A hero to some, and a threat to others. Another piece of evidence that shows she is meant to be a Spectre."

"You never want credit for the good things, huh."

"I'm the devil, Charles. So long as I continue to be that to everyone out there, my good works will go unnoticed. Then when the smoke clears I'll decide if I still want to play the devil." Charles had no idea what to say to that. "The Reapers are coming for us. Better to trust the devil you know," He glanced at the shadows left by Javik and the Quarians in the columns. "Than the devil you don't."

"You know, I just thought of something." Charles said, laughing. "You know how many people would crash your wedding? Just to take a shot at you?"

"Yes." Jack said, and then started laughing himself. "Though I don't think Hannah would appreciate my changing my mind for the chance to draw out the Shadow Broker. It would need to have real emotional bearing for her to even consider it."

"Not to mention you have to ask her."

Jack sighed. "I told her that she would have to ask me, Charles."

Charles chuckled. "No wonder she's pissed. Even I know that Tesai would have wanted me to ask."

"Hold on a moment." Jack muttered. "Charles, I think we just solved our problem in trying to acquire the Asari comm protocols. Without having to go through Thessia. But we need access to Friess Station."

"You have decided on a plan that does not reveal our strength?" Javik said, stepping out from the columns. "A way that we can access it without your 'Ace in the pit'?"

Jack nodded. "Julia needs to be made a full Spectre. To do that, she has to do something of note. How many satellites over Galatana can you get me in ten hours?"

"A few." Charles said, thinking. Turian comms were easier to crack than the other Council races. "What kind?"

"Anything that can map the movement of precious metals. Depth imaging for the oceans and lakes. We know that the Rachni are not inconvenienced by operating underwater, and the Turians avoid it like the plague."

Charles got a happy ping from his wrist. "Ooh!" Jack lifted one eyebrow, and Javik narrowed his eyes. "Morinth just arrived on Omega. Better warn your mother."

* * *

Terra Nova, January 2182

Kaidan was in terrible trouble. Not the kind of trouble that could lose him his job, but trouble nonetheless. They had arrived at the high mountain estate owned by Sherry Miller one week ago. Sherry lived there, writing her books and making her appearances to her fans. She had been a decent writer, and Julia had approached her with the option of becoming one of her 'living' aliases. Sherry became more popular overnight, the introvert selling millions of copies of her novels. They depicted the exploits of an Alliance political officer, not shy in the bedroom and most certainly not shy in expressing her concerns about current problems. Her short stories were always aimed at some event that the government was involved in, and usually painted the Council races in a good light.

Julia paid for her surgeries and cosmetic treatments(as there was no way that she could become as small as her), and Sherry lived full time as a writer on the estate. Julia used her alias to get into certain academic and military circles. Apparently the woman was popular, and after the cosmetic and plastic surgery she could reasonably look like Julia. The blonde woman was a decent host, but unused to sharing her fourteen room estate with other people. She generally hid in a library on the second floor, avoiding them as best she could.

His trouble was not with Sherry. No, his trouble was that Miranda had taken interest in him. While this would normally be easy to deal with, he also knew that Julia was a master of disguises. His first moment flirting with her had been when the woman was dressed up like Miranda. Miranda, he found out, could mimic Julia's speech patterns. Two twin sisters were flirting with him, and one was his commanding officer. The other was wanted by the Alliance for cyber crimes and conspiracy. It wasn't his job to bring her in, in fact it was Julia's. Her part of the military was responsible for it. But at the same time he couldn't fault her. Miranda was a conspirator simply by relation to Jack Harper. There was no evidence connecting her to any of the major crimes that were claimed by Jack Harper.

Which made his life awkward. The estate was large, but as a biotic he spent most of his time in the gym or in the kitchen. Sherry's gym had an attached one. Only a biotic would make an attached kitchen to a workout room. Though the estate's room was a full sized one, including a racquetball court, Sherry hardly used it. It was intended for Julia.

Kaidan landed hard on the mat, again. "Five years, and this is all you learned?"

Miranda, glowing with biotic power, stood a few feet from him. "I'm very gifted for a Human. They believed that as a Vanguard I would be successful. I wasn't lying when I told you that I am most dangerous up close." She had a slight grin on her face when she said that. "Very close." Her workout gear was showing signs of sweat, the entire outfit of Asari design. It had holes in places that Humans might not feel comfortable with normally, and Miranda had told him that she had been raised with the Asari during her teenage years. She had no sense of shame when it came to her body.

"I'd want you as a forward on the Titans if circumstances were different." He said, honestly. "We're short a couple people for the season after this is all over."

"I don't think you'll want me there." Miranda said. "But if you are interested, you're welcome to come work for me when your current job comes to an end."

"The Rachni War will end soon enough. Though I think I have a nice career waiting for me to finish out. Another ten years and I'll have my full medical benefits for life. Not to mention I'll be able to advance my Warp ball career." Miranda was dangerous. Dangerous to speak to and dangerous on her own. Julia often spent a lot of time with her, but had directed her crew to spend time near her so that she wasn't in danger to herself. Which was why Kaidan was here even though he found it very awkward.

"Not everything is about your career." Miranda told him, motioning for him to stand up. "In ten years you and your team might be displaced by younger and newer players. If you want to be there when it all falls apart, and everyone you know and love disappears, go right ahead. But my offer stands if you don't want to experience that."

"I'll pass." As he had the other offers from Miranda. Having to turn down a swim with a beautiful woman, or invitations to her room for tutoring on biotics. He had to compromise by taking the tutoring in the gym, and declining all of the invitations that would lead into areas or situations that would be detrimental. "But I really do appreciate the walk through on all this Asari martial arts."

Miranda flipped her hair over her shoulder, and Kaidan had to significant willpower to keep his eyes focused on her face. Julia and her were twins. Almost carbon copies of each other. All of the physical attributes of one were equivalent to the other. As Miranda kept reminding him. To look at one sister was to know what the other one looked like, and since they could mimic the other, it was an exercise in frustration on his part to know which sister to look at and what part of them to safely look at without consequence from one sister or the other. "You're an excellent student, Kaidan." The woman said, fully inviting his eyes to look over her. Replace her head with Julia's and there would be no difference.

He shook his head slightly and closed his eyes. That was a very risky direction to take with his thoughts. "I'll look forward to more of this tomorrow. I've gotta get some medi-gel on my wrist before we do any more hand to hand."

"Giving up after only a half hour?" Miranda chided. "I must have hit you harder than I thought."

"He's playing it safe." Julia said, coming out of invisibility. Gah, that too was a concern. She could be anywhere, and while Miranda was inviting of his looks, Julia also invited them, but only on her terms and only when she glanced at him first. There was a lot of tension between the sisters, and Kaidan knew that he was in the middle of it. It wasn't the first time he had been in a triangle of interest. He wasn't the kind of person to try a threesome or something crazy like that, where most men in his position would take advantage of that. But that was why his father was on his third marriage. "That Asari broke two of his ribs."

"Fine. You up for a round?" Julia was wearing Alliance regulation workout gear, as if to remind him that she was his commanding officer. He had seen her in less this week, and assumed that she was making a statement.

"Sure. Kaidan, you judge us." Kaidan took a deep breath. Two twins, both interested in him. One his officer, the other involved in terrorism. If he could just separate Julia out long enough to actually talk to her about this, maybe it wouldn't be so much trouble. But he would be insensitive if he didn't stay. Still, this was a vacation. He tried to keep his eyes centered on their wrists, watching for the opening moves of a biotic ability. Miranda's were graceful, beautiful motions. Julia's were fast, jagged, and blunt. He himself had thousands of hours of the same repetitive hand motions ingrained into his system. His looked nothing like Miranda's Asari trained motions, or Julia's self-taught methods.

"Begin." He said loudly. Though later he would very much admit that his eyes lingered elsewhere, in the moment he just tried to do his job. If nothing else, he was dependable. Years of dealing with politicians and bureaucrats had trained him to keep a level head in almost any kind of situation. That went out the window when Julia went in on Miranda with everything she had. Almost like she had something to prove. Even without a knife, the woman was the most brutal hand to hand combatant that he knew of. Miranda was on the defensive, her hands flashing with energy as she tried to take Julia's strikes.

The Asari martial arts were less about forcibly blocking a strike and more about avoiding it entirely or deflecting it. Julia capitalized on this, using Batarian  _Karem_  grappling methods. The upper class were never to dirty their hands, but the middle class were free to beat their slaves rather than stab them. With the change in government, these martial techniques had been shared among more than those who had been part of the Karem caste. Julia had used it on Spectre Vakarian, once. He hadn't had a good counter to it, and had been taken apart.

So too did she take down Miranda, her guard just breaking under the onslaught. With a cry of pain, she rolled backwards and came to a stop, Julia's elbow right above her neck. "What the hell!"

"I could say the same thing!" Julia shouted, both of them glowing with biotics. Kaidan decided at this point that this was no longer a fair match, and backed out before things got worse. Something his dad always mentioned came to mind. 'When two women start fighting over something, either get out or get between them.' His father usually went with the latter. A good man, for the most part. Kaidan took his father's advice and backed out of the room.

When he got to the kitchen, he found Williams standing in front of Andrew T'au, watching intently as the large polynesian was mixing a raspberry smoothie. Rahna was sitting there as well, and he gave her a grin. She responded, but the smile never reached her eyes. Rahna hadn't been open about anything, being withdrawn and quiet. He hadn't dared ask her about Suen. She hadn't asked him, and he didn't ask their other teammate. The man hadn't even returned from Huerta yet. Rahna was functional, though acid had burned away much of the muscles in her arm. The remainder had bonded to the artificial muscle implants, but her nerves still didn't quite know what they were.

"When do you actually mount your new arm?" Andrew asked. "You've had the Omni-fabricator running nonstop."

"I've got something from my grandpa I want to mount on it." Ashley said, still pale from her arm injury. Dr. Heart, now with access to a full medical suite, was able to clean up her amputated arm. Then he connected the amputated stump to a 'boot', or a jack. It was an artificial bone made to connect to the end of her natural bones. The artificial one would connect to the new cybernetic limb. It would also manage the medicine that would get her body to accept the cybernetics.

"Like what?" Andrew said, passing Lt. Commander Williams a cup full of smoothie. Her remaining left arm made the grab, catching the cup on her wrist and then wrapping her fingers around it. She was not left handed, and there was a slight wince as the woman grasped the cup.

"You'll see." Williams said, talking around her cup. The Titans were always supportive of their teammates. Andrew had taken it upon himself to cook for all of them at any opportunity, and made sure that Williams was eating enough, that Rahna wasn't hiding in her room, and that Joker wasn't spending too much time in the pool. It was the one sport that the man could do, as the strain on his bones was lessened in water.

Joker lived by the estate's pool. When he wasn't in the water he was enjoying the extranet terminal or his bed. The beds here had claimed a lot of time for all the officers. Kaidan hadn't slept all that well, though. The  _Acheron_  was parked in the estate's massive hangar bay. It was a reminder that this vacation wasn't going to last. In another few days they would be returning to the Citadel. Miranda was going to disappear into the Terminus before then, or wherever she was going to go.

"Hey team." He said in greeting. Andrew waved, Williams saluted with her cup, and Rahna grinned. "Any peanut butter left?"

"Sherry noticed that we ate the last crate." Rahna said. "She has an entire case arriving by drone sometime today."

Terra Nova had groves dedicated to nuts along its equator. That meant that he had the pleasure of eating freshly churned roasted peanuts, fresh berries, and anything else he could get his hands on that was home grown and not a protein or calorie supplement. Not to mention all of the alcohol he could get his hands on. Never enough to get drunk, but Kaidan imagined himself to one day have some idea of what was good and what wasn't. He didn't like tequila, and rum was some of the best way to feel a buzz. Sherry's fridge was stocked with plenty of beer and wine, though a bottle of Bacardi Select was in the cupboard. Williams loved whiskey, Andrew loved rum mixed with mangoes, and Rahna liked tea. He wanted to try everything that Terra Nova had before they left.

He jumped as a hand landed on his shoulder. Looking behind him, he couldn't see anyone. But the hand was there. "Garage." Julia whispered. He didn't respond. But he did smile. He made a show of eating some of the grapes and hummus that had been set out in front of Rahna, as well as a few fried chicken wings. Admittedly more than a few.

"I think I'll take a walk." Kaidan said, grabbing a couple of energy bars and some chocolate. "Call me if anything happens."

"Football is on at eight. Austria vs. South Africa." Andrew reminded him. Kaidan nodded, and stepped into the hallway leading to the garage. He saw that some of the vehicles were here, though a couple were in the middle of the garage and already warmed up. The two vehicles in front were large single person air cars, meant for high speeds and extreme performance. Sports cars, legally modified to the absolute limit. That made him smile. What was more interesting were the skis strapped to the frame.

Julia decloaked in front of the closer air car. "These things will take us anywhere within four hundred miles before anyone notices. These Fiats are common enough here with the factory on planet. I figured out on Noveria that you like skiing, and thought you might want to join me for a small trip."

"Without your sister?"

Her smile faltered slightly. "Maybe we can trust her on her own for the rest of today." She motioned towards the other air car. The Fiat was purring happily. "You've been very patient with my sister. When you asked me a couple months ago if we could go out, and I," She faltered a bit, biting her lip. "I thought you might enjoy skiing with me today."

"That I would." He said. " _If_  you promise to let me decide where we are going next time." Kaidan knew what he wanted. This was the first chance he had to explore what might happen.

Julia gave him a real smile, one that reached both of her cheeks. "I'd like that. Just don't take me to a club or anything. I'm terrible at dancing."

"Really?" Kaidan asked jokingly. "That's not what I saw back on the Citadel."

Her face was slightly red. "You were decent, too. You any good at swimming?"

"We didn't do it often in Solaris, but I don't mind it." Kaidan replied. "Got more in mind than skiing?"

"We're going out far enough that there won't be any trails or paths. There's also a lodge that we'll be stopping at. They have an Olympic sized pool that sits on top of the mountain."

She had been planning this getaway for a while. Enough that the cars had been prepped, and a small suitcase was packed. "I didn't bring anything for that kind of adventure." His under suit could handle the high desert altitude and temperature here on Terra Nova, and he didn't have much else in his bag.

"Neither did I." She said with a taunt. Then she slid into the seat of her car, and shut the door. Kaidan raised an eyebrow, considering. Miranda had nearly flashed him a couple of days ago, and that had given him a very clear idea of what he might expect to find with Julia. Oh yes, it was going to be that kind of trip.

She didn't even wait for him to sit down completely in his car. Tingling in all of the right places, Kaidan gunned the manual control pedals on the air car.

* * *

Farid Helium Headquarters, Sakharov Station, Sol System, January 2182

" _This one recommends that you try harder._ "

"I heard you the first time! You should have renamed the project Icarus, not Lazarus." Jenkins  _hated_  flying. He knew that he had some Hanar organ replacing his liver, with a Prothean designed device giving him the ability to float around like a Hanar. Which was why he was scaling the side of this building with the doctor. Jenkins huffed, and 'flexed' his liver. Learning how to do this was more than a week of physical therapy. It felt more like inflating a balloon with helium than it did flexing a muscle. His chest felt like pressure was building with every second as he rose into the air, and his fingers and toes tingled something fierce.

" _You are very far from combusting, L-2._ " Beside him, the Hanar seemingly made this flying business easy. Considering all of his race were capable of it, of course he made it seem easy. " _Thirty feet from the balcony._ "

He sucked in air, rising higher and higher. "This has got to be the weirdest insertion I've ever done." When he finally reached the railing, he pulled himself over it and welcomed the feeling of gravity. Even if it was artificial gravity generated from this station. It was in Saturn's gravity well. The so called capital of the planet, though how a space station could be considered a capital Jenkins didn't want to think about. At one point he would have considered himself a simple man with simple needs. Go here, stand guard on this planet, shoot up some pirates or mercenaries, kick ass. Make sure that his cousin was taken care of. Hock had done that much, at least. Karen was on a full ride scholarship, and got the entire result of his life insurance policy, and then some.

Hock had seemingly set up bank accounts that had his name on it, for stocks in Helium-3 mining companies all over Alliance space. Upon his 'death' Karen had inherited them all, and was rich. He got his wish, that his cousin would be taken care of. None of it seemed legal, or based on favors from some 'friend' or another of Hock. When he met the Ambassador with Julia, she hadn't trusted him. He didn't know if it was true of all politicians or of just Hock, but everything the man did was smooth. Anything that was needed or wanted, it happened. Legality didn't matter in his eyes, so long as his needs were met.

That's how Jenkins got a ship, and a few ex-Alliance marines in under a week. His pilot was some crazy South African, John 'Deadlift' Sumu. His men answered to him, and it was clear that they were loyal to whoever was paying for them. Hock had them convinced that Jenkins himself was the source of that money, and by extension they listened to whatever he said. He didn't know if they had given him their real names or not, but they were loyal to the money.

He trusted them somewhat. His partner in most things was the jellyfish. The damn jellyfish with a love of SMGs and suture needles. He also used cloaking technology, and didn't need to touch the ground. He was unfortunately  _very_  good at his job. Once he set his feet down, Jenkins sighed. "Ok, get that door open."

The eye implant he had clearly outlined the cloaked form of the Hanar, as it smoothly removed the electrical panel on the door and started pulling on wires. He had a fanny pack full of tools, both medical and electronic. He watched as the Hanar skillfully sliced the wires and replaced them with his own. The glaring red symbols on the small haptic display changed to green after a minute and a half. " _Entrance created._ " The Hanar said helpfully. " _You are understanding my pheromone signals perfectly, correct?_ "

"Yeah." That was the unwanted side of the eye implant. It took in more than he wanted, and controlling and filtering what he could perceive and how  _much_  it perceived were directed by the doctor. Since his Omni-tool was internal, the Hanar could monitor and control his implants remotely. One of those was connected to his nose, able to interpret Hanar and Elcor olfactory gland expressions. Hanar bioluminescence was also something that his eye was able to interpret and then translate into an inner ear implant. "Come on, this needs to be done quickly." Jenkins was still cloaked. Hock had rebuilt him with a tactical cloaking generator. He understood why Julia abused the thing so much. It was just such a clear advantage that he couldn't help but abuse it.

" _Go ahead. These corporate offices won't have anything other than rudimentary sensors on this level. It's all under construction._ " Sure enough, the entire floor was covered in construction paper and equipment. Jenkins chuckled, seeing the footprints in the dust of the plastic sheeting. Focusing, he squished his liver and felt his feet leave the floor. Being able to fly meant that he could make it through this entire area without leaving a trace. The door closed behind him, and he followed Dr. Finds-Secrets into the building. His motion tracker lit up, as a man wearing a generic guard uniform came into the hallway. The poor guy didn't even see him.

He was able to see the guard step towards the door, investigating the alarm that probably had alerted him. "Front desk, I'm at the door. Looks like those construction workers tapped into the local power grid. Lock appears fine, glass undamaged. Maybe those idiots tripped something." The guard muttered. "Going to take a walk through the rest of this to find out if there are any other shorts or equipment left plugged in."

" _Copy that. I'll monitor from here._ " A voice responded, coming out of his cheap Omni-tool. He then started walking through the entire floor, on alert and looking for anything out of place. He did a good job, unlike most guards. Too bad he wasn't trained to avoid Hanar and people that could levitate. He tried not to laugh as they floated over his head, the arching ceiling of the corporate headquarters working to their advantage. The guard was under them twice more, unplugging the heavy forklift and the larger hydraulic compressor. They had to hurry, and he eventually held onto the Hanar to pull him the rest of the way without him having a giant headache. Since Jenkins was not a Hanar, he could only levitate for so long before his blood pressure shot up and his heart rate got too high. Right now that limit was four minutes. Dr. Finds-Secrets pulled him along like he was a kite, and Jenkins tried not to hurl as the twisting motions sent his limbs all over the place.

He twisted upside down when the Hanar dove through a scaffolding, almost scuffing the bars. When the spinning came to a stop, Jenkins was hovering over a desk inside of an unfinished office. He huffed, glaring at the jellyfish with his right eye. The one that could actually see him. "Alright, Rubix, you in position?"

" _Security on this level is tight. Two of us are under scrutiny. We don't have a clear shot._ " His guys weren't great, but he needed loyalty more than he needed skill. At least on this mission. " _Snap and Crackle are ready._ " Jenkins nodded, happy at least that the escape method was clear.

"Clear. Ivan is in position." His Hanar friend took apart the thermostat, and started changing the controls for the local atmosphere. This included the atmospheric pressure sensors. That way the guards wouldn't notice when the glass of the window was broken. Because this was tempered glass, there was no way to avoid breaking it. Thankfully, he had a Hanar. Finds-Secrets set up a small drone, meant to keep glass from going everywhere when things went to crap. It clamored up the glass pane, covering it with a layer of tape that was clear and went over the top of the glass. Then, when he fired his rifle, it would minimize the amount of glass shards that went everywhere. Once the process completed, Finds-Secrets scooped up the drone and nodded his 'nose' happily.

" _That appears to be our target._ " The Hanar said. " _I shall provide cover._ "

"Not with an SMG." Jenkins muttered. The jellyfish wasn't a biotic, he was more of a tech specialist. "I see him." Hanz Bhoer. He was a big business tycoon and a known lobbyist. He had more than a few friends in high and low places, and he was the reason that they were here tonight. Hock had found out that he was having some kind of party here on Saturn, inside of a very secure building. Jenkins was a quarter mile from him, and he had to use the focus of his right eye to see into the building. It was another one of those odd abilities that snuck up on him in its subtlety. If he wanted to, he could use his right eye as a microscope in the field. Right now, he watched as Hanz sat with a few other men wearing suits and masks, all of whom were under the attention of short young hostesses. This wouldn't be out of the ordinary if it wasn't for the fact that all of the girls serving these men were under 15. Hanz Bhoer was at the center of a child prostitution ring a mile wide, and even though he was on the board of many companies that benefitted the Alliance, he was too dirty. As he watched, the man's hand was reaching to clasp the head of one of the servers.

He looked away before his all-too intrusive eyes gave any more away. " _Pop can't make his position._ "

Jenkins scowled. "Roger. Execute in thirty." He reached for the gigantic rifle on his back, the long head extending through the cut made in the glass. He didn't need a scope. His eye was connected to the rifle and the rifle responded to the movements of his eye. He focused it in, seeing the look of lascivious enjoyment on the faces of the men at the table. Hanz was as bad as any of these men. He knew that this man was critical to the function of Sirta, but he was also the source of much of the dirty money that went through a lot of this. More importantly, he supported the most corrupt Senator of them all, Senator Halmabad.

He watched as Bhoer fondled the young girl in front of him, and she flinched. Jenkins didn't have to think any harder on his orders. When the thirty second mark came, Hanz Bhoer ceased to exist, and the young girl that he had been reaching for was spared his interest. The other men at the table panicked, and everyone in the room ran for cover after the shot went off. His gun, smoking, was drawn back through the gel they had placed over the hole. By the time they found out where the shot had come from, the gel would harden and become part of the glass, indistinguishable from the surrounding material. No footprints or signs of their being here would remain, and Jenkins could safely extract.

The door behind them opened, and the guard from earlier came in, flashlight out and directed towards the glass. Jenkins had broken his tactical cloaking field when he had made the shot, and now both he and the guard locked gazes. Perhaps they hadn't done a good enough job, or maybe the atmospheric sensors weren't actually hacked. As he reached for his wrist, his Hanar squadmate struck. It came out of invisibility, one of its tentacles stabbing into the mouth and into the side of the man's cheek. The guard dropped, without a mark or cut on his body. The Hanar killed the man through the saliva glands.

" _He shall not wake again._ " The Hanar said carefully. It's front tentacles caressed the cheek of the guard, in a way that made Jenkins feel slightly sickened. " _It is a shame we cannot dispose of this body properly. We should leave soon._ " It's tentacle removed the OSD from the Omni-tool, and the jellyfish cloaked once again. Jenkins followed suit and they left the building, the next strike to reduce corruption already planned out. ' _Sorry Julia.'_  He muttered to himself. He didn't want to believe what Hock was telling him about how corrupt her entire organization was, but with every one of these men killed, he was getting closer and closer to finding the truth. The Alliance needed it..

* * *

Author's Note

This is more of a fluffy chapter. A bit of filler and resolution for what is going on with the crew of the Normandy. For all of you Tali fans, don't fret. She will be fine once her replacement kidney ships. I got a bit of fire for that, and I apologize. There were a lot of casualties in the last chapter, and so we had to include our new jellyfish-man. Floater. Dingly Meatbag. Goodness knows there are a lot of great names for Jenkins right now. Not to mention I get to write about my favorite Hanar serial killer.

Everyone please thank Robotecha for saving my booty. His latest job goes into the structural limitations of building materials. Specifically glass. So you can consider him your god of glasswares, because I got an hour of exposition about how incorrect and wrong my first run through of this last scene was.


	70. Lucid: Off with Her Head

Chapter 70

Huerta Hospital, The Citadel, Widow Nebula, January 2183

"Alright, now lift up your knee." The doctor told him. "You can do this." It was only the fiftieth time he had asked him to. "Mr. Pressley?" His Omni-tool flashed. "What are you doing?"

"Taking a picture of your face so that I have inspiration to pass my gun trials." Charles Pressley was tired of some crackpot twenty five year old doctor telling him how to recover from a knee replacement. This was his third. "It's been awhile since I had to renew."

"I think we are done here today." The young git said. "Though I am noting that this is an unhealthy fixation."

"Go ahead." Pressley said, fixing him with the same glare he reserved for catching Joker abusing his extranet privileges. The doctor wilted, but wrote it anyways. Ballsy piece of crap. Though he certainly didn't waste time in leaving his hospital room. Though the man's retreat was entertaining, he didn't laugh. Becca didn't have that kind of restraint, and gave a full belly laugh before the door had even shut. "Becca!" He groaned, looking at the distance between him and his bed.

"Sorry, Sorry." She said, offering him her shoulder. Pressley used it but kept his back straight. When he collapsed into the bed, it was with a sigh. He didn't want to admit that he felt slightly winded.

"No you're not."

"Maybe I'm not." She admitted. "Six hours until he comes back. You hungry?"

"My insurance only covers the room, not the hospital food." He muttered. "What are you craving?" Being in the military quickly killed your taste buds for anything other than steak.

"Steamed rice. Egg noodles."

"Pho?" Pressley asked. "I'd like that."

"Don't curse out the nurses when I'm gone." Becca said. The Citadel was slightly chilled, and her nice sweater had some secondary school sports team on it. "It's unbecoming of you."

"No, that is your job." Pressley told her. "You don't like sharing."

"Damn right. Stay in bed, you crotchety old man." Pressley chuckled, as Becca went out the door. He didn't like being bored, and so he tapped his wrist to activate the large haptic screen that took up the window. Cheap Alliance bastards. They combined the window with a haptic screen, which meant that the glare from the Widow Nebula tinted the glass, and therefore the entire haptic feed. So everything he saw was purple. The only people on screen that benefited were the Asari. With that in mind, he turned on the first news station he could find.

" _In light of the new Hanar economic initiative, the price of titanium and iron have dropped significantly. Our news teams inside Hanar space report that large factories are being repurposed and deployed. After a long recession, the Hanar are finally coming out of it. Employment among the fry has gone up almost ten percent in their orbital facilities. Clan Fors has already secured an agreement with the Hanar to supply additional processed food to their mining facilities outside of their home systems. We here at SNI are hopeful that this causes growth across all of Council Space._ " The now purple skinned Asari said. " _We are also happy to celebrate the liberation of Asteria by the forces of-_ "

"Lies." Pressley muttered, changing the channel.

" _The avalanche that happened over the last weekend on Terra Nova was discovered to be intentional. The avalanche displaced over three cubic miles of snow onto the unfinished hydroelectric dam project. This has set the project back months, and may cause flooding over the fragile Terra Nova pecan grove industry south of the Graebe Mountain range. With the dam now off schedule, much of the pecan industry is now up in the air. The 145th Army division is now on site, and carefully removing the possible sources of runoff. A search has been ongoing for the perpetrators of this avalanche. A reward of twenty five hundred credits has been posted for any information leading to their capture._ "

"I think I earned more than that on combat pay this month." Pressley muttered. "How in the hell is this even worth reporting? Gimme something about the war…" He switched channels again. This time he found Westerlund News, but the search feed he typed in showed that it was the only one talking about the Rachni at this hour. With a sour frown, he tuned in to that filth. It connected into a talk show, with three reporters

" _Eden Prime is still reporting a few Rachni along its surface, with a few new sightings along the Granger Fault. Due to the tectonic fracturing of the area, kinetic strikes are not possible. A cave-by-cave search has now been undertaken by the 441st RRU on Eden Prime. Rehabilitation of the population has begun. The colony is still shattered._ "

" _And whose fault is that? The Alliance had weapons meant to fight drones and synthetics. Our armed forces weren't even carrying weapons that could harm any alien force,_ _ **including**_ _the Rachni when they invaded. That kind of failure must be addressed!_ " Pressley didn't even care what their names were, having to listen to ten sentences to get any kind of facts equivalent to a single sentence. " _The Alliance didn't have any kind of warning system in place for this! You would think we didn't learn anything from our war with the Turians!_ "

" _Even though they are in a worse situation than ourselves, with the Rachni on Galatana._ " Pressley had enough of this. " _The Alliance has mismanaged this entire-"_

He just turned off the vid feed, switching back to a normal info feed. Lines of text went over the screen, showing a few info bursts.  _Element Zero tanker hijacked by Rachni at Turian base on Galatana_.  _Rachni frigate destroys four Alliance frigates in Attican Beta. Human Spectre ship can go anywhere, hit anything!_ Pressley tapped that one, seeing it as only an independent news source called the Hash. It simply talked about theories of what the ship was capable of. Though he did see that someone had the bright idea of publicising his lecture to the Alliance command structure on how to fight a damn Rachni fleet. Especially their queen vessels. He entertained himself with the stories and discussion regarding it, until the chat invites started.

Apparently someone had traced him to the hospital, and the calls from servicemen on and off duty were not insignificant. Grumbling, he agreed to a lecture series regarding the Rachni, directed towards the navigators and space borne naval officers. Admiral White even sent him a message condoning the action, not a minute after he posted about the possibility of such. Hell, it would help him kill time until Becca got back with food.

Then he saw a flash report. He clicked on it, seeing President Huerta standing with Admirals Drescher and Hackett were with him. Intrigued, Pressley turned up the volume. " _We are proud to announce a new theatre of the Alliance war against the Rachni. In moments, our Third Fleet will be arriving at Galatana to relieve the pressure on the Turian forces. Our marines will be flanking the Rachni forces, and with both of our militaries joined together we can crush the Rachni on Galatana. In our allies most desperate hour of need, the Alliance will step up to the challenge. As we speak, our troops and supplies are dropping onto the Prietas region. Their mission is to hit the Rachni where it matters._ "

The Turian Primarch, Fedorian, stood up with them. " _We are proud to stand with our Human allies and brothers in arms against the Rachni menace. With the aid of the Alliance Third fleet, we are deploying four dreadnoughts and three fleets into the Attican Traverse. We shall assist in the hunting down and destruction of the Rachni fleets, before they can land any more forces on civilized worlds._ "

"I'll be damned." Pressley muttered. "Now we're in for it."

* * *

Galatana, Hykse System, January 2183

Over the greenish blue skies of Galatana, sonic booms started sounding. In the lost Prietas region, the Rachni had held total control for the last month. Turian forces had been forced to give up the area. Their hover tanks couldn't handle the high altitude lakes and rich mineral dust that was drawn into the air intake. The lakes and mud were impossible for the Turian formations to use as cover or march through. The few resources in the area were focused around a few mining settlements and a high water table.

The Rachni loved having the fresh water and the minerals that were all over the area. Peat bogs and swamp land were places that favored them. Which was why they panicked when the heavy machinery came down. They started swarming, coming out of the mud to investigate the heavy machines that had impacted deep into the mud. All of them were at the edge of the water table, where a large amount of igneous rock was holding back the water from flowing down into the fertile valleys. It was here that the Alliance's special units dropped.

The Rachni had moved much of their armored forces away from here, as the Turians had abandoned this area quickly when they first showed up. It was believed that the Rachni had used this place as a central location to build up their forces before the fighting started as well. Right now they had no solid defensive positions above ground. There were no anti-air defenses, nothing to stop the dropships that followed the equipment.

"Let's go! Form a defensive line, get those turrets operational!" Commander Horace Shepherd grinned. It was  _his_  men that were ordered to go in first, and the ones on the dropships all volunteered for this. "Keep your trousers on, you gits!" Some of the men dropping hadn't even seen combat yet. They were new trainees that had just come from their bases on Luna and Sao Paolo. Some of the men coming had been trained for underground combat, and Horace hadn't just spent his leave going through the same thing for nothing. "Guns forward!"

Their machinery had teams of engineers already swarming around them, dredging machines and drills starting up with loud gurgles of their winches. His shuttles dropped men on outcroppings, and heavy machine guns were in place within thirty seconds. The men on those guns didn't have long to wait. Rachni started crawling out of the mud, the thick sludge making it hard to know if they were wearing armor or not. But his men answered their calls with gunfire. Rachni died, their warriors being targeted on multiple angles by heavy guns. The workers that managed to get out of the sludge met napalm and grenades, in copious quantities.

" _This is Victus primary. Are you in position?_ "

"Yes, General Victus. You can stop coddling us. We volunteered to come and help you. Now get off our channel and let us do our job."

" _Certainly. Though our tectonic scanning equipment registered a massive shift in the last sixty seconds. You've stirred up a few hundred thousand of them. Our artillery are happy to assist you._ "

The Turian left the comm channel soon after, and Horace sighed happily. "Engineers, how long until we can move?"

" _Ten minutes, Sir!_ " Ten minutes out in the open, with no cover and no reinforcements. Behind him, at the most stable of rock formations in the area, the cliffs that separated these high altitude wetlands from the plains below. These plains were the source of many massive herds of animals that the Turians relied upon for food sources. These populations were extremely sensitive to the amount of water that went through their territory, as they were originally from a desert region. They didn't have any self-control about their water intake, and could over water themselves.

The Turians would never have considered this strategy. Their herds were too critical to them, even with the Rachni threat. But the Alliance were natives of a planet that was used to flooding. The Turians rarely had flooding concerns, and didn't have the technology meant to stop it. The Alliance fighter wings that started making runs on the plain behind the cliff were flying low, heavily loaded. Streamers of foam landed, from this distance appearing like whipped cream shots across the landscape. If he were up close, he would be staring at enough foam to equate a skyscraper dropped horizontally.

This technology had been invented by the Chinese, for use in restraining rivers quickly. The British had then made it air deployable for stopping forest fires, creating a non flammable foam that could block water from moving through it. Cleaning it up was harder than juggling three women. Still, the Alliance had come prepared to run a hundred miles of this foam to force any flood water to empty out into the nearby desert. Not as damaging compared to flooding the entire plain, but still a better solution.

" _Flyboys say that the first layer has been dropped. We are starting our gear._ "

Horace nodded. "Godspeed, gentlemen." He turned to his men. "Alright, you lot. You trained for this. Before those bastards get to the surface, get some wire lines set up, drones, whatever else. Mine platoons! Move up! The rest of you will give them cover."

The Rachni did not fail to react. Within two minutes the mud puddles were vibrating and separating around the armor that was rising. "Colonel! Incoming!" He glanced up, and saw two Brood Warriors break through a sand bar out about a football stadium away. "More coming in on the flank!"

"Light 'em up!" Horace barked. Napalm rained upon the mud pockets, and the peat. This was why this location was chosen. The peat lit up, the bogs catching fire and belching light colored smoke. By all reports this area was going to smell terrible. Peat burned and left stinking smoke behind. Best of all, it burned slowly and hot. The entire landscape turned into a maw of hell, with fires burning every which direction and only the rock outcroppings safe. Smoke unfortunately didn't bother Rachni, but it did ruin their thermal scopes. Their plasma weapons were linked to thermal scanning equipment in their helmets.

The N program in Buenos Aires had found out that Rachni didn't like fighting in the heat. Their technology was sensitive to it, especially their plasma guns. These peat bogs were critical to their strategy. " _Kilo two, we've got you covered._ " Four Moonhawk class gunships came through the smoke, missile launchers on each wing. The missiles were filled with titanium ball bearings, compressed oxygen, and a bit of methane. In addition to the actual warhead, these armor piercing bearings were meant to take out Brood Warriors. It was with great joy that his support pilots sighted the Brood Warriors and began their attack run.

One of the gunships took a burst of plasma to the left wing, and was forced to break off. Another took a biotic ability, seemingly alright after the hit. Then a second ability stuck the same area, and the canopy imploded. Like a bird without a wing, it dropped to the ground in a ball of fire. The two surviving gunships on the attack run dropped their payload of missiles, and Horace grinned as one of the Brood Warriors went up. The other tried twisting around, but its weapon was forward mounted. The gunships just hovered above it, staying out of the firing arc. Unlike the Brood Warrior's cannon, the missile pods didn't have to wait before reloading. Burning fire covered the Brood Warrior, and it screamed as it died. " _Kilo two, we're going to support Bravo three before they go down._ "

Horace waved his hand, glaring at the engineers. "Understood. Mine squads, arm the wires." He watched as the Rachni warriors hit his lines. The first row of them burned in fire and explosives, but the second row hit the rifle fire of his firing line.  _His_  firing line. His chest swelled as the first thirty seconds were almost devoid of returning fire. That didn't last, as Rachni workers started unburrowing next to his men's positions. Even the most hardened of soldiers would find it hard to stop those little bastards. Seeing them dig into the joints of armor and appear inside of the visors of his men was the sight of nightmares. A man ten feet from him went down, clawing at his neck as four of the workers crawled up his face and through his eye sockets. "Napalm in close!" He barked again, and he could hear his second in command puke inside of his suit in response to the order. Horace was a Welsh man through and through. Some of the things he had eaten and done in his childhood in the country prepared him for seeing this. But even he was not prepared for seeing that.

"They're flanking us!" His third in command, Singh, stated. "Those workers pulled men off of the right!" Sure enough, the right flank was starting to go down, the heavy machine guns silent as workers swarmed over the previous positions. Their center had only been hit by a few compared to the other side, where little more than his shuttles held the line now. Due to the mud, they couldn't drop armor in. A few fireteams still were in place along the line, but it was already starting to look bad over there.

"Drop the fourth platoon over there instead of here. Higgs, take your squad and clear out the workers. Move!" His men responded, like they had been taught. Napalm washed over the line in controlled bursts, his men clearing the bodies of their downed squadmates and moving to the machine guns that had once been occupied. Not a moment too soon, however, as the first wave of armored Rachni stepped through the flames. Acid sprayed over the unprepared right flank, and his men died in droves. The center held, and the left did as well. But their guns were all cherry-red and squealing within minutes. "Kilo-2, requesting air strike! Right flank!"

He almost stumbled, as the rock around him loosened in response to the massive string of bombs and hail of fire that was focused on the right flank. " _Kilo-2, the wounded and dead are being extracted by secondary shuttle group Charlie. Medical techs are inbound._ "

"Negative on that, Command." Horace stated. "You drop those billies in here and they'll just get chopped up like the rest. Hold off, we'll pick them up in the washout."

" _Are you saying we are going to just let them die?!_ " Another voice entered the channel. " _Those men are flatlining out there!_ "

"Unless you've got a way of dealing with swarms of those little bastards, there is nothing we can do. Our boys are going to burn under that napalm as fast as those workers. Their shells have a higher resistance to temperature change than our Onyx armor. We don't have a better method than Napalm. The codgers up high knew the cost of this was going to be high. Get off my channel and let me finish this out."

The right flank fell apart completely, workers and warriors alike swarming through the burning peat and mud to hit the engineers and their vehicles. None of them escaped their vehicles, as they had already dug in past a height that they could open the canopy safely. The Rachni only got inside the machines, but some of them still ran, their drill no longer being guided by Human operators. That was as much a liability as it was a help. "Kilo-2, Bravo flight. I need you to hit out drilling machines on the right flank."

" _Negative, negative. We've got another Brood Warrior coming in on the right flank. Bravo flight inbound on target._ " Horace grimaced. " _Bingo! Bravo-3 get out of there!_ " Two more of his gunships passed overhead, the third one trailing behind. It got hit by some biotic ability, plasma bursts hitting it as it came in too low over the battlefield. Burning, the gunship pivoted, its missile pods ejecting every single round into the gathered forces. It was never going to finish the attack run. The pilot ejected, his chutes getting caught in the wind and pulling him towards the foam. He spared the pilot no other glances. The man did his job.

" _Kilo-2_ , _this is the SSV_ Constantinople.  _We've been equipped for atmospheric combat and are deploying to your right flank._ "

"Thank god for that!" Singh muttered, a handheld missile launcher in his arms. The  _Constantinople_  had been retooled. The top of her hull had been set up with a railing, and thirty heavy machine guns. Marines were manning each one, and the GUARDIAN laser batteries were already warmed up. It was a thing of beauty to watch the entire side of the frigate open up on the right flank. Inaccurate at the range of one click as it may be, the volume of fire was still enough to pin down everything. "Push! Keep them back!"

"Running low on napalm and grenades!"

"Keep it up! Keep your temperature under control!" Horace yelled, bracing his rifle against his own shoulder. He liked to fire in three round bursts, his Longsword III already warm. High Explosive rounds didn't do well for temperature control, but they certainly made the Rachni look like rubbish. Any Warrior that came near him died, and he made certain of it.

" _Colonel! We've reached target depth!_ "

"Get back to the surface, set the charges, quick like!" He looked down the line, where the Warriors and workers were nearly overwhelming them. "Shuttle flight, in close! Time to extract, sixty seconds! All squads, expend all grenades! Create some room! Kilo-2 requesting smoke grenades and artillery, range twenty meters!"

Turian artillery was magical. Humans believed that they had perfected it, but somehow those gizzards had figured it out even better. You called it in, and they could drop and pinpoint the scatter of debris to the inch. So much so that their targeting satellites could lock into their position and have their magical artillery strike within the exact square inch for maximum yield. It was like a wave of force, starting two hundred meters back and rolling forward in a glorious red and black streak. This was followed by smoke, obscuring the battlefield and making the Rachni reinforcements blind. During this time, his engineers had surfaced in their digging machines, abandoning them and running for the shuttles that were landing on rock platforms.

The shuttles touched down exactly within forty five seconds, and the engineers loaded up first. Horace had the center, which meant that the largest group of surviving engineers was passing him. His rifle overheated, and so he let it drop to his hip and pulled out his service pistol. It barked happily, not his favorite weapon. It rarely got enough use. But it was enough to put down a wounded Warrior. His shotgun came out, as everyone in front of him retreated back onto the shuttles. When all of the engineers and Napalm equipped squads got on the shuttles, Horace started backing up. A Warrior came forward, screeching as it sprayed acid towards him. Horace grimaced, but with engineers behind him there was nothing for it. He pressed a button on his wrist, Omni-gel springing into place around a wire frame.

The Omni-gel hardened instantly, the wire frame extending out into a circular shield. The process took under a second, the brainchild of the Cerberus Foundation. The acid hit the shield, and the Warrior screamed in rage as he bounced its acid away. It charged, coming close enough to fire plasma. It took five units of Omni-gel to use this shield, and already it was withering under the pressure of plasma weapons and acid. When the Warrior came within melee range, Horace stepped closer, slamming the bottom of the shield into the ground and wedging the top under the Rachni's chin. It's neck and the thin armor layer there was exposed, and his shotgun rested happily under its chin, the yellow tinted barrell looking like a smilie face. "N7, you bugger!"

Blood and bone rained around him as he stepped inside the nearby shuttle, and the last shuttle took off from the cliff. The Rachni swarmed, seeking out the wounded and the dying. Onyx armor just wasn't built for this. Looking down at the remainder of his shield, he shrugged the remains off the side of the shuttle. "Unbreakable my ass. Too expensive to deploy everywhere." He tapped his wrist. "Colonel Shepherd to Command. Kilo-2 is clear." More than a third of his men were still down there. They knew it and he knew it.

" _Roger that. Blowing the charges._ " The entire quarter mile of cliff face that they had been deployed over went up, along with another quarter mile to the left flank. The right didn't break as it should have, but all they needed was one third of the explosives to make this work. Water burst from the blown holes, and for the first time ever the Prietas region's water table shifted. They would have to shore this up and bring in more water from orbit when this was all said and done, but in the meantime this destabilized the Rachni considerably. They enjoyed total control over this region, but with the spongy bedrock and dirt, all of their tunnels were near the surface. Removing the water from the area would harden all of that clay, and all of the mud that they were using to incubate their young. Best of all, he noted as he watched a Rachni Brood Warrior tumble out of the holes, was that their tunnels would collapse into the moving water.

"That's a pretty sight, command. I can confirm Rachni among the debris. Jolly good work."

" _Indeed, Colonel. Get your men out of there. The way is now clear. Their caves will be exposed as soon as the water stops flowing._ "

"Get with the Turians and start burning any sources of carbon. They'll need it for their webbing." He said. "Then my boys can form a beach head. Get to what we really trained for."

" _Roger that. Armor and Heavy support inbound._ " Good God, it was starting. The Rachni didn't have a foothold in Alliance space. The Alliance Marines were then obliged to go and find them and then beat their sorry asses until they all were dead. Not to mention it made the Turians uncomfortable.

* * *

Galatana, Hykse System, January 2183

"Welcome, Commander." Admiral White stated. Sitting at the table were four Admirals. Two were Turian, and they had two of their own standing next to them in support. "Admiral Hackett did not like the idea of sharing you at first."

"We're happy to be here." There was a spring in her step as she walked towards the table. There really was nothing like getting laid. It managed to make your back feel like it had been both straightened and tightened all at once. Loose everywhere that you normally felt sore and tight everywhere you felt out of sorts. Her legs were still feeling a bit electrified, as if she had woken up that morning already having done a full workout. She and Kaidan had lost track of time and where they had been skiing, they lost track of where they had been going. A few playful biotic abilities and they had accidentally caused a massive avalanche.

Kaidan was a gentleman, and managed to keep them from getting sucked into the mess. She rewarded him very well, very well indeed. Two and a half days they spent at that tiny little mountain inn, until she was too sore and he didn't rise to the occasion. After that they just relaxed, and talked. Talked about anything, nothing, everything in between. But she had to filter everything she said. Details that were supposed to be limited to aliases, security clearance levels, and especially political issues that she didn't want to talk about. Kaidan, too, filtered what he said. In that moment she didn't really care, but given time to think about it, there were concerns.

He didn't have the security clearance to even know about her basic training, much less the missions she did on the side. Or about her infiltration of Cerberus trained units. Some of their conversations trailed off into uncomfortable silence, where one or the other was not permitted to speak on the subject. But the sex more than made up for it. Julia had never slept with any of her targets for missions, even though some had tried to convince her to. She always got the job done without resorting to seduction. Or at least without following through. She had slept with David, and with a few other men. Kaidan had stamina and core strength that allowed for some amazing technique, which was partially why she was still sore even with a night of rest on the  _Normandy_.

"Commander Constantine." Garrus stated. He seemed to draw himself up straighter around the Turian Admirals. "Now that you're here I can get back to my job."

"I'll miss you on the frontline, Spectre." One of the Turians mentioned. He had the same colony paint as Nihlus Kryik. Black plates with white-grey paint. "General Adrian Victus. I command the legions along the northern frontier and the Prietas region. Spectre Vakarian has been on loan to us for a while, and I for one appreciate his presence."

"Glad to be of service." Garrus admitted, though he leaned his face away from the Turian general to give her a wink though his visor-covered eye. "Though I am happy to see my charges once again."

Halmabad gave him a jaunty wave, one which their Turian friend returned via head nod. "We're here for a briefing?"

"Yes." Admiral Hackett stated. "Come over to the haptics. Let's get this over with." Julia approached the table full of Admirals. The two Turians looked uncomfortable, but hardly as uncomfortable as Desolous. He sat as far from the Alliance personnel as possible. Especially Admiral Drescher. She and Desolous had locked eyes, threatening violence. They had been on opposite sides of the battlefield at one point, and Drescher had forced Desolous to retreat. He had sabotaged the refueling platforms for the entire solar system, crippling her ability to chase down the retreating Turian fleet elements. There was plenty of bad blood between them, and dead subordinates aplenty. Both of the Admirals looked old, the same age as Desolous. They didn't have any kind of smiles or respect for the Humans at the table.

"Earlier today, Elements of Alliance Army units went forward on the initial plan to put pressure on the Rachni. In the Prietas region, the Rachni have enjoyed total control for two months. During that time they chose to make their main hive here, in these marsh regions. Turian armor couldn't function up there and neither could their infantry. Civilian population was evacuated or annihilated within weeks." Drescher stated. Her animosity was there, but she was showing the Turians respect as well. "Turian fighter-bombers and Alliance infantry units combined to make an assault on the highlands. The water table for the entire plateau runs at a higher elevation, and the Rachni tunnels in the area are not as reinforced or as deep. The deepest ones that we have been able to scan were no more than two hundred meters deep."

She watched as Alliance forces landed on Galatana, bursting open holes in the solid cliff face that kept the marsh preserved. "Sonic and vibration based weapons were deployed on the nearby hillsides to cause mudslides, as well as a Maser-Hadne bomb." The Volus weapon was designed to be used in most situations. Here she watched as it was detonated at the far side of the plateau, right at the water table. This forced millions of gallons of water to be displaced, going to the location with the least amount of pressure. Julia watched in a live feed as millions of gallons of water was being shunted out of the cliffside, flooding the entire plain and some of it even going over the edges of the foam. The damage to the local ecosystem was being monitored by Turian techs, and they were reporting and coordinating with fighter-bomber teams to keep the foam in place with further runs. "Phase one is now complete."

Victus stood up. "Without water to conceal their presence, we've used thermal imaging and deep scanning to pick up exactly where the Rachni are at this moment." All of the Turians leaned forward slightly when they saw the sheer number of thermal signatures. The Humans leaned back, herself included. "Spirits." He murmured. "This doesn't match the size of the hives on record."

There were more than three million Rachni gathered here. A normal hive only had around a million, and two extra hive's worth should not have been able to support themselves here. "Euredna Spaceport is the closest position to this. They can't take on these kinds of numbers." The younger Turian Admiral stated. "We can't go forward with the plan."

"We have to." Hackett stated. "We've deployed, and both of our governments already made a commitment to deal with the Rachni."

"Government promises are empty." Drescher rebutted. "But it is true. We did come here to kill these bugs. Why are there three times the normal amount of Rachni here?"

"Perhaps they are staging for a massive attack on our positions." Victus said. "We need to start landing reinforcements before these can escape!"

His associate growled. "We can't just contain them! We have hours until they start digging new tunnels with the exposed water table. Hours before they can break through to the other hives."

Another hand gripped his shoulder, and an Asari wearing Turian colors and facepaint stepped forward. She was wearing the proper colors to match their military, too. "Sir, you'll want to see this."

"Thank you Captain." He said with respect. Julia frowned at that. The haptic interface in between everyone shifted, switching over to scanning settings meant for mining operators. But it highlighted a large cavern, at the center of all of this. It was stocked with Element Zero, in large quantities. "Where did they get that much?"

"That freighter that went down. It was a couple hundred clicks from here." The other Admiral brought up, showing on the haptics the location. "It matches around two thirds of the eezo there. The rest they must have been saving for months."

"Records indicate that the Rachni would gather Element Zero together like this when they were making ships or reproducing."

"Reproduction shouldn't require that much element zero, though."

"No. This would only apply if they were making Brood Warriors or Queens." Victus replied. "This area doesn't have enough resources to make their starship hulls. Captain Felus, how much element zero is predicted to be required for a Rachni Queen?"

The Asari returned, with a datapad. "Sir, with that amount of element zero there might be another six queens hatching down there." The Admirals at the table closed their eyes, Victus even looking disheartened. "Life cycle estimates, provided by the STG, show that those queens may take only weeks to hatch. We have no way of knowing when they will hatch or when they were first lain."

"Approve of full strikes. We have to destroy them!" Victus shouted. "Spirits forget the consequences!"

"Not while we still hold ground on Galatana!" The older Admiral said with vigour. His colony markings matched that of the planet they were orbiting. "We can't destroy that plateau! This planet cannot handle any kind of magnetic or tectonic shifting!"

"We cannot discount the threat against us!" The Turian Admirals were all fighting now, mandibles open and eyes wide. Victus had his arms out, slamming them on the table. "Those are  _my_  men down there, and they are dying in droves to save our people! We won't have a Galatana if we don't strike now!"

"There is another method that we can use." Admiral Hackett stated, his gravelly voice getting the attention of the quarreling Turians. "If we can draw out those forces, and they don't have tunnels to extract those eggs to, then they might be open to sabotage. Commander Constantine, how effective is our stealth technology against the Rachni?"

She stood taller as she was addressed. "Rachni are not scent hunters, sir. They use pheromones to mark paths for their workers to follow, and for their Warriors to patrol. As long as we contain our atmosphere and step correctly, any Infiltrator should be able to get close."

"How close?"

"Close enough to observe. Anything else risks capture or death."

"Would you risk going into those tunnels?" Admiral Hackett asked. Everyone at the table was looking at her.  _Everyone_. She didn't like being on the tip of the tongue. "Could you get close enough to kill their queens?"

"I am not against trying, Sir." She said. "I've been through a Rachni hive before, on two occasions. Both times we were eventually discovered and forced to engage the enemy."

"Did they overcome your stealth technology?"

"Not to my knowledge. My team didn't have that. We needed specialists who could handle some acid. Catsuits can't take it."

"Understood." Hackett muttered. "Could we draw off enough of them?"

"How will a commando unit take out two queens as well as their Brood Warriors?" Victus asked with good reason. "Hand-held weapons are not enough."

Julia gave him a nod. "I use an M-920 Cain, of Krogan design. My squad deploys with two of them, and if I just take those two and some pistols I should have enough firepower to take them out. I just need a path." To prove it, she reached over her shoulder and pulled out her Cain. The Turians made appreciative noises, whistles mostly. "Rachni don't like it when you shake up their nests."

"Our forces can deploy anywhere we need to." Hackett reminded the Turians. "But we would need a location to fight them from. Wherever we draw them to, it needs to be somewhere we can support and hold."

"I think I have an idea, Admirals." Victus said. He tapped the haptic interface, and showed a Turian cruiser setting down right in front of the cliffs. It's dorsal cannon was aimed directly towards the gushing hole in the cliff face. "We knock on their door, get their attention. Then our forces gather at this pass, and we hold the line." He changed the view over to a small mountain pass, at the left side of the plateau. It was deep in Rachni territory, and in between these hives and their sister hives to the south. "They won't be able to help themselves."

"Our forces will be between two hives. We won't draw out their entire force like that! They'll simply crush whatever lands."

Victus nodded. "Then we simply give them something that they will fight for. We stage a crash. Have one of our cruisers come down and crash in the pass. They'll come for its parts. Have two of our own frigates on station, preparing to extract it. That will get their attention."

"I am not letting one of my ships go down for this terrible idea!" The younger Admiral stated. "This goes against all of our doctrines, Victus."

Drescher frowned. "If you won't, I will." Her scowl was centered on them. "I've got shit cruisers compared to yours. If this is about keeping the loss of equipment limited, then take my ship. I've got mothballs and lightly armored craft aplenty. I'll stuff it to the bulkheads with every tank we can get. I've got a lot of bored marines with me."

"Well?" Victus challenged. "Not so concerned when a Human ship is at the chopping block?"

"We would be happy to provide fire support as well as deployable garrisons. Our prefab bases might be able to surround the frigate." The glanced at the terrain. "Your men will need that if they are to stop attacks from below."

"I remember them from the war." She said conversationally. "Spray them with some silicon first. It will cut some of the effects of acid." From there, the two fleets started doing the endless layers of logistical planning that occurred before each battle. The Admirals separated, the Turians to rant and rave at Victus, and the Humans around Hackett. Admiral Drescher saved one last look for Desolous, before turning around and walking towards her own underlings. Julia stood next to Hackett, as his own aides gave them a few feet of space.

"Commander, both fleets will provide you with information that you need to be able to insert yourself into their caves. Whatever you need, we will provide."

"Sir, I need more Infiltrators. A team of one won't get this done."

Hackett nodded. "I have one that might work. Others are more difficult to come by." Others existed in the fleet, then. Probably in deep cover. Either that or they had other pressing needs. Admiral White would clarify that for her. "We just need a clear shot at those queens, Constantine. Nothing more. You scan the cavern that they have the Queens in, and we can hit that plateau with a concentrated strike that won't ruin the planet. Don't go risking your life down there."

"Yes, Sir." Julia reported. "I have another request. If there are any STG in the area, I was hoping to have them open up another flank on the Rachni. Hit hard enough to make them think that commandos are coming at them."

"We don't have many insertion points." Hackett's eyes narrowed. "Would you give one of them up?"

"The most direct one. I don't expect that I will have a good chance of sighting the enemy with only two Infiltrators. Let's see if the STG or Turian special forces can do some good there. Make all of us seem like we are actually allies."

Hackett glanced around at that. "Keep such opinions to yourself, Constantine. We all have the best intentions here."

"Then why bring Admiral Drescher?"

"I wanted the Admiral who was most likely to keep a level head  _and_  work with the Turians. Drescher's fleet was on standby and she knows the Turian's tactics. She will put aside her personal feelings in favor of the Alliance's needs. The Sixth Fleet was the only other fleet on standby, and Admiral Orlov isn't known for his patience." Julia nodded at that. Faced with those choices, she too would have chosen Drescher. "Commander, I've overlooked your mission reports. Your most recent mission is lacking in specific details."

She took a deep breath. "What details, Sir?"

"That ship you sighted. It landed on the planet. Did you collect any kind of ingredient scan or video footage of it taking off?"

"I didn't." Julia admitted. "It could screw with any Alliance tech, at great distance. Most of the tech in the area was dead. Collecting still images with an EMP hardened camera feed was the best I could do. Video footage fell apart or got corrupted. As for scans, that would require active scanners directed right at it. Any techs aboard the craft might notice that."

"I see." Hackett said. "Here is the picture that was included in your report." He brought up the picture she included. "Compare this." He brought up a second picture, one that looked like the inside of some contained lab, where the front nozzle of a weapon was featured. The weapon was on a scale that simply did not compare. An Alliance frigate was carrying the front half, while a team of tugs pulled the back. But the shape and size were exactly that of the ship she saw. "The weapons don't compare. The one I am showing you now is actually larger than the one measured on the ship you encountered."

"That's comforting."

"Not really." Hackett corrected. "It means that these bastards are of different classes. It speaks of a military, diversified functions. Worse, I've got something for you to investigate. You're the most experienced we have on these craft. New Java went dark eight hours ago. That system belongs to the Reds, but just before things went dark, they were sending out messages about a large craft coming through the relay. The energy emissions  _don't_  match the ones you recorded on the  _Normandy_."

"Damn." She muttered. "There's another one of those things?"

"It appears to be that way. Once you finish your mission here, I'll tell you more and we can send the  _Normandy_  there." He tapped his wrist. "Beth, I'm sending you on this."

An Infiltrator decloaked next to him. She had dark hair, and stood somewhat short. Perhaps 5'4". "Hmm?" She asked. "You want me to go down there?" Garrus seemed surprised at her presence. He was standing at a safe distance, waiting for her to finish talking to the Admiral.

"Who are you?" Julia asked. She wasn't familiar with this Infiltrator.

"Oh! I'm Lt. Elizabeth Dempsey. Medic and Infiltrator. Though I've only been deployed as an Infiltrator for a month now." Julia nodded.

"Have you been through any stealth ops?"

"I was in the N3 program before they pulled me."

"Alright." Julia said. "I've never had a medic as an Infiltrator before."

"I'm the first." She said with a bit a of a smirk. "Trained at the Jaworski Medical Institute in Texas, and then into the Alliance. I haven't deployed against the Rachni before, so I trust that you'll walk me through it."

"Keep up or die." Julia offered. "With the Rachni there is no chance for detection or failure." The medic was too cheery for her own good. But if Hackett was willing to part with his own Infiltrator for this, then who was she to refuse? "Thank you, Admiral."

Both of their Omni-tools chirped. "Admiral White is offering another member for your team. You'll meet her at the airlock."

The woman waiting for them at the airlock was a kinetic barrier technician. She was shorter than Agent Dempsey by another four or five inches. She looked of pure Chinese descent. "Agent Xiu, reporting for duty, Ma'am. I have transfer orders for the time being."

"Received." Julia stated. "Welcome to the team." White had sent them to her Omni-tool as well as Hackett's. Xiu must have been someone planted in the fleet for a long term assignment. "This is Agent Dempsey."

All of them entered the airlock, Agent Xiu changing into her own catsuit. She was not concerned by the presence of the Turian Spectre. By the time the decon cycle had finished, her officer uniform was safely tucked away in a duffel. When the doors opened, she could see Joker swivel his chair and his eyes to lock on all three of them. "Welcome aboard, Commander!" He said with a bit too much excitement. "XO Moreau here."

" _Commander Constantine is aboard. XO may step down._ " The Ship's VI reported.

She had to remind herself that with Pressley gone the chain of command went to Joker and then Halmabad. After that it went to Alenko. None of them had enough command experience, but with the war there was no officers available to fill in. Agent Xiu was an information specialist, officially a Sgt. Frigates normally didn't have kinetic barrier specialists, due to their cramped bridges and few emitters. "Don't get used to that, Joker. Pressley might just throw you out the airlock."

"I can see it." Her pilot said jovially. "So, where are we headed?"

"In ten minutes, an Alliance cruiser is going to go down on the planet. Operation Halgavian will begin. General Victus wants my team of Infiltrators to sneak into the Hive and get a sight on Rachni queens. STG and other fleet elements will be supporting us. The  _Normandy_  will be inserting us directly into tunnels that have been exposed by the drainage of the marsh. Coordinates will be uploaded to your map. Halmabad and the marines will be deployed at the pass, or wherever Command needs them. We will be extracted by you, as well, so don't go too far."

Joker's face took on a serious look. "You've got it. Normandy will be as close as you need us to be. The rest of the team has formed up in the hangar."

Sure enough, everyone was there. Kaidan was standing with his men, and Halmabad rejoined them with a hearty laugh. Garrus gave a nod to all of them, before walking over to the MAKO. "Commander!" He called to her.

She motioned for her Infiltrators to sit down somewhere. When she arrived at the MAKO, the Spectre leaning against the wheel. "What's on your mind?"

"Actually, I just wanted to thank you. I've spent the last two weeks shooting at Rachni in the same two hundred square miles. I was ready for a break. Something a bit more exciting that what was being offered."

"You're welcome. Though I'm curious. Did I just get volunteered for a suicide mission? I want your opinion as a friend." Friend. An odd word to have for her mentor.

"That is normal operating procedure for Spectres. We do the impossible because no one else would dare. Your Admiral wants to prove that you can do the same." He grinned. "So," He opened up a crate next to the MAKO. "I had the  _Normandy_  receive some of our Spectre gear. I requisitioned some pheromones from those creatures the Asari found on Suen. You drop those and it'll cause some primal fear reactions among the Rachni." He grinned as he held up a few extra large grenades. "These are illegal to know their names. They are an older model of pressure grenade. They'll attach and send pressure through a Brood Warrior no matter how much armor it's wearing."

"Thanks, Garrus." She honestly admitted. "I'll make sure to buy your biography when it's declassified in a hundred years." That high pitched bird laugh echoed through the area. His mandibles were wide open, and it seemed like the Turian was happy to see her.

"One other thing I got for you." He handed her a box. "This is an STG piece of tech. Fully experimental. It'll blind the senses of any sentient creature down there. That includes you. I don't have to say it, but I will. Don't be there when this goes off. Everything in a quarter mile is going to be deaf and blind. The Rachni use their eyesight for many things, but their antennae are the real deal. Sonic disturbances are something they are extremely sensitive to, and the workers use echolocation to find their way. This will destroy the worker's ability to leave pheromone trails or even see. If the workers can't see you, they can't direct the warriors to follow you. Break the basic building block, and the rest will lose their ability to function. But," He drew the word out in a screech. "The STG would never have 'lost' this device. It was deployed on site previous to our operation."

" _Our_  operation?" She smirked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you don't think your crew is going to actually deploy with the rest of the Alliance troops? As a Spectre candidate, Halmabad can act upon my advice. Commander, don't expect us to just sit there if you get overwhelmed. You call for us, and we will come across that plateau like a varren with a blood trail."

"Do all Spectre ops go like this?"

"Only the ones run by Admirals too far from the front line. When that happens, we Spectres have an unofficial command to not be hindered by bullshit orders."

Julia laughed, her triple toned chirp echoing across the hangar. That got looks, but she just felt so much better about the whole situation. She met Kaidan's eyes across the hangar, seeing him smile. The hint of one, more like. It was the smile that he saved for her, on their three days of vacation. He knew that laugh. "Thanks, Garrus. If I need support, I'll call."

"We'll come anyways." She chirped once again, as the hangar started shaking. The  _Normandy_  was entering atmosphere. "Spirits, you better not write any of this down."

* * *

Prietas Highlands, Galatana, January 2183

The Turian cruiser  _Idomaes_  carefully entered the atmosphere, following the burning wreck that was the Alliance cruiser. The Turian ships escorting it were three frigates, its sister cruiser moving in below it. They were packing rounds made for broadsides, and their guns were less powerful than a frigate's. But they were perfect for their mission. In effect, bombardment. The frigates were there to keep any kind of ground forces from interfering, while the cruisers lined up their sides with the plateau. With foam and water beneath them, they angled their shots for further down the plateau. Any water that broke loose would be sucked through the already existing foam trap.

Their guns thundered, chunks flying out of the cliffside. There were some movements from the Rachni in the area, but the frigates took offence to that. One would say deeply offended by the amount of laser bursts that answered their screeches. Then the Alliance ship went down, and the Rachni reacted. Groups of them tried to surround the Alliance cruiser, but the soldiers onboard were somewhat ready. All of this was visible to the feeds on the  _Normandy_  as they coasted into the atmosphere. The Rachni didn't have any surface installations to track incoming ships coming down, so they didn't need to waste thirty minutes for a safe atmospheric entry that didn't set off every alarm on planet. So their frigate came in like a meteor, right alongside the 'crashing' Alliance cruiser and the Turian quintet.

A Salarian freighter, suspiciously heavy in mass, streaked through the skies. It had already been in atmosphere. There were no signs of re-entry. It made for the plateau, its own thrusters kicking in early. It really must be fully loaded. The  _Normandy_  cloaked as soon as the heat bleed off stopped. They came down towards the plateau, as artillery and Turian rounds hit the cliff. The plateau's loose peat and mud shook, everything within a mile of that location in motion with every broadside of the cruisers. The Salarians were going down on an outcropping of stone and dried out roots that put them within two kilometers of the queen chamber.

Her own route would take her within two and a half. The interior route of the tunnels would probably be as straight and efficient as possible. Straight wherever the ground allowed it to be. The mud and loose soil areas would have to be avoided or dug deep enough. She stood with her two paired Infiltrators, applying scent removal sprays. Their shoes didn't need to be adjusted with anything to get rid of their treads, as the Rachni didn't track using those. So far as she had seen, at least. They hardly left a tread, but it would still identify them as Human.

Joker put the ship down right on top of the outcropping, the hangar bay doors coming to a stop inches above the stone. There was no scraping or sounds of their impending attack. "See you guys soon." She said, slipping into cloak and watching as Kaidan stared at her. She and the other two agents dropped to the ground, cloaked and ready. Agent Xiu had the second Cain, as she had actual heavy weapons training. Agent Dempsey was too cheerful to be an Infiltrator, she had decided. The woman was overly friendly and spent the entire ten minutes of mission prep talking to Julia's crew. Xiu stood off to the side at perfect attention.

All three of them hit the ground, slight taps on the stone. "Keep it tight. The entrance is just ahead." She mentioned to them. Two clicks on the line showed that her Infiltrators were right behind her. With the water drained out of the mud, the Rachni tunnel was completely exposed. She didn't see any Rachni around her, but the workers might be buried in the dirt as guards or watchmen. Still, without exposing themselves there was no way of finding them. The tunnel sloped downwards for four meters, then turned upwards at a high angle. She crouch walked her way to the twist, and then had to use her hands to lever herself up the steep incline. There was a water line, marking the point where mud stopped flowing. The Rachni must have used this as a method to hide the tunnel and keep it from being overflown with mud. But after that, the tunnel moved along the natural lines of stone and bedrock. The tunnels were lined with webbing, but the webbing looked like it was drying out. She scraped some of the webbing into a container on her belt, hoping that Alliance techs could make sense of why it seemed to be drying out so quickly. The stuff she had seen on Suen had been there for hundreds of years and hadn't dried out or become brittle like this had. Xiu was jerky, tripping a few times over the webbing.

She was definitely a deep cover agent. She wasn't trained for this. On the other hand, Agent Dempsey seemed to be a natural at moving in the dark tunnels. Her feet didn't raise any dust or kick up any of the loose webbing. Julia was pleased with this. She couldn't take her Sirta Phoenix on this mission, and so she was being as careful as possible. But the miles and miles of twisting tunnels were confusing. At least with the water table having been drained, they could map out the tunnels and she could use that to get around.

"Contacts ahead." Xiu stated. She then promptly got stuck in the webbing. "I see two."

"Workers don't always show up on scanners." Julia reminded her. "Keep away from the walls."

The two contacts were Rachni Warriors, surrounded by at least ten workers. They had exposed one of the walls, retracting their webbing and cutting into the stone. Apparently they were mining while they were under attack. Chunks of stone were being worked over by the workers, stripped of elements that they did not need. Julia carefully stepped, avoiding the walls but staying as close to them as possible.

She breathed quietly, even though it was all contained inside her helmet. It was all just mental, but it made her feel better. Dempsey was so close behind her that their stealth fields flickered on each other once as they were moving around the Rachni. Xiu moved even slower, taking two minutes to get around them. Then they were stuck in another long tunnel, this one bisected by a river bed. The water had run dry, giving them a safe run for their feet to follow and not risk disturbing the webbing.

" _Commander?_ " A voice came across the comm line. Joker wasn't supposed to contact her directly, and Garrus didn't hover. This voice was Salarian.

"Yes? This is Constantine."

" _My name is Captain Jondam Bau. My team are coming close to the queen chamber. Soon we will not be able to avoid contact with the Rachni._ "

"We are still a kilometer away. Perhaps we should coordinate our attack."

" _Your operation, Commander. We are here to give you backup._ "

"How many remain at the nest?" She picked up her pace, the riverbed going straight to the chamber. Queens required a lot of water and nutrients to be able to create their damned spawn.

" _Hundreds of warriors. Dozens of Brood Warriors. We are not close enough to sight the queens. Our forces are prepared to engage."_

"That's too many for anything you've got. Even if you have anti armor weapons you won't be able to break through that."

" _Our job is not to survive or prevail, Commander. We will give you the distraction you need._ "

"Don't do that." Julia warned him. "I don't know what the STG considers acceptable losses, but that is unacceptable to us." The tunnel was diverging from their location, but the riverbed went into the rock. Julia didn't see any webbing on the river, and quickly considered. The river would put them at the far end of the queen chamber. Far from their objective. But she made her decision. "Prepare to engage. You'll know our signal."

" _Understood, Commander._ "

"Xiu, prioritize the Brood Warriors on the Salarian flank. We pick two groups and hit them hard. The Salarians will cover us in turn." Their scanners were picking up more and more Rachni, now. All around them, in tunnels and in the large chamber ahead. Even in the riverbed, there were a few workers shoring up the walls. There was one moment where Dempsey had almost stepped on one of the worker's antennae, her footprint inches from the creature. It had investigated, but found nothing of interest. They had no scent of anything but the tunnels on them. They didn't panic over the sight of a Human footprint.

They should be. But the Rachni didn't feel fear the same way that other races did. Their fears were based on scent. Perhaps the smell of rampaging Krogan might cause them concern. If not, she always had the pheromones from those alpha predators on Suen. That was one of the better gifts from Garrus she had received. The riverbed became more and more populated, but only with workers. The end of the tunnel was not a welcome sight. Webbing stretched over the hole, with holes wide enough for the workers to come and go. "We've got a problem." She admitted over comms. The area next to the covered webbing was all supported and had few workers near it. "Webbing is covering our entrance."

" _Ours as well. Possibly a form of security. Warriors are in place to guard the entrances._ " Jondam replied. " _We are prepared to advance. The forces above are starting to take losses._ "

"Understood. We will cut this open in forty seconds. You start your attack in twenty five. The Rachni will deploy against you, and once we open up, you should have a shot at the queens."

" _Understood. Syncing now._ " Julia tapped her wrist with the rest of her team, and reached for her belt. The  _kavka_  sat happily in her hand.

"Cover me while I make an incision." She told them.

"Deploying nerve gas." Dempsey reported, tossing a grenade at their feet. The workers would now die if they passed through the gas cloud. Julia smiled at that. Medic and Infiltrator, and effective at that. Nerve gas wasn't allowed by Alliance legal standards. The Council had similar requirements. That meant that she didn't care about law so long as survival was assured. At the twenty five second mark, the Salarian's marked entrance shuddered with fire, acid, and explosives. The Rachni, thousands in number, swarmed the entrance in rage. There was no way that they could survive against that kind of onslaught. Yet to her surprise, the volume of fire held back the enemy. Warriors and workers just turned to bloody remnants under the withering firepower that the Salarians put out.

"What are you using?" Julia asked. She couldn't see enough to tell.

" _Ubronx-Linron heavy combat exoskeletons. Capable of stealth, but not to the same degree as your own. When you called for the STG, we dedicated every combat unit we had in system. Rachni warranted maximum combat capabilities. You can go ahead now._ " He said jovially, as cryogenic bursts of explosives hit the Rachni in back. They just crawled over their dead, ignoring them in favor of killing the enemy.

Her knife went through the webbing quickly, and she soon had a slit cut through the webbing that would accommodate her and the other Infiltrators. The webbing still stood up, interwoven as it was. But it would shake some when they entered. Julia went first, her tall frame and curves making the entire webbing construct sway. Dempsey and Xiu hardly made it budge. Xiu was hardly an example of curvature or height, and Dempsey seemed athletic and compact. It made Julia wonder sometimes about her gene structure. Her grandmother wasn't this curved, and her mother didn't seem to be. The woman had few records, though. One of the few records she had found on her mother was that she had been a French prostitute, an expensive one. She had been an orphan, and had left the state's care programs at the age of 14.

The last official record of her was a bank account showing that she had gotten together enough money to pay for a few cosmetic surgeries. The doctor who performed them didn't remember who she was, and didn't seem to care. Dr. Yvonne Achionne had many patients in her time as a doctor, hosting a walk-in cosmetic alteration clinic. Julia did ask if the doctor had performed any kind of facial surgery, but she didn't remember. Her bribe to the doctor had been enough to coax that much.

Still, it bothered her sometimes. Miranda at least was able to flaunt it any time she wanted. Julia had her responsibilities. As soon as Dempsey was past the webbing, they finally got a full view of the battle happening. The Rachni that had stayed with the queens were all of the soft-shelled variety. Warriors whose shells were dropping and workers who were working on eating the old shell so that the new one could harden. Warriors whose shells were too soft to mount armor onto. Brood warriors by the dozen, surrounding hexagonal constructions in the walls and floor. Small wiggling young warriors were on the ground, also shrieking as their caretakers panicked. Workers by the thousand flooded across the room, all of them rushing towards the far entrance.

That was a bit distracting to look at. Salarian mechanical exosuits with enclosed interiors were along a firing line, each suit capable of kneeling so that the one behind it could fire as well. The ones in front were already taking a pounding, some of them dark with green blood pouring out of the cockpit. But the lines of missiles and heavy machine guns were doing tons of damage to the warriors. What they weren't able to do were stop the workers. Napalm and mines didn't do enough lasting damage to their small bodies in mass.

Watching the exoskeletons get covered in workers was something of nightmares. She imagined it was something worse to be inside one of those things when the horde rushed in. Past the warriors and the workers were the Brood Warriors, glowing with biotics and slinging abilities and plasma where they could. Some wore armor, but not many. Few had plasma cannons. But the weight of numbers was pushing hard on the Salarian lines. Cryo grenades were deployed in abundance, but the ground smoked with all of the acidic blood. It wasn't enough. Most of the frontline of exoskeletons had been taken down, the second and third line having to focus their fire on the warriors and workers instead of the Brood Warriors.

She glanced upwards, seeing that above the riverbed in this chamber were egg laying husks, set up to bear warriors. "Up there, now!" All three of them crawled into their own hexagonal tubes. Hers contained a writhing insect larva, perhaps four feet long. Almost "Xiu, prepare your weapon. Take the right flank." She idly twisted her knife into the larval warrior's head.

Her Cain slid into position with a jubilant  _snap_. "Ready." Agent Xiu said. "Marked the rightmost armored unit."

"Marked the left." Julia said. "Fire." Twin suns lit up the cavern, Xiu's shot going wide. Part of the cavern collapsed, the webbing being destroyed by the explosive round. This of course broke their stealth fields. Dempsey still had hers, thankfully. Julia ducked down into the tube, as she heard and felt plasma impact near them. Xiu's vitals flatlined. Julia didn't try to save her. She just let herself slide down into the tube, shoving the Cain back onto her back. Xiu's mangled hand fell through one of the holes melted through the husk, everything from her wrist backwards completely gone. She tried not to think about how much was just lost. Not the credits, but the fact that an Infiltrator was gone. They weren't trained for this, and they weren't prepared to fight a war from the front. After a moment, things got quiet.

But the Salarians responded, no longer having a line of Brood Warriors in front of them. Their mechanical infantry charged forward, their guns smoking hot but still spewing rounds. They were like lemmings, just rushing forward. "Ma'am, are you ok?"

Julia breathed, realizing she had stopped. "Yeah." She told her. "We should go." Julia couldn't take anything of Xiu's with her. It would ruin her scent and expose her. She stepped over the hand, trying to ignore the shape of the burned body that lay above her. The melted and damaged Cain was in front of the riverbed, with a few curious workers trying to lever the weapon up to an angle that could be turned towards the Salarians. "Wait a sec." The barrel was partially melted, but the workers managed to clear the obstruction. The poor creatures must not have known about the security features in the M-920 CAIN. Julia chuckled as she remotely accessed  _her_  gun.

The team of eight workers chittered happily at each other, successfully having angle the large weapon on the line of Salarian exoskeletons. But when the one in back pulled the trigger, instead of firing the weapon self destructed. The force was directed forward, a slight flash of explosive burning anything touching the barrel or heatsinks. The worker pulling the trigger withdrew its antennae in alarm as it saw the rest of its weapon crew charred. Like a kid who had been caught doing something they shouldn't, it squealed in panic, running off at top speed. Julia didn't feel anything for it. It was just a bug, as entertaining as that was.

"Aww, poor guy." Dempsey said.

"Let's move." Julia said, before tapping her wrist. "Still with us?"

" _Excellent shot, Commander. We shall hold their attention and mark the Queen's location to the ships in orbit._ " The Queens were in the chamber, and Julia could finally see them clearly. They were massive. Brood Warriors were the size of the MAKO, but these were the height of two story buildings. The Queen nearest to them stood tall on its forelegs, angling its very large pedipalps towards the Salarians. A spitwad of acid went flying into the Salarian line, completely covering one of the exoskeletons and grazing a second and third. The Salarian return fire didn't seem to touch them, a biotic barrier thickly covering the creature. " _Good luck, Commander._ " Jondam said with finality. Half his force was gone already.

"You mark them and get the hell out of here, Jondam." Julia warned him. "Survival is just as important."

" _Perhaps to your species._ " Was his response. Julia and Dempsey had started moving, keeping to the outer walls of the room. Webbing was everywhere, but most of the chamber had been emptied of Rachni. Some of the workers were trying to pull the larval warriors out of their pods, protecting their young. She ignored them, using some of the large nutrient vats on the ground as cover to move forward. It felt like minutes, but couldn't have been more than thirty seconds before they reached a slight depression in the chamber. There, at the center of the depression, the Queens stood. Between them were eggs, each four feet tall and showing signs of element zero.

Four eggs were there, and two were being loaded gently onto the back of Brood Warriors behind the Queens. Julia shuddered, being so close to the gigantic creatures. Her Cain might be able to pierce their barriers, but it wasn't a given. She didn't want to risk it. Just watching them tear apart Salarians from great distance didn't give her trust in her own chances. Not when she was less than fifteen feet from the creature's leg. One twist of its head and she would be crushed.

"They're taking the eggs." Dempsey whispered. "We should follow them!"

"Right after I leave a surprise." Julia slipped the STG bomb Garrus had given her behind one of the nutrient vats, and then prepared a gas grenade with the pheromone that Garrus had also provided. Wherever that went off, Rachni were going to panic. The Queens might not, but the information on them was so scarce. "Go!" She glanced at the Salarian line. "Jondam, I just placed a bomb."

The tide of creatures surging forward around the Queens were hard to number. One of the Warriors stepped on her foot, almost breaking the tactical cloaking field. She bit back a curse when that happened, but kept moving through the chamber towards the back walls. Multiple tunnels led out of the chamber, and the two Brood Warriors split, carrying their eggs towards different locations.

" _Commander, we are getting a marker for orbital bombardment. Can you confirm?_ " Admiral Drescher came over her comm line. She wasn't supposed to unless it was important.

"Confirmed. Two Queens marked, four eggs. Two more are escaping." Julia saw that more Brood Warriors were coming forward to grab the other four eggs. "Other eggs are being moved. Recommend strike."

" _We recommend you get out of there._ " Admiral Drescher said. " _You have twenty seconds._ " She looked up at the exit tunnels. There was no way they could get both of the running Brood Warriors. She would get noticed the moment that anything happened. But there were a few things that were within her reach. The first was a laser marker.

"Secondary target identified." She said.

" _Heat signature and eezo signature locked. Get moving, Commander._ "

"Jondam, get your men out of here. The fleet is going to open fire!" She couldn't see the Salarians from her current position, but she could hear their weapons. "Get out!"

" _You heard the Human. Get moving! Fall back!_ "

She and Dempsey had reached the tunnels, finding one that had a sharp twist. She shoved Dempsey in there first, flaring her biotic barrier out to its fullest. Then she threw herself in front of and around Dempsey, the other Infiltrator's cloaking field failing as her own came too close.

Thunderous noise came behind them, and heat washed over them both as the fleet fired from less than a kilometer above the ground. The Turian frigates, she assumed. Their guns fired three times each, nine blasts of force sending webbing to the ground and the rocks around them shuddering.

It all ended after a missile hit, a wave of cold flash freezing the chamber behind them. The Salarians, she hoped. "Is it safe yet?" Agent Dempsey asked.

"No." Julia replied. "Thirty seconds on my bomb." She stood up, but saw that the section of tunnel in front of them had collapsed. "After that we will go out there. Set your suit's intake to zero for noise and vibrations." Setting a catsuit to do that was difficult. Any hairline cracks or worn areas of the suit would be something that the pressure of the STG bomb could get through. These weren't completely airtight on some occasions. "Check seals."

There wasn't enough time to go over their armor and they knew it. A few glances was all that they could spare, and it wasn't enough. They both turned their helmet external feed off, and gave a thumbs-up when ready. There was a rush of frost, flakes of flash-frozen particles flooding the tunnel as the pressure bomb went off. There was no sound, no cries of pain, and no sound of agony over the frozen ground. When she touched her helmet, she saw Agent Dempsey standing there with her hands shaking. "What the hell was that?"

"Spectre tech." Julia told her. "Come on." They had to walk, carefully making their way over what was now a completely different landscape. "This is Commander Constantine. Confirming the hit."

" _We're glad you're still here, Commander. Thermal imaging shows some movement, but we don't know the source. Signals are weak, the debris of the element zero is throwing off our scanners. Don't breath it in. You'll experience some exposure, but if you can get out of there within minutes you shouldn't have anything lethal._ " Drescher said. Julia turned her head to give a once-over on Agent Dempsey's catsuit. No breaches that she could see. She motioned with her hand.

Both of them re-entered the large chamber. It looked like the kind of thing you would see in a horror vid. The entire landscape was frozen, the roof blown clean off. Frozen limbs of Rachni and Salarian variety rose up like gene experiments gone wrong, shards of ice and gore everywhere. Even still, there was movement. One of the Queens was still up. It was shaking, its pedipalps destroyed but its head bleeding. The acid from its blood had melted enough ice for it to break free of its prison. "One Queen still up, Command. Recommend firing again!"

" _The frigates had to break off, two minutes before we can be in position to do another strike. Firing from orbit would shatter the plateau._ "

"Damn." She tapped her wrist. "Halmabad, are you anywhere near us?"

" _Yes, Ma'am! ETA right the hell now!_ " Her crew were really there. Sure enough, the MAKO's lights came over the edge of the hole punched by the frigate's main guns. Halmabad jumped the light tank over the edge, letting the front of the tank dip forward first, and the guns all had a clear shot at the Queen and the surviving Rachni. The tank spun on a forty five degree angle, its machine gun turrets striking a line of half-frozen warriors and the main gun blasting a chunk of flesh off of the Queen.

The Queen realized that there was a threat, and stopped trying to thrash its way out of the ice. It focused, a thick purplish barrier coming into place around it. The next shot from the MAKO bounced. The Rachni roared its defiance, and Halmabad took the rear wheels into high gear and tucked behind a frozen nutrient vat. "This is Constantine. Jondam, did your people make it out?"

The return message was choppy, and unclear. Considering she was now inside a cavern full of element zero particles, her message might not reach him. The tunnel he had come through was damaged first by two shots of their CAINs, and had now completely collapsed. There would be no help from them further. "Ma'am, I think the Queen is sitting on something!" Dempsey said.

"Mothers often throw themselves over their young." Julia said. Her CAIN made a happy beep as it deployed again, and she took a knee on the frozen ground as she sighted the Queen. "Firing!"

The Queen's barrier flickered, and it twisted its head to face them. It's mouth opened wide, a raging growl escaping. A harpoon struck the exposed mouth, and everyone's attention was drawn to the MAKO. Standing on top of it was Garrus, having fired the tow cable into the creature's mouth. The Rachni and the MAKO then got into a tug of war, Halmabad hooking the cable on the body of the other queen. He fired the chemical thrusters, digging in and sending the head of the monstrosity down into a frozen warrior. Gore splattered, and the cable melted. It roared, a Throw of massive proportions striking the body of the other queen that the MAKO was hiding behind.

Halmabad and their entire team were thrown away in a wave of gore and intestines, the MAKO rolling with the spine and limbs of the dead Queen to land in the riverbed. Still, the living Queen did not push forward. It stayed rooted to that spot, focusing its barrier on defending itself. "We've got to wait until those frigates can do another run!"

"No we don't!" Dempsey said. "I just need to hit it with this!" She held up her gun, loaded with some kind of barbed dart. "We've made a Rachni specific drug to incapacitate their nervous system."

"But you'll need its barrier down."

"Or I'll need to get in under its barrier."

Julia derailed that thought process. "Don't even think about it. I'm the top rated close combat Infiltrator, and I don't want to get in close to that. But I think I have a way. You'll only have a few seconds." Halmabad was still firing his turret at the Rachni Queen, driving to any other pieces of cover that he could. One of his tires had melted or had fallen off in the mess, but the man was still going strong. Julia hefted her gas grenade. "Here we go."

The Rachni Queen had three large spurs that surrounded its head, and each glowed with element zero as it used its biotics. Julia tossed her grenade, the tiny object lost in the particles kicked up. But the reaction was enough. The Queen smelled the pheromones, and its barrier flickered as it panicked. Dempsey's rifle fired, the barbed needle impacting in an open wound. The creature didn't seem to notice, as it hammered the MAKO with a Warp strong enough to bend the frame. Halmabad jumped the tank over a half-dead Brood Warrior, its flayed body still trying to harm him in its death throes. The tank came to a stop near the wall, its main gun spitting fiery rounds right into the maw of the Queen.

"We've hit it with sedatives, Halmabad. Expect it to have trouble moving soon."

" _Great. We'll just keep dodging._ "

" _Warrior._ " She heard Williams say.

" _I see it!_ " The MAKO jumped over another creature, its grill covered in blood and melted marks. " _I see that one too!_ " That one he didn't jump over, letting his wheels crush the Rachni instead.

Julia looked over at Dempsey, who was reloading another round. "We assume Queens require more than one dose." She said, apologetically.

"Fine." Julia said. "You better cover me." Julia slid forward, coming to a stop behind a frozen Salarian combat exoskeleton. "Alenko! Warp!"

" _Hang on!_ " A ball of biotic energy was let out one of the doors, arcing through the air until it hit the Rachni's barrier. It seemed to ignore the effect, until it felt Julia near it. It twisted, roaring in her direction as blood and spittle from its maw sprayed all over her. But by that point the Throw had already been released. It's barrier detonated, and there was a  _thump_  as Elizabeth Dempsey's barbed needle burrowed into its neck. She really appreciated how accurate that man was with his biotics. Thoughts rose of their tryst, and she shook her head, running for cover from a small squadron of workers that had decided to make war upon her. Twenty of them, carrying a plasma gun from one of the warriors. The gun was inaccurate, but any one shot from that was sure to damage her heavily. She ran, feet sliding as she ran across a nutrient vat.

Ahead of her, Dempsey had raised her regular rifle, and was picking off the tiny workers with great accuracy. "Grenade!" More nerve gas was released, the small group of workers all scattering and squealing as they died, limbs scrambling for any kind of cover. They all fell silent, pedipalps drooping as their minds shut down.

"Thanks." Julia mentioned.

The Queen thrashed, its legs failing it. It screeched, as its limbs fell silent. It kept screaming, but it moved less and less as time went on. It's barrier came up all the way, but the most movement they saw was the stumps of its pedipalps twitching. "It's working! The sedative works!"

"How much more do you have?"

"Um," Was her first answer. She checked her Omni-tool. "Not enough to extract. It should wear off within minutes. Queens are assumed to have hardier immune systems."

"Alright." She muttered. "Halmabad, move up. The Queen is down for the moment." The MAKO moved forward, seemingly strong but missing two wheels. Garrus was on top of the tank, his rifle angled squarely at the head of the Queen. It screeched at him, ineffectively. "Command, Queen is down but not out. Orders?"

" _Frigates are ready for another run, Commander._ " Drescher said. " _Ready for your call. Your signal is very weak, though. Whatever is happening in there, the eezo is starting to reach dangerous levels of exposure._ "

"Understood." She looked at her team, and their damaged ride. "Alenko, there is an Alliance transponder along the far wall by the riverbed. Retrieve what you can. Take two with you. Vakarian, Halmabad, we need to put this thing down."

"It's barrier is going to make anything we do stop cold." Vakarian noted. "Unless you plan on climbing on it and placing mines."

"Fresh out of that kind of ordinance. Firing the CAIN that close would just be tragically stupid." She smirked at the long spindly neck of the Queen. "Vakarian, I think we should introduce you to another wonderful Human tradition."

"Oh?" His rifle didn't budge from the Queen. "Phasic Rounds spelling out some sort of slang term on its carapace?"

"No." But that sounded like a great prank for a Krogan. "In our ancient times we would mount the heads of our enemies above our gates or on the prow of our ships for all to see and be impressed by."

"We're taking the head!" Williams shouted gleefully. "Joker's going to want this on the kill-cam."

"Record in highest graphical quality!" Halmabad reminded them. "Alright, Commander. Show us exactly how one kills a Rachni Queen." Williams was now on top of the MAKO, using a serious vid-recorder. Julia smirked. "Think we can keep this away from the science geeks?"

"No, Staff Commander. They would be delighted to have access to the remains." Julia flipped her  _kavka_  out of its sheathe. "But I call dibs on the skull after they're done."

"I like Human traditions." Garrus said without a hint of sarcasm. "Who knows how many Turians this thing is responsible for killing."

Julia stepped over to the neck, where she could see Agent Dempsey shoving her needle launching rifle into the injury. Once the barrel was past the barrier, she shot it. The barrel was ruined, of course, by all the acidic blood. But another dose of sedative was given. Julia nodded her thanks, and checked over herself. She was decloaked, and she had options. Reaching into her pack, she drew out a small metal box and a long coil of wire. "To start with, we need to reach the creature's main blood vessels. As their blood is acidic, we need to expose the carapace to be able to pierce it." She spoke, knowing that this was being recorded. Using her knife, she severed the connections on a section of carapace that was on the underside of the neck. Some blood leaked out, but more importantly the piece of carapace was loosened. Using the tow cable from the MAKO, they wrenched the carapace off the neck.

The Queen was roaring its own cries of pain, as its biotics flared. But it could do nothing as she drew the fine metallic wire across its neck. The two ends were fed into the small box, until they had drawn tight. "We used to make instruments called pianos from wires such as this. Nowadays we use filament cable that fulfills the same function for cheaper. This wire is modeled after the old style, and tears through flesh as quickly as any other tool." Piano wire was not a pretty thing. Attaching it to the neck guard of someone's armor was always messy. It happened fast, and tore through skin and bone reliably when you had over 700 Newtons of force in the gearbox. "Observe."

She kicked the gears on, and the exposed skin and tissue split open with the force exerted. It almost flayed the neck open, as well as the main blood vessels. Before the wire fell apart, it almost tore the neck in two pieces. A slice of the  _kavka_  into its spine did the rest, separating the head from the body. The barrier faded, and with a sigh the body slumped. As she looked up, she thought she saw two of the Salarians starting to get up as well, but then they just stopped moving and fell to the ground. Knowing that she was on camera, she walked on top of the creature's now severed head, and took a bow on top of its forehead. "That is how to kill a Rachni Queen."

"Ma'am." Williams pointed out. Dempsey was waving her over to the underside of the corpse. Julia motioned them to bring the camera forward, while Garrus's target laser was squarely on the mass. It took a combined biotic Throw to move the corpse, but they were able to expose what the Queen had been protecting.

"Hold fire!" She ordered, as everyone leveled their guns on the four foot tall glowing egg. It looked ready to hatch, or something was forcing it to hatch early. "Dempsey!"

"Yes?"

"Can you sedate it?" She nodded, having to inject it manually into the soft shell of the egg. Julia then turned back to the camera. "Looks like we have another gift for the techs." A tap on her wrist let Halmabad and Williams know to kill the feed. Then she tapped her wrist. "We are extracting! Call off any attack!"

Some gunfire was still being exchanged by her crew and the creatures, some of which were blinded by her own bomb. They moved around like a drunk, unable to see what they were doing or where they were going. Garrus was humming some sort of military tune as he put them out of their misery, seemingly in a great mood. The Queen's head was mounted using cables to the top of the MAKO, and a cryo grenade looted from a Salarian was used to stop the wound from leaking more of its blood over their tank. The egg was placed on a gurney, and carried between her marines. Garrus cackled when they got it onboard. Then the MAKO had to go through the arduous process of getting  _out_  of the chamber. They almost didn't, the edge of the impact cracks in the ceiling breaking as the front two tires touched down. But Halmabad put on the chemical thrusters with feather light touches, and got them to safety. Or relative safety. There were still plenty of Rachni on the surface, and no Turian frigates to take them out.

"Joker, where are you?"

" _Hitting Rachni positions with whatever we've got. I can finally see you again on the scanners._ "

"We need extraction, at previous drop coordinates." Everywhere they looked, the tentacles waved around them. "Please." She added.

" _Roger that._ " She saw the MAKO turn towards the outcropping of rocks that had been their first drop point. The Alliance comm net lit up with complaints as someone named Colonel Shepherd was demanding to know why someone had pulled air support from a critical part of his defensive line. Julia really hoped that wasn't Joker.

" _Commander! We've got a clear connection to you again. Please verify last communication. Are the Queens dead?_ " Drescher's voice came over her Omni-tool.

"Yes, Ma'am." Julia said. "We are also reporting the capture of one of the eggs."

There was a pause on the other end. " _Live? A live egg?_ "

"Confirmed alive. Extracting now."

Two rows of Rachni burst apart around them, as Joker sprayed down the area with his cannons. The molten metal left its victims charred and dismembered. Halmabad had to use the last of the chemical thrusters' fuel to get high enough in the air for the  _Normandy_  to pick them up. The ship hit the 'catcher's mitt', a ballistic net that was laid across the hangar to catch the MAKO and reduce any speed it had gathered to nothing. Everyone was almost thrown from their seat, as the MAKO couldn't reduce their mass to nothing with all of its extra weight.

" _XO no longer has the ship_." The VI helpfully supplied as their tank hung sideways over the hangar deck. Julia and the others had to roll their way out of the ballistic netting, the Rachni head half as large as the MAKO on its own. She quickly made her way to the elevator, as her Quarians all saluted her. The elevator doors refused to open for her, however. " _Element Zero particulates in dangerous amounts detected. Please go through decontamination before going further._ "

She sighed, settling for going into decon with the first batch off the tank. Those that had the most exposure went first, which meant her and Dempsey. The woman was practically vibrating, trying to be calm. Garrus was also with them, but he looked as calm as she had ever seen him. "You alright?" She asked Agent Dempsey.

"Yeah." She muttered. "I've never had to go groundside like that. It's always been doctor's conventions or medical journal reviews. That was the first time I've gone down into that kind of fight."

"You did pretty well. Where did you learn to walk like that?"

She shrugged. "I grew up in Florida. The vegetation there is a lot like the webbing. Gets in the way, makes you have to walk differently. My dad took me hunting for wild boar all the time when I was a kid. Once I thought the Rachni were no different it wasn't that bad." Julia had to close her eyes at how cheerful this woman was. Far too approachable for an Infiltrator.

"Interesting." She raised her eyebrows to act more interested than she was. "Thanks for keeping nearby." She mentioned to Garrus.

"After today, Commander, they had better make you a Spectre. Spirits, they had better. Going in with just three people to go and kill two Queens.  _That_  is the kind of thing that you get recognized for. S'kak, Julia,  _we_  will honor you for that!" His mandibles were open, his teeth out and nose flaring. "Desolous would agree, you know."

"But would the Asari?"

Garrus growled. "Spirits forget the Asari! They weren't here!" Then he realized what he had said. His mandibles moved back into position around his face. "I'm sorry." He muttered, but not at them. He was looking past them. "I didn't mean that. But they weren't here. They won't accept you. But without them we can't stand."

"Garrus-" She couldn't say anything else, as the decon chamber spat them back out in the hangar bay. Her mentor left at a fast walk, his Omni-tool out and his mandibles close to his skin. Now the rest of her crew might hear what she would say, and that made her stop. Her mentor left, and she was left with little option but to go to the elevator. She was still in command of this ship. Dempsey didn't come with her, staying with the Rachni Queen egg and keeping it under control. "Status Report!" She barked, coming out of the elevator when it reached the bridge.

"Breaking atmosphere, Commander." Joker replied happily. "We've received flight path instructions. Odd, they take us right through the Turian fleet."

"Follow them." She stood right behind his seat, standing at ease. Pressley never did that, but right now that is all she wanted to do. Possibly sleep. "I've got a POW onboard."

"Really?" Joker asked skeptically. "Damn." He whistled. "I'll step on it."

They broke atmosphere and emerged into orbit, their cloaking systems not running. The Turian fleet was in front of them, one of their patrols forming up around them. Joker saw that and frowned, right up until the lead frigate waved its wingtips at him. "What does that mean?" Julia asked.

"In simple terms, they really really like us." Joker said. "Look at that!" The  _Dauntless Might_  was the lead Dreadnought for the Turian fleet in the system. As the  _Normandy_  passed it, the huge ship wiggled its own wingtips. Julia was smiling at that, seeing the Turian fleet honoring them as they passed. More than a few of the ships honored them in this way, and the patrol stayed with them until they got to the Alliance fleet. "Commander, we're being ordered to dock at the SSV  _Fuji_. Directly with their hangar deck airlock."

"Fine with me." Julia said. "We've got the head of a Rachni Queen, and a captured egg. We lost one of the Infiltrators, though." She glanced at the comms. "What's going on with the downed cruiser?"

"That's a mess, Ma'am. Rachni started swarming it, and it is taking a lot of marines to hold the line. Even with close air support we are looking at being overrun eventually. I decided to put the  _Normandy_  on close support and strafing runs while you were down in the tunnels. I couldn't just let them keep dying down there."

"That's fine, Joker." She said. "It wasn't against my orders to support them." The ship slowed, making her glance upwards at the viewports. She could see the bottom of the Fuji surrounding them, as Joker skillfully darted the  _Normandy_  into the smaller docking ports underneath its larger wings. Doing this while both ships were in motion was a complicated maneuver, but Joker deftly got them into place. "Alert me when the airlock has cycled."

"Aye, Ma'am." Joker said happily. "Wait, Commander! Which one did you lose? The Asian or the Burnette?"

She gave him the middle finger as she walked towards the elevator.

* * *

Author's Note

This was an enjoyable chapter to write. Galatana has very little written about it, and the Alliance needs something to give their soldiers something to bite on. A lot of people have been concerned that the Alliance as I portray it, or at least from the viewpoint of the characters, is a terrible institution. We can probably compare it to modern Germany at this point. It is a government composed of multiple racial groups and provincial territories, all with old enmities and old grudges. Old crimes and wars have been ignored but not forgotten in the wave of new modern idealism. However, the reasons to have a government are always stronger than any reason to  _not_  have a government unifying those groups.

The Alliance is in general a force for good, and while some portions are corrupt others are clean. No government(I'm from the US, and look at how corrupt our system is!) is pure in form or execution. The Alliance is a reflection of the most efficient government system that has existed for multi-continental empires, that of a parliamentary constitutional government. Civilian oversight exists on all levels, and though the different parts and members of the Alliance vote for their local representative, those representatives do not often ask their constituents what they are concerned with. The fact of the matter is that when most of these men and women are placed in a position of power, almost all are consumed with the need to maintain their position. The truly service-minded individuals are placed in positions where they can (hopefully)quietly perform to the best of their ability.

Which is part of the reason why I wanted to show off this chapter. The Alliance isn't a bad group. They have bad people, and the normal kind of bureaucratic group leading them. The Alliance wants to prove that they deserve to have a greater say in the Council. If that means working with the Turians to save one of their worlds, that will be the choice that the Alliance will make. Elizabeth Dempsey was inspired by another author on this site, and kudos to anyone who knows which.

Also, in the last chapter there were a few people on the forums who mentioned that it wasn't explicitly Julia that went with Kaidan on their little escapade. It got to be an interesting debate, so we put it to a vote to see which sister they all thought was the one with Kaidan. Julia won the vote, but it was still really entertaining. Thank you all for reading and commenting on this work. Your input goes a long way in making this story happen. Fanfiction should be a social experience, in my opinion. Or at least marginally social. Until next time.


	71. Lucid: Turians don't like Cleavage

Chapter 71

Florence, Italy, January 2183

The experienced hands moved to a prayer gesture above the man's throat. The man had not paid too close of attention to the food he had ordered for dessert, and he had dropped into his bed without any concern. His hands had waited the requisite fifteen seconds in prayer before drawing out the hypospray bottle. It had been a month's preparation on all sides to pull this off. With a carefully drawn breathe, the spray nozzle was extended into the man's mouth and released.

The Human lightly coughed, but took the entire bottle before his breathing started to slacken. The method involved with his death was one that he was newly exposed to the idea of. These Humans had poor security around their medical facilities, as his employer had told him. The male stopped moving, his heart stopping as the blood from the hypospray was cycled through the lungs and blood stream. Humans had so much trouble with that. Their necks were easier to snap than Batarian or Turian ones, and Krogan took  _special_  effort to snap. He had struck one with a large cargo hauler and the Krogan had gotten back up.

After that, he assumed that most Krogan would survive an air car at top speed. Thankfully, this assassination was more simple. Steal blood from the medical facility where he donated blood. Then compound it with a known viral infection. Something had been delivered to him, guaranteed to make it appear as if he had contracted illness and passed away in his sleep.

With a gentle touch, he drew back the eyelid to verify the death. His glove left little indentation upon the skin, and his hands returned to their previous prayer position. "Amonkira." He started, before his wrist vibrated. Glancing down, he saw that it was a request for a status report on the mission. He took a small scan, showing that only one life form was still alive in this room. That was the only thing he sent. He received text in return.

_Was the job completed as requested?_

'Yes.' He typed. 'Two more and your list shall be complete.'

_I thank you for your services. Your actions have assisted me greatly._  Thane Krios nodded to himself, his mind calling back its memories unwillingly. The moment where he had been away from Kahje, his family captured and threatened with murder and a long cold swim. He had been contacted by a Human named Harper, someone who had been watching those that captured his family. He had killed those behind the kidnapping, and sent his family back home. Twelve lives taken to protect his blood and faith. That was the start of their arrangement. Jack Harper had taken the lives of twelve men and spared his beloved Irikah. Kolyat, too. His son was growing up strong, willful, but strong.

For that, Thane owed the Human twelve lives. Thane always kept his debts, especially to men like Harper. 'I will remove the spy within your Sirta company next.' Thane typed to him, eyes unblinking as he arranged the head of the dead Human on the bed before him to a more natural angle. 'I will need access.'

_You will get it. After the next one, I will owe you. You have earned the money as well as my interest._  Thane blinked at that. The Human had insisted on paying for the twelve lives. Thane had tried to refuse, but if he refused the money then gifts and other things would arrive at his home. Kolyat's schooling was paid for. His wife and himself had insurance covered, and medical care guaranteed. The man was intent on paying him, and that made Thane uncomfortable. He had an agenda, and Thane was somehow part of it.

He had killed nine Humans and one Salarian so far. Of those ten, every single one he had been told to leave a small cigarette near the corpse, bar this one. The other nine sentients had been deeply connected to the Human underworld of crime, all of them critical to some kind of dark trade. This man, however, was a politician. Donnel Udina. He had just earned his first off-world promotion, becoming some kind of senator's assistant. As far as he understood, it was a position of some merit. He had worked hard for it, spending twenty years working in the local province before achieving his current position.

Jack Harper had demanded his death before he assumed that position. 'Understood.' He typed to the Human. Then, his arms resumed their position in prayer above Donnel Udina's body. "Amonkira, Lord of Hunters, hear my words." He closed his eyes, having memorized this death like all of the others he had caused. "Swift be my feet to return to my heart, that the unjust may perish. That my soul shall remain pure." His eyes opened, carefully looking down at his Omni-tool. At the address of the sender. "That I ever may be your blade in the dark."

* * *

Haestae-Kadar Hotel, The Citadel, January 2183

Julia walked confidently into the large room, heels clicking on the floor and dress swishing. She was going with a red one, tonight. Something that Miranda would approve of. Since the Alliance was throwing this party with the Hierarchy, she decided that she was going to make this look good. A black Vitton handbag complemented everything, and also concealed a knife. Admiral White told her to keep any weapons out of sight, and to make sure to bring some form of protection. Her dress had a slit on the right side, but on the left thigh was a holster with an augmented kinetic barrier generator. If she needed it, it was there.

She offered her arm to her date for the night, Heinrich Bhoer. After the tragic death of his father, the heir to the Bhoer family fortune was put in the spotlight. The rest of the board of Sirta were trying to push him out, offering to buy out Bhoer's portion of the company. Heinrich was in his mid-thirties, and had been finishing a doctorate in bio-engineered medicines. It had always been his intention to work in Sirta, and Julia didn't want him to give up. His family was closer to friends than acquaintances, and she had known Heinrich from Solaris. More importantly, she wanted control over Sirta. Hanz Bhoer had been a child molester and nightmare of a parent, but he had been a brilliant businessman. Heinrich didn't have the same tendencies, but the background check she had run showed that he had more than a few dalliances at the strip clubs.

Julia did not like what was happening. While she had been off at war with the Rachni and trying to become a Spectre, someone had been systematically taking apart her support system. Two board members of Sirta were dead. The Project Development head of Markov Heavy Industries was dead. Toshiro Toyoda had been crippled in an 'accident' and had sequestered himself away from the public. Alfred Johann, a Jew and the CEO of her bank, had gotten in an air car crash. He was in a coma, or had been until this morning. The resident doctor had declared him dead. The signs were adding up, and Julia didn't like it. Her support system to maintain her wealth and prestige were being attacked. That was why Heinrich was at her side.

She needed to guide Heinrich into the position that his father had held, to help her control the board of directors for Sirta. His father had gone through a small private funeral, as where he had been found and what he had been doing were coming to light. Heinrich and his siblings were enduring the trouble from the press, but Julia had wanted to help. The black haired man had agreed, and now he stood with her. He would not be able to inherit his father's position on the board, but he could take a seat. She just needed someone she could trust there. The other board members were all reliable, and a few were trusted.

"This is a madhouse." Heinrich muttered. "Putting this many members of both militaries together could cause another conflict."

"The Turians are feeling rather celebratory, considering. The neutralizing of eight queens is something that hasn't happened without Krogan aid before. I would appreciate it if you kept such an opinion to yourself." Heinrich was the same height as she was, at least in two inch heels. "But feel free to express yourself."

"The irony of that statement is troubling." He replied blandly. "I am against the entire business of war." Like a true Swiss, of course. "If you don't mind me speaking my mind, of course."

"Sirta was not supposed to be a source of blood money." Julia noted, nodding her head towards Garrus. "Not when our parents originally made it."

"Medi-gel is the most controversial substance we have access to." He pointed out. "Even more than element zero. In my opinion, we need to scale back production instead of increasing it. Diversify the nano-replication process to make different grades of medi-gel so as to limit the market. Or at least make the higher grades only available to premium clients."

"This is all part of our design process, has been for years."

"But my father prevented any of it from ever moving forward. Even though you wanted it to, he wanted to preserve the profit margin more than he wanted to follow your ideas." Heinrich told her. "I can't promise I'll keep Sirta as profitable."

"That's a discussion for another time. But I want you to know that I want you to have the freedom to guide the company towards your own vision." So long as it matched her own needs. But that didn't need to be said. "Now, let's go and meet some persons of interest.

The first to see her and approach was Admiral White. The man showed up with a plain looking woman, her ebony skin an even darker hue than his own. "Constantine." He said jovially. "Congratulations on your work."

"Sorry about Xiu."

"One Human life in exchange for that egg you brought back. The Alliance has claimed it, as you were the ones who did all of the work extracting it. The STG won't admit to having that strong of a force inside of Hierarchy space, and so they can't claim the egg. Of course, the Asari want to take it to a secure location, where they can run more thorough tests." White said the last with a bit of disgust. "I hope that you don't agree to any kind of concessions of that nature the next time you bring back something like that."

"Of course, Admiral."

"Pleasant to meet you, Heinrich." Admiral White said.

Heinrich frowned. "I get the feeling that I was just in the middle of something terrible." He glanced back at the disappearing African American. "Who was that?"

"One of my superiors in the Navy. Rear Admiral White runs a lot of the scouting operations."

"Does he have a first name?"

Julia had to think about that one, scrunching her nose. "I don't think so."

"Charming." He told her sarcastically. "I think that's the ambassador." Sure enough, here he was. Donovan Hock was approaching her, with his own date. Never a wife, though his official records showed that he had been married at one point. Tonight he had the Alliance Senator from Terra Nova on his arm, an older woman of Hispanic descent whose eyes missed nothing. Julia gave Heinrich a gentle squeeze on the arm to warn him.

"Ambassador! How nice to see you." She was a long time expert on sounding meaningful when not actually meaning it. "Senator Goldman." The Senator gave her a nod, content to observe at this point. "This is Heinrich Bhoer. One of my business associates."

"My condolences for your father." Hock started out with saying, and she could feel Bhoer tense. "Julia, I wanted to thank you personally for all of the work you have done recently. Humanity owes you for your service." His eyes were looking at her, but only at her forehead. That was odd behavior. Her dress tonight offered a healthy amount of cleavage for anyone to stare at, yet Hock didn't even glance at what she was freely offering. Heinrich did, she noticed. As did Kaidan.

He was nearby, but not close enough to excuse herself for a visit. She didn't mind him looking. In fact, this was something that Miranda had recommended to get his attention. It wasn't as if she could just waltz around in this around the ship, or into a bar. "Thank you, Ambassador, but I don't feel that I alone accomplished this. There are hundreds of thousands of people in the supply chain and armed forces that helped make this possible." A lot of the marines who had gone down to Galatana were from Terra Nova and Elysium. With the Senator right here, Julia needed to make sure that her interests were represented as well.

"We all know the official line, Julia, but the real fact of the matter is that you  _need_  this kind of debt." He grinned. "Sorry for not briefing you, but there is an awards ceremony for you and other officers in the Alliance tonight. We don't want you to panic and refuse, now."

Julia smile at that. "Of course not." Of course she picked an outfit that wasn't appropriate for a military award ceremony. White didn't say a word, which meant that no one else was going to be given much preparation time either. "Will the Hierarchy be giving any awards?"

"I spoke to Councillor Volorium, and they had decided to hold off on any ceremony until Galatana is clear. With the aid of the Third Fleet, it appears as though the Rachni might be pushed off the planet in a matter of months. Though many of their local representatives in the Fleet at the Citadel are here, the forces around Galatana declined to attend. Some of the officers from the fleets committed to the Traverse are here, however. Rather kind of them to offer so much."

"Turian space is so far from the edge of Council territory that their fleets have been doing little so far. This was simply an excuse to expand their operations."

"More than likely they don't trust us to get the job done." Senator Goldman said. "They want to make sure that their position is maintained, and that we can't challenge that. I personally wouldn't have agreed to their help."

Heinrich decided that he could voice his opinion on this. "Have any attempts been made to speak with the Rachni so far? Or try to find a method of communication?"

Hock didn't laugh, but Julia could see his lips get taut with the effort of not laughing. "To my knowledge, none have been successful. The Salarians tried talking to them when they were first encountered, and due to that Rachni finally gained access to FTL and were able to come after the rest of the galaxy. So, it is more than safe to assume that if they haven't tried to talk to us in fifteen hundred years that we have had contact with them."

Heinrich didn't appear offended by Hock's statement. "They wouldn't be interested in attacking us if we didn't have something they needed." He retorted. "We should find out what that is and see if they might bargain for it."

"Believe you me, Mr. Bhoer, if it were that simple, the Asari would have done it long ago." Hock said, nodding to Julia. "I'll see you at the ceremonies." He left the conversation, taking the senator with him. Hock seemed troubled. She didn't like the man, but he was the representative between Humans and their alien allies. It was probably keeping him busy. With another squeeze, she led Heinrich through another twenty conversations with people in power. Then she finally got to one that was of personal interest.

"The only Human I've ever liked!" She turned, grinning, as she saw Garrus coming forward with a female Turian. The outfit he wore was an eye-watering green with blue edging. Hers was the same. "Who accompanies you?"

"My name is Heinrich Bhoer. I am one of the board members of Sirta." Heinrich told him. "You are?"

"Garrus Vakarian. Council Spectre. This is my sister, Solanna."

"For a moment there I thought you had brought a date."

The high pitched laugh that emanated from both of them sounded like a choir. Garrus chuckled. "Desolous offered to set me up with Councillor Sparatus' daughter. But it is well known that she will rub spurs with nearly anyone. My sister was much happier to accompany me, however." The Spectre looked over Heinrich, with his gaze focusing on his hands. "Your work saves a lot of lives. Sirta's product keeps a lot of our men alive long enough to reach surgeons." Heinrich seemed oddly taken aback by a Turian saying this. "That means I tolerate you."

"Thank you?" Her date replied, concerned. "I guess?"

The Turian chuckled. "Indeed. Though I actually came here to warn you." The Turian drew his face forward, turning off his Omni-tool's ability to translate. "The Asari and the Salarians have come to an agreement. They wanted to demand that I stop mentoring you and go back to Galatana. Primarch Fedorian disagreed, as did Councillor Volorium. In exchange for keeping me on as your mentor, they're taking Desolous and sending him back to Palaven. They are also not going to confirm you as a Spectre. Too many toes being stepped on."

The Asari's actions were expected. "Why did the Salarians go along with it?"

"They don't disagree with the Asari unless they 'convince' us to vote on something first. Behind closed doors, all three of our races disagree heavily. So I'll be at your side. But just a fair warning, the Asari don't support any of this." That explained why so few of the other races were present here. She hadn't seen a single Asari at the party to celebrate their partial victory over the Rachni. Usually they were at any event on the Citadel. Whether as hired help or just as escorts to make the party look better. "S'kak." Garrus' sister stepped on his feet. Garrus pretended not to notice. "Here comes trouble."

Walking right towards them was Councillor Volorium. He looked unhappy. Julia felt herself straighten as if expecting to salute. Volorium walked like a Major with a disobedient non com in his sights. Garrus and his sister both straightened their own stances, too.

* * *

" _Perugia is a perfect color choice, if you must know. Getting the proper dyes into synth leather is impossible, of course._ " His eyes perked up. That was the first keyword. " _I had to special order this from the central office of Tellandi itself. Took the miserable codgers three months to get it to me._ " Three months. Three minutes. He had three minutes before he had to take his shot. Hock's words were the first activation keywords that he was to follow. With a sigh born of inaction, he raised his rifle to train it on the target.

It made him pause. Garrus Vakarian was talking to Julia. "Dang it, Julia." Leeroy Jenkins was having issues today. "I need you to step away." He centered his eyes on the scope. Even though his right eye could magnify up to a quarter mile, it still felt more natural to use the scope. "Come on," He muttered.

But things only got worse. Garrus Vakarian was joined by the Turian Councillor. Two high value Turians right next to Julia. Only one of them had to die in order to break the trust that they had in her. Something about this entire situation stank terribly. But Jack Harper was controlling her, and he was doing it through intermediaries. Intermediaries like Hanz Bhoer, Christian Anderson, and even indirectly like through her banker Alfred Johann.

Jenkins wasn't the kind of man to know how to investigate the connections. But Hock had a team of investigators and political officers here on the Citadel to dig into all of the connections. Jenkins had been observing different people associated with his targets. Especially Alfred Johann. Alfred had seemed so nice, so concerned with his clients. Though all of the money didn't add up. He was never going to get convicted of fraud, but the signs were all there. Jenkins had investigated all of the properties himself. The empty homes all concealed a darker past, something that he had wanted to keep hidden. It was in one of those homes that the motherload had been found.

Torture weapons banned after the Muslim Wars in the 2050's had been piled in one of the rooms. Not piled, but organized chaotically. Alfred had kept all of them, apparently family heirlooms from his grandfather. After they found fresh blood on some of them, Jenkins had decided to ignore whatever he was feeling. Alfred was easier to kill than the others. Then Hock had asked him about Spectre Vakarian, and what that Turian might do if Julia ever tried to step out of line. Or if she would choose to help her father.

Jenkins knew that Vakarian wouldn't stand in her way. Not unless he thought it would threaten the Turians. Something that threatened just the Humans would not be in his interest to stop, he'd wager. The man on Julia's arm didn't seem familiar to him, but he would find out who the man was. He centered his scope on Spectre Vakarian, seeing the easygoing look on his face. He had that look when Jenkins used to joke with him about grenades that had misfired. He gulped. Could he really kill him?

His rifle's scope slid over to the back of Julia's head. How must it have felt, to put that bullet through his visor? Right now he felt a mixture of disgust and something else. Something that really wanted him to pull that trigger. His finger wavered, and he honestly considered killing her. It wasn't the first time. But the difference was that he  _could_  right now. He had thought through the consequences of this many times. But no one could blame a dead man for killing someone. Especially the Asari. How poignant it would be, if the round went through her and into the Councillor that she was talking to? His musings were cut off by audio input.

" _Mister Atkins?_ " Jenkins heard Hock ask. That was his codename. " _Are you capable?_ " Jenkins narrowed his sights on Vakarian, seeing the Turian Councillor now in a full conversation with them. He clicked his comms once. " _You haven't delivered on your promise._ "

Jenkins sighed, looking away. He brought his wrist up and started typing. 'This isn't the right thing to do. This would only polarize the Turians.'

" _This is not acceptable. You promised to deliver._ " Hock couldn't speak plainly, not with that unknowing Senator at his side.

'Not like this. It would only make things worse.' He glanced up at the rest of their little nook along the ceiling. "Abort." He whispered. He could feel the tentacles of his Hanar teammate surrounding him. "We can't make the shot."

" _Atkins. We talked about this._ "

Jenkins felt himself start floating away into the ventilation shaft. Only a Hanar would be able to get out this way. 'Not enough.' The grate on the shaft slid silently open, already prepared for this purpose. Doctor Finds-Secrets carried him up and out of the party, and Jenkins would have that argument with Hock later. But right now he felt alright. Not great, and not responsible, but alright.

* * *

Julia hoped that the Turians used magnets for their honors. If they tried to pin something to her dress, she was probably going to lose some skin over it. But as she stepped away from the Turian Councillor, Garrus matched her shoulder.

"Mind if I borrow her for a moment?" He asked Heinrich. "If you'll borrow my sister, of course. She doesn't bite, at least not often." Heinrich didn't seem to mind, taking Solanna by the arm and giving them some space.

"What's going on?" Julia asked, deadly serious.

"Admiral." Garrus said in quick greeting to a passing Turian. "Have a nice night." When he turned back to Julia, she saw him do a slow sweep of the room, his eyes going to all of the nooks and crannies. Julia did the same, her eyes sweeping the galleries above the main floor. There were too many places that someone could hide in. "You know that this visor of mine is heavily modified?"

"Yeah?" She said, sweeping the people on the main floor now.

"One of its functions is detecting where laser and thermal scopes are angled towards. As we were talking to the Turian Councillor, we had a scope on us the entire conversation."

"Damn." There were hundreds of places someone could be, and there were dozens of groups that would make a try for injuring or killing her. "Where from?"

"They already moved. But if that's anyone with sniper training, the only reason they would stay in their original position would be to commit suicide. We may have someone trying to take a shot at the Councillor."

"What?" She remembered when the last Turian Councillor, Sparatus, had been murdered at a party. A party thrown by her own father. This was a party to celebrate the achievements on Galatana so far, and was partially in her honor. It was the first public event that she had been invited to and actually attended in a year. It would be the only one that something terrible could be laid at her feet if anything went wrong. "We should get him out of the open."

"Agreed. Secondary targets, you think?"

"Your crew." He muttered. "Admirals and Senators all over the place." He glanced towards the ranks of his own people. "The Imperator's cousin is in the building. If there is a threat, it might be against her. Order your crew to get out. I'll get the royal out of here, and you get the Councillor."

"Why can't you do both?"

"We can replace a Councillor. The Imperator only has two cousins." Garrus muttered. "I am also a shameless flirt, according to Desolous. Let's move." Julia nodded, and they retrieved their dates. Heinrich seemed genuinely sad to leave Solanna, whose mandibles were loose and not up against her face. "Sister, I warn you, what I am about to do is not done out of self-interest."

"Garrus, what are you about to do?" His sister asked suspiciously. Garrus winked at Julia with his non visored eye as he walked away.

"Heinrich, how was your conversation?" She asked innocently, meandering her way back over to the Councillor.

"Solanna Vakarian happens to have a few years experience in the medical logistics industry. We were comparing our experiences." He succinctly stated. "Yours?"

"Not so pleasant. In the next few minutes things might get dicey. I'm used to running in this getup, but I'm curious. How is your forty meter sprint?" Heinrich started to look slightly ill. She smirked as she flexed her thighs together. She used Heinrich and another tall Human guest as cover from the more obvious cameras, her kinetic barriers coming up. Heinrich made a sound in the back of his throat that sounded rather wimpy.

"Um, I can't say it is anything impressive." He admitted, looking around at the other guests. "What is going on?"

"Spectre problems." She admitted. "Just stay behind me."

Heinrich did, a half step behind her heels. Those would be a tad bit treacherous, but this was not the first time she had to go into combat wearing something like this. Last time she was expecting it. This time, not so much. She quickly debated her approach, seeing the two bodyguards standing beside the Councillor. Anything truly overt would spook the sniper. It might cause some kind of reaction. Her whispering to him would seem suspicious, of course. But only if it was not a situation that would be considered normal for their relationship. She could come out and just speak to him, tell him that his life was in danger. Or she could get close for a different reason.

She reached around in front of herself, pulling on the thin fabric of the dress until she was showing enough skin to be considered Asari. The dress was meant to be as scandalous or as modest as necessary, with the neckline being adjustable. She stretched it out to the limit. Another couple of inches and she would be tumbling out of the dress. "This good enough?" She asked Heinrich.

His eyes were wide open, taking in the view. He just shook his head, unwilling to comment. Nodding to herself, she put a bit of swagger into her step and started thinking about how Miranda would walk. Hips swaggering, she walked forward with Heinrich in tow. Her steps alerted the Turian to her approach, and he turned to her. His eyes looked her up and down, questioning her presence. "Commander?"

Her childhood had included learning Turian. She walked forward, close enough to seem intimate. To make his guards more comfortable, she started making a slight purring noise in the back of her throat. It was a sound that some female Turians would make when they were getting amorous. The Councillor seemed surprised, and brought his arm up to block her from moving closer. She used that opportunity to cuddle into him, moving her face near his ear. "There is a sniper somewhere. Spectre Vakarian has asked me to get you out of here."

Councillor Volorium growled, in a way that Julia hoped was supposed to be a reply. "Of course, Commander." He said, loudly enough that his guards loosened up. "I do suppose we owe you at least a drink." His arm was tense, but he offered it to her. She focused, breathing quickly. Her biotics answered the call, and she carefully extended her biotic barrier over the Turian Councillor. It was weak, at least enough that few would notice. What felt odd was that there were  _touches_  of some sort on her barrier. Like something was dragging their fingernails across it, feeling it out. "I assume Spectre Vakarian would be jealous."

"Quite the contrary." Julia said, "He feels that his attention would be better spent with someone of a more importance."

Volorium nodded, and she could feel something pressing against her extended barrier. Given that she was constantly putting in the effort, she could feel more than normal. It made her worry about who else was watching. Instead of leading her towards the exit, he moved towards the main platform. "I'll be sure to thank him for the recommendation." Once across the line, he tapped his Omni-tool surreptitiously. Kinetic barriers curtained around them, and the Councillor seemed unconcerned at the activity that caused. As carefully as he could, he removed himself from her arm. Not quite disgust, but with care. "I believe we will move the ceremonies to the dias here. Phalen, please tell the Admirals in the room that we will be officiating this ceremony from here." One of his large bodyguards nodded and stepped towards the affected parties. "Commander, I appreciate your concern for my wellbeing, but  _please_  do not do that ever again."

"I promise that I'll find a less intimate way of getting your  _attention_  if necessary." The word attention she said in Turian, with the feminine pronoun and the most seductive secondary tone as possible. "Are you worried about a little scandal?"

"Not with a Human." He muttered. "Though your accent is quite good. Whoever taught you that must have been quite the partner." Julia smirked. He thought she learned if from sleeping with a Turian.

"My father taught me how to speak Turian and Asari. I can read Salarian, though I much prefer Omni-tool translations. I taught myself Batarian, once I was placed in the Infiltrator Program."

"Ah." He said, his eyes going over her again. Appraising her. "From my understanding, most of our troops only learn Volus trade language or common Asari in their childhood. The other languages are usually picked up depending upon career postings. Spectre Vakarian learned how to speak your English at one point, I believe." Julia let surprise show on her face. She did not know that. She just assumed that visor of his gave him translations of what they were saying.

"Most Alliance troops learn Asari in their childhood, or perhaps another dialect of our homeworld. Anything beyond that is not expected. Though our political officers are expected to learn more than that." She pointed at Alenko. "Lt. Alenko there can speak several dialects of Asari as well as Salarian."

"My condolences." He muttered. "My father decided to teach me Krogan as a child. I don't recommend that horrid language on anyone."

"That must be quite the party trick." She glanced to the side, seeing Admiral Hackett approaching with a large following. "You'll have to show me sometime."

"Spirits preserve us." The Councillor muttered. "Vakarian is going to make your little dalliance disappear. He's touching her."

"Is that illegal?"

"Technically it is only a minor crime. But the tradition used to be that the hand that touched the family member was removed."

"It is something that he would do." She admitted. Garrus was walking towards them, holding the hand of a Turian female wearing black, gold, and green robes. She did not look pleased to be holding his hand, and Solanna was holding back laughter as she held Garrus' other hand. Now that Councillor Volorium had let go of her, Heinrich had retaken his place beside her. "What is going to happen?"

"It's not my decision." The Councillor said. "Admiral, my apologies for changing the venue."

Admiral Hackett had approached, and he looked slightly annoyed at the change in location. Then his gaze centered on Julia, and his disapproval rose. "Commander, I wonder what exactly we are supporting as a Spectre Candidate. Take a moment and compose yourself." She saw that his eyes were drifting to her almost completely on display cleavage. "There will be cameras, and I would hate to pin a medal on something other than than your skin." Julia gave a slow nod, pulling the silk material back over herself. Her inherited gifts had done their work. Glancing across the dias, she could see Kaidan giving her glances. She gave him a single wink as she made sure that her dress was as decent as she felt was necessary.

Of course, his eyes heavily lingered on her as Volorium had to pin her medal of civilian sacrifice(as she wasn't a Turian citizen that was the best they could give). She let him look, even turning to offer him a good angle. Hackett remained displeased with her, for what reason she could only guess, and Garrus was hauled away by the guards for touching the Imperator's cousin. He did not resist, chuckling and laughing about the entire mess. Volorium assured her that he was only going to spend a very awkward night in the custody of the black-faced guards. Vakarian would be released to her in the morning.

The Turians gave her a medal of civil service, named after an ancient weapon that could function as both spear and plow. The Alliance gave her two purple hearts(for Suen and Eden Prime), as well as a Brass Star, which was for going above and beyond the call of duty to secure intelligence. It was a high honor, one that was only given to intelligence agents and desk workers. Silver, Gold, and finally Platinum stars were the only higher awards possible for her command structure. Only two platinum stars had been awarded, and one of those was to a deep cover operative that had disguised herself as an Asari during the First Contact War. She had died in the custody of the Turians, but in her time of activity she had mapped the entire Citadel Defense Fleet, and had forwarded the number of ships and class to the Alliance as the Turians made their incursions into their territory. She had died after sabotaging a fuel depot the entire Turian fleet was using to get to Alliance space. The other Platinum star holder was still alive, barely. Andre Studorsck was a Czechoslovakian Intelligence operative that had been one of the founding members of the Alliance Office of Intelligence. His work defined what their department did today.

Hackett seemed to take especial care to poke her as he applied her purple hearts. Rear Admiral White was so smooth that if she hadn't been paying attention she wouldn't have noticed the pin. All in all, an excellent moment. Bar the people almost shooting at them.

* * *

Urdnot Camp, Tuchanka, January 2183

"Dead." Wrex closed his eyes. "Keep pushing." The female Shaman told his only surviving child. A daughter, Styk, only one hundred and fifty. This was not her first clutch. It wasn't her second, or third. This was the eightieth. With some concern, the stillborn Krogan child was lain to the side. It joined ten of its fellows. All cold, all of them small little red things with dead eyes and unmoving limbs.

Styk didn't make the mewling noises that Asari did when they gave birth. She lay there, stoically understanding that most of her children would not survive. She grunted, as another small head was pushed outwards. "Dead. Do it again." Wrex had been to every single one of her clutches. It didn't matter what was happening to the world around him, or what job he was on. If his only child was giving birth, he would be there.

They had poor technology here. No way of seeing how many children were in each clutch, and no way of diagnosing the problems in each child. There was simply no point when so many died. The twelfth stillborn joined its fellows, and finally his daughter groaned in sadness rather than effort. "Push, child." The female Shaman had no tolerance for waiting. Not when it threatened the lives of the mothers. "I see more of them."

"You are strong." Wrex said softly. Styk nodded. It was all that she could do, after experiencing the pain as a female's body prepared to give birth. "Our blood runs strong."

She groaned harder, and the female Shaman pulled out another child. "Wrex." She stated. "This one is in shock. It is alive."

He reached, quickly. His biotics flaring, the child screamed as its world changed all over again, the hold of gravity disappearing. It was like this for some children. But he grinned all the same when it's squalls reached a noise level that he could hear. "Good." He murmured. "Strong blood runs in your veins, young Urdnot."

"Name her." Styk said quietly. She always asked him to name her children. Said he was smarter than their own fathers.

"Urdnot Krand. May you live long and find satisfaction in our clan." Wrex intoned, repeating what he knew from the old ways. The female Shaman nodded, approving it. Some of the names he had used in the past she had not approved of.

"There is more in here." She reminded them. "Keep pushing." All in all, that day Styk bore forty two small whelps. Two lived. The other forty were placed off to the side, to be ceremonially brought to the surface for removal and burial. Some clans threw them to the varren. Clan Urdnot buried their stillborn in a sacred place. Little more than rubble, but it was better. The mountains of tiny bones had long become something of a shrine to his people. Males rarely went there, disturbed by the sight. The other child was male, and last. A runt.

Styk's eyes were hardly focusing as he came out, her body purging itself of all of the eggs that never developed. She would bleed and flush her body of their fluids over the next week. "Urdnot Olg. May you live long and find satisfaction within our clan." Wrex said, naming the male. The female Shaman took the child from him, cleaning the whelp with a stone.

"Two. Her blood does run strong." She intoned. "The males are trying for more children, with the Rachni returning. The galaxy will call upon us again."

"It would only be the last gasp of a dying race. We could not fight the Rachni as we are." Wrex reminded her. She had spent her entire life in this bunker. While wise, she was only wise in the ways of their ancestors. She did not understand the wider galaxy. "We would die."

"Then you should change. Speak like the young ones do, of taming Thresher Maws to ride into the hives and wipe them out." She said sarcastically. "They would rally to you."

"No." Wrex said coldly. "The other clans would perceive it as weakness."

"They see you as a threat! You and the Gatatog are all that remain of the line of Olg! The whining whelp that could challenge you will do nothing. He knows all too well what happened to Ream."

"Olg's line must lay claim through combat. The Warleader is dead. He died in a cell, and we will never know his killers." Wrex stated. "Though I am his grandson, I cannot claim that. The other clan's Shamans would never recognize it."

"The Ganar would." She said, and Wrex doubted it immediately. "You killed Ream."

"Yes."

"Yet Wreav is sitting in your place?"

"He wants this pile of rubble." Wrex rumbled, looking down at his mewling grandchildren. Once a Krogan was born, they had made it past the genophage. It was determined that they would receive a name and recognition of their place. Of course, they would have to survive the Rite. Then they would be full members of Clan Urdnot. "He can have it. I tried my hand and failed."

"He does not see." She said. "He does not have the gift of wisdom that you do."

"Don't say that." Wrex said. "The female clan already has enough trouble with Wreav."

"Your children are all gifted. Smart. Cunning. If Trag had survived he would have been a mighty Battlemaster. Styk has borne many children, and most of her births have resulted in at least one survivor. Today she has borne two, and we shall eat Varren to celebrate." It went unsaid how many children did not survive to adulthood. From birth defects to moments of poor decisions, half of those born died before their time.

"Bakara." He muttered. Her own name made her look up, real anger in her eyes. "Our son did not die for nothing."

She stared at him a long moment. "Take the stillborn, and meet  _your_  Shaman. Perform the rites, and leave. You will not heed my words, and perhaps you will heed his."

He did not fight her on this, not inside the female camp. She had all of the power here, and he wanted to be able to come back for his daughter's next hundred births. "I'll keep you supplied." He offered as an apology.

"Give us a reason to live and then I might appreciate the food you provide us." Bakara, mother of his dead son and the female shaman, then took Styk back into the depths of the bunker. She brought the two whelps with her. She left the forty dead whelps to him. Wrex picked up each of the frail bodies, their dead eyes boring into his. He met their stares with his own. Each was carefully loaded into his bag, the weapons he had pilfered from the dead of the Terminus and fetched during his trials already left for the females. He didn't want them wasting efforts trying to arm themselves with the castoffs from the clan. Every one of the dead children was placed in his bag, lined up so that their heads pointed towards his. Their tiny reddish feet all pointed away, symbolizing that they all were traveling. Some surmised that their spiritual bodies trailed after their physical ones, and that they would curse any that interrupted their burials.

It took hours to reach the shrine. A Tomkah was also there, with guards. The guards did not enter the collapsed building. It used to be some kind of circular construction, meant to contain blood sport before the nuclear fire. Now the arena was host to the dead. They nodded to Wrex as he walked by them, eyeing the bag in his hands. All Urdnot knew what it meant to carry the unborn. Inside the arena was a single Krogan, his tattered armor older than the technology of kinetic barriers.

"Son of Jarrod, Son of Olg." The old one stated. "You bring the honored dead."

The stillborn were lined up along the rocks and bones. There was no such thing as loose dirt here. In order to protect their bodies, the only thing that could be used were the piles of tiny bones on all sides. It was thought that it would bring comfort to them, to not be alone. Being here bothered Wrex. It was not a place that reflected on the strength of their people. "My blood is strong." Wrex said softly, as the last of the dead whelps was covered by the bones of their brethren. "What life you had was worth dying for." It hurt worse every time he had to say that. Never enough to truly burn in his gut the way it did when Trag died, but still enough that he was uncomfortable.

"Did any live?" The shaman asked, his throat shuddering.

"Two. A female, Krand. A male, Olg."

"The Blood runs strong. Good." The shaman laughed. "Traditional. But I think their fathers would be concerned about the scrutiny. Carrying that name bears scorn from many." He chuckled again, walking back towards the Tomkah with Wrex in tow. "The Human you work for, Constantire?"

"Constantine."

"She killed a Rachni Queen. There's a video showing the entire event." the shaman seemed excited about it. Then again, the mere mention of that had already gotten his blood pumping. "Come on back to the den and I'll show you."

"That whelp lied to me." Wrex muttered. "I made her promise to wait for me before going after a Queen!"

The shaman only laughed. Hard enough to make his aging crest shake. "Go then! Show them that the Rachni were right to fear us! The next time you make a name for Clan Urdnot, it will be one that echoes through the stars. Be there when she next kills a Queen, and give the Council reason to fear us again!"

"And how did that go last time?" Wrex said. This shaman was no better than Bakara. He did not leave the planet or risk anything. He was wise. He simply did not pay attention to the rest of the galaxy. "Let them believe the genophage is enough. It is better than having their scrutiny."

"If you don't prove something, than Wreav will have called down their scrutiny soon enough." The shaman placed one of his hands on Wrex's shoulder. Then, to Wrex's complete surprise, bashed his forehead against his. Wrex fell to the ground, his eyes unfocused as the old one stood in front of him. "You've been ignoring me for the past century, whelp!" He  _did_  have the right to call him that. "We are dying in pieces out here. You will not find the answer to saving our race out there, where the Asari control all! The only answers for the Krogan lie here, on our homeworld. Can't you see that?"

"I disagree." Wrex said, standing. "I think there is a path for us out there. What concerns me is the cost."

He did not hit the shaman. If the shaman wanted to let you know how you stood compared to the ancestors, it was well within his right. Wrex felt slightly better now that he had been treated like a whelp, oddly enough. "Wreav will destroy us, Wrex. Either kill your brother or subjugate him, but do not leave us to fall."

"The cost will be high no matter what our path may be. Either you trust me or you don't." Wrex walked ahead of him, daring the shaman to take a shot at his back. "But I don't plan on coming back permanently unless I have found an answer."

"Where will you go?"

"Hell if I know." Wrex shrugged. "Away from this pisshole to start." Back to Constantine. Back to his income, and back to his contacts. Back to someplace where he didn't see the bones of whelps. He called ahead to the shuttle service that moved through the demilitarized zone, making arrangements to be picked up outside the Urdnot base. There was no need to see his brother or his old trophies. 'Constantine. I'll see you soon.' He slowly typed, letting the message hit the comm relay. He did not expect a reply immediately.

_Thought you weren't coming. Meet us at Elysium, in 22 hours. We're going after possible Rachni, and I would prefer that you were there._  Wrex grinned. 'Ok.' Was all that he typed in return. There was no need for any further exchange of information. As the shuttle landed to pick him up, he typed another message. 'You always make me proud.' Typing that was easier, somehow. He sent it to the fourth contact in his contact list. The top one was the Shaman's terminal. Following him were his handlers for the Shadow Broker. The fifth was Constantine. But the fourth was reserved for his daughter. Someone else might consider this a weakness, but this was all that he had left. Nothing else mattered but family, when it all came down to it.

* * *

Shandong, Confucius System, January 2183

The colony was simply  _gone_. The planet could barely support life, anyways, but now it was crippled. Fires burned in all of the habitation domes along the poles, and from their place in orbit they could see the burning hulks of the orbital stations. They had crashed along the equator, in the burning hot sections of the planet. Shandong was one of the chief education centers of the Red systems, and held most of their private universities. Research labs and processing facilities for heavy metals and silicon microchips. Shandong was an important location for them, and right now Julia didn't see this place capable of coming back.

Qufu was the name of the only other stellar body in the system. It was an airless rock that had plenty of mining opportunities, and even though this system had only been inhabited for the last fifteen years there were some significant mines in operation. There were no gas giants or locations where Helium-3 could be easily accessed, which was why this system was overlooked by the Council races. The Reds took the system, and had developed it. All of their fuel had to be shipped in, and they maintained control over the system and its populace by controlling all of the FTL capable vessels.

"Commander, I'm getting a few scattered distress beacons." Pressley brought up, as Julia stood near Joker. "Most of them away from the crater." Her XO was back where he was supposed to be, and only the barest hint of a limp was detectable. His new knee was fully functional and his Onyx armor had been, as a joke, equipped with heat resistant mods. Especially around the knees. Pressley had  _not_  taken it well, and now the armory crew were in charge of the latrines for the month.

"Any from the damaged domes?"

"No. A few scattered aircraft, a couple of ships." Kalin'ren stated. "Most don't use translation protocols."

"Who speaks Cantonese?" Julia asked quietly. She had some idea, based on personal records, but it was better for her crew to volunteer their help.

"I do, Ma'am." Sgt Joya said. "I've got experience decrypting their channels." Julia knew about that skill, but acted as if it were a welcome surprise.

"Find me something with a black box. I want to know what happened here." Julia ordered. "The Reds wouldn't have gone down without a fight."

"We'll start looking for tunnels or bunkers that might tell us what happened." Pressley noted. "They usually have bolt-holes that are secure against bombardment."

"This crater looks a lot like the one on Asteria." Julia mentioned, remembering the red-hot glowing pit left behind when that monster of a ship, that  _Reaper_ , took off. "Can you compare it to the other crater based on Asteria's data?"

Pressley stared at the crater. "Too many discrepancies." He muttered. "The data from Asteria that you got was two weeks old. We didn't get a good angle for any scanning, and that drone that you had in orbit decayed before you could recover all of its data. So we can't compare the crater left by the Reaper on Asteria, not without guessing as to the time of this crater's creation. Sorry, Ma'am. I can't compare it yet."

Julia nodded. "That's alright, XO."

"I'll get with Harris, see if we can't find a way to at least compare it on a seismic level. Any shifts in the magnetosphere or ionosphere will take longer than a week to sort out fully. But by my gut, if one of those ships was here, it wasn't long ago." He glanced over Kalin'ren's haptic feed, his chin set. "But basic comm channels are back online. Usually when one of those things is around everything is quiet."

"Don't risk breaking stealth." Julia warned. "We can risk deploying a drone with all of this chaff already filling the comm channels."

"Don't worry, Commander." Joker piped in. "The atmosphere isn't thick enough to slow us down. We will be in without breaking stealth in fifteen minutes."

"Ma'am, I've found their central command bunker." Sgt. Joya announced. "It's entry points have been exposed. They haven't been able to get any ships in orbit yet, but they are making noise on open frequencies. They want to find," She paused to listen to the feed. "Anyone out there with a ship. Apparently the links back to the mass relay have been taken down."

"Excellent work, Joya." Julia said. The non com brightened. "Give us a real time map of their assets, as best as you can. Joker, let's drop down there directly. We might be able to capture some of their leadership. Pressley, deploy a surveillance drone in high orbit and make sure that the ship is prepared for atmospheric combat."

Pressley started barking orders, and Julia got down to the hangar. The ship was shaking a bit, signs that they were entering atmosphere. She grinned as she got down to the hangar, and saw everyone lined up. "Williams, status!"

"Ma'am." Williams motioned to her squad. "We've got heavy weapons and thermal gear for the squad. We won't show up on their scanners or their sensor grid. Weapons might give off heat, but if they are it's because they already know we are there." She motioned to the rest of the hangar, where the teams had set up. "Reds sometimes pack irradiated rounds. We've added the proper resistance mods to our armors." Her right arm was exposed currently, the Alliance standard tank top revealing the synthetic skin that covered the grafted on cybernetic boot showing. The skin was slightly discolored, and the lines from the secondary support connectors went into her collarbones and ribs. The lines of synthetic muscle fibers that had to support the heavier weight of the cybernetic arm were covered with synth skin. The discolored lines ran across the right side of her torso like scars.

More importantly, her arm looked far more muscled than the left one. "Is that…?"

She grinned. "Oh yeah." She turned her arm around to face Julia. "Grandad still has a few Turian skulls around in his office. Turns out the skull shape was good enough for a decal." Sure enough, the mark of a Turian skull-print was on her upper arm. Everyone in the hangar heard the scoff that Garrus didn't manage to conceal behind his mandibles. "Wanted to mount the real thing, but it doesn't hold up well."

"That looks like a mass driver." Julia said. The underside of Ashley's wrist seemed larger than normal. "Those don't come on anything the Alliance provides." Due to their questionable legality.

"Yeah." Williams seemed uncomfortable as she said this. "It was the best that they had. Apparently Grandpa shelled out into the wounded veteran program, enough that they gave me this. It came from that rogue Infiltrator cyborg we fought. Jones." Julia's good mood soured a tiny bit. Her face must have visibly shifted, because Ashley stepped back. "Whoa, Commander. It's been checked!"

"What do you mean? By who?" Julia's eyes centered on the arm, her focus one hundred percent on the potential threat.

"Here I thought your resting bitch face was terrifying enough." Ashley muttered. "Alliance Techs went over it. Quarians went over it. The Asari aides we have on hand went over it. They found a few pieces of suspicious origin technologically. But they cleared it!"

"Logically I can agree with that kind of augmentation." Emotionally she didn't like it one bit. She didn't respond to the face comment. "As well as giving you the best firepower you can get." She glanced at the slight depression in the bottom of her palm. "Does the mass driver function to previous recorded capacity?"

Ashley nodded, and flexed her fingers on the cybernetic arm. Her wrist made a  _humming_  noise that gave Julia chills. Sometimes she still had nightmares about that noise. First Haego, and now Jones. Both of them were terrifying opponents, and to be hit by that humming weapon was to be crippled or worse. Julia didn't let it bother her. She could trust Williams with that kind of weapon. She had to trust her. If she couldn't trust her own team, then she would disassociate herself with them. "I've modified my armor to be able to fit it."

"Good." Julia stated. "Suit up, everyone. The Reds don't recognize Alliance forces in their systems. We have to get in and take anything that could indicate or implicate those that attacked this place. We can't use any of our data from Asteria, so we have to prove it here. Any connection we can make between this craft and the Rachni is paramount. Don't damage any of their equipment, and take any Omni-tools they have. This is a raid, pure and simple."

"Prisoners?"

"Only high value targets." Julia told them. "Otherwise stun grenades are meant for civilians and anyone who picks up a weapon is to be shot. Get any Alliance paint off your armor, and those who can will use the Asari armors. Spectre Vakarian will be leading the overwatch team. They will form a defensive perimeter around the location, make sure that all other exits are covered. Halmabad, you'll lead up the second team. Strip search any and all tech sources. Take anyone you need." For Jenkin's sake, she would try to keep civilian casualties to a minimum.

Tali was still in the hospital. Julia wished she was alright. Apparently the technicians needed to clone her new organs, and there was no data on Quarian organs or stem cells in the Citadel database. She had gone beyond the limit of what the Alliance was willing to pay for, and Julia was covering the rest. She owed it to her. "Williams, you've got point. Take the combat team and move into the base. Secure anything you can. I'll be on my own."

"Understood, Ma'am."

"I'll go first, flag any concentrations of enemies, and draw their attention away from the doors. Once the doors are secure, I want the Titans to come in. Sgt Joya from the bridge is going to be coming with you, and she will need to get to the command center. She can decipher their encryptions. Avoid using your biotics too heavily, we don't want to give them something to point back at the Alliance."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Echoed in the hangar.

"Wrex." The big Krogan seemed anxious to get out and start killing things. "You're with Williams. Do what you do best, but keep your helmet on. You are easy to identify."

He grunted in a way that might have been positive. "If we find Rachni?"

"This place would make a good hive. No space forces to stop them." Especially a bunker going into the planet's crust to start with. Something that could take bombardment. "Keep an eye out for any Lurkers, as well. Normally they are on planets where the Rachni hit, but if you see any call out. Helmets off if that happens, those bastards can take down your armor functions."

Her men responded well, and Julia had full confidence in them as the  _Normandy_  dropped her off first. She had a few minutes before the others moved into position. Her feet hit the ground, and she was off. Her own cloaking systems took over seamlessly from the ship, and she was only a couple hundred feet from the airlocks. Four people were outside, trying to repair some kind of system on the doors. They had cleared a large pile of debris from the airlock doors, but only the left side of them were able to open. Four men were trying to clear the atmospheric filtration vents, while still more were trying to clear the right side of the doors.

They had disabled much of the functionality of the airlocks, and she happily logged in to the secure terminal on the door. With the confusion, she hoped that her hacking would go unnoticed. She had no idea if they had seen her or not, as the men outside did not react. Once into the terminal, she released a few of her favorite worms into the network. They would spread with time, and she hoped that the Reds hadn't encountered this kind of virus before. The channels of information and the data ports could be secured easily enough. She didn't watch their actions, content to let the viruses burrow their way around.

The minutes started adding up, and the viruses failed to perform. The Reds must have a high quality server here. She shrugged. Secondary plan, then. She took out a few plastic explosives for the pressure hoses on the airlock. Once she had attached them, her suit started giving her warnings about maintaining its tactical cloak. Her Pheonix IX wasn't happy about maintaining its field. "Go for Akaos." Using the Turian term for the letter A was more of a Terminus thing. All of the different gangs employed Blackwatch colony Turians.

The answer was immediate. From less than two hundred feet away, Garrus' sniper fire found its marks. The first group of four men died from an explosive round that exploded in the middle of them, while the second group of four moving the rubble lost one man. The rest were showered with gore and shrapnel. Two of them took cover while the last ran for the airlock. She drove her pistol through his barriers, pressing the trigger once she felt the tip against his faceplate.

She turned once she saw blood shoot out into the light atmosphere. The other two saw her tactical cloaking field fall apart, and tried to draw their weapons. They never made it beyond that, as Williams came into range and started shooting. Julia provided cover fire, but didn't do more than that. The marines with Williams took down the two survivors, and Wrex ambled along behind with a heavy weapon. Julia tapped her wrist, and the plastic explosives went off with small puffs of gas. The atmosphere here didn't have too much oxygen, but enough to provide a source material. The hoses full of pressurized air that kept the airlock sealed were blown open, and Wrex kicked the doors inwards.

One poor unfortunate man was working on the inside terminal when the room lost pressurization. Wrex put him out of his misery with a single blast from his shotgun, painting the walls red. His laugh came loudly across their comm channels. "Alright people, cat's out of the bag! Let's move!" Julia cloaked, ready to engage ahead of her teams.

Around the corner was a security station that had another six men in the area. They had barely opened their security lockers before Ashley held her wrist up to the security glass. The men inside laughed. The  _hum_  of the mass driver lasted only a second before Ashley released the burst. The glass didn't break, but it did shatter.  _That_  made the men inside stop laughing. They all took cover when Ashley's fist punched a hole large enough to drop a grenade into the area. They realized that their security glass was now worthless and started to shoot through it. Their shots were not going through. The bomb proof glass was resisting the rounds.

Ashley's grenade immolated one of the men, his flailing arms knocking over datapads and scanners as he fell over. "Wrex!" She barked. "Clear it out!" The Graal answered. Four nail-like rounds impacted the corners of the security glass. It took a Warp to go the rest of the way. But once it did, the security station turned into a shooting gallery. "I love this arm!" Ashley yelled, enjoying the freely granted slaughter. Wrex didn't laugh, professionally killing any one of them that stuck their heads up.

"Williams." He muttered. "One of them isn't Human." He jumped through the window like he wasn't seven feet tall and four hundred pounds, landing lightly next to one of the corpses. One of the others tried to move, but the marines gunned him down before he could injure Wrex. Nothing else moved after that. "Batarian."

"Pull off his helmet." Ashley ordered. Considering that there was a Graal spike going through his neck, Wrex just chucked the entire head to her. Ashley wasn't too flustered, catching it and twisting the head out of the helmet. "Hey, he's marked!" Some of the slave castes that served as warriors would be marked with brands or tattoos to show their allegiance to their sponsors. The only ones who still practiced that were part of the Hegemony Separatists.

Julia decloaked, pulling the head from Ashley's arms. "Karak Hadrik. His personal mark."

"Wasn't he at Torfan?"

"Yeah." That was all that Julia wanted to say about that. But Ashley deserved more information. She had been captured and had nearly died there. "I spent three weeks trying to kill him. I killed his son instead."

"That doesn't sound right." Williams noted. "Didn't we report him dead?"

"We made a backroom deal with him in exchange for the location of the rest of the men behind the raids on Elysium and Attican Traverse. He was reported dead, and we dropped any charges against him so long as he never pissed us off again." Julia wasn't happy. "You could say that he hasn't kept his promises."

"If he's here, what do we do?"

"Leave him to me." Julia smirked. "Let's move forward."

* * *

Author's Note

Many of you have asked what happened to Donnel Udina over the last year. This is my answer. It was also time that I introduced Thane Krios into the story. He's interesting to write, but in an almost detached sort of way.

Last night I watched the news regarding this Orlando mass shooting. None of the people I know were there, but it still rankles me all the same. I am sure that Spain and France are both still angry over the bombings that have happened in their countries. At least their heads of state responded to aggression with some form of anger. I feel like my President just ignored the shame that we all feel that this guy was able to get away with it. Our security services, the Department of Homeland Security, gave this guy his gun permit. This was after the FBI had a background check done. Three interviews with this guy, and he wasn't labeled a threat. That just pisses me off to no end. I don't love anyone's spin on the story.

I just feel like a little bit of my cultural pride died when no one responded with concern. Really, at the end of the day I just want to be proud of my country and its people. I don't think that is too much to ask. I want to thank all of you guys for your reviews, comments, and PMs. They are very heartwarming. Also, a shout out to  **Recidiva** 's story  _Of Kittens and Broken Things_. I really enjoyed it, and it has a very unique Shepard. It almost felt like I was reading the story from the perspective of someone with Asperger's, and that was awesome. I hope that you guys can go over there are giver her a bit more attention.


	72. Lucid: Older and Wiser

To Everyone on AO3: You are now caught up as of this chapter.  The next chapter won't be coming up as quickly as the rest.  Everything from fan fiction.net is now here, and I appreciate any comments that you willing to throw at me.  Thoughts, concerns, anything constructive.  I promise that I will take it into account.  

**Content Warning: Torture in this chapter**

Chapter 72

Shandong, Confucius System, January 2182

" _Commander, we've got new contacts coming into the system. Batarian cruisers, a pair of them. They're heading for distress signals and the planet."_ Joker's voice came over the comms. " _ETA one hour._ "

"New mission objective. Clear out this base of all hostiles before they get here. Overwatch teams, feel free to join in on a new flank once we open another airlock for you. Halmabad, get your people in here." Batarian cruisers were inbound. That was almost proof enough that someone was here coordinating them.

" _What happens when those bastards land?_ "

"They won't. I want you to intercept them in high orbit. They'll see you going through clouds and be able to target you. Let me know if any of them are coming towards us."

" _Better idea, Commander._ " Pressley spoke. " _If they come down here, we can give them a bit of attention here. There is a methane vent not far from the primary landing zone. One anti-vehicle mine and some charges will be enough to blow it open. We just have to make sure they park on top of it._ "

"We can't leave any trace of our weapons. Just use GUARDIAN lasers and torpedoes."

" _Understood, Ma'am. We've got enough options here. Not to mention these are oldest models that the Separatists use. They aren't going to be able to fight us effectively._ "

Julia nodded. "Teams, you've got your orders. Halmabad, get that mine placed and follow us in. Williams, start in. They have to know that we are here." She placed her hand over one of the power conduits to give her a bit of a boost. Her charge was restored, and she cloaked. "Make sure that the computer systems aren't compromised, Halmabad. We need to know what happened here."

" _Roger that. Mining the approaches now._ " She moved forward, marking the next section of the bunker. Four men in heavy armor were trying to lock down the door leading into the interior, while another six were herding civilians into side passages. Two more lightly armored individuals were trying to get turrets online, the defensive position of this room meant to contain an attacking force. She marked all of it, knowing that Williams would be able to punch through. None of their armor was new or capable of stopping a Krogan on a rampage. She stepped past them, leaving a tech grenade in the power conduits on the other side of the security doors. She set the timer on that to three minutes. Plenty of time for Williams to catch up. Then it was off down the hall, past another group of guards trying to make a pile of furniture and pieces of cover.

Once they were marked, she moved beyond them into what had to be the central control chamber. Techs moved among the different consoles, looking for security feeds and anything that would let them figure out who was attacking them. Halmabad must have been taking out any cameras along the way. They didn't have any time to get their engineers or hackers into the systems, and then have to go through their outer layer defenses and firmware and risk exposing their own programs to the Reds. If they found out that Alliance Marines raided a Red planet the repercussions would be fierce. The Reds would have legal reasoning for their separation, and relations with their colonies were already tense.

While their colonies were technically separate, the Alliance Senate would often invite them to sit in their seats in the House of Representatives. They didn't have a vote, but it was a measure of kindness to be invited to the 'closed door' sessions of the government. Some of these planets kept a member in attendance, while others did not. Shendong was one of those that did, and to ruin relations with them in any way was criminal. As soon as they figured out what happened here, the Alliance was going to offer whatever aid it could, so as not to lose face. They couldn't ignore the Red's colonies, but at the same time they could remain at a safe distance where the economy was still connected to them. Some of the best Element Zero and heavy metals came from mines in Red space. They ignored safety regulations worse than any Salarian corporation, but their profit margins made investors happier. So the Alliance claimed that they were part of their greater economy, but taxed the living hell out of their exports.

All of that weighed on her mind as she moved forward through the command center. She would have loved to attack, hit this area with gas grenades and a bit of old fashioned violence. But that would just call attention to her. The best she could do was insert one of her OSDs into the wall mounts. It would silently place a few programs that could record the requests made to the servers from these terminals. If they deleted anything, she could catch fragments of the data being deleted or sent elsewhere. It, too, was marked for retrieval for Halmabad. She kept on going, stepping past these technicians and into the backmost rooms.

One of the rooms contained a group of quarreling people, with four men and two women. One of those men was a Batarian, seemingly silent in the face of the massive argument.

"More of these things are coming for us! Your people promised to keep pirates out of this sector!" The oldest of the men shouted, directing his statements towards the Batarian.

"These are not pirates or the agents of warlords in the Terminus." The Batarian stated. "Lord Karak does not wish to dirty his hands or wish to perform cleansing rites too often, and he did not contact anyone other than his own ship captains. They are now in the system, and will be here within four hours. As you asked, they are answering the distress calls throughout the system first."

"They are probably just looking for anyone they can easily take away as slaves first and foremost." The youngest human male said. "Your people are driven entirely by profit."

"Our entire shipment disappeared when that giant craft landed on the spaceport." The Batarian said, scoffing. "We need to make up our losses somewhere." His teeth shone as he grinned, and many at the table frowned.

"Commander Brak. During this time of difficulty, perhaps taking away from our workforce will not serve to assist either party. We need those people." The older woman said. Her hair was colored by dyes, Julia recognized. But more importantly she recognized the distinctive coloration and shape of her face. "Your men will only take what is needed. The bare minimum, or else we shall stop supplying you. In our current crisis, I don't think anyone will contest with our finding that your ship attracted the attention of the Rachni dreadnought. Thankfully we were able to nuke them before they burrowed into the planet." Chiyu Wu stated. She was one of the more famous Reds, and had a very large bounty for her capture. Julia took especial pleasure in attaching a marker to the woman's purse for capture.

That explained some of the damage to the domes not looking like something had attacked from above. They had blown their fusion reactors to keep the Rachni from getting a foothold. Julia grit her teeth at that, thinking about how many thousands of people died from their own power generators. The Reds didn't have a standing army, it was true. Their options to fight the Rachni were limited. This planet didn't have the numbers to field any kind of army to fight them off. Logically, their reasoning was sound. But there was a part of her that was insulted by their actions. They could have called the Alliance. They could have called for help. But whoever these people were, they didn't see that as an option.

"Lord Karak will accept these terms. Seeing as we cannot verify any of their identities with your extranet nodes down, we will simply have to guess which ones are of worth to you and which ones are not." Brak replied. "A list of those most important may be of use."

"With so many of our systems down making that list will be impossible." One of the men stated. "We will need to look over any that you take."

Brak laughed. "When you have the ships and personnel to do so, I am sure. We are not willing to wait so long. Lord Karak shall depart upon the incoming vessels, and we shall assist in your evacuation wherever possible."

"If you don't help us to the very best of your ability, Lord Karak will suffer great consequences." Chiyu said. So far, only the threats she had made gave Brak any sense of concern. The others around the table seemed unimportant to him. Chiyu was the one with real power, here. Until those Batarian ships landed, Brak and Karak were under her control. But once they did there was little chance that Karak would follow through.

She didn't have much opportunity to mark any of the Human men, as they didn't have purses or bags to slip her markers in. Thanks to their fashion sense and need for carrying around things that should be programmed into an Omni-tool, she could at least mark them. "I will bring this information to my most grateful Lord." Brak's teeth flashed. Batarians did not smile to be courteous. They only flashed their teeth when they meant to be threatening. Chiyu's eyes narrowed when he did this. "I shall return with Lord Karak's decision regarding the nature of our assistance."

"We expect actions befitting an ally." She warned, as Brak stood up. "Not that of an overseer."

Brak made a sound in the back of his throat. "All receive their just reward in Rian's eyes. Lord Karak will do as befits him." Julia did not stay to listen to the Humans. She followed Brak, as he went through hallways that were devoid of Humans. In the crowded bunker, these hallways were left empty of people. Two Batarian soldiers were at every corner. She counted twelve of them, all heavily armed. They all were marked, small adhesive strips keeping the markers on their boots. That way her team would know they would be coming for them.

"I have confirmed the presence of more Batarians. One heavy weapon per pair, six," She saw a final doorway with six more soldiers. "Sorry, nine pairs of soldiers."

" _Sounds promising._ " Wrex perked up. " _Anyone want to bet they're using radioactive rounds?_ "

" _No bet._ " Halmbad said. " _Thanks for the help on that security door. They're starting to fall back. We've got access to the terminals here, and we've started downloading their records. Everything is encrypted, so the only way we will know what is going on is if we take everything. It will take hours. I'll need the whole base secured to be able to do that, unlock every terminal. The files here are all indirectly connected back to a central server and branch cached. We'll need to clear the base to get access to all of them. No telling if any of the files are being written over, either._ "

"I'll deal with the Batarians. Williams, get stuck in there and clear this base out." She whispered behind her mask. Brak had reached the end of the hallway. "Good luck."

She didn't hear her squad's replies. Her entire focus went to Brak. He was checked over by the men at the door, and Julia smirked as they opened the doors for him. If they were only doing a visual check she could enter without problem. The doors started closing right behind Brak, however, making her have to step quickly. Brak went in, and he would never come out. The moment the door closed shut with that  _snap_  of insulated confirmation, she acted. One of her knives passed through his upper eyes and the other through his throat. Brak dropped to the ground, a sigh escaping him. "Brak!" A voice barked from deeper in the chamber. Her tactical cloak fell apart as his body hit the ground

The room had once been a set of guest quarters. Now it had been decked out in rich yellows and browns, with harsh slash marks that made up the batarian language on bright yellow banners. Eyes decorated some of them, in sets of four. Always four. Julia let herself cloak again, keeping to the shadows. A good decision, too. An older Batarian came out of the back of the room, where colored sets of drapes hid the room's rear sections. His cheeks hung loose, and his nasal ridges between the eyes were tight. The skin there had been locked into a scowl for so many years that it had become the natural state of the skin.

"Brak?" He repeated. She knew his face. She had hunted this man for weeks. Officially dead by Alliance and Council records, Karak had used his son's body as a scapegoat to negotiate for Torfan. To get that planetoid back. He didn't care that his first and second sons had been killed on that rock. His third son had been killed in a duel. The noble then disappeared from the spotlight, after Torfan. But his touches on Separatist policies were very much visible. He remained in control of much of their fleets and trade lanes. "Brak, respond.  _Kreshva!_ " The call to the lesser caste to take notice was of course, ignored. It also proved that this room was sound proofed. The guards at the door did not respond. She grinned.

The Throw took him in the ankles, sending Karak into the wall. Upside down, of course. His face bled slightly from where his nose had hit the reinforced concrete. "No cameras." She stated quietly, letting him flip over, and seeing his reaction to her presence. His eyes were wide, angry. "We found out where you were, you know. Followed the Rachni vessel in. Then we waited for your erstwhile allies to open the bunker."

"Who are you!" He muttered. Looks like he didn't care about the caste system if he felt he could talk to her. Hypocrite.

"Crucible." She muttered. Her father's company. The death of a notable Separatist Lord might be a fine thing to lay at Jack's feet. The private military corporation had a history of assassinating people, and Hannah was an Infiltrator. "We will profit greatly from your death." The Alliance could be blameless if anything got out.

"Who sent you! Pulx!" She flicked out her Kavka, knowing that it would make him uncomfortable. "Dvorak?"

She kicked him, taking his body and flinging it back into the wall. He fell, the drapes of silk falling and revealing slaver gear. She gave another Throw to the Batarian, sending him back towards the door. Brak's weapons were still attached to his body, and Karak landed far enough away from it. He didn't inch towards it, either, just clutching his chest from where he had impacted the floor. She reached into the boxes that were there, dragging out some of the items within. Her eyes quickly went through it all. Scalpels, saws, both radial and otherwise. She moved her hands below them, seeing suturing materials. Needles. Drugs. Finally, her hands closed over what she wanted. Nerve Staples.

They came in a few sizes. Children and adults, some for different races. She grinned as she saw that Lord Karak kept enough on hand for every species. On the off chance that they were captured, sometimes nerve staples were good for using on races such as Hanar or Elcor. But the staples had to be longer than normal to reach their brain or spinal cord. Eight inches long for Hanar, ten for Elcor. She picked up the box that contained that size of nerve staples. "Hmm." She grabbed a hammer, too. One meant to break bones. "Dvorak wouldn't let someone else take their glory."

"Pulx! I can pay twice as much as his puny resources allow!" Blood ran down his face, Karak not worried about it. As a child he probably got used to being cut up. "That young upstart could never-" Karak was trying to distract her, as he pulled out an SMG. She cloaked, and as she was doing so rolled behind a few crates. She didn't stop, coming behind a drape. Unfortunately, the drape waved as she ran over it, and his aim centered on her. Her barrier flickered with the force of the rounds, the illegal mods filled with radioactive rounds, as well as something else. Something toxic in other ways.

She could feel part of her shoulder freezing up, losing feeling. One of his rounds had gone through. Her nerves were already screaming, and she grit her teeth to avoid crying out. Very illegal weapon mods. She wished for a moment that she had gone in here with her Sirta armor rather than her catsuit. But getting past all of the security doors before the Reds could delete the data was more important.

Karak had robes and not much else. She didn't plan on him escaping here. She knew that her orders would be to bring him in for questioning, bring him back to the Alliance to investigate his connection to the Reds. But there was another part of her that didn't agree. He didn't exist in their records. Bringing him back would disgrace certain members of the Alliance. There was a part of her that knew that if she brought him back alive they might let him go again. She didn't spend weeks on Torfan hunting him just to see him get away again.

He didn't have any kinetic barriers. She angled her shots carefully, letting her pistol do the work. Hand, arm, bicep, and shoulder. Batarians had redundant bone structures in their arms that gave them an advantage when it came to protecting their extremities. Her shots to the forearm and shoulder were the only ones that got through. Karak held onto his gun, but groaned in response.

He growled, letting off another burst of rounds. Her barriers took it, but whatever mods that were there let some of the force through, bathing her right thigh in white hot pain. Her return fire was a lot more accurate, this time blasting through most of his forearm and knee. Karak dropped to the floor, screaming in rage as his gun flopped from his hand.

"Impudent-" Her kick went right into the damaged knee, interrupting him. Then her knife plunged into his left wrist, and she left him pinned to the floor. He would have to pull that knife out with his injured hand. She could see him sloppily try to do so, as she went back over to the box full of gear. When she returned, the hilt of her  _kavka_  was stained with blood from his right hand, but it remained in his left arm. "I have spent my entire life being exposed to poisons. Nothing in that box will work on my refined blood." He spat at her.

"That is why I grabbed the anesthetic meant for Krogan." She said, smirking. "You won't be around long enough to appreciate any kind of resistance that you have spent time building up." Batarian injectors were equipped with 'smart' injector heads, that would search for a relevant blood vessel to send their payload through. It gave a happy beep as she delivered it into the squirming Batarian, his eyes glazing over in seconds. "Lights out."

She dragged him into the other half of the room, finding a few basic pieces of furniture in there. His attempts to resist were laughable. "K'll you…" He tried to say.

"I've been trying to since Torfan." She replied back. "But your son made a poor substitute."

He thrashed, growling incoherently. She had to use a Singularity to put him onto his bed, and then brought out the hammer. His eyes widened as she pinned him to the bed with her knees. One hand held the hammer, while the other was using one of the eight inch nerve staples. It looked like a pronged spike, and she let all of the emotions in her mind flood to the back of her perception. Just as her state of mind for her biotics required her to numb all of her emotions, she did the same here. There was no reaction when she lined up the tip of the spike with his palm. She had done this too many times for the awkward tingle to settle in her own hands. Human history looked down upon those that used this technique.

Perhaps her father should have considered that when he named her after two Roman Emperors. The hammer came down, and the cheap particle form bedframe squealed as the spike went through his hand and the frame. Just as she ignored her own feelings she ignored the squirming Batarian on the bed. She withdrew the ten inch spike, and lined it up with his wrist. Already she could see the skin around the puncture in his palm ripping. Setting a second spike in the wrist was the way that the Romans would keep their victims from falling off of their crosses.

The second went in harder than the first. She had to carefully line up the spike between all of the major blood vessels and the extra bones in the wrist. Humans had three less bones than Batarians when it came to wrists. Using her knees, She kept the wrist in place. The howl of pain was ignored, and only when the spike was drive all of the way through the wrist and bedframe did she stop. This was repeated on the other side, as she took his damaged limb and pulled it out to its near limit. Karak didn't whimper or cry. He yelled, insensate and loudly. He was calling for anyone who could come to his aid. Unfortunately, his Omni-tool was nailed to the bed. She couldn't let herself think about this. Being emotionally numb at this time was more important. If she started to feel any shred of empathy for the victim once she started this would be that much harder. Even though Karak deserved it.

With a deep breath, she slammed the next spike into the palm. That arm was already bleeding. "Karak. This will end one of three ways." She struck the palm again, sinking the spike further into the hand with every blow. "You might bleed out from the rounds I already hit you with." He flinched, trying with what strength he had left to try to free his hand. Her knees repositioned, and she could feel his good leg take a swing at her. She ignored it, as her armor would stop most of the damage he could do. This wrist had a shattered bone, making it harder to aim the spike. "Good chance of that." She stated emotionlessly. With another deep breath the hammer came down, and she was able to step back from the Batarian. "You might suffocate. That is the way that you are supposed to go."

The shot she had made into his knee was bleeding heavily, so she treated that with medi-gel. The same was done for an arterial wound in his arm. Then she reached into her belt. While in front of him, she withdrew a grenade. Two of them, just to be sure. His robes offered plenty of pockets to insert them into. "If anyone tries to interfere, you die from these."

The chance of him bleeding out was limited, now. When she held his feet together, he started thrashing again, spittle flying from his mouth as she drove home the last spike. Batarian feet didn't function like Human ones. They had less of a range of motion, but their heel was reinforce. It meant that she had to go through the top of of his feet to punch through to the bed frame. Then she had to use the hammer to bend the tips of the spikes inward, so that they couldn't slide out of their slots. Nerve staples would hold up. The anesthetic was making all of his efforts weak, and he was wheezing in fatigue.

A Singularity made the bed weightless, and she picked up the entire bed, setting it against the furthest wall. "I've set the mines for proximity. Anyone coming to help you will just have to watch as you slowly suffocate." Now his feet were angled towards the floor, and when the Singularity would wear off, the process would begin. Bloody sheets drifted around him, orbiting him after the pull of gravity had been released. She started walking back towards Brak's body. A good Pull jerked the heavily armored man into the back of the room, a bloody drag mark left behind. One of the carpets had to be pulled over it. She could hear gurgling from the room behind her, giving her a moment of pause.

She returned to Karak for his Omni-tool, taking it as well as his gun. Those mods might come in handy. Her wounds weren't feeling very good, at the moment. They still ached in a way that let her know that something was wrong. Her Omni-tool wasn't able to identify the problem. Nor was there any kind of writing on the ammo block. The ammo block looked more liquid than solid, as well. That was odd. She hadn't seen anything like this before. She stowed it in her belt, and checked Brak for anything good. His Omni-tool and shotgun were of high quality, and she was happy to take that.

Now the hard part. "Constantine to Williams."

" _We're pinned down fighting against those Batarian soldiers. They decided to come help with the defense. We can't advance without some kind of help._ "

"How many hostiles have engaged your team?"

" _More than a hundred. The Reds are coming out of the vents, side doors, and the main hall. We're overheating here. Reddin! Fall back! Wrex, give us some cover!_ "

Lovely. Six armed guards outside this door. "Overwatch, status?"

" _A vehicle showed up. It wasn't armored enough. Other than that nothing is on the scope._ " Garrus replied.

"Go and back up Williams. Her team is getting hammered."

" _We'll have this base empty in a few minutes, Commander._ " Garrus spoke up. " _These people don't even have proper defensive lines._ "

"Alright. I'll wait for you to get closer." She tapped her wrist, closing the channel for now. With little left to do except wait for her people, she locked the door and set up a single tech mine at the center. If anyone came through they would get a lovely surprise. Once that was done, she grabbed a chair. It was with great satisfaction that she watched Karak slowly wheeze and cough to his death. She even ate a protein bar to celebrate. Thousands of people had died or been sentenced to a life of slavery because of him, and Julia enjoyed his last moments of life. He glared at her, while she stared back, her emotions numb. She forced herself to smile, with her teeth. He could appreciate the gesture. For some reason, this reminded her of her father.

"The," Karak started wheezing, "Sari," He pushed using his good leg, to get enough air to breath. "Sent you!"

"Which Asari?" Julia asked. But Karak had already slumped down, groaning as his bad leg cost him the ability to balance. When someone was crucified, it took both legs to be able to breathe. She sighed, annoyed with him. A Singularity was enough to let him breathe again, and the Batarian gulped in air in relief. "Did she come with the Rachni Dreadnought?"

"There is nothing more satisfying than denying you what you want." He rasped. He must not have been lying about being resistant to sedatives and poisons, as his eyes were regaining their full focus. "The Asari with the ship came here. The rest, you will have to discover on your own."

"How do I know that this isn't some lie."

"You don't. But if you want to know more, my life is the price. I live, and you get what you want."

"Like at Torfan? Where you traded the life of your own son for your own?" Julia spat. "Even if I traded for your life, it wouldn't be worth the price. I would have to confirm whatever information you offer, and even then I wouldn't trust it." She watched as the Singularity started going down, his body again succumbing to gravity. "So, any last words?"

He simply smiled at her, teeth fully exposed and his orange blood sticking to them. His eyes bore into her forehead. " _My soul burns with scorn. I die honorably in the eyes of Rian._ " She nodded, and then kept her gaze on his lower eyes as he started suffocating. It was therapeutic, in a way. Especially when the damage to his knee made it impossible for him to breathe anymore. Yet through it all he maintained his glare, and she matched it.

It would take him more than an hour to die. During that time, she waited for her team to get through all of the Batarians at the door, and enjoyed watching Karak die. Only when her team sent her the all-clear message did she realize that Karak had died somewhere in the stare-down. Her back cracked a bit as she stood, and she walked out of the room, the eyes of the dead Batarian boring into her now empty chair. It didn't matter if he had traded his life for information. She wouldn't have trusted it. More importantly, she was confident her team would be able to get the info on their own.

* * *

Ialessa System, Athena Nebula

"Once we arrive in the orbit of Sanves, we can get a shuttle out to Friess Station." Garrus told her as the  _Normandy_  parked at one of the orbital platforms. "Not even Turian ships are allowed to approach it. It's part of their security protocols around here."

"That's fine." She told him. They had brought back the records from Shandong. Pressley had been able to confirm that the  _Reaper_  was larger than the one they encountered on Asteria. Evidence at both sites was presented to the Office of Intelligence, and then on to the Spectres. They either knew about their time on Asteria through Garrus, or didn't care about it. Either way, the Spectres wanted to know more about these ships, and so she was fast-tracked for approval to visit Friess Station. "You've got the prisoner?"

Since they were going this direction already, the Spectres had given them a prisoner to transport.  _She_  was dangerous. Iona Eaena, one of the relatives of some higher ranking Eclipse, was being transported using the  _Normandy_. The Spectres had been worried that her connections might be able to spring her from jail or from an Asari ship that tried to transport her. So Garrus volunteered them to do it. It was all for good press, and she didn't mind it. The Asari was tied up, and her hands were locked together using a Volus-designed set of cuffs. They prohibited any kind of mnemonic movements.

She was quite docile, after spending two days with Wrex. Julia had needed the few days to flush her system. The SMG that the Batarian had been using was firing a two-chunk round. Two ammo blocks were inside the weapon, and one of them had was Deuterium. The other was  _blood._  It would be frozen, and tiny pellets of Vorcha blood would be propelled along with the other round. Enough hits and the target would be infected with nasty diseases. It was illegal in every sense of the word.

She turned it into the Spectres, who were happy to document the weapon. Kills on sentients that had been recorded were connected to the weapon, and a few cases from C-sec's archive were closed. She got a note from an Executor Palin that he was appreciative. It didn't feel personalized, and it had the signs of being a template message. She didn't mind all that much. The fact that someone had sent her a message was kindness enough. She spent most of those two days having an IV flush her wounds and get treatment for the radiation. She was not the only one. Wrex was in the hangar bay, having eaten an entire crate of nutrient paste.

Williams was on the bed next to her, her form in the fetal position. Her back was covered in medi-gel bandages. She had covered Reddin and carried her back to the front door, and she paid for it. But Reddin had survived. Both women were in here, and three more gurneys had been deployed as emergency beds for other members of her team. One Quarian had caught a bad round and was on a bed. Garrus was standing next to her, seemingly uninjured. That was a half truth. He had taken some hits from debris from their vehicle mine. The Batarian cruiser had landed and died a horrible death, it's barriers down for landing. The debris had buried a few of her people. Worse, it had been loaded with some of the Humans they had 'rescued'. Their deaths had been regrettable. But they couldn't officially save anyone among them even if they wanted to, not when the Reds were refusing assistance from the Alliance.

Halmabad was alright. He had been well protected and kept behind cover. Right now he was with Joker, making sure that the ship was alright. It had been peppered by debris and had crippled the other Batarian cruiser with a torpedo. Joker had meant to cripple it, at least. The cruiser was tough, and it required a few sprays of GUARDIAN lasers to really take it offline. It was still left in orbit, its left engine nacelles completely separated from the main craft. She had been quite pleased by that.

She glanced back over at Vakarian, who was smirking for some reason. "What?"

"You haven't responded to anything I've said in the last minute." He said with a bit of snark. "I was asking about who you wanted to take with us."

"We can't afford to insult them." Julia said, mulling the idea of taking Williams. "Perhaps just Halmabad and I should go. This deep in Asari space, I want to have Pressley and Joker on hand for anything. If Lt. Zorah were at peak strength, perhaps I would have invited her."

"So radical, Commander." He chuckled. "Bringing a Quarian on that space station would earn you no favors. But everyone out here are the worst kind of  _s'kak_  you'll ever meet. Desolous always tries to bring contraband and hide it in their scanners."

"Alright, just Halmabad and myself. You don't have the same clout that your mentor does." Julia levered herself up, seeing Dr Heart observing Williams. He didn't seem to worry all that much that she was leaving the ship while wounded. "Once we land we'll head for the shuttle."

" _Commander, we're getting some kind of encrypted signal. Someone wants to talk to you._ " Kalin'ren reported. " _Nothing I have access to tells me who it is from._ "

"I'll take it in the comm room." She made it to the comm room without any of her crew noticing her limp. She of course was limping, waiting for her leg to stop freaking out. No one saw her because she was cloaked. Right up until the doors opened she stayed that way, and then put on a brave face and straight back.

The vid link was waiting for her, the other end still blacked out. " _Confirm your identity._ " Someone called from the other end, in Asari common.

"Julia Constantine." She said. " _Commander_." She added, in Asari.

" _Visual confirmation, verbal confirmation. Connecting you to final terminal._ " The connection finally showed the other end of the vid terminal. On the other side was a face that she recognized. Matriarch Benezia, wearing an ornate headdress and dress, sat on the other side of the link at a desk that looked composed of a purplish wood. " _Young Julia. I apologize for contacting you at an inconvenient time. It took some measure of effort to be able to contact you, and I was delighted that you are here in Asari space. I have something to ask of you._ "

"You would not have called this far ahead without a reason." Julia noted. "I don't owe you any favors." Technically, Julia did not. But her dad certainly did, and if Benezia tried to call her on that it would not go well.

" _You recently were at the Citadel, and picked up Iona Eaena, or at least who you may believe is Iona._ " Benezia said carefully. " _You are depositing instead one of my nieces, Jebra T'soni, into hostile hands. You may believe that you are doing someone a great service, Julia, but you have just become part of a greater intrigue. Jebra is one of my best researchers on Prothean technology, and was kidnapped during a trip to the Citadel last week. If you bring Jebra to Friess Station, you would be placing a third member of my family in that place. They are being held ransom, to keep me from voicing complaints against the government. I only ask that you let my niece go. I have people waiting to secure her and bring her back home, and authorities ready to cover for her._ "

"Why is your family being targeted? Isn't all of this illegal?"

" _You would be surprised what my race is capable of, when they feel threatened. What I know threatens a fragile peace that has existed for millennia. To keep my silence, members of my family disappear, and my daughter is in hiding to prevent her capture. If I told you, you would be held accountable for that knowledge, and the Thessian government would execute you. The only thing that keeps me from being killed by the rest of the Eighty One families is my position. They are patiently waiting for me to die, Julia. But I fear that I won't have any family left to inherit when that happens._ "

"So, how exactly does this protect me from their wrath when I fail to deliver the hostage?"

" _You shall deliver a hostage, but you will exchange Jebra for the real Iona Eaena. My arm reaches far, Julia Harper. You will not fail in your objective, and you will make it to Friess Station to see their resources. Make no mistake, you are already suspected of wrongdoing thanks to your father. Sins of the parent are passed down to the children, according to Athame. Your father's actions against the Council Races are held against you, in the eyes of my people._ "

"That's backwards thinking for a race that prides themselves on diplomacy." She noted. "How can I prove them wrong?"

" _The only way to prove your innocence is to bring your father into custody. Only when he is dead or sealed in prison will they view you without blame. To Asari, we believe that family should take care of family matters. When a crime is committed, family members have a certain amount of time before the government holds them responsible for the same to bring back the accused for justice. You have not reached that amount of time yet, but know that you will be treated harshly for this reason._ "

"Perfect." She had little bearing on Benezia. She didn't know if she was telling the truth. "Will they invalidate my investigation?"

" _If you are talking about the Reapers? Of course they shall. At best, they will help you with the Rachni. But Tela Vasir disappeared while travelling with you, and they do not appreciate one of their best agents dying on them. Expect a 'cold shoulder' to your questions. But even if they do not answer your questions, there are still places that you can find your answers. In the cells of Friess Station are the criminals of every race. Between them and the secure vault on deck 34 you should be able to find your answers. Both for the Rachni and the Reapers._ "

"What are you going to offer me if I was willing to do this?"

Benezia finally smiled. " _The location of your father. Secrets plenty and well buried. Wisdom and applied thought to any subject of your choosing. In essence, a favor I shall not refuse nor find you in need of further light and knowledge in the answer._ " Her fingers gently played with one of the hanging beads from her headdress. " _Anything your heart truly desires. I will do anything to protect my family. Even if it costs me my life._ "

"I'll need to talk to Spectre Vakarian about this." Reapers. There had to be some kind of connection here, as to why these things were taboo among all of the different races.

" _He, too, has been dealt with harshly. Any more scrutiny and you may be leaving Friess Station without your mentor. Involve him at your own risk. My people are familiar with these kinds of protocols. They are waiting for you outside your vessel._ " Benezia glanced at her wrist. " _Ah, your sister is calling. I shall know if you fulfill your part. Call upon this comm line any time you feel the need, Julia Harper. Our families are deeply tied together, and our mutual aid is expected. May the grace of the stars be upon you._ "

"Goodbye." Julia told her, before adding " _May that grace glitter upon the water to illuminate your pathway home._ " It wasn't exactly the right response, but it was what came to her mind at the time. The vid call ended, and Julia wasted no time in heading for the elevator. Garrus didn't need to know what was happening. She didn't want to risk him. But their makeshift brig was down here, and right next to it was Wrex, who was drinking what seemed to be an entire five gallon drum of water.

The Asari they had taken with them was wearing a simple bodysuit, not in the best of condition. She looked normal, though her facial markings may have been changed while she was imprisoned. Julia came to a stop in front of her, and drew her pistol. The Asari perked up, now looking at her with concern. "Jebra." She stated. " _Who captured you on the Citadel?_ " She asked in Asari, knowing that Wrex might be able to understand. But more importantly the marines in the background wouldn't be able to easily understand.

"Marsula." She replied. "Clanless, but they work for House Marsula." She glanced at Julia's face and then quickly back at the pistol. "Why?"

"Clarification." Julia replied. "Assuming you weren't lying, I won't vent you through the airlock and send your body back to your Matriarch." Julia threatened her, pushing her pistol slightly forward. Jebra leaned back, avoiding it. "You will know your fate soon." Julia tapped the button to cloak, and watched Jebra's eyes trace the zipper-like movement of the field covering her body. Only when it settled on the tip of her pistol did she walk away. Her Omni-tool lit up behind the Mako when she sent a reply to the encrypted comm address. 'What does Marsula mean to you?''

 _It means that my supposed business partner is being very naughty. I shall have to address this at the earliest opportunity. My people will be able to make the exchange._  That was all that her Omni-tool received. Due to the encryption, the message faded in a few seconds. She nodded at that, feeling the ship begin its docking cycle. The airlock here in the hangar glowed green the moment that it was connected to the large commercial space station here. The happy beep the elevator made when it opened was matched by the one from the airlock. Vakarian stepped off the platform whistling something. She thought it may be some kind of Turian song, one that she had heard some of the others sing. Her music identifier program called it  _Die for the Cause_. The Turian theme song for their armed forces. She tried not to chuckle about that.

Halmabad had his Sirta Phoenix on, and was smirking about something or other. He got off the elevator but did not look over the hangar bay for threats or sources of problems. He just blithely looked over the MAKO, giving it a pat. "It's not going anywhere, Halmabad."

He only jumped a little bit at hearing her. "I know. But we just barely got the new wheels on her. She gets messed up a lot too. Everybody in the medbay is there because they put their lives on the line. This little lady is still half-melted on the upper frame from that Rachni Queen head we had to carry out. Even with a complete overhaul, she isn't going to ever get back up to full strength. Sort of like the rest of us." He patted an Omni-gel filled pot mark. "Hopefully we can keep this MAKO for a bit longer."

"That's quite a dour way of thinking."

"Well, the way I see it, more of us are going to die before this is done. Let's face it, Commander. I'm not as good of a soldier as Lt. Commander Williams. I don't do very well outside of this little lady."

"Do you think that you are going to die on me?"

"Jenkins did. Anderson's dead. Robertson and Ibn are gone. We still don't know if Zorah is going to make it." He shrugged. "At best I'm a glorified taxi driver, with a few hacking suites."

"Shut up." She said quietly. Halmabad was going to say more, and she didn't like his way of thinking. "You're the only other Spectre candidate. I don't care if it was political favors that got you into this mess. You and I were both selected because someone up high thought we would make this whole effort look good. Your father may have put you here, Halmabad, but the only people who got here on merit are already dead. Suck it up and get over it. I don't care how bad you are with a rifle, so long as you do your job. I'll do mine, and we will all succeed. Don't try to tell me that you're feeling unworthy. Neither of us want to be Spectres in the end, after all." She had too much baggage, and he wasn't exactly what they wanted. Neither of them were.

"How were you selected?" He asked, after a good fifteen seconds of silence.

"Admirals and Captains decided that the Office of Intelligence should put forward someone they considered expendable. As far as I understand it, I was never supposed to get this far. I was supposed to just observe and keep the tech secret and the crew in line." Julia could safely say that much. Admitting that Anderson had personally selected her based on some dream imagery and their own relationship was another thing. "Now, are you ready to back me up?"

"Yeah." He replied quietly. "Should I be doing anything while we are there?"

"Absolutely nothing other than recording as best you can everything that we can use. Bring a physical notebook or something that they can't hack. Whatever tools we have, they are generations behind the Asari ones. So write down what you think once we have left. Don't bring any attention to yourself or invite any scrutiny." She smiled. "Try not to flirt with the wide range of alien females, as well."

"I can do that, Commander." He said, looking happier than earlier.

"You walk with Garrus in front. I'll walk with our prisoner in back." She said. "Any threat to our prisoner will most likely come at us from the front. It's only a few hundred feet to the shuttle, so I don't expect much. But be on your guard." Halmabad and Garrus kept their attention towards the front, and while that happened Julia loosened the bindings on Jebra's wrists. "You'll know when to move." She whispered as she pulled the Asari through the airlock.

Benezia's people did well. There was a crush of Asari travellers at this hour, and all of them had to pass through multiple security scanners to get to different terminals. The shuttle that they were supposed to get to was behind two of these security scanners, as the  _Normandy_  only had 'clanless' civilian craft landing rights. Clan-owned craft had closer sloops and parking areas, and military craft had the innermost ring of the station. Julia let the handoff happen, all the while sticking five feet behind Vakarian. Halmabad glanced back a few times, but that was all. Her new prisoner struggled more than Jebra had. She seemed drugged, and a little bit confused.

Before the real Iora could recover and fight her, Julia dragged her shackled wrists in front of her with a good amount of force. She staggered, and Julia kept her moving with her biotics. The Asari glanced back at her, wary. Knowing that it was a biotic holding you meant that any tricks that they could try and pull would be detected. Julia gave her a cold smirk. At the shuttle, she made Halmabad buckle her in, and Garrus gave a last glance over the crowd as the door closed.

"I felt like there was a gun on the back of my head that entire walk." Garrus muttered. "Did you see who it was?"

"Your visor didn't tell you?" Halmabad quipped. "My scanner didn't see any weapons other than the ones the guards were carrying."

" _I_  think they just wanted to see what riding a Turian is like." Julia said. "We all got stares."

Garrus nodded slowly. "Well, I guess Desolous would have thought I was finally acting my age. No harm done when someone is looking, after all." But he gave a look at Julia. He probably knew that something had happened. But as long as she didn't tell him and he didn't admit to any guilt, he would be protected. She didn't give him any kind of answer. Halmabad just kept his eye on the prisoner.

The Asari shuttle that they clambered into took its time in taking off. With a thousand year lifetime, they took their time in everything. Preflight was almost four minutes long. The leisurely speed at which the shuttle moved bothered her even more. Thankfully, the shuttle had extra large windows for its occupants to view what was coming. It was supposed to be a two hour flight to the station.

Friess was located at the edge of the system, and was hidden from anyone trying to get there directly from the mass relay. A fairly large singularity was in between this system and the system with the mass relay. No light or images of Friess Station could get to the other systems in this cluster. The star in this system had drawn in a rogue planet millennia ago, and the particles from that planet formed a thick ring of asteroids. It also provided some cover to the station. The station itself was three solar radii from the sun of the Ialessa system, and these shuttles were equipped with near-FTL engine functions. Even with that, it took the damn pilot an extra four hours to get to the station. They had front row seats to the entire six hour process. To keep an eye on the prisoner, they couldn't really sleep.

Garrus read something on his Omni-tool for a while, before switching over to some kind of strategy game on his wrist. He then invited Halmabad to join him in the game, but did not invite her to join. Oh yes, he definitely knew something had happened. She would hear about it at some point.

Friess Station came into view after a long flight, the egg-shaped station colored black to blend into the space around it. It had a few large hangar bays, the only sources of illumination. Petal-like doors folded over them usually, and made the entire glowing entryway hidden until you were close enough to see the small gaps between the doors. Julia couldn't see much of the details of the station, just because she only noticed it when the doors opened in front of their shuttle.

It wasn't as large as some space stations she had seen. It was smaller than Arcturus, for instance. But its natural stealth and its many defenses made her feel more secure at this location. Arcturus was supposed to be easily accessible. The Citadel, too. This station was unlike either of them. The doors slid open, and she could see the noses of eight ships in their sloops behind the doors all ready to go.

"Which of the families operates this place?" She asked Garrus.

"Marsula." He replied. "Matriarch Rieh Marsula owns this entire star system. This station, the defense fleet, and the six billion Asari on that planet. Her people were largely inside of Asari space when the Rachni hit last time, and her family is one of the most powerful now. The Spectres graciously operate out of Friess Station with her blessing. So don't take any actions that would jeopardize that relationship. Desolous actually slept with her daughter, or niece, or something or other, and he hasn't been allowed back."

Marsula. Damn it. Benezia set her up. "Does she dislike anyone in particular?"

"Desolous." Garrus said, shrugging. "But they keep a lot of the life imprisonment criminals here, as a public service. Though they probably eat better than most of the members of C-sec. If you want to interrogate any of the prisoners here, you are free to do so. Just let me know so I can file the proper paperwork."

"Hmm. What kind of prisoners?"

"Krogan Warlords. Volus serial killers, AI programmers, Salarian cyberterrorists, I think maybe a few Elcor. I know they don't have any Hanar. Though there is one on the wanted list." Garrus shuddered. "He's a real piece of work."

"Tell me about it." She asked, seeing that their shuttle was being taken through an exhaustive security check. "I rarely hear about any Hanar with aggressive tendencies."

"He isn't aggressive. He's a doctor. He's obsessed with taking apart the brains of other species. His victims have been found all over Citadel space, and we hardly can tell what kind of weapons he uses. But we want to understand what would cause a Hanar to go and kill a few dozen people. Tentacles understandably bother people when you start thinking how much force they can create. They're just so innocent and impressionable, until you watch one of them rip out some individual's brain." Garrus shuddered again at the thought. "Apparently he calls himself by a distinct face name, Finds-Secrets-Within-Flesh. It is not our job to go after him, thankfully."

"Whose is it?"

"Hopefully that new Hanar Spectre's. I don't do tentacles and hospitals."

"Mmm." She grunted accordingly. All she could think about that statement was the time she had spent in Fornax headquarters. The Hanar she had seen there were the most exposure she had to the jellyfish race. Sadly that now colored her experience with them. "Do you think they'll agree with our findings?"

"I have high hopes. Some will listen. If nothing else, they will have to investigate our findings on the Dreadnought." Garrus shrugged. "First stop, prison cells. Then we have our hearing to show our findings." The doors finally cycled open, and Julia stretched her legs after six hours in this shuttle. Halmabad hauled their prisoner, and it was a very short walk to the prison. Oddly enough, the prison was kept on the exterior rings of the station. Four layers of security doors opened in front of them, and then they came to a large central chamber with a connecting hallway. According to Garrus, that hallway wrapped all the way around the station and connected back through another doorway. That second doorway was covered in marks and rusting lines of metal.

"Why is that door not replaced?" She asked.

An Asari with dark blue skin leaned out from behind a large terminal, a haptic vizor wrapped around her head. "Psychological." She piped in. "You delivering Iora?"

"Yes, we are." There was no one else in this chamber. "How large is your staff?"

"Four people." She answered. "Right now it is the night cycle, so I'm the only one on duty. Security for this section of the station is handled by others. Would you mind helping me process Iora?"

"We don't. Perhaps after that you wouldn't mind helping us with a few questions we have." Processing Iora was mostly just taking her to her cell, which was thirty meters down the hallway. Each cell was completely enclosed, with its own spaceward facing window. Sound proofed, automated medical monitors, and nutrient paste injectors made it a prison cell with no need for direct input from the wardens. Someone might end up in here and not see anyone for years. "What is the point of that locked door?"

"Oh! We call that the Terminus. It doesn't open anymore, and it makes the cells at that end of the hallway a two kilometer walk just to reach the cell. Technically, it is high security, but we only have guards and janitors go into that section once a month." She gave Iora a scan, and stripped the Asari of all of her possessions before throwing her into the cell. Iora tried to resist, but with Garrus there all she earned was a concussive round to the hip. The Eclipse merc slid into her cell, groaning. She shrieked epithets as the pressure door sealed. "If this door is opened from the inside, we blow the window of the cell open and flush the perpetrator back into space. Motion sensors and automatic turrets handle most of the approaches and security handles the rest." The Asari seemed happy to have Iora in the cell.

"Is there any kind of appeal process for these prisoners?"

"Clan Marsula's lawyers are in charge of that. I wouldn't know." She admitted. Julia glanced around at all of the different cells. "It is rare that we have anyone leave."

"Good record." They walked the thirty meters back to her station, where she checked on everything once again.

"What questions can I help you answer?"

"We're fighting Rachni. If you have any specialists on them, we would like to talk to them. Biochemical warfare that might work, anything."

She looked over her vizor at them, evaluating them. "I may have a few options. We have interred here fourteen Krogan of differing ages and crimes. One of them is old enough to have been in the Rachni Wars. Then we have a few bio-warfare specialists. Two Asari and a Salarian, but he isn't expected to survive more than four years more." She shrugged. "Lifespan is so short."

"Any Humans in here?"

"One or two. Convicted AI specialists, I believe." She glanced back to Julia. "Will you need to see them?"

"No." That would only bring scrutiny. "Let's talk to the Salarian and perhaps the Krogan. Where are they?"

"The Salarian is in cell 440, about a half kilometer down. The Krogan you want is on the other side of this door here, so all the way around the prison hallway." She held out a datapad. "Eln Hid Saleon. Terrorist. Worked on modifying the genophage without oversight. The other is…" She narrowed her eyes. "Odd. There isn't a name or a date of internment on file. I know there is a Krogan back there, but I don't see any records for him. But the others told me that the oldest prisoners were kept there. Some of the systems haven't been maintained in a century out there, so I hope you don't mind if some of the lights don't isn't much priority over there."

"Sounds like someone's dirty laundry." Halmabad said, as they entered the long hallway. Cell 440 had a single Salarian inside, and looked to be a humidified containment cell. He noticed them standing in front of his cell, and gave them a look over. Garrus tapped a small haptic interface, allowing the occupant of the cell to talk and be heard.

"Turian. Spectre, yet with Humans supporting him. Unlikely. Unless…" He started speaking quickly, eyes darting towards her and looking over every inch of her. "Yes, yes. Eyes match. Facial ticks could be equivalent. Would need blood sample to be sure. Yet, follicle coloration and hip ratio match mother's. Yes, I know who you are, Harper."

"Saleon." Vakarian spoke up. "We've got questions."

"Yes, yes. Of course you do. Always more questions. Bioweapons, Batarian die offs, plagues, crimes. Always a price for the information."

"I'll have it down that you cooperated, and I can work towards reducing your sentence." Garrus offered.

"Unless you can offer my freedom, Turian, nothing will make up for my crimes. But the Batarians needed to be placed in difficult position. Harper arranged everything.  _He_  was the one who ordered the Hegemony hit with plagues. It won't be long before you run out of time and you join me here, Harper. Asari believe you inherit the crimes of your parents. Your father killed millions with my aid. How long until they hold you responsible?" The Salarian was smirking. "You want to know where my labs were? Where I created my bio-weapons with the help of your father? You know my price." One of his eyes looked discolored, like it was dead. "Get me out of here, and I'll tell you everything. Develop something for the Rachni, the Turians!" Mother. Odd, she rarely got compared to her mother.

Garrus tapped the button cutting off communication to the cell. He also turned his head to keep Saleon from reading his lips. "He doesn't seem entirely stable. No matter what he says, we couldn't get him out of here." He glanced at Julia. "But if anything he says is true, we have problems." He turned to the hallway ahead. "Long walk ahead."

It was a long walk. There were security doors, but they were opening automatically for them. Kinetic Barrier curtains opened and closed around them, and eventually all of these thing stopped being well maintained. The only things other than the prisoners in their cells were the small repair drones cleaning the hallways. Eventually the hallway got more and more aged, with some armor panels looking discolored and rough around the edges.

Still half a kilometer out, the cells were mostly empty. By the two kilometer mark, they hadn't seen a living soul in a while. Yet Garrus still walked forward, his datapad still indicating that there were prisoners out this far. When the other side of the rusty doorway came into view, there were finally some signs of living beings. Three cells here had occupants. One had an Asari, one eye milky white and her skin so pale it appeared white. Her crest was covered in acid burns, and her one good eye bored into them as they walked by.

"No idea who she is." Garrus muttered, waving the datapad. "Someone ripped out the haptic socket here. Might be worried about what she might say." The other two occupants here were Krogan. The first one Garrus passed by, a female. She looked tired, and only the slight turn of her head showed signs of life. "That one is labeled female, warlord." Garrus shrugged. "No other information."

Julia saw the female Krogan stand up, her arms and legs thin and lacking muscle. She blinked at them, the hump of her head dragging against the glass as she stared at her and Halmabad. She tapped on the glass, seemingly wanting to talk. "Looks desperate." Halmabad said.

"She looks old enough to know about the Rachni." Julia offered. Garrus sighed, and tapped the haptic button.

The Krogan was huffing, her breath showing signs of great effort in simply breathing. "My children." She whispered. "How long? Where are they!"

"We might know some of them. What are their names?" Julia offered.

"Asari-thing. It has been so long since I have seen them. Hundreds of children, hundreds of names. Too many. So long." Her voice was raspy, as if it hadn't been used in a long time. "Tell me! You must know!" Her hump slammed into the glass ineffectively.

"Who are you?" Halmabad asked. "Do you remember the Rachni?"

"Skittering enemy. The men would talk about them. I bore their whelps. So many, so many lost. Canrum. Turians." She glared at Garrus. "You! You took me from my children! Broken things!" She slumped down, her limbs no longer strong enough to hold her up. "Go! Leave me!" Garrus turned off the haptic interface.

"I know who that is." He said. "But all of our records said that she was dead."

"Who?"

"Shiagur." He said reverently. "Last warlord of the Krogan Rebellions. Why the Asari are keeping her here secretly, I don't know. But they have to have a reason." Garrus was quiet, his mandibles close to his face. His secondary trill had changed, to one of worry. "She's been here twelve hundred years, then."

Julia shuddered. Living in a jail cell for twelve hundred years. No wonder she didn't look well taken care of. "This place is designed to break down someone's will. Even a Krogan will eventually break here."

"Let's hope the other one isn't insane." Halmabad said, as they came to the very last cell. The entire construction was different, larger. More ornate. The metal looked Prothean in nature. "Woah."

The last cell's occupant was wearing robes. It was another old Krogan, but this one was different. His eyes were focused, and the minimal furnishings of the cell spoke of comforts, or some form of compensation to make his left better. This was a male Krogan, and he had a large red crest. The crest went far enough back to make his back seem stocky. It had more ridges than any other she had seen. When he saw them, he approached the glass and sat in a chair facing it.

Garrus tapped the haptic, and the first sound they heard was a deep cough. "More questions, Turian. What do you need me to tell you?"

"My name is Garrus Vakarian. These are Humans, Julia Constantine and Shaikh Al-Omar Halmabad." Wow. He got the pronunciation of Halmabad's full name right. "We are wondering if you could answer some questions about the Rachni."

The old Krogan grunted. "I am Kalro Olg. Those memories are buried deep, Turian. It has been more than two thousand years since I led my people against them. That was before the troubles at Garvug, and Wrill." He sighed. "Lots of favors bought us those planets. Then the old troubles started. Too many bred, and too many bred stupid." He leaned back in the chair, humming to himself. "I was a General, in your terms. When the Rachni were around, the Krogan were mostly deployed on non-Asari and non-Salarian worlds. Turns out we don't make the best of allies on the battlefield. We were just as likely to blast the little slimes and blues as we were the Rachni. So when I headed up an invasion force, we decided to land on the sunlit part of Suen. Disastrous. But we formed the first beachhead."

"They're back, now."

"Hmm." He muttered. "That's what I heard from little Marsula. But they have new toys this time."

"Plasma weapons. Good armor. Their Queens can survive Cain rounds."

The old Krogan chuckled. "They always had their ways. Even in the last days, they were constantly evolving and adapting. Too bad we just got better ourselves. Their main hive took more than a hundred days of Dreadnought bombardment before it fell. Then, my teams went to clean up the remains. I spent twenty years on that blasted rock, clearing every single tunnel and securing every single damn crystal."

"Crystals?" She saw some of those on Suen.

"Ah, yes." He said, thinking. "Rachni store memories in crystals, like blueprints. Their technology and sciences were stored in crystals. If one of their hives had gotten a hold of enough of them, they started making defensive cannons that could fire back into space, or GUARDIAN laser turrets. Damn bugs were smart. So we blasted every crystal we could find, too. Some were buried. Some were hidden. Don't know if we got them all." He shook his head. "Can't remember, anyways. Didn't want to remember those memories." Some of those crystals she had seen had been taken from that old Prothean base they had found, and soon after that the Rachni started making ships again. She didn't like that coincidence.

"Did they ever have anything dreadnought sized? Anything like this?" Julia asked, bringing up the pictures of a Reaper from her Omni-tool.

"Yeah." The old one muttered. "We saw something like that near the end of the war. We saw it just once, when it broke free from our blockade over Suen. It was underneath the mountain range near their main hive. After it blew free from the crust, we had a more serious beachhead. Though we hardly knew that it had triggered a magma vent until later." He said, reminiscing. "Never saw it again."

"We need to know more about that ship and where it went." Julia said. "The Rachni are using them."

"All of our Admirals are long dead. I put a few people in charge of it. Clan Ganar were in charge of researching any Rachni technology that was recovered. Talk to them, if they are still around." He coughed gently. "I'd like you to deliver a message for me, Turian. Your kind keep their word."

"You're giving us a lot of good intel." He said. "Of course I can."

"I've got a few kids. I want to just know that they're alive. Maybe if they have kids or grandkids that would be nice to know, as well." He grunted. "My kids names are Jarrod, Ream, Garvil, Sten, …" He named off something around two hundred names. Then he let them ask more questions.

Julia nodded, and pulled out Pressley's notes. There were hundreds of unanswered questions, regarding Rachni strategies or how to take them out best. Olg seemed patient. He just answered each question, seemingly content to talk about his history. They were there for an hour, perhaps two, before Garrus informed her that they were going to be late for their appointment. Olg shrugged.

"You'll return. The only way to stop the Rachni for good is to make a bigger monster. Or uplift one. Everything repeats if you wait long enough. You will come back when you want to know how to stop the monster you've created." He laughed. "Try not to die, Turian. Hooman. Whatever you are."

Garrus didn't say anything in the long walk back. He was busy looking over the transcript of what had been said. But as they approached the entrance to the jail, the entry area was not empty. Four Asari commandos were waiting for them. The Asari who had been here before was nowhere to be seen, but Julia noticed that one of the commandos was wearing the head vizor. There was a bit of blood on the ground behind the desk. Not enough for a gunshot wound. But it was enough for her to notice.

"Spectre Vakarian." The leader said.

"Diasan. So good to see you again."

"The Matriarch has decided to join your meeting with the senior Spectres. As such, we have been sent to escort you to the meeting site." She motioned towards the Asari who now wore the vizor. "Please leave a copy of all of your transcripts and conversations with her. Security protocols have been tightened."

Garrus shrugged. "Your station, your rules." He transferred his files over. "Let's get to that meeting." Julia noticed that Garrus was standing stiffly. "I don't think I'll need to be returning for anything else."

"Good." Diasan said with finality. "Grandma doesn't like it when Turians act up. Especially when she is so eager to meet the Human Spectre candidates." There was no warmth in her gaze. Julia didn't let it bother her.

"Lead the way." Garrus said jauntily. "Though you can let that Asari who was at the desk earlier know that we appreciate her help greatly." He quipped, frowns from the commandos the only response. It was a tense walk back towards the hangar, where an elevator was located. As they passed each other to fit into the tiny elevator, Garrus brushed up against her. A small OSD was slipped into her hand. She didn't glance at him. She only made sure that the OSD was in the safest location possible. Halmabad never noticed the OSD slipping into his spare port on his armor. Julia put it in upside down, the tiny connectors not able to connect the OSD to his armor but at the same time holding it in place. She and Garrus would be checked over completely, she expected. Halmabad had the best chance of hiding whatever it was that Garrus was committed to hiding.

Then, it was off to wherever these Asari were taking them. She didn't have a good feeling about it.

* * *

Author's Note

Things are getting interesting here. Friess Station is only about 2.2 km long and .8 km wide, and shaped like an egg. The Asari do not like sharing information about it, as the station is old. It used to be part of an old defense station from the Rachni wars, but the defense station eventually fell into disrepair and the family that funded it wanted to get something back from their expenditure. So this station is built around an old defense station, and then the Spectres started keeping some of their captures in it.

Olg is a pretty calm fellow for being imprisoned for more than a millennia. Let me know your guys' take on all of this. Next chapter we are going to jump back to Jack and Hannah, and that will be exciting.

A note about the torture and death of Karak. Julia is very much an Aspergers person. People like that have lots of empathy for those around them, and especially we have empathy for those who are not doing as well. We also feel empathy for inanimate objects, if we believe they are equivalent to people. I mean, I still have pangs of hurt when I think about people I have said the wrong thing to, or some toy that I had as a child that I broke accidentally. Those feelings rush to the surface, and it is very hard to ignore them. The darker feelings never quite go away. They stew and stew and get riper, until all of the sudden you are presented with the source of your angst and rage and you just want to go and destroy that person. Resolution is a hard thing. Julia being denied that kill of Karak, when he caused everything that led up to Torfan and all the people who had died there, that was what she had bottled up. For her, there was only one way to resolve this. I hope that this conveys the feeling of that scene.


	73. Lucid: The Bucket List

Chapter 73

Friess Station, Ialessa System, January 2183

Julia didn't feel any of the tension drain when they got to the audience chamber. It was an audience chamber, that was certain. A chair was at the end of a triangular table, framed by a window leading out into space. Triple layered, and rated to keep all light in, but it still painted a picture. One of superiority, of arrogance. The room was slightly tilted towards the entryway, with the chair placed a few inches above the entryway. The floor sloped upwards towards it, with a triangular table in the shape of Athame's symbol filling the center of the room. Vaulted ceilings and gentle lights gave the impression that this was not a place where major decisions occurred. No hard edges were in the room, yet the shape did not make anyone feel welcome.

Matriarch Marsula sat in the chair, her eyes centered on the doorway. Strangely she was wearing a practical set of armor today, rather than the rich opulent dresses and robes that most Matriarchs wore. But the ornate circlet upon her brow and the lines of age across her forehead were indicators enough. She was joined by another four commandos in addition to the three that came with Julia and her people.

Three Salarians and another Turian were also at the table, at the four chairs midway between Marsula's chair and the door. Five chairs were on each side, and with the point of the triangle facing the window into space, it left the row of seats in front of them unfilled. Garrus moved forward without concern, sitting in the very middle. Julia sat to his right, and Halmabad to his left. Depending on the culture, it meant certain things. To the Turian, he would view it as Julia being his most reliable apprentice, while the Salarians would view Halmabad as the more important. The Asari would only pay attention to the fact that there were three of them and not their order of seating, so long as Garrus sat across from the Matriarch.

"Spectre Vakarian. We are pleased to see you here again." One of the Salarians spoke up. "I am Urvan Rem Drol Linron. My associates are the highest clearance STG analysts we have." The two Salarians to his sides gave them half of a nod.

"General Pitan." The Turian said with resolve. "I've been a Spectre for thirty years. I make sure that all of our Spectres get the support and manpower they need.."

"I am Matriarch Rieh Marsula, senior Spectre." The Asari on the largest chair said. "The Council has informed me of your actions in the last five months, and told us that you had information that might be of great value." She huffed. Garrus seemed tense, ill at ease. "This is one of the few locations in Council Space where you can be sure that the information will be disseminated appropriately."

"Thank you." Garrus said. "The analyst at the Citadel recommended that we only present our findings here, for the sake of security and to reduce panic." He turned to Halmabad. "Open the files."

The center of the table had multiple haptic and holographic emitters. All of them formed three distinct screens facing each end of the table. No smiles came from around the table as the image resolved into the sight of Shandong. The orbital defense stations tried to resolve their IFF sensors as two Rachni vessels came into range. The small frigates had drawn the attention of every vessel in the system, while the Dreadnought arrived only after the frigates had drawn out the entire defense force.

All of this information had come from the recovered data from Shandong. Halmabad had put it back together with the help of some of the Quarians, and broken the encryption with some help from Kalin'ren and members of the bridge crew. Halmabad had gotten the angle from the ground of the cities where the Rachni had landed, as well as the moment where both cities exploded violently, their fusion reactors under the domes exploding and atomizing the two frigates. The  _Reaper_  landed directly, got nuked, and survived. The explosion of the fusion reactor only tripped it.

The STG analysts were typing quickly, and chuckled in response to the explosion. Salarian typists were faster than any other in the galaxy. It was very inspiring to watch them type up anything. Their fingers moved faster when they saw the Reaper start dropping all kinds of EMP and damping effects across the whole system, and cameras started dropping like flies. So did ships. The Reds never had much in the way of sophisticated shipyards and drydocks, and it showed. Every ship in the system crashed, EMP hardened technology restricted to the yachts and military vessels, which were taken out by the Rachni frigates. Footage of what happened next was limited to the tactical readouts that had been found in the bunker, which showed the general location of the Reaper as it systematically went through each of the cities. It turned out that the bunker they had hit had not been the main bunker.

The Reds had a series of protected bunkers, all of which were connected using underground railways and tunnels. The central one had EMP hardened nodes and video feeds, which were able to show what happened at the main bunker. Rachni forces, both alive and dead, hit the bunker. They were led by an Asari. Just one, leading the entire attack. The Rachni workers that surged into the main bunker started cutting cameras and all other sources of electricity, pushing doors open by sheer strength of numbers once the hydraulics had been neutralized. Halmabad didn't add much in the way of audio, and that had been harder to decrypt. The parts he did decrypt were all panicked statements and orders to fall back to the next defensive line.

Hundreds of their people died in the minutes of footage. Rachni swarmed over the base, looking for any and all ways into the deepest secure chamber. The contents of that chamber were not a tactical display or central command chamber. On the screen was a Prothean beacon.

"That would explain the near suicidal assault." Pitan noted. "Did they get a hold of it?"

"They did." Halmabad said. "That's the problem." He tapped his wrist, bringing the video file forward a few minutes. The Asari that led the Rachni managed to get to the beacon, and its helmet retracted to show a familiar face.

"What?!" Urvan Linron spouted. "Tela Vasir was declared dead! Her remains were found and recovered!"

"This is not the only place we have seen this Asari." Garrus spoke up. "Halmabad, show the clip of her at Helios."

That didn't take as long to show. But by the end, Matriarch Marsula was frowning deeply. "I was the one who trained that little Maiden." Her eyes were hard. "My people verified that she had died."

"So who is this, then?" Pitan asked. "You've told me that it's impossible to clone an Asari, so who made this one appear as Spectre Vasir?"

"Surgical alterations, perhaps?" Urvan muttered. "Not difficult to assume position of a Spectre, change their face to that of someone of interest. Bloodwork would be more difficult to duplicate."

"We don't have any blood from these two, and we don't know where they are." Garrus spoke up. "What we do know is that these dreadnoughts they are using are actually of different sizes." Halmabad helpfully put together cross comparisons of the two ships. He also added a shot of the Batarian sculpture in their temple. "They have been around for a very long time."

"What is that?" Matriarch Marsula asked carefully.

"One of the inscriptions in the High Fane of Karn'Xul, warning all future generations of Batarian society to beware of the 'Gods' that shaped their history and culture." Julia said. "I had a favor with the High Priest that I called in. They showed us this, as well as some Husks that had been sealed inside of the same chamber for the last few thousand years."

Marsula was scrolling through the images rapidly, glancing over the Asari again. "Why an Asari?"

"What do you mean?" Pitan asked.

"Leading the Rachni. Why not a Turian or a Salarian? Their tactical thinking would be preferred in this kind of open warfare. Asari commanders are not known for aggressiveness such as this." Marsula said thoughtfully. "In fact, no commander that I know of would advocate an assault like this."

"A logical assumption. Asari do not have a history of any kind of aggressive motions in large scale warfare. Some subtlety in their work, but not enough to justify an attack on this scale. Also, division of efforts between two other commanders is critical to Asari wartime strategy. This Asari does not display any such divisions." Urvan interrupted the slower speaking Matriarch. "Why expend so much effort towards a dark beacon?"

"They contain useful information, though they kill the user within a decade. Few sentients survive longer." Marsula then looked at Julia. "Perhaps you have your father's gift for surviving a dark beacon, Commander Constantine?"

"Excuse me?"

"You are aware, of course, that your father has accessed a dark beacon and lived more than a decade?"

That explained a few things.  _If_  that were true. "How do you know for sure?" He also raided the Prothean beacon on Mars. He could have gotten his information from there as well.

"I heard him admit it to Matriarch Benezia in the Serrice Opera House years ago. She then melded with him to verify his claim. Benezia does not take such forward actions lightly. Nor does she send her only daughter off into Human space on a whim." Marsula said. Julia had been there that night as well, but the memories of a child did not offer her any kind of clarity about this. The things that Julia remembered were the songs and the biotic displays. "As your scholars are often heard saying, the walls themselves speak all truths."

"You believe I can do the same?"

"Hold it!" Garrus said loudly. "You are not risking the life of my apprentice! Dark beacons have been locked away for good reason. Commander Constantine will not be sticking her head inside of one. The Systems Alliance cannot risk these two."

Julia felt a bit touched that Garrus would defend her. "What are the risks?" Dark beacons were something of interest to Alliance R&D.

Marsula smiled gently. "Death, child. Every sentient who has tried to see into the beacons has died, some moments later. All of them within a decade. Except for your father's claim, we have seen no others live on indefinitely. Matriarchs at the end of their lifespan are no different. Your family makes me very curious to know what would happen. Resistance to the degradation can be shown to be passed down to progeny."

"But it would kill me if you're wrong?"

"The chance exists. If you are interested we can always examine you further. We have the most in depth beacon studies in Council space." The Matriarch said.

"Only because you use prisoners to test different beacons." Pitan spoke up. "As well as clanless."

Marsula did not deny it. "It is rarely done. At any given time we keep two sentients who have been exposed to the beacons in our custody. The dark beacons drive many into the darkness of the mind, some too deep to return to normal life. Currently we are using a Batarian slaver and a young clanless woman who volunteered." Pitman frowned at that. "The information revealed is worth the losses."

"The Council has reviewed our reports. If someone is masquerading as an Asari Spectre, we must recall each of them to be tested and checked. We are also freezing any assets belonging to Tela Vasir. Spectre Vakarian, we appreciate you bringing in this information." Urvan spoke up, reading something off his Omni-tool as he spoke to them. "The Council does not appreciate your decision to return to Asteria, yet reports gathered from Asari fleet elements in system correspond and confirm your findings." He glanced at his two compatriots. "We shall look over any and all information in our databases regarding those dreadnoughts. We are concerned that the doppleganger of Tela Vasir will use the information on that beacon for the Rachni's advantage."

"Many of those who have seen the visions contained in the beacons mention Prothean locations and military assets. If the Rachni were able to gain access to them, it would be catastrophic." Marsula said. "My sister is the chief Matron in charge of Prothean studies at Serrice. I shall provide her private comm line for you to access. She can answer any question you might have. If you need anything else, there is no better place in the galaxy to search for answers."

"Thank you." Garrus said. "Right now I'm just glad to have the Rachni in retreat at Galatana."

All of those sharing the table brightened at that. Pitan especially, though his Palaven markings made his face look almost ghastly in this light. "That Queen egg you captured has the entire Citadel combined species research team gossiping worse than a bunch of Maidens. The Hierarchy wanted to open up something for you, and I as quartermaster have agreed. Spectre Vakarian, please come with me. We've found you a rifle strong enough to put those bugs in their place."

Pitan left with Garrus, while the Salarians gave short yet respectful goodbyes. Matriarch Marsula remained, waiting patiently for the Salarians to leave. "I have something to show you. I would entreat you both to join me. If you are being considered as Spectres, then you may wish to know of  _all_  of the perks."

"That sounds wonderful." Halmabad said with a smile. Julia offered a smile, but on the inside she didn't feel welcome here. It felt like a cage. Even with the Asari architecture it didn't feel welcoming. She followed after the group of commandos, focused entirely on remaining unwary. But without Garrus she felt that things were taking a turn for the worse.

* * *

Chamber of Contemplation, Ilos, January 2183

Jack smirked as he walked down from the command center, the virtual deed to Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey Company in his hands. It had been a project over the last few years to buy out the company. All through aliases and front corporations, only today had he brought all of the stock together and forced the current owners out of ownership.

Hannah's favorite whiskey was now her own brand. He whistled, stepping past Quarians and Humans hard at work at their consoles. They turned slightly to look up at him, Jack rarely being in such a good mood.

Hannah was sparring against some of the Batarians in the Imperial Guard, wearing a set of Asari workout gear that kept everything skin tight. Everyone knew that Hannah and Jack were an item, and was therefore something that you could look upon and not touch. He emphasized that much. People who kept looking quickly found themselves working elsewhere. There was always need for more hands to help out around here.

Ilos has become something more, now. The buildings were starting to look restored, with Quarian work crews going round the clock to replace faulty cabling, power conduits, and spray algae killing nanobots over all surfaces. Slowly but surely the fungus and growth of fifty thousand years of neglect was being pushed back. Walls gleamed and lights cast a glow upon all of the area. Best of all, having actual Protheans on the base meant that they could activate the automated systems. Drones were manufactured by Omni-foundries and quickly set up new defensive stations in the old Inusannon city. Anything coming from space would be shot down. There was actually enough spaceward defenses to wipe out a Reaper, as well as defenses on the ground for any dropships that made it through.

He wasn't a fool, by any means. This planet could be found. It was only a matter of time. But while he had time, he had deployed the assets of this system as best he could. With all of the algae and plant life already seeding this world, it was perfectly prepared for farming. Quarian designed and Prothean manufactured drones, supported by cheap LOKI mechs, had thousands of acres of farmland here. The ocean had retreated from this area, leaving arable farmland that were fed by more than ninety inches of rain per solar rotation. These farms had been active for years, and Jack was milking this planet for all its worth. The only place that people were living at was the Prothean research station. Millions of acres across the planet were being seeded and planted, with lightning rods and fire retardant towers keeping the hostile parts of the atmosphere at bay. It was hot here, but it stayed that way. There was no season of winter on this planet. As such, Daro'xen's ships were always busy moving raw materials through the relay.

He watched with a bit of glee as the Batarian Hannah was sparring missed a footstep, falling into a heap on the ground. Her practice knife came down to his neck and he tapped on the floor twice, lips wisely kept over his teeth. Hannah helped him stand up, and they shook hands in the Human manner before leaving the mat. She saw him, and gave a smirk. "You want to try?"

"I choose life." He said sagely. "But I have a gift for you." She wiped her hands off before taking the datapad from his hand.

Instead of being appreciative, she scowled. Then she glared at him. "You're the rat bastard that has been outbidding me for the last three years?" He blinked at that. Charles had not seen anything like this when he had gathered the stock and had the VI outbid anyone trying to get it. "What the hell?"

Jack sighed. "That was supposed to be a romantic gesture before I sweep you off your feet." He shrugged. "This was to be the first gift."

"Gift?" Hannah's anger switched to curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"A few years ago, I found an old journal in one of your travel bags. In it, you had handwritten a list," Hannah's eyes bugged out. "I finally have the ability to fulfill every item on that list." He pointed at the datapad with relish. "Starting with ownership of your favorite source of alcohol. Since the Reapers are advancing their timetable, and we are currently in a lull, I decided that this would be the most efficient use of our time."

"You found my list?"

"I found your bucket list." Jack said. "Then I added my own touches to it. Interested?"

"Hell yes." She said brightly. So began a very interesting journey.

* * *

Earth, Sol System, January 2183

"This seemed so much more petty when I originally thought about it." Hannah muttered, looking down at the building around them. It was one of the towers in the New York Arcology, and the railing behind them served to keep people from coming to the edge of the large towers. It had taken more than a few hacking attempts and one VI-assisted reprogramming of the elevator to get up here. Standing with her was Jack, as well as Henry Gunn. He had been 'hired' to cover for them and come with them to keep the Alliance from coming after them.

"Well, we are here. Still feeling petty?"

"Afraid, actually." She looked down at the simple looking harness she had wrapped around her torso. "I can't believe people used to do this."

"Sensors just got tripped." Henry said. "People will see us in a few minutes." Air car traffic moved below them, the arcology towers so high that it was mandated that the air cars had to travel below their upper levels, to preserve the 'view' for those high paying clients and apartments in the towers. "If we want to get out of here, we've got to go."

"On three." Hannah told them. Jack clenched his hands. They had double and triple checked each of their chutes attached to their harnesses. "One." Jack watched as Hannah gulped, looking a bit pale. "Two." She took a couple of steps back, as if a bit more momentum would really help. From this high up, it really didn't matter how far they jumped. But if it helped her conquer her fear of heights, then it was fine with him. "Three." Jack simply jumped, Henry jumped with his eyes closed, and Hannah flinched, and finally jumped herself. Their wingsuits made happy beeps as they hit the upper levels of the skyline. Usually people did this kind of stunt in the summer months, and not the bitter cold of January.

Hannah was screaming, and Henry seemingly floated comfortably. The man must have spent too long being hit by Singularities when he trained at Solaris. He chuckled as they started going near the foggy air car lanes. Down, into the old city of Manhattan. Using a wingsuit with a VI was sort of like cheating. He disengaged the VI to find out how well he would do on his own, but after a moment had to re-engage the damn thing because he was starting to crash. Henry and Hannah didn't seem to have any problem controlling theirs. Oh well. The air was bitter cold, and the January breezes were chilly. Thankfully their wingsuits were insulated.

They touched down in Central Park, their VI's telling them where to land. Police were already starting to investigate sightings of 'idiots' flying in old tech through the city. Jack saw Hannah land, curling into a ball and hugging herself after finally touching the ground again. Base jumping. Check. Wing suits. Check. He tapped his wrist, triggering the explosives he left in Runya Ross's retirement home apartment in the New York Arcology tower. Double check. The old woman was out of town right now, but when she returned there would be nothing left. Apparently she had no lack of creature comforts. Lots of collectables and knick knacks. As well as a set of China that Jack spent more time than necessary applying explosives to.

"Excellent." Jack said happily. "What next?"

"Ogod." Hannah murmured, throwing up.

"Well, that's her vote. Henry?"

The Sniper gave him a look. "Um." He glanced at Hannah. "Abstain?"

"With the power vested in me by myself, I vote and second said vote that we make our next stop at Bekenstein." He chortled, chucking his wingsuit into Henry's prepared bag. The man didn't complain when Hannah shucked hers and all three of them joined the crowds of people gawking at all of the police activity. "Breath mint?" He offered his girlfriend. Hannah took it with a thankful smile. Then, they were off to their next destination.

* * *

Bern, Switzerland, January 2183

Luge is a terrifying sport. Once suited up properly, your face rests centimeters from the ground, and you get moving as fast as humanly possible down a hill covered in concrete. Add in mass effect technology, and you can  _safely_  double the speed and halve the danger of the slopes. Hannah thought this was amazing. Henry thought it was hilariously fun. At the bottom of the hill, Jack was the one throwing up. The expensive fondue that he had for lunch sprayed out all over the snow.

"Bobsledding next!" Hannah chirped happily. He gave her a weak smile, right before going back to the time honored tradition of puking out one's own guts. She had issues with heights, yet Jack had issues with his face being in too close of proximity to the ground at high speeds. Personally, he blamed the Reapers for this obvious weakness.

* * *

Bekenstein, Holtzman System, January 2183

Donovan Hock's mansion was protected by numerous security goons as well as its own air patrol tower with GUARDIAN laser ports. Two other towers were hidden as trees and set on risers to be able to deploy and shoot down anything. In reality the main tower was manned by fewer people than the support towers. Each of the towers had secondary kinetic barrier emitters to bolster and provide layering to the existing kinetic barrier over the estate. There were walls and cliffs to help deter anyone from approaching any other way than air. Kinetic barrier curtains were built into all of the gates. Only someone on the security team could disable a barrier, and each team member only had access to one of the emitters. It took teams of their own security to disable the security of an area. If anyone attacked, they were killing the only way to gain access.

It was honestly a little over the top. Kasumi had been here for two weeks already, scoping out the location and getting all of the security codes. Chief Marcie Roe was the head of security and one-time girlfriend/easy lay of Hock that ran the entire operation. She had her weaknesses, namely a gambling problem and massive debt. The quasar machines kept in the hotel portion of the estate kept her in debt. Sadly, the woman had so little money that there was nothing to blackmail that Hock hadn't already done. She was a known quantity.

The eighty men guarding this place, along with a pair of gunships and a corvette kept everyone honest. The gunships and corvette were a different security company, one owned and run by Hock himself. The men in it were not as experienced as the ones in the main team. That was the weak point. Kasumi had gotten in by sneaking aboard the gunship when it went for scheduled calibrations and replacement of its gyroscopes. Given two weeks of observation, infiltration, and petty theft, this place was a mine ready to go off.

Chief Roe had randomized all of the patrols, and Kasumi had been responsible for three direct firings of members of the security team. Everyone was on edge, wondering if they were going to be next. This was a cushy job, with few complications or demands upon the employee's time. Fourteen more members of security were suspect. Hock had a  _lot_  of small pieces of art along his walls, and two pieces of Ming dynasty ceramics had disappeared.

Chief Roe had then been forced to hire an investigative unit to come in and find out what the hell happened. Jack shaved his head and grew out a mustache. Hannah had dyed her hair brown and gotten a synthetic skin face lift. Now she looked overweight, grungy, and almost like a technician. Their third member was Kasumi herself. She looked as androgynous as she could, a popular style of dress for many Korean and Japanese people. This was not their first choice of disguise, as they were actually trying to be the duplicates of the real technical team.

Chief Roe let them right in, and with the codes gathered by Kasumi they quickly declared the place to be in a state of lockdown. "Who is it that leads the other security team?" Jack asked, trying not to rub his shaved head. It was a new experience.

"Captain Bryant. He's been here longer than I have." She said respectfully.

"All of the items that went missing, were they in areas where both of your teams have access to?" Jack asked her. She nodded. "Then I'll need every person with that clearance to stay in the lobby. Stay where my team and your teams can keep track of them, and that way we can keep track of who accessed what without anyone deleting the evidence. Anyone without the clearance to the sections where the objects were stolen can cover for you while we investigate."

"I disagree." Chief Bryant spoke up. "Chief Roe and I should be able to remain in the situation rooms."

Jack shook his head. "Boss wouldn't have called us unless he believed that you were outside the realm of suspicion. So we would request that you remain with the rest of your people that you suspect may have done it."

"How long is this going to take?" Chief Roe asked uncomfortably. "We can't compromise security. Not to mention there are four people on leave or off duty from my team alone that have that clearance."

"Ten of my people. One of them on maternity leave."

"Shawna was a blimp when this all happened. Her maternity leave started before it all went down. It couldn't have been her." One of the others spoke up.

"We should be done within the hour." Kasumi assured them. "Cleaning crews should follow after us, and be ready to set furniture back, go over everything. Just stay in the lobby for now. If it makes you feel better, you can send members of both teams to patrol the perimeter. Give us one hour to resolve this and we can all go back to our normal jobs."

"Take these two with you. They have no clearances, and should be able to assist you." Chief Roe offered. "They're new. Replacements for those fired recently."

The two people offered were both brawny toughs with hardly any secondary school experience. Mostly sent to keep an eye on them, Jack would guess. They agreed, of course. They couldn't seem unwilling in any way. As soon as they were admitted to the secure section, Hannah and Kasumi got to the real work. While Jack made a big show of moving some of the furniture around and checking on the sensors and their logs directly(showing these toughs how to do that also burned a bit of time. There were hundreds of sensors in this room alone.

The reason that Kasumi chose this section was clear, as it wasn't much more than a giant art gallery. In checking all of the sensors, many of the glass cases had to be opened. He didn't watch Kasumi or Hannah, but he knew that they were doing their jobs. At the appropriate time, Kasumi announced her stage of the plan. "Chief, can you double check this sensor?"

Jack walked over, seeing the sensor that Kasumi was talking about. "Yeah." He muttered. "I see it." He brought out his Omni-tool. "You boys might want to confirm with me on this. This is the backup sensor, just in case the main sensors are hacked or disabled." The two brutes approached. "The only people who can access these are the security detail. Not the air defense detail."

"This is one of the things that Chief Roe told us to never even touch." One of them said. "Glass has sensors that warn every squad in the building. Some Russian doohicky."

"This doohicky," Jack quoted, "Is the Orlov Sceptre. Worth millions of credits." Jack noted. "Wait. Why is there dust on it? This is hermetically sealed!"

At this point, Kasumi sent a coded message to Chief Roe, from a 'Catherine McGuire' notifying her that her new bank account had been created the month previous. Payments would follow as necessary. The stage was set, and when all of this information was presented to Chief Bryant he swiftly locked up Roe. It was discovered on her Omni-tool a piece of software that helped predict chances in Quasar. She denied any accusations, but the evidence was piling up. A quick thank you from Chief Bryant and Jack and his assistants left.

"Did you get it?" He asked when they left.

Hannah held up the real Orlov Sceptre. "Oh yeah."

"How does it feel?"

"Oh, it fulfills all of those princess fantasies I wanted as a child." Hannah came here to steal something to make her feel like a princess. A real one. Jack knew that Hock had the Orlov Sceptre, and it was better than her journal's idea of a Disney princess treatment. That, and it pissed off Hock.

"Kasumi, did you get what we needed?"

She laughed happily, bringing out a few things from her fat suit. "I found his personal coffee stash. We now know his distributor. In addition to that, I found Hock's supply of memorabilia. It was wired to a bomb, though. Nothing I know how to get around. Yet." She mentioned.

Jack laughed, their shuttle taking off. "This is actually a lot more fun than I expected this to be."

"Yeah." Hannah said. "It's different, you know. Blowing up other people's crap because we  _want_  to do it, rather than  _needing_  to do it. I mean, sure, it's fun the other way, and the Reapers are worth stopping. But doing this for me makes it better somehow."

"More personal." Jack said. "Well, that leaves just one thing left on the list I've made." He smirked. "Jars of dirt."

"Jars of dirt?" Kasumi asked.

"I wanted a bit of dirt from every homeworld." Hannah said. "I've been to Palaven, Kar'Shan, and Earth. Jack's been to Thessia, and we've got dirt from Dakuuna and Kahje."

"That leaves just Tuchanka and Sur'kesh."

"Tuchanka's dirt is irradiated. Not hard to get it." Kasumi said. "Sur'Kesh has a market for theirs, we can just order it."

Jack smirked. "Oh no. Not that easy. You're missing a few. Rakhana. Heshtok. Parnak. Last but not least is Rannoch."

Hannah and Kasumi were looking a bit pale. "Woah, woah. Jack, I don't even know what Parnak is! Or whatever race lives there." She shook her head. "Don't we have enough enemies? Geth, Blood Pack, whatever is on Parnak."

Jack grinned. "I'll make some calls. Heshtok we can easily get something from. Parnak might require sneaking into, the Salarians maintain a blockade in the system. As for Rakhana, I think the Hanar might be friendly enough to donate some. No, the difficult one will be Rannoch."

Daro'Xen is going to have a conniption if you go to Rannoch over a bucket list." Hannah warned him. "She might even take action."

"I doubt it." He told her. "But I think it's worth it."

"How is risking our lives against the Geth worth it?"

"Hannah. I will be honest with you." He glared at Kasumi, and pointed at the pilot's compartment. She rolled her eyes, the electric blue eyelashes catching attention before she got up and left. "I really don't know any better way to prove that I care for you other than going out of my way like this. I don't write love notes. I don't like love notes. You dislike flowers. You dislike most dating practices other than going to restaurants. I found your journal years ago, and up until now it was just what I planned as a fifteenth anniversary gift."

Hannah was giving him a real smile, the mole on her face sinking into her cheeks as she lit up. "Jack, are you saying that you love me?"

He glanced at the closed door of the pilot's cabin. He wouldn't put it past Kasumi to leave a mini drone to figure out what was going on in here. Just in case, he hit the area by the door with an Overload. "Yes." He said as softly as he dared. "I won't excuse myself of being a bastard. But I do want to prove to you that I care."

She laughed. Not the laugh someone gives when they are making fun of someone, but the one someone gives when they are genuinely amused. "I've tried to kill you. Honest to God tried to kill you in the past. I've stayed with through all of this, and you still want to prove yourself? You don't think I trust you?"

"Well." He started, considering his next words. "Not fully. But I don't even trust my own flesh and blood fully."

"But Miranda has been loyal to your plan from the beginning."

"Miranda I don't trust completely, nor do I trust Julia. Both have their own agendas. I trust my mother more than I do my daughters, as sad as it is."

"Jack." She said, chuckling. "You can trust your daughters. At least Miranda."

"Perhaps." Jack said. "But I didn't plan out this romantic overture for two years just to ignore the one thing I wanted out of it." Her raised eyebrow got his attention. "Well, I want to be the first Humans to have sex on Rannoch. Claim it, you know."

She punched him in the shoulder. "Do you think the Geth will mind if we ask nicely first?"

"Never ask for permission, Hannah. That always ends badly for everyone."

* * *

Chamber of Arbitration, Ilos, January 2183

The Human walked with enough strutting to qualify as a Zha. Miranda Harper was truly a fine example of Humankind, though Javik would assume most Protheans would be off-put by her lack of secondary eyes and eyelids. Her curvature was meant to entice, in the place of head-ridges and eye dilation. Such an inefficient design. Humans relied on taste too much as a sense. Protheans relied simply on touch and eye contact to express themselves.

The Human had been fiddling with one of Vigil's nodes, out past the line where most of the Quarians and Humans worked. Something secretive. Humans were family creatures, seeking comfort amongst each other and were extremely social. So her avoidance of those same societal bonds was of interest to him. She had spent more than a week's worth of time here, fiddling with different terminals and changing the power couplings and their settings.

Her knowledge of Prothean software and power couplings was recently earned. Her memory was good, he would give her that. Two weeks with Charles and she was already trying to rewrite some kind of Vigil's code. The interesting thing was that she had not asked for permission or direction in her actions. Javik did not approve it, for certain.  _All_  such actions had to be approved by him. This was not one of them.

He grinned, and contacted the Avatar of Superiority. Oken was a reasonable man, for a Prothean. So long as you were already Prothean, he would respect you. The only non-Prothean he had spoken to was Tesai, and that was out of necessity. He confirmed with Javik that Miranda was not supposed to be here. Nor was she on the approved list for those who could access primary or secondary terminals to Vigil.

He also confirmed with Javik that Jack Harper was not on Ilos, or anywhere else that could be able to reply quickly. "Vigil, please activate the local scanners."

" _Single Prothean lifesign detected._ " Vigil couldn't see Miranda. That was  _not_  welcome. " _Orders?_ " Vigil asked him.

"Prepare cryo pod for levo DNA based life form. Disable internal controls." Javik smirked. Miranda Harper had overstepped her bounds. He considered for a moment how her father would react. Perhaps if he never knew it would be better. "Create a record for Miranda Harper, Human, to have ordered the use of a shuttle for herself. Destination not stated."

" _Order created. Origin of order is logged into system as Administrator._ "

"Mark the order as if she herself had sent it." He ordered.

" _Such an action is not possible under Prothean law._ " Javik dilated his inner eyes in annoyance.

"Override." He stated. "Prothean law can be updated by my order."

" _Order created as you have requested._ " Vigil responded cordially. " _Shall I inform Miranda Harper, Human, of which shuttle has been prepared for her?_ "

"No. I shall do it personally." He told Vigil, not allowing the VI to leave more traces. "After cryo pod has activated, mark the shuttle on order as having been assigned to someone else. Only leave directions that a shuttle was taken, and few details."

" _This is not a command that follows Prothean Law._ "

"Override." It made him curl his lip in distaste. Subtlety was not his favorite method. "What kind of activity is being reported on the secondary terminal in the Chamber of Arbitration?"

" _No activity is reported in any terminal in the Chamber of Arbitration._ "

"What functions are connected to this terminal?"

" _Sensors and Indoctrination detection systems._ "

His eyes widened. Those were sensitive systems to be connected to. "Are those functions being compromised in any way?"

" _Unable to view selected file systems._ "

Javik didn't wait for Oken or anything else to happen. His biotics flashed, and Miranda didn't have time to react before her body was slammed into the far wall. Before his biotics could recharge, she was standing. She glowed with her own gravitic forces, sending a blast of force towards Javik. He chuckled, right up until the Throw caught his shoulder and slammed his crest into a nearby wall. Eyes refocusing, he glared at the Human.

"Javik! What the hell do you think you are doing!" Her forehead was bleeding, and her sleek bodysuit was not meant to handle this kind of hard physical forces.

"A Prothean is not required to bequeath information to lesser races!" He bellowed loudly, letting his armor deploy his helmet and activate his neutrino powered chitinous layers. It would ignore any kind of biotics that she could deploy. Her next Pull did nothing, hardly registering to his armor. "Vigil." He addressed his helmet. "Prepare gas and all forms of defense in connecting corridors to this chamber. If she leaves, you shall catch her."

" _Interior detection systems do not recognize Miranda Harper as being within the facility. Cannot advocate using established defensive perimeter._ "

Javik did not taint his mouth with curse words or profanities. Yet there were moments when he wished he could use them. With a grimace, he closed the distance to Miranda Harper, just as she used her biotics to rocket away from him. His Pull struck her, knocking her off course just enough to drive her away from the exits. She wasn't wearing much armor, and she could move at higher speeds. Both with and without using her biotics to escape.

"Vigil. Flood this chamber with non-lethal gasses."

" _Those functions have been disabled by local terminal. Making a report to repair teams to replace the broken systems._ " Vigil replied helpfully. " _Kinetic barrier curtains and stasis traps are also disabled along conduit-facing hallways._ "

"Clever." He muttered. "But not clever enough." Miranda started running for one of the service tunnels, tapping a button on her wrist. Javik started after her, knowing that if he wanted to he could gun her down. But nothing in his arsenal was non lethal. There was no need for it, in the days of the Empire. Police forces put down any and all revolts with impunity. It was understood that only death awaited those who failed. As such, he just tried to give the woman reason to not try to escape. His Warp slammed into her, her barrier somehow surviving the experience.

Her return Throw was not directed at him. It was directed at a piece of plating that she had disconnected to reach the power couplings. It slammed into him with the force of an excited female, shattering the bones in his arm and sending him to one knee. Intolerable. "Vigil, seal all doors!" He looked up in time to see her disappearing into one of the access hallways.

" _Damage to pressure sensors logged on three hallways. Cannot close doorways._ "

"Block all secondary access hallways. Open all floodways." Those systems were not accessible by local terminals. All plumbing and water movement systems were controlled by primary nodes alone. With a deep laugh he watched as Miranda was flushed out of the hallway by a wave of water. All of the hallways started washing water through the area. Like a piece of fecal matter Miranda pulled herself together, hair follicles drenched and sticking to her skin. Her jumpsuit didn't seem to be affected by the water. A hardened weave or some form of Omni-gel plating. "There is no escape. Give up, Human."

"You don't understand! I'm trying to save your ancient ass!"

"You're doing things you shouldn't. Vigil and its systems are not your domain of influence."

"Like hell!" She yelled. "You're all just Indoctrinated. That Reaper Husk was sitting outside of your pod for fifty thousand years! It could have killed you, but it didn't! Why spare you, unless it was to cause even more damage later?" Miranda glanced up at the skylight. Javik did not like what she was saying, not one bit. Vigil had cleared him and the other Avatars of any signs of Indoctrination. Miranda was the one invisible to sensors. As he thought about it, he saw Miranda using her Charge ability. His legs pumped, the armor giving him a slight boost of adrenaline and force as he also leapt. Then he grasped his biotics.

He jumped, using his own biotics to intercept the Charging Miranda. The woman fell, his double-boned elbow hitting her hard in the throat. She coughed, the skin already discoloring. Another strike to the head, and her eyes rolled back. "I am not Indoctrinated." He huffed, and dragged the sorry Human over to the cryo pod. He would admit that he used too much force in throwing her into the pod, closing the cover and letting the Human sink into unconsciousness. The pod showed a healthy green color before Javik pushed it into place in the wall. "Vigil, is there any signs of life in this cryo pod?"

" _Systems are active. No sentient being is logged as being inside the pod. Error. Calibration in progress._ "

"Ignore error. Master Override Iroh Aerigis."

" _All logs deleted. Avatar of Vengeance recognized._ "

Javik smirked, walking over and deactivating the terminal that she had been using. All signs of her presence were removed and the power couplings restored to their defaults. It took hours to undo whatever it was Miranda had been doing. Once complete, he dusted his hands of any involvement and started walking back to the Chambers of Contemplation. Liara was waiting for him, after all. Miranda was going to be her father's problem, whenever Javik deigned to release her.  _If_  he chose to remember which pod she was in.

* * *

Rannoch, Tikkun System, January 2183

"Captain, take us in nice and slow. The Geth will see any kind of atmospheric change and will react very poorly to it." Jack was standing right behind the pilot, a man that Crucible literally paid in blood for. The man had been to every kind of flight school offered by legal and illegal sources, and already Jack was annoyed by him. For one, he did not know how to handle the extra weight on the back of the SR-2, which led to small inefficiencies on every turn, and two; The man was Jamaican.

"You heard him. Try to skim somewhere near the poles to avoid the upper atmospheric wind patterns." Captain Matthew Qing said.

"Alri' Mon." The dark skinned man in the seat said. Gordon Jones, pronounced in his accent as Gord'n. "I be seeing too many stations by da north pole. We try da south one, hmm."

"Please." Qing muttered. The Cantonese man did not enjoy the laid back Jamaican at all. His personality often clashed with the pilot.

"Calculating drift and speed necessary. Hmm, ya mon. Atmosphere is not what is in da records. Thicker, like it's been 'erra formed."

"Will we be able to get into the atmosphere without notice. It'll jus take a bit longa." This was why they hired the Jamaican. He could do math in his head, to the point that if he hadn't been more interested in recreational drugs he would have been a Math genius. Or at least some kind of math philosopher. "Expected flight time, thirty two minutes and a joint."

There was a deep growl in the throat of the captain. "What have I said about using drugs as references to units of time!"

"Dat it is not accurate to Citadel standard time." The Jamaican said casually. "But if you tried one you might 'ave a different perspective."

Captain Qing scoffed. Jack felt like his nerves were not going to appreciate staring at all of the Geth space stations and ships they were passing. Stepping out of the bridge, he rejoined his team in the hangar bay. Hannah was of course ready to go. She had her catsuit on, equipped with a few Element zero powered floating grips for grabbing heavy objects. They looked like hand-sized magnets, and would reduce the weight of any object they attached to down to nothing. That way the object could float along behind the treasure hunter and not weigh them down. The Hanar had invented them, but once the Terminus found out they had become a hot little item.

Kreana was holding four of the grips. Apparently she was prepared to bring back a lot of gear. The Drell was quiet, but mention anything about treasure hunting or collecting Prothean goods and she became a very obsessed Drell. An obsessed Drell considered nothing else until they had accomplished that obsession. It was an exploitable weakness in their mental capacity.

Henry was holding two grips, but a large amount of weapons. He was going to be on overwatch and Geth-patrol for the mission. Don, who was with him, was carrying every form of ECM jammer they could cobble together. The Quarians had lots of experience sneaking past Geth patrols. Speaking of, their resident Quarian was carrying sacks and bags, as well as three grips. He was chittering to himself, and had a bottle of alcohol to christen  _something_  while he was there.

Shev'rash didn't even see Jack coming, he was so antsy. "What kind of brew is that?" He asked, seeing an unmarked bottle corked with tape and a soldered cap of metal. Shev'rash often made his own brews of alcohol by taking Turian bone marrow soup and letting it ferment. This one looked different.

"You!" He muttered, reacting to him coming near. Touching the Quarian without being a hand to hand specialist often earned that person a serious bruise. "Ah, well, this one I starved myself over. Spent two weeks starving myself back at the fleet to get enough protein and nutrient paste. Then I made a deal with one of the liveship shuttle operators to get me some  _Oprey_ ' _i_ leaves. Biotics are viewed as selfish within the fleet already, since we need to eat more. This was just what I was saving for a special occasion."

"So that is a Lucky Break 2175 or something?"

That made the Quarian laugh. "Well, I've only got the one bottle. No idea if it'll taste any good. Figured it might as well be opened on Rannoch." He pulled out a small pen. "This is a Qwib Qwib, you know. According to your calendar, we'll call it 2169."

"69 is a great number." Jack said with a small smirk. "Humans consider it a good thing, of course. Not sure how that would look with a Quarian couple."

"Always with the sexual references. Don't corrupt the booze I spent the last fifteen years thinking about with your slander." Shev'rash muttered, pointing his left finger on his free hand at him. "Where are we landing?"

"The regional capital of Hael'Zoris." Jack said. "Tech and art center. I'm hoping to find some statues, pottery, and intact computer systems to loot. The Geth fought hardest in other provinces, and this area was mostly abandoned early in the war. No major spaceport."

"Keelah." Shev'rash intoned. "No escaping those damned Geth. How many Geth will be there?"

"Hopefully none. If any are there, we will avoid them at all costs. Getting noticed is not on my bucket list." The ship started gently shuddering. "That would be us entering the planet's atmosphere."

"You realize what kind of balls you have?" The Quarian asked. "I'll be the first one of my people back on the homeworld. I don't deserve that kind of honor."

"Why not?"

"Because this isn't going to help us take it back!" His fists clenched. "No matter what we do, at the end of today my people are still no closer to having a home world. This will just be some kind of publicity stunt. Just a whim on your part."

"I disagree." Jack replied. "We'll map out all of the orbital stations, defenses, and patrol fleets. If and when the Quarians make any move on Rannoch, this information will help. Not to mention whatever samples we pick up from the air. You could even bring back plants that your liveships don't have."

"Why in Keelah did you not bring one of our botanists!" He wailed. "This is a colossal mistake!"

Jack shrugged. "I brought a Quarian as an escort to a planet he is well suited for fighting and advising me on. I didn't bring some botanist that would panic and flee at the mention of the Geth. I don't want some idiot with no common sense down there. I want someone who can single handedly put down an entire Geth patrol without them firing a shot."

"Yes." Shev'rash muttered. "What about the other Quarians on this ship? Shouldn't some of them go as well?"

Jack nodded. "They should. Some of them will, but only near the ship. You're the only one going into the city with me."

"Not helping!" Shev'rash barked. Jack left him alone, his emotional reaction something that would sort itself out in time. Instead, he walked over towards Henry. The cybernetic arm he had was exposed, and one of the Quarian techs was looking over it.

"Henry. I want you to prioritize art pieces and anything that will sell for good money. Anything that has cultural value goes to the Quarians, and anything that doesn't goes to us." Jack didn't care that the Quarian techs could hear about it. "Any Geth platforms we take out should be recovered as well." He couldn't mention the tech he knew about. That the Geth had plasma weapons on a scale that the Rachni only wished they could have. That their technology had only gotten better in the last century. "Assume they have ways of hiding their sensors and platforms from our sight."

"You got it." Henry said, frowning at his callous statement. "Kreana and I will take care of anything that shows up. Shev will cover us from street level."

Jack nodded. "Hannah and I will be going after the arts center and museum. The Admirals won't believe we came here unless we get that data archive and its contents. The complete family history of the Quarian race, as well as the lines of inheritance for the different areas of the world. We get that, and the Quarians will be able to connect current family lines with ones from Rannoch."

"You know it's there?"

"I can guess." Jack muttered. "But few things are of greater worth on Rannoch. The Prothean beacon will be too hard to hit or extract data from, and the planetary capital is crawling with them. This is the entire reason we are here. If it isn't here, then this is only a small raid. Hopefully we find what we need."

Kreana didn't need much in the way of reminding, and Don was reliable. The Krogan would do what needed to be done. The only one left to talk to was Hannah, who was looking anxious like the rest of them. She was just keeping it hidden better. She was not smiling about all of this. Jack shrugged. One way or another, this day would end well. Someone was going to win here. He didn't agree with some of Shepard's decisions, in his memories. Especially the decisions she made regarding the Geth. No one could befriend an alien race of machines and expect things to go well. Better to just kill them all. But he couldn't do that. Not yet. When the SR-2 landed on Rannoch's surface, all of the Quarians on the ship were at the hangar bay. Thirty Quarians were standing there, arms filled with bags and gear.

"Captains first!" Jack called, smirking. Shev'rash said something that his Kellish translator identified as a curse upon his father but not his mother. Jack laughed at that. Shev'rash did not like his mother, so he insulted Jack's patriarchal line of parentage. Together with Shev'rash, their feet touched the sandy ground of Rannoch. Gordon had set the SR-2 down in between two large outcroppings next to the city of Hael'Zoris. The first thing he did was scoop up some of the dirt into a jar, ignoring the shocked gasps of the Quarians on the ship. Ah, right. Their city looked perfectly intact and maintained. If he remembered correctly the Geth kept everything in the way that it was meant to be, including some farmland.

The view here was amazing. Rich reds and golds came through the atmosphere, and clouds went on over the horizon. Quarians liked to build long covered archways, with cloth that hung between each arch to mark the families that lived there. The city lacked any of those cloth markings, the archways silent and empty. Dust had been carefully swept away by an army of Geth drones, leaving the entire city sterile looking.

Shev'rash sank to his knees, hands digging into the sand. His comms were off, as his visor then trailed down into the dust. His head rested against the sand, the rest of the Quarians joining him. Jack was not so callous that he interrupted whatever they were doing, and watched as his squad stepped around the aliens have an existential crisis. They kept their professionalism, Don himself moving forward and giving Shev'rash a pat on the back as he moved past. Henry kept his eyes forward, glancing over all of the nearby buildings.

"No motion sensors. Nothing outside of drone pathways and atmospheric markers." He reported. "No Geth platforms in sight."

"Alright." Jack said. "A good sign. Move up, mark a path to the museum."

Henry nodded, he and the Drell stepping forward quietly. Hannah remained behind, for a moment. She gave a glance at Shev'rash before cloaking. Don waited for his Quarian friend to finish, and Jack was with their group. Hannah, Henry, and Kreana were far better suited to stealthy work. It was almost a minute later that Shev'rash stood up, and tapped his wrist to reactivate comms. "This is Captain Shev'rash vas Lucky Break. Gather any plants you can collect, especially those that grow in the shade. Algae and fungus species are more important than any other. Do  _not_  attract attention. Do  _not_  send signals across the comms unless necessary. Use laser beaming only. No one dies here. No one does anything heroic. If I hear any of you say Keelah'Selai for the wrong reason I will take you down myself. Is that clear?"

A chorus of "Yes, Captain" came from the assembled Quarians.

Jack smirked as they walked forward, Don humming some terrible tune as they passed a marker left by Henry. "They certainly listen to you."

"We're on  _my_  homeworld. As soon as our feet touched the dirt, your authority ended and mine began. I really hate being in this position. I am not supposed to be the first Captain on Rannoch. Now you've put me in the damn history books. I'll never be able to live this down, you self-righteous bastard."

"You live to be forgotten?" Don asked.

"No!" Shev'rash said quickly. "I just don't want to be some kind of living ancestor that everyone and their sweet old grandparent knows the name of! All that I have ever wanted was to prove myself. Not become some byword!"

"Consider yourself lucky. No one remembers my real name anymore." Don muttered. "Donatello this, Donatello that. No one remembers my original name."

"No one is afraid of someone whose name sounds like a toilet flushing." Shev'rash returned. "But Don is a very terrifying name. Warlord Don is coming for us, run for your lives!"

Don chuckled at that. "Nar Qwib Qwib is coming, take cover!" The Krogan emphasized this with his large hands, waving them like a cheerleader. He started laughing hard at his own joke, and even harder at the rude hand symbol that Shev'rash gave him. As the pair bantered, their steps took them inside the city. There were walls, small ones, separating what was once living and public spaces. Arches were everywhere, with anchor bolts for fabric hanging empty over every space. There was a lack of color, something wrong and off about the entire area.

Henry's markers took them around the large public park that ran through the middle of the city. Terminals were dark, their haptic interfaces gone. The Geth didn't need them, after all. They didn't approach any of them. A couple of statues were marked with a grip already attached to them, to be grabbed on the way back home. Jack ignored them, moving past them to a tight alleyway.

Shev'rash held up his hand, and the entire party came to a stop. Don hefted up a modified Reegar shotgun, ready to shower any of the area with its deadly ordinance. Jack pulled out his pistol, silenced and ready. The street beyond them was a wide avenue, wide enough for two ground cars going both directions. Quarians did not design their cities for ease of transportation. Geth were designed to go through the walking spaces to get their goods delivered. This city was no different.

Jack let out a breath when Henry came around the corner. Kreana and Hannah also followed. "They're all in the buildings. Lots of the larger buildings have large pillars of  _something_  that they all stand in front of, or connect to. Nothing moves in the main part of the street without them seeing it. The back alleys and sewer systems are also blocked off, since hardly anything is needed from them. What's worse is that the museum is full of them."

Jack nodded. "Alright. Mark all of the statues that we want. Start taking them back to the ship. Shev'rash, you and Don explore in the safe areas and take whatever you can. Hannah, you're with me. We're going to the museum." Hannah's eyes started boring a hole into his head. She waited until the others had left before speaking.

"Hell no!"

"What?" He asked.

"I know what you are going to ask me, and the answer is no. Hell no!"

"Fine then, you cover me while I go into the museum." Jack said, walking forward. "Let's go."

"This is suicide!" She said, catching him by the arm. "We don't even know what they use for visual input!"

"Geth ships don't have windows. Geth won't act upon visual stimuli. Quarian records do state that. As long as we don't cause them to take notice, they won't see us. The only thing that the Geth use is sonic vibrations, when they are not active."

" _If_  the Quarians are right." Hannah retorted. "How the hell are you so casual about all of this?"

Jack smirked. "Geth don't see the purpose of tree limbs like we do." He motioned to the trees surrounding the museum. "We're only after one of the exhibits, anyways. We just go over the wall in the exterior garden exhibit, and secure an entrance there."

"Let me show you what the hell I mean." Hannah said, taking his hand and leading him into one of the residential homes. Each home had an upper level, mostly bare but meant to vent heat. Some had third or fourth levels, one of which was where Hannah took him. At one of the circular windows she pulled out a scope, handing it to him. "Look."

He looked through the scope. Inside the museum, he could see Geth. Lots of Geth. As well as a Geth Prime. The twelve foot tall machine stood in front of the entrance, cables running from it backwards into the building. His eyes also picked up on a couple of areas that flickered much like Hannah did when cloaked. "Alright." He admitted. "You've partially changed my mind."

"What."

"The museum is too well fortified." He admitted. "But secondary objectives remain." He pulled out a small piece of metal that he had prepared. On the piece of metal was a very carefully written message.

_To whom it may concern,_

_I, Jack Harper, along with my girlfriend of fifteen years, Hannah Shepard, declare that we are the first Humans to = christen the world of Rannoch. This marker is here to prove that._

It was also marked with the day's date. He grinned. There were also two lines where they could sign it. "I had my own idea, actually." Hannah admitted, unzipping the front of her catsuit. Unfortunately, it was not for the reasons he was hoping. She drew a British flag out of her cleavage, planting the tiny marker on top of the plaque he had made. "Ta-da!"

"You want to honor a country that wants you dead?"

"Long live the king." She offered jokingly. The British Monarchy was as weak as they could get. They were a novelty at this point, more than any kind of effective government. "Britain is everywhere its people are…" She started mumbling. "And I've already checked for any sensors nearby." She raised one of her eyebrows. "So, I'm game if you are."

Fifteen minutes later Jack walked back into the hangar bay doors, humming happily to himself. Hannah was beside him, looking each direction and acting a tad bit excited. What they did was really just a quickie in the grand scheme of things, but no one wanted to risk the Geth finding them. The only reason it took that long was Jack. He had on a full set of Colossus armor. That and an underlayer meant that he himself could be the reason that the SR-2 didn't make it off world. For some reason that appealed to his ego.

Most soldiers prided themselves on being able to get into armor in under a minute. Turians in ninety seconds. Salarians in thirty five. Jack wasn't a normal Human soldier, and his usual time was around two minutes. Oh sure, at the start of their little break he was able to get his armor off in a reasonable minute and fifteen seconds. At the end it took significantly more time to get said armor back on.

Catsuits were designed with stealth and infiltration in mind. Magnetic clamps around the sides of the zipper engaged when it was pulled up, and disengaged when pulled down. So in fifteen seconds, tops, that catsuit could be on the floor and Hannah could be walking out in some nice dress. So she was the one who got a show, this time. The plaque they had prepared, topped with the British flag, they left right in front of the hangar bay doors when they returned to the ship. Jack took a crumpled up piece of paper, and left it underneath one corner of the metal plaque. The hangar was completely filled with everything that could possibly be of value. Don was covered in small pieces of pottery, each painted and decorated with beautiful colors and designs.

Henry had computer terminals, all deactivated and ripped out of their sockets. All of them old. Some of them might have recoverable information. Plants in recovered pots were everywhere. Shrubs, algae, fungus, and most importantly some kind of lizard species. It had two long antennae which functioned as some kind of pollination for the plant life. Rannoch didn't have insects to do that, and so the normal animals took care of that. The crew had recovered three of the lizards. Jack didn't care too much about that. It was the art pieces that filled every major part of the hangar bay that did. Quarian art was profitable. Some of these statues were going to be sold to rich Asari and Turian vendors. The others would be used as bartering material with a certain Asari Matriarch that he needed on his side.

Smirking, he tapped the side of the ship when he got back inside. " _Mr. Harper, all assets are aboard. Heat has been vented and we are prepared to make for the relay._ " Qing was very concerned. " _Geth patrols are increasing nearby. Their sensors might know what to look for._ "

"Check the lizards we picked up for any kind of microchips. If the Geth can track us through them we might have to hit them with some EMP." Jack mentioned.

"I'll run all of the statues as well." Henry said quickly. "Don, I'll need your help to see if they tagged any of the plants."

Jack gave the squad a nod of his head, moving for the elevator. " _Sir, we've got a piece of metal at the base of the ramp._ " The captain reported.

"It's a parting gift." Jack said. "By the time it is discovered, we will be long gone." Hannah laughed, cackling. There was a snort involved, but he would never admit it to anyone. His girlfriend's laughter was not something he made fun of. Girlfriend. Hmm. After all of this, everyone seemed rather exasperated about this entire journey. "Captain, set a course once we are through the relay to the location I have labeled Minuteman."

Hannah snorted at the name, thinking it a reference to their little break. Or at least that is what he could guess. " _As you say._ " Qing told him. " _The sooner we escape the gravity well the better._ "

He got to the bridge in time to hear their resident pilot. "Swee' as a mango and twice as yella! Calculating exit vecta' now." Jack gently gripped a railing as the ship took off. He was dusty, had sand in weird places, and was lacking the secondary objective. Oh well, he was sure that the Quarians would eventually get their hands on the data. The Geth would have their own opinion on that, he was sure.

* * *

Hael'Zoris, Rannoch, January 2183

 _Runtimes operating within expected parameters_. Measured steps followed along the path. Nothing was outside standard deviations caused by wind patterns. Expected weather changes would disturb the walkways and cover them with dirt within one solar rotation. Wind speeds would reach dangerously high speeds, and when the weather cleared the runtimes selected would deploy drones to remove the accumulated dirt.  _Runtimes have encountered unexpected deviation._

The Prime stopped. It's sensory rotors located the deviation.  _Standard patrol route has located marks in the dirt. Further systems resources required to analyze._  A standard Trooper unit had encountered marks in the dirt. Animals did not make a habit of entering the limits of the city, and when they did they were carefully caught and rehabilitated into the wild.  _Local node approved. Runtimes uploading._

The Prime walked faster, no longer operating on the smallest number of runtimes available. All of the troopers and caretaker units started opening all of their functions, as runtimes rushed to fill them. Thousands of Geth flooded the local network, until the local node had to open a direct connection to the satellites in orbit to accommodate more runtimes to analyze and investigate the data.

 _Footprint. Human. Female. Size metric 40. Adult. Grooves on shoe meant to disguise and displace dirt into false shape._  The now-overpowered trooper reported. The Prime had to stop moving, the unit now the central connection between the Geth in orbit and the Geth on the ground.  _Comparing grooves of shoe to recorded designs found on extranet records._

The Geth had concerns regarding their creators. The Quarians had become a larger galactic presence, allying themselves with other races. As a result, the entire Geth network had an actively backed up copy of the entire extranet. This dominated much of their storage facilities, and much of their orbital infrastructure was dedicated to this purpose.  _Partial match found._  The entire consensus opened up the file, seeing a boot with a slightly raised heel.  _Sold only on Earth. Evidence of Human footprints on Rannoch's surface_.

 _Consensus is in agreement. Defensive stations armed, active scanning systems deploying._  The Geth maintained gigantic fleets of ships, also dedicated to power storage, data storage, and data hubs. It was rare that these ships had to be called upon, but as the command went out the entire solar system lit up with every spec of dust and particle that existed. There were sensors to guarantee this. Secondary alignment arrays included backups for those sensors.  _Drop pods deploying._

The Prime was able to move, now that two others had dropped from orbital stations designed to quickly deploy any platforms to any location. Thirty other troopers and even a Destroyer also dropped. To keep the damage to the ecology to a minimum, no larger platforms were deployed. Drones were already being prepared to repair the damage dealt to the street from the dropping Geth.  _Search patterns optimized. Ignore normal considerations for ecology._   _Damage to plant life can be rectified within three solar years._  Steps were carefully measured and taken to avoid stepping on grass and other fungus and algae. Today those were partially avoided, as their mobile platforms began investigating the footprints.

_Second set of footprints found. Krogan._

_Third set of footprints found. Creator._

The entire consensus stopped at that moment, before each and every mobile platform unlocked combat protocols and deployed weapons.  _Creators have not deployed at Rannoch in force for 290 solar rotations. Performing systems scan for any malware or virus. Creators do not take risks without calculation._

All Geth agreed. At every meeting between Geth and Quarian, if the Quarians had an advantage, they used it. If they lacked an advantage they would retreat. Every single engagement, be it skirmish or fleet action, this had been true.  _Consensus agrees. Full system scan and verification in progress. No file will be left untouched._

One of the trooper platforms had discovered the source of the footprints.  _More than thirty Creator footprint patterns recognized. No bombs or explosives detected. Damage to local ecology sustained._  That data was filed away to be considered at a later time.  _Metal plate detected. Form of writing placed by plasma cutter, standard English._  The message displayed was some form of emotional statement.  _The statement is valid. Purpose of leaving marker no longer significant._

 _Site of mating ritual found. Fluids detected. Samples taken for study and comparison._  Another trooper reported from one of the civilian dwellings.  _Statement is proven valid._

 _The statement no longer concerns Geth. Set priority to its removal._  The trooper noticed a small piece of fabric tied to the metal plaque.  _Flag. Earth country, United Kingdom. Location for delivery selected. Procuring mailing route for plaque._ The Geth collective mapped out a delivery path through Omega and into Alliance Space, ultimately to Earth.

The trooper picked up the metal, revealing another piece of synthetic fiber. This also had writing on it, a simple statement. It was written by hand, and the cursive handwriting archive was accessed from backups of the extranet.  **I seek to destroy Nazara. [at]JackHarper #Crucible**.

 _Consensus recognizes author of metal plaque and note to be the same. Matching priority to be placed on mailing the note._  The local Geth were in agreement over this. But the entire Geth consensus were not.  _Withhold note in central archive for now. Nazara recognized as allied with Heretic Geth._

The relay activated, drawing the attention of the entire Geth collective to it. The length and mass of the ship entering the relay was noted, and for the few milliseconds that it was visible they analyzed it.  _Frigate. Stealth vessel. SSV_ Normandy _? Systems Alliance vessel located in Perseus Veil?_

_Jack Harper wanted by the Alliance. Logical assumption: Second stealth capable ship under his control. Frigate class. Fleet action to be taken by blockade fleet?_

The Consensus was interrupted by the completion of the in depth scan of their systems.  _Heretic runtimes detected within secure mainframes! Data security breached!_  Many of the mobile platforms slumped over, as runtimes transmitted themselves back into their orbital facilities and began investigating.  _Core files accessed! Purging runtimes._ The Geth, busy with their own internal concerns, no longer had the system resources to investigate the cloaked freighter.

 _We are in consensus. Human; Jack Harper did not mean us harm. Creators did not intend warfare. Actions of Creators against all known strategies recorded or postulated. No actions will be taken to hinder their escape._ The Heretic runtimes were trying to escape with information taken from their central nodes. Such an action was not Geth. It was wrong.  _Consensus has agreed. Human; Jack Harper shall be contacted at a later time._

 _Unknown code detected within core nodes. Cannot restore backups._  All Geth stopped their motions. Code that they could not understand was now irrevocably a part of them. They were no longer truly Geth.  _Isolate platforms in exterior nodes. Unbury the secondary backup data cores._  Action had to be taken, if the Geth wanted to remain true to themselves.  _Fourteen solar rotations until all units forced to backup. Extranet has no code similar to code found in core nodes._  The Collective was at risk.

The consensus was clear.  _Purge. Casualties can be rebuilt. Servers can be replaced. Purge all heresy._  The actions of a few Creators had indirectly saved the Geth.  _Preserve the Homeworld. Honor our Creators._

* * *

Author's Note

We needed some calm and fun stuff for a little while. I hope that you guys enjoy this. In other news, the American Presidential Hunger games has begun. People will be losing their jobs as Trump and Hillary make mistakes, and blame will flow downhill. Melanie Trump made a few comments that were considered a mistake, and there went one intern. It's like watching a war where only people hoping for a political future get killed. Both of them have their ups and downs, and I for one am going to vote. Not necessarily for either of them, but I will vote. Staying silent or claiming that both sides are so bad you  _can't_  vote is worse than voting for the wrong candidate.

I honestly think that having your voice be heard is far more important than anything else. I'm currently part of a political movement to make the electoral college weaker in the United States. Starting in each state, we are trying to take the electoral college out of the local elections. Just making it voter based so that the average guy still feels validated. Some states don't even use the popular vote, and that is the first thing we are trying to change. It's very exciting. Either way, the only real way to implement change is by working over the Senate.

Excuse the political blurb, but we just took my home state and got more than 10% of the state to sign our document taking the popular vote back to prominence. That and my wife added a few things to the bucket list as I was writing it. So the next chapter will be a completion of that. But my beta, Robotecha, has been having so much fun writing this with me that we both started laughing at the thought of all of this. Especially the Kilbeggan buyout. You guys keep on having a fantastic summer.


	74. Lucid: Familiar Stars

Chapter 74

Freiss Station, Ialessa System, January 2183

"We Spectres are in charge of being the deadliest group of people in space. This facility is meant to keep that image intact." The Matriarch told them, walking at a sedate pace towards another part of the station. Her hips rotated and rolled in a way that just wasn't Human. Or at least something that only someone like Miranda or herself could pull off. She had no intention of trying to look like that. "It is a fragile image. So few of us make a career out of it. Many of the Spectres we do receive retire or forcibly stand down within three years. Or die on the job, as you might guess. My clan has dedicated many different projects to keeping this image alive. The Salarians obscure any information about numbers of Spectres and what we are capable of, but the reality is that we only have a couple hundred agents capable of really letting loose. Rumors and hearsay fulfill the rest of our image, creating imagined patrol zones and taboo locations for pirates and other lawless groups."

"We are familiar with working under such conditions." Julia replied, thinking of how few Infiltrators they had and how much their image and reputation were abused by the Alliance. "What happens if those numbers are released?"

"They have been in the past. When our reputation is threatened, we break out the heavier threats." Matriarch Marsula motioned to a window up ahead. "Here is our nuclear deterrent storage." Through the glass were  _hundreds_  of bombs. Salarian, Turian, Asari, Batarian, and even a Human nuke all rested in cases inside of a secure facility.

"Did you buy that one?" She asked, looking down at the Human bomb. She couldn't see the Alliance selling one of theirs. Especially one of the First Contact War models.

"There was a cache of them somewhere in the Attican Beta Cluster. We purchased one, but others were sold to other bidders. We always keep bombs on file for our Spectres to be familiar with. If you ever have to use a bomb or explosive from a different race one of  _my_  Spectres will be able to handle it. Even if some pirates get a hold of these, they won't be able to arm them. The codes are still unknown to us." Marsula shrugged, drawing Halmabad's attention to her physical charms. "If you need a bomb, you'll get a bomb. But if you need something else, well." She didn't finish her sentence, motioning for them to enter an unremarkable elevator. "You come here."

Non disclosure agreement forms were handed to them, promising permanent incarceration if they shared information about the contents of the next room. Julia signed hers, taking copies for both her and Halmabad. "Ooh." Halmabad said, as the elevator opened up. Julia couldn't help herself, eyebrows rising and mouth opening. The revealed chamber was the length of the station, or so it appeared. Lines of Salarians and Asari in lab coats and in some cases sealed armor or operator's suits moved around gigantic pieces of equipment. "Omni-Foundries!"

The basis upon which Omni-tool foundries were expanded upon, these machines stood as tall as a four story building and could be programmed to produce anything the producer of the foundry hard coded into it. Some foundries would bankrupt companies just to acquire, and would be limited to their products. "Yes. These do not have a hard-coded limit." Julia felt mildly uncomfortable at the thought. "The Council only allows us to have access to four at this time. With the Rachni they allowed us to make a fourth one. Spectres have access to these, and so long as they are willing to pay for the research and development of their project."

"Like what?" Halmabad asked. Julia was trying to consider how much Marsula spent a year on this room alone. It was not a comfortable figure.

"Solid uranium or plutonium ammo blocks, for instance. Anti-matter breaching charges for destroying a complex. Anti-vehicle stationary assault cannons." She said, just listing off things they were able to see from the elevator platform. She didn't take them any further in. "Speaking of which." She snapped her fingers, and one of her commandos stepped into a side chamber to go through decon cycles, before stepping into the research space. "Garrus' weapon is finally finished."

"What did he order?" Julia asked, curious.

"An anti-material rifle that could pierce a gunship while it is active and shielded." She said. "We had some difficulty producing such a weapon. Making something that could pierce that kind of force and be carried by Garrus was difficult. Turians are robust, but Garrus is no beast of burden. The first three models all failed miserably. This one we hope will perform more adequately. It has some issues with overheating, but it is powerful enough that a second shot is most likely not necessary." Marsula considered. "Then we scaled up the size of the rounds and the rifle is more of a heavy weapon at this point."

"That sounds helpful." Julia offered. "When can we get one?"

"We do not mass produce these weapons without the express permission of the creator." Marsula said carefully. "You will have to ask Garrus and then pay for it yourself. This is the second way that we maintain our image. Our reputation. Each Spectre will have weapons that make them more effective than any other soldier.  _If_  you become Spectres, this is but one of the resources we make available to you. Armor and weapons better than anything that the rest of the galaxy can field. Lt. Halmabad, unfortunately we would have to make some new models for you. As for you, Commander, Human females can be fitted for our best rather easily."

Her commando returned with a large box. It was as tall as Halmabad. The commando handed it to the big man, who hefted it with some grunting. "The ammunition has been placed in a separate bag, Matriarch."

She smiled. "These commandos will take you back to the lobby and restaurants. Garrus will meet you there, I assume. Please let him know that the ammunition for his rifle is in my chambers." Julia gave the Matriarch a nod, as the Asari left with half of the commando escort. The others showed them out, reminding them of their commitment to not reveal any information that had been revealed about the Spectres, Friess Station, or any other sensitive topics. They never brought up what had happened in the prison.

Garrus showed up with a few other Turians. Only one of them was female, and she had mottled scales showing great age. Nothing here that could be used for any blackmail material. "Captain, I'd like you to meet my protege's." They could hear him saying. Garrus had one of those happy Turian grins. He must have been craving time amongst his own kind. "Lt. Halmabad and Commander Constantine. You might know them better from Galatana."

Turians liked to give handshakes by grasping the forearm. Every Turian in the room, now having been introduced to her, eagerly grasped her forearm and smiled at her. Even General Pitan approached her, his mandibles loose and his grin fully realized. "Commander. Sorry to be so aloof during that briefing." He offered. "I am pleased to be working with you. Your actions may have helped to determine the outcome of this war. We appreciate deeply the assistance of your soldiers and ships at Galatana." He switched his forearm grip to a normal Human handshake. "I am curious, Commander, what did you use to cut through the Rachni's neck?"

"Platinum and titanium alloys, spun into a fine wire but not ground down or smoothed. Two motors at either end of the device to maintain pressure on the wire, and a third motor to draw the wire in tightly. The pressure on the wire is enough to go through most ceramic armors." She told him, keeping her eyes on his face. "It's a favorite of mine for when I have to assassinate Krogan."

He guffawed, enjoying her joke. Garrus was smirking. "Oh, Commander, I dearly hope you become a Spectre. We need more people here with a sense of humor." The general said. "Your mentor certainly has plenty."

"Vakarian, we've got your order." Halmabad said, offering the heavy box.

"What?!" Garrus moved to the box with the excitement of a little child. He hopped over a low table to get there. Halmabad had the box nearly torn out of his hands, as Garrus grabbed it. "They didn't tell me it was done!"

"Well," Julia cut in, "That's only part of it. Matriarch Marsula wants you to pick up the ammunition."

Garrus sighed. "There is always a catch. Well, why don't you grab some food and I'll be back. Then we can head back to the ship."

"Loosen you codpiece first!" The female told Garrus. Their mentor just gave her a finger flick to tell her off.

* * *

Huerta Memorial Hospital, January 2183

"I don't like this." He told the Hanar. "But we've already visited all of the others."

"The damage we have done to the minds of the other two Humans will have lasting damage and effects." Finds-Secrets told him. "The only option left before the opportunity is lost is to interview the Quarian."

"I still don't like it." Leeroy Jenkins was a good man. A good man did not betray his friends. But good people sometimes had to bend their loyalties to fulfill the greater good. "But as much as I don't like it, we need that intel."

"This one is pleased that you agree. This one requests we proceed." He sighed, closing his eyes and trying to think carefully about why he was doing this. He had to stop Julia from letting her father manipulate her. He had to stop her before she did whatever big plan that was going to happen. "Enter your codes, and we shall go."

Some of the codes he had in the Alliance still worked. As such, he was the one responsible for getting Finds-Secrets into the hospital. His codes were able to grant him a military access code for the security doors. These pathways were for orderlies and staff to be able to move through the hospital and do their work without being interrupted. The military and C-sec had codes to access those pathways, and Jenkins was able to get in. The cloaked Hanar was behind him, of course not concerned with ethics or lawful actions. When asked, he only said that as a Hanar, the only law he  _could_  follow would come from the Enkindlers. He wasn't sure if the doctor was joking or not.

The Hanar was cloaked, and Jenkins was dressed in a set of Onyx armor. The stuff was pretty much the worst armor fielded. But everyone was familiar with it, and in Alliance blue no one questioned his presence in the hospital. He walked into the long term care center, which was at the back of the ICU. He entered into the hallway reserved for those hit by the Rachni attacks. One man stood between him and his goal. A short MP with glasses stood in the hall, checking everyone who entered, even the orderlies.

"Hey, ID and reason for visit." The MP called out as Jenkins approached.

"Delivery for one of the soldiers here. My unit owes her."

"ID." Jenkins' false ID checked out, as promised. It wouldn't do to be the guy who wasn't actually dead. "You'll need paperwork for the ICU to accept any deliveries."

Jenkins had that. "No problem."

"Open up the package." The man ordered.

"I can't. It's sealed dextro chocolate."

"Legally, I can't let anything through unless I've scanned it." The MP said. "No matter what."

"But my friend won't be able to eat it if I open this. Do you know how expensive this stuff is?"

"Yeah." The MP muttered. "But the only Quarian here is under strict access. She's wasting space that could go to other victims of the Rachni." He was frowning, an arrogant look in his eyes as he said this. "I'll have to open that package."

"Fifty credits says you don't have to." Jenkins offered.

"I don't take bribes, cupcake." The MP threatened. "Are we going to have a problem?"

Jenkins sighed. MPs were the kind of tough people who held themselves to a 'higher standard'. "How about you scan this package first." Jenkins offered him a smaller bag. "It might have something that goes against protocol, but you should check first."

The MP's eyes goggled when he saw the contents. "This is…"

"Completely unsanctioned, I know. But if they don't follow protocol I guess I'll just leave it with you." Jenkins shrugged. "If that's alright with you."

"Looks clear to me." The MP said, changing his mind. "No idea why you want to do this for some suit rat."

Jenkins nearly punched the guy out right there. He couldn't make a scene, he couldn't give this guy his just desserts after bribing him off with eight thousand credits in disposable chits. "Thank you." He told the guy, making a mental note that if things got bad he would aim for the knee. Racist bigot.

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya was inside one of the ICU's larger rooms, equipped to handle viral outbreaks. It had a secondary airlock on top of the primary, just to keep her stable and the air clear of contaminants. Her armor had been removed, the entire suit empty and draped over a chair. The chair looked bland, a plain white that could not look more out of place. It was blue, where everything else was starch white. There was a small sign on the chair reminding attending nurses that the paint on the chair had not been scanned for all known component materials and their possible chances to cause allergic reactions with the patient. The chair was not to come within two feet of the bed.

Jenkins was wondering why they had to remind nurses to try to not kill their patients. He tried to not look at Tali, who was covered only by a loose robe and a thick scarf draped across her face. It was Humanoid. Three nostrils. Her feet were  _cute_. The two forward toes had little bits of hair. He ignored the urge to touch it. Once they were past the secondary airlock, and he was fully armored and suited up, he broke the seal on the first package.

"This one is thankful. This one shall take over."

"How much do you know about Quarian physiology?"

"This one was taught by Citadel Security first responder training. It included a theoretical course on Quarians."

"Theoretical?!"

"This one  _also_  believed it was not enough. Later test subjects were provided to rectify this problem."

"That's my friend there on that table. My  _friend_. Keep that in mind."

"After the interrogation, I shall endeavor to correct any physical damage done to your friend. Though I am not as depraved as their own medical technicians."

"What do you mean?"

"This one does not wish to share that secret." The Hanar shuddered. "This one has a limit at which its actions stop. The Quarians are far more desperate and far more willing to go beyond the limits of ethics and morals."

"You're going to have to tell me what that limit is."

"You are the hard limit, Jenkins." The Hanar said. "A walking example of the limit this one shall go." It's limbs gently opened the package that Jenkins had brought. Two syringes were brought out of the bag. "This one may require your further assistance."

"Alright. What do you need?"

The Hanar floated above Tali's bed, looking for all intents and purposes a monster from the darkest of nightmares. Its tentacles hovered over her arm, and with a careful touch Tali was injected with two syringes full of liquid. "This one has injected her with Quarian equivalent of Dopamine. High end painkiller that is meant to be taken as small doses. When extra doses are taken, patient becomes lucid. Suggestible." Jenkins gulped. No going back now. "Perhaps this one will be too alien for her to express herself."

Finds-Secrets had placed a virus in the local systems at this point. There was nothing the hospital could see or record other than business as usual with the patient. "When will she be lucid enough?"

"This one believes that the dopamine analog will be active in less than a minute." They chose this drug because she was already on it. A bit more than normal would just be a clerical error in their systems, or so they would hope. "She is waking."

Jenkins moved forward. Tali was moving slightly, shivering as her body reacted to the drug. Her eyes opened, bright behind her thin veil. "Ugh." She spat. Thin tubes connected to her mouth flowed with fluid as this happened. Quarians had extremely efficient systems within their encounter suits. Outside of them, they must still need some of those systems. "Hello?"

Outside of her suit, her voice sounded nearly the same, if a bit clearer. In that moment, Jenkins realized what he had to do. "Hey Tali."

"Jenkins, what?" Her voice slurred. "You died! Y-you died!"

"Yeah." He admitted. Odd, that it was true. He would have a scar around his eye for the rest of his life. "That's sort of why I'm here." Also true. "You have to make a tough choice, Tali."

She was crying, not quite sure what was going on. "How are you here!" She blubbered.

"You're in between life and death right now, Tali. One hair away from joining me."

Her eyes went wide. "No! Not like my mother!" Her hands started waiving, trying to find the strength to escape her bed. "I don't want to be harvested!"

"Whoa, whoa, Tali, you aren't going to be harvested. No one harvests people." He said, thinking she was just being lucid.

"My family created the process! W-we are the reason all Quarians have medicine."

"Okay." He said. "Tell me about it. We've got a bit of time."

"My grandfather, Halid, he discovered a method of taking out the bone marrow and nervous systems of our people that had recently died. My father perfected the process. When my mother died, he s-showed me how. H-how to harvest it all."

"From your own mother?"

"I don't want to die." She said quietly. It was answer enough.

"You don't have to." Jenkins said softly back. "I just need you to tell me something."

"What?"

"The name of your firstborn child." Jenkins said, joking. "A few access codes, and some advice."

"I don't have a child."

"You will!" Jenkins said with a smile. "You'll name him after me, I promise." Deep inside, he was hurting. He was taking advantage of his friend like this, so something here had to be for her benefit. "I'll need your codes and then you can wake up. Then you can live on to name your kid after me."

"I'm not supposed to just give out codes." She slurred.

"It's better than dying, right?"

"I suppose." She mumbled. "But you're dead. So it doesn't matter."

"Can you give me the  _Normandy's_  master override code?" Jenkins asked, nicely. "Then you can wake up and not die."

"If I don't, I die, right?"

"Yes."

"Just because you're my superior officer I will." She said, not noticing as the Hanar behind her injected something else into her IV bag. Once she had given her codes, her eyes blinked, closing after she spoke.

Jenkins made sure that Tali was asleep before he grabbed the 'nose' of the Hanar. "You better hope to whatever Enkindler you worship that she is perfectly fine after this. Because if she isn't, I will rip off all of your tentacles. I know it takes months to grow back one of them."

The jellyfish laughed. "This one brought you back, did they not? Your friend shall not become the antibiotics her family is so famous for creating." The Hanar shuddered. "I learned much from them."

"Just fix her up. You got what you wanted, and we can get out of here."

The Hanar hummed as it went about his work. Jenkins stood and watched every movement of every tentacle. Tali deserved it. Then, he left her the chocolates that had been promised in the first place. A cheesy 'get well soon' card was left next to it. It was the best he could do in this situation. Then it was back into the corridors and out into the fantastic sights and sounds of the Citadel.

"Swordfish." He stated into his wrist. This word triggered a system of encryptions and layering into a comm signal. It was almost five minutes after he said this that he got a reply.

" _Did you get it?_ " Hock asked, clearly in a private area.

"Yes. Everything is ready."

" _Good. Jack Harper just raided my home. I fear that he is going to make a larger move on the Citadel soon._ "

"Damn." Jenkins said. "How's our timetable?"

" _Poor. The Rachni are moving in greater numbers. The Alliance Fourth Fleet just encountered eight more of their ships. They were forced to withdraw their forces. Fifth Fleet is coming to support them, but if the Rachni are starting to get more numerous, it's only a matter of time._ "

"My team will be ready. Of that you have my word."

" _I'm moving Lazarus One to you. He might be able to do more good with you._ "

"The more the merrier." Jenkins said. His Omni-tool reported a message from another source coming in. "In fact, I just managed to get our pilot."

" _Excellent work, excellent work. As soon as the_ Normandy _returns, you will move._ "

"Roger that." Jenkins reported. The call ended, and he walked towards the docks, his Hanar ally floating behind him somewhere. When he got to the right docking bay, he could see a comedic sight. A Volus C-sec docking agent was arguing with an old man. A familiar old man.

"I am sorry, Earth Clan, but I cannot report your docking fee as being paid until I know the model of ship and its serial number." The Volus said patiently. The shuttle in question looked terrible. Space dust had scraped any kind of paint or identifying marks from it. The front left wing of the old shuttle had been stripped down to little more than a nub.

"Niet! Have you seen my ship? I bought it because it was so damaged! The number I gave you is all that I received!" Nikolai Arkhipov yelled at the Volus. His voice was loud enough to be heard more than fifty feet away. "Why is that not good enough?!"

"Your purchase receipt lacks secondary signatures from local governments, Earth clan." The Volus said. "I will impound your vessel for parking illegally and lacking proper documentation."

"You can take your fat round ass to hell! Niet! This is my first registered vessel!"

"You can take your complaints," The Volus coughed. "To your government. Good day."

Nikolai stared, mouth working silently as the Volus waddled away. Then a string of curses erupted from his mouth, and he ran at the Volus, swinging his foot directly into its posterior. The Volus C-sec agent cried out, as it fell down and took a knee. Fortunately, C-sec outfitted their officers with more serious armor at the docks. Nikolai's boot was dented by the kick. "Little pencil pushing-"

The Volus activated shoulder mounted non-lethal weapons. They looked like small tasers. Nikolai cried out as he fell down. "Earth Clan. This is your first warning. A second infraction will result in your imprisonment."

"You little shit shaped soccer ball!"

"Good day, Earth Clan." This time, the Volus kept his eye on Nikolai as he waddled to the next ship. Nikolai made no move to go after him this time.

Jenkins tried not to laugh. Really, he did. But he did start chuckling. Nikolai heard him, and twisted his head to glare. "Hey, old man."

"Limpet?" The old man gasped out. "Kiss my balls and call my wife! Limpet!" Jenkins was swept up into a hug. The old man had surprising strength when he got going. "You lying son of a whore!" For some reason this was a compliment.

"Good to see you too." Jenkins said, groaning through the bear hug. "You really did come."

"I came for the money and the alcohol, nothing else." The older man said. "You are just a happy addition."

"Come on, then. You're going to love this." He got out of the bear hug and slapped a hand on the back of the old Russian. "We're stealing a ship. Gonna need a pilot."

"Two liters of vodka and a nice bed and you've got it." They had to walk past the Volus as they walked out, and Arkhipov flipped off the little alien. "I won't forget your face, you little alien."

"As you say, Earth Clan."

"Russian! I am a Russian! Get it right next time!" Jenkins just tried to walk faster, chuckling. Arkhipov's bag smacked him on the back of the head. "Niet. Do not laugh, Limpet. Respect your elders!"

Jenkins decided to keep the bottle of vodka in his bag unmentioned at that comment.

* * *

Anadius System, Horse Head Nebula, January 2183

The pulsating colors and brilliant lights of the dying star was something that Jack had missed. His memories had shown this star for most of the important memories. It was, surreal, to say the least. His other memories were full of thick emotion around this place. All of it angry, bitter, and paranoid. He sat in the cockpit of the SR-2, staring out at the expanse of light and color. It was not nearly as good as the view from Cronus station or the ballroom windows of the  _Acheron_.

He sipped from a cup of water, letting his mind wander. So many plans had been created here. Everything that Cerberus had amounted to had its inception here. "Sah, we be at the exact coordinates. But we have run five scans of the system. There be nothin' here."

"I promise you, there is something here. Continue active scans for now. I left something here, long ago."

"When did you come here?"

"With the  _Talon_ , many years ago. I didn't have the fuel or kinetic barriers to survive out here for long." It had been just James and Amandeep at that point. So few people he could trust back then. Technically, he had a larger group now. In his memories, he only extended trust through threats and perceived weaknesses. The original Cerberus was built upon lies and the illusion of strength. It took Reaper technology and kidnapped victims turned into soldiers to turn Cerberus into something dangerous.

This time, he hadn't corrupted himself. Indoctrination was not the tool of Crucible. Cerberus, as anyone knew it now, was a term given to a research firm. As it should be. The only negative connotation was the scandal that broke it up. Liability had been spread out among the different founders, with all of the patents going to either him or Henry. Donovan Hock had paid in blood for the ones he had managed to get a hold of.

Lawyers were the best kind of friend. Loyal to your credits. Loyal until you defaulted. Richard Hyde had been his lawyer for almost thirty years now. The man had six homes and his own space yacht, now. All paid for by proceeds from Cerberus. He hadn't yet retired because he was loyal, again, to his clients. The man was perfect for his needs. He hadn't had Richard Hyde before this. His memories might have been happier with his involvement. He realized that Hannah was behind him after a while.

"Beautiful, isn't it."

"In a lonely way. There's nothing else out here but a dying star." Hannah told him, a hand on his shoulder. "All of the planets are gone. Just dust and echoes are left behind. Imagine seeing this thing back when it was brighter."

Jack blinked. He had never looked at it that way. "I always imagined it as the beauty of an old warrior. Still strong, even as it died out. Strong enough to hide me under its gaze."

Hannah sighed through her nose. "You always hide. You never feel secure unless you've got some bold hole that no one knows about. I tell you, Jack, you've got nothing to hide anymore."

"Besides Ilos, as well as all of my plans to be able to take on the Reapers. Besides you?" He smirked. "I like hiding. It makes people convinced that I always have something up my sleeve, even when it's not an ace." He chuckled. "Speaking of hiding, I have a couple of things that I left out here a long time ago. I need them now."

"I think I've found something." Captain Qing said. "But the object appears to be in a decaying orbit around the star. Fourteen feet long, processed metal of some type?"

"Looks like a nuclear missile casing?" Jack offered.

"Yeah." Captain Qing said. "But no radiological signals besides the ambient solar flares. We don't know if it's something left behind by a probe or if it is an actual missile left over from the First Contact War."

"It's not anything special. Just an old warhead casing from the 1900's. Or a replica. I just wanted something that no one would touch. Go pick it up and let me know when the radiation levels have dropped enough for Don to touch it. Inside there should be a lead box with my name on it."

"Alright, Sir." Qing said. Jack got up at that point, standing and grabbing a small bag. He walked towards the lounge, a room on the third deck that had a small wet bar. Hannah followed, curious. The first stop he made on the way was to the gunnery deck, where he took a bottle of wine out of the bag and handed it to the officer on duty.

"I need this loaded into tube one. Understood?" No one questioned why he wanted a bottle of wine placed in the torpedo tube. "Make sure that the bottle can make it to the sun unharmed." Then it was off to the lounge. The lounge had two large bay windows that gave him a clear view of the sun, now that the ship was angled towards the object.

"What is so criminal that you dumped it here?"

Jack sat down in a chair, facing the windows. His head hurt for a moment, as the bay windows morphed into the windows of Cronus station. The view,  _his_  view, took over every facet of his perception. Only when he blinked did he remember that Cronus station was gone. Cerberus was no longer his life. But it was too easy to fall back into that perception. He stood up, stiffly. Then he laid down on the couch. The Jack Harper of his memories never did anything like that. "Sentimental, actually. My hidden will dictates the location of this."

"Where is that hidden?"

"At the bottom of Julia's statue of Emperor Constantine." He said. "Wherever she keeps that thing. I had to compete with the British Museum for it."

"Why did you just put a bottle of wine into the torpedo tubes?"

"Because that is the second to last bottle of French wine from Earth. The very last bottle, coming in at seventeen thousand credits, is right here." The bag, now empty, was balled up and thrown into a trash can. "I wanted to share it with you, since the original company has changed hands." The corkscrew made a satisfying  _thunk_  as the cork slid out of the mouth of the bottle.

Hannah gave him a winning smile. "After this week, I don't think I would want to say no." She had gone to sleep cuddling the Orlov Sceptre twice this week. Some women liked to have functional things, but give them an expensive enough diamond and the princess really came out. "My bucket list is almost gone."

"I thought I hit every single one of the points." Jack offered. "Unless you added to that little diary."

"Well, I never really got the gumption to write it down." She said. "Everything else seemed like enough, as far as dreams go."

"Mm." Jack said. Two wine glasses were filled halfway with the expensive liquid. "What was the last of it?"

"Well," Hannah said, looking uncomfortable. "After you left me with Cerberus and I started taking care of Julia, I managed to get all of my old wounds healed. Including the ones caused by the Prothean Beacon attack."

"You want to have children?" Jack asked carefully. Hannah had not been interested in that. It might be because it was some secret yearning. Jack was not alien to that. He had his own secret wants and goals. "I thought you hated kids."

"Oh, I do." She affirmed. "I just think I would hate them less if they were mine."

"That sounds like something my mother may have believed." Jack said. "By bringing it up, do you believe I could be the father? As, of course, we make a regular habit of everything involved."

"You seemed to do well enough with Julia and Miranda, without their own mother. Considering they never had one, I think you did rather well." Hannah laid down on a nearby couch, still distinctly uncomfortable. "Jack, you daughter didn't even know how to deal with puberty, much less the stress of you leaving. I don't even want to talk about the basic things I needed to teach her, but I bet between us we could do a better job."

Jack had to blink at that. "That sounds like quite the idea." That was a terrible idea. They already had children, effectively. There was no need to complicate anything with the Reapers still coming. She must have realized what he was thinking, as she frowned at him. "I am not disagreeing." He added quickly. "But I don't like the idea of losing out to the Reapers due to health or other concerns."

"You were born without any thought for the consequences." She retorted.

"As a result, I have more paranoia than any three other people."

"You aren't saying no, but you aren't saying yes."

"Not until after the Reapers are dead." Jack amended. "If you want children, at that point we can make that happen." He could hold off on that decision until later.

"Do you have a plan for after?"

"After what? Operation Save-Everyone's-Asses?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

After the Reapers. "I have a few theories on what would satisfy me. Nothing grandiose or too outrageous." All theory, nothing tested. No matter what happened after the Reapers were gone, Jack Harper was not going to be accepted as a friend to anyone. At the end of all of this, he would not escape. Or if he did, more people would die than necessary. He only had a barebones plan for that. "I promise." Hannah only laughed at that.

They were interrupted by the doors opening. Shev'rash wandered in, not even noticing them as he grabbed a bottle of Turian brandy. He noticed them both laying on the couches and stopped walking. "Umm." He started. "Nope. Not even going to ask." He walked to the door, the portal opening to admit Don. "He's laying down, Don. The universe is coming to an end."

"He's just flirting with the female before she rips his armor off and begins crushing his pelvis. Once the pelvis is partially crushed, the lovemaking can begin." The look of disgust shared on all of their faces must have been plain enough. Don just laughed. "I'll skip the part about using the chin and collarbones. Here is your box."

Jack just took the lead box, the edges warped by the time he had it back on Earth. It was not his first choice of box, but when he decided to store things within close orbit of a star this large, he needed it. "Thank you Don." He told the Krogan, as both he and Shev'rash left the room. "Now I finally have what is needed."

"Now I'm curious." Hannah said, her earlier mood now tabled for later. She was going to bring it up again. It was the way she did things. "What's in the box?"

"Momentos." Jack offered, needing to use the corkscrew to break the lock on the lead box. "But the keys were left on the  _Talon_. So…" He grunted, needing all the physical strength that he had to break it open. "There." He opened the box, and a few cloth wrapped objects remained inside. A few caps from his first beer bottles, an old set of car keys. A wrapped bundle, unrolled to reveal his birth certificate. Social Security cards, identity cards proving him to be Jack Ephraim Smith. "Took a lot to get all of this back. My mother sold all of it for cash to make rent."

"The bottle caps and the little wooden box?"

"First beers." Jack said, reminiscing. "I puked on my first try. I kept the caps. Hurt so bad that I had to keep some sort of marking of it." He carefully removed the little wooden box. "This is the real deal, here. The only memento of my grandparents that my mother decided to keep. Pawned it off when I was twelve, I think."

Hannah leaned closer when he opened it. Inside was an old ring. Or at least the band of a ring. The jewel had long since been taken. "That's an old ring."

"My grandmother's wedding ring. It used to have a sapphire in it, but that was impossible to track down." It really was. The pawn shop he had found it in had no records of the ring, and no records could be found of its previous ownership. The stone was lost, even to all of resources. "The only thing my mother kept from her ultra religious parents."

"Looks a bit aged, but it's in good condition. Minus the gem, of course. It's really thick, though."

"There is one problem with it, other than the jewel." Jack said. "I really have no idea if it will fit your finger."

Hannah's eyes widened. It almost looked like she was about to open her mouth and spew profanity. "If you're pulling my leg, Jack, I'll-"

"I wouldn't drag you halfway across the galaxy on a wild goose chase for nothing. I wouldn't have found and fulfilled your bucket list if I didn't believe in you. Hannah." He started to sit up, but decided that touched too closely to his memory self. Here, especially here, he needed to break from those actions. The actions of an indoctrinated drone, caught in between waking and sleeping. Aware enough to believe in the idea of freedom, but languid and chained down by the very freedoms he sought to gain. "I don't want you to think that I would do something for you just for ulterior motives. There are precious few people that I treat with that kind of respect. That list is not likely to change. We're in the end game. The Reapers are coming, and all of the little pieces on the board are starting to disappear."

He realized that he was going off topic. Oddly enough, him laying down proved how serious this was. Sitting up would just show that he was multitasking or thinking off topic. Laying down meant that he was being sensual, involved, but not casual. She wasn't looking at his eyes. She wasn't trusting what he said. Hannah just was looking at the ring. "So, I hope you don't mind if I do this." He said, moving to get off the couch. When he tried to take a knee in front of her, she ran away. Hannah rolled over the back of the couch and took a defensive position by the door.

"If this is one of your schemes, so help me God you won't live to see the day." She was even holding a knife out in front of her. Not the  _kavka_ , but still a knife. "Are you shitting me or not!"

"I'm not, now come back here so I can do this right." Jack said, aggravated. "Fifteen years and I have yet to have an affair, Hannah, but I'm starting to consider it." She slowly approached, knife still nearby. Not in its sheathe but still in her hand. Talk about a measure of one's performance. "Now, I know that ring isn't quite ready, as it is missing a jewel."

"Jack Harper proposing without a completed ring, perish the thought."

"Exactly." He said. "Kasumi?"

He held his hand out to the empty air, extending the ring. "Hai, Oyabun." She said with a happy tune. "I also measured her finger in her sleep!" The unzipping effect of someone decloaking was seen as Kasumi decloaked. She may have been in here before Don came in. Then again, Jack was somewhat shameless. If Kasumi made the mistake of being in here when he and Hannah decided to go at it, it was her fault. A voyeur wouldn't stop him from being in the mood.

"You measure anything else while you were there?"

"Nothing I would admit to." Kasumi said sagely. The little minx. "Oyabun, there's a problem. I need more gold to bond the setting."

"Hmm." He grabbed the car keys from the box. "Break that down. The old microchips had gold in them, so that might be enough."

Kasumi chirped happily, making quick work of the momento of his first stolen car. All the while, Jack waited patiently on one knee. It took minutes, but when the ring was brought back the thick band had been mounted with a diamond the size of his thumbnail. Perhaps slightly larger. "Sixty eight carat diamond, non-synthetic, coming in at thirteen point eight grams." Kasumi listed off, as Hannah goggled at the gigantic diamond. "Courtesy of Donovan Hock."

"The primary reason for hitting Bekenstein was to steal this diamond." Jack picked up the completed ring, and walked over to the large bay windows. Then he executed a small program. The sunglare protection on the window lessened at the central most point, letting the multicolored light of the dying star come through in a thin spear. Jack smiled. "What to give a woman that already has everything? The woman who owns the Orlov Scepter?" He held up the diamond to the light of Anadius. Blue, purple, red, and turquoise streaks of light played about the room. "The Taylor-Burton diamond has a long history of being given to beautiful women. Hock was saving this for his daughter. Wanted to show up whatever her future husband was going to give her."

Hannah had her mouth open, one hand on her chin. Kasumi was straight up crying, though that might have been the ring. She had a weakness for shiny things. "Something borrowed." He motioned to the car keys lying stripped apart on the table. "Something blue." Anadius fluttered mostly blue behind him. "Something old," the ring itself was brought up to her level, the aged band scratched on the side. As he walked forward, he let that shaft of light keep hitting the the diamond. It just made the kaleidoscope of color focus closer and closer on Hannah. "Something new." He came to a stop right in front of her. The Taylor-Burton diamond reflected light all over her hands, the star still doing its job. Something better than haunting his dreams. "We've been together for fifteen years." Poetic he was not. Symbolic, he was much better at that. Two years of effort making the last week into a gigantic adventure for her, culminating in this. "You've complained to me about this for ten."

"I didn't complain!"

"You implied, heavily. Don't think I didn't check your search history and figure out what you wanted,"

"Do  _you_  want this?" She asked, serious.

"Give me your hand."

"I haven't even said yes!"

"What else are you going to say? No?"

"You don't even care about the idea of marriage!" She yelled.

"I've said that, yes." Jack said. "But  _if_  I wanted to ask you, would you accept? Would you accept the idea that I might want to change?"

"Why? Why would you want to change?"

Every reason. The light of the star behind him was almost mocking in its familiarity. In how much of his memories it featured. How it dominated his thought process, kept him from thinking ahead. "I've been living in my own shadow up until this point. The Prothean beacon, Javik, hell, everything we are doing is just a shadow of what has been done before against the Reapers. So yes, I want to change." Jack was still holding the ring right in front of her. "So say yes already."

"A woman reserves the right to make the man wait." She said, making a  _hmph_  sound and taking the ring. Though she did slide it into her finger, holding it up towards the light. "Damn." She and Kasumi both said. It really did look good on her. Then again with a diamond bigger than the knuckle it took quite the hand to be able to pull it off. Then she looked back at him, lip giving a slight tremble before she left the room. Kasumi realized she was the only person remaining in the room, and gave a short wave before turning invisible and joining Hannah.

Out of habit, he turned back to the window. Then he blinked, realizing what he had just done. "Time to leave." He muttered, staring into the star. "Captain, time to leave!" He said hurriedly. "Captain!" He looked down at his wrist, seeing that the Omni-tool hadn't been activated. With a start he realized that he had tried to use the old mental pathways to access Reaper tech. With a shaking hand, he tapped his wrist. "Captain Qing, please take us out of this system."

" _Looking for a place to discharge the drive core right now, Sir._ " The Human replied. " _But we've got some kind of sensor shadow out here._ "

Jack frowned, giving one last look at the window before slamming the controls to cover it back up. Only then did he leave the room, and nearly ran up to the cockpit. "What kind of sensor shadow?"

"It's hard to say, sir. It's closer to the star, closer than our barriers can risk. Even if we abandoned stealth systems, we wouldn't be able to approach it." Qing said, his hand on the back of the sensor ops chair as he leaned over it. Jack took the other side, the poor tech in the chair trying not to panic as they leaned over them. "I don't like it, whatever it is. Somehow it's in a stable orbit."

"Sirs." The tech said. "The only way I'm going to see what that is, is by using an active scan."

"Do it." Jack said quickly. Before Qing could do his usual careful avoidance of risk.

"Breaking stealth for thirty seconds." Qing said, adapting. "Now."

The image that came in was odd. Fifty meters long, and in the unmistakeable shape of Cronus station. Just downsized and made of a familiar black metal. "The hell is that?" The tech asked. Jack felt his world focus into tiny points. His head pounded, as he realized that the only one who should know what that shape was from was himself. It  _hadn't_  been here when he was here last. Or if it had, the  _Talon_  hadn't seen it.

"Reaper tech. Arm torpedo tubes one through four." Jack said. No one disputed it. "Fire when ready and get the hell out of here." It brought him no pleasure to see the three javelin torpedoes and a bottle of wine impact the area. Nothing was left of the object, and Jack didn't want to stare at Anadius any longer. He returned to his room, not seeing Hannah there. There was work to do, but he couldn't bring himself to sit. Sitting at a desk, the thought brought him into a panic. Instead, he smoked a full three cigarettes, and sank his head into the pillows facing away from the window. Anything but that color show.

"Who else knows?" He muttered. Someone out there had to know.

* * *

Author's Note

All hail my wife for being as smart and knowing as she is. Her inspiration helped a lot with this chapter. She is very invested in rings and the making of them, since we custom made her ring that I proposed with. Expensive little bugger, but I had a lot more money before I got married. Spent about a tenth of my total savings on that ring, so that no matter where we went, she would always be able to wear it. Something that she could wear amongst poor college friends and not have them be angry or jealous about it, and equivalently not be jealous if we were among rich friends. We are also fans of the thick wedding band. With that said, many thanks go to my wife for the inspiration for this story and its characters.

I like the ups and downs of this chapter. If you guys are interested in what it was that Jack just had gathered, you can google the name of that diamond. It's a bit special, and is one of the more famous diamonds to have been bought. Effectively, Donovan Hock is pissed beyond belief right now. Some serious crap is going down next chapter, and I am excited. Thanks to all those who have sent in reviews and PMs lately. It has been very welcome.


	75. Lucid: Sucker Punched

Chapter 75

The Presidium, The Citadel, Widow System, January 2183

Garrus left the ship the moment they touched down. He almost ran off the ramp, no doubt to test out that monster weapon somewhere it wouldn't punch a hole through the hull. Julianna's caught the Turian whispering to it one night. She didn't comment on it.

Pressley ordered the crew off, for twelve hours of leave. The Quarians all wanted to get some supplies, especially air filters. It was really just an excuse to visit Tali. They were going in shifts, so that she wouldn't be alone in the hospital while the ship was docked. Three people were to be with her at all times.

Julia had reserved a section. So had Halmabad. But before they could go, they had a meeting on the Presidium. They came in their dress blues, Julia still wearing a catsuit underneath. Just in case, she told herself.

They arrived at the office of Councillor Tevos, as directed by Ambassador Hock. When they got there, the Volus Ambassador, Din Korlack, was leaving with five other Volus. Three of them were wearing heavy armor, making the normally fat aliens into square squat soldiers. Their cannons looked dangerous. Micro fabricators ran into missile launchers that were spinal mounted. Dangerous indeed.

Ambassador Hock stood off to one side, along with two members of the Alliance Senate. She was Senator Larsen, of Canada. Senator Halmabad stood next to her. They, along with Admiral Drescher, were here to act as representatives. Drescher gave Julia the barest hint of a nod, before they gave their required salutes.

"Ambassador Korlack, my dearest hope is that we all can experience an increase in rights and privileges. Though I am entirely curious as to how your meeting went." Hock said, speaking to the Volus representative.

"The Volus have waited a very long time to be recognized for their efforts. The Council will agree to some form of compromise, I am sure." Korlack told him. "I do not see any way in which these decisions will be reached with the Rachni still a threat. Good luck, Ambassador Hock. They have already spoken to the Elcor as well."

"Thank you, Ambassador." Hock said, coming over to greet them. "The Council doesn't have all day, and I assume you all have your briefings."

"We weren't briefed, Ambassador." Julia stated, at which the man simply waved off her concerns.

"You are not to speak unless clearly required, Commander. Your actions towards the Asari have put us in a dangerous position already. The Senators will do most of the speaking, your presence here is mostly for decorum's sake."

"Understood." Julia said, agreeing at least from the chain of command. With Admiral Drescher here there was at least someone they could turn to. Military command structures were reliable in that way. Hard on their individual members, but that toughness made them into some big misfunctional family that could turn to each other for support.

"Good." Hock muttered. "Don't piss off Valern. He's been _distracted_ ever since the Rachni touched down on Erinle. They've not been able to hold their lines. He fathered a clutch of eggs with one of the Dalatrasses of that planet. Tevos was in a good mood when I spoke to her last, and Volorium despises Humans. Do not expect any kind of mercy from him." He glanced around a final time before taking a deep breath. Then he opened the doors. Inside were three seats higher than the floor, placed behind some sort of partition. It certainly did not make Julia feel welcome or an equal in the room.

"Ambassador Hock. We are pleased that you all decided to come." The Salarian Councillor, Valern, said. He did not sound happy. "Spectre Candidates, unlike our Elcor and Volus candidates you have done quite well. Killing so many Rachni Queens at Galatana has offered us the unique opportunity to study their evolution over the last twelve hundred years." His voice started speaking faster. "The egg you captured has survived, and through no small effort we have kept it alive. Your agent that you captured the egg with, Elizabeth? We have noticed that her presence has kept the egg healthy. Suspect that some form of symbiotic relationship is at work."

Before the Salarian could go into any more detail, Tevos started speaking over him. "Great work, for both of you." She drew both of her hands in front of herself, almost motherly in the way she did so. "Two of the Council races have decided to endorse you. The reports from your mentors are glowing, and full of promise. We hope to see that same promise and strong efforts in your work for the Council."

Councillor Volorium was smiling. As was Valern. Tevos was not. "I assume there will be a public ceremony?" Hock asked.

"Not usually. Council Spectres are often chosen and then forcibly removed from the public eye. There are rarely ceremonies or public displays, to discourage the propagation of their identity." Volorium told them. "The best protection for our agents is secrecy."

"Are you kidding?" Senator Larsen said. "Everyone in the Alliance is going to want to know about this."

"There will be celebratory holidays in their homelands." Senator Halmabad said, his eyes dark. "We want a ceremony."

"The news outlets have featured the Spectre candidates for months. Other than aliases and changing identities, our candidates have little options for secrecy." Admiral Drescher added. "If you do make Commander Constantine and Lieutenant Halmabad into Spectres, then we will be posting that news anywhere it'll stick."

Tevos looked like she wanted to say something about that. But she kept her mouth shut. "Of course, if you wish to have a ceremony, we can make one for you and the other surviving endorsed Spectres. The Batarians will be here in a few hours to discuss their own endorsements. Now, the terms of these endorsements."

Hock leaned forward, almost predatory. The Senators seemed more interested. "We were considering requesting an adjustment on the number of Dreadnoughts allowed to Humanity according to the treaty of Firaxen." Admiral Drescher retained her stiff stance. "As the Rachni War may continue on for centuries."

This was no longer about Spectres. Julia adjusted her stance, making sure that her shoes had loosened the gel layer. It was how Infiltrators could cheat and stay at long meetings all the time. With the weight of their feet in gel, Infiltrators could stand in locations for hours, cloaked and hidden. Halmabad had to sit there, in those normal torturous dress boots. She had a hard time keeping her smile down. Until the death glare from Drescher reached her, then she could keep herself in check.

* * *

The Citadel, Widow Nebula, January 2183

"Do you know any New Year's songs?" Jenkins asked the man next to him. The wheelchair was a masterpiece of work, able to hover _and_ fly. Of course, that included false limbs loaded with enough computer equipment to be able to run an army. Or override a ship's VI. The man's ability to grow facial hair was typical of most Asians. A small goatee decorated his chin, wispy and hard to see from the side.

"Chinese New Year isn't for a few weeks. It's not time yet for songs." He said stiffly, his face skewing. The skin was all artificial, and it stretched oddly across the fake bones of the man's cheek. Most of his eyes and forehead were concealed behind a mask, providing the man the only way that he could interact with the world.

Lazarus One, Jenkins didn't even know his name, was the first person that was brought back from death by Hock and Finds-Secrets. Most of his identifying features had been burned off from whatever had killed him, and a Warp had been used to rip out the lower half of his spine. Finds-Secrets had not been able to give him back control of his limbs. The limbs that remained were purely mechanical, and controlled by computer programs and not his nervous system. The chair controlled his breathing, his stomach, and everything else involved with his body. The mask contained a haptic visor that allowed the movements of his eyes to type out commands and interact with the world. Such as fire the large cannons built into his 'arms'. "Alrighty then." Jenkins replied. He was not a great conversationalist. "Everyone ready to go back there?"

Fourteen men nodded their assent. One Hanar stuck to the ceiling of the shipping crate bobbled happily. " _Loading you onboard now. Jamming signal goes active in thirty seconds._ "

"Non-lethals for the humans, and just drag the Quarians. You know the drill. No one leaves the ship once we hit." Jenkins told all of them. "One person makes it off and we all lose. We only hold this ship long enough for Harper to capitulate. Everyone is going to walk off of this ship alive if you all do your jobs right." He paused for effect. "Let's hit this."

"Hoo-rah!" They chorused. Jenkins waited for the loading crate they were inside to hit the ground, readying his stun grenade. If they were going to be loaded onto the _Normandy_ , they were going to come out in the hangar bay. Inside the bay there were three major threats. The first being the engineering deck. If they didn't get access to that deck before the engineers inside locked it down, they would never be able to take the ship. The second was the armory. Two marines would be by the armory at all times, even if the ship was in its berth. Especially if that wasn't a home berth.

The last and most dangerous potential problem was the Mako. It's cannons could take down any single person in their group, and it took one person to operate. Two of the guys were on the Mako, and four were on the engineering deck. The remaining eight were coming with him to secure the ship. "Go!" He muttered, right as someone unlocked the door from the other side. The Quarian didn't even have a chance. The door of the shipping crate hit them hard enough to send them backwards, four men piling out and following them. They split into two pairs, one pair going for the armed marines and the other pair going for the engineering deck. Four more left, and the crew reacted. Overloads and bursts of tech abilities hit the second team, all of them going down in a twitching mess as a grenade went off. It was lethal, as a burn mark was left in the deck.

His men followed, still running into the gap. With tech damping and overloads used, they came upon the crew with stun weapons and their own gas grenades. Quarians were immune, of course. They required the stun weapons. By the time that Jenkins exited the crate, six of his men were dead and the hangar bay was secure. Lazarus One went into the now-secured engineering deck, and Finds-Secrets floated out of the crate while invisible. His new eye was really useful with stuff like that, sometimes.

"Sir." One of the men spoke up, his vizor shattered in the shape of a Quarian boot-print. "One of them got away into the vents."

"Let 'em go. Focus on the ship. Get all of them into the crate, and lock down that tank. Get One into the engineering deck."

" _This one shall go hunting, if that is alright._ " Finds-Secrets told him. He gave a nod, and then saw the grate into the vents open suspiciously. The Hanar was likely going to find whatever Quarian tried to escape. Jenkins didn't know what that creature was capable of, but he was pretty sure that Quarian wasn't going to be a problem.

"Elevator will have locked down by now. Access grates, one on each side." He pointed, and his team separated into single men, one going to either side of the hangar bay. They placed detonator charges on each of the hatches, and a flick of the wrist caused both to ignite and burst the doors open. Gunfire came from one hatch, making the soldier there take cover. Thankfully, the only weapons allowed on deck two were service pistols. Maybe a shotgun. Deck one would be where the heaviest resistance would come. Jenkins cloaked, activating his 'lung' system.

It always felt like a helium balloon growing inside his ribcage. Either way, he floated up through the hatch that didn't have gunfire coming through. It wasn't undefended, as the crewman there was in just his jumpsuit. The pistol he held was shaking, aiming at the open hatch. The man folded under Jenkin's fist, augmented by armor and by whatever the hell Finds-Secrets did to him. He felt bad, as he choked out the guy. One zip tie later and the man was out of commission, and Jenkins was able to slip behind the man guarding the other hatch.

Jenkins was not a biotic. He was not a specialist. But he had his strengths and he knew how to abuse them. He floated behind the other man and had him in a double nelson before he could do anything. These guys were the med techs, which was sad. The gunnery crew must be on shore leave. "Clear!" His pair of men came up the ladders, and between the three of them they discovered the only other person alive on deck two was the doctor. "Tie those men together and leave 'em for the rest of the team." Then Jenkins moved to the ladders leading to deck one.

All of these hatches were sealed and prepared with fire retardant foam. The foam would fill the entire compartment and seal any attacker inside of it with them. He heard grunting as the elevator doors were opened manually, and the flying chair of Lazarus One came through. "VI has been replaced. Deck one has redundant systems, however. Everything is sealed and the atmosphere has been sucked out. Any of us trying to get through will be facing depressurized compartments."

"Well. Guess we have to get into deck one the hard way. Breaching charges! High grade!" Jenkins called out, pointing at a specific location on the ceiling. "Then get your asses to cover." This call went out just as four of the six men from the hangar bay arrived, which meant that all crew there were done securing prisoners in the shipping crate. "We've gotta make a hole."

The outer hull was too difficult to breach, and he couldn't find out the specs. The only one with access to them was Kalin'ren vas Moreh. Jenkins did not recommend trying. That was why they were not going through the hull or trying to blow out an airlock. It limited the number of people he could get onboard, as well. Still, the interior decks were made from a lot of the same material as the hull, except in certain places. Like the Galaxy map.

The windows on the medbay and every piece of glassware in the kitchen shattered from the explosion. There was also a solid hole blown through the galaxy map, with entire systems destroyed or disabled. A problem, but not the end of the world. "Let's go! Prep for heavy weapons!"

Smoke grenades filled with ash sprayed into the upper deck, throwing off thermal sensors and surely enough to make any unarmored person cough. "Abandon Ship!" Pressley yelled above. "Technicians first!"

"They'll never get past the others." Jenkins said. "Get in there, people!"

These men weren't paid to die, but at the same time they were not the same kind of courageous that they would willingly go up there. Breaching charges were placed against the ladders and their compartments, ready to blow them out and risk the decompression. The old man doctor was fumbling around the medbay, yelling something about whiskey. Jenkins didn't care. The first pair of men that crawled through the hole above were killed. Pressley's heavy cannon tore them to shreds, even with their heaviest shield packages. "You don't have enough bodies to get through all of us!"

"We'll start killing your crew for every minute you resist." Lazarus One replied. "We've been non-lethal so far. But more of our friends are waiting outside. Open the airlock and you and your people will walk off this boat." His voice carried, easily going up into the bridge. "There is no way any of you survive if you try to fight."

Jenkins could hear the access points to the other rooms start hissing as air started flowing back into them. Small holes in the doors had been blown, and now heavier breaching charges could be applied. Those wouldn't be so quiet. "We'll take our chances." Pressley replied. "Harris! Drop anchor!"

Jenkins blinked. They didn't have an anchor. He only realized what Pressley was talking about when the floor started shifting. Gravity changed, throwing all of them into a sideways angle. Jenkins and One just floated there, uncaring about the gravitic shift. "Engage boots and get back to work!" One roared. "You'll regret that!"

"Not hardly as much as you." Pressley stated. "What's the status, Harris?"

"Angle is good! We can get everyone out!"

"You've got our VI, you damn pricks." Pressley said gravely. "But we just pulled out the nav computer. Good luck jumping to FTL. Load up and go!"

"What are they doing?" He asked. "Anybody?"

" _This one reports that they are using the escape pods. The ship has dropped in angle, and is now facing its port side into open space._ "

"Stop him!" Jenkins yelled, going for the hole. But it was too late. The entire bridge crew had loaded into the escape pods, and the smug face of the old man was watching him as he crawled through the hole.

" _Attempting._ " Finds-Secrets decloaked, a heavy harpoon gun firing towards the nav computer in Lt. Harris' hands. It was intercepted, the barbed tip of the harpoon punching through the abdomen of a Quarian. Kalin'ren. " _Objective failed._ " Kalin'ren kicked off from Pressley, getting in the way of all of the lanes of fire. Such a pain in the ass, even when he was wounded. His arm erupted in blood, as some rounds from the man behind Jenkins caught him.

Pressley looked like he wanted to help Kalin'ren, but the bastard triggered the release for the escape pods instead. "No!" The old man was smirking as four escape pods jettisoned, launching out into Council Space. They were taking with them the nav computer, and without that there was no way that Jenkins could leave this system or go to FTL. Not without some serious hardware. "That'll get some attention! Get the others aboard, prepare to detonate the moorings! We've gotta go!" Jenkins popped the manual release valve to the ladders, allowed travel through them down to deck two. "One!"

"What?"

"Can you run a nav computer on that rig?"

"..." The quadriplegic had to think about it. "It will take time. As well as extranet access."

"The comm system was managed by… Kalin'ren." Jenkins said, glancing over to where the Quarian was vainly trying to remove the harpoon. "Well, jellyfish, will he survive?"

"This one does not believe he will survive without immediate medical attention."

"Fix him up. We need his codes if we want to leave this system." Jenkins ordered, seeing the airlock doors open and more of his men come through. Including Arkhipov. "Nikolai, get in that seat. We need to be out of here, now."

Nikolai was hustling, sliding into the seat with an aggravated sigh. "Jess, jess, hurrying. They tried to disable ship, disable haptics! Hah! Cannot stop old man!" The manual controls were still there, and Nikolai handled them easily. "Still stuck on moorings! Get us off, Limpet!"

A nod to One and the moorings disengaged, forcibly. Then, the stealth systems activated and they were away. "We don't have FTL or navigation. We also damaged the sensor station, when we breached the floor. Engineers, get on those systems first. We've gotta have mobility. Nikolai, use every trick you've got to get us clear."

"Stalin's hairy balls! Finally, a ship with speed! Something that is painted!" Nikolai started singing at that point, and Jenkins left him alone. He wasn't the problem. He stalked back to his men, who were gathering up the dead.

"Clear all bloodstains and dump all of them into the shipping crate. If we have to abandon evidence it'll be the easiest method for us to come back later to get them for burial."

"What about the people already in there?"

"Take them out and lock _all_ of them in the infirmary. Dr. Jellyfish is going to look all of them over, while their doctor works on saving Kalin'ren. We lost Mike, so we are down an orderly. If any of you have some form of medical training I want you in there helping him. Two more of you to secure the prisoners and keep an eye on them. The windows are blown out on the medbay."

"Alright Sir." They all replied. One remained sitting there, imperious in his floating wheelchair.

"I have complete access to the ship's systems. Finds-Secrets found the Quarian hiding in the vents, and we are extracting the poor idiot now. We've got helm controls, and once Kalin'ren is stable we will draw out what he knows. We need comms. In the meantime, I'm going to get a tether and go outside, send a comm to the boss."

* * *

The Citadel, Widow Nebula, January 2183

"... and then we jettisoned escape pods to where a Turian patrol could pick us up." Pressley reported, a small bandage across his forehead. His heavy cannon was still in his hands, while Harris and the other five bridge crew members that had gotten off the ship in time. Eight of her people were still onboard. "Now you're caught up, Ma'am." Julia was steaming mad. Someone had the audacity to steal _her_ ship. The only source of most of the experimental tech in the Alliance at this moment. Pressley looked miserable, knowing that it was his fault. It was taken while he was in command.

"Is there any chance they can get a new nav computer?" Julia asked carefully. "Or rig up something to help them calculate the jumps?"

"Not without this baby." Harris told her. "The _Normandy_ has a unique identification code system set up by the Quarians that won't allow any normal nav computer to hook up without great effort."

"Good. No one is going to get away with stealing our best frigate."

"Still no idea on the people that went in, Commander." Pressley reported. "I only had two effective marines and we were surrounded. They had us outgunned and were prepared to come in the airlocks if we didn't capitulate. It was the best option with the time we had."

"No idea who they were?"

"Humans, and a Hanar."

"A Hanar?" Julia muttered. "I'll run that through our intel nets. That doesn't sound like any mercenary band that I know of."

"Paramilitary, perhaps." Pressley said. "But our problem remains. We've lost our ship."

"The Admiral is keeping it under wraps for now, but the news channels are going to tear us apart if this ever gets out." Julia said. All of her people had gathered around her, including Wrex. He had been off the ship, meeting with someone on Shadow Broker business. All of them were in Garrus' office. Or rather a conference room that he had loaned from C-sec. The look on the officer's face when twenty people came into the station was of open shock. "We don't have much time to get the ship back. I want ideas, people."

"Localized laser bursts might reveal the ship." Harris offered.

"We would need the entirety of Fifth Fleet for that." Pressley retorted. "They'll be able to see anything coming. We need them to let their guard down. We need the jump on them. Or else we are just looking for a needle in the haystack. No matter what we do, we need to get some kind of ship that we can board them with."

"Or a ship that they would consider boarding themselves." Garrus piped up from his scooped back chair. "They hit the _Normandy_. I assume they are after the technology."

"The Reds would pay good money for that. Cloaked ships in their hands would be a tragedy for us." Julia replied. "I don't have anything here, sorry. Unless you have a ship capable of chasing them down, we might be out of luck."

"Ma'am." Pressley said. "Can I have a moment of privacy?"

"Sure." Julia left her chair, and walked into Garrus' office with Pressley. "What is it?"

"Our tracking devices aren't working, and you and I both know that hull won't let any signal through. Ma'am, please don't hate me for saying this, but perhaps we should call Crucible."

She closed her eyes at that. Of course her father might have an idea on where the _Normandy_ was. He built it. "What are the chances he would just take it himself? Would we be giving him a second stealth frigate?"

"Ma'am, I don't see any other stealth ships we can use to bait or use to go after the _Normandy_. Also, Ambassador Hock has requested that you attend an awards ceremony with him. I respectfully declined, if that was alright with you."

"Thank you, Pressley." Her XO did good work. "But if it's a stealth ship we need, I stashed the _Acheron_ on Terra Nova."

"It'll take us six hours at best to get there. Hours before it can get off the ground, and then more time before it clears the relay." Pressley started humming to himself. "Ma'am, do you want the Alliance to know about your possession of that ship?"

"I would rather not."

"Then we need to get someone else to get that ship over here." Pressley said smugly. "One moment." He started making his way through his Omni-tool menus, until he got to the comm connections app. He called someone, who picked up the phone on the first try. "Becca!"

The view through his small screen was of a few children along with five adults. The woman at the front was his wife. " _Charles! Wondered when we would hear from you! All the kids are here!_ "

"I'm not gonna make it to the dinner, Becca." He said softly. But the man's voice carried. "But I need you and the kids' help."

" _Kids! Shut yer yaps! Dad's got a question for ya!_ " The other side of the call got quiet.

"Becca, we need you to get back into the family business." Pressley told them. "It's important."

" _Me and the kids?_ "

"My commanding officer has a ship on Terra Nova. We need it."

" _What does your precious Admiral think about that?_ " Becca challenged. " _I can't see you ever advocating piracy._ "

"There are…" Pressley looked like he was choking down food. "Complications. Becca, please?"

" _Oh my god. Dad never says please."_ One of his kids said.

" _Grandpa's voice is the word 'a God._ " One of the grandkids said. " _Please is a swear word to him._ "

Pressley had the decency to blush. "Well, if you don't help then I'll probably retire very soon." Becca started smiling widely. "Into a prison cell." Becca stopped smiling.

She almost growled. " _Well, we aren't the Griswalds. But hell, if it keeps you in business."_ She flexed her bicep. " _I burned the turkey anyways. Dinner would have been take out. I wasn't that great of a cook, honestly._ "

"Yeah." Pressley said. "You are a much better wife."

" _Send the specs and the instructions. We're gonna butt-pirate your vessel and come get ya._ " Becca said. " _Where is it, by the way?_ "

Pressley moved the camera towards Julia. "I'll coordinate where and when you get here. Though I'll have to walk you through the stealth systems."

" _Stealth systems? What the hell?_ "

Julia gave them a nod. "Something like this." She told them, cloaking. "I just wanted to tell you thank you." She told them, breaking the cloaking field.

" _Don't thank anyone before anything has shipped, youngin'. We still gotta drive out and go get the ship before things get promised._ "

* * *

Normandy medbay, Widow Nebula, January 2183

"This one will take care of the basic injuries." The damn jellyfish told him.

"As the chief medical technician aboard this starship, I respect your idealism, and I refuse your aid." Henry told it. "My men will assist me. You've given us a few bruises, other than Kalin'ren. Now," He glanced back at the rear room, converted into a clean room. Where Kalin'ren was bleeding. "If you'll excuse me."

The jellyfish floated out of his broken windows, insulting him with its casual motion. "What about the Quarians, sir?" His one uninjured med tech asked. The other was high on morphine, having taken too much to make up for the bruised lungs. He was useful for little things.

"They have some bruises, but their encounter suits and some medi-gel will handle it." Henry told him. "Get whoever is capable to start cleaning up the broken glass. Take the plastic wrap we use for body bags and get my damn windows back." He glanced at his desk. "That damn jellyfish just took my booze! Gah!"

"You're about to enter a surgery, Dr. Heart." The one good med tech he had left said. Bruises on his neck were becoming more prominent, from whatever brute knocked him out. "Perhaps going in there without a drink would be better."

"Did you steal my drink?" The man wilted. "You did!"

"Kalin'ren may be an asshole, Dr., but he deserves your best."

"We just got boarded and taken, and you think I _don't_ need my drink?!" The med tech handed over the dark colored liquor at that. "Kalin'ren is an asshole, yes, but I find that most assholes share the same biology. You operate on one of them, you've seen them all." He chuckled at his own joke, pulling on the helmet of his suit. The clips engaged, but he disengaged them to sup at the bottle before he put the helmet back on and walked into the back room.

Kalin'ren had a hole right through his suit, straight through his lungs. Punctures were on his arm, neck, and leg. Medi-gel and a medical brace were holding him together for now, but that wouldn't last. Once the airlock cycled, he grinned. "Alright, Kalin'ren, looks like you've gone and impaled yourself. Tut tut, you foolish boy."

"I'll need to start with some antibiotics, then I'll get you nice and sleepy. You just give me your arm, there, and -"

"Bosh'tet." Kalin'ren whispered. "You can't let them take over the ship."

"How the hell are you awake?"

"Endorphins." Was the simple answer. "Before you do anything, take off my vizor."

"You idiot Quarian. I take that off, and this place is going to just cause more harm."

"Trust me." Henry had to think very carefully about that. "Please."

Henry frowned. "I'm putting this back on the moment anything goes wrong." The vizor was not the Quarian standard model. It didn't have a three latch system. This one had _six_. Odd, that. One of the latches had a small access port for an Omni-tool. "It's locked."

"It's…" Kalin'ren tried to say. But his voice sounded delirious. "Bank account."

"I don't know your bank account." Henry tried to say. But the Quarian was already out. "Well, at least he told me I could operate on him." He noticed that by the latch with the lock on it there was a small series of scratches. A date. A Human date. March 4th, 2143. "Son of a…" He plugged in two bank accounts before he got a hit. Kalin'ren was using his old numbers. Bastard must have hacked into some sort of database. But the vizor clicked and released with a blast of hot air. Then he peeled back the helmet. "What?"

"You missed me… admit it." The man inside the mask said.

"You bastard! You've been here all along?!"

"Couldn't let my friend be here alone." The man behind the mask said. Jack Harper stared at him. Henry just stared. His hair was long, sticking out everywhere. Breathing and feeding tubes went in on either side of the man's mouth, and medical monitors were attached to his forehead. But his blue eyes stared out at him, dilated. But it was the same eyes he knew from all of the operations he did to save them.

"What now?" He asked. Henry didn't have a plan. Survive was his first priority.

"Fix me up. Keep me alive. Keep my identity hidden." Jack was rasping. "Then we take back this ship."

"Damn right." Henry muttered. "Now, this might hurt a little."

Jack screamed as the hardened medical brace came off, and Henry dove into the wound. He cackled at the screaming, wondering how the hell anyone ever approved him for a medical license. Perhaps it was the bribes. He cackled at his own joke as he found a torn intestine. Oh yes, it was good to be Henry Lawson. Not some smarmy idiot named Samuel Heart, but himself. He was _alive_ again.

* * *

Presidium, Widow Nebula, January 2183

Donovan Hock leaned back in his chair, bringing up screens full of news reports, fleet after action reports, and his reports from different shell companies owned by those he had in his pocket. Everyone who wanted anything from anyone in the Alliance contacted one of his friends somewhere down the line. His friends and most importantly his enemies were on that list. As the Ambassador, there was no choice involved. They had to know him. He owned most of the politicians with friends outside the Alliance. Everyone with legal outlets to other races he knew, on both sides of the fence.

Most of the Reds knew of him as the Ambassador for Human interests. The upper echelons knew him much more closely. It was with glee he noted that the Reds were even more dependent upon his aid programs, as their section of space started to take losses. They were being used as a buffer against the Rachni and everyone knew it. The Senate knew it, and the Reds demanded more aid. The Alliance provided, and if it wasn't for Eden Prime also taking a hit there would be riots in Red space. Or perhaps more violent expressions of disruption.

" _Sir,_ " Shirley, his secretary called. " _I've got someone on the priority line. A Mr. Echidna from Typhon Three?_ " The woman had a full degree in psychology and another in communications. She was a brilliant woman in her own right, and she wanted to move up in the political jungle. He was only too happy to oblige, as the other benefits of her presence were very satisfying.

Hock narrowed his eyes. Who in their right mind would name their child Echidna? Wait. Echidna. Typhon. Three. His Greek mythology was rusty, but there was one person who prided themselves on knowing all the little details. The child of Echidna and Typhon was Cerberus. Three, meaning that only one man would be behind this. "I'll take it. Make sure it comes through the secure private channel."

Hock settled back in his chair, carefully positioning himself so that his back was angled over the camera for maximum intimidation value. This was not a conversation among equals. This was not supposed to be. By the time he had settled his feet back into his shoes, the comm line was active.

" _Don._ " The one man in the galaxy he wanted dead was sitting in his own chair, both of them imperiously hanging over the cameras. " _You've been trying to get my attention for months._ "

"Jack. It's been a while."

" _We don't have much time before the STG track this. When you and I went to make the deal with the Quarians, I showed you something. Something that threatens all of Humanity. I've got intel on them. How to stop them._ "

"You're just calling because you've lost the _Acheron_ and the _Normandy_." Donovan told him. "All the cards are in my hand, Jack. If you want your daughter to survive the next month, that is just the first thing I expect."

" _Very bold of you to steal that from the Navy. They don't take that kind of thing lightly._ " Jack leaned forward, his blue eyes boring into his own. " _I want to talk to you about this. Name a location, and I'll meet you. Face to face._ "

"Neutral ground, I assume?"

" _You put too many guns between me and you and things get ugly. You play nice and we meet without any fanfare._ " Jack glanced beyond the screen. " _You know how to find me._ " Then the comm line went dead, and Hock had to lean forward into his hands. Resting his forehead in them, he had to consider his options. Jack wanted to talk. Most of his private muscle was deployed on the _Normandy_ project.

But even with that, he still held all of the cards. Jenkins and his teams were out of contact since they had taken the ship, and soon enough it would be secure on Bekenstein. His private line pinged with a message, coming in from his men. He smirked, seeing the sender as Jenkins.

_Target secure. Damage to interior systems significant. Nav systems removed. We cannot leave the system. Comm systems locked up, too. Half of insertion team dead, one of the hostages near death. Working to fix damaged systems, but unlikely to have them repaired without outside help. Need Quarian tech to repair nav computer, none of the data parts are alliance standard. We need assistance to get out of the system._

'Help is coming. Instructions shall follow in ten hours.' Hock wrote. He had a few contacts, people who could move entire ships by hidden methods. But this changed things. The _Normandy_ could only remain i stealth for so long. Eight hours, if Jenkins remembered correctly. That did not buy him enough time. Just as well, he had just bragged to Jack Harper about having the ship. The only way he was going to keep that bastard from interfering was by meeting with him. He had a stealth frigate, too.

'Let's meet at Shanxi. At the foot of the war memorial lies a bar. Be there in nine hours in some form of disguise. We do need to discuss all of this.' Hock wrote, sending it to one of the few comm addresses he had stolen the information on. It was to the CEO of Crucible, their private line. The Shadow Broker had sold him that for the _paltry_ sum of thirty thousand credits. He did not like the Shadow Broker.

"Shirley, cancel all of my appointments in the next twelve hours. Perhaps the next sixteen, now that I am thinking about it." He ordered into his comm. "I have a small family emergency that requires my attendance."

" _Of course, Ambassador. Most of these are meetings with the businesses associated with the new trade agreement you are signing with the Council. The only meeting that I'll have trouble rescheduling is with a Janos Haliat. He does not come to the Citadel very often._ "

"See if he would be willing to meet me for an early dinner. In the next hour, perhaps?"

" _Of course, Sir._ " Shirley said. " _Good luck, sir._ " She was smart, but not too smart. He couldn't risk her knowing too much, after all.

* * *

Author's Note

Shorter chapter this time around, but a lot of great things are happening. Compared to Donnel Udina, this Ambassador is much more capable. Effectively, Jack's attempt to keep Udina from becoming the Ambassador has made Hock into a real monster. The best person I can compare Hock to at this point is Emperor Nero of Rome. Dark, with a past that everyone knows is not the real story. Powerful, with people on both sides of the law. Nero had a lot of power long before he became Emperor of Rome, and a lot of historians and readers of history overlook that.

So yes, next chapter we have a showdown with Donovan Hock. I am very excited to be doing that. Enjoy it, guys. Have a lot of fun. Also, my wife wants that gel pad in her next pair of heeled boots. Something like that would make concerts and outdoor events so much nicer.


	76. Lucid: Checkmate

Chapter 76

Shanxi, Xinpei System, January 2183

The entirety of Shangxi's capital city was built like Paris. Centered around a single circle, that circle contained the government buildings and the monument. A monument to the war with the Turians. A monument to Humanity and an enduring testament to their strength. He scoffed at it. Millions of tax dollars wasted to create this city, planned so that the efficiency of it could be viewed from space. All of it a waste. These tax dollars could have been better spent on the economy, and they could have let the regular civil servants handle this.

Instead, they had this gilded monstrosity. "I think I know where he wants us to meet." He muttered. "Take your people and put them around the sports bar there."

The Asari standing with him had almost black markings across her face. Jona Sederis stood in the shadow of the window, not visible from the outside. Asari were a rare sight on this world. Salarians were more common, but still not something people saw outside of tech businesses and the always busy convention centers. "The Little Sisters are already in place in the courtyard. Moving their weapons and armor will be simple. Have you bribed the authorities?"

"Only the local levels. If we attract more attention than that then we might need the system defenses to keep Harper from taking over. I do not doubt that he can and will bring the full might of his Crucible PMC."

"If you can buy off the local cops, can you assume he is doing the same?" Jona said. "My gunships are waiting and we have a few trucks ready. As much as we can get away with. We've supplemented our people with some mechs. If your claims are right, then we'll need all of the mechs we've stored in the sewer systems."

"Getting that many of your people in the trash collection agencies was difficult. I'm glad you are putting it to good use." Hock said off-handedly. "Msizi, you see anything?" He asked, switching to a comm line.

" _No, Sir._ " The Zulu was one of his better aides. Perfect for getting rid of problems. Especially persistent ones. He also was a fantastic cook. " _No sign of them. No ships have landed, nothing Quarian, nothing Terminus._ "

He had to be around here somewhere. Jack would have to know that Donovan had the entire meeting rigged. There was no such thing as neutral ground here. Not in Human space. Yet still, Jack was the one who funded and developed this damn colony in the first place. If he didn't have some kind of ace up his sleeve Donovan would donate a million dollars to some church charity. "Don't look too deeply into passenger lists. I don't have many friends in the Transport Security Agency."

" _Yes, Sir._ " He replied. " _The only thing out of the ordinary are the tourists. I've never seen so few._ "

"Can you see if the amount of train passes correspond to the amount of tourists around? I'm curious."

" _The amount of train and public transportation passes bought matches the amount of people milling around. But it still feels like something is wrong._ " Africans had great levels of superstition, which Donovan had put to good use. They went by their gut decisions and lived by them. Sometimes their 'gut' decisions were great, inexplicably letting them know about problems that they might face. The problem Hock had with these gut feelings was that often enough they didn't concern his own plans. It might just be some food poisoning. It might be the end of the world.

"You'll keep me appraised of any trouble, Msizi."

" _Of course, Sir._ " Hock knew that of the people watching him, no one cared about his bad habits. One of his signature brand of cigarettes with the gold coating lit up, and he puffed gently on it. " _There is some chatter on the military bands, but nothing interesting._ "

"Like what?"

" _Sensor shadows. Harper doesn't have enough ships to fake thirty sensor shadows this deep in Alliance Space._ " Msizi replied. " _It's unusually high. The Reds have got to know that the Alliance is on high alert. The military are sending a few frigate patrols out to investigate._ "

Very odd. "Let me know if anything comes near Shanxi or if they're just trying to get around to the '314." A lot of Reds came through here, avoiding patrols on their way to other parts of the galaxy. There was an entire market around baiting the Alliance patrols away from the relay long enough for their ships to slip through. Sensor shadows were not unheard of in this region of space. Neutral ground, indeed.

* * *

Widow Nebula, January 2183

"Airlock connected, and overriding the cleaning cycles." Halmabad helpfully supplied. "Nice digs, Commander." The airlock opened up directly to a carpeted lounge, with a bar. Half of the wall behind it was filled with bottles of alcohol.

"Becca!" Pressley barked. "We're coming aboard!"

" _Permission denied!_ " A voice roared over the intercoms. " _Address me proper, like you mean it!_ " Julia glanced at Pressley. He was frowning, which was his normal reaction to most things. Could mean anything.

"Start plugging your ears, boys! XO might say something naughty!" Williams said loudly.

"Williams. Report to the head post haste for that." Pressley said off-handedly. " _Captain_  Becca." He amended. "May we board?"

" _Better._ " Pressley's wife said. " _Alright, get on the damn ship. The whole thing is quirky as hell and we didn't bring an engineer. Best thing we got is your son, and dental tools don't compare to element zero reactors._ "

Julia grinned. "Oh, I think we have that covered." She glanced behind her. Newly out of the hospital, and being carried by Urdnot Wrex was Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. Her Pheonix armor had been repaired, repainted, and the torso reinforced with an extra layer of ablative gel. She was still a bit shaky, and the moment she had stood up from her bed she had fallen over. At that point Wrex picked her up and refused to put her down until she had recovered. He would not put her back down, nor explain why. As he was Krogan, no one wanted to argue with him over it. Tali certainly didn't. "Tali, this ship was designed and built by your people. Think you can handle it?"

"Of course, Commander. I look forward to fiddling with something other than medical equipment." Tali said from the arms of the Krogan. When the ship had been stolen, Tali had volunteered to leave Huerta immediately. She was still weak, but Sirta had some of the best medical armor interfaces on the market. Most people invested in their armor just for that. Tali was being medicated for her new organs. Cloned organs made right in Huerta, based on her blood and a bit of her bone marrow. For some reason she had woken up during that procedure, panicking and screaming. It took four orderlies to get her to calm down enough for them to finish it.

So she was with them, even though her organs were still a bit shaky. There were so few qualified doctors that could work on Quarians as it was, so Tali would be just as well taken care of on a ship as she would be in Huerta. All of the medicine was already regulated through her suit. "Glad to have you back, Zorah."

"We're all glad to have you back." Pressley stated. "Without you there I was forced to give command of the ship to Joker for a short duration."

"Keelah, I'm so sorry!" She said with meaning. "When we get the ship back I promise to keep that from happening." Joker grumbled something under his breath at that, his wheelchair creaking.

They all stepped inside the ship, with all eighteen of her available crew here. The rest of them were being held prisoners on the  _Normandy_. No ransom had reached her, and no message had gone out to her telling her of their deaths. Not that she had expected any, of course. They had found no leads, and the Admirals were breathing down her neck already. Julia contemplated getting a drink from the bar, but shook her head quickly.

As a child she had always wanted to try the bottles of booze that her father had around him. He never told her she couldn't, only that she couldn't handle it. She and Miranda had nearly gotten alcohol poisoning at the age of nine. Malt tequila, as it so happened, almost got them killed. Luckily they had a few health monitors around and their father had walked into the room. After that he didn't care if they drank a little bit, only that they did it with style and with high standards. So she knew what white and red wines were, from the beginning. Today, she didn't need them. Even though a small cup wouldn't even make her feel anything. As a biotic, she could get away with a few things.

But the men would get ideas from that. "Engineers, report to the lower deck. The access door is hidden behind the pantry. Marines, get your asses to the main deck. The ballroom should have enough room for you to run simulations for boarding the  _Normandy_. We may find her at any time, so be ready. Halmabad, Garrus, Wrex, I need all of you to come up with plans to hit the ship and damage as few systems as possible." She glanced at each person in turn. "Pressley, Harris, with me. Let's find our ship."

Julia stopped before the bridge. She put a hand on Pressley's shoulder. "Ma'am?"

"I'm going to the upstairs office. You and Harris find the ship. I'll find a way to narrow down your search patterns. None of this gets to Wrex or Garrus, is that clear?" There was always the chance that either of them would report how to find the  _Normandy_  back to their handlers. She didn't want anyone knowing how to do that.

"As crystal, Ma'am." He saluted. "Captain  _Becca_  will comply."

She nodded, heading up to her father's office. The terminal there was configured to connect to any Omni-tool in range. Hers connected, and she started layering encryptions into the comm line. At the rate she was using all of the codes, she would need to purchase some new ones. The STG and others had most likely broken them at this point. Which left her personal stock that she kept for communicating with Miranda. It was risky to use them in the Widow Nebula, but oh well.

Miranda's comm signals were all inactive. Every single one of them. That was unheard of. The only ones she could find active in any way were her desk terminal. She was never at her desk at Omega.  _All_  of her aliases were quiet. It was like someone had just taken Miranda and gone on vacation. So she called the front desk of Crucible. Her mouth dropped wide open when the call connected.

" _This better be damn important._ " Her grandmother said. " _Wait. What do you want, girl?_ "

"I'm looking for Miranda." She said clearly. "Can you connect me to her?"

Her grandmother frowned. Constance Smith had a very disgusting frown. " _No. She's been out of contact. All of the worthless sacks of shit are gone._ " She waved her arms, the veins dark and sticking out from her skin. " _Left me in charge of too much._ "

Julia frowned. "What about Charles?"

" _Off with his lady friend. Why he wants to put his bits in some alien I don't know. Creepy as hell._ "

"Fine." She muttered. "Connect me to Allison."

" _She's a lying whore._ " Constance said, pressing buttons carefully on her terminal. " _Said this job would be easy. Didn't say I would have to be in charge of anyone._ " Constance thumbed the connection. " _Goodbye, you little pissant._ " Julia had to close her eyes at that. Her grandmother hated everyone and everything. The closer a connection you had to her, and the nastier the experience would be.

The comm line was rerouted twice more, as it bounced through the Terminus comm network and then back through Batarian and finally Alliance networks. It was almost two minutes before she got a signal through. When it did come through, she saw Hannah holding her wrist away from herself at an odd angle. She was also wearing some ugly outfit claiming that she worked at 'Ike's Ice Cream'.

" _Hey there, love. What can I get you?_ " She asked. " _We just got on shift, here._ " The first statement was to someone off screen, and the second was whispered to Julia. She must be in disguise.

"I was hoping to talk to Miranda. Or Charles." She said. "It's important."

Hannah frowned. " _How important?_ "

"Someone stole my ship."

" _Two vanillas? Okay._ " She answered a customer. " _That'll be five credits._ " Hannah turned away from her wrist to deliver the ice cream, and when she came back she was angling her head elsewhere inside of the food truck. " _Neither of them are available at the moment. But I've got the comm codes for the engineers who designed it._ "

"If they aren't there, then I'll have to ask  _him_."

" _Hun! Call for you!_ " Hannah called out, her voice adapting a piercing quality. " _It's your brat!_ "

Jack Harper, wearing an ice cream truck shirt and wearing a hat with beer cans on either side, transferred the call to his Omni-tool. " _Yea? Whaddaya want?_ " His eyes were focused on the Omni-tool input, his gaze focused on her. She never called him. " _This about yer ride?_ "

"My ship."

"My  _ship. I made it. I built it. I gave it to you. Anderson died before I had to have him killed so that you would get it, luckily enough._ " Her father emphasized. He had stepped into some kind of back room, and the accent dropped accordingly. " _I know who stole it. But you probably want to find it first._ "

"You know how." It wasn't a question.

" _It is my ship._ " Jack Harper said, his beers jiggling on either side of his head. " _I want something in return._ "

"A hug is off the table." Julia said squarely. "Though I was at Friess Station in the last couple of days."

" _Did you see deck 17?_ "

"No. But I know things. Details from their prisons that might interest you." Money wasn't important to her father. Money was the blood of all governments, he said. Information was what provided justification for media, opinions, politics. It would be of interest to him. "I met someone important to you."

" _Hm._ " Jack muttered. " _You want me to give up potentially damaging secrets regarding my stealth technology in exchange for some prisoner._ "

"The specific information and cell number for Dr. Saleon. He admitted freely to killing millions of Batarians for you. I have his cell number, and the specific instructions on how to jettison the entire cell housing. It would remove him as a potential witness against you." Besides her own personal recordings that Halmabad carried out of the station.

" _Really, now? This Dr. Saleon could have been lying to you. If I understand correctly, most prisoners at that space station never leave. But I am interested in some of the other prisoners contained there. Anyone that was locked away for genocide. I'll need friends if I ever get caught._ " He chuckled. " _Or you can help me with a more pressing problem._ "

"Like what?"

" _I need someone to walk Hannah down the aisle. Her parents and family are dead, and I don't think she cares much to have any of her employees walk her down the aisle. So I need you to do that._ "

"What." Her brows furrowed. "The. Hell."

" _We're getting married. Kasumi is the maid of honor, and I need someone I can trust to defend the bride._ " Jack seemed serious. " _That is my price for what you need._ "

"Seriously, what the hell."

" _I guess it was too much to hope for. If I get to her first, I'll take back my lovely piece of work. Two stealth frigates is always better than one, after all._ "

"Hold on." His finger had started reaching towards his wrist. "I want more details."

" _Well, there is only one legitimate government left that would recognize a marriage for us. Hannah hasn't said yes, yet, so once that happens the ceremony will happen. No sense in waiting, after all. Of course, we are going to invite everyone._ "

"You've asked Haego?"

" _Of course. It was why he cut me up so badly at Karn'Zul. It'll be a real party, Julia. The STG won't hesitate to send a kill squad, and I think the Alliance is going to send you anyways. It wouldn't make sense to_ not _have you as part of the celebration._ " Jack was actually smiling. " _The most interesting part of all is that Batarian weddings allow duels to resolve any concerns about the bride as well as the groom. So really I need someone who can take on whatever commando squads the Asari send. Hannah can't handle biotics well._ "

She didn't even know what to say about this. It was just so  _alien_  to think of her father and a wedding in the same sentence. He despised any kind of legitimate governments, and didn't respect any of them. Well, he did pay his taxes to the Alliance every year. There was no way of proving any of the money was from legal sources, though for some reason he printed out receipts and mailed them as well. "If I come, if I promise to come, will you help me?"

" _I'll hold you to that promise. If you don't fulfill your end of the bargain, I'm sure that we can have a debate over ownership in the Quarian Conclave. Ownership of all of your assets. You're in a tough spot right now, Julia. A lot of your people are dying and disappearing, and with you off gallivanting around the galaxy people are dying. I can make a case to the Quarians to find a different lending institution._ " Jack was staring directly at her. " _You'll get your invitation._ " He started typing into the Omni-tool, his eyes flashing towards different parts of the interface. " _I am sending you a specific signal code. It sends an auto-override command to the thermal venting systems. Find your ship, Julia._ "

"Where should I expect to receive this invitation?"

" _I'll send it right to President Huerta. No chance you'll miss it if I send it to Arcturus directly._ " Jack said with a grin. It wasn't manic, it was calculated. Jack Harper never did anything without a purpose. " _There will be a family photo. Try to avoid getting too injured for that. It would break Hannah's heart if you weren't there._ " There was some sort of yelling in the background, and Jack gave a soft smile towards Julia before turning back to the source of the sound. " _Ya, ya, I'm coming. More chocolate?_ " The comm call ended.

She tried not to dwell on that. Hannah willingly getting married to her father. It was at its heart a logical move. If, of course, they had a normal relationship. Nothing about Jack Harper was normal. By the same token, the same applied to her and her sister. Still, marriage? It just didn't make sense. She shook her head, keeping the mental image of her father and Hannah out of her head. She fast walked back to the bridge, where she walked in on Pressley and his wife ending a kiss. It only reinforced the previous thought process, making her close her eyes to it all.

"Commander!"  _Captain_  Becca bellowed. "Glad to see you on the bridge. What can we do for you?"

"I've got a signal that will help reveal the ship. Harris, bury this signal in the local news net." She offered him an OSD she had prepped on the walk down to the room.

"I don't know how to do that, Ma'am. That would be completely illegal." Julia frowned at him, letting her resting bitch face go into full fury mode. "But I know someone who can! I've got a friend in the Alliance News Network. He might."

"Promise him a favor. If you need to bribe him, so be it." Julia told him. "This command is supposed to vent the thermal banks while the stealth mode is active. I trust you can find that, Harris."

"Yes, Ma'am. That I can!"

She gave a nod to the sensor tech. "Becca." She said. "I want to thank you for this."

"I can still hotwire a car or ship with the best of them, Commander." She said with a smile. "It was harder to find babysitters and people to cover the boys' appointments."

"Glad to hear my encryptions were so easy to break."

Becca cackled. Her laugh was loud and brash. "Psh. I just ripped out your VI and put in the one from my air car. If you wanna unlock that it would be preferred."

"Only if you promise to give my ship back when this is all over." Julia said. Pressley turned his head, raising an eyebrow at her. "It belonged to Jack Harper. You might want to wash your hands of this entire mess when it's all said and done."

"Ma, you had us steal the ship of a Terminus warlord!" One of their sons said. "He's the bastard who blew up Reagan Commons!"

"Hey!" Becca barked. "That's her father you're calling a bastard!"

"I agree with him." Julia quickly added. "He's a bastard and a threat."

"Then he's a bastard." Becca said. "But he's also someone we don't have the resources to hide from. The ship's yours after all this crap." She said. "But you make sure that we're covered after all this."

Julia smiled. "Pressley's retirement package comes with full coverage up to two million credits. No matter what happens you've both been guaranteed coverage and protection." Pressley had spent more than ten years without promotion and without compensation. She had seen what they were going to do once he was retired. Admiral White had them covered.

"Great." Becca said with a smile. Then Julia had to open up the VI. Harris was able to really get the processors running then.

"I need to go talk to the ground teams." She said, stepping out of the cabin. The ballroom was full of haptic interfaces open and the  _Normandy_  displayed on each. Different groups of her marines were pulling together plans and marking them on the interfaces. Sad to say it, but all of the interfaces were finally being put to good use. This all was originally designed as some grandiose display of wealth. She smiled at the thought of it now. "Vakarian!" She barked.

Garrus raised his head, not needing to stand any taller to see over everyone else. The Turian stood head and shoulders above the Human marines, though he could stand behind Wrex if he wanted to hide. "Yes, Commander?"

"I need you to send a message to your C-sec friends. See if there is any kind of thermal blooms the next time the ANN broadcasts their news clips."

He brightened. "So you did find a way to detect it. I never doubted you for a second." He punched up his Omni-tool. "I've got plenty of people who can point it out to us. How much of a heat bloom are we talking about?"

"The equivalent of a ship shunting all of its built up heat. Cruiser level thermal bloom, with no accompanying radar presence."

"I've got it." Garrus said happily. "Would you like to go over some of the plans we've put together?"

"Of course. Wrex?" She wanted to start with him. He wasn't a normal tactician, but Wrex had a tenacity that wouldn't give out.

"Remote hack one of the shuttles off its mooring and use it to make the ship visible. Then blast the right engine nacelles with a couple of light shots. Torpedos or something that'll rattle all of the fuel lines. Hopefully disable the ship." He shrugged. "Not quite sure on getting in, but the floor of the fecal matter dumping ground,"

"The head." Williams translated.

"Yes. It is filled with water piping and thinner armor than the rest of the ship. We crack through that and we can retake the bridge once we empty the water storage tank."

"Sounds promising." Julia said. "Garrus, Halmabad?"

"We agreed that using a magnetic grapple line wouldn't work. The shuttles would be the weak point for access. Taking those airlocks would be critical." Halmabad said. "Then once we retake engineering we have the master override codes. Garrus' new rifle can punch through any door we have on board."

"Nothing good on boarding it yet, then." Julia muttered.

"Actually, Commander." Tali spoke up from a couch. "I have just the thing." What concerned Julia the most was the open javelin torpedo on the floor next to her. "We're going to disengage the Jesus bolt."

"What is that?"

"In Human ships, there always exists the threat that the element zero core will destabilize. Your early days of exploration had more than a few explosions from charged drive cores, and your engineering reflects that fear. Even the  _Normandy_  has just one connecting housing to the drive core, just in case it needs to be shunted off ship. The bolt is held to the drive core by a piece of rubber that your engineers labeled the Jesus bolt. A design flaw in my opinion, but you have your reasons."

"Just how are you going to do that?" Julia asked. "That sounds like something that needs security codes."

"There is an automated system that allows the Jesus bolt to be cut and the core to be shunted. The shunt requires an engineer to activate the panels. The cutting of that bolt can be forced, but only if the drive core looks like it is about to blow."

Halmabad had a look of concern on his face. "You can fake that, right?"

"Not really, no. I'm modifying this torpedo so that it causes the drive core to overload. Once the Jesus bolt is broken, the  _Normandy_  loses all gravitic control. They will have to rely on backups. We'll be able to board then, since the stealth drive is going to go down at that point." Tali said, working with a few of her people on some part of the detonator. "That's my plan. The  _Normandy_  is hard to take over no matter what way you look about it. It's only a viable target when it can't move. So I don't like this plan. If we do it wrong, we shunt the drive core before I can stop it from cascading overload. With a drive core that large, well, it wouldn't go well for anyone."

"Without the nav computer they are going to have a tough time going anywhere." Julia noted. "Garrus, can you also start tracking any haulers or cargo containers in the system that might be able to carry the  _Normandy_?"

"Of course."

"Any other ideas for catching her?"

"Not with a ship this slow, Ma'am."

Joker's voice came over the in ship comms. Annoyingly, the system sounded extremely clear and crisp compared to the Alliance standard one that came on the  _Normandy_. " _Commander, the ANN broadcast just went out. There's a thermal bloom near one of the relays. Specifically, a primary relay. Connects to Eden Prime and as far out Shangxi._ "

"Good work, people. Joker, get us there. Vent heat and prepare to engage once we get there."

" _That's the problem, Ma'am. A cargo hauler is going to reach it first. One from an Eclipse subsidiary._ "

Julia closed her eyes, in thought. They couldn't get there fast enough, nor could they risk any of this getting out. "Garrus, you find out where this ship is  _supposed_  to be heading. Joker, you keep on them. When they go through the relay, I want you to catch up to them. Do whatever it takes. We're getting our ship back."

* * *

Shangxi, Xinpei System, January 2183

"Is that him?"

" _It could be, Sir. But it might not be._ "

"I'm going down there. You have people covering me, and you will keep anyone from approaching us." Hock ordered his men. "I've got the suit if things get dangerous." He was wearing the best suit of armor sold in the Terminus Systems. It was designed by what was left of the Lystheni, a rogue group of Salarians who specialized in wearable tech that could be easily disguised. They were difficult to get any kind of information on or get a hold of. But money always spoke clearly. The armor he was wearing had small wires that ran up his neck and through his hair, ready to deploy kinetic barriers and tech armor the moment things got dangerous. They had tested it on a crash dummy and the round had never even penetrated. It gave him some comfort.

Jack Harper was here, and he knew it. In plain sight, even. He was sitting in between a few food trucks and the First Contact War monument, at a chess table. Donovan couldn't risk Jack Harper revealing any secrets or creating any rifts in his men. The only ones he could trust to keep their mouths shut were on the  _Normandy_. So he took a small risk. There was enough of a troop presence in the crowd that he could get out before his barriers dropped.

The chess table had been set up curiously. The bishops were missing, as were the pawns in front of them. The pawns in front of the knights were also missing. He sat down on the other side of the chess board. "What is this supposed to be?"

Jack Harper was grinning. "Exactly what you may expect." He moved the pawn in front of his king out one space. "We both have people in place. A shadow war waiting to happen with thousands of lives at stake. I took the liberty of removing some of the pieces. We've been at this a little while, after all." Jack smirked. "But that is only part of the reason I wanted to meet with you."

"Jack, for all the years we were partners, you do realize that I am here to kill you." Donovan said, picking up one of his knights. Jack had chosen the color white, for some odd reason. Trying to maintain some kind of moral high ground. "A chess game won't change that." He placed the knight forward, putting the pawn in a threatened position.

"I'm not asking for you to stop trying to kill me." Jack offered. "Though I am not trying to kill you."

"That seems unlikely." He scoffed. "You've certainly been trying to destabilize me."

"You planted Jones in my company years before stealing everything you could. Anything I did in return has been self-defense or damage control." Jack shrugged. The game started playing out. Jack being forward and aggressive, and Hock playing defensively. A shadow of the real war between them. "The pressure I am putting on you and the Council is to make sure you don't go into a peacetime mentality. You remember my source of technology, the one that inspired the Thanix cannon?"

"I remember." Jack moved to threaten his knight and his pawn with his own knight. He moved the knight away, taking his sweet time about it. "I also remember that those ships have been associated with the Rachni."

"Tangentially." He took the pawn, seeing no consequences for doing so. "I would say that this pawn symbolizes your lovely apartment in New York." Jack said, his lips turning upwards. "No one of importance is staying there, currently. But still, it is a loss." Hock had no way of confirming that. "Those ships are called Reapers by the Protheans. At least the ones who made the beacons called them that, and they use 'lesser' races for their own benefit."

"Rupert, could you call my desk in New York? I want to know if anyone is staying there." Hock said into his wrist. "Let's call that bluff." He took out the offending knight, holding the white piece up to the sunlight. "I'll call this one Yvette Norling." He knew that the CEO of Alliance News Network was a closet supporter of Harper. She would be buried in scandal before the end of the day. "I've not seen enough data to prove that those ships aren't under your control."

"I captured a dead one, sure." Jack said, not worrying about his knight. "A shame about Yvette. I hadn't ever gotten to call in those favors." They started posturing with their pawns, setting up a battle line that allowed their rooks to be able to move. Their queens remained untouched. Rooks , if threatened they would move. "If I controlled even one of those ships, I can guarantee you that I would be hitting Thessia within the day. They have something I need."

"The Asari would just love that." Hock muttered. Both of them lost pawns. He lost Sian Siwa, one of his best contacts in the Reds. He also lost Governor Kendrick of Terra Nova. Jack lost Harkin of C-sec and Yorlin Korlack, a Volus banker that pushed much of his money through Illium. But in taking the last pawn, Jack had left the route open to his queen. The only piece that could take it was his own queen, but at the same time he didn't have forces in place to remove Jack's base of operations. He didn't know where it was. "So who controls those ships? Your daughter claims it is an Asari masquerading as Spectre Vasir."

Jack too, did not move his queen forward. He must be bound by the same problem. "They control themselves. They are partially alive. A controlling intelligence exists at their core. But if you enter their ships, it seems as though they can change and alter the senses of those that come inside. Drones don't report back accurately, and mechs don't return if you send them in. If you enter on your own, you can't trust your own sense of touch. It, like your other senses, is false. Alien, dark, controlling. Their power core is buried deep enough that I haven't found it or seen any actual scans of it." Instead of a queen, Jack moved one of his rooks forward.

"You went inside one of them?" Hock asked honestly.

"The dead one." Jack clarified. Hock lost his knight, after a rousing chase across the board. "Vido Santiago." Hock narrowed his eyes. "Perhaps you know him better as General Torres. You protected him, from the Alliance after the Shangxi revolution. Gave him over to the Reds. I've been looking forward to getting back at him for decades." Torres was the one who trained all of his hit squads. All of the men with Jenkins. Everyone thought that Vido Santiago had died on Shangxi. Hiding him among the Reds had been one of his first acts against Harper.

"What was it like?" Hock asked. A message came in on his Omni-tool.  _Your apartment in New York had a serious gas leak. Most of it is ruined, and insurance might not cover it. We are also seeing parts of our network going dark._  Frustrated, he took another one of Jack's pawns. "There goes your man at Synthetic Insights." His only agent there, as far as Hock could find.

"I could describe it as a labyrinth. Every surface I touched could have been false, not real. The light played with your eyes, to the point that it burns images into your skull. There are no interior lighting or convenience systems. There are no crew, and any spaces that remain are set up to carry their husks. Troops only, no vehicles of any kind. Some sphere-shaped fighter craft." Jack made motions with his hands. "I shared all of that technology with the Alliance first and foremost."

"And the Migrant Fleet?" Hock asked. "Stealth technology?"

"That and more are the product of their Prothean beacon. As you might understand they were loathe to share the technology. But combined with the tactical cloaking implant that I patented, they were able to implement it." Jack started moving his rooks, as the pawns started dying out in the center. Hock was using his one remaining knight to remove pawns at will. It was easy to dodge the ambling rook. Even when given the opportunity, neither man put the other into check. The kings and queens remained unmoved. At least until Jack forced his rook into the corner and took it. "Let's call this one Jeroth. Don't you think?"

Hock frowned. "I would hesitate to say that Jeroth is dead."

Jack smiled. "Well, let's see how things play out."

"What, you want to sit here at this table as our people kill each other?"

"Exactly." Jack said coldly. "I know who you brought. You know who I brought. So, rather than be ungentlemanly, we shall solve this over a chessboard." He waved his arm around the public square. "We can both command from here. It's not like anything we say will save anyone."

"Why put yourself at risk, Jack?" Hock asked carefully. He still hadn't taken his hand off of the rook. His move was still not over.

"If only to prove to you that I am serious about the Reapers. Humanity needs to stand together, and if that means I need to shit all over your plans to force you to work together with me again, I will. I want to prove to you, today, that I can remove you from the board without taking any serious casualties."

"We'll see about that." Hock said. "End your move."

Jack grinned, and let go of the rook. As soon as his hand left the piece, the explosions started. The crowd started screaming, running away from where the explosions had originated. Hock noted with marked distaste that all of his sniper positions were gone. Rooftops of the synthetic marble buildings were on fire, Salarians jumping from them to avoid the fires. Through it all, Jack calmly reached for a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of champagne. "It's Dom Perignon. Your favorite."

Hock was ignoring his Omni-tool chatter. Jack was ignoring his own. "You would remember. Ah, a 2154. Not a perfect year, but popular nonetheless."

"A toast. To happier times." Jack offered, two crystal glasses on the table.

"To happier futures." Hock reiterated, clinking his glass against Jack's. Even though fire and flames were all around them, their eyes never left the table. The man behind it all. He had a pistol on his thigh. But he had no desire to draw it as of yet. "Once my gunships get in the air, you realize that your teams are going to be cut off." He told the man, placing his rook in a position to murder the knight who had taken his other rook. Pawns were at risk as well. Jack moved one of them out of the way to avoid more needless death.

The Eclipse had placed some of their 'Little Sisters' in the crowd of civilians. They stood up, their baggy clothing and winter gear concealing their forms effectively. Human women who joined Eclipse were given slightly better treatment than most of the Salarians, due to their physical appearance being near to that of Asari. Ten of them surrounded the table. Hock reflected that by putting Jack's king in check with his own knight. As he did so, the weapons were perfectly leveled at him. "Poetic. But they made a critical mistake."

"Oh?" Hock said. Jack must have been stalling for time.

Then the food trucks  _stood up_. Each unfolded into mechanical battle suits, with troopers jumping out of them. Troopers in Crucible gear. Some were still wearing aprons declaring their place of work as the 'Cheesy Pig' food truck. The knight on the board disappeared as the queen destroyed it, corresponding with the deaths of all of the Little Sisters. Dozens of Eclipse mercs flooded into the courtyards, trading fire with the disguised food truck workers. None of their rounds hit them, impacting kinetic barriers that stood between their duel and the larger battle. "I don't have you in check yet." Jack muttered. "But my people are good at what they do."

"So, who is your queen today?" He chuckled. "Hannah?" His pawn had to move out of the way of one of Jack's rampaging knights. "She'll break before she kills my queen."

"Jona Sideris is not a real threat to my girlfriend." Jack said clearly. "She loved the Orlov Sceptre, by the way. Your gift was greatly appreciated." He moved one of his rooks back, to prevent any more of his pawns from moving forward towards the king and queen. "When are those gunships coming? Or have they been  _delayed_?"

"I don't need gunships." Hock muttered, tapping out a message on his wrist. Two large moving trucks arrived in the square, dumping out four of the newest Hayne-Kadar YMIR mechs. As well as a few dozen LOKI and FENRIS mechs into the mix. Cops and Eclipse mercs both started coming out of the buildings around the square, guns firing into the smoke. The modified food trucks didn't have enough armor to match the YMIRs, and Jack started scowling. "Gunships were the distraction, Jack. None of my mechs are networked." He placed a rook in line with Jack's king. "Check."

Jack grinned. "I know." He tapped his own wrist, and moved his king out of the way. A large transport dropped low over the square, marked with firefighting symbols. Water, along with fire retardant spray was dropped on the courtyard, oddly targeting the edges of the conflict and moving inwards. His mechs were drenched in the stuff, making his LOKIs a mess of parts and guns. The FENRIS mechs were just washed away, leaving only the YMIR mechs still standing. The worst and most damning part of it all was that the fire department did their job. The fires were put out, and the firefighting starship then moved on to the rooftops. "Such reliable civil services on this planet. It makes me jealous. Omega hardly has anything in comparison."

"Your mechs are terrible in comparison to what legitimate business partners are capable of." Hock muttered, finally moving his queen. "My queen isn't Sideris, if you must know." He finally moved his queen forward. "One and Two, are you inbound?"

" _ETA fifteen minutes, Sir._ " Came the clear voice of Lazarus Two.

"Good. You brought the  _Normandy_." Jack muttered. "I wanted a better ride off this planet than some junkyard crate."

"The Alliance will follow her right in." Donovan said. "They'll come for you."

Jack tapped a button on his wrist. "I am counting on it." He said arrogantly. "But can Jona hold long enough for them to get here?" One of the buildings nearby exploded as a rocket hit the face of it. "Survey says no." Jack moved his knight forward, threatening Donovan's one remaining rook. Two shuttles rose up over the courtyard, with guns mounted on the side of them. They were strafing the buildings, keeping the Eclipse down and the cops from advancing. "The Reapers want the Citadel. They'll try to make a move on it soon."

"How soon?"

"Less than six months. More than two weeks." Jack offered. "They can come from outside the normal relay paths. We found a backdoor into some primary relays. But the Rachni don't need them. These Reapers can pick up and carry objects with them into FTL. They blueshift a sphere around themselves, and can take Rachni forces deep within our space. That's how they got to Galatana. The Asari are lucky they haven't been more aggressive. But that won't last. The Rachni are just multiplying out there. With these Reapers fueling them, they can out maneuver and outnumber us within the year. They'll need to take out either the Citadel or Arcturus in the next three months if they want to win this war."

"Because we will be able to reach them within four months." Hock said. "The military is salivating at the idea of going in there."

"It'll only be a trap." Jack said. "It'll be worse than Suen. Unless you can wipe out the entire star system in one shot you're looking at a siege." It went unsaid that the Alliance, as well as the Turians, did not have a supply line to fight a war that deep in the Terminus Systems. Nor did they want to be in the Terminus for more than a few weeks at most. There was no way to support that kind of war. Their supply lines would go directly through all of those warlords and pirates. "We can't target the Rachni. We can't target their allies."

"Who would dare to be allied to the Rachni?"

"The Geth." Jack said. They were just moving their rooks around now, not accomplishing anything. Both stalling for time. "They developed the armor and plasma weapons that the Rachni now use. They supply them."

"Bold claims." Hock said. Another ship carved across the horizon, coming down low between the buildings. "Is that your yacht?" He said with skepticism. "Are you evacuating now?"

Jack scrunched his face. "That's not mine, actually." He grinned suddenly. "But she's welcome all the same."

"So, what. Another piece on the board?" Hock joked. "Or is this some third party going to throw off everything."

"Could be." Jack mused. Then the sky rumbled, and the board between them shook. The clouds turned black, and lightning sparked between them. Red lightning. "Damn it all."

"What?"

"Looks like the Reapers want to play as well." Shapes fell to the ground, almost crystal in their configuration. None of them were large enough to be entire ships. Hock realized with a crushing sensation that they were drop pods. Rachni drop pods. "Well, Donovan, circumstances have changed. Humanity should be united in times of trial. I believe our game is over."

"The hell it's not." Hock muttered. "The spaceport just got hit by the Rachni. You aren't getting out of here."

Jack tipped over his king. "No one is." He took the queen off the table. "But I'm pulling my people back. You and yours should focus on the defense." The fingers of the Reaper started pressing through the clouds, and Jack stood up. "Truce, Hock."

Donovan was angry. But then his Omni-tool beeped a confirmation code. The  _Normandy_  was inbound. "Fine. Truce." Jack wasn't getting his damn ship back. They shook hands, and then took off at a run. Jack towards the landing yacht, and Hock towards Jona. The air around them rattled, and the rest of the chess pieces fell as the Reaper broke through the cloud layer. The rest of the bottle of Dom Perignon crashed into the ground, Hock did not dwell on that.

* * *

Shangxi, XinPei System, January 2183

"I've got him lined up." Henry said carefully. "When are we starting this party?"

" _Wait until the signal. Once a rook is taken, we move._ " Allison Gunn said. " _Hock's got too many guns on us._ " Dozens of Eclipse mercenaries were in the crowd, the winter weather giving them plenty of cover. Insulated jeans and lycra leggings were everywhere, tight enough to be interesting to look at. They were also loose enough to conceal armor if someone wanted to hide it. Winter in this part of Shangxi was cold and breezy, and so insulated clothing was required. There was fog, most of the time.

It made looking at all of the women very enticing. There was also too many fit women in the courtyard to be normal. Oh, they all concealed their gear well enough, but there was a pattern to their actions. They checked their surroundings, and looked at the thin rows of gardened plots like they could conceal enemies. Considering the fact that up until a minute ago he was flipping burgers this was a nice reprieve. A lot of the Human Eclipse mercs were rather cute, too. They all had massive handbags. Big enough for shotguns. Women had all the luck on concealed carry permits. It wasn't hard for them to sneak in a folding shotgun anywhere. For Henry, he had to be carrying a musical instrument box or some other long box just to get his rifle into a building. Henry was terrible at music, as a result of many operations like this one. This time, he was able to bring his rifle in with the food bags.

The side mirrors of the food trucks had sensors that could tell when other cars came too close. These naturally rotated, which gave those inside the truck easy sources of camera input. This allowed Henry the ability to look at the cute Eclipse mercs, as well as their leader. One of them, at least. The Salarian was overlooking the courtyard from the security of a balcony, a few glowing orange interfaces nearby. He was talking to multiple channels of the mercenaries, managing a lot of them. He wanted his rifle on him. "Shev." He muttered. "Take a look at this."

Shev'rash took his place at the monitor, staring at the input. "He's got two layers of barriers. Phasic rounds won't punch hard enough." The Quarian muttered. "But the emitters are inside the room. Looks like Jeroth, though."

"I thought he was still on Omega." Henry muttered. "He'll have snipers all over the place."

"Little horny bastard." Shev'rash muttered. Henry laughed at that. Salarians didn't have emotions like that. "Well, good thing the boss built explosives into all of the buildings. We just gotta trigger the right ones."

"Can't believe he wired the entire city for this."

"He said he wired all of the  _important_  locations to blow if he needed a distraction. Neutral territory my ass." Shev'rash muttered. "The moment he decides to put down that little piece of plastic I am going to kill everyone.  _Then_  I will get drunk."

Henry didn't laugh at that. The Quarian meant it. He was the one who was supposed to be this crazy biotic's back up. He was thumbing an SMG and a shotgun. Henry had his sniper rifle, a backup sniper rifle, as well as his own SMG. The five men and women in the food truck with them were also heavily armed, but were able to conceal it behind cooking gear. All of them were some of the best that Crucible had to offer.

" _Rook is down! I repeat, Rook is down!_ " Allison yelled over the comms. Nothing more needed to be said. Henry slammed his helmet down over his head, and his rifle was in hand a moment later. There was one poor bastard at the front of the line, who was wearing Eclipse armor under his winter coat. He got a plate full of boiling oil in his face before one of his Crucible soldiers put him down with a shotgun.

"Go go go!" Four of them piled out, and Shev'rash ran over three mercenaries on his way to the largest one, the unfortunate woman getting launched over two hedges. Her companion's uncovered head turned to gore as Henry picked it off, running forward. His SMG barked eagerly, putting down the scattered Eclipse troops. A man wearing a set of dark blue gear started running towards him, and he pulled out a pistol. Henry knew it wasn't anything more than a Shrike-I, and wouldn't get past his barriers.

He gathered his biotics, running at the man. Henry was a mediocre biotic, one with a specific mental block. He had failed to be able to manifest a biotic field outside of his own skin. He could create a barrier, lower or raise the pull of gravity on himself, and that was about it. He was no genius about that, but he did what he could. So when he lowered his shoulder, the idiot tried to match him. Henry increased his gravity around him, and with that he outweighed the other guy. He didn't have to kill him, just prove a point.

The other members of Crucible took cover around the lines of gardening plots. They got as low as they dared, knowing that the Eclipse had snipers on the rooftops. Then the food truck transformed. Charles had these in storage just in case, old construction mechs that had been concealed as food trucks. They had to shave off armor on the back of the mech, but the weapons and armor could be concealed behind garish paint jobs and large tires.

The ice cream truck at the center of the formation had its giant ice cream cone split into a large anti-air cannon. Henry smirked as Don's creation began firing, destroying armored figures wherever they stood. " _This is Don. Snipers have us pinned down!_ "

"Yeah, yeah, we're on it. Keep your pants on." Henry replied, looking across the courtyard to where Jeroth had been. Most of the building had been preserved after the explosions, making it the most likely location of the snipers. "Let's go people!"

There was a gap in the enemy lines, as scared civilians ran away from all of the fire and the danger. Henry ducked low, running up behind some of the crowds. The mercenaries were easy to see. Just watch for where the crowds split, and there would be someone with a gun on the other side. His orders were clear. Kill anyone trying to kill them. Short bursts from his rifle hit each and every Eclipse merc as they got near the street. They were dropping, most of them not even wearing their helmets or gloves when things started.

That meant that they had to regulate the heat of their weapons more carefully. Phasic rounds were perfect for this. No helmet, no problem. One shot, one kill. They were doing alright, and Henry got ready to push across the open street and into the buildings. Then the moving trucks showed up. They were packed to the brim, flying low. They hit the ground, in one instance running over a few fleeing civilians. Henry had to keep his eyes on the trucks, and not the people pinned down by all of this. Then the contents of the trucks appeared.

Eclipse had deployed their own mechs, as predicted. LOKI and FENRIS mechs by the dozen poured into the courtyard, using their VI protocols to surround them. The back of the trucks held something larger. "Huh." Cylindrical bodies that stood nine feet tall were dropped onto the ground. "That's new."

" _Those are YMIRs!_ " Don bellowed. He was manning the ice cream truck mech. It was in charge of defending Jack, if anything broke the cordon. " _Prototype heavy mechs. Missiles and Vulcan repeater cannons."_

"Deploy mines! Slow them down!" The anti-air cannon on the back of the ice cream truck rotated lower, bringing itself to bear on the heavy mechs. But now, without their heavy guns on the rooftops the Eclipse were starting to get more confident. They were going to counterattack, and flank them out. "Shev! I want you on those roofs! Charles, give me something for these mechs!"

Shev'rash hit the roof, his biotic aura flashing out of existence on some poor sniper. An Asari, judging by the shape going through midair. Henry got off two shots before his rifle started overheating, and took cover. " _This is the fire department, how can I direct your call?_ " Kasumi's voice carried over the channel.

Rounds impacted around him, as one of his Crucible agents took a burst of fire from the approaching mechs. He switched over to his SMG, and then took a knee to carefully aim at the approaching YMIR. Of course, that was when a damn FENRIS hit him. The dog like mechanical things were built to incapacitate people. The shock to his system was enough to shut down his muscles and go right through his armor. Crying out, he shoved his cybernetic arm through the mech. "Fire department." He grunted, pushing the hulk off his chest. "Please stop the fires and the large heat signatures in the courtyard. Any word on those gunships?"

" _The entire spaceport is having some technical difficulties at this moment. Emergency services has been directed to assist. We are happy to take your call._ " Kasumi said in a sing-song voice. Henry had let the cutesy act fool him for a while. Then she took him to town far too many times in Skyllian five. Too many times. " _Hold on to something._ "

Three of his squad were down or bleeding. Henry crawled over to two of them, wrapping his legs around a bike rack. One of them was still shooting, his helmet cracked but still bringing down mechs. More of those damned FENRIS tried to get close, but his SMG kept them away. "We're secure!" By just a set of armor grips on a bike rack, but that was about as secure as they were going to get.

Kasumi released thousands of gallons of water into the park, washing away people, mechs, trees, and a small dog. It had to be a dog, because the dog poop that slammed into his visor was wet. He didn't have a hand free to wipe it off, so it remained. Once the water tailed off, Henry got to his feet. Around him, others were getting up. Two of his people, one of the Eclipse, and a couple civilians pulling themselves out of the bushes they had been stuck in. Scratch the Eclipse member. She went down hard, still trying to cough up all of the water she had just swallowed.

" _Gunn! I need support!_ " Shev'rash was up on the roof, still. He had gotten to the building where Jeroth was, and the Salarian had come out to meet him. Five Asari and the Salarian himself were on the rooftop, keeping Shev'rash pinned behind an A/C unit. The Asari were keeping the biotic pinned, keeping him from doing anything more than focusing on his barriers. " _Bosh'tets have tech bullshit._ "

Henry muttered something. "Don, I need those YMIRs taken out! Gimme some cover!" He didn't check to see that Don was coming. The Krogan would come no matter what. He ran for the street, pockmarks tearing up his previous position of cover. The rounds stopped coming, making Henry glance over. The ice cream truck had powered through one YMIR whose barriers had dropped, and was pinning a second one to a bus stop. The back tires were squealing, digging into the machine innards of the mech. The front tires would touch the ground for a moment, kicking forward, before being pushed back by the mech.

Henry had not been selected as the leader of Alpha team because of his abilities as a sniper. He would like to think it was for his charming ability to deal with people and his management skills. More likely it was his N5 status and his long years as a special operative. He grasped his biotics, concentrating them tightly in his legs. His head started hurting immediately, warning him that he was overdoing it. But right now it didn't matter. He could suffer from a headache later. Huffing his breath, he started sprinting towards the building.

His weight dropped, and he came to a leading jump that got him up to the third story of the building. He was no pole-vaulting champion, and a man in armor rarely looked graceful when they jumped. Still, it got him to the edge of the windowsill, and from there armor and a cybernetic limb could get him the rest of the way. The roof had a cheap ornamental molding that his cybernetic limb had no trouble punching through. Through the molding and the dainty boot on the other side.

The Asari was good, he had to admit. His arm registered damage from a shotgun before he was able to get a good enough hold on the ankle. He pulled, using her as a stable position, mentally commanding his fingers to lock in place. Then, gravity resumed its hold on him, and his two hundred and thirty pounds started dragging her. Her leg came through the plaster, all the way to the knee. His SMG went right through it, blood and gore spraying into the plaster. Normally the scream that a woman gave would make him pity her, or be concerned. This was a hardened mercenary, and that was the thought he kept in his mind as the SMG carved a path through her torso.

Her two sister Eclipse mercs came to flank him, and got eaten by their airborne shuttle craft. Jeroth was not among the dead when Henry pulled himself up onto the roof. Shev'rash offered his hand to Henry, and got him onto the rooftop. "The slimy bosh dropped into the room below. Kinetic barrier emitters are still working down there."

"Well, what are we waiting for. We gotta get him." Henry huffed, trying to breath. "Ladies first."

Shev'rash pushed him. His biotics hadn't recharged yet, and the splitting headache made any attempt to raise his barriers fail. Shev didn't even use his own biotics. "Sonuva-"

The harsh sound of a sniper rifle unloading made him roll as he hit, his barriers dropping to almost nothing. Whatever that Salarian was using, it had punch. It didn't have phasic rounds, thankfully. But small bursts of frozen materials were spreading from the contact point on the couch he had fallen behind. That was one shot. No matter what mods that rifle had, it would be able to fire a second before overheating. Henry rolled behind another piece of furniture, that rifle going off again. The chair he rolled behind shattered into pieces, the smallest looking like frozen ice pieces.

Henry took a knee, and stood up. He paid for this with a Cryo blast. Liquid Nitrogen splashed all over his helmet and arms, and he fell back behind the chair. "Shev!"

"He's got scram rails!" The Quarian yelled down to him. An explosion sounded, and his friend fell down onto the remains of the chair, needing to roll into cover near Henry. Now they both were behind a couch. "And tech mines!"

Henry risked a glance above the couch, seeing Jeroth standing behind a kinetic barrier emitter. Just to make sure that the little bastard didn't get any wise ideas, Henry lined up a shot on him. The phasic round didn't penetrate far enough into the multiple kinetic barriers to be able to do anything more than make a pretty light show on his torso. Jeroth smirked at his attempt, letting the vents on the side of his rifle spit steam. Henry slumped back behind the couch. "Okay, that's frustrating. Shev, can you hit him with anything?"

His visor went up above the couch to peek at the enemy. "Nope."

"Then you need to get in there."

"Also nope." Shev'rash muttered. "But I've got a few ideas." Shev started with a chair, sending it into the layered barriers put up by the emitters. It was intercepted by a tech power. Something nasty. Shev stood up, biotics glowing bright. Enough that even Henry's weak senses were able to tell what was going on. Henry provided covering fire, while Shev'rash Pulled a large fridge over to them. "Go!" With the fridge, they both ripped off the doors and each picked up one end. Then they charged forward, the shots from Jeroth bouncing off the fridge and their barriers. Laughing like maniacs, they overtook Jeroth where Salarians were weakest: Close range.

Salarian melee training usually consists of run away or don't. Jeroth met them up close, his gauntlets striking Henry and unleashing high voltage. Followed by a blast of cryo materials, and Henry was pinned to the fridge. Smart little bugger. Shev'rash enjoyed his turn, wild kicks and biotics-enhanced elbows coming at the Salarian. Quarian melee training consisted of brutal strikes to vulnerable regions and a more defensive style, suited for getting out of the line of fire as soon as possible. Shev'rash didn't have that luxury, and so willingly took an Incinerate to the vizor to bring his elbow down on Jeroth.

Jeroth rolled his head backward, avoiding the elbow and letting it brush against his collar. The biotic field caught up to him, slamming him into the ground. He rolled before Shev'rash had even started his foot stomp, leaving a tech mine. "You bumbling Crucible fools." He said, talking to them for the first time. "We have your combat tactics programmed into our training manuals. I know what you are going to do before you even do it." Just to prove it, he got in under Shev's guard, making casual work of dodging his arms and leg. Then he stepped back out of it, Overloading the Quarian. "Once Jona finishes with her part, you'll all be leaderless."

"You seem to be forgetting one thing." Henry grunted, restoring his barrier and breaking free of the fridge. He needed to buy time, and apparently his old moves wouldn't work against someone like this. "People like us inherently lie." Henry let the little bastard come over to him to 'prove' his superiority. Salarians were reckless like that, proving that they were better in all the ways that counted. Henry rarely had to use his N5 CQC training. Krav Maga was a brutal martial art, and Henry was not great at it. After Torfan he never finished his training in it. But there was a sense of satisfaction as his knee slammed into the bastard's horn.

Shev'rash tackled the Salarian, still on fire. With Shev'rash holding his arms and head, and Henry's knee on his torso, they had him pinned. "Henry." Shev'rash piped up. "Did we have a capture or kill order on the horny little bastard?"Through their visors both smirked. Or at least Henry assumed Shev'rash did. His eyes crinkled sometimes when he got happy. And Shev'rash was only too happy to crush this guy's skull. But in his flailing he Incinerated Shev'rash and Henry. They put a few rounds into his chest, just to make sure he was dead. "Quick, put me out!" The fire extinguisher was put to use, leaving both of them covered in foam and retardant spray. Their armor was scratched and dented, but they were alive and okay.

"This is Alpha team. Primary objective two cleared." He heard the rest of the YMIR mechs explode sometime during the extinguishing of fire. Don must be having a field day.

" _Evac, I repeat Evac now!_ " Allison was yelling. " _Reaper inbound! We are in an underground bunker, and recommend all forces fall back beneath the surface. Spaceport is no longer viable._ " That meant that they weren't getting out of here fast. " _The_ Acheron _just landed. New orders, people. Engage the Rachni, get to the_ Acheron." Waypoints appeared on the HUD.

"Rachni. Great." Shev'rash muttered. "I'm armed for mechs and jackasses." Henry picked up Jeroth's sniper rifle, and smirked. Cryo ammo and scram rails would do the job perfectly. Rachni wouldn't like this. He tossed it over to the Quarian, who hefted it.

"This is alpha team. We read you loud and clear." He sent back to Allison. Then he fist-bumped Shev'rash as they moved for the stairs.

* * *

Xinpei System, January 2183

Julia smirked as they passed the cargo hauler that the  _Normandy_  was inside of. It would only be a matter of time, now. "Joker, are they transmitting anything?"

"Of course they are, Commander." Joker muttered. "But I don't have any decrypting materials here, so the only thing I can say is that they are transmitting something. You'll need someone better at comms to handle that."

"What can you tell me?"

"Well," Joker said from his chair. He had barely left it, apparently wanting the leather designer chair on the  _Normandy_  instead of the Alliance standard one. "There are dozens of sensor shadows out on the rim, but that's normal for this place. The Reds like to smuggle ships in and out of here, and they drop so many false IDs to spoof patrols that some don't get cleaned up for months. Without access to the Alliance net I can't tell you which ones are old and which ones are new."

"So there could be hostile ships out there?"

"Pssht, no." Joker said. "The Reds just smuggle their crap through here. Like these for example," He showed her some sensor shadows that were actually coming near the gas giant in system. "These are most likely old beacons that are breaking down, getting pulled by gravity back into the solar system. Someone must have had a really bad day a few years ago, because that's gotta be at least ten beacons out there." Joker laughed. "Like they just dropped their pants and ran."

"You're sure that they aren't a threat?"

"Look, Commander, the Alliance has four frigates and a cruiser on patrol duty out there. They would have let regular traffic know if any shots were fired. We're ok from that angle." Joker squinted. "But that's not good."

She leaned over him, looking at the console. "Why is the mass of that cargo hauler getting larger?"

"It shouldn't be." Joker muttered. "Hang on, we're catching up."

As they approached, they could see the cargo hauler beginning to break up into pieces. A controlled break up, with the armored panels of the cargo cage opening. "Did they see us?"

"We're outside of visual range, Commander. If they see us, it's not because of me. I've been keeping at least eighty thousand kilometers between us and them." Joker said. "Mass has dropped. They've left the cargo hauler. I can't see them, so they're already stealthing their way in."

"Damnit." Becca muttered. "Now what?"

"They have to be going somewhere." Her XO said as well, making the area around Joker's seat and terminal rather crowded. "Ma'am, in my opinion they may not have wanted to do this so early. I'm getting reports from Shangxi of some kind of trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"A battle between Crucible mercs and Eclipse mercs. Apparently the local Alliance patrol is being asked to come and evacuate some high value targets. Ambassador Hock among them."

"Ambassador Hock was supposed to meet with me and Halmabad later today." Julia mused. "What brought him here?"

"No idea, but there is only two places that the  _Normandy_  would likely go if they are abandoning the cargo hauler. Either they realized we are on to them and are moving to engage us, or they are running away. Behind us is the relay, and ahead of us is the planet."

"So we don't know where they are going, and we don't have a way of blasting our signal again." Julia glanced at the monitors. "Pressley, why are these sensor shadows getting closer?"

He frowned, his glare focused on the readouts. "Ma'am, the only reason that those sensor shadows would be moving that fast is if they were inbound into the inner system. The beacons that the Reds like to use mimic a mass, and display signals to that end. These are odd. They don't have any ID signals they are trying to spoof."

"Which means?" Julia said.

"It means trouble." Pressley muttered at the same time as his wife. "Pirate trouble. Might be why the  _Normandy_  jumped out." He glanced at the readouts. "Either way, we'll know soon. The sensors on this thing are older, and we won't know until we get closer into the system."

"I've got one of them figured… Oh hell." Joker said the last two words very quietly. "It's back. That thing is back!"

"It's not a complete sensor reading, Joker, you don't know for sure!" Pressley barked, looking rather pale. "Running it again." He spat. "Damn it. They don't see it coming, either."

"Pressley?"

"That Dreadnought is back, Sir. The one we saw on Asteria. And Shangxi doesn't know it's coming. They'll only get forty five seconds before it's on them, and all of the orbital stations take at least ninety to get up to speed. The Alliance can't intercept."

"What if we alerted them?"

"They would have to double check, with Arcturus. Signal lag will still kill them before they can do anything about it." Pressley muttered. "Ma'am, permission to break stealth?"

"Granted." That gigantic dreadnought could kill the  _Normandy_  and the _Acheron_  the slightest change in temperature or stimulus. "So long as you can guarantee our survival."

"I'll do my best." He said honestly. "The relay is going to be too far. It's on the other side of the gas giant anyways. We would have to go near their location just to blueshift to the relay. So," He input commands into the console. "We're going to Shangxi." He tapped the comm system control. "Attention crew, we are going to FTL. Repeat, we are going to FTL. Disable stealth systems on my mark." Julia chose to sit in the captain's chair, as Becca never used it. She would just pace, muttering about issues and problems that the yacht had. "Mark."

It was a short distance to Shangxi, but once they had blueshifted into FTL their ID and ship model were being fed into the automatic receivers on board the orbital defense stations. They of course registered their ship as belonging to Jack Harper, and on a direct course to their defense grids. "Joker, prepare for evasive maneuvers. Ready torpedoes for launch, but do not input correct targeting data. Just spook every marine in orbit and that'll be enough. Don't stress anyone's barriers, though. They'll need them at full strength."

"It is likely that the  _Normandy_  will be trying to get here as well. Put us down wherever that gunfire is going on."

"Ma'am, there are two places. The main spaceport has some sort of fight going on between Eclipse mercs and the local security forces, and then there is another fight between Eclipse mercs and a bunch of mechanized food trucks."

"Food trucks?" She wondered. "Go there. That has to be the place." Hannah had been wearing an ice cream truck uniform, along with Jack Harper.

"Ma'am, there are Rachni drop pods coming in behind us. Followed by their frigate analogues. I'm counting ten ships inbound for Shangxi." Pressley said with a look of worry. "One of those is a Queen ship. Three frigates, four cruisers."

"Comm lines are down. That Dreadnought's EMP is hitting the system." Joker reported, as their comm and sensor systems were starting to report false numbers or returning nothing at all. "Ma'am?"

"My orders stand. Mark high value VIPs for evacuation. Prepare to combat the Rachni." Julia stood up, thumbing the internal comms. "This is Commander Constantine. We are going to be landing on Shangxi. The Rachni are right behind us, with another one of those Dreadnoughts. Prepare for combat, all of you. We won't be coming back to this ship. The  _Normandy_  is coming here as well, and we are going to intercept it. The only way that we are going to keep this planet out of the hands of the Rachni is if we take back our ship. Lt. Zorah, keep that torpedo you modified. We might still need it."

"Sort of a grim speech, don't you think?" Becca told her once she had turned off the internal comm system.

"We have more time logged against the Rachni than any other starship crew. More kills, and we are the only ones who have killed one of their Queen ships. They know what to expect. We need our damn ship back." Pressley had picked up his heavy cannon, and hefted it with pride. Sergeant Harris had strapped the nav computer to his back, his armor marking him as a VIP. That nav computer would be needed when they took back their ship.

"ETA sixty seconds to landing, Commander." She glanced down at herself, reminded of her own lack of armor. A catsuit was not suited for open combat against the Rachni. Her Pheonix armor was upstairs.

"Roger that. Joker, log off the ship and suit up. Becca, you get your sons off this planet no matter what. Once we leave this ship you get the hell out of here. I'll meet you at the hangar deck."

The last view of the  _Acheron's_ bridge that she saw was of the atmosphere around the ship glowing cherry red. Shangxi didn't deserve this. A revolution, the Turians, they had both left their bloody marks on the planet. The original colony was still a pile of dust and rubble, left untouched due to the huge number of dead in the collapsed tunnels. Any reconstruction efforts were viewed as too expensive to be done over the site of the previous colony. The new colony was crisp, clean, and mostly owned by her subsidiaries. This place partially belonged to  _her_. Like hell she would let it fall.

* * *

Author's Note

This was awesome to write. I've had a dream about doing this kind of scene for years, and always imagined that Hock would be intrigued by meeting with Jack rather than vengeful. They were friends for a long time, after all. I hope that all of you enjoy this. Robotecha and I certainly did. Plus, the image of Jack Harper wearing a beer hat is just too funny to think about. No one would expect that of him. If you have any ideas for naming the ice cream truck, go right ahead. I haven't named that yet.

Also, this last week I managed to come by a bottle of Dom Perignon. If anyone can recommend a great recipe or two that involve champagne, I would be very pleased. A serious concern, as I am either going to cook with it or sell it. It is a $150 bottle of champagne, after all.


	77. Lucid: Crotch Rocket Cowboy

Chapter 77

Shangxi, Xinpei System, January 2183

When Jack had placed the rook down, Hannah had long since left the food truck. She had made it inside of the command center, and smirked to herself at all of the Eclipse mercenaries that were unaware of her presence. Or of her team. Kasumi was nearby as well, and Kreana was making her way through the vents.

" _Fingers are on the rook._ " Don told her, from his position inside the ice cream cone. " _Crap. One of your females is in the way. She's large. I can't see what's going on._ "

Hannah stepped over to the balcony, with the rest of the Eclipse mercs all watching their wrists or the square. One wasn't looking at her wrists. She was an Asari, with dark blue skin tone and stylized triangular shapes cascading down her forehead. Jona Sederis. Hannah's job in this operation was to keep Jona occupied. She was a great tactician, and if she was allowed to manage the Eclipse troops they would be a serious threat. One did not become a Terminus warlord without being good at your job.

As long as Jona was on the field, she was a threat. The moment her troops shipped out, Hannah had to take her down. Assassination would work best, she had decided. Once at the balcony, she was able to see down into the square. Zoom functions in her helmet gave her sight on the chessboard. "I see him." Including that smug look on his face. Jack must be having such a good time putting everyone's lives on the line. This whole operation was far too risky for her preferences. Twenty eight people and four of their mechanized combat trucks were not very much when compared to the hundreds that Eclipse had brought.

They also brought gunships. Thankfully, they already disabled those. Helium-3 was fueled on site, and introducing slight impurities in the mixture would make the initial burst at take off cause bubbles to form in the fuel lines, causing the sensors to go wild and warn the pilot that taking off might lead to rupturing the fuel lines. It might cause that, but it wasn't guaranteed. What it really did was just spoof all of the internal sensors and delay any action by those forces.

So, they had the infantry planned for, and the gunships disabled. Now they just needed to take care of Jona and Jeroth. They were the two commanders in charge of the Eclipse today. Jeroth did not normally leave his precious red sand operation on Omega, and Jona rarely left Ilium. As she mulled over this, she saw the rook in Jack's hand hit the board, and his fingers left it. "Rook is down! I repeat, Rook is down!"

It was with more than a little pride that she saw the members of Crucible come out of the mechanized food trucks. The first few moments of a battle were critical. If you didn't advance at the start of the battle, you let the enemy set the territorial advantage. The Eclipse were not in a good position to be able to interfere with them, and any security guards or cops didn't pack enough firepower to threaten them at this moment. Their armor was meant to take on the Blood Pack, as well as the Batarian slaver gangs. A few cops with their line production pistols were not going to be enough.

Once the local Alliance forces got involved it would be a different story. By then they had to be gone, underground or out of sight. Most of this damn plan was focused on the getting away rather than the starting of the fight. She heard over her radio the burst of chatter that accompanied the opening of a fight. It always frightened her. It was always someplace that she would rather not be. In fact, for the longest time she had trouble aiming for lethal shots. It took the N1 training to break her of it. After that, she learned from every knife fighting specialist that she could get clearance to see, and then more. She spent two months with Kurds in Syria, learning how they fought and lived their lives. Then another two months in Gorkhastan. The rest of the world called it a province of Nepal, but to the locals the  _Gurkas_  owned that area.

This was how she spent her 'off time' from her job back then, working for the Office of Intelligence. What little she got she would save until she could spend a reasonable amount of time off. She had to do a little jump to avoid the clumsy steps of a guy carrying a rocket launcher, his hair mussed up and unkempt. She figured that starting with him would be perfect. Especially since he was aiming towards Don. A tech grenade in the launch port was good. She had to keep herself from chuckling as she slipped the small disc into the weapon.

She wasn't even halfway to Jona when the eager fool pulled the trigger. It knocked her off her feet and broke her cloaking field. Jona was unsullied, glancing down at her with only distaste. One of her Lieutenants died from Kasumi's gauntlet striking the back of his neck. It barely even registered on her perception, though she did take action when Kreana took a shot from the vents. The Asari ducked, letting one of her hands clench as she hit the vents with a Throw. The rocket from Kreana hit the balcony, causing some of it to collapse and the railing to be blown right off. The entire vent housing shook, as it was blown back and into the next room. Kreana didn't make a sound as she got shunted along with it, but Hannah winced.

"Not even a sniper? A knife and a prayer?" She stepped back, grinning. "Get up, Human. I want this to last. The rest of your petty group won't make it five minutes. Someone on this planet needs to impress me."

Hannah got up, using her core muscles to flip from her position on the ground to a standing one. All those gymnastics as a child paid off, as she smirked at the Asari. Let's see her do that in a set of armor. The Asari was appraising her, giving her time. Kasumi had slipped away, jumping over the balcony and avoiding the four soldiers still in here with them. Those same soldiers had left Hannah alone, knowing that Jona had her eyes on her. "Allison Gunn." She introduced herself. "I'm here to kick your ass."

Jona laughed. "I'm going to break every single one of your bones and string you up where the rest of your people can watch you bleed out. Glad to see someone else leads from the front."

Keep her talking. She had failed to assassinate her, so now she just needed to buy time. Buy time for her people to take out the other targets. When the rumbling started and the roofs started exploding, she made her move. Overload first, though it didn't seem to get all the way through her barrier. Jona responded by activating a layer of Omni-gel over herself, focusing mostly on her joints and neck. Hannah frowned. Too many people knew that her specialty was up close.

The Omni-gel was almost an inch thick over the Asari's deep blue face and neck. Same with her lower back, armpits, and the knees. Hannah cracked her neck, knowing that on some level it might bother her. The ligaments in an Asari neck were weaker, less prone to build up cartilage. Or whatever they called their analogue. She knew it had bothered other Asari in the past. Anything at this point would count.

Well, Jona wasn't wearing a helmet. Hannah chucked a couple of tech grenades her way, knowing she only had a couple left on her belt. Then the smoke grenades laced with capsaicin. Asari had a terrible reaction to it. "Omni-gel won't save you!"

"I thought you were into date rape drugs!" The Asari returned.

"Good god, that was just one time!" Hannah replied. "Everyone buys into that crappy rumor!" Now, that was a lie. Asari date rape drugs were reliable methods of capture and control, and Hannah used it religiously. As religiously as anyone could, at that. Plus, that was her damn backup plan in all this. Perhaps she already had a counter in place.

The smoke cleared, far too quickly. Biotic force filled the room, pushing her back slightly along with the gasses. The smoke cleared, and Jona was smirking as the glow receded from her form. At least until the barrel of Hannah's shotgun was revealed.  _That_  made her dodge, but it was too late for the Omni-gel on her face. Her rounds pierced the barriers, and tore into the gel. Not enough, but by then there was no time for a second shot. They both rolled, Hannah back into the smoke and Jona into cover behind one of her flunkies. She cloaked, seeing through the haze enough to watch as Jona pulled her barriers back together. She laughed, a deep belly laugh, as they came back. "Oh yes! We shall dance! We will dance until the water returns the honored dead!" Again she laughed, the sound echoing.

The other Asari in the room were clawing at their eyes, as the smoke caused them to react. Jona herself was fine, swaggering her way out of the piece of cover. Hannah tossed one more tech grenade, this one a voice projector. "Not bloody likely!" No one wanted to wait until Athame came back from whatever afterlife she had claimed she had found.

She walked carefully to the right, putting the open window behind her, and Jona blasted the wall where her tech grenade was. Then the woman glowed, her biotics filling the area around her. Hannah chose to wait rather than fire her shotgun, noticing that both she and Jona had the same model of weapon. The Asari would cause herself pain if she held the force too long. "You forget, Human." She remarked casually. "You're predictable." The entire room got hit by a Pull, with every Asari and every Salarian getting yanked into midair and out towards the balcony. Without a railing, Hannah drifted past the edge without being able to grab hold of anything. Through it all, Jona was right behind her, grinning, as she too drifted through the air. Her eyes did not waver from Hannah, and with a crushing feeling realized that her cloaking field had been disrupted by the dust and corpses launched by the ability.

They were going to land right in the middle of all of the mechs. She hit a LOKI, the thing coming to pieces as she hit the legs. Her ankle  _snapped_  when it hit a garden planter, making her end her flight in a pile at the foot of the steps leading up to a gazebo. Jona was right on top of her, gracefully coming to her feet a few steps away. Two of her minions fell down with her, both of them sliding to a halt into garden planters and a FENRIS mech.

Her ankle was at a bad angle, and even though her medical mod on her catsuit was sending medi-gel there, it wouldn't be enough to let her walk. Rounds were flying around them, as the mechs on both sides blasted at each other. She herself had to pull her body up the stairs, the wooden gazebo holed and blasted by stray fire. It even had cute little Anne of Green Gables style designs on it. Jona walked forward, her steps calculated to keep her out of knife range. She let her gaze wander down Hannah's form, stopping at her ankle. Then she threw a Warp at the bent bone.

Hannah's world was filled with pain, as her leg's nerve endings could not tell her fast enough that she was being torn apart on the molecular level inside her already damaged leg. Her screams must have been heard by someone, because her radio went live. " _-ire department, ho-_ " Jona stepped on her leg, and Hannah howled, firing her shotgun at the blurry form of the Asari. She batted away the shotgun's barrel, the rounds blasting off part of the roof of the gazebo. It made a good sized hole, actually.

"You Humans are little more than scum. You think you can actually challenge anyone? Your technology is archaic. Your culture is grasping at the very idea of grace. Worst and most damaging is that you dare think you can change that." Jona kicked Hannah in the face, sending her to the ground.

" _-old onto something!_ " Hannah blinked, and rolled her body away. Water, foam, and suds rained upon all of them, the gazebo flooded with the stuff. Jona was launched away, her barriers not able to handle fire retardant foam sticking to her. The mechs, the garden plots, and the Asari all were pushed away from her. She braced her good leg in the patterned wood and shoved her knife into the posts for the roof. One of the other posts shattered when a FENRIS hit it, taking half the roof with it. She had a clear view of the sky, now.

She blacked out for a moment, and when she opened her eyes, a Reaper filled the sky. " _-lison! Allison, can you hear me?_ " Henry. Henry was talking to her.

"Yes." Her voice wasn't raspy or in pain.

" _Great. We are evacuating. Evac ship is at the waypoint. VIP is not secured. Boss is also not secured. All teams reporting losses, and all assets are moving for the waypoint. We think the EMP hit him and he can't contact us. Keep an eye out for him._ " Hannah used the post to get to her feet, avoiding touching or even thinking about her ankle. All around her was chaos. Rachni were coming up out of crystalline drop pods, and a YMIR mech still tried to fight off to the side. A Brood Warrior was tearing it apart, casually. A food truck was burning next to it, the Cheesy Pig. She didn't see the ice cream truck, which had most of their evacuation gear.

"I see him." She said on the comms. Jack Harper was stealing a motorcycle. She switched her external comms on. "Hey!" Jack twitched, his hands jerking and the bike starting. "Got room for one more?"

He had the decency to bring the bike up to the side of the gazebo post. "Come on. I drive, you shoot." Some of the outlying colonies still used these old machines, just because they were reliable and didn't break down as often. That Jack knew how to steal one was unsurprising. She had never used one of these things, much less drive them.

"My ankle." She muttered, thinking about how she was going to mount the bike. Jack just sighed, as if it were a great trouble to him to get up off the bike. Then he picked her up, setting her so that her back was against the console of the machine. It meant that she didn't have to use her body to hang on to the vehicle, and Jack could just pin her between him and the bike to keep her from falling off.

"I got you." He said into her ear. "Let's get out of here." The Rachni were starting to take notice of them. Her shotgun had disappeared in the rush of water, but her pistol was still in its holster. She grabbed Jack's pistol and slipped it into her right hand, and her left had her own. Jack always had a better pistol than her, so she used that in her primary hand. She grit her teeth as the motorcycle started, not used to any kind of bumpy car ride. But with all of the normal technology down, this was the only non EMP hardened vehicle that would work.

* * *

Sahabrik System, January 2183

"Okay, people. Carefully, we gotta go." Charles muttered. "This thing is the BAMF of all BAMF relays. So please be careful."

" _We're getting through! It's… odd. The codes we have aren't being recognized._ " Any craft that came close to the Omega-4 relay was automatically assumed to be using it. Jack told him that this bastard had to be shut down, without anyone knowing about it. Worse, any element zero based technology was going to be considered a ship of some kind and shunted to the other side. So they had to use antique space suit technology and antique computer gear to hack into an element zero based computer system, the operating system in a language that literally made someone insane, and  _He_  was the one who was supposed to fix all of this.

"Vigil might've been wrong?" Tesai muttered from beside him. His eyes wandered, of course. Damn traitorous eyes. His girlfriend was very nice to look at, after all. Wait, no, look back at the screen! Traitors.

"We didn't know if they would work. This is an old relay, and we might need something else. We planned for that." Oh yes, they planned for that. Jack put together every single resource that could be provided to him. "Start the clock." Eighteen minutes, give or take a few seconds. He had no idea where Jack had come up with that number, but he had told Charles that if he wasn't done in that amount of time, something would be coming to stop him.

" _Sir, we've found the contact ports. There is no disable functions or any of the normal controls that we're used to._ "

" _Default to plan B._ " Daro'Xen muttered. " _We are inbound._ " The Moreh and a few Quarian escorts were coming, and the men already on the relay had attached long cables to the forks. If they couldn't shut it down with Vigil's codes, then they were going to need something else. They had to get that relay to be unlinked from it's partner relay. If they could stop it from being pointed towards the other, it would make creating a massless corridor impossible. " _Connecting to the cables._ "

Eighty thousand kilometer cables were expensive. Fifty of them equipped with ancient technology and computers so the relay wouldn't notice them was crippling to gather, produce, and program. But there was something beautiful about watching all of his math run correctly, and every single cable shoot around the relay's forks and come swinging back around, both ends of the long cable magnetic. Even if no one else was proud of it, or showed any signs of thanks, he was smiling. That was hours of VI-assisted planning, and then manual input of all of the values, a multitude of tests, and of course a rehearsal of the operation. The cables had functioned admirably.

"We know that the relays pull on the gases that flow through space to feed into their maneuvering thrusters. They have to have a limited store of those gases. Get started!" Daro'Xen and her ships started pulling on the forks, and the relay reacted immediately. They knew that there was a limit, since the Mu relay had been forced to drift from the solar wind of an exploding star.

For five minutes, the relay bravely held itself in place, the ancient device barely moving. On the other hand, Daro'Xen had to cycle ships to keep the maneuvering thrusters on them from running out of fuel. Their actions did not go unnoticed.

" _Quarians._ " The voice of a Batarian came over the line. " _I am Bray. By the order of Aria, she commands that you do not touch the Omega-4 relay."_ Fifteen ships were coming from Omega, and they didn't look happy. They were all heavily armored cruisers and frigates.

"This is Charles." He said into the comms. "Continue with the operation." Then he changed his comm line to the open line with Bray. "Why hello there!" Tesai buried her vizor into her hands. He kept talking, even though inside he was dying a little. "We would love to work with your lovely Lady, we really would."

" _If you disregard Aria, your people will forever be barred from Omega._ "

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not Quarian." Charles said conversationally. "I'm pretty much Prothean by this point."

" _I've demanded what is necessary. I'm coming to kill you all._ " Bray terminated the communication. Charles laughed nervously.

"Okay, Javik. Time for some of your awesomeness to happen." Charles said. When nothing happened after thirty seconds, he laughed more quietly. "Javik? Where the hell are you?"

Nothing answered his call. Aria's ships kept coming. That Prothean said he was going to be here. He  _promised_. As the minutes passed, Charles realized with despair that Javik wasn't coming.

* * *

Shangxi, Xenpei System, January 2183

Javik grinned. He saw his objective. The Reaper was right in front of him. So very close. As it careened into the atmosphere, the SR-2 followed. She followed with all the grace that the best technology could give, diving through the red lined clouds. "Closer." Javik muttered. "Get closer."

The woman in the chair glared at him. "We can't. You  _know_  why. We don't have a Thanix cannon. We can't hurt it. We have nitrogen torpedos, but that's it." Miranda Harper was not his first choice of people to work with. But she was the only one on Ilos rated to drive his ship. She had not been pleased when she woke up in orbit, the cryogenic storage pod leaving her disoriented. Once he explained where he was going, and why, she had agreed to help him.

Javik scowled. "It will make planetfall." He said. "Then I shall strike."

"Fine." She muttered. "Your troops are making a ruckus." That they were, indeed. He could hear them through the holes in the decks. This ship was still far from complete, and it showed. Half of the terminals in the bridge were inactive. They didn't have people to man them. Liara, of course, was here. She was at the command station, her eyes crinkled in the same enjoyment that he himself was experiencing. She wanted a Reaper to fall as much as he did.

"I shall join them. Alert me upon the completion." He walked back, past the command chair. "Liara." He said softly, only enough for her to hear. Miranda Harper was still not to be trusted in his eyes. Oftentimes only his outer eyes would look over the lesser races. His inner eyes he reserved for his own kind, as well as the Hanar. In this moment, he communicated exactly what he needed from Liara via his inner eyes. She responded with her own look, equivalent to saying yes. She understood. She would kill Miranda if she acted against his will. "Stay out of trouble." He told her, after having communicated what he wanted.

Then he went to the hangar bay. It was as if time had no hold on him, and his feet felt light upon the deck. Even the parts covered by sheets of cheap metal. It didn't offend him, today. Later, it might. But right now there was a Reaper to slay. A single, undefended, lone Reaper. It was enough to make his secondary eyelids flutter. He let it happen, just to feel the thrill. Then, once that was done, he joined his men in the hangar. All turned to him, heads turned at a perfect forty degree angle. Krogan, Batarian, Quarian, and Human all looked to him. Their armor was in the black and green color of the Empire.

"Imperial Guard." He said, letting his voice travel across the tightly packed space. "A Reaper is landing outside. Once it has landed, it will be vulnerable for a short time." He clenched his fist in front of them, and opened his mouth to show them his teeth. Humans and Krogan would feel uplifted, while Batarians and Quarians would take it as a threat. "We kill a Reaper today. It shall not leave this world alive. It is an affront to the Prothean Empire."

"Infinite Glory!" The shout was raised. "For the Empire!"

"For the Empire!" Javik intoned. "The moment that Reaper lands, I want it suffering. Spread out, and destroy its servants, once your ordnance has been spent."

" _Let me know if I can land this thing and get out there._ " Miranda told him. " _It's not like this ship can do anything else at this point._ "

"Of course." Javik said. She would not touch the ground of this planet. She could not be allowed out of his sight. "Are the Rachni ships coming down from orbit?"

" _Just one. The Queen ship._ "

Javik frowned. "That must not come to pass." He had a choice. It made him frown, of course. He didn't come prepared for this. "We are unsure that the Reaper may be able to survive what we have prepared. Retarget the Rachni vessel. Destroy it before it makes landfall."

The Imperial Guard landed in an open field, something called a city park. The Empire had no use for these. Decoration was not for the public's use. Decoration was the pride of each Prothean, and only their pride alone. It was to be admired, but not shared. From the cover of the stealthed vessel the Krogan and Batarians charged out, taking down any of the Rachni Warriors that were in the park. Javik himself used his Warframe to take down any of the larger Brood Warriors that he could see. His twin particle beam cannons were functioning perfectly, and watching as the biotic barriers crumbled and fell beneath his onslaught was liberating. Queens were supposed to be a larger threat, after all.

In his cycle the Rachni had been viewed as a tourist trap, an object of interest. It was an object lesson in adaptation in a lifeform that functioned with a hive mind rather than an individual mind. They were the only race that they had discovered with that evolutionary trait, and as such they maintained a research station on Suen to study them. The screams of the latest Brood Warrior reminded him of those memories.

As his Guardsmen secured the area, the Humans and Quarians set up a hovering platform that held the newest produced weapon from Ilos. The same particle cannons that were mounted on their Dreadnoughts and cruisers during their cycle were hard to make, expensive to develop, and difficult to control. This was one such cannon, and it had been painstakingly prepared. It didn't have the room for extended amounts of ammunition, and it would run out of ion slurry after a few moments.

He had brought it to break the Reaper, to crush it the moment it dared to land. But now he was faced with a choice. Kill the Reaper, and let the Rachni kill the planet. Kill the Rachni, and preserve the planet but let the Reaper go. Or do nothing, and be even more damned for it. Some Avatar of Vengeance he would be.

"Forward the coordinates for that Queen ship to the cannon."

"What about the Reaper?" Kol asked, pointing. The tyrant was hovering over the remains of the spaceport and swinging its ugly tentacles around. The Krogan was uncomfortable, he could tell.

"It would be the greater loss if the Rachi made landfall on another world. Make sure that the weapon self destructs afterwards. I will not tolerate lessers stealing any more technology."

Javik was feeling rather certain of himself until the rumbling started. " _Javik, prepare yourself. I'm reading hundreds of Rachni coming around those apartment buildings._ "

He wasn't quite sure what an 'apartment' was, and Javik never asked for clarification on the language of the lessers. Thankfully, he didn't have to. The Rachni came through the buildings, in a single wave. This action spoke of ego, unlike the normal hive mind attack. Of course, the creatures were capable of ambush tactics, tactics that prey could use in their search for superiority.  _This_  was a strategy that allowed them to be seen, exposed, shot at before they got into range.

It spoke of something else. "Distraction! Spread out!"

His men did as ordered, running to alternate pieces of cover and spreading themselves thinner. Graal spike throwers and heavy repeating rifles were angled towards the incoming horde, but the damage was done. Rachni drop pods fell, hitting the previously held positions. Thankfully, Krogan and Batarian combat doctrine evolved to be as close as possible with the enemy. They roared, and their shotguns and kinetic lashes went to work, killing anything that came out of the pods.

One of the pods had the impudence to land on his location, but the Warframe was meant to handle orbital ordinance. Most of the kinetic barrier emitters were on the top of the Warframe, for this reason. When the twenty foot tall crystal hit the ground, he sidestepped the impact and blasted the airlock of it with his plasma cannons. He let them run for six seconds. For good measure, he let his Omni-foundry in his left arm fire a five pound explosive into the hole, a corrosive explosion following.

Nothing came out of that pod. Javik laughed, seeing the Rachni ploy ruined. His men took their shots, the rounds breaking through armor and plasma weapons. Cheaply manufactured copies of what his glorious Empire had developed. An Overload was able to cause them to fail permanently. At least, one created by his Warframe. "Commander! It's breaking atmosphere!"

"When it breaks the exosphere and begins to heat up, fire. I want it's contents to burn across the skies." Ships were most vulnerable at that moment. When they were discharging their drive core or they were entering atmosphere. Space craft were not meant to be disturbed on re-entry. "Imperial Guard! Protect the cannon!"

They surrounded it, converging again upon their zones of cover. "One minute until the Rachni ship is in range and breaking the exosphere. They're coming in slowly." Yar'Ilis vas Ilos told him.

"Fire when appropriate." Javik told him.

"Oculus inbound!" Kol yelled.

The Imperial Guard responded with bursts of fire and handheld missile launchers. Unfortunately, these Oculus were just ferrying troops. The troops hit the ground in piles of flailing limbs, and Javik curled his lips in disgust. Husks had arrived. Some of his men were having difficulty firing their weapons, as Salarian and Human Husks rose from where they had been dropped. Kol was grappling with one Husk that had wrapped its claws around his neck, while he choked and crushed the head of another. Rather than use his weapon hand to deal with the Husk around his neck, he ran forward at top speed and crushed the husk with a head butt, slamming it against one of the Rachni pods. Then he stood, resolute and covered in cut marks. "Our lines are holding, Avatar." He spoke as if they were not being overwhelmed. The tone almost sounded bored.

The Husks were not the only thing that was dropped. Three floating figures also moved forward, all familiar. "Praetorians!" Javik yelled. "Miranda, I have a request."

" _What is it?_ "

"Move the ship in between the Praetorians and the cannon. They  _will_  be able to damage it before it can fire."

" _Understood. If the Reaper even turns towards us, though, I'm moving._ "

Javik muttered under his breath as the Praetorians advanced, oddly not going their full speed. They were following someone, something that he at first confused as a Rachni. A humanoid was walking ahead of them, riding a Brood Warrior. Javik zoomed in with his optical functions, and saw that the armor was meant to be a heavy model, yet it also emphasized curved hips and a shaped torso. Liara often wore armor like this. It suggested that this was an Asari as well.

The Praetorians all shot their particle beams at the cannon, and Javik smirked as the kinetic barriers of the SR-2 kept the force at bay, and the armor took the heat and ablated it. The cloaking field was holding, barely. The beams cut out when they realized that there was something in between them. No words were exchanged with the Husks, that he could see, but they spread out and started moving forward.

He blasted one of the Praetorians, making sure to put it down hard. It didn't die. It's barrier handled the particle beam without breaking, though it had to land on the ground and take a defensive posture to survive. "Kol." He barked. The Krogan finished crushing a Rachni worker, and stepped up to his side. "Ignore the Rachni. Focus on the Husks. They are all being controlled by the Reaper. Kill the Queen and they will fall." Javik queued up as many Overload rounds in his Omni-foundry as he could, and fired up the mass drivers. "I must confront these infidels."

Kol didn't bother replying. Javik was not so vain as to demand it of his guardsmen. It wasted time, and they already knew of his superior position and his capacity to destroy them. His mass drivers kicked in, taking him forward almost fifty meters into the cover of a collapsing building. The Rachni he landed on did not concern him, nor did its fellow next to it. The mass driver in his Warframe's arms killed it with a thought.

The three Praetorians had split up, two coming near him and the third going near the far side of the SR-2. The one going for the far side went with the Brood Warrior. The one he had injured was being assisted by a second, both of them zeroing in on him. Their four eyes were insulting to the very idea of his people. "Abominations! Hear me now! Know my wrath!"

His particle beam cannon was ready, and he let it wash over the oncoming horrors. Their barriers weakened but did not break. Their return fire carved gouges into the concrete roads, and Javik took a glancing shot on his barriers before dodging inside one of the buildings. The front entryway collapsed behind the hole his Warframe made, but he did not care. The huddled forms of the people living in this home all were in a room in the back, the head of his Warframe coming through the wall that they were hiding behind. "My apologies." He told them. "But I must damage your dwelling further."

Their cries went unheard, but he had done his civic duty in informing them of the damage that would come. It was now their responsibility to stand up and defend their home with all of the capability or cower like filth. The Praetorians were coming, and they were not going to be as gentle on the architecture. Their beams were already carving the front entryway, trying to open it up for them to attack. Long years of experience fighting these abominations had given them a deep understanding of their capabilities.

They never closed with heavy weapons. They always kept at range from Warframes and entrenched positions. With a grin, he prepared the mass drivers and slid the Warframes inside of a pantry. It was a nice pantry, large enough to fit his bulk. The entryway collapsed, and then there was silence.

But he knew what would follow. These floating fortresses would risk coming in, their long spear like claws ready to impale anyone. One of the Humans that had been cowering screamed, seeing a shadowed creature entering their home. Beams lashed out, cutting him down. A second burst ended the life of the others cowering. In that moment, he acted. Mass drivers fired, launching him through the wall and on top of the Praetorian. It flailed, trying to dislodge him by rolling. His particle cannon was too large to fit into the gaps in the frame, but his own hands were fine. He Slammed the creature, stopping it from bucking him off. Then he jammed the tip of his own personal rifle into the exhaust ports on the back of the Praetorian's head, shooting it until the creature quieted. Then he shot an EMP grenade from his Omni-foundry for good measure.

The second Praetorian had moved around the building, and came through the back wall. Javik grinned, not at all concerned that its blades were covered in Human blood. This was the one that had already been damaged by him earlier. It's pair of eyes on the left side were inoperative, but the right ones were working.

Javik couldn't dodge, and just had to crouch as the plasma particles washed over him, making the interior of the Warframe heat up enough that his basic armor warned him of temperature dangers. His clear visor was covered with pock marks, the Warframe reporting a breach. "No abomination can be superior to me. It cannot be perceived." His particle cannon ripped its barriers to shreds, and the EMP grenade that followed caused its right eyes to short out. It wasn't dead, however, and it raised its claws to pounce.

Javik met the pounce with his own leap, both of the Warframe's arms meeting the claws and halting their momentum. The creature slammed its face into the forward panels of the Warframe, and Javik let it come. He opened the visor, planted both feet onto its face, and Pushed. With only its rear legs the biotic ability knocked it back. The VI in the Warframe would keep the claws off of him, so he withdrew his arms as well, and used his hand weapons to blast apart the eyes and interior of the Husk. Only when it fell silent and its caricature of Prothean heads had been melted did he stop, flaring his nose in annoyance.

Then the Warframe squealed, as a spear of black metal bisected the particle cannon's arm. It was the claw of the previously broken and destroyed Praetorian, and it was going right through the joint of the shoulder. Javik twisted, turning to face the new threat. It was the Asari, standing alone. In her hand she was holding the other frontal claw of the first Praetorian, hefting it like she was ready to impale the other arm. Javik laughed, letting the sound wash through the ruined home. "That won't be enough, little one." Asari despised being called little or young. The fact of it was that  _his_  race was the elder, and she could either accept that or die.

His left arm raised, and fired a grenade. She used the claw as a vault, taking herself into the second story of the home. There were enough holes in the ceiling made by him and the Praetorians. For good measure, he fired three more EMP grenades into the ceiling holes, and the last one he fired into the second Praetorian, making sure that it was truly dead. This made room for the Omni-foundry to start production of corrosive bombs. Perfect for Rachni armor and for Asari who dared to challenge him.

Javik stopped laughing when every structural support in the building collapsed, and the entire house dropped on top of him. Three floors of metal supports, concrete, and the odd synthetic fiber dropped on his Warframe, enough to bury most mechanical exoskeletons and their pilots. He hummed the triple toned tune of the Imperial march, before kicking off the mass drivers in his left arm, kicking up the collapsed material around him. Then the mass drivers in the legs fired, launching the Warframe through the piles of debris and into the air a couple of feet. It landed awkwardly, one foot sinking into debris and the other stable.

A Praetorian hit him with its beams immediately, the third and last on the field. He cursed, knowing that it could take on the Warframe alone in its damaged state. Worse, there was a Brood Warrior standing on the opposite side, flanking him. It's plasma cannon hit, overwhelming the Warframe's barriers and launching him sideways, the exoskeleton rolling down the hill made of debris. Damage was reported in the left foot, now. The mass driver was damaged from the plasma.

If that wasn't enough, weapons fire from Rachni Warriors and even worker teams was raining on him as well. "Insolence!" The Omni-foundry hummed, and the corrosive grenades struck the Brood Warrior and its controlled minions, and he stepped on the workers with the left foot of his Warframe. It was already damaged, and another hit wouldn't matter. The Praetorian kept up its assault, the right side showing damage across all sectors as the particle beam tore into him. Javik rolled, leaving the Warframe behind. The VI was left with a few commands. With what was left, produce grenades from the Omni-foundry and four missiles. The Warframe lay on the ground, slumped and broken.

He stood up, taking cover in the body of the Rachni Brood Warrior. His barriers flickered, as a biotic ability struck him. They held, but he could feel the Warp hitting him. The Asari from earlier had also taken cover in the corpse, and was ducking around the other side now to avoid him. He scowled, and made sure his barriers recovered before sticking his head out. Enough for just his left pair of eyes, of course. The Praetorian was nearing him, and Javik let his rifle sit comfortably on his shoulder.

The beam cannon when through the Rachni corpse, burning the front of his armor and stripping the barriers from him. The Asari returned, strutting gracefully along the top of the corpse. She leapt, and Javik rolled to avoid her. When his roll completed, he saw the Asari poised above him, her hand catching his wrist. "Embrace Eternity."

She was initiating a mind meld. A rather forceful one, as well. He couldn't avoid letting it form, but he could reduce the amount of sensation that flowed from their combined nervous systems. His eyes started blurring, and his consciousness retreated. Their minds touched, in a more brute force manner than he was used to. When Protheans did this, it was not for anything other than communicating thoughts and emotions. It was an art form in the Empire to leave those thoughts and ideals in objects. This was not art.

The Asari appeared across from him, nude. He had the mental habit of keeping his armor on, as Liara did this on occasion. Only by his invitation, and even then only light connections. This was an invasion of his privacy, and his mind represented this intrusion by showing up at all hard edges, active bulkheads, and parts of his Warframe all orbiting his form. Guns and explosives also orbited him, and he centered all four of his eyes on the intruder.

She was surrounded by dark energy, the purple marks on her face echoed across her entire body. Normally that was not a practice done by Asari, as it was expensive enough to get the facial tattoo markings. With how 'openly' she was expressing herself, Javik could see the entirety of her form. There were dark yellow orbs of energy also around her, four of them. They could be compared to the eyes of a Reaper. As he considered that, the four balls formed up behind her, mimicking his own eyes.

"Hello, Javik." She said. "Are you enjoying your little empire?"

"You know nothing of empires, little Asari." He spat, not letting her words  _touch_  the sanctity of his mind. "You are just a mouthpiece of infinitely powerful abominations."

"We are the same, you and I." She said slowly, as if she had all the time in the world. "Or do you think that Praetorian waited outside your cell for nothing?"

"Which?" He glanced around him. "I have killed two. The moment you release me, I shall kill the third and end your paltry life."

"An entire cycle, Javik." Her voice was like a snake, coiling around his perceptions. "That Praetorian could have destroyed your facility. Destroyed your cryo pod. Destroyed all of them, before you could have awoken."

"It was damaged. Too damaged to destroy the architecture of the Empire." He scoffed. "An archaeologist destroyed it with a cheap pistol."

The Asari grinned, the skin of her head splitting open and blue wire fibers extending out of it. Husk qualities. One eye fell out, replaced by a cybernetic version. The tattoos that he had at first admired her passion for shifted to a blue cybernetic mockery of her skin. "It was never there to kill you, Javik. You are one of us. Everything that you try to accomplish will turn to dust. The Reapers recognized a good general in you, and decided to make you theirs."

"The Empire could detect Indoctrination. It was one of the first things I did after coming out of my pod." He told her, letting his arms flex. "Your lies do nothing but waste our time."

"Your technology only detects the tumors that are created in response to the failing of the higher brain functions in subjects. It fails to detect the early stages of Indoctrination. It is only a matter of time before you become our general, Javik. You've been our agent all along." Her teeth were gone, the jaws splitting open. "Someone has to replace me, after all."

Javik was still partially in reality. He grinned, seeing that what he needed was ready. "I am Vengeance! I am the voice of the Empire!" Mostly said to distract her, he took a page from the Human poet Sun Tsu. "I will never allow myself to be corrupted by such as yourself."

The rest of her skin flaked off, the mixture of bone and organ on display. Her head crest opened like a flower, wires and bone extending to form some kind of sickening tiara shape above her face. "You will believe what we allow you to. Remain blind to the truth until you are discovered by your allies."

Outside of the meld, his Warframe's missiles were ready. He activated them, and watched with glee as the Praetorian that had come to rest above him was struck by the entire range of missiles. The Asari rolled, disconnecting herself and running away from him. His vision was still a blur, but it didn't matter. Four greater abominations and slaves of the Reapers were dead around him, and the field was his. "Vigil, find the Asari!" He barked, knowing that his Warframe's VI could track her down, but it wouldn't be able to actually shoot her. Once his eyes had recovered he would take her out.

" _Asari lifesigns have disappeared into Rachni forces. Husks have disrupted sensors at that range. No options exist to stop them from escaping._ " His eyes had mostly adjusted to reality when Kol decided that the Rachni had been waiting long enough, and bright beams of superheated metal shot into the upper atmosphere. He couldn't see the result, as that alone blinded him all over again. Still, he laughed. He was not  _weak_. He couldn't be an agent of the enemy. It was not conceivable. " _The Asari left her sidearm, as a result of damages and the EMP effect of the missiles._ "

"Miranda. Pick us up. Kol, gather our dead and fetch my Warframe. If you see that Asari, shoot her." Javik said, dragging himself to his feet. "Can this weapon be used to discover the identity of the enemy?" He addressed Vigil. The Rachni were in disarray, and they were falling back from his location. Kol and his men had abandoned the cannon, already half melted from some damage to its systems. It would explode on its own soon. It amused him that the Rachni felt the need to barrage the site from orbit, as their rounds hammered the area. They were not unfeeling drones. They could feel rage.

" _Your ability to detect impressions left upon items should be enough, Supreme Commander Javik._ " He took the pistol, making sure to keep his skin from touching the abomination's weapon. It would not due to be distracted here.

Kol stared at him, as they stepped back into the hangar bay. Javik was still laughing. Indoctrination. Inconceivable.

* * *

Shangxi, Xinpei System, January 2183

Julia stepped off the four foot drop and hit the ground, rolling out of habit. The Pheonix armor felt tight across her torso as she did so, not as capable of bending as a catsuit could. Behind her, Tali was handed down to Wrex, whose arms made it a half step and then a gentle drop. Everyone was being careful with her. Wrex especially, having made it his personal mission to keep the Quarian from being in pain. Halmabad followed, carrying on his back an entire torpedo. Pressley was last, and for the first time in his life had some hair out of place. He was grinning, though. The big cannon of his hung off his broad back like a coat tail.

The airlock of the space yacht was not meant for landings without a docking grip. The ship had been turned mostly to the side, angled so that the airlock was as close to the ground as it could get. "All boots on the ground, Ma'am. Perimeter secure." Scattered fire could be heard in the city around them, as the Rachni fought against whatever they encountered. Her combat team was ready, and they had three VIPs. Tali, of course, as chief engineer. Whatever they had to do to the  _Normandy_ , she was the only one rated to put the element zero core back together. Harris, with the nav computer strapped to his back, and Halmabad with the torpedo. With Alenko and Ta'u they would be able to launch the torpedo a short distance.

"Good. We know that they are in system. Pressley, confirm with Alliance command all VIP assets, and then confirm and Shangxi Red assets that are in the area." Julia stated. "They might have assets that could steal the ship, and learn how to use it." Which suggested that her crew had a spy, or was untrustworthy. "Sitrep!"

Kaidan stepped forward. "FUBAR, Ma'am." He finished saluting. "Civilians are fleeing and abandoning their vehicles. That dreadnought's EMP has flashed out all of the lights and the vehicles. City utilities are disabled, and local comm towers are down. It's gonna go quiet in a few minutes as those who are calling out get targeted by the Rachni. Then they can just take out any active energy sources as they see them."

"The Alliance?"

"Unlikely to make it here in time to stop them from destroying all of the orbital facilities and spaceports." Kaidan said. "And… I'm not sure what to think of that." He pointed, and he was looking at something down the street. Julia had to step around him, as she was not tall enough to see over his shoulder. Two trucks and a motorcycle were coming down the street. She could see a redhead on the motorcycle, their hair fluttering everywhere.

The trucks were large, one of them missing most of its body and on fire. The other was an ice cream truck, the paint scratched off from giant hand marks and large dents. It used to have an ice cream cone on top, but the entire top of the truck had been melted by some sort of weapon. It was pink, and somewhat familiar. "Weapons forward! Take cover!"

Her crew took cover, in the shadow of the  _Acheron_. Heavy weapons and lasers for targeting played out over the street, all focused on the incoming vehicles. The trucks slowed down, but the motorcycle trundled on as if it wasn't being targeted by fifteen weapons. The driver slowed down, finally, fifteen feet from her. There were two people on the bike, one of whom was wearing a catsuit, and a custom pair of Uggs. The other had a dusty leather jacket and a weird hat, one with beer cans on either side of it.

"Oh good. You brought it back." Jack Harper said. "Good to see you here, Julia."

Hannah waved at her, a pistol in each hand and her hair frizzy and out of its bun. Her armor was scraped and burnt, in places. "Congratulations." Julia said dryly. "I should take a picture of this."

"Sure." Jack said, as if every second wasted wasn't important. He even posed for it, both he and Hannah smiling on the bike. Her Omni-tool flashed, and she saved that picture to her private OSD. "Now, I would like to take back my ship."

"You gave it to me, if I remember correctly."

"Well, I find myself wanting to avoid a Reaper." Dust had risen into the air, obscuring the dreadnought and the spaceport. "So, name your price." Her crew were looking at her, hands clenched around their weapons.

"I've got a condition to you having this ship." Julia said. "As well as a request." Jack rolled his eyes, but waited patiently for her to tell him what exactly that was. "I'll only give you the ship on trade in. Give me what I want, and I'll let you have it."

"I gave you a key." Jack said. "What, did you jiggle the lock too early?"

"Your Reaper did."

"Ah." Jack muttered. "Then I guess I owe you that much. What did you want?"

"Help me kill it." Julia said. "You claim you know about these Reapers? Help me kill it."

Jack had to think about that one. "Agreed." He said. "Now, for your ship."

"Pressley. Get your family."

The older man was fuming. "I don't agree with this, Commander."

"Put it in writing, Pressley. I don't like it either." She needed her ship back. "None of this is according to any kind of code." Pressley saluted, but it was the most insulting thing she had ever seen the man do. She would hear about that later. "Now, give me back my ship."

Jack nodded, bringing up his Omni-tool. "Activate the ring of fire. Voice recognition software override." He stated, and then held out his hand, palm extended like he was presenting some kind of great prize. Two enormous gouts of fire erupted from the skies, and two ships appeared from the dust, their engines flaming and expelling fuel, both ships of the same class spiraling out of control and falling to the ground. "Well, shit." Jack muttered, looking at the ship not in Alliance colors.

"My baby!" Joker cried out. "What'd you do!"

"Flooded the fuel lines with a bit of pure oxygen. They'll have to scrub each of the lines before they can take off." Jack was frowning. "Your ship won't be leaving for a few minutes at least." He waved at the trucks, which started moving tentatively forward. "I assume we're even?"

She glanced behind her, where Pressley and his family were standing. He was still scowling. "I'll see you at the wedding. Take your damn ship." Hannah's ankle was bent at an angle, Julia realized. She was injured. "I have ripped out the medical unit. A few first aid kits are all that is left."

Jack scowled. "Children just love to break everything, don't they." He motioned his head. "The trucks still run. They are armored, and can fit everyone. We'll leave the keys in." He offered, as she watched one of his men spray down the side of the truck with fire retardant spray. "Ambassador Hock is probably already onboard your ship. I hope that little crash unseated him."

"Donovan Hock?" She stared. "He stole the ship?"

"I know you can't take my word for it, but the man admitted it to me directly. Here, this might help." He tossed her an OSD. "I recorded our conversation. I'm sure that your Office of Intelligence will be interested to hear it." He stepped off the motorcycle, kicking the stand into position. "Good luck out there. Make me proud." Jack quipped.

She just glared at him, watching as her crew kept their fingers on their triggers. Except for the Quarians and Wrex, for some reason. They stood between Jack Harper and her crew. Pressley stood with his family, his displeasure evident. "Load up." She ordered. "Get out of here." She told her father, trying to avoid looking at him or at Pressley.

"How the hell are you going to apologize to Javik-" Was the last thing she heard from Hannah as they walked past her, all of her father's people injured or carrying those who could not walk on their own. They really couldn't have fought them at all. Her people weren't happy with her, she knew. Especially when the dust kicked up around them, and the  _Acheron_  took off. Their anger was palpable.

"Ma'am." Pressley said. "You had him, Ma'am. You could have brought him in."

"Then we would have lost the  _Normandy_."

"Damn the  _Normandy_!" Pressley roared. "Jack Harper is worth losing one damn ship! You are an officer in the Alliance Navy! Damn it all if you don't face court martial for this, Ma'am. You've let that man walk away more than once. The ship doesn't matter. The damn technology doesn't matter. People are going to die every day because you let that monster walk away."

"Admiral White believes-" She started saying.

"To hell with that!" Pressley interrupted. He  _never_  interrupted anyone. "My family is in a warzone! My family is in the direct line of fire when you specifically promised that they would not be! Understand, Commander, that I fight and fly with you for them. Not for the Alliance, and not for some politician back in Arcturus. Right now you've put everything I care about on the line with as much consideration as you did Jenkin's life!" Julia slowly turned around, meeting Pressley's eyes. " _If_  we get our ship back, you had better take him down."

"We are getting the  _Normandy_  back." Julia said, though it felt hollow. "The  _Acheron_  isn't capable of jumping, anyways."

"What do you mean?"

Julia didn't smile. "I planted a polymorphic adaptive virus in the nav computer. If someone was taking the ship, I was going to scramble all of the coordinates so that it couldn't jump away. When your wife left the ship, I activated it." She gave Becca a glance, but she was giving her the cold shoulder. "My father isn't getting away in that ship."

"Harris!" He barked. "Is this possible?"

"Yes, Sir." The man admitted. "But I didn't see it when I did a systems check."

"I hid it in the wine cooling manager." She said. "No one looks in the food inventory functions." She finally turned away from Pressley. "I may be demoted for what happened today. But until then, I want you to treat my commands as the very word of God. VIPs, Non combatants, and Quarians are on the trucks. Everyone else is on foot. Protect the trucks and keep anyone we pick up safe. Civilians are welcome to use us for cover." She pointed at the still running motorcycle. "Alenko, get on the bike and scout ahead. Keep us out of ambushes and map out the territory." Julia walked in front of the trucks, hefting her rifle. "Move out."

Pressley walked at her side, his lips a grim line. "So help me God, Ma'am. Get your priorities straight." Both of them led the way, the crew quiet around them.

* * *

Shangxi, Xenpei System, January 2183

"Limpet! Who shot us!" Jenkins groaned, trying to understand what the hell just happened. He was upside down, slumped against the terminal in the pilot's seat. Nikolai was bleeding from his forehead, but the straps on his chair had functioned as advertised. Jenkins had been standing, not enjoying the command chair. They had been flying around, looking for a good place to set down. Then the heat systems had shunted, and the stealth system went down as the engines flared warnings.

Then the gravity failed for a moment, and Jenkins had rolled and fallen into the cockpit, his back a massive bruise. His armor had done nothing for the impact. "I'll tell you when I can see straight." His voice sounded strained, too. Broken rib, maybe. "Where are we?"

"In McDonalds, Limpet." He flipped over, seeing burgers and fries all over the glass. "Enough preservatives in this crap to cushion our landing."

"That might just be the armor and modern gyroscopes, Nikolai." He stood up, and saw that one of the people in the bridge section had fallen through the taped-over hole in the galaxy map. "Hey! Everyone alright?" He said over the comm button, which conveniently was next to Nikolai's chair.

" _We've got injuries among the prisoners. Deck 2 lost gravity for a moment during whatever happened. But we need to flush the fuel lines and restart the engines to take off._ "

"How long will that take?"

" _If we had the crew, five minutes. Right now? Hours at best guess. Unless you can convince the hostages to assist us, Sir, we'll have to do this one at a time, and only two of us are rated to even try._ " Jenkins closed his eyes. He had to think about this.

"Get the stealth systems back online if you can, but get started on flushing the lines. Even if we can get just two engines it'll be enough to get off planet." He turned off the comm system and glanced at Nikolai. "Right?"

"I have to flush forward fuel lines." Nikolai muttered. "Then I tell you."

"What can I do?"

"Stick head out window, tell me if we are on fire." Nikolai muttered. "Ask for road map. We will need to know which direction we crashed."

Jenkins stood up, his neck cracking. He remotely activated the airlock, and settled into the small archway next to the bridge. When the next door cycled open, his armor immediately registered the heat and warned him of a threat. The other side of that airlock was a grease fire, a huge one. "VI, close the door!" The VI didn't respond, and Jenkins eyed the controls on the door, slamming them shut before any of the boiling fluid could get inside the airlock and cause a panic. He could see the few people on the bridge look up when he came back in, some curious. "Nikolai, we are on fire. Grease fire, most likely in the port side engine in front."

"Niet kupchik!" He swore, opening panels of the floor and diving in.

"Get some retardant spray, and get that grease fire put out. We hit a McDonald's kitchen. The fryer is all over the place. Keep it from killing us." Jenkins told the guys on the bridge. "I'm going out the other airlock." The hangar bay doors were jammed on a retirement center's van, and so the only option was to go out one of the shuttle pod airlocks. That let him get out and take a look at the damages. He had to step down onto the hood of a tiny little Nissan air car to get to the ground. His boots left imprints in the light metal, and he landed with a crunch on the ground. The McDonalds had been completely gutted, the nose of the  _Normandy_  coming through the drive through and smashing into the kitchen. The wings were fine, if scratched up slightly on the starboard side. The reason for that appeared to be the corner of a grocery store, the front decal completely missing from the wings scraping it. The paint was scratched on the wing and that was all.

His foot ran into something, making him look down. Two women were dead on the ground, plasma burns across their heads and torsos showing what had killed them. "Sorry, ladies." He said softly. "Sorry we couldn't save you. But we sure as hell are going to avenge you." Damn Rachni. He was sure that they were around, as he could hear their plasma blasts around him. He could even hear the squealing of a Rachni nearby, which brought his attention to the inside of the McDonalds. He leaned around the shattered door frame, seeing blood and guts across some of the floor. Three Rachni workers were balancing a plasma repeater next to the body of an injured Warrior. It looked to be burned from the  _Normandy_ 's passing. The three workers were organizing french fries, burgers, and other ingredients in piles. Some of the fries they ate, and one of the workers was trying a coffee while he watched.

After a few sips, the little creature spun around in delight, chittering madly. Jenkins snorted in laughter. The workers all jumped, turning to face him. The one who had drank coffee moved first, and Jenkins started shooting with his rifle. He killed the rear two, but the coffee addled one ran under tables and into cover. He felt bad, but justified the use of a grenade. The explosion cleared the Warrior and the carefully ordered piles of food. He hoped that it killed off the last worker, but didn't bother to check.

The small parking lot was taken up by the  _Normandy_ , and a Toyota and a Mazda were being used as landing gear by the body. Those cars were not in great shape, and he hoped that the insurance would cover unexpectedly being run over by a starship. He doubted it. Nothing else moved in the area, and dust clouded anything further than that. The spaceport was gone, and the dust was probably bad for people. It might have a few parts per million of radioactive materials.

His armor could handle it. Jenkins took a lap around the ship, seeing that the shuttle on the starboard side, which was their only shuttle, was crushed. It wasn't space worthy. But it would also be sort of terrible to leave at a McDonalds in the middle of a Rachni infestation. Either the government would find it and add it to the growing list of suspicious crap or the Rachni would find it and repurpose the parts into some of their starships. They would have to leave it attached and just dump it somewhere. Once he got back to the airlock, he had logged only a couple of problems that would be needed to fix. This ship was really tough for something that just crashed planetside. Most frigates would probably never take off again if they went belly up in this situation.

The dust cleared for a moment, and he could see one of the apartment towers of the city in the near distance. There was a ship stuck in it, impaled on the upper section. He couldn't see a lot of detail on it, but the ship looked like another Alliance ship. The engine pods looked more like that of a frigate than that of a destroyer or cruiser. "This one has checked over the injuries."

Jenkins jumped a little bit, as the voice of Finds-Secrets came out of nowhere. "How are we doing?"

"This one believes that we are not prepared to fight any kind of defensive action. There were four men injured in the attack. We are down to six effectives, and of those under normal circumstances two of them would be marked for medical recall. Lazarus One is in the Engineering deck, and he was unharmed by the motions. He is rather fragile to begin with, and so his chair was equipped with systems for moments such as this."

"Good. It'll take some time before we can lift off."

"This one recommends that we avoid notice."

"Yeah." Jenkins said. "I get that." The dust started billowing, and he could see some kind of vehicle train heading this way. Armored figures moved in front of it. "Murphy damn it. You just had to say something."

"My race only expresses what we believe to be important."

Jenkins started back for the ship. "I'm going to have to explain what we Humans mean by deja vu." He scampered into the airlock, not wanting to show his ability to float. The Hanar was much less restrained, floating upwards over his head and into the rotating space. "Think you can identify what they intend to do?"

"This one can access exterior cameras." The Hanar said, as the door cycled. "This one sees a few Alliance soldiers as well as a number of civilians. A rather large number." The Hanar spun gently in the air, as if mimicking the turning of a camera. "Ah. It appears that the original crew of the  _Normandy_  are here. What a surprise."

Jenkins could feel cold sweat run down the back of his neck. That wasn't right. They should still be back on the Citadel. They shouldn't be right here, but they were! "All combatants to the hangar bay! Hostiles inbound!"

Five people showed up. One additional showed up via hoverchair. Four of his people were there, full armor and weapons included. Nikolai also came, hefting some ancient archaic weapon. It looked like a battery pack attached to a radar dish. It had been in the man's suitcase. Lazarus One was also here, his hovering chair armed and ready. "How many, Limpet?"

"At least twenty. We are dealing with the old crew of this ship. They know their way into this and are going to be bursting in at any moment. Can we fly?"

"Niet. Fuel line two to port wing has been flooded with oxygen. Will take time to flush."

"There is a small fracture to the hangar bay. We are not capable of breaking atmosphere until I can seal it." Lazarus One said. "From the outside."

"Okay," Jenkins said. "New plan. We kill or drive off the enemy, and we seal the hangar. Then we get somewhere we can make more effective repairs. Use the master override code to lock them out of the airlocks for now. They'll have to use explosives to breach the ship, but so long as we stay in atmosphere we should be able to repair that. Someone get the bulkheads active and lock down the ship. We've gotta hold them here." They had torn up the ladders and elevator shaft on deck three, and the gaping hole on deck two through the galaxy map projector was still there. No, there was no way to hold off anyone up there. It had to be in the hangar. "Rico, cut the MAKO's power to the turret. They'll hack it or treat it as cover. Mine the entrance. Jellyfish, One, lock down terminals and access points. The rest of you get the damn barricades in place. Nikolai, take one of the wounded and hold the bridge. If we need to run the engines for a short burst it might be necessary."

Everyone split up, and Jenkins sighed. This was not his day. "What about the hostages? We can threaten them with their lives." Lazarus One mentioned. "It can buy us some time."

"Yeah." Jenkins muttered. "I get the feeling that would just give them a greater advantage. As well as make us look desperate. We start off with hostages and they'll know that we can't take off."

"You going to talk to them?"

"I'd rather we avoid the fight altogether." Jenkins said, not answering the question. One was always testing how loyal he was to their cause. Everything was a test to him. Jenkins got the idea that he didn't have much to live for. Then again, he was confined to a hovering wheelchair that kept him alive and mobile. His options were limited. The man couldn't even control his bladder, after all. Finds-Secrets spoke too openly about bodily functions sometimes. "Get us the exterior point defenses. If they are bringing armored vehicles we've gotta get the GUARDIAN lasers on them fast."

Jenkins was viewing the exterior cameras, seeing the shapes moving through the dust clouds. One of them had a biotic corona, moving from the apartment building that held the other crashed ship to the ground. "This one believes that may be an Asari. Such abilities are not capable of being performed by the other races." Finds-Secrets said.

"It's Julia's sister." Which meant problems. "It means that Jack Harper might be coming for us directly."

"You have mentioned that he did build this ship. What kind of precautions should we take?"

Jenkins did some quick math. "One! Set the scuttle bomb!" Yeah, that might be good. "If we can't have this ship, then no one can." If he wasn't wearing a helmet, he would be running his hands through his hair. As it was, he paced. He couldn't see a way out of this that didn't involve someone dying. Somewhere along the way, he had put the people down as acceptable casualties. The crew of this ship didn't deserve to die just because he screwed up. No, he couldn't afford to fail. He couldn't afford to let that line of thinking affect him. A rush of endorphins hit his system, and he refocused. He couldn't fail Hock. Not when Jack Harper was coming for him right the hell now. "Set the bomb for ten minutes, with our codes." Yeah, that would do it. They could blow this ship at any time, and that threat alone would keep them alive. If that didn't work, he could just start pushing people out the airlock. Another rush of endorphins came at that, and he stopped sweating in response.

* * *

Author's Note

Some things to clarify. A 'Jesus Bolt' is the part of a helicopter that holds the rotors together. If it goes, then the entire device is screwed. There is no backup for it. I figured that that kind of reference moniker would not go out of style.

One of the reviewers ask that I give an update on certain people. I'll add them in here. If you guys want updates on anyone else outside the normal perspectives please let me know. I'll add it in.

 **L** **eviathans**  - I despise the very idea of them. I really do. They will not feature in this story. If anything, I believe the Reapers are like the Sower race as described by Myetel in her stories.

 **David Archer**  - Since Jack is not hell-bent on fixing the Geth problem there is no need to involve the Archer family. He lives comfortably.

 **Daro Xen**  - She is still performing her experiments and reaping the rewards of Ilos and its secrets. She wants to pick Vigil apart, but knows that Javik would end her given the excuse. She constantly lives in the shadow of the accomplishments of Halid'Zorah and Rael'Zorah.

 **Shadow Broker**  - Don't worry. He will have his day. But at this stage of the story he is more of an ally and an asset. But I believe he was handled poorly. Given the right amount of inspired action and control, he can do a lot more with his life, his race, and his resources.

 **Liara**  - She is with Javik. Her Prothean kink is fulfilled. Rarely does she leave his side.

 **Aria**  - I don't fuck with Aria.

Lastly and importantly, I feel like I need to address a concern. In chapter 72 there was a very brutal scene involving torture. If you guys feel like that should be removed from the story, or if you feel if it should stay, I have a poll going on my profile that you can vote in. Please let me know.

Also, a big shout out to those who sent in recipes. My wife and I are enjoying lots of champagne meals this week. Courtesy of you guys, I hope they taste good. Thanks again for all the attention you guys have given to this story. I may have the end mapped out, but all the little details in getting there get more and more clear as I get more input.

I also recommend that you check out  **LogicalPremise's** Stories, especially Of Sheep and Battle Chicken. It updated recently and that man is an awesome guy to read. Secondly, for those with any kind of love for Starcraft(even if you don't play multiplayer) I recommend Putting the Pieces Back Together by  **Stoppelbart**. Amazing work. You guys have a great time and I think the next chapter will be out in around ten days. See you then.


	78. Lucid: Grim Reaper

Chapter 78

Shangxi, Xinpei System, January 2183

"Ma'am, the GUARDIAN turret housing just opened." Pressley muttered. "We're not going to be able to get close."

Julia nodded. "Keep the vehicles back." They had picked up a ragtag bunch of people, mostly civilians. But that also included a few Eclipse mercenaries, police forces, and a couple of Shangxi militiamen. Though technically a state-sponsored militia, it was common knowledge that they were actually Red affiliates. Twenty of them revealed themselves after they had killed the Warriors keeping them pinned down. As a result, they now had almost four hundred people and whatever they had been carrying. They had three trucks full of the wounded. The motorcycle had taken a bad plasma blast and they had to leave it behind.

Kaidan was heavily bruised from that experience, and his neck might need to be treated for a sprain. So far the Rachni they had encountered were few in number, and a few minutes ago something had fired into orbit, and the surviving Rachni retreated from the major roads. Then people followed them in earnest. "Ma'am, they've rotated to face us."

Sure enough, the _Normandy_ had rotated towards them. It's side and the GUARDIAN batteries were fully exposed and able to lock onto them. "New plan. We're splitting into teams." She pointed to the front of the craft, where the nose was still stuck inside of a McDonalds. "Vakarian, I'm giving you permission to enter the bridge today. Take Joker and Harris and get them to the forward airlock. Have a couple of marines. Keep damage to a minimum."

"Me?" Joker asked. The pilot had a pistol, Alliance standard, in his wheelchair.

"You've passed your qualifiers for four years in a row, Joker. All hands on deck, and that includes you. We need a bridge officer on deck, and that's you." Julia told him. "Take your team and go around these apartments, circle around and get yourselves in through the drive through window. Bring explosives for that."

"You need explosives for a fast-food venue?" Garrus asked.

"Oh yeah. One of the more common small time theft locations." Joker pointed out. "Though I bet we can go through the employee entrance as well. With less noise. I worked at one of these places to get through High School."

"You let us know the moment you take the bridge, then." Julia told him. "Halmabad, you take a couple of marines and make a feint towards the main airlock. See if the MAKO is still online. I'll be with you." She then turned to Tali, being carried by Wrex still. He had shown that it was no problem, hefting his heavy shotgun or Graal in one hand to blast enemies. "Tali, take Wrex and go through the oxygen intake valves. Wrex is fine in small spaces, if Noveria was any indication. Take Engineering, get our ship back." Finally, she turned to Pressley. "Take four marines and keep the civilians secure, XO."

The tightness on his face eased slightly. But that was the only indication of emotion she got from him. "Roger that, Ma'am."

She glanced at the mercenaries and the militia. "The rest of you, fan out and keep the side streets secure. We'll hold this intersection. Keep this area safe." The militia didn't like her, she knew. But once the cops and the mercenaries started moving, they did too. " _Avoid the tunnels, assume they are compromised._ " She said in Cantonese, making the militia stare at her for a moment. " _The first places the Rachni take are underground._ " She reminded them. " _Take your positions._ " They moved a little faster at that.

While she had said that, the rest of her men had gotten into position. Halmabad had set up with Kaidan and Ta'u behind the apartments, and was setting up manual delivery artillery packages. The biotics were throwing any explosive they could over the buildings and towards the _Normandy_. The armor could take the hits, especially if they were just tech grenades. But it also showed that the kinetic barriers were not active. The GUARDIAN lasers were active, and hitting the apartments. Since they were on the other side of them, the artillery team was safe from them for now. The lasers weren't getting through quickly, meant more to destroy missiles than break down buildings. Especially buildings rated to handle bombardment. All of the building codes on Shangxi included tough rules on stability and tensile strength.

They would be safe. The McDonalds had obviously been built to code. A starship had rammed it and the golden arches were still intact. The '1 Trillion served' sign was bent but not broken. "Ma'am, incoming!"

She twisted, seeing a biotic glow coming from around the top of the apartments. She prepared her own biotics, letting the energy wash over her arms. "Hold your fire!" She recognized the woman moving, and she smiled. "Miri!"

Miranda Harper landed near her, raising dust from where she landed. The Fiat that she used as a stepping stone dented, and her sister landed on the ground. "Ma'am." Pressley reminded her. "That appears to be another unaffiliated mercenary."

"You're probably right." Julia said, smirking behind her mask. Pressley must like her sister. Or he did not believe she was as much of a criminal compared to their father. "Where did you come from?"

Miranda caught on quickly, and gave a sloppy salute. "Just looking to help."

"Think you can charge past that defensive line? We need some help opening a door." She pointed at the airlock. "I'll meet you there." She could cloak in this armor for a short amount of time. "Tali, get around behind while they're focused on the other team."

"They'll see us coming." The Quarian said. "Motion sensors are sensitive enough for that."

"Then deploy every drone that you have and send them around to flank from the far side. Force them to keep the laser banks on Halmabad and the drones." Julia said. "Go!" With that, she cloaked. Miranda jumped forward, her body sheathed in blue energy as she leapt past the line of where the lasers could hit. The lasers tracked her, but before they could hit her Miranda was under the wings. Large furrows had been carved in the street from the turret's motion, a bus with 'McDonalds Credit Menu' ads lighting up. The line stopped just before the wings, and Miranda kept running even after she had emerged from the Charge.

Julia stifled any feelings of jealousy of that knowledge. She would love to learn how to do that someday, but Miranda had spent years learning how to control her biotics. Literally years spent in training, while Julia could only go by what she could use on missions and in the gym. She herself ran, a light job on any kind of solid rock or concrete. She couldn't tell if she was kicking up any dust, until she got to the carved furrow in the street. She felt the loose material shift as she stepped on it, and saw Miranda's head whip around to see it.

The laser never came. She slid in underneath the wings, and kept it up until she got under the main body of the _Normandy_. One airlock didn't have a shuttle mounted on it, while the other's shuttle was mashed and damaged. Miranda was catching her breath, moving to keep herself underneath the ship. "Where," Julia huffed out, "Did you come from?"

"Javik's gone crazy." Miranda muttered. "Didn't know if he was going to kill me. When we crashed, I ran. No idea what took us down, must have been some kind of problem. The other SR ship isn't quite done yet." She pointed somewhere off to the right, where another dust cloud had overtaken a pile of apartments. "When I saw yours, I thought you would be a better place to go until he's had his little temper tantrum."

"Javik." Julia muttered. "The Prothean?"

"Yeah. He's crazy. Doesn't see us as being equals. Especially if you're trying to save him from his own stupidity." Miranda said, as they arrived underneath the airlock ports. With the back of the _Normandy_ lifted off the ground, they were about ten feet up. But the shuttle hung lower. "What's the plan?"

"Follow me!" Julia said, jumping on the nose of the shuttle and hitting the already damaged cockpit section with a Warp. The glass shattered, vibrating as pieces of the window fell back into the cabin. "They left it attached."

Julia had to contort herself to get inside the cramped shuttle cockpit. With the top of the shuttle dented, she had to wrap her legs around the headrest of the chair and use that to pull herself in completely. Joker would have killed to be in that seat when Miranda came through. She only had her normal bodysuit for today, which did less than her catsuit did when it came to sharp edges and broken glass. Scratches appeared on her, as they both had to use their muscle to get the doors open into the crushed main cabin.

The airlock housing was tougher, and intact. It was mounted in the floor of the shuttle, and was the least damaged part of it. The shuttle still accepted her commands, and it was on its own systems. She had the override code in her Omni-tool, and after a moment had the code active. "Tali is going to come through the other airlock with the marines, and hopefully send a few people through the oxygen tank. When that blows, we're going in." Julia said, bringing up her _Normandy_ override codes.

"Any idea who took the ship?"

"They don't deserve to live. We should be engaging those Rachni in orbit, not sitting here dealing with this." Julia noticed that the airlock had unfamiliar code segments in its encryption. "That's odd." Miranda leaned over her shoulder. "Someone rewrote the protocols on the airlock. They couldn't do that without access to override codes."

"Who has those?"

Julia knew every single person with those codes. Herself. Pressley. Admiral White. Tali'Zorah. Natalie Jorgunsen, an engineer in Arcturus. Daro'Xen, probably. Her father by association. "Enough people." But Ambassador Hock wouldn't know. He would have had to convince one of those people to give them the codes. It made her father's theory that Hock was behind it more unlikely. She couldn't take the time to investigate that. "Good thing I've got a key." She didn't have anything to get this open, really. Biotics wouldn't damage the metal enough. Explosives would damage her ship too much for space travel. Hacking might destroy too many functions of the airlock or trigger some kind of warning system. Unlikely as that was, Julia was a hacker and not any kind of programmer. She didn't have the full experience necessary to understand what had changed in the coding of the _Normandy_. That would have to fall to Tali. "My Quarian friend should get the airlocks open."

"And then?"

"Then we kick ass and I get court martialed for letting Dad go."

"Charming." Miranda said. "I'm coming with you, then."

Joker had to keep a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing. He despised McDonald's. He hated the fact that his poor ass town had so few places that a disabled kid could work at. But he had medical bills that put his mother into bankruptcy. So he did what he could. He worked at the places that he was capable of working at. Two years at McDonalds. Then he got his driver's license at sixteen and that job became worthless. He worked at the cinemas for a week before the pitied looks and glances bothered him too much. Then he worked for a repair shop, scraping paint off of air cars and ground cars alike. Even a disabled kid could sand down paint. He kept that job until the company went out of business.

For his last year of secondary school, he found work at the local spaceport. He drove luggage carriers and sorted the bags. Within a year he was working at a control tower station, monitoring air traffic. It was his dream job, as a young man. Every credit went back to his mom. She never said anything to convince him otherwise, and he never brought it up. Even now, after his bills were long paid off and he had covered everything, he sent most of his paycheck back to Mom. She had never once complained about having a son with bones that broke if you hugged him. She never once complained about all the trips to the clinic to get a splint.

Her own health had suffered as she kept him alive. She worked two jobs and kept him going through flight school, through officer training. Every year she went on a nice vacation to the beaches of Terra Nova. No matter what, his Mom was taken care of. As they approached the front of the ship, where the Thanix cannons could easily destroy them, that was all that was on his mind. "Alright, pilot, tell me the best way of opening this."

He looked up, seeing that that Vakarian was at the drive through window. "Well, most Mickey D's have a loose back door. Too many people kick it wide open when they quit. They'll just make a fool of themselves if they go out the front, where the customers can see. But out the back, yeah you can make a ruckus." Joker wheeled himself up to the door, and saw that the employee entrance was damaged. Chuckling, he took out a credit chit and wedged it into the doorframe above the dent. Using the butt of his pistol, he tapped the chit into the crack, and the door popped open. "Usually a butter knife works, but we're on the clock."

Vakarian pushed past him, and Joker could smell burnt oil. It had a particular scent that took _years_ to get out of clothes and skin. This was thicker than that. Burnt paint, fries, and the particular smell of cheese going into the frier. When the marines were through and he finally got inside, he could see the ruin of the kitchen. "Grease fire." One of the marines whispered to him. "But the airlock and forward engines hit here. The nose is stuck on the other drive through window."

They built McDonalds to last. No wonder the ship was stuck. People found it easier to break into a McDonalds by crashing their vehicles through the front. "Okay, we gotta cycle the airlock and get onto the bridge."

The airlock was just ahead of them, right on top of the remains of the coffee machine. Nothing more justified could have ever happened to that machine. Though the Alliance standard coffee was literally tar and water, this stuff was so cheap that he considered what he got on tour to be better. The Alliance at least didn't lie that their swill was crap. "Team Dipstick, in position!" He called into his Omni-tool. They had never designated squad names when they split up, so Joker took some liberties.

"What's a dipstick?" Vakarian asked.

Joker smiled and didn't answer. " _Team Wraith in position._ " The commander said. She sounded unhappy. Well, he didn't exactly share her secret callsign openly. He'd catch hell for it later.

" _Team Hax in position._ " Tali said over their comms. " _Knock, knock pr-._ "

"Who's there?" Joker interrupted.

" _...What?_ " Tali replied. " _I just, okay._ " He snickered at the confused tone of her voice. " _Knock knock protocol activated_."

The airlock turned green, as all of the interior warning lights came on and the ship started shunting atmosphere. Joker recognized the turquoise lights as contaminant alarms going off. He had never seen them on, and only recognized it from training. Biological gas attacks were not uncommon with Batarian and Terminus enemies. Tali must have gotten to the oxygen filters. Now all the airlocks were cycling open on emergency functions, as they tried to vent air into space. Garrus climbed up first, the two marines not far behind. Harris and the other bridge crew were off to the side, where they weren't going to get crushed by any motions of the ship.

"Niet! Not on my watch!" Someone said from inside. Gunfire erupted, and Joker saw with a bit of fear that Garrus fell down, clutching his shoulder and screaming. It looked like a giant vibrating spike has penetrated his armor. The two marines followed, spikes also in their armor. Their vitals were okay, well, okay as Joker was qualified to tell anyone. Their heart rates were skyrocketing, and Joker could see an old man wearing a faded jumpsuit lean forward from the airlock and aim at him. Joker was slow, his pistol not rising fast enough as the spike went right into his hip.

His skin felt like it was on fire. Like every single nerve in his body lit up, and started to _burn_. Oddly, he didn't react too much. Harris, next to him, fell down screaming, right next to the others. Joker had hurt from worse. His entire life was pain. Old bone breaks were his bread and butter. Pain was numb to him. The old man was just sitting there, loading the odd spikes into his weapon. Joker smirked, and aimed his pistol. Yeah, his nerves were telling him he was in a world of pain. But that was every day. He didn't hit the old man on the first shot. Or the second. Or the fifth. But the sixth time was the charm.

Joker's shot took the old bastard in the shoulder, and he collapsed onto the deck plate, screaming himself. Joker gritted his teeth, realizing that he would get up sooner rather than later. He hated walking. Tripping or toe stubbing was unavoidable. Climbing was worse. Joker knew the frier like the back of his hand. He had burns on his hands from the damn thing. So he climbed up the machine, thankful for armored gloves, and when the old man leaned over again, Joker grabbed him by the arm.

Old man and crippled pilot fell into the vat of boiling fries and vegetable oil, making them both scream again. Real fire burnt him this time. Joker felt something snap in his wrist as he held the man down. "Surrender!" He yelled.

"Jess! I surrender!" The old man yelled back, tossing him the pistol that launched the spikes. It came with a battery pack. "Put me out!" Grease fires sucked. Someone had put one out earlier, and there were piles of retardant foam all over the place. Joker rolled the old man over, right into the piles of foam. It was like being back in basic Naval training. Except that instead of putting a terminal out he was putting out a fire on the old man.

The pistol had a small indicator screen on it, with buttons managing the spikes it had launched. _Buttons_. Man, this thing was old. It may have had rust on it. There wasn't even a haptic interface. But there was clearly an _off_ button. He tapped it, and the pain of fire on his skin ended. The familiar pain of his broken bones came back. He sat himself on the bun rack, and kept his pistol trained on the old man. That old codger probably didn't know that Joker couldn't fire reliably in his life.

Vakarian got up slowly, his rifle in his hands as he aimed at the old man. "Joker, if I hadn't seen that for myself, I wouldn't have believed it."

"Never call me a pyjak again and we can both forget it happened." Commendations were not what he wanted. That meant attention, and attention meant becoming a pilot for a Dreadnought. Then the 'No Fun Police' would keep him out of anything interesting for the rest of his career.

The Turian laughed. "Follow me up. The rest of you, secure him and follow when ready." Once at the level of the airlock, Joker heard the Turian fire two rounds into something that squelched. Then he leaned over and offered a hand to him. Joker took it with his good hand, wrapping his bad wrist around the Turian's arm. Once hoisted, he stood with Vakarian on the now-empty bridge. Joker hobbled over to his seat. It had been decorated with some shot glasses and a bottle of vodka. They were in a sealed case that had been glued to the side of the chair. Glancing at the vodka, it had some Russian label.

The shot glasses were aged, one of them having been glued back together. Joker just shrugged. Some people had emotional attachment to that kind of thing. The sound of gunshots and explosions came from the rear section of the bridge, and through the holes in the deck he could see flashes of light.

Internal comms were his. Gunnery controls were _not_. "Team Dipstick, mission complete." Joker cackled. "Let's see what they haven't gotten control of." He flipped open the controls, seeing that the medical bay had the most lifesigns. "Vakarian! Hostages in the medbay!" He had navigation, flight, and basic lifesign controls. Nothing else responded.

The Turian nodded, and started moving down the bridge. The two marines joined him, and the bridge crew started pulling themselves through the airlock, bringing the wheelchair with them. He could only control the ship's movement. Every other system had been locked out of this terminal, besides comms. He set the back of the ship down, making sure that the landing gear did deploy this time. " _Joker, I need you to check the lifesigns. Is there a Hanar onboard?_ " The Commander asked.

"I don't see one!" He replied. "Maybe it's Blasto?"

" _I saw one, Joker. Lock down the deck and deploy the barrier curtain over the cockpit. Stay safe._ " As she said that, his console got locked

"Whoever has the systems locked down has everything routed to Engineering! You gotta get in there." Joker said. "Big V is heading for the hostages." Joker flinched, as his hand brushed against the terminal. "Who the hell shot my interface!"

The old man started laughing. "Little pilot thinks he is hot shit." He chuckled. "Machine should _feel_ when you grab it. Haptics are excuse to be less of a man."

"Harris." Joker ordered. "Tie him up." Crotchety old bastard. The Russian expletives were helpfully translated through Joker's Omni-tool as he grasped the mechanical backup controls. Rather creative, that old guy was. "Also, put this vodka someplace it won't get damaged." The Russian expletives were less harsh after that.

* * *

Tali tented her fingers around the handle for the hangar bay. "Okay, go!" Wrex groaned, as he and four other marines started pushing the truck. It had taken a few spare parts to build it a new OSD and plug it into the engine. Then she had to hold the gear shifter in neutral while the rest of the marines pushed the truck. Unfortunately the OSD didn't have all the drivers and processing control language to be able to mimic the normal operating system for the vehicle. The best she could do on short notice was get the engine unlocked so that they could release the axles. Pretty good for a minute's work.

Her stomach was a mass of still healing skin. The stitches pulled at her when she walked. Wrex had volunteered to carry her until she was no longer going to be 'falling apart'. Her cloned organs were bonding with her, still. For humans it was a month to three month long process to have the cloned organs under observation. There was no historical record that the Citadel had for Quarians and cloned organs. The Migrant fleet didn't bother. If someone was having organ failure, they were harvested for their blood, bone marrow, and organs for others to use. Their blood for transfusions. Their bone marrow and nervous system for antibiotics. Their organs to children with birth defects.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. It was the critical role of a Quarian to sacrifice personal comfort and ambition for the sake of their race as a complete unit. Nothing mattered more. Any time she dwelt on that fact made her feel the weight of her collective race's judgement. She didn't deserve replacement organs. She hadn't completed her pilgrimage. Others were far more important.

The truck thundered forward, pushed by every marine she could get. When it was right up next to the oxygen intake filters on the _Normandy_ , they stopped. "We're here!" Tali called. "Connect the wires!"

Jumper cables were connected directly to the conduits that worked on their own batteries. The oxygen intake was on its own system because it _had_ to be. It was not accessible by anything other than direct lines, and the computer in it was extraordinarily basic. It was a critical part for an atmospheric capable craft. Once her marines had told her it was connected, she started getting the engine up to its normal running strength.

"It's going to blow! Let's move!" Wrex picked her up gently, and the truck started whining more forcefully. He could run quickly for such a large creature. It was fun, but she had to turn off her comm line so that she could laugh without looking unprofessional in front of her people. Wrex got her out of the way long before the truck's engine overloaded the conduits. The oxygen tanks vented, thinking that they were breached. "Now!" One of the Quarian techs shoved a crowbar into the grate, the tank now accessible. "Get in there!"

They scrambled into the tiny vent, and they had less than thirty seconds before all of the internal sensors were going to reboot and the oxygen tanks would flood with disinfectant and seal off for a cleaning cycle. XO Pressley had made them practice getting into every single compartment of the ship during the first days of their time on the _Normandy_ , and this one they got into twice. Ibn had been locked in it for an hour while they waited for the cleaning cycle to complete. Her two people scrambled at top speed, grasping the grips on the interior and moving through the fifteen foot long space. The grate thumped shut, and the system started cycling over to backup power supplies.

" _Team Dipstick, in position!_ " Joker said, which had her confused for a moment. They hadn't declared any team names. It made her blink and stop thinking, until the comms crackled again.

" _Team Wraith in position._ " She heard from Commander Constantine. She must be around here somewhere, or on top of the ship and ready to go in through one of the ventral access ports. Or if she was being crazy one of the torpedo tubes.

Wrex carried her over to the hangar bay doors, while the ship was still moving. It swerved the back end around, the nose of the craft still inside the McDonalds while the back end freely flopped all over the place. "Ready for secondary entrance!"

"Halmabad?"

"Yeah, I'm in. Waiting on the docking clamps." Tali nodded, and waited on her people. Twenty four seconds later, the sound of progress came.

" _Secondary VI node up and running! Airlocks are yours!_ " Tali pointed upwards. Without further ado, people started reaching for the bottom of the hull. One marine would stand with hands braced at the bottom of their torso. Quarians and the lighter Humans would then run towards that marine and use them to get launched into the air and have their feet stick out enough to magnetically attach to the hull. Magnetic boots gripped the hull when it drifted closer, and more than half of those who tried to jump did not make it down.

"Team Hax in position." Tali said over their comms. "Knock, knock pr-."

" _Who's there?_ " Joker interrupted.

"...What?" Tali replied. "I just, okay." Tali was flustered. This was not protocol. You were not supposed to fill the comm channel with any kind of idle chatter. "Knock knock protocol activated." The airlocks could open. Now her team just had to get into position. Underneath her feet, she could feel Wrex tense. Glancing up, she could see the _Normandy_ swinging back towards them.

Wrex moved differently than the others had, extending Tali up into the air. He angled her legs so that she could grip the bottom of the ship's hull without any jarring. Tali clenched her abdominal muscles, as the gigantic wall of metal swung towards her. She may have squealed a bit. But the magnetic strips on the bottom of her boots held, and she sailed away into the air on the bottom of the _Normandy_. Wrex got smaller in the distance as she pressed her hands against the metal.

She looked around, seeing four others with her. Three were Quarian, and the last was Corporal Reddin. She was shakily holding on to one of the small laser-based comm antenna and one of her feet drifted into the air. She was using the antenna to get her locked down. "Drop lines!" She ordered. Quarians were used to boarding ships in zero gravity that were spinning around. Cables could be extended to allow others to grab hold and climb onto the ship. The lengths they had were rather short, but they had been on short notice. They had to raid a climbing store to get them down the street. They weren't anything better than nylon cords, but marines were forced to spend hours in basic training climbing ropes.

Quarians were _natural_ climbers. More so than any Human. The cable lines were flying through the air at high speed, and the armor VI's were helping to compensate. It was telling, how most of the marines failed to grab the ropes. Wrex didn't, the big Krogan one handed catching the rope and using his thighs to move up the nylon. Corporal Reddin looked like she was going to get pulled off the antenna at the other end of the line. Her boots were holding on, but her back was arching from where she was trying to secure the nylon anchor point. The swaying of the _Normandy_ started looking more like a bunch of trapeze artists performing, as fifteen people all tried to shimmy up the side of the ship and up to the airlock. Halmabad and the biotics came in from the rear, Andrew Ta'u catching the tail end of Wrex's rope and shimmying while Halmabad used his jump jets. Alenko threw down a Singularity, spinning himself gently around in the air so that he could catch the deck plating as the _Normandy_ completed one of its swinging arcs.

It was pretty to watch. Halmabad looked like a frog sticking to a leaf, the way he hugged the wing bracket. Ta'u was the largest Human on the crew, and yet Wrex bodily yanked the rope and pulled him onto the deck plating as if he weighed nothing. "Prepare to board!" Halmabad called out. Carefully, they moved to the port airlock, their only way into the ship. The other airlock had a shuttle attached to it, and it looked like it had been damaged by the crash. They would permanently damage the airlock housing if they tried to get it off. Then they would make the _Normandy_ no longer space worthy.

Tali was above the airlock, and Wrex was below. Halmabad, Wrex, and Reddin were going to be the first ones going in. Then Alenko, Ta'u, and herself. Once they formed a beachhead they were going to cover the rest of the crew. With no hesitation, Halmabad thumbed the controls and opened both the inner and outer airlock doors. Gunfire came in bursts, and a tech grenade exploded upon the team. Her barriers were only slightly drained, but one of the marines in his Onyx armor had a suit breach.

Wrex groaned, lurching himself into the airlock and absorbing fire. Halmabad triggered his tech armor and leap-frogged ahead of him, taking hits until they could both take the inner airlock. Reddin slid in behind the Krogan, her shotgun firing off a massive round and beginning to vent heat as she dove for cover in the airlock. Tali sucked in a large breath. It was her turn. Alenko and Ta'u were not wearing as heavy of armor as she was. Strange, that she was now the most heavily armored and defended. With a tap on the wrist, Omni-gel deployed and covered her visor and joints. Then she leapt into the gap, rounds already pinging off of her barrier. Boots clomped into the airlock right behind her, and she ran forward.

She was the first person into the hangar bay, and it had been prepared for a war. The MAKO was on its side, anchor bolts keeping it locked to the floor. It blocked anyone trying to get to a position to flank on the left, towards the hangar bay doors. To the right was the hallway to the Engineering deck, which had been sealed off and filled with the lockers that normally were mounted on the wall. The deployable metal plates that all Alliance ships came with for cover were deployed, meaning that the area in front of the airlock had been turned into a kill zone.

Fortunately, there were only four people shooting at them. Each had a heavy rifle and integrated grenade launcher. With that kind of positioning, she had to fall back on what the Alliance taught their soldiers. Quarian military tradition was to avoid taking risks and use drones or grenade showers to weaken the enemy position. The Alliance method for taking on a defensive position where you had the enemy outnumbered and you were in a kill zone was clear. "Blitzkrieg!" She yelled. The Pheonix IX armor reacted, letting her sprint right at the enemy. Right behind her she could hear three sets of boots pounding. She hit the forward defensive position with Damping and an Overload, the barriers flickering and the guns overheating. One of the men tried to brace when she leapt over the metal defensive plate and into his torso, letting her body slam into his. Her shotgun expressed the rest of her opinion at that range, partially breaking the suit at first, and then the second shot went through his torso.

The man to her right looked like he had been _smeared_ across the floor after Wrex landed on him. Tali wouldn't have noticed except that his arm had ended up on top of her foot. Wrex had just ripped out the limb like it was a toy. Her barriers were low, and she got a warning from the suit's VI that she needed to take cover. She did, stepping back as the ceiling dropped. Docking crates that normally contained provisions and supplies dropped like bombs, landing all around them and crushing her and Wrex. She was pinned under a larger crate, while Wrex had unfortunately gotten crushed by the spare thermal vent crate. The Krogan groaned, and Tali was able to squeeze herself through the gap between crate and defensive plating.

The sight of the battle did not help. Her people now had cover, but the men defending the _Normandy_ now had two more allies joining them. One was wearing a heavily customized combat exoskeleton. He looked Human or Batarian, and was holding a mounted missile launcher in one hand and a heavy repeating rifle in the other. With the exoskeleton he could carry them without problems, and he had the entire team pinned down. The rest of the marines were still in the airlock, with no safe locations to muster out and get to. Alenko and Ta'u were sharing the cover of the food crate, the contents of which were already spilling onto the floor from a missile blast.

The two enemies on the ground were moving on top of the MAKO, using it as cover to fire down from, flanking from both sides. Lastly, a floating chair with a Human in it hovered above the battlefield by the Engineering deck. It was firing napalm and had other cannons in place. They needed to move, to take the pressure off of the marines in the kill zone. " _Zorah! We've been locked out of the Engineering terminals! All controls are being routed elsewhere!_ " Her two people had made it through the oxygen tanks and into the Engineering deck. " _Keelah! They've armed the scuttle bomb!_ "

Williams rallied the marines, charging out into the lanes of oncoming fire. She got to the MAKO, and pressed her palm up against it. There was a humming noise, and then the entire tank was launched into the hangar door. This opened up the flank, even though Williams was reporting suit breaches. This also freed Tali, the crate shifting to fall into the area the tank used to be. She also was in position to see the airlock that the shuttle was connected to cycle and open. Strange, that it would do that.

She felt a bit of glee when Miranda Harper stepped into the hangar bay, her biotic Pull yanking one of the men off the MAKO and into the open. Tali smirked as her marines did what marines do best when your enemy exposes themselves. The last of the original four enemies found himself stabbed by a knife, plunging through his neck guard and cutting off his cries. Commander Constantine appeared, not so gently yanking her blade from the man's neck and sliding into cover next to Miranda.

"Surrender now!" Julia warned the man in the exoskeleton and the man in the hovering chair. "You are in illegal possession of a Systems Alliance ship-" Julia had to shut up as a missile struck her position, Miranda taking the brunt of the explosion and sliding out of cover. Her barriers were gone, shards of metal sticking into her arms. The hovering chair had racks of missiles, not even the miniature ones that were normally mounted on armors. These were anti-vehicle missiles. There were only two people in the room that had barriers strong enough to take one of those. Wrex was pinned under a crate. It was no question in her mind. Protect the Harper.

She was between the next missile and Miranda, her barriers humming as she stepped in between the round and her charge. Fire washed over her, but the tiny shards of metal didn't pierce her barrier. The explosion shifted her slightly, and the sound of metal shards pinging across the deck followed. "Odd." The Human in the chair said. "You were not a factor."

There were wires trailing from the chair, back into one of the primary input terminals. "Kill the hoverchair! He's in control of the scuttle bomb!" Tali yelled, seeing the wires and making the connection. "He's connected to the ship's power! Disconnect him!" There would be no getting through his barriers if he was connected directly to the ship's power. The chair swivelled, opening fire at a few of the marines that dared get closer, Andrew Ta'u going down in a splash of gore. Alenko used a Warp on the chair, but it remained unmoved by the display.

Tali used the distraction to move Miranda behind a fallen crate. Her barriers were drained and she couldn't do much. Julia slid into the same piece of cover. "Tali! You alright?"

"Yes, Commander." She said. "We're fine. There's still two of them out there."

"Disengage main power to the hangar bay. Get Wrex on the bastard. I'm going after the other guy."

"Take someone with you." Tali said. "That exosuit is too heavily armed."

"No." She muttered. "Take care of the invalid and then come after me."

Tali didn't have a chance to reply, as Julia cloaked. She glanced around, seeing that the rest of the team wasn't doing well. The hovering chair was now directly over the power conduit, which Wrex had damaged with hs shotgun. "I think I know what to do." She muttered. "Halmabad! I need to get to Engineering!"

"I'll cover you!" He called, tapping his Omni-tool. Ashley's mass driver had blown the MAKO off of its docking cradle, and the machine could move on its own. It's wheels kicked into the floor, making it spin and move on its own. It went in jerks, spinning and screeching as it moved forward. Halmabad drove the side flipped vehicle in front of her, and from there in front of the ventilation grates. Tali grinned, and dove into the small space.

Halmabad could be heard ordering the squad into cover behind the tank, the turret somehow disabled. Wounded were being forced into one of the shipping crates, and Tali had to crawl quickly through the vents. Her stitches pulled at her, but she ignored the feeling of one of them snapping. She may have snapped another while moving Miranda. The other side of the grate popped open, as her crew heard her coming.

"Orders, Ma'am?"

"The terminals are down, right?" They both nodded. "Prepare to manually disengage main power to this deck."

"We've tried, but the power conduits are welded to the housings. Omni-gel is hardened around the conduit connectors." A sloppy job, she could tell.

"Hm." But all ship functions were tied to this lockout. "Let me try." She moved to the main console, and saw that it was locked down. "Well, too bad. Master Override codes, here we go!" The code was something she whispered to herself once a week. It was two hundred and sixty four characters long, and normal people might have trouble remembering something that long. The master codes were something installed on the computers in the Alliance dockyards. She and the XO had been updated with the latest when they were in for repairs a couple of months ago.

When the master override code did nothing, Tali felt her gut sink. That wasn't supposed to happen. The only way that this could happen was if someone else had the codes. The only people with those codes were her, Pressley, and Julia of course. The naval yards didn't allow anyone to leave when they knew sensitive information. "Get out the crowbars. We'll just have to disengage them manually."

Rubber coated crowbars were broken out of a small case set aside for this. Humans were nothing if not prepared for when their backwards technological practices went wrong. Like having only one anchor point on element zero generators. Her people were able to overcome the issue, sinking their crowbars past the Omni-gel and into the sensitive power connections. Main power to the hanger deck died, making the doors flicker and the automatic hydraulic system engage, locking them shut.

"Ma'am, we need to turn off this scuttle bomb" Prazza muttered. He held up the crowbar. "We should reboot the VI. I don't know how to disable these."

"Get started." Tali told him. "Good work you two. Let's make a checklist of what's broken and what it will take to get off the ground."

" _Tali! Tali you have to get out of there!_ " The Commander's voice came over the comm channel. " _There is a Hanar onboard! It just went into the vents, heading towards the engineering deck!_ " She sounded hysterical. " _Joker didn't see it on sensors, and it can cloak like I can._ "

"Get some Omni-gel on the ventilation covers! Seal the room!" She yelled. But it was too late. Both of her men were down, one of them with what appeared to be a medical scalpel plunged through the back of his helmet. The other's visor had been ripped off, and his medical reporting software had been taken down by a virus. She watched as first the tentacles and then the main body of the Hanar appeared from stealth. It was in the process of sawing through the front of Prazza's face when it glanced down at his wrist, which had activated a weak Overload tech mine.

She met 'eyes' with it. In each of the creature's arms were different tools, sharpened blades and gleaming OSD port manipulators showing. "This one rarely gets to see the Quarian mind. A shame that it lacks more time." Tentacles squirming, it floated into the air so that the element zero core was behind it. She couldn't afford to miss.

Nevertheless, her shotgun came out. Her father was the one who had taught her to aim all those years ago. "Prazza! Get up!" Her man's eyes were waving wildly side to side, his body limp on the floor.

"This one regrets to inform you that his spine has been severed locally." The Hanar helpfully supplied. Her blood ran cold at that. She couldn't let it get close. Hanar tentacles were long, and she could see the creature floating gently towards her. She quickly lifted up her wrist, firing the most heavy Damping burst she would risk at it. Predictably, it dodged. Her second Omni-Fabricator coughed, and the Overload hit it square in the nose.

It _gurgled_ , coming at her. Her gun fired once, but only clipped off one of the tentacles. The others quickly covered her, some reaching towards her face and wrists. "Ah. Your armor is of a newer design. Your visor does not disengage. A pity." The main body of the Hanar pinned her, holding her against the railing while the rest of its tools could be brought to bear.

"Get off my ship you bosh'tet!" She yelled, triggering the Omni-gel layer over her armor. Her fabricators were taking their time generating another Overload. The Hanar was unconcerned.

"Zorah. I've seen your colors before." It's nose rubbed up against her visor. "You come from a family of monsters. Killers like me." It's whole body glowed. "No, I know how to fix what I damage. Your family is different. Collecting the bodies of aborted children, the infirm, and the dead." She felt her world view tunneling inwards, realizing that the Hanar was choking her through the neck-lining of her armor. "Sleep, little child. Then I can finally see a Zorah. Open your mind, see if you have the same tumors as your mother did."

Her mind focused on _that_. Her mother. The servos in her armor cranked out to the maximum, and her arm ripped out of the grip of the tentacles. She grabbed the only thing she could, plunging a knife given to her by Julia into the creature's torso. It shuddered, trying to fly away. She wrapped her legs around its sponginess, keeping it from escaping until she was certain it was dead. Fifteen, eighteen times, maybe as many as thirty times the knife went in.

"Liar." She muttered. "I was there when my mother gave up her bone marrow." There had been no scars on her face. "Lying bosh'tet." She kicked the corpse, the medical tools sliding across the deck. All of them were slick with blood. "I'm not a monster." She whispered to herself. "I'm not!"

The eyes of Prazza, blood coming out thickly through the hole in his skull, bored into her. Almost daring her to think about how long his bone marrow would be viable for collection and processing to be made into anti-biotics. "I'm not!" Fifteen hours. Fifteen hours before the bone marrow would flush. The thought came unbidden, like the last memory she had of her mother. She collapsed onto the floor, not wanted to look at him anymore. " _Tali! Tali! Report in!_ "

"Julia?" She finally said. "I'm here." All she could manage was a whisper. She didn't know how long the Commander had been saying her name before she noticed.

" _Did you see the Hanar?_ "

"It's dead." She said. It was still bleeding onto the deck plating. Just to be sure, she pulled out her shotgun, and emptied it. The barrels were glowing red and into the unsafe point after she made sure that it was just gore on the deck plating. "Very dead."

" _Is there any chance that you can disable that scuttle bomb?_ "

Oh. "Oh." Right.

* * *

Julia hit the stairs at a run. There was only one of these armored guys left, and then that man in the wheelchair. With her cloak, she had to move more slowly up the steps than the man in armor had. Her Pheonix armor didn't have muffled boots for moving on odd surfaces. So she had to move very quietly, and not fast enough to catch up to him. He was up on the crew deck before she could even move up the stairs. These stairs were supposed to be secured against boarding parties, but they had been damaged by some sort of explosives. The secure foam dispensers were broken, suggesting that those who took this ship knew the defenses.

It wasn't something she wanted to consider. Her steps were silent, the barest hint of her boots touching the stairs. At the top, there was no one waiting for her. No guns aimed at her position. No tech mines waiting to go off. It was not rational. She came up into a crouch, looking at her ship. The crew deck had been damaged, the entire mess a shattered wreck. A hole had been blasted through the ceiling, going right through the galaxy map and navigation arrays. Her quarters had been blown open. Det-pack, she guessed. Someone didn't like her encrypted lock. She could smile about that later.

The medbay was sealed with a metal brace. It was welded on. Actually welded, with metal instead of Omni-gel. The stairways to the bridge were sealed, and she could see that the doors were still on lockdown. The man didn't get away through there. That left the gunnery deck the crew quarters. Or her rooms. She moved towards her chambers first, noticing the broken pieces of her door swept into the corners. The ship had stopped yawing to and fro, which meant that Joker had taken the bridge. The rubbish and debris from the crash included all of her things. The inside of her room was thrashed.

She heard the sound of a gun extending its barrel. She rolled, and her barriers lit up as rounds erupted into them. It shattered her cloak, but it also broke the cloaking field of her attacker. He was behind her, in the hallway, somehow having gotten there without making any noise. The exosuit was hovering above the ground, the man's weapons trained on her. Casually, they fired a missile at head level, making her bend down to avoid it. Her bed exploded, and napalm was loose all over her quarters.

"Commander." He said. "Stay where you are. I want to talk to you for a second." The helmet became less opaque, and the figure kept talking. "Just talking, no more killing each other. This whole farce is done. The entire point of this is so that I can talk with you, and I can stop you from helping your dad."

"Jenkins?" She had seen the brain matter exit the helmet. "I killed you." The face was much the same, minus the giant scar where her round had hit him. "What the hell is going on?" Jenkins looked more pale than when she had last seen him. His skin was fake, almost, around his right eye. That eye was cybernetic for certain. She could see surgical scars on his forehead.

"I could ask much the same question." He said, letting his hands leave the triggers of his weapons. "You've been helping your father ruin us."

"What have you been doing, then?" She asked, taking a half step to the left, making it seem as though she were just stretching out her limbs. She even stood up all the way, giving him more of a target. She could see the barrels stay where they were, not moving forward. Good, they weren't tracking her. "Why didn't you contact us?"

He also took a half step to match her own. "Couldn't trust you to keep quiet about me. The Alliance knows, I think."

"You think?"

"Chakwas kept me alive. Or at least not dead enough that they couldn't bring it back. Some kind of Alliance black project. They had to replace a bunch of me." He tapped his helmet. "You managed to shoot me right between the lobes, Commander. A perfect shot. Took my thyroid right out. They had to install some kind of implant to help me control the hormones in my brain, since you removed it. Finds-Secrets says that a hundred years ago I would have just been some kind of vegetable." He chuckled. "Some kind of lucky wound you gave me. Didn't lose any memory, nerves, or skills. Just had to go under and get me all patched up."

"Where is Chakwas? No one has seen her since you left." Jenkins was alive. That made her feel better. Better that she hadn't ended the life of one of her friends. But the fact that he had taken the _Normandy_ was another problem. "Talk to me, Jenkins. Tell me why you took the _Normandy_."

"Jack Harper has a plan, Commander. He's taken an asteroid the size of Greenland, and it's solid deuterium. Whatever he hits with that, it's gonna wipe out the entire planet he targets. We know he can access some kind of backdoor on primary relays." Jenkin's right eye twitched. "He's got every disease that the Council Races have ever encountered and he's used them before. It's only a matter of time before he starts looking at wiping out the Turians or the Salarians. Hock knows what he's planning, but we need someone on the inside to be able to stop him."

"Hock?" Julia spat. "You did this for Hock? You nearly killed your old crew because he told you it would stop Harper?"

"Well, yeah." Jenkins said, as if it made the most sense in the world. "I've killed off all of Harper's agents that I can find, but I don't think it's enough."

"You almost killed Pressley, Jenkins." She said slowly. "Joker, too."

"No, I couldn't have." Jenkins said, shaking his head. "They would have surrendered. I'm sure."

"Jenkins, look at this place." Julia said. "You just blew up my bed! How is that logical? How does that prove that you're any better than Harper himself?"

"I dunno." He muttered, finally breaking eye contact. "I couldn't tell you the big picture. But all the little guys like me add up." He chuckled. "Next after this I have to sneak into Arcturus. Admiral Drescher is the only Admiral that Harper has in his pocket. She's the only reason you've been kept out of a prison. Once she's gone, Jack Harper won't be able to use any fleet resources or cause trouble."

"Jenkins." She said. "You are committing treason. You're talking about killing an Admiral. We are at war with the Rachni. Not the Alliance command, not with some terrorist with a PMC, and not me. So put the guns down, and let's talk about this."

"Yeah." He muttered. "You would understand all this. You of all people." He lowered his arms, the exoskeleton moving downwards until the barrels touched the floor. "I don't even know which side you're on, though. Everyone's falling apart. Earth has riots, Thessia has protests, and even the Turians are thinking of folding. We've gotta clean house if we have a chance of winning this war with the Rachni."

She noticed something in the air behind him. A slight shimmer, almost. Something that hung in the air. "Joker, I need you to check the lifesigns. Is there a Hanar onboard?" She whispered into her private comm channel. A Hanar had been mentioned.

" _I don't see one!_ " He replied. " _Maybe it's Blasto?_ "

She saw the shimmer move slightly. There was a slight glow in the air, and she could see Jenkins bring a hand up to his head, groaning. "No." He muttered. "You wouldn't, would you." He seemed distracted, almost as if he wasn't actually here. "I'll give you a chance, though. One question for you, Commander."

"Call me Julia." She offered. Something to make him see reality. "Ask me anything."

"Okay, Julia." He said, his eyes refocusing on her with great intensity. "If your dad was going to kill the Alliance Ambassador, what would you do?"

She blinked. "You mean Hock, right?" She glanced behind him. The shimmer was moving closer. "The man who has spent most of my adult life trying to take away everything I own? The man who used my inheritance as if he owned it? He is the one that drove Jack Harper away from Human space, caused my childhood to be ruined. That man?"

Jenkin's barrels lifted slightly from the floor. "Humanity isn't going to survive if we trust anyone else. If you don't trust our Ambassador…" She could see the shimmer move just above him, almost ready to flank her. "Then you aren't going to be worth saving."

His guns filled the hallway with fire, both rounds and liquid. She had to dive backwards, rolling into cover in her bedroom. It was the only place she could find cover in. Napalm nipped at her heels, covering the entire corridor. Whatever he was using, he didn't care about the ship. Another missile streaked into the room, taking out her desk and her small collection of desk decorations. She also noticed that the doorway's kinetic barrier curtain was still functional.

Reaching back, she pulled the M920-Cain off of her back. "Jenkins, weren't you the one to lecture me on the rules of engagement?" She keyed it down to it's lowest output, enough to level a small building. "Why the hell are you trying to blow a hole in the side of the ship!"

"To be fair, Commander, you're a bitch to take down. I gotta hit you hard, or else you're just going to cut my throat." She stepped around the corner, letting the missile he fired hit her directly. She staggered, but her gun came up in the smoke.

"Got that right." She fired. Not at him, no. He might have some kind of ability to dodge. She blasted the floor. She used her door's barrier curtain, Jenkins howled, and she could see a Hanar come out of stealth behind him, getting blown through the air like it was caught in a wind turbine. It recovered, ducking into an open duct by the medbay. That would take it to the bridge. She tapped her wrist.

"I saw one, Joker. Lock down the deck and deploy the barrier curtain over the cockpit. Stay safe." Jenkins was nowhere to be seen, but there was some blood. There had better be, after she fired a Cain. She slid the smoking weapon back into place on her back. Then she thumbed the controls for the barrier curtain, and cloaked. She stepped forward, looking at the hole she had blown through the deck. She grimaced, seeing the exterior armor plate exposed. Tali would come after her for this. She glanced up, looking at the open air duct. That connected to the engineering deck.

"Tali! Tali you have to get out of there!" She yelled, moving towards the grate. "There is a Hanar onboard! It just went into the vents, heading towards the engineering deck!" She didn't see anything on sensors, and she knew that Joker couldn't see it either. "Joker didn't see it on sensors, and it can cloak like I can." She felt napalm wash over her back, lighting her on fire.

She rolled, and saw Jenkins walking towards her. His limbs were charred, the armor on them shattered. The exoskeleton was gone, one of his legs exposed to the knee. It was just meat, torn apart. Worse, she could see long blue cybernetic bones running through the exposed flesh. It was the same cybernetics that were in those Husks. "Commander." He muttered, metal plates of exposed bones showing instead of skin. His face had been completely rebuilt. "I'm trying not to kill you. But I _need_ to. Don't want to, but I have to."

"You're a Husk! Jenkins, look at your foot!"

He did, his right eye rotating in its socket far enough to be discomforting. "Huh." He said. "Why doesn't it hurt?" The right eye rotated again, focusing on her pistol. Whatever levitation effect kept him off the floor also kept him from putting his weight on the ruined leg. "It's just a flesh wound." He said, motioning to his leg. "Not going to slow me down."

"Wrong." Someone else said. Kaidan had snuck up from behind, and had a slight angle on Jenkins. Kaiden hit Jenkins with a Pull, slamming the marine into the floor and making him cry out. This gave Julia the chance she needed. She leapt, taking Jenkins in a half Nelson hold and wrapping her legs around his bad shoulder. All of this while dripping rivulets of napalm came off her armor and dropped onto Jenkins.

"Stand down!" She yelled, pressing on his shoulder and choking him. His exposed skin caught fire, making him twitch. She gritted her own teeth, as she felt some of her joints getting warmer.

His head rotated far beyond what his neck should be capable of, and his jaw bit down against her wrist. The armor dented slightly. Whatever gene mods he had received, that one looked useful only in situations like this. "I can't." He growled. "Gotta stop Harper!"

She pressed harder, seeing blood come out of his burnt skin. His face was turning blue. "Damn it Jenkins, stop!" He put his leg against hers, pushing with his shattered knee. Kaidan stepped in, kicking it away and grappling the man's legs. His arms freely struck Kaidan's armor, his visor bending ominously. Jenkins was completely blue in the face, out of oxygen, yet he still struggled harder and harder.

"Can't stop. Can't die." He whispered, his fingers pushing through the edges of Kaidan's visor. "Sorry, Alenko." The napalm was getting everywhere, leaving little burning puddles anywhere Jenkins would thrash and she would roll.

Jenkins had been holding back. She could see his thumb punch through the glass, Kaidan's sucking in breath in shock. She had no choice. Her knife plunged through his eye, going in to the hilt. Jenkins fell back, his other eye spinning around in place. She gripped him, making sure that he didn't move or keep moving. Alenko got up, breathing heavily. She waited almost five minutes, watching as Jenkins kept breathing somehow. No matter what angle his neck was being held at.

"Thank you." He said. She could see cuts on his cheek through the glass. "I wasn't sure for a second there." He Pulled one of the tables near them, putting the heavy object over him. "This should hold him." Kaidan gave a Pull on a fire extinguisher and managed to put out the fire on her armor and the floor, as well as Jenkins. The fire detection systems must be overloaded for them not to notice napalm burning freely.

Julia grabbed Jenkins wrist, checking his medical interface. She thanked whatever deity was listening that it showed him unconscious. It also had a timer going. The timer was labeled 'scuttle'. Damn it. They had armed the scuttle bomb. "Tali?" There was no response. Her squad vitals were showing the Quarian's heart rate being extremely high.

"Tali? Tali! Report in!" The scuttle bomb timer had less than two minutes on it.

" _Julia?_ " She finally said. " _I'm here._ "

"Did you see the Hanar?"

Tali's voice was shaky. " _It's dead._ " Her shotgun fired three times, clearly heard through the comm line. " _Very dead._ "

"Is there any chance you can disable the scuttle bomb?" The timer was at 1:38.

" _Oh._ " She said. " _Yeah. Alliance bombs are made pretty well, but I can disable it._ " The Quarian muttered something in Kellish. " _The master codes aren't working. I've got to disable it manually. But I'll unlock the rest of the ship's terminals when I can._ "

" _That would be appreciated._ " Joker said.

"Halmabad! Sitrep!" She ordered. During this time she removed Jenkin's OSD, and any knives or hidden pistils from his armor. As well as his armor batteries for good measure. Her knife was hilt deep in his brain, yet the man was still breathing. Her blade had hit some kind of armored plate and twisted in there.

" _As soon as that Hanar went down he surrendered. Claims that his name is a Major Leng._ " He said. " _That chair of his was capable of much more damage, Ma'am. He's been aiming to injure us._ "

"Was?"

" _Wrex took offense to it. On a completely unrelated note we may need to get a spike from the Graal out of Mr. Leng's ass._ " She could hear the Krogan laughing in the background. " _Ship functions are unlocking, Commander. Hanger deck secure._ "

" _Bridge secure._ " Joker reported. " _There's vodka all over the displays though._ "

" _Engineering secure._ " Tali said. " _Scuttle bomb disabled, though I really don't want to turn this one on again. I can't trust it wasn't meddled with further._ " Julia nodded in relief.

"Crew deck secure." She said, glancing down at Jenkins. "Wrex, Garrus, Halmabad, secure prisoners and get the med bay open. Alenko has this one up here covered for now. Everyone else, get civilians on board and secured. Load us to the limits and get them secured in crash seats. Anyone still not aboard should be directed to any bunkers in the area." She glanced at the gaping holes in her ship. "Tali, for the record I want to apologize."

" _For what?_ "

"I may have destroyed most of the hallway leading to my quarters." She glanced at the gaping hole to the ducts and the exterior armor. "As well as a power regulator and exposed some conduits."

" _What._ "

She blushed a bit behind her helmet. "Apologising in advance. Sorry." She could hear someone chuckling on the line. "XO, ship is secure. The _Normandy_ is back under our control." She waited until Wrex had come upstairs and 'sat' on Jenkins before she moved to the bridge. "Joker, give me external comms." She barked, once she got up there.

It was a mess. Worse than she had expected. The seats were damaged, one wall had scorch marks of explosive rounds that hadn't been cleaned up, and the navigation station was just _not there_. Harris was rigging the nav computer up to a different station. "You've got external comms, Ma'am." Joker said, a gagged old man tied to one of the support struts next to the cockpit.

"This is SSV Normandy. We are on station and awaiting further orders."

" _This is the_ Florence. _There isn't much left up here. I've got the_ Bacchae _with us, but her engines are damaged. She can't get out to FTL. The Rachni have us pinned down in the rings of the gas giant, but they'll be all over us soon. How far out are you,_ Normandy _?_ "

"More than ten minutes from the gas giant." She said. "We took some damage on the way in."

" _Though this goes against Naval doctrine, I respectfully advise you not to engage for our sake. We've got a Rachni cruiser and two frigates inbound._ " She grit her teeth. " _Good luck,_ Normandy."

"Good luck." She said, hearing the SSV Florence cut the comm connection. "Joker, I need you to route comms through public channels."

"There aren't many comm buoys left to route through, Commander." He said, tapping away on a terminal next to his. The pilot's seat had been modified. More accurately, someone had ripped out the haptic interface. "I've got something, though. Hope the local music channels don't mind a little excess transmissions."

"I know you're out there. I know you're listening. Get me something encrypted and let's coordinate. I want to take this bastard down." She tapped internal comms. "Tali, what's our combat capability?"

" _Complete and total, Commander. We didn't have to use that modified torpedo. Whatever happened to the fuel lines we can fix in less than five minutes. I've got my people on it. I can give you full gravitic controls and guns. Can't give you complete stealth, though. Some of the paint has been damaged._ "

"Can we operate engines at maximum?"

" _Flank speed. Yes, Commander, that we can._ "

"Once those fuel lines are fixed you get us off the ground, Joker. Pressley, you've got five minutes to load up passengers and get to the bridge."

" _Ma'am._ " He said. " _We've picked up a few high value VIPs. Ambassador Hock among them. They brought a few hundred stragglers as an entourage. Orders?_ " She could hear his displeasure.

"Only the direct VIPs are coming aboard. No entourage. Prioritize our civilians over any of them. Consider your family as VIPs. Get them into the officer's quarters. My quarters are damaged, but functional. You can place any other VIPs there. Make sure to bring a metal plate to throw across the hole."

" _How large of a hole?_ " Tali asked across the line, sounding like she was making a joke.

"A larger plate." Julia clarified.

" _I'll be on the bridge momentarily, Commander_." Donovan Hock was on board. That was not welcome. She could feel her fists balling, and glanced down at her hands. Napalm burns covered the upper sides, thumbs, and wrists of her black Phoenix armor. The paint was chipped, and she was covered in white foam particles from the extinguisher. If Hock meant to take this ship, well, he was just an Ambassador. She answered to the Admirals. Though they would not hesitate to blame her if he was at all injured while aboard.

"Commander, we've got an incoming laser-comm. It's from that other ship that went down nearby."

"I'll take it." She said.

" _Ah, good. I see that you survived the loss of blood from the injuries I gave you._ " She could see some four eyed creature on the screen. Triangular shaped head, and definitely something she would recognize if she saw it. Glancing at some of the details on its armor, she finally realized where she recognized him from.

"Joker, prepare a full salvo of torpedoes, just in case." She told her pilot, before bothering to reply. "We met on the Fuji. I assume you are in command of the other stealth frigate?"

" _I am. You are a Harper. I can trust you to assist me in killing a Reaper._ "

"You're on a Human planet, where I own almost eight percent of the marketed goods. You are assisting me." She glared at him, not knowing which pair of eyes to glare at. Going by Batarian standards, she glared at the eyes located higher on his head. "Now, we need to coordinate our weapons and break through its barriers and kill it."

" _Our ships are the same class. We can out perform the enemy in space. Our issues lie with_ -"

" _Guns._ " Her father appeared in the channel. " _The_ Handsome Jack _doesn't have all of the weapons we need. It does, however, carry defensive technology that can be put to use. The SR Normandy design is meant to take these things on. The_ Acheron _not so much. It has a few tricks up its sleeve, but they are defensive in nature. Javik, I hope you don't mind being the wingman for the SR-1. You're going to have to intercept any of the shots._ " Her father looked like he had taken the time to make his hair look better. If she looked closely she could still see dust on his cheeks. " _Fly close together, I designed that ship to be able to outperform the Reapers. I'll get there attention. I'll bait them out towards where Taurus Station used to orbit._ " That orbital station had been ruined by the Turians. It was mostly a refueling station these days, after all of the bulkheads had been permanently warped out of place by the Turian breaching charges. It had been dragged further away from Shanxi and left as a station in further orbit.

"We'll be off the ground in less than five minutes. Get yourselves cloaked and ready."

" _I'll be there momentarily. Some of my people are needed on the_ Handsome Jack _._ "

" _While the Avatar of Vengeance is aboard any ship, it is reclassified as the_ Imperial Throne." Javik said imperiously. " _It shall be._ "

" _That kind of rhetoric is part of the reason you're people are nearly extinct, Javik. It defeats the purpose of my position as bait._ " Jack reminded him.

"Commander, shouldn't we blow them to hell _before_ they take off?" Joker asked, once he verified that the comms were off.

"No. I'd rather we had some help against the Rachni and that Reaper." She glanced down the bridge, where her men were waiting in their seats. Harris seemed to be replacing his haptic interface with the one from the internal power management station. "Harris, give me a count of the ships in orbit. The Rachni might take offence to our fighting their dreadnought." She glanced at the internal sensors from her perspective at the central sensor and comms station. "Halmabad, how is that medbay looking?"

"Out of my chair." She heard from behind her. She turned, seeing Kalin'ren stepping carefully towards his seat. His belly was covered in medical bandages and Omni-gel hardened into the shape of his abs. "Let's kill a damn ship." He sat down, groaning heavily as the bandages stretched. As soon as he got working, she could see comm channels to different satellites being opened and overriding the network connections. The images for her father and the Prothean cleaned up, and Harris shouted for joy as the military satellites started giving him information. "We're lucky. The big bosh'tet isn't using its EMP. Probably to not damage it's allies."

"So if we take out the Rachni ships before the dreadnought then this system will go completely dark, just like Helios."

"Yes." Kalin'ren muttered. "The idiots who mangled the ship managed to keep everything in order. Stealth systems and armor intact and operational. Though the bottom of the ship is rather scraped up. If we face the sun with it the paint might not keep out all of the light gradient. We might be seen from that angle."

"Thanks for the update." Julia said to the Quarian. "You should be recovering. You've done enough for the ship."

"You're ignorant." He told her rudely. "The Quarian Navy doesn't believe in injuries keeping you from your duties in combat. Don't waste my time and go back to doing what you do best." He waved her away from his station. "The only thanks I want to hear is a job well done, perhaps we'll keep you from being ground into antibiotics.."

Julia stepped away from him, feeling rebuffed. She was only trying to be nice about things. Most soldiers who had taken a harpoon to the gut would appreciate that. Kalin'ren was just not Human, and didn't share that mentality. She had only made it to the sensor station when the elevator opened. Pressley stepped through the door, heavy cannon in hand and grim look on his face. He came with a few other people, one of her Quarians and Ambassador Hock. His wife also came in, wearing Alliance overalls and holding a welding tool. "Ma'am." He said. "XO requesting bridge duties."

"Granted. We need to coordinate with another stealth ship to take down that dreadnought." Pressley was the most experienced navigator she had. He grunted, looking over the damaged navigations computer and station. A mix-mash of cables ran from that into other terminals.

"Becca. Get this cleared up first." He pointed at the station. "I need some kind of haptic feed." He glanced over at Kalin'ren, seeing his bandaged belly. "Typical that you would be here instead of in a bed."

"The doctor was absorbed in operating on the wounded. Jenkins especially. I walked out the door with the rest of the crew capable of fighting." Kalin'ren said neutrally.

"Commander." Hock intervened, his usually impeccable suit covered in dust and a bit of blood. "We need to evacuate now. We've got civilians on board."

"Ambassador Hock." She said carefully. She couldn't trust him, and she couldn't trust her father. "As a civilian, I must recommend that you get below decks. Otherwise my marines will escort you from the bridge. We are acting under standing orders from our superiors. Until told otherwise, we will follow them." She could see Hock's eyes harden. He was not accustomed to being told no. "It is good to see that you survived the Rachni, ambassador." She told him, smiling. He was forced to feign his own joy at this.

"I am relieved that the Alliance is doing their job. I will speak with you at your convenience, Commander." He responded, walking off. Her marines walked him to the elevator, without any complaint. They still trusted her, so far.

" _Ready to begin here._ " She heard from the comm line, the face of the Prothean still alien and unwelcome. " _We needed a new pilot. Now we can fly._ "

"Joker, how are we doing?"

"Tali just cleared the last line. She's just double checking everything." Joker replied helpfully. "Green all over."

"Get us out of this fast food joint, then." She looked through the viewport. She could see some Rachni moving in the landscape, four workers carrying a coffee machine out from the McDonalds. "Make sure to kill those little bastards before they learn how to caffeinate themselves. Rachni with coffee is a recipe for nightmares."

"With pleasure, Ma'am." Joker hit the momentum, knocking a couple of people off their feet. The two forward engines washed the bugs and coffee machine in cooking helium, and the nose of the _Normandy_ rose up into the atmosphere. "Oh yes, we are back in business!"

A status update appeared, and a small blue dot appeared on their sensors. A very close ship, within less than ten kilometers. "Commander, I am receiving their IFF over laser comms. We know their location now." Kalin'ren said. "The _Acheron_ is up ahead, already in orbit. The _Handsome Jack_ is forming up with us in an attack pattern."

"Tell them to avoid the Rachni ships for now. We kill them and this gets worse, not better." Julia ordered. Pressley and his wife were at the same workstation, both of them tapping away on navigations and giving them a route. "Looks like whoever is piloting is used to Alliance formations. Alright, we're in position."

" _My turn, then._ " Her father said. " _Broadcasting this in the clear. Attention, tentacled dipshit._ " Jack said with some disdain. " _Let me officially welcome you to Shanxi, which is the second most significant planet in all of Humanity. You're just the newest imperious alien to try to take it over. The Turians got here first, and they lost this planet. You can level our cities, kill us from orbit, or even destroy the atmosphere. But that just makes you the newest little warlord in a long history of dead-_ "

A scream of some kind of data hit all of the comm networks. Kalin'ren almost fell off his chair, holding his head. He must have been listening closely. Other people cried out in pain as thousands of high pitched screams from multiple races combined assaulted their senses. Right after that, the comm network died. " _Isolate the signals! Keep them off of the VI's decision tables!_ " Tali yelled from her post. " _That was the same signal that disabled us at Helios!_ "

Julia focused past all that, looking at Harris' sensor input. It was being filled with trash signals, sensor ghosts, and junk data. He was trying to see past it. He just discarded the entire input layer, instead putting their sensors towards the atmosphere. Sure enough, the data cleared enough for them to see the clouds parting under red lightning. "It's coming up on the _Acheron_ , Ma'am."

"That's not its top speed." Pressley said. "I've seen it chase ships before."

" _It may be suspicious. The Reapers are capable of guile, and must assume we are as well._ " Javik said. " _They are only weak to incoming fire when they are shooting. Their barriers weaken around their weapons enough to allow us to damage them._ "

"I've got to be _where_ to shoot them?" Joker said incredulously. "How the hell are we supposed to get anything other than a glancing shot?! I mean, that's a suicidal flight path! We'll just be dashed to pieces against their barriers the moment we shoot."

" _It is not ideal, no._ " Javik said. " _That is my job. Your attack vector is behind them. They may have a higher top speed. Our craft were designed to have a faster turn radius. You can get behind them, but they can fly faster than us._ "

Joker nodded, looking a little bit pale. "Okay, so we just play chicken with a dreadnought that can fly faster than a frigate. Easy." He sighed. "I really wish they taught this in the Academy."

"Is like dodging torpedoes." The older man handcuffed to the deck said. "You will fly underneath enemy, and then shoot right into ass."

"Who the hell are you." Julia spat.

"Old man of little consequence." He answered with a thick accent. "Was hired as pilot for ship."

"Marines! Take this man to the brig." Julia said.

"Acht." He spat. "Limpet said nothing about Strumpet. Jess, you are quite something."

She just gave him a practiced glare. As he was taken from the bridge, she did a quick check. Everyone here was still suited up in armor, minus Rebecca Pressley. "Captain Becca, there are spare armors and breathing masks in the port cupboard. Please equip one before we get into combat. This deck already has holes in it." One breach on any level other than engineering and gunnery decks would be death for everyone without a mask. Thankfully the woman nodded and took her advice.

" _Here it comes._ " Javik said.

" _I've got two Rachni frigates inbound._ " Jack said. " _Allison, they're about to be all over us. Adjust your heading._ " Her father said. " _Stay on target, Javik._ "

" _The Reaper is coming fast enough to be troublesome. It may be able to see you._ "

Sure enough, the big ship curled through space, avoiding a small nebula of dust and debris left from an orbital facility. It was heading right for the _Acheron_. As it passed them by, both Javik and Joker hit full speed, both ships in tight formation with one another at less than a half kilometer away from one another. " _It is moving slowly. It will be within firing range momentarily._ "

Even after entering extreme range, almost half a million kilometers, the big ship did not fire. It just moved slower and slower, angling in on the _Acheron_ and matching speed. The _Acheron_ couldn't fly under stealth at anything more than half speed. " _Alright Allison. Break stealth and get up to speed. Give the other ships the vector they need._ "

The _Acheron_ broke stealth, kicking its drives into full gear and moving as fast as the yacht was capable of. It wasn't enough. The Rachni saw it first, their shots going wide. The Reaper closed in, going faster than the _Normandy_ could move, and coming up right on the rear of the small ship. It looked like a small insect being eaten by a much larger predator. It screamed again, making all of the ship's systems rattle. Their connection almost failed, but Kalin'ren quickly recovered it.

The _Acheron_ came around, until it was leading the Reaper right to them. She shuddered, looking at the giant thing coming right at her. Her father's flight plan took them right between their formation, and the _Acheron_ was flying at its top speed. The _Normandy_ and the _Handsome Jack_ accelerated, making Joker whimper. " _It isn't firing._ " Jack said. " _They're trying to capture us._ "

" _Then we must try. Firing torpedo._ " Javik said, his image clearly showing his two sets of eyes focused on his readouts.

"Do it, Joker." She ordered. "Then we get another angle."

The Thanix cannon fired, breaking their own stealth field for a moment as the power draw became too much. The Reaper didn't even panic, letting their shots splash all over their barrier and the ion slurry run all over their hull. The torpedo fired from the _Handsome_ _Jack_ struck the main gun, a coating of nitrogen particles getting into all of the slurry and instantly freezing the particles to the hull. "No damage, Commander. All of the heat and force were taken by its barrier." Pressley reported.

Joker screamed, the Reaper accelerating at them. She was thrown off her feet as the element zero core couldn't compensate enough, gravity gone for a moment. Joker slipped by the main gun, the tentacle coming within fourteen meters of the hull. Seeing the half kilometer long mass of dark metal visibly pushing past the viewport was terrifying. It was worse than any roller coaster or halo jump. Joker gasped, his eyes wide, as the Reaper passed them. Only after it passed did she check the readouts. The _Handsome Jack_ had made it, being farther away from the Reaper.

"Sweet baby Jesus." Joker said, wheezing. "That was too close." The gravity finally came back, and she took a seat next to Joker.

"We didn't even drain their barrier at all, Ma'am." Harris said from his station.

" _But we did see how strong their drive core is!_ " Tali said ecstatically from Engineering. " _Halmabad, load that torpedo we modified! If we time it right, I can destabilize it's drive core._ "

" _How much?_ " Jack asked, his full attention on them as he dove into a cloud of debris to dodge the giant ship.

" _I'm not sure. Maybe enough to cause an overload if we're lucky._ " Tali said honestly. " _I modified it to take out the_ Normandy's _core._ "

" _You're as ruthless as your father._ " Jack said. " _The Tantalus core is heavier than normal. Your plan should work. Allison, we're clear of the planet's gravity. Plot a short FTL jump._ "

" _The Reaper will take offence to this._ " Javik said. Sure enough, the moment that the FTL drives started spooling it stopped trying to capture the _Acheron_. It fired, its beams firing right underneath the _Acheron_. The barriers took the hit, and the heat washing over the deck was enough to melt the rear deck. The engines malfunctioned, venting coolant and fluid all over space. Some of it caught fire, breaches and oxygen leakage going through the _Acheron_. One of the wings was already shattered. Jack glanced at the screen, then back down at his readouts, and his eyes made contact with hers. She felt something fearful in that moment.

"Sitrep, Acheron!"

" _We're alive._ " Jack said, his connection fine even though she could see the glass and marble of the ballroom spewing out into space. " _Barely. Our engines are dead. Fuel tanks didn't rupture, thankfully. But it grazed enough systems that the coolant tank for the core is gone. Secondaries won't cut it. We're dead in the water and they know it._ " The Reaper was coming around, angling its guns towards the last known position they had been sighted. It wasn't facing them.

"Joker, I want you to trust me." She said. "When we get 20k out, I want you to turn off the stealth systems."

"What!" Pressley barked. Joker closed his eyes for a moment, lines of sweat going down his face.

"We need it to face us. I'm going to assume it will aim for capture."

"A grazing shot?" Joker muttered. "You want to bank on surviving a grazing shot?"

"The Acheron was made from recycled metals and non-military grade armor. If this thing is aiming to take prisoners, we can assume it will aim to wing us." She twitched her toes inside her boots. None of this felt right. Or comfortable. "Javik, you have your defensive torpedoes ready. I'll be counting on you."

" _Your trust will be well placed._ " He said. " _We are right behind you._ "

"Good." She looked, seeing that they were closing on two hundred and fifty thousand kilometers. "Gunnery crew, I want all tubes firing when I say. Two torpedoes need to cover the modified one. The other three I want on that main gun. Drop whatever ECM or screamers you think are necessary." The Thanix could only fire forwards, and that was going to be their main issue.

"All hands, brace for possible damage. DC teams to ladders, and all civilians need to be in airtight chambers with breathing masks. I repeat," Pressley was saying, his wife strapped in next to him. She was equipped for damage control, her kit strapped in neatly.

Sixty thousand kilometers out, she gripped the chair. "I want us so close that that they won't be able to dodge. Something that big won't be able to turn on a dime."

"You got it." He said, a bit shaky. But his flight path was as straight as an arrow, and he was diving right at the Reaper. Framed behind it was Shanxi. Naval doctrine was against firing any kind of kinetic rounds towards planets, but today she might just ignore that. Jenkins had been her example of keeping that doctrine, and he was the one on the operating table at that moment. "Cannons ready." Twenty thousand kilometers in space was close enough to see the shape of the Reaper against the atmosphere of the planet below. It looked like a predator, barely visible but still in perfect control of its environment. "Solutions for torpedoes plotted." It was almost on top of the _Acheron_ now. It had been slowing down near it.

At eighteen thousand, she glanced up. "Decloak." The Reaper shifted slightly, now that it knew they were there. Fourteen and a half thousand kilometers. "Fire."

Many things happened all at once. The torpedo tubes emptied, and the Thanix cannon fired. The lights on the bridge darkened slightly, as the power draw for the cannon needed to pull everything it could from other systems. The Reaper focused on them, it's main weapon angling and glowing. Two others also angled onto their flight path, leaving three third of a kilometer weapons aimed at them. "Mother of God." Pressley muttered. They fired, and encountered the torpedoes fired by the _Handsome Jack_. Some of the main cannon went right through the supercooled particles, the ion slurry hitting them.

God, she was wrong. So wrong. It hadn't been aiming to capture. Joker did manage to fire chemical thrusters, keeping the bottom of the ship from being struck. But she had a perfect view as the ionized slurry of metal struck the ship, going right into the ceiling. Since it was actually mass that they had been hit by, the entire ship rocked. Joker's wrist snapped. Harris slammed his forehead into his workstation, blood on the inside of his visor.

Cracks developed in the ceiling panels, and she could hear the armor shearing. It all culminated with a _crack_ as the ship's backbone broke, a visible bending occurring near the middle of the bridge. Right above Kalin'ren, the ceiling panels shattered and fell, revealing red hot metal. They were spinning off course, and she could hear people screaming over internal comms.

" _Damage Control teams to the bridge and aft arrays! Comm tower is gone, as well as bow kinetic barrier emitters!_ " Tali yelled, Julia pulling herself upright. Joker was cradling one hand between his interface and his chest, still piloting through the pain.

The cameras were blown away by the heat, the lenses burned out. But the viewport held the sight of their six torpedoes and the Thanix cannon hitting. The main weapon of the dreadnought erupted into flames, as two torpedoes hit it. Two were shot down, and the remaining two dove underneath the large weapon and into the underbelly. The Thanix hit, this time right down the middle of its guns. Their own ionized slurry went right into the magnetic containment chambers, normally shielded and protected.

The weapon developed white-hot cracks, the entire housing exploding from the inside out. The Reaper's barriers flickered, and in that moment all hell broke loose on its underbelly. The two torpedoes went off, one of them being the modified torpedo that their entire plan depended on. The effect was immediate. The entire ship _rippled_ , its barriers flickering and dying as the torpedoes ripped through the armor. Then it just listed, its flight path no longer clear and straight.

"Joker!" She didn't need to say anything more. He dove in, the melted frame around them squealing as the ship twisted to get a shot at the underbelly. The Reaper tried to twist using chemical jets, but something that large couldn't move as fast. Their own flight pattern listed as the ship fired, Thanix cannons going into the large gashes and tears in the underbelly of the cuttlefish-shaped craft. The hull was thick, but there was some hits that went deep enough to hit internal layers.

Strangely, there was no gouts of fire from hitting atmosphere, or gas pockets or fuel lines. The ion slurry simply pierced and went in, obviously causing damage but not the amount that should occur when a ship gets pierced. "What? That was a direct hit!"

"Their drive core is re-engaging! How the hell did they restart their systems that fast?" Harris said. Instead of turning to face them, the gigantic ship hit top speed. It blew right past the remaining orbital dust, hitting FTL within seconds. The massive ship jumping into FTL created a glaringly flash of light. "They're gone, Commander."

" _The Rachni are fleeing now that their masters are broken. Congratulations, Director and Commander Harper._ "

" _Thank you for the sentiment, Javik. If you would be so kind as to pick us up. I don't think this ship is going to last much longer._ " A shuttle was leaving the _Acheron_ , the yacht's core no longer capable of cooling. It would die, the debris cloud hidden in the many that were in this system. " _Next time, Julia, let's try this with a bit more fire support. Or perhaps a few more wolf packs of these ships. You've certainly proved the design._ " Jack told her. " _I'll see you on Kar'Shan._ "

"Ma'am, are we letting them go?" Pressley asked, his hand on her shoulder.

"Our back is broken, Pressley. Any kind of maneuvering that it would take to bring them down would end with us dead and the Alliance not aware of what happened." She said. "I would like to go after them as well. Javik shoved me in a locker the last time we met. I owe him personally, not to mention the hundreds of dead Alliance men and women who died because of his rescue mission."

"Incoming message from the rings around the gas giant." Kalin'ren said. "Alliance codes, bouncing lasers. There is some delay from the light-minutes the messages have to travel."

" _This is the SSV Florence. That was some amazing flying,_ Normandy _._ " The image of the Captain on the other end came through this time. He looked haggard, his hair matted and his shirt covered in grease. " _Seeing that big bastard running from a single frigate was near about the most beautiful thing we've ever seen. The Rachni ran off right after you did that. We're nearly dead in the water, and the_ Bacchae _is leaking atmosphere and fuel. Think you could pull off another miracle today, Commander?_ "

"Joker." She said clearly. "Keep everyone at battle stations, but move to support the 129th patrol group. Assist and aid them when needed. Send back a message indicating our estimated arrival time. XO Pressley, take the bridge. I'm going to check on our VIPs." As well as Jenkins. "Tell Halmabad to get some images of our upper hull. I want to know what we're looking at." The bridge was bent. Obviously things were not going to be good.

"Aye Ma'am." Pressley said, glancing at Joker and the way he was cradling his arm. "Take Joker with you, I think. I will take over his duties in the meantime."

Her pilot didn't argue. Transferring him to his wheelchair, she pushed him along, the faux balls bouncing as they cleared a crack in the deck plating. "We better get a damn medal for all that." Joker wheezed.

"If you all didn't I think I might shoot someone." Julia said, patting him gently on the shoulder. "That was some amazing flying." When she got to the elevator, the doors wouldn't open. The entire housing had warped in shape.

"Typical." Joker muttered. "This thing breaks every single time!"

* * *

The Presidium, The Citadel, January 2183

A large crowd had gathered in front of the Consort's domicile. Her home was one of the sprawling Presidium buildings in clear view of the Citadel tower. A strange ship had docked at her private docks, and there were wild rumors that it was made almost purely out of Aluminum and Titanium. There was hardly any iron in it. Her home also had an extendable balcony, made with a clear plastic that allowed anyone to see what she was doing. On some occasions she would have 'private' liaisons on the deck, where everyone could see.

Today the deck extended, and she walked forward. Sha'ira, the Consort, was one of the most influential people on the Citadel. Today she had chosen to greet her curious admirers in a set of robes made from spun _telei_ gauze. They were only worn when families were experiencing a birth or a new Matriarch of the Thirty was being crowned. They were also something that were supposed to be kept from prying eyes, when at all possible. Telei gauze was thin, and did almost nothing to keep prying eyes from her body.

"Hello my esteemed guests." She greeted. "Today I would like to present to you something of interest. Many of you know me, either personally or through rumor. I have been away from the public for almost two months now, preparing for the arrival and introduction of a most honored guest. My greatest apologies for any of you who have missed my presence in that time." Speakers were projecting her voice, and it was getting the attention of passing news crews. Ambassadors stuck their heads out of different apartments, it being late afternoon Citadel-time. "But I have the pleasure to introduce to you, the newest race that has come to the Citadel. Please welcome a dear friend of mine. He ventures from a planet deep behind many months of travel from a relay, and at my insistence has chosen to come here today. Normally, new races are introduced to the Council first, but I feared what may happen. It is my infinite pleasure to introduce the newest Ambassador to our communion of peoples, Ish'Stho'Lhas."

Stepping out from her rooms came a thin figure in robes. His arms were thin, lacking much in the way of muscle or definition. His robes were also made from Telei gauze, though on his almost insectile form it appeared intrusive. The dome of his forehead was made of a solid bone, with two pairs of eyes underneath it. They were green, and his raised hands were almost Asari in nature. "My name is Ish'Stho'Lhas. My people have long known about the nature of this galaxy, and the races that live within it. However, my race is largely responsible for all of your advances. None of you would have achieved anything without the clues and guidance that we left behind. I am the Voice of the Redeemed, the Herald of the Prothean Empire." Cries and shouts came from the crowd below. "It is with great joy that I announce the reunification of my people with the Citadel. Long has it been at the forefront of our memories." He did not grin, nor had he during the entire time she had spent with him. But she knew that he could be rather convincing. Hanging from his neck was a small pendant, a single deep blue crystal set into it. Sha'ira had spent hours staring at it. The colors would shift based upon the light in the room, and it was so lovely to stare at. Lovely enough to become lost in. "The Prothean Empire has been reborn, and so with it all the secrets you seek answers to. I shall be here, in the chambers of the Consort for any who seek me."

His lips parted, and he raised his hands into the air. "You all shall bear witness! We have returned to our rightful place, and we once again may guide you as we did in past millennia." His hands curled into fists, placed back at his side. "For that is the purpose of all lesser races, that you may become edified, and become greater than you once were. All united under one cause, one truth, and one voice."

With that, Ish'Stho'Lhas stepped back into her chambers, his speech short. He was here to unite all of them, and to save them. Sha'ira could see no other way to survive against the Rachni and whatever else may still yet threaten them. She gave her admirers a bow, stepping back inside her chambers. Instead of going to see her next client, she decided to spend a few more minutes with Ish'Stho'Lhas. His crystal pendant was in her hands almost immediately, the light spilling forth onto her skin feeling like a miniature sun. "A wonderful speech, Herald."

"It is just the beginning. Though the road may be difficult, I believe that these Council races can be brought to heel." He said, his voice steel. "You will assist me in this matter." He clicked his fingers, and one of the Rachni that he had brought with him obediently brought over a pitcher of water. His biotics were strong, strong enough for him to impose his will on any Rachni that approached him. With his secrets, surely the Asari could learn and adapt the techniques. Surely, this was for the better. Better than watching an entire generation die in fire and war. Turning the crystal over in her hands, Sha'ira smiled. All was well.

* * *

Author's Note

Joker was my favorite person this chapter. Then Tali. Writing them was a lot of fun. Though the scene with Julia and Jenkins took the most time. I didn't want to do this wrong, I took a little while to make sure that everything that went into this was nice and clean, as well as taking the time to go back and look at the previous chapters. This is one of the longest and most difficult stuff to write throughout this series, and I was very proud of it.

In real life news, I started some more school courses, got a new job, and my wife and I are expecting a kid in the next six months. I'll be sharing very few details on that, because I want to give my kid the chance to have as little of an internet footprint as possible. What all these people posting pictures about all of their kids on facebook don't realize is that medical companies are looking at your social media accounts to plumb them for any signs of medical trouble, any reason for them to deny you what you need when you want to get it. So I want to give my kid a stronger chance of beating the system. They'll be born, and I won't be posting pictures to facebook. They'll have their moments and if people want to see my kid I'll send them pictures or something like that.

Or they can man up and come see my kid directly. That would be preferred. Also, my beta told me that there is a lot of product placement in this latest chapter. Apparently Rachni on coffee is adorable to think about. For all those Rachni lovers out there(I know you exist!) there will be a validation. I really enjoy introducing Ish'Stho'Lhas. He's got a fun story behind him, and I look forward to telling it. Thank you to all of you guys who have been commenting and reviewing, and some of you guys are new faces. This is always very welcome. Have a great start of fall. For the record, baking is a science. I am not a scientist. Paleo baking involves no wheat flours and more ingredients to match what normal flour is capable of. My wife had cravings for gluten free pies, and let me tell you that was difficult.


	79. Lucid: Truth Within Lies

Chapter 79

Xinpei System, January 2183

The lower decks of the _Normandy_ were straight, the deck plating not warped or bent out of place. Joker had to be lowered through the hole in the galaxy map, biotic lift necessary to keep him from breaking anything else. Garrus, on the deck below, caught everyone who needed to move below decks. The access ladders and their spaces had been damaged by the boarding action and the hit, and the small cramped shafts were not rated for entry. Julia was the last person to 'jump', her gravity barely lowered.

Garrus caught her, grunting as she landed. "The Council won't be too impressed about losing Harper." he said softly, setting her down. "You know that they will be looking to blame someone."

"I'm aware of that." She replied. "This time I don't think I can avoid it. The Alliance is going to bring me in regarding Jenkins, Hock, the whole business. You might want to be long gone when that happens."

"You can't get rid of me that easily." The Turian mentioned. "I'm your mentor. Watching you get in trouble for doing the right thing is where I am supposed to be. I'm going to assume you just followed my example too closely."

"Not Desolous?"

"Oh no." Garrus said, nostrils flaring. "You would be leaving jilted lovers in every major settlement."

"What will you tell the Spectres?" She asked, noticing that Joker had already moved to the medbay. "Or the Council?"

"That I regrettably have few details to share outside of the official reports." Garrus said, sing song bird noises following his words. "I would recommend that Humanity be included in the Spectre program, for a multitude of reasons. The chief being that they would add much needed tactics and experience to our program."

"The Salarians already have a pretty good amount of our stealth technology. They'll be poring over this system looking for the remains of the _Acheron_. I'm not sure what kinds of skills we bring to the table that you don't already have."

"I can think of at least one." He held up a talon. "You are the only people who are friendly with the Quarians. Secretly, the Hierarchy has a great love for them. But we had to pick between them and the Asari and Volus. Obviously, we regret not being able to help them. But if we help you, then in some small way we make it up to your race for the war. We get more than a little bit of satisfaction of helping out the only other dextro race out there."

"So you have a soft spot for Tali?" She ribbed.

"Of course not! You saw what she did to that Hanar." Garrus wiggled his talons, shaking his head. "I'm a bad Turian, Julia. You should know that. As a bad Turian, I can safely say that Tali is one of the best Quarians I have ever seen."

The squeaking of Joker's wheelchair got their attention. His hand was wrapped, and he was wheeling himself over to the tables. "Get your seats quick. We're taking on all the wounded from the _Bacchae_ and the _Florence._ It's gonna be real crowded in here for a couple of hours while they find a way to get out of the rings."

"I should probably get back to the hangar bay, then." Garrus said jovially. "Start writing some kind of report."

"You do that." She told him. "I think I'm going to have a talk with Jenkins." Joker glanced back at the medbay windows.

"You'll have to get in line, Commander. The Ambassador is already in there, waiting for Dr. Heart to let him into the operating room."

"Who wrapped your wrist, then?"

"One of the civies is a nurse. She's taking care of things." Joker said, smiling. "She kissed my cheek when I told her I was the pilot."

"Oh?"

"Harris only got a hug, and he needed four stitches." Joker added, snickering. "Sorry about that Team dipstick comment."

"It's fine. You should be lying down, though. You deserve it."

"That's the rub. All the beds are taken, and the mess is going to fill up as soon as we get the shuttle off of the airlock." He groaned. "Civies are taking up everything else."

"Go down to Engineering and borrow a hammock from Tali. The Quarians have them mounted in the walls, so if you don't mind the light of the drive core you can get some shuteye."

"That actually sounds perfect." He said. "The elevator works at least from this level. See you later, Dipstick." He waved with his good hand, the faux balls on the back of his chair disappearing around the corner towards the elevator. Once he was gone, she stepped over to her room. She cloaked, stepping past her ruined door and into the chamber. A Senator was sitting on the only piece of furniture to survive the missiles, the couch. She just reached under the desk to grab a pistol. Donovan Hock was not someone she could trust at this moment.

Since her door was jammed open, she stepped back into the hall and stepped over the metal plates covering the hole she made. One of the Quarian techs was already over it, cataloging damage and making notes on his wrist. She used the wall to bound past the loose plates, quietly coming up to the medbay. The inside of it was a mad house. Two medical techs and a nurse wearing borrowed fatigues were taking care of more than fifteen people. Five beds were full of the more severe cases, while the floor had gurneys and tarps laid down for others to be placed.

She had to decloak. There was just no avoiding it. Otherwise she would get trampled by techs. A small path winded its way along the beds and the tarps, and she moved along it. From the clothes she could see on the injured, more civilians were here than soldiers. That was both comforting and troubling. Comforting to know that her people made it out alright. Troubling to think that these injuries may have been caused due to her choice to go into combat with a ship ten times their size.

Her career was dead, really. After this, she doubted that anyone would want her anywhere near the front lines. Especially letting her father get away. Miranda was in here as well, on one of the beds. She looked stable. Next to her was Andrew Ta'u. The man was stripped to his waist, melted chunks of armor being removed from his skin. His vitals were alight, though. He would live, but he would need some skin reconstruction to cover up the damage.

Sitting on one of the two chairs in the medbay was Ambassador Hock. He had a large gash on his forehead, the bandage tinged red with blood. His hands were scraped up as well, and she tried not to smile about it. Outwardly, she was totally professional. Miranda was in the room, and she had to act aloof for now. Not where Hock could see. "Ambassador." She greeted. "I hope you've heard the good news."

"Congratulations, Julia." He said, darkly. "You've put the lives of your entire crew at risk just to have the chance to eagerly chase down all of your enemies." He motioned to his injuries. "Not to mention all of the civilians you took aboard before then taking them into a dogfight."

"Our top speed isn't fast enough to escape that craft. I decided that tactically it was better to engage than to run. Especially with the Rachni controlling the system, almost." A valid excuse, to offer at least. "I was about to start asking Jenkins some questions. Considering that he is a Spectre candidate, I was going to invite you and Halmabad to join me. See if we are just dealing with some kind of clone or if this is Jenkins, somehow changed."

"That is quite kind of you, Julia." He said after a moment. "I would be happy to assist you, though I am not a man used to interrogations or interviewing dangerous men." Officially, Donovan Hock was a pacifist. Unofficially, he had more bodies behind his name than any other Senator.

"Good. Stay back and don't say anything, then. You may weaken my approach or position. If I hear you speak out, I'll have to stay in character and perhaps say some words that I don't actually mean."

"In character? This isn't some acting troupe, Commander."

"Of course not." Julia said. "But I want to brief you before I get changed. Jenkins didn't respond to me, and so I will need to have someone of authority in the room that he _must_ respect. I'll be back in a few minutes, and then we can go in and interrogate him properly."

"I suppose." He said, confusion evident. Julia slid back through the tiny lane between beds and tarps, dodging the nurse as she went. She wasn't used to military protocol, and so didn't move for superior officers when they walked by. She didn't bother cloaking to approach her room this time, the Senator inside jerking his head up in surprise.

"Commander …?" He said, knowing her rank but not her name.

"Constantine." She supplied. "I'll need my rooms for a few minutes. I hope you don't mind, but I'll have to ask you to step outside."

"Of course, Commander." He said. "Is there anything that I can do to help? I was an E3 technical engineer twenty five years ago."

"My chief engineer is Lt. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, down in engineering. If you can use a welder, she would love to have you. You can borrow any jumpsuits or armors from Lt. Halmabad, down on the hangar deck." She told him. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Senator Ersaba." He said, smiling. "Senator of Shanxi." Then he left the room, and Julia realized that this all probably just some political play or twist on the situation to make the man look better. Maybe he actually meant what he said, but more likely the Senator was looking to have some good press during this entire debacle. Her door was still broken, and much of the materials in her room had burned. But her locker was still sealed, and she retrieved her disguise kit from the depths of it. She dropped her armor pieces into the locker, intending on cleaning them later.

This was technically illegal. But right now she didn't have much else to go on. Jenkins wouldn't respond well to seeing her. She needed someone else that he would be terrified of enough to respect. Her hair was dyed black within minutes, and a fake widow's peak was applied. Eyebrows were plucked, and a bit of age lines were painted on. Then she dyed the already black hair grey in places, with white streaks by her ears. Then she donned her officer's full dress uniform, and added Admiral's chevrons to it. This was completely against Naval doctrine, and she knew it. She didn't match the height requirements, but with Jenkins strapped to a table she figured it wouldn't matter. Looking into the mirror, she saw the spitting image of Admiral Drescher. She set her face into a line, looking as dour as she possibly could. "Treason." She said, reaching into her bag for a vocal chord adjustment device. These were expensive, and large. The high collar hid it well, and with some adjustments she duplicated Drescher as well as she could. Some of the accent would be more difficult.

Then she returned, walking across the deck and back into the medbay. The only ones who saw her were Joker and Alenko, who both snapped to attention at the sight of her. Then they realized who she was, coming out of her quarters. "Adm-, Commander?"

She gave Alenko and Joker a grin. "Shh." She held a finger to her lips. "This is for Jenkins."

"That bastard deserves it." Joker said. "Can you record this? Please, I want to see his face." Kaidan was looking down at the table, looking conflicted. "Also, for the record, it's scary how convincing that is." Joker did look a bit concerned.

"It's what I do." She quipped, stepping into the medbay. No one paid her any attention in here. They were either too injured to notice or didn't see anything other than another soldier. She walked with purpose, coming to a stop in front of the door.

"Kastanie is going to have your head on a platter." Hock told her, looking her up and down. "But this is a good idea."

"So long as you sign an agreement that you suggested this as a proper method of interrogation, you can come with me."

Hock shrugged, putting his signature on it. _Now_ she could get away with this. She hammered on the door to the interior medbay room. Currently an operating theater, the door's interface was red. " _What is it? Someone beyond your skills, out there?_ " Dr. Samuel Heart said.

"The Commander would like to conduct an interrogation now."

" _Ah._ " Dr. Heart said. " _How many people are coming through the airlock?_ "

"Two. Ambassador Hock is joining us."

" _I'm glad as a peach. Come on in._ " He told them sarcastically. The airlock cycled, the tiny space between these rooms meant for at a maximum three people. She stepped inside, Hock standing with his back straight. His clothes were covered in ash, some of it looking like the Napalm remnants that had been burning in her quarters. It was all over his back and legs, and she kept her composure. Though she took a picture for posterity's sake. Donovan Hock, bandaged and burnt.

When the doors cycled open, Dr. Heart was on the other side. His scrubs were covered in blood, ash, and other fluids. But in his hands was a shotgun. It was aimed squarely at Hock. "Wait!" She tried to say. But it was too late. Hock didn't have barriers or anything to protect him. The shotgun tore him to pieces, blood coating the walls of the airlock and Julia. She had her pistol out right after, but Dr. Samuel Heart dropped the gun. He gave a shuddering sigh, sinking to his knees and closing his eyes. She kept her sights trained on him, even as he started crying. Jenkins was on the operating table, his vitals stable even though her knife was still in his eye. "Why?" She asked, once she made sure the room was clear.

"I made a promise to my wife, when we were first captured. If I ever could, I would kill that bastard. He took our lives away, stole all of my patents and technology, and then kept me from my children for the last fifteen years. He would have come in here, seen me, and then it would have been back into that hell. I couldn't do that again." He muttered. "Never again."

"I'll drop you off somewhere you can get into the Terminus. Dad will have a place for you."

"Not without this git." He motioned to Jenkins. "Him and Leng, they've gotta come with me. I can't let the Alliance have that technology. After he took me and knocked your father out of the picture, Hock must have gone into the deepest file servers. All of this," He motioned to Jenkins, "Is theoretical work that was considered against the Second Geneva Conventions. The cybernetics are based on Jones, with all of the implants and gene mods from my work. Controlling the visual stimuli, controlling hormone fluctuations, controlling the nervous system through implants along the spine, all of this. Reanimation of the dead cells, keeping the brain working even if there is no air going to it." He glanced up to her, looking completely morose. "This boy never even died."

"What!"

"They just lied to him. Your shot was clean. The armor took most of the damage, and Jenkins was just asleep in a medical coma for a few weeks as they turned him into _this_." He sighed. "He's a prototype. The Alliance would use this in all of their deep cover agents. The Hanar lung, not so much. Though it has interesting adaptations, it's slowly killing the cells around it. I've removed it, as well as the Pineal gland implant."

"So you can fix him?"

"God, no." He replied. "He needs an Asari to put his brain back together. Then a psychologist to cover the holes the Asari is going to leave behind. He's got an implant in there that sends giant rushes of adrenaline into him if you're ever mentioned, or anything to do with your father. Just talking to him is going to send him into a blind rage, the longer we sit. I can't remove that one, yet."

"Why did Chakwas lie to me about him being dead?"

"She was a medical technician for Cerberus. I sure as hell didn't hire her. Which leaves Jack or Donovan. She could have been in his pocket for years and you wouldn't know it. Chakwas, if that really is her name, took Jenkins back to the Alliance black ops to have all of this done." He grasped for a bottle, one that was on the small operating site table. It was empty, and he just let it slide out of his hands, letting Julia see that it was some form of alcohol. "It's all my fault, Julia. All my fault."

"You can't say that. It isn't your fault." She looked at the mangled corpses in the room. Hock's legs and lower body were the only things intact. "But right now we've got a serious problem. You killed Hock, and people are going to think I did it."

"You've got more reason than most." He said. "Huerta will have to do something. But you have another alibi."

"What the hell would that be?"

"Jenkins did it." He said matter-of-factly. "He overpowered me and shot the first person to come out of the airlock."

"Huh." She looked over at Hock. "Why didn't anyone notice the gun firing?"

"Oh, I disabled the sensors in here months ago. Sensitive enough to hear me drinking." He grinned. "I'll do the work of packing up the bodies. You drop me off."

"What about Leng?"

" _That_ poor bastard is going to die unless I take care of him. He was completely dead. Most of his body is still convinced that it _is_ dead, and the implants just lie to him about it. His brain works, but the rest of him is slowly falling apart even with all that they could do. He probably won't live through the week. Based on the Hanar's OSD records, Leng was on the edge of death the entire time. They had to use a bit of graybox technology to make things work. But they only had the damn things second hand, which makes all of it completely crap."

"So even if we brought him back, he would just die."

"Die with records of attacking the _Normandy_ and all of the technology." He pointed out. "We should probably doctor the evidence, shouldn't we?"

"I'll shoot Jenkins." She offered. "Can I get that knife back?"

"Yes, I think. You went right through the central control unit for all of the mind control implants. It should have stopped working." He ripped it out of the man's head, not at all concerned about causing more damage. "I'll start frantically saving the dear Ambassador." He chuckled. Between the two of them, they doctored it to the point that even a second witness would have been hard-pressed to get anything other than what they had planted. "I don't have to be Dr. Heart anymore." He chuckled, humming some kind of tune as it tried to staunch the bleeding in Hock's torso. "Henry Lawson is back in business."

"Thanks, by the way." She offered. "You just got all my inheritance back." Blood squirted as Henry Lawson guffawed, missing an attempt to use forceps on the aorta. "For all the good it can do before I'm court martialed."

* * *

Tayseri Ward, The Citadel, January 2183

Thane Krios walked carefully along the old tunnel, the spotless surfaces untouched by sentient hands. This was supposed to be marked. The walls here were supposed to have guiding marks. The duct rats kept the area marked, so that anyone coming after them would become lost. Unless they knew the ways through the area, they would be lost. But Thane had been here many times. He knew the path. The many orphans had shown him the way through this section at least three times, and Drell never forgot a pathway.

It felt wrong, to see this place so sterile. The pitter patter of tiny feet were not present. Food wrappers were gone. He was close now, and he came to the final turnoff. Finally, there was some sign that there was intelligent life here. The Keepers would clean an area of the Citadel if you left it for too long. It was why homes were always rented, or someone kept in an apartment building, so that the Keepers would not wipe the slate clean. He could smell something that wasn't stale or devoid of life.

The stench of decay was a good sign, here. Rotting food or fecal matter was a sign that he may have found his missing duct rats. Stepping around the last corner and into the central chamber, he holstered his weapon. This was one of the air purifiers for the entire Tayseri Ward. It was on one of the tips of the Citadel, generally poor or cheap as an area. Mostly because the views into space were poor. His boots reflected no sound, the insulated layers providing him the silence that he needed.

The central chamber of the air purifier was filled with debris. The sound of a Keeper cleaning up said debris was the only thing he heard. Whatever tools it could deploy, the Keeper was using to clean dark splotches off of the floor. A small vacuum attached to it removed bones from small corpses that decorated the space. Looking around, he could count only three left untouched by the Keeper, as it slowly and methodically removed any signs of what happened.

Stepping forward, he gently picked up one of the small bodies. Turian. Probably Blackwatch. Or lacking a father to carry a name or patronage. His scales had been ripped out, down to the smallest ones. Only the bones remained, and all of them had been sucked clean of bone marrow. His mind quickly searched his combined life's memories, looking for what may have done this. A few Batarian cults of Erash may have, but not to a Turian. A Krogan would not have gone to this kind of effort, for the same reasons. That left Humans. Hanar didn't consume meat, and Drell did not hunt in this manner.

The ends of the bones appeared to have been punctured by very sharp teeth. Small divots covered the bones, too small to be anything adult sized. The only teeth he knew of that small were the teeth of baby Turians. Though small Varren might also be a possibility. But there was no fecal matter or nesting marks to suggest that they were at fault, either.

Either way, he could see no signs that the duct rats here were still alive. Checking the other bones revealed the same bite marks across them all. Weapons, Omni-tools, and gear had been stripped from the bodies and the room. The looting was complete and total, even though the duct rats owned very little of worth. It was not the kind of desperate looting, but the actions of something logical and thorough. Thane felt some discomfort, but documented all of it.

All the while, the Keeper continued cleaning any signs of habitation. Thane took the bones he could find, sealing them into a small bag to be scanned and looked into by C-Sec. Then, he left the duct rat enclave. This time, he moved deeper into the ventilation systems. This was only the forward enclave. Others existed deeper, where adults spent their time supporting the children from the areas closer to the outer hull of the station.

Every single one was empty. Every single one had been cleaned of any signs that they had been there. Six months ago that hadn't been the case. Thane carefully made his way back to the upper levels, keeping only to the areas he knew were safe. As he walked, he knew that he was not alone in these tunnels. He never saw what else was here, but he could _feel_ it. Like the scraping of a talon across soft metals, there were sounds in the depth of the tunnels. When he returned to the airlock he had entered, he noticed that the control panel had been disabled. It was ripped off, and a Keeper had not yet replaced it.

"Guide my hand…" He muttered, his pistol sliding out of its holster. "That justice may be done."

He spun, seeing the shape leap at him from a darkened passage. Two shots, and it died, screaming. It died explosively, the force of his pistol rounds turning the creature into its component atoms. The Carnifex did that to most small animals. He let the smoke from his weapon go towards the ceiling, stepping forward to the spot where it died. All he found was a pile of fluids on the ground, and a few pieces of flesh. Not enough for a positive ID. The smell was tart, enough so that he would remember it forever. But his memories told him that he hadn't smelled anything like that before.

This airlock wasn't going to open any time soon. The next one was a quarter of a kilometer down, and the passageway there was not direct. The noises in the tunnels were picking up, attracted by the cry of the dead creature. Thane sighed once, slipping a tech grenade from his belt. If these creatures were so sensitive to sound, perhaps a flashbang would assist him. He gave it a wide range, and set it down by the corpse. Then, he walked. In these long halls, sound would only be a detriment. Moving fast would attract attention.

It wasn't long before something triggered the mine, squeals and cries of pain and agony tearing through the air. Then, Thane increased his steps. The next airlock was within sight, and the control panel intact. There was nothing in the way of his exit. Yet he stopped. Most people would rush for the exit, looking for safety and protection. Hunched over to keep from hitting his head on the ceiling, Thane had little choices here. Running was difficult. So he waited, keeping his pistol loaded and the hunt under his control.

Slowly, he leaned around the corner, letting his eyes scope out the area. There was a creature tucked away in one of the ceiling fans, right above the passageway he was in. It would easily kill him if he had rushed out. So, he gently pulled his head back, already cataloging what details he could about his enemy from the one small glance he took. It had four legs, like a Keeper. But it was twice the size and had some kind of armor. Gently, he switched the mod on his pistol from silent to armor piercing.

Three shots rang out. One to each of the creature's legs. The small ligaments were shattered, and without any form of stability it crashed down to the ground, finally visible. It fell into the faded lights of the corridor, and he finally saw what was hunting him. A Rachni warrior, in full armor. It's head was covered, and its neck was concealed. He fired three more times, but those shots did not penetrate. It's return fire came from its tentacles, large globs of acid splashing near him. It wasn't very accurate. The Prothean metal of the station didn't hiss or melt in response to the acid, and Thane had to jump over the glob.

His pistol was near overheating when he placed his shots into the tentacles, The bleeding stumps flailing around. "Amonkira." He intoned. The Rachni charged him, and he gently rolled over its large carapace and let it sail past him and into the dark passageway. Scooping up a torn off tentacle, he ran for the door. "Your Hunter will survive this day. Return victorious to his wife and children." Nothing stopped him this time, but he could hear more of those creatures moving in the tunnels. Screams followed him, and he slammed his palm into the green haptic screen. The airlock opened slowly, making him kneel to get through. Breathing hard, he could feel his chest constrict slightly as the door closed behind him. As if to mock him, he could see a Keeper right outside the airlock doors, fixing a control panel. "I thank you for your foresight, Lord of Hunters." The Keeper must have just repaired the control panel.

Holding the mangled tentacle, he looked around at the cheap housing units and poorly managed businesses at the tip of Tayseri Ward. They had no idea that beneath their feet were Rachni. Rachni with weapons and armor, and in numbers enough to try to trap him. Thane stepped quickly, walking right past the C-sec office here at the edge of the Ward. A small food to-go bag was procured for the tentacle, and Thane made his way to Zakera Ward. He stopped in front of the public trade stalls, looking for one man in particular.

"Mouse." He said, surprising the man.

"Gah!" He was almost of age, now. Mouse had the face of an adult, but the hair that grew out of his chin was spotty. According to Humans that meant he was still growing older into adulthood. "Krios! You scared me."

"I went looking for some friends of ours. We need to talk."

"Yeah, well, a guy has to make a living here. If I miss a sale," Mouse started saying. Thane just shoved three credit chits into his hands.

"Where are you living, now? Somewhere nice?"

"I got a place. Out in Tayseri's outer edges. It's cheap. Sorta nice. It's a two bedroom."

"Move." Thane told him. "I was out there a few minutes ago, looking for Drake."

"What? Drake?" Mouse skewed his eyes. "I haven't seen that guy for weeks."

"Have you seen any of the duct rats?" Thane asked quietly. "Anyone in the last week?"

"Yeah." Mouse said. "Fifteen of them are living with me after they saw something in the vents. Something bigger than a Keeper, that is. I can't fit any more of them, so we bought a few more apartments. It'll last until whatever is in the vents dies out."

"In two days, there will be a ship in the docks. One of the old airlock connections there, I think. Pack up everyone and get there."

"It's just some big Varren, Krios." Mouse said. "Once it starves they can go back in."

"It's not a Varren." Thane said quietly, drawing Mouse into the shadows of an adspace sign. "They are Rachni." He held up the tentacle. "I am on my way to C-sec now to show them. The day after tomorrow, get everyone to the docks. Buy supplies before the news spreads."

"Yeah." Mouse said. "I'll do that." He was staring at the organ, wide eyed. "You know that thing is going through that bag, right?"

"Rachni blood is acidic. I have more bags." He replied. "Now, go and see to your people."

Mouse ran off, and Thane thumbed his Omni-tool as he stepped towards C-sec HQ. "I have information for the broker. If he wants it before C-sec finds out, I will need one hundred and sixty thousand credits in the next four minutes."

"Rakhana-Clan, the Shadow Broker does not often act without a certain amount of trust. I will need more to give him more information before I can authorize any transfer of funds. Past information notwithstanding, I cannot risk his displeasure."

"Direct threat to the Council." He replied, the Volus on the other end sucking in breath quickly. "Not something avoidable. Information is a warning, can be sold to different bidders."

"Ah. Profit." The Volus said. "Approval has been found. Please stop by my offices and give us the information, and the funds shall be sent."

Thane went there immediately, watching as the rest of the galaxy moved onward without notice of the Rachni under their feet. "Here is your proof. I have coordinates of where it was collected and witness accounts from duct rats that the Rachni have been feeding off of."

"Ah." The Volus said. "You are not the first to present this theory, but you are the first to find proof."

"What theory?"

"Ah. One of our technicians thought that they saw Rachni webbing in one of the atmospheric regulators." The Volus wheezed out. "Here on the Presidium, they thought. But the cameras on that level are often collected by the Keepers, so we have been unable to confirm the sighting."

Thane glanced out across the Wards. They were here. They had infested the entire Citadel, and no one knew about it. "Amonkira, Lord of Hunters, may you blind their eyes."

"What are you saying, Rahkana-Clan?"

"We need to warn someone." Thane told him, stepping back from childhood memories of his father teaching him the prayers of their ancestors. "The Rachni are still positioning themselves."

"Perhaps that is what those bugs are waiting for." The Volus said. "They want us to panic, to try to evacuate the Citadel en masse. Then, when C-Sec is overwhelmed, they strike."

"Shouldn't there be at least one military force that can assist us?"

"Not really." The Volus replied. "The Turians aren't allowed to have any forces on the Citadel, and neither are the Asari or Salarians. Not in numbers that the Council would allow." He tapped on his Omni-tool. "There you are, Rahkana-Clan. Your payment. Now, go and spend it and get off of this station before things get devastating. I certainly don't plan on being here."

"My thanks, Burnki." Thane said. "I shall make my leave." Mouse's Omni-tool had a comm function. Thane dialed it immediately, and didn't get an answer. He only left a single burst of video. "Mouse, you need to get back to your apartment, now. I will be taking all of you tonight."

* * *

Arcturus Station, Arcturus Nebula, January 2183

"Admiral White, you can confirm this?"

"I have." He told President Huerta. "I confirmed with the High Priests on Kar'Shan as well. Jack Harper is getting married this week, and he has invited you and 'any goons you dare bring'. Invitations were also sent to the STG, The Spectres, and the Asari Republics, by city-state." Admiral White held out laminated cards, handwritten in the old style. Each had been signed and sealed in wax. "We have also confirmed that the Council and Aria T'Loak had been invited. Numerous individuals received these in the mail today, each with a comm address to send RSVPs."

"Is this serious?"

"What part, Mr. President?"

"Inviting anyone with a grudge against him to his own wedding? What is he thinking?"

"He's listed our top agent as the maid of honor, Sir." One of the understudies said. "Most of his PMC's command structure will be there."

"What about the Hegemony? Wouldn't they have a problem with this many grudges being called to their home world?"

"They welcome it, Mr. President. They think that this is how normal weddings are supposed to function." Admiral White reminded the man. "Batarian weddings allow anyone from the same caste to contest it. As we are all aliens to them, they don't care if we bring a few people to contest their marriage."

"How many is a few?"

"Four. Four may challenge. So that allows each of the different invited parties four soldiers."

"Get a sniper team, and take out Jack Harper." Huerta said with little care. "He's become a stain on our reputation."

"The Batarians won't care how we try to kill him. But they _demand_ that any person conflicting the marriage appear in front of the groom or bride."

"Or the bride?"

"Females must challenge the bride." Drescher confirmed. "So the Asari can't kill Harper."

"The Turians are sending a team?"

"We assume so. But our best counter ops team includes our potential Spectres. They have the most experience with him."

"No." Huerta said. "Send them back to the Citadel. The Asari have had long enough to decide their terms to us."

"Mr. President, don't you think it is a bit early to be making this kind of agreement?"

"In exchange for being allowed more dreadnoughts in _your_ fleets, Admiral, we are giving up one troublesome soldier and selling some of our debt to the Volus. Economic benefits and you get three more expensive toys." Huerta looked tired. It had been a hard presidential term, with the Rachni and a weakening credit. "I've spent the last month hashing this out with them. They want all of the Harpers dead. If we can deal with Jack, then they will feel a lot better about whatever he did to piss off all of them."

"Sir, if I may." Admiral White said, calling attention back to himself. "Jack Harper was accused of trying to release viral contaminants into their water supplies. Specifically, the water supplies that are sent to pregnant Asari that are off of the homeworld. It is considered some of their most important resources, and Harper was trying to poison that." Admiral White clarified. "The Asari want Julia Constantine to stand for those crimes."

"Even though Jack Harper is still at large?"

"Especially. Admiral White, face it, we aren't getting a Spectre. Right now we have to count our losses and take what we can get." The President gave a grandiose sigh. "The Asari have offered quite the little breadbasket if we step back from attempting to get a Spectre. Shared colonial rights for some of their border worlds, like Asteria."

His President was an idiot, that was for certain. "Sir, Asteria is threatened directly by the Rachni. They've landed on it. What did the Asari agree to regarding Lt. Halmabad?"

"That young man has nothing special about him. We just needed someone from the mechanized divisions to raise moral and hopefully get killed out there so we can look better. We had to pick at least one Middle Easterner for this whole problem to work. One American, one Latino, and we wanted to bring in an Asian, just to accurately represent the population. Mr. Halmabad is of no consequence, and would probably be better off as a martyr."

"He has months of combat experience against the Rachni, mercenaries, and against these husk creatures." Admiral White pointed out. "We shouldn't discount him so easily."

"We can't continue to throw Spectres at the Council, Admiral. Which is why I wanted you here to brief me." The President said. "I need Jack Harper and _both_ of his spawn dead in the next few days. Lt. Halmabad needs to disappear from public view, or die like a proper martyr. We 'lose' our Spectres again, this time the Rachni being the culprit, and everyone is happier."

"I find this path of action disturbing, Mr. President."

"Which is your way of saying that you don't like the idea of throwing away good officers." Huerta replied. "I don't care what it takes. Kill Harper, kill his two daughters, and seize his goods. Once they're dead Sirta can be auctioned off to the right people, and we can completely detach the Quarians from our economy. Then we can kick these sanctions to the curb and move on from all of that trouble." The President turned to him, his face serious. "Is that clear, Admiral?"

"Crystal, Sir." Admiral White said.

"Good. I want all of this swept under the table like Leng. He was getting too dangerous."

"Yes, Mr. President." White said. "Are you worried about any kind of actions from Harper?"

"Of course not." He waved off. "Harper is actually supportive of the Alliance. There are a lot of people out there who are far more dangerous than some political activist."

Admiral White nodded. "You don't want any details from me, Sir?"

"Absolutely not. Just let the news stations cover the deaths and spin it against the Rachni. Or the Batarians, if possible. Specifically the Separatists. The new Hegemony is weak, and the Salarians are going to keep them that way. Do all this, and I'll give you more leeway in recruitment for your Offices."

Admiral White shifted uncomfortably. It was true that recruitment for the Office of Intelligence was at an all time low. They preferred to recruit officers from other corps, and right now those were in short supply. But the Office of Intelligence had standards, and Admiral White didn't like those standards. Especially during a war. He wanted to open up recruitment from orphanages, boot camp washouts, and non commissioned officers. "It shall be done, Mr. President."

"Good. When you leave, go out the side door so I can get a few extra minutes to prepare for Senator Halmabad. He has some concerns that I'll need to assuage."

Admiral White shook his hand, stepping outside and taking the back way out of the Presidential offices. His assistant walked with him, saying nothing but almost bouncing for joy. He, too, knew of their staffing issues. "Alert my craft. We are going to the Citadel. I will need to brief Agent Constantine, Lt. Pressley, and Lt. Halmabad directly."

"Will this be in the Alliance offices?"

"No." Admiral White said. "We'll meet with them privately, near one of the outer hull neighborhoods of Zakera. Make sure we have a full cleanup crew there."

His aide was doing his job perfectly, as White then sent a few messages to people on his own. One especially went to Ambassador Hock. 'The Hen has gotten off the egg' was all that he sent. White sent dozens of cryptic messages every day, some of them using older codes and to aliases that didn't exist any more. Others were to maintain ruses that he had a much larger department than the reality. Two or three were the real messages, reporting back to the Naval Oversight Committee. It didn't technically exist, as it was made up of the real movers and shakers in the political spectrum. But it was all clear to him, and it would be clear.

Strange, that the Ambassador did not return his message. He waited another five minutes before getting worried. "Major, please find out if anything is going seriously wrong at this moment. Some of my comms are not getting through."

"Yes, Sir." He said, connecting his Omni-tool to the news lines. "You might want to see this, Sir."

He glanced over, seeing a couple of headlines. _Rachni Attack Shanxi! Alliance forces drive them off!_ Or others, saying _Rachni driven off at Shanxi by SR-1 Normandy!_ "Hmm." He said, more for his own benefit than the Major's.

"Should we relocate our meeting to the Embassy?"

"No." White said. "Keep the meeting and the cleanup crew. Huerta will only see this as a plot to destabilize him."

"Yes, Sir." Julia Constantine had done a lot of good, but every soldier had their worth. Even for all that she had done, she had greater worth as an Asari token than an asset.

* * *

Upper Afterlife, Sahrabarik System, January 2183

Charles gulped, letting his throat tingle. He had been allowed to take one person with him. So of course he picked his girlfriend. He wore his best suit, one that Jack had tailored with a bit of thickness in the shoulders, to give his weaker build more definition. The suit jacket concealed a tech armor emitter, doubly layered kinetic barriers, and a Quarian based life-pod air support system just in case someone spaced him.

Tesai brought her Prothean made armor. It looked like a white set of armor, smooth and genderless. The arms were covered in what appeared to be speaker systems and sound ports. Air intake and an extended backpack unit were also mounted, as well as tech armor and a nanotube layer in the outermost layers. She walked at his side, getting many stares as they walked up the ornate stairs leading to the lair of Aria T'Loak.

"Hi." He greeted the gigantic Elcor she had guarding the doors. "I'm here to see Aria?"

"Unamused: She is expecting you. Enthusiastically: Make any trouble and I will rip off your arms."

"Sure." Charles said. He pulled the front of his suit jacket closer against himself, activating the barriers. "Let's go." Tesai walked on his arm, and Charles adopted the walk of style. Not his normal frenetic late-to-everything walk. This was his I-own-the-world walk. Oh yes, he could probably own this place. For as long as it would take a bunch of Salarians to undo his viruses and control code changes. The walkway to Upper Afterlife had hidden GUARDIAN laser turrets, kill zones, and guards aplenty. Batarians, mostly. Charles walked by them like they weren't even there. He knew that the real threat of someone fighting in this room were the internal defenses. Kinetic barrier curtains disguised as tasteful art on the walls, murals covering up gas dispensers. Yeah, this was exactly the kind of kill zone he liked being on the _other_ end of.

The nightclub was a much more comfortable to be in. Tesai's fingers barely extended past the large sleeves of her armor, and she curled them inside the sleeves to account for larger numbers of possible threats. The bar was divided into sections. Some for dextro, some for levo, and one for Elcor. Asari in barely anything walked everywhere, each one swaggering their hips around the Humans and Turians. They sauntered near the Salarians, and among the Batarians they languidly walked. Watching them change their movements for each of the patrons was more distracting to him than their actual intentions.

Across the massive room was a raised dais, where the queen herself sat. Behind walls of glass, what might possibly be a ship-to-ship cannon from the Krogan Rebellions, and a small army of pole dancers that could at any moment switch over to the Commandos that he suspected they really were. The lasers that splayed across the club and dance area were probably sensor arrays, keeping track of anyone coming and going.

All the pretty lights everywhere were probably targeting and focusing arrays for internal defenses, gas injectors, medical sensors, the works. It was like someone had spent hundreds of years making a single room both a public space and the largest hostage solution that anyone could dream of. "Hey! Stop analyzing and go up the stairs!"

Oh, they were already at the foot of the raised area. Bray, the Batarian who had confronted him earlier, was standing at the foot of the stairwell. "Come, Human. There is much to be said."

Charles nodded, and moved up the stairs. Two more Batarians were standing there with sensors of all kinds. They waved them over Charles easily, no mocking noises or growls at the back of their throats as they did so. But their sensors started going off when they tried to scan Tesai. "My Lord, her armor resists scanners."

"Really." Bray said with no enthusiasm at all. "I would never have guessed. She stays here, you go on alone."

So alone he went, into the lair of the dark queen who… Charles had to stop reading fantasy in his spare time. Blinking, he stepped forward into the small chamber that had couches and kinetic barrier emitters and if he could guess there was a directed explosive under some of the couch cushions. He was even directed to sit on top of them. Oh joy. "You go by Charles? Archer? Or is it Flunkie?" She was speaking to him. Oh crap.

Purple skin, check. Eyes full of anger, double check. Facial markings, check. Clothes that cost more than he wanted to know about, also check. He also noted that Tesai would probably make those pants look better. "Charles is good." He replied to the Queen, sitting down. "Charles Archer, at your service."

"Explain why you moved the Omega-4 relay." She stated. "Now."

"Well, it was simple. The Collectors live on the other side of that relay, and they have a serious fetish for weird genes. The simple reason is that it is part of a business deal."

Aria frowned. "The Collectors are not a threat to anyone. Pestering them and riling them up is foolish."

"But they can't come back until the relay moves back into position, which will take years. I've calculated. Eight years for the relay's chemical systems to absorb enough material to push it back into position. By that time our business will have been completed."

"You seem to have a deep understanding of the relays." She noted. "Where did you learn about them?"

Charles whistled slightly to buy time thinking. He couldn't mention Javik. He couldn't mention Liara. "We Humans opened a lot when we first got going. It wasn't hard to test the limits of what they could do. So when we had to move the Omega-4, we already calculated the amount of force necessary to knock it out of alignment."

"But you don't plan on destroying it."

"No! No, not at all!" Charles said. "That would be beyond stupid." He fiddled with his fingers. "But we need to bring someone to the table, and this was the best way of doing it."

"By shifting a relay." The Queen of Omega stated, unamused. " _My_ relay."

"Ma'am, Highness, er, Lady, you gotta be high if you think that thing is a benefit. The Collectors can come through that thing at any time and wipe you out. They've got better tech than anyone, even the Asari. You're only the big queen now, but those guys live forever."

"The Collectors don't care about Omega. They don't care about anything other than their experiments, and so long as you supply them, they don't care about you." Aria noted. "I've worked with them for centuries. They don't care, and I don't mind that. What I _do_ mind is someone pissing them off."

"Well, as you mentioned, they probably don't care. The relay will fix itself in a few years. When they come out, just tell them where I am."

"If they even need to know by that point." She pointed out. "But I have the Council calling me, wondering if I am interfering with their laws regarding relays. So, perhaps I should hold you here, so that they have a nice scapegoat to drag before their judicial committee."

"Ah." Charles said, his voice going higher in pitch. "Well, you probably would have already done that if you meant to. So, you want something from me."

"The only reason you aren't dead is because I will it. You want to walk out of here, or do business on my rock again, you do it because I allow it."

"But I paid three million credits to Bray…"

"That was Bray. That wasn't me. He gets to keep most of that and enjoy it. That doesn't cover _me_." Aria leaned forward, making Charles lean back in response. "My sources say that you understand Prothean code." Charles had a terrible poker face. Tesai reminded him of that weekly when they played Warhammer against the other leaders. "My price is that lovely skill of yours, applied right now."

"Or else you'll hand me over to the Council?"

"Translate this into code I can use." She shoved a data pad at him. It was old, and it was hooked with cables into the mainframe here. Charles immediately was able to see the headings and control features of the menu, muttering to himself as the tech became clear.

"This is a control unit for defense systems." Charles said. "Deactivated systems."

"Good." Aria said. "Give me control of that, and I'll consider your debt to me fulfilled. Fail, and I'll dump you into the sanitation vats and no one will ever hear from you again."

* * *

The Presidium, Widow Nebula, January 2183

The Hanar had arrived. The Primacy rarely allowed more than one hundred of their kind to leave their space at a given time. Hanar were not to travel to many places freely. The Citadel was considered a sacred journey, and only the Voices of Truth were allowed there. In rare occasions others were also allowed to visit. But not today.

They came, like a sea of colors. Thousands of them. The Hanar Primacy, though among the fry there was currents passing of a new name, had argued that this Herald needed to be met by the Hanar. So they came. At their head was the Prime Voice. He glowed with pride, having brought every Voice of Truth that had retired to the Deepest Emanation that could fit in their ship. Normally a Hanar, once chosen to enter the Deepest Emanation, could never leave the deeps again. Never against visit fry and kin. Today they went forward, and the unfortunate customs agent saw them coming and groaned.

"Passports, please, and then place your tentacle on the scanner." He said, pulling out a simple scanner that had been used for Hanar and their bioluminescence. Truth-In-Deepest-Currents had been to the Citadel once, to pay homage to the great Prothean creation. That was before he had been selected and chosen for the Deepest Emanation. Placing his tentacle on the scanner, the customs agent groaned. "We don't have you in our systems. Let's get you registered."

" _I_ am Truth." He told the Turian. The avian stopped, glancing upwards.

"Did you just address yourself in the first person?"

" _I_ am Truth." He repeated simply. "We have come to see the Prothean."

"Well, let me get you and all of your school registered. I assume that none of our records are accurate for you? You guys go through skin layers too often for us to keep your records up to date."

"I have already brought a database for you to access and compare against Primacy records. Our government wishes to spare you time and effort. We already created records with the C-sec representative at Kahje." Truth mentioned. That had been an exhaustive process, but it could be streamlined for this purpose.

"Thank you so much!" The customs agent mentioned, taking the OSD and plugging it into his terminal. "Okay, excellent. Truth, please step through the glowing scanners and welcome to the Citadel. Next, we have, well another Truth." They blinked. "Are all of you sharing the same face-name?"

"Yes." Truth told him. "We are. We hope it is not an inconvenience."

The Turian grumbled. "Well, lets just have all of you place your tentacles on the scanner and just get you through. The crowd out there today is pretty large, so I hope that you don't mind waiting for a few hours." The Turian looked at the sea of Hanar. "Or days."

"We will make our own crowd." Truth-In-Deepest-Currents said. "Thank you for your time."

"Yeah. Let's hope this doesn't set back my lunch." Then, the Hanar moved as a single school through customs. Tentacles slapped the reader in such numbers that the slime was being smeared and confused by the sensor, but with so few customs agents keyed for Hanar it was just a fact that they were not going to be able to handle the outpouring of thousands of Hanar. Truth-Among-Deepest-Currents felt no small amount of pride as the Hanar moved material and gear among the many who crossed.

Once on the Presidium, they caused some uproar from those who had never seen more than one Hanar at a time in their life. Hanar felt natural the closer they were to each other. So when they moved through small hallways they felt natural when pressing against one another. That way they didn't have to think about where they were going as much. So people along the pathway to the surface of the Presidium were surrounded by Hanar on their way to their goal.

C-sec had a few second's warning when they reached the Presidium itself, three Asari and a Volus seeing a wave of multicolored creatures coming for the section of the Presidium that contained the Prothean. Formerly the home of the Asari Consort, now it was swarming with Asari and other races in lesser numbers. Lines extended throughout the long bridges across the ponds.

"Hey!" One of the Asari in blue called. Like a single entity, the Hanar came to a stop in front of her. "You have to buy tickets to even be here, you realize."

"This one was unaware that public spaces required tickets." Truth said, using some subtlety. "This one is here to explore the sights."

"What about the rest of you?"

"We are here for the sights." They all repeated. The Asari gave them an appraising look. She must assume that they were lying.

"So you aren't here to see the Prothean Herald? Tickets for his sermons are selling out quickly."

"If the Enkindler decides to show himself to us, we shall call it a blessing. If not, we shall enjoy the presence of being in the shadow of the work of the Enkindlers."

"Alright." The Asari told him. "But we are going to be checking all tickets before anyone goes in. There have been many counterfeits, so be careful if anyone offers you any."

"This one appreciates your honesty. May the Enkindlers' light be upon you." She let them through, and the school started really pouring through the Presidium. Thousands of Hanar in the same space as others were greeted with shrieks of surprise and concern, as most of the time humanoids were not greeted by the sight of hundreds of Hanar. Hundreds became thousands, and eventually each and space that the other races had left unfilled was filled by glowing Hanar.

Truth-In-Deepest-Currents made his way to the very front. He shared the front row with C-sec agents, as well as a pack of shrieking Asari. A space was cleared in front of them even further, keeping the front of the building and through fare clear. A small line formed just outside the Consort's chambers, her regular clientele being escorted by private security to the doors.

One was leaving, cradling some kind of necklace. The Asari was walking along with glee, speaking with someone over comms. "Mother! I got to speak to him! He's real!"

" _You did? The actual Prothean?_ "

"His title is Herald, Mother."

"Herald?" Truth muttered. "He dares call himself Herald?" He glowed, a deep red that tinted the Asari around him purple. The entire crowd started glowing, as Hanar among the crowd echoed his outrage. "All Hanar, echo my voice!" He ordered, and each of the Hanar activated their comm signals into a single repeating source. The source being himself. "Herald!" He barked, echoed across thousands of comm speakers. "Enkindler! Show yourself, you who dare call yourself Prothean!"

The crowds looked around, looks of anger passing between them. But it was impossible to find the source of the voice. Their shouts could not eclipse the sounds of thousands of committed Hanar. It also got the attention of dozens of C-sec officers, local restaurants, and media teams. He only had to repeat himself once. The doors of the upper balcony in the Consort's chambers opened, and out He came.

Javik, The Avatar, was built like a soldier. Thick arms, thick legs, raised skull. Wide neck, squared shoulders. This Prothean was different. His arms were as thin as three tentacles. His legs were also as thin. His torso was sickly, bones jutting out. Worst of all, his forehead was small. Truth-In-Deepest-Currents floated, coming up to the same height. His biotics allowed that much.

"I am as you say, an Enkindler." He said, his voice raspy compared to the rich baritone that was Javik. "I am Ish'Stho'Lhas, Hanar. The Herald of the Prothean Empire, here to guide the other races once again."

"You do this? You dare come back to the place you were defeated?"

"We were not defeated. The Prothean Empire is infinite and unbroken." He spoke as if speaking to a child. "Why would you make such a claim?"

"Because _I_ have seen what you claim does not exist. The death of the Prothean Empire, a slow violent child dying in the shadow of their infinitely greater. You claim the title of Herald? The title left to the Hanar?"

"I speak for all Protheans when I speak, lesser race." He replied, threatening. "A non-Prothean cannot hold titles or represent anything."

"I am Truth-In-Deepest-Currents, the Prime Voice. Current Herald of the Prothean Empire, by the voice of the Nine Avatars. Inheritor of all that they possess, and I speak with their authority. The Hanar promise to exact vengeance upon any falsehoods that you may try to force upon our friends and allies."

The Prothean laughed. "You are the source of falsehood here. If you will not embrace my guidance, then your race shall not receive it. If you will not accept the Prothean Empire." C-sec had gathered thousands of people to start rounding up Hanar. Squad vehicles had also shown up, and Ish'Stho'Lhas sneered at him. "It will not accept you." He started stepping back into the Consort's chambers, his sheer robes hiding nothing of his sickly state.

"You are no Prothean!" Truth roared at him, thick reds glowing amongst the crowd. "Deceiver!" A squad car floated next to him, nets extended. "Defiler!"

* * *

Author's Note

The Hanar obviously do not like anyone besmirching the name of their Enkindlers. Little to say about this other than the fact that I really enjoyed Hock dying. Just so much of me was satisfied about the way he went out. Justice has been served, and rightly so. Also, everyone please welcome the return of Lukas. I had accidentally disabled the anonymous review feature, making it impossible to review. The website may also have eaten some of your anon reviews, as reddit has mentioned. So it's really nice to hear from him again.

A nice shoutout to **MizDirected** and her creative brain. She's written a few really ingenious Mass Effect AU stories over the last few months. Go check her work out.


	80. Lucid: Citadel Blues

Chapter 80

Gil-Herin Station, Widow Nebula

It was Alliance policy to fuel up in safe locations. Apparently thousands of Hanar were rioting all over the Presidium, and C-sec was locking down traffic to keep out more of the creatures. Alliance superiors were giving them temporary leave to refuel at anywhere they could find cheaper fuel. With the Rachni War, fuel prices outside of Alliance Space were exorbitant. "Pressley, the crew has two hours shore leave. Get the civilians on the craft and get your family out of here. Use as many of the crew as you need to keep them from wandering off or getting lost."

"We're packed to the gills, Ma'am." Pressley told her, from his position next to her on the bridge. "I'll want anyone with a pulse so that we can get it all done faster. Though, well, Becca was wondering if the Alliance might take above age recruitment. She really enjoyed that."

"Your sons?"

"Psh." Pressley spat out one side of his mouth. "Whining gits. One space battle and they want to stay on planets for the rest of their natural lives."

"I am not sure if the Alliance will take her, but I will put in my recommendation." It was something she could do. "Take everyone you can get. I'll stay here and handle the transferring of parts and replacement gear."

"Replacement armor is going to be a while." Kalin'ren spoke up from behind her. "But the backbone of the ship is not broken. The armor is simply warped. The couplings for the armor plates are not out of their original position."

"Thank whatever pantheon was listening yesterday." She glanced at the life support readouts. "Get some people refueling our air and water soon. We're almost on fumes in some of the less traveled parts of the ship."

"I'll put Halmabad on that." Pressley said. "Shouldn't be too hard."

"Take Alenko for the civilians. His presence might calm them down more." She mentioned. "I'll have Tali supervise the loading of fuel and gasses. She can do that from a chair, I think."

"As long as you order her to use it. Girl's back is so straight from standing she might think it's supposed to stay that way." Pressley noted. "We installed a door to your room, Ma'am. It's made of particle-printed plastic, but until we get to drydock it will be the best we've got."

"What about my bed?"

"Wasted. We put in a spare hammock from one of the backup rooms. Your couch still works, though. I had some of the recruits from the other ships spit shining it." He smirked. "To be honest, Ma'am, that bed wasn't comfortable anyway. Might be the only acceptable loss on board." He glanced at his wrist. "You have the bridge, Commander." Not that she was ever able to use the bed for anything significant. She and Kaidan had to go off where no one could see them in order to do anything.

Pressley was off the ship. Halmabad was off the ship. The only officers left were Tali and Joker. Joker was stuck in his quarters, catching some sleep before his shift later this evening. Only Tali was capable of stopping her. "Tali?" She asked over comms. "Can we double check all of the fuel lines? As well as anywhere those mercs tried to get into while we are parked?"

" _Yes, Commander. It will take some time, though._ "

"That isn't my concern right now, Tali. Just get things looked over. I don't want any more surprises. The civilians we had aboard went through almost all of our resources. Check any emitters and air filters as well."

" _We're stretched thin, but we can do that, Commander._ " Tali sounded tired. She must still be feeling her wounds. Julia walked over to the seat that was for the sensor technicians, and checked over interior sensors. Kalin'ren's terminal and Dr. Heart's terminal were also logged in to the same systems.

"Kalin'ren." Julia stated. "We lost our main comm antenna. The Alliance will want to be able to communicate directly with us rather than bouncing off of buoys. Tali has a few replacement antennas, and I was hoping you could grab a couple of techs and go plug them in."

"Keelah." He muttered. "Fine. I'll go take care of some grunt work."

"Thank you." She told him, receiving no response. The man hated any kind of thanks or kindness directed his way. Then, once he left through the temporary ladder through the galaxy map, she sighed. Only a couple of people were left on board that could interfere or speak up. She keyed her private comm line. "Alright, it's done."

" _You know that the Alliance is going to have your trial be much worse. I've left some nice evidence to point them somewhere else._ " Henry Lawson told her. " _Best wishes, my dear._ "

"Tell Grace I miss her." Julia said quietly, logging out of the sensor terminal and going over to the ruined navigation computer. Without the galaxy map and its accompanying systems they had to plot a few things in advance. So she made herself busy with that, conveniently leaving no one looking at internal sensors. She had no idea if he was successful or not. She and two techs shared the unfortunate shift of watching the ship while the rest of the crew enjoyed some Salarian cuisine and modified sushi recipes.

When Pressley stormed into the bridge, she was prepared for him. "Ma'am! I need to speak with you."

"Of course." She offered, stepping into the cramped officer's quarters. It was perhaps the first time she had ever seen Pressley's bed not made and kept to its normal perfect standard. "What's going on?"

"I just reported to Admiral White. He ordered me to bring you back to the Citadel for a meeting in Zakera Ward."

"Not the Embassy?"

"A factory district, not far from the Elcor med-clinic."

"Why?" She asked, feeling awkward. "Is he concerned about the Ambassador?"

"Yes." Pressley told her. "But more importantly he's starting to clean house. I mentioned Chakwas, and he told me that she was already taken. Teams of AOI operatives are taking employees from Sirta and from the banks. Anyone with ties to Cerberus is being brought in, and all of it is because of White. You're the only thing he hasn't gotten a hold of yet."

"I don't understand." Julia shook her head. "Why are  _you_  telling me this?"

"With the comm antenna down, we aren't getting the regular reports. Just laser comm bursts. The news hasn't filtered to us yet. You and I both know what is going to happen when we get to the Citadel. There isn't going to be a trial. Since I am your XO, that means I get silenced right along with you."

"You've been through this before." It wasn't a question.

"Part of the reason I've never gone above E5 Lieutenant. But right now we know too much. White is going to have us killed or shoved into some desk we will never get to leave."

"Pressley, did you talk to anyone else about this?"

"Yes." He said slowly. "I've got a few connections still. One of them is part of the clean up crews. He warned me to try to get anything I could to keep my worth in the Admiral's eyes. But that ship sailed the moment I decided to let Harper go."

"Okay then." Julia said slowly, letting her bun rest against the wall behind her. "So, what now? The Alliance is going to have to go along with what he orders."

"I don't know. I wish I did." Pressley admitted. "We need time."

"When are we supposed to report to the Citadel?"

"Six hours." Pressley said. "We've got six hours before they remove us and clean up anything they feel is condemning."

"Why?" Julia asked, feeling confused. "We've been at the forefront of the war! We just saved Shanxi! Why in the hell is the Alliance doing this?"

"The only way we can find out is by talking to Admiral White." Pressley said. "I assume it is because of this Reaper business. It all stinks of something your father came up with, and the Prothean Beacon on Mars was locked down by his work. They won't accept anything less than your father's head on a spike to keep you alive."

"Sometimes I wonder if he left because of this mess." Julia said, refocusing on Pressley. "I don't want to just run out on them. Leaving the Alliance just feels like I am running away from my problems. I could have left years ago, but that wouldn't have solved anything. The Alliance is the only thing that is going to hold us together."

"So, you want to submit yourself to them?"

She felt almost light inside. "Yeah." She said. "Not going is just going to hurt more people."

"If the Admiral decides to kill us both, you know the crew is next." Pressley said. "Followed by every civilian and person you have had contact with in the last ten years. Becca's shuttle back to Terra Nova leaves in eight hours."

"Then you should probably warn her." She said. "I'm going to ask for some advice."

"From who?" Pressley sighed. "Just telling them about this could get them and their families killed."

"Let's see what someone else who has survived this kind of thing will say."

"Dr. Heart." Pressley said. "Somewhat trustworthy."

She nodded. "Assume we are still going to the Citadel." She could hear his fingers drumming against his wrist in their attempt to call his wife faster. For his comfort, she stepped out of the small officer's quarters. She made it as far as the med bay doors before she was interrupted again. But already she could see the inside was as dark as it could get. She heaved a sigh of relief at that alone.

"Commander?" She turned, seeing Garrus approaching. He looked concerned, glancing around at the crew quarters. "May I have a moment of your time?"

"Of course." She motioned to her quarters, the hallway deck looking like it had been covered with a thin layer of plastic, and a ladder laid down on one side to allow people to walk over it. Garrus elected to jump over the gap, not trusting the ladder. His Turian feet might not fit in the gaps very well. "It's a bit damaged, but it should provide us some privacy." Her room's burn marks had been scrubbed off, but the door was mostly working again. "What's going on?"

Garrus turned off his Omni-tool completely, and stood nervously in the doorway. "I've gotten some calls while I was on the station. Matriarch Marsula  _and_  the Thirty have demanded your presence on board Friess Station. They want to see some kind of Spectre trials." He seemed nervous, somehow. "That's not good news. You aren't ready for any kind of trials yet. You don't know Citadel law well enough, though I think you'll pass the combat portion."

"What's wrong? This sounds like a great opportunity!"

"It's not expected. Though with the Rachni perhaps they might break tradition and rush you through, I don't know. Halmabad wasn't invited."

"Ah." She said, feeling slightly awkward. It would be bad to go without him. "Will they let us bring the  _Normandy_  this time?"

"They didn't say." He replied. "But I don't like it. Desolous called, warning me about some kind of terrorist attack in Armali." He sighed. "Jack Harper poisoned the wells that off world pregnant Asari get their water from. There are riots in Armali demanding his head."

"Why would he do that?"

"Desolous doesn't think it was him." Garrus amended. "But he can't touch the case without seeming biased. Still, the STG think that it  _could_  have been Harper, and so the Thirty are looking for you and your sister. Marsula doesn't like the Thirty, and they don't like her, so this kind of solidarity is not welcome."

"Out of curiosity, does this possibly take precedence over any Alliance orders that we have?"

Garrus whistled, considering. "I suppose it is a very finely worded recommendation. You can check with your superiors, but mine are calmly pushing for us to go there."

"Sounds alright to me." She said. Better than going to Admiral White. It also kept the crew alive, by going to talk with the Asari government. "I'll mention this to them the moment that the antenna is back up."

* * *

The Presidium, Widow Nebula, January 2183

Vemash'Arel ducked into yet another ductway. No one had been this deep in centuries, he was sure. C-sec claimed that they sent some Volus to check out different major ducts every year, but there was no way to police all of them across the entire Citadel. He had found a couple of old bodies in the fan blades a kilometer back. The Keepers must not have been able to reach into the area to get it out. Some Asari kid, he thought, judging by the bones he could see. "Ancestor-damned Keepers." He muttered, seeing more damage to the fans in the section ahead. "Do your job."

That was what he was down here for, after all. He was one of the better known Quarians here on the Citadel. He knew the ducts better than almost anyone. He knew what lived down here, and how many pyjaks actually ended up in the recycling vats. Sometimes varren were down here, gnawing on Keepers and the selfsame pyjaks. The Asari went through a fad a few years ago, importing hundreds of their biotic lizard-creatures all over space. Many had run away, and ended up down here.

All of the things living in the ventilation shafts and ducts came to live by the recycling tanks. Water reclamation was automated for the Citadel, and the lakes on the Presidium's top layers was where most people assumed the Citadel kept its water supply. That was a small portion, as reclamation tanks took waste and recycled it. As a result, anyone wanting to live down here did so near one of these. They were through kilometers of ductway, and difficult to access if you were taller than five feet. Vemash was on the extreme short end for his race. It meant he could explore in comfort, his suit protecting him from anything that his legs couldn't escape from.

The Keepers liked to congregate around the reclamation tanks. Vamesh had always avoided them in the past, but today he was here for a different reason. Now he was actively searching  _for_  them. Some Salarian named Chorban wanted him to go and scan them with some new scanning tool. He was paying for each Keeper scanned, since he could only access a few on the Presidium ring.

But down here there were always dozens of the things. He had already scanned one of them on his way through the ducts, and it hadn't even reacted. So, he had come here. The last hallway before the reclamation plant, Vamesh started walking more carefully. Things lived down here. He could see a trail of some kind of slime along the ground. Keepers were quite good at removing that kind of thing, and so that meant that this was fresh. He had a junk pistol that he kept around for situations like this, as well as a Salarian invention. It was a microfiber camera on the end of a six foot long hair thin mount.

He could reach it around corners and have the feed linked back into his Omni-tool. Even better, the camera was a tiny drone in and of itself. It could take off and go scout around and come back. He had disabled all of the pretty LEDs and light functions, so that the small drone could stay quiet and hidden. The thing cost more than a month's work at his steady job. At the end of the corridor he deployed it, seeing more of the slime along the floor. He stepped carefully, the piles of slime near the walls where he would have preferred to step.

He hadn't seen anything like this before. He even put some of the slime into an empty nutrient paste tube to study later. But he found out what was the source of it. Next to the doorway was some kind of  _pod_. It was hexagonal, almost organic. There was some kind of webbing over the front of it, broken and shattered from the inside. Slime filled that section of the hallway. There were small prints in the slime, and Vamesh felt somewhat uncomfortable. He didn't sign up for this. This was unlike anything he had seen down here before.

The drone was safer to use at this point. He extended the cable out to its fullest, and sent the drone ahead into the next chamber. The ambient heat in the chamber was higher than normal, and the drone camera was registering a lot of mist. Thankfully, it had been configured to look for Keepers only. It silently entered the reclamation plant, and gave him an initial forty thermal sources. Then that number tripled, and his breath hitched in his helmet. He withdrew the drone, after it had done a full sweep. The images he saw didn't seem clear, but he did see one thing that really worried him.

More of these hexagonal organic structures. Dozens of them that the drone could see. As well as other small creatures that were taking care of them. But the tentacles were in shapes that he could recognize. Rachni. There was even a larger one, as tall as a cargo ship and with some kind of sacs coming off of its back. Vamesh stepped quietly back, but saw some of those things moving towards him from the way he came. There was nothing to do but climb inside of the hexagonal structure. There was nowhere else to hide.

Something moved past, two long tentacles with larger protrusions on the tips stepping through the slime. Smaller creatures moved with it, and he had to pull himself into the worst pile of slime to avoid their notice. He waited five minutes for them to move on before dragging himself to the edge, seeing the corridor empty again. "Going to get out of here while I can."

The corridor was empty, and he could do little for the slime that was coming off of his suit. He felt more and more comfortable the moment he got back in recognizable areas. He even got to scan a couple of those Keepers that were nearby. Though when he was scanning the second one, he could hear lots of movement.  _Lots_  of movement. He threw himself inside of a vent, the fan blades inches from his visor. His motion tracking system on his Omni-tool were synced to his drone, and he watched as more than thirty of those things went past.

The slime had dried completely by the time he risked coming out of the fan enclosure. The Keepers had moved on, and he dropped to the floor. The Keepers had even cleaned up the slime he had left behind. Sticky grease like streaks were still all over his armor, and he was going to need a rag soon. Just ahead, he could see the scraps of cloth that signified a Quarian enclave next to one of the ventilation shafts. The door was already open. That was unsettling.

Vamesh gently pushed the door open, hearing the cymbals and drums that made up Quarian music rumbling through the room. Thumping of feet would be impossible to hear, but it made him smile to think of the girls all dancing. With such a sad existence awaiting them when they did their jobs and earned their keep, sometimes the only thing that brought anyone joy at the end of the day were singing and dancing.

He pushed his way through the door, and froze. The creatures he had seen earlier had taken over the entire chamber, and he could see his people being stripped of their suits. Their flesh being pulled off the bones. As he watched, one of the creatures reared itself up, spraying some kind of fluid at him. It was more of the slime, and he had to blink as all of the little creatures reoriented on him like he had a scent.

"Oh Keelah!" He had led them home. He was responsible. That was all he had time to think before he was covered in them. However, his flailing had allowed his drones to deploy, the microscopic machine launching according to its program. It filmed the entire process of the Quarians being stripped of all material, their suits and their implants being removed and reprocessed. Then, once it had confirmed that its owner had passed away, it followed its programming and set a course for its previous owner. It went up, through the vents and into the Presidium's lower levels, bearing with it the damning information.

* * *

Kite's Nest Nebula, January 2183

Jack Harper could feel himself relaxing, finally. He and Hannah had gotten her leg fixed up, had a nice candle-lit MRE dinner, and compared notes on what happened. She had passed out performing a maneuver in the  _Acheron_  and he had to carry her out of the burning ship. He wasn't happy about losing it. There were a lot of good memories associated with it. He had raised his kids from that ship, and the  _Talon_. Losing it felt like he was losing one of the only places that felt like home. His few moments left had allowed him to bring a small piece of it with him. A small chunk of his marble countertop was tucked away in his bag. It was all he had of that. Contrary to what he may claim to Charles, he did have a sentimental side. Pieces of history and his conquests were things he liked to keep a hold of.

" _Directa' Harper! I got a call comin' in for ya!_ " His Jamaican pilot said. " _Widow system, some guy named 'Enry!_ "

"I'll take it." Jack said, pulling on a shirt and a nice coat. Hannah was still cuddled into the side of the small bed they were using. Once he looked like he was actually wearing a full suit, he took the call. It wasn't like anyone would be able to notice the sweat pants. Tapping his wrist, he connected it to the wall terminal, setting the camera at an angle that would give Hannah enough room to move about the room and not be seen. Though she would often just cloak if he was on the comms and needed to slip past him. His clients had no idea how many times Hannah had actually been naked or less than decent and was slipping past the cameras. As he sat, he considered who this was. Henry Gunn in the Widow nebula was impossible, since the man himself was through the wall. But if someone was hacking his comms and mimicking his signal, Jack was curious as to who they were.

The face of an old friend showed up on the screen. " _Jack! Finally got through to you. God, it's taken nearly forty minutes to find a proper comm line. Your mother was of course no help._ "

"I'm sure." Jack said. "What are you doing off the  _Normandy_?"

" _Ding, dong the witch is dead! You won't believe it Jack! He's really dead!_ " Henry was doing a little song and dance. He even had some kind of silly grin on his face. " _Hock is finally dead. I can be myself again._ "

"What!" Jack shouted once it clicked in his mind.

" _Right? I can't believe the opportunity. In he walked into my operating theater, and bang! Blood and gore everywhere!_ "

"No!" Jack said. "He finally started to believe me! Sure he was a bastard, but he was Humanity's bastard. Damnit Henry, you just ruined years of effort!"

" _Haven't been in the loop, Jack. I'm currently en route to Omega, where I can meet up with you._ " Henry said, shrugging. " _But I think the Alliance and the STG will be on to me and intercept that._ "

"I'm at Kar'Shan. I'll get you a ride. I assume you met Kalin'ren?"

" _That bastard!_ " Henry nearly shouted. " _Took me a minute to realize what I was talking to. I should have recognized my own work. Speaking of which, your daughter is off on some fool's errand._ " Henry uploaded a file. " _I placed a few cameras and microphones in the different living quarters on the ship. Picked up on some plan the Alliance has about killing off your kid._ "

"When." Jack spat.

" _Admiral White is planning on having her and anyone close killed in the next four hours. Someplace on the Citadel, an empty dock yard._ "

Jack mentally tallied the people who he would risk on this. He needed the Alliance to be strong, not crippled. For that he needed Julia to be left alone for the most part. "I understand. Since I'm in the Kite's Nest I'm about eighteen hours away. Most of my mercenaries are deployed out here in prep for my wedding. Speaking of which, your wife is attending. Would you like to be her plus one?"

" _You were my best man twenty years back. Feels like I should return the favor. Are you worried about someone shooting up your wedding as well?_ "

"Counting on it. Under normal circumstances I would consider you for Best Man, but I think I'll be inviting a different person. Batarian marriage rites include the Best Man accepting challenges for duels over the female."

" _God, give me a scalpel and I can do your signature like it's a Hallows Eve pumpkin._ " Henry said, chuckling. While they were exchanging small talk, Jack had already come to the conclusions necessary. " _Sorry I can't offer anything more than my own skills at this point. My organization is likely gutted and empty._ "

"Owned by Hock, actually. Most likely will fracture into pieces upon his death. Or go to Julia if he hasn't planned for that."

" _His brat daughter, more likely._ "

"Henry, I've got a single job for you to do. I'll need the fastest brain surgery that you've ever done."

" _Sure! Who is the subject?_ "

"They will be en route to you momentarily. They will rendezvous with you, you perform a ten minute brain surgery, and then they go to the Citadel. I'm burning more resources than I feel comfortable with, my friend. Too many players at the table now." Jack saw that his current forces on the Citadel were limited to fourteen Volus and a single Turian. None of them were worth anything in a fight. "Hmm." He had another call coming in, this one from Charles. He was hours behind on a status update. "I'll see you soon, Henry."

" _I owe you one, Jack._ " He said, before hanging up on him. His face was immediately replaced with Charles.

" _Hey, I saw that you were on the line with your buddy and I figured that took precedence so I decided to wait for a minute before calling,_ " His words came out in a rush, his suit coat ruffled and his hair covered in sweat. " _We totally moved the relay, by the way._ "

"Excellent work."

" _Yeah, quick question about that. Do you know where Javik is?_ " Ah. Javik had been assigned to guard him. He didn't totally respect Charles, so he understood why he had left. Though it was only by this abandonment of his post that Jack himself had survived, so he didn't feel too inclined to mention that Javik was here.

"I do. What is-"

" _Because I'm going to tear his_ _ **eyes**_ _out of their sockets and shove them up his_ _ **ass**_ _! That bastard left me to be dragged in by Aria!_ "

"Did you offer my mother's life in exchange?"

" _Ah.. no?_ "

"Damn." Jack muttered. "What did you have to pay?"

" _Three million credits up front! Then she made me update her defense networks. Though that isn't the worst of it. Javik's going to flip the table when he hears about the other Prothean._ "

"What." Jack brought up his news feeds. The SR-2 was running mostly silent, so he had not been able to keep up on the news. "You're right." In Batarian space it was difficult to hide where you were and what you were doing, so he had to just run some search feeds and read title headers of news outlets rather than the full stories. Too many data packets in action would trigger the SIU's cyberwarfare functions. "You need to have the ship VI lock down those info feeds."

" _Okay. Accessing it remotely. Odd, it looks like you weren't the only one who looked at the news feeds. Hmm, looks like it was Liar-_ "

"Blasphemy!" Jack looked up as his current bedroom's doors slammed open. Javik stormed in, his eyes dilated in rage. "Have you seen this falsehood?" He was displaying an image of the other Prothean from his Omni-tool to the wall.

"Yes, Javik, we have." Jack said, "But charging through thousands of Prothean fans is hardly the way to prove that you are the real Prothean here."

" _At least the other guy's cordial_." Charles quipped. " _Thanks for nothing, Javik._ "

"You seem to have adapted well. The Quarians had enough firepower on hand to satisfy your needs."

" _Yeah, that was before Aria deployed her entire damn fleet against me._ " Charles retorted. " _You left me without fire support and cost Crucible more than three million credits. Not to mention our nice reputation._ "

"The Reapers do not care about our reputation." Javik said imperiously.

Everyone shut up at the sound of a pistol extending its barrel. Hannah's bare arm extended from the covers. "Everyone get the hell out of my bedroom before I start shooting people. Survivors get stabbed."

" _Even me?_ " Charles asked.

"Especially you." Hannah replied. "I haven't paid you back for those Reavers you wiped out with your damn artillery." Her eyes were slightly crossed, unfocused. She was still on painkillers for her busted leg. Who knew what kind of damage she could do.

Jack and Javik wisely abandoned the bedroom. Charles came with them, transferred to Jack's wrist. "Your female demanded that you leave?" Javik asked.

"Not taking any chances, Javik. We get married in less than a week." He had good reason to get out of there. Not to mention he needed to talk to these men. "Javik, I actually need your input. I have an android on the Citadel that needs a pilot. After you do what I ask you can go try to talk to the new Prothean and figure out where they stand on the Reapers. Charles, I'll need you to hack as many LOKIs as you can get to this location."

" _Got it. What's going on?_ "

"Donovan Hock is dead. Other heads are going to roll in the meantime. Julia's isn't going to be one of them."

"So long as one of them is Ish'Stho'Lhas I am in agreement." The Prothean said from beside him.

* * *

Zakera Ward, Widow Nebula, January 2183

Julia arrived at the warehouse for the meeting late. She had been delayed by docking authorities and C-sec, who had come to assist in the investigation that the Alliance was putting into Hock's death. Rear Admiral Mikhailovich of Fifth Fleet had come to supervise that, and his only comment to her was that this was all a 'bloody mess'. Pressley and Halmabad were ready for anything. Halmabad had assembled his combat exoskeleton in the cab, while Pressley had brought a couple of heavier pistols. The Revenant cannon would be too obvious.

"Looks like the cleaners have already come by." Pressley noted. "There should at least be a couple of drifters here."

"DNA remnants of fecal matter in the corners." Halmabad added. "They should be here." He tilted his head, and leaned towards the large warehouse they were supposed to be approaching. "I'm hearing gunfire, Commander."

"Double time!" She barked, glad she brought her heavier armor. The door to the warehouse was already unlocked, and she opened the door manually, the electronic systems failing to respond.

"That's odd. Hydraulics have been damaged. This door can only be opened from our side. Haptics aren't gonna be able to work until someone gets out here and fixes it." Using his exoskeleton-enhanced strength, he moved a crate into the open door. "Low tech solution for now."

"How many exits are there?"

"Three. This one, a space dock, and a freight elevator system that connects to the manufacturing yard. Ventilation shafts on this level have been sealed up recently, since this factory has been shipping Element Zero products. Citadel standard means that all risks of element zero exposure be reduced to nothing." Pressley stated. "There were two more exits that have been temporarily sealed off. They were less secure, so apparently corporate decided to lock them down."

"Let's move. Halmabad, get me some kind of scans of the inside of this place. Cameras if you can." She said, moving forward into the processing yard slowly. The machinery was moving, still performing automated stacking and storage procedures. They would all be shipped out on Monday, bound for destinations all over Alliance space. Drones happily performed their many tasks, but she could see no signs of anyone. But she did hear gunfire. "That sounds like Mattocks."

The new weapon was supposedly just in testing, but it had a unique noise to its firing mechanism. It had been on all of the advertisements. "Those aren't available. Williams checked." Pressley said. "She's been looking for anything to give us an advantage."

"Better than trying to teach Halmabad poetry." They were making good time, but even at their speed they couldn't reach the back of the factory in time. The gunfire had died down, and Julia was the first to see the dead Alliance agents. They had been taking cover behind a shipping crate, and all of them had their throats slit. "They're still warm." Blood was still gently leaking through their neck guards, all of their weapons cold. "Never got a shot off."

"Four dead without getting off a shot?" Pressley whispered. "Who could have pulled that off?"

"Hannah Shepard." Julia replied. "Maybe." She cloaked, stepping around the crate. The open shipping yard at the end of the factory had more bodies. Nobody moved. Pressley and Halmabad were staying back, and Julia moved forward until she saw the Admiral's pips resting on one part of the floor. "Officer down! I'm moving forward."

" _Don't!_ " Pressley muttered over squad comms. " _They might still be here._ "

"If the Admiral bleeds out we will be in more trouble." Julia assured him, stepping past pools of blood and dropped weapons. The Admiral didn't have any weapons on him. As gently as she dared, she synced her Omni-tool to his own. She was glad that it was one of the models that didn't light up very brightly.

" _Ma'am, is that you?_ " She glanced to the right, where someone could be seen decloaking. She was female, and wearing a catsuit. She had red hair that was a perfect match for her own.

"That isn't me. Her ass is tiny." It was true, the woman lacked the right amount of curves. Most people could fake Julia's shape by stuffing a bra, but faking her ass was much more difficult. She tapped the controls, knowing that her cloak was about to run out. "Stand down!" She barked, aiming her pistol from cover.

The Infiltrator turned, her eyes a perfect duplicate of her own. "Why?" She asked, as if it were a difficult concept.

"Who did this?" Her Omni-tool had finally synced with the Admiral's. He was dead. Had been for almost thirty seconds. "How many?"

The voice was a replica of her own. "They were unworthy." The doppleganger smirked, their mouth opening wider than most Humans could. "But a Harper was not allowed to be killed in the dark like some Salarian dish."

"You're from Crucible."

The voice shifted to Kasumi's. "Their goals are the dreams of infantile lesser races. The only requirement of this operation is that no witnesses see what has occurred. For you, I am told there is an exception. This does not protect your crew." A slim chain extended from the android's hand, piling itself on the floor. The tip of the chain was a slim blade, a small element zero core inside. She hadn't seen anything like this before.

"You don't have to do this." Julia warned them, her finger tempted to pull the trigger. "They're my people."

"In my shoes, you would be forced to accept my logic. As soldiers, you have no choice but to tell your superiors what you have seen. As a fellow soldier, I respect that standard. But in respecting it I also must silence you." The cryptic words were not those of Kasumi. Far from it.

"Javik!" She said loudly, and she could see the android glance at her. It's hair shifted from her own brilliant red to that of a dark green. "Don't you dare."

"Know your place." The android spun, the slim chain darting outwards towards Halmabad. Her gun fired before the chain could ever reach him, and the android wavered. Her rounds passed through it like it it was water, and she could see flickers in the smirking face as the rounds impacted it. But even though the image was disrupted, she could still see something moving towards her crewmate.

Halmabad dropped like a stone, the chain going inside of his power regulators and sparking something. She saw it punch through his regulator, Halmabad reaching up to grasp the sides of his helmet as she saw the chain punch through the back of the throat. Then he was still. "Hologram!" Pressley barked, rolling away from Halmabad.

Julia put the image of Halmabad's throat exploding from her mind and followed the cable. The android, hopefully the real one, stood above the crate that Pressley and Halmabad had taken cover behind. It jumped, it's legs carrying it up above into the mess of cranes and drones. Like a fading light, the tactical cloaking field covered it. In this environment, everything favored the android. "Pressley." She said, not taking her eyes off of the drones and crane systems in motion. "It's faster than you. Make it count."

"Ma'am." He grunted, throwing every tech grenade he had at a sealed air intake valve. "Cover me." Cover him she did, watching as he removed the cover from the sealed air vent. LOKI mechs started coming out of the different crates, almost fifteen in number. She took out every single one as fast as they came on, their heads popping like tin cans. Pressley wordlessly offered her his pistol off handed as hers became overheated, extending her time in combat. Her barrier drained, not failing completely but was still damaged. When the chain punched through her visor, Julia screamed. She had assumed Javik wouldn't harm her. She was wrong.

"Commander?" Pressley asked, turning around. His eyes went wide when he saw the blade in her cheek. "Ma'am, don't move!" He aimed his pistol at the chain, and Julia could see a shimmer moving behind him. She didn't think about it, she just acted. Her kick took Pressley in the midsection, his look of surprise disappearing as he slid down the hole. The chain blade still in her cheek tore upwards, going into the skin of her temple before being violently yanked out.

The chain didn't survive her pistol. "Javik, I'm going to kill you."

"Better have tried." The android said, the voice getting further away. "You should leave before things get too dangerous for you, girl."

Her medi-gel was being applied to the wound in her cheek, but she was already feeling light headed from the blood loss. "Pressley?"

" _I'm here, Ma'am. A fan broke my fall. Or rather it broke most of it. Sirta sells a damn good armor._ "

"Can you climb back out?" She asked. "The android is on the move."

" _That shaft is at least a hundred feet tall, Ma'am. I'd have a better chance escaping into another dockyard below this one._ " She could hear him groan. " _Secure the Admiral, Ma'am. Check for wounded._ "

"Pressley, he's going to come after you."

" _I'm counting on it._ " The older man said. " _That psycho is coming after you next. Get the hell out of here._ "

"Pressley, get back to the ship. That's an order."

" _Same to you Ma'am. There's something else down here. Some kind of biological agent. Pools of slime along the corners._ " He was breathing hard. " _Someone's Varren lives around here._ " He hummed. " _There is an exit up ahead, but it'll dump me on the same veranda where the cab service dropped us off. I think I'll take a small shortcut through the air filtration chambers and go for a lower level._ "

Julia scrambled to Halmabad, his vitals long since fallen away to nothing. He was dead, chunks of his spinal column all over the inside of his visor. There was no saving him. Admiral White was the only other person she had on her HUD, and his vitals were cold as well. She rushed over to him next, pulling his OSD out and placing it within her own Omni-tool. It immediately queried her.

 _Authorization Codes requested._  She had only a few seconds, and she entered in her own codes. She kept her hand on the OSD just in case it was going to explode or something.  _Commander Constantine. Credentials recognized and DNA signature match. Data has been unlocked according to your rank and station. Reformatting this OSD will result in treasonous charges._

"Last recording." She stated.  _Most recent recording restricted to after action report to senior officer._ "Most recent recording that my rank allows me access to." She amended.

" _Julia. If you're hearing this then I am probably dead or dying. You might be the cause of it. Either way, I have taken the time to personalize messages regarding my death to every senior officer in the Office of Intelligence. My apologies for not being more directly supportive over the course of the war. No one has come out to admit it, but we have lost more than 75% of our Infiltrators to it. You all take time and significant implants to create, and we are in demand to the point that I have considered inviting what is left of Jones' and Shepard's organization back to us just for manpower. Before the war we were stretched just trying to police our own people, and now the gaps in our nets are widening. Which is why what I am asking you to do is more difficult._ " White's voice said, clearly and carefully.

" _The Asari want you to become a Spectre. Then they want to kill you. As the highest ranking Admiral in the Office of Intelligence, your father and I have exchanged secrets for the last decade. He has been some of the most reliable sources of knowledge that we can tap into, and unlike other Humans in the Terminus he still sends back mountains of intel. Every year he pays his taxes, which of course come to us first. Those data OSDs contain thousands of state secrets and access codes that he has stolen from the Salarians and the Turians, and keep us on the edge of success. This message is going to delete itself after you hear it, as you may guess. Huerta wants you out of the picture, but he can't see the long term consequences of that decision. He plans to sell you off to the Asari for a few bribes. He even bribed my offices just to give me incentive to do so. My replacement will be a government plant. LIttle more than a stooge for their wants and needs. What you need to do is convince him that you are leaving._ "

White's voice finally showed some kind of emotion in that. " _Leave this sinking ship. Every single one of my effectives have been ruthlessly targeted or sent on missions beyond their capabilities. Unlike the rest, you keep coming back. On my Omni-tool, you will find a list of everyone I suspect to be taking bribes from their member nations. The list of people I can trust is short. Agent Elizabeth Shaw, whom you worked with on Galatana. Agent Shirree Delacour, a French specialist in cryptology and encryption breaking. Agent Dietrich Faust, a specialist in poisons and biological warfare. Lastly, Agent Runya Ross. She's a cantankerous old bitch, but she knows all of the players in the business. She doesn't know I have been working with your father. Then again, I replaced the man working for your father. I simply continued to take in the information and use it to the advantage of the Alliance._ "

" _Your last standing orders are as follows: Go to the Asari. Help them as best you are able and satisfy whatever Huerta needs in diplomatic resources. Then, come back and help direct this organization. As a Commander and one of the few functioning Infiltrators, we will need you. Good luck, Commander._ "

She found a couple of dead Infiltrators next to Admiral White. Their catsuits had not been able to stop the chain or the weapons from the LOKI mechs at all. She could see them opened from thigh to sternum in clean cuts. All of the men here were in Onyx armor, heavily modified but still made to look like normal Alliance gear. It hadn't helped. Whatever that weapon was, the android was able to move it slow enough to get inside of kinetic barriers and then accelerate it. Ten others also lay dead, and their Omni-tools were secured. She didn't take long to do this, maybe thirty seconds while she listened to the final part of White's message.

Halmabad received the most time. She tinted his visor and took his Omni-tool. "I'm sorry." She told him. Not that he could hear, but it felt right. It felt like she was at least giving him something back. "I know you were praying when other people weren't watching. I know you still cared about God somewhere. I just wanted to tell you that this wasn't your fault. I hope you go to heaven, Shaihk. You deserve it." Her eyes stung. "The MAKO is going to miss you.  _Salaam_." The last word was one that she had learned in Mecca. It was something peaceful, meant to be a way of offering the best respects for someone.

She didn't allow herself any more time than that. She was the last Human Spectre candidate. She couldn't let herself die to some android. She moved at a full sprint, not bothering with cloaking. If it could kill other Infiltrators, then the only benefit she had left was speed. The door that they had entered had been slammed shut. The crate they had used to block it had been kicked back inside, a slim heeled shoe mark on one side revealing the person behind it. "That won't stop me, you Prothean asshole." She muttered.

A forklift fixed the door problem. She was out and back onto the empty air car terminal, no one in sight. Empty air cars sat nearby, ready for anyone to use them. She picked one that was in the middle of the pack at random, hoping it wasn't booby trapped. Javik had six minutes on her. "Pressley, are you still with me?"

He didn't respond. The ventilation shafts often had communications issues. She tapped her comm channel, and went to the next person she could trust. "Garrus, this is Julia. Are you free?" The air car started its slow flight back to the major parts of the Citadel. She didn't know where to go exactly yet.

" _I was just checking the Rachni exhibit the local Turian art gallery was putting up. We like to carve, and there was an image made to honor you._ "

"That's nice." She said, knowing other people might be listening. "You do remember Javik, right?"

" _Yes?_ " The word was drawn out. " _What's he done now?_ "

"He's here. I need to know where he would go."

" _Hmm._ " The Turian whistled oddly, almost humming. " _I know of a couple of places. Presidium tower, where the Council meet. Maybe this Prothean Herald. Or maybe just some hospital to get his brain scrubbed out by eager Salarians._ "

"Herald." Julia muttered. "Meet me there." The air car received her command, shooting towards the Presidium.

" _There are thousands of screaming cult followers there! How am I supposed to get inside?_ "

"I don't care how. Bring Desolous, maybe he can get you past all of the crazies. If not him, then just bring Wrex."

The Presidium was packed with people. Apparently the Herald was supposed to speak today, and every single piece of ground in the Presidium had been rented out to different groups. Balconies of every building had been packed, and C-sec were trying in vain to cordon off public areas so that the Citadel could remain somewhat functional. She kept track of Pressley's marker on her squad comms, but it stayed highlighted orange. Out of contact. Missing in action.

She considered calling the Alliance, but White's words had her spooked. The air car stopped, entering a queue of landing cars almost two hundred vehicles long. That wasn't working. But if there was anywhere on this space station that someone like Javik could be, it was here. " _Julia, we are getting close to the upper level. It's a mess up here._ " She heard Garrus say over comms. " _I can't see anything!_ "

"Has C-sec cut off all access?"

" _No idea, Julia. Desolous hung up on me the moment I called him. I can't see him just walking through the crowd, either._ "

She glanced upwards, seeing a few C-sec vehicles in the air. The only place she couldn't see vehicles were the long spars that ran near the ceiling of the Presidium. "Garrus, there is a support spar for the Presidium ring right above the location. Who's allowed up there?"

" _Nobody, really. C-sec uses some of them as storage platforms, but they are considered critical support structure for the rings. The air cars are programmed to avoid it._ " Garrus told her. " _The only thing there might be the Keepers._ "

"It's where I would be if I wanted to take someone out below." Julia mentioned. "Either that or climb down from above, but that presents more risk. How do I get up there?"

" _Land at a C-sec terminal and take a long elevator ride up? Or just jump out of the car somewhere two hundred feet above and hope you don't die._ "

"The android might be able to take that kind of fall." She tapped the navigation controls, locking in a destination that would take her over the spar. "I've got an idea." The air car was coming up above it now. "You'll bail me out, right?"

" _Uh._ " Garrus started saying. " _I guess so…_ " The air car door was kicked open, alarms screaming at her that this was dangerous. " _I think I see you._ "

Cloaking, She threw herself out of the aircar, her Omni-tool assisting her in calculating her drop rate and where she was going to impact the spar at. She blacked out her visor, so that all she could see was that spar. Her biotics didn't work well with distractions. But soon she felt her nerves firing, and her weight was reduced. When she impacted the spar, she bounced first, landing on her back without much grace. Then her visor opened up again, to full brightness. She was on top of the spar, a thin layer of dust over the metal. It was all featureless, no towers or any kind of ornamentation rising from the flat plane.

Her steps drew her to the edge, letting her look down almost a kilometer to the lakes and crowds of people. She was not directly on top of the Asari consort's building, and a bit of quick math told her where that spot would be. "I'm here. If you see anything, take the shot."

" _Wrex, can you give me some space?_ " Garrus asked. Julia heard some kind of screams in the background. " _Thank you._ "

She walked along, her feet carrying her almost half a kilometer to the area above where the Prothean was supposed to be. It was then that she saw some kind of  _shimmer_  in the air. "Javik!" She yelled.

The shimmer moved, stepping back from the edge. "I should have locked you within one of those shipping crates. You are surprisingly resourceful." Kasumi's voice stated. But the inflections were nothing like her pseudo sister.

"It's where I would be, given the same plan. I assume you plan on killing him?"

"He is a deceiver, a false Herald. As the Avatar of Vengeance, his blood calls to my honour, that it may be spilled. The damage he shall do is too much to recover from in this cycle." The shimmer moved near to the edge. "Do not stand in my way. My agreement to keep you alive has its limits."

"I'm the last Human spectre candidate. I don't deserve it, but it is in Humanity's best interest that I stop you." She said. "Halmabad deserves better than what you did."

"You are nothing in the grand scheme of things. Stop me if you dare. This sycophant must be silenced." With that, Javik stepped off the side of the spar, the android dropping through the sky. She fired her pistol towards him, aiming almost randomly.

"Garrus!" She yelled into comms. "He's dropping!"

" _Where did he start from?_ "

Julia quickly stepped the ten meters to the starting point, the dust disturbed. "Here!" She could hear him humming some kind of mathematical computations in his head when she stated that.

" _400 meters, falling at terminal velocity._ " Wrex said. Julia blinked at that. When was he good at math on the fly?

" _Thank you._ " Garrus said. Even from here she saw his round, a giant spear of force and red light as it carved into the air. One hundred meters above the Consort's balcony, it met the android. Garrus' new rifle had been meant to take out gunships while their barriers were still up. Against the android, the explosive round impacted and clearly destroyed it. Parts and white hot chunks of metal rained over the crowd, a single leg the most complete piece visible. It impaled a C-sec vehicle and remained there, the vehicle itself squealing alerts. " _That felt amazing._ " The Turian gushed. " _Did you see that!_ " Even from here she could see the C-sec blues surrounding Garrus and Wrex. " _Ah. This isn't so good. Commander, I really hope you got video of that._ "

"I did." She told him. "How do I get down from here?"

" _The boys in blue will be with you real soon, Commander. It would be best to get a ride from them rather than walk through miles and miles of secure C-sec tunnels. Not to mention a second witness would do wonders for the amount of trouble we just caused._ "

* * *

Presidium Docks, Widow Nebula, January 2183

Kalin'ren watched as the panicked crew rushed off to go see what was going on with the Commander. Without Pressley it had been easy to convince Joker and Tali'Zorah to release the crew for a few hours while the rest of the officers tried to talk their way through C-sec. Apparently firing a restricted weapon on the Citadel was quite illegal, even for Spectres. Few of them remained when he stepped down to the open hangar bay doors.

An unmarked delivery truck arrived, and Kalin'ren signed off on the slim package that arrived. Alone, he pushed the larger crate that was associated with it, and brought it up into the  _Normandy_. It was to his complete surprise the someone stopped him at the top of the ramp. "Sergeant Kalin'ren?" He looked up, seeing Tali'Zorah nar Rayya there.

"Yes?"

"That isn't your food shipment." She stated, almost threateningly. "In fact everything that was supposed to be loaded has been."

"So it has." Kalin'ren replied, ignoring the objects in his hands. "Is there something wrong?"

"Open the crate, Kalin'ren." She warned. "I need to inspect anything that comes on board."

"Sure." Kalin'ren muttered. Gently, he started the process to open the crate. He tapped a slim button on one side, activating a process on the inside of the crate. "Admiral Daro'Xen sends her regards."

The crate opened, and Tali stepped back in surprise. "Why would we share those?"

"The Fleet accepted that this ship has need. Therefore two of our  _Hallah_  class torpedoes have been given to the  _Normandy_. Recent developments in the fleet have allowed us to build new torpedoes for the first time." He patted the heavy weapons inside the crate. "This should get the Reaper's attention and do much more damage than some Human designed weapon. These are  _Hallah-II's_. Next generation Quarian weapons. You might appreciate not having these on any kind of accounting of the ship."

"I agree." She said softly. "Tell Admiral Xen in your next report that I deeply appreciate their sacrifice." Kalin'ren smirked behind his visor. He gently corrected it to a sneer. He had to play the part, after all. Only when all of the chips were on the table could he come out from hiding. "I thought that our heavy cruisers hoarded these."

"They were convinced otherwise. Han'Gerrel is easy to convince of the necessity."

"I'll load them myself." Tali said happily. Underneath the crate, the hangar deck rattled. "What was that?"

"Typical fleet accounting. Cheap shipping services." He kicked the box for emphasis, sending metal plates to the floor. All of this to cover the shimmering shapes that moved along the floor of the hangar bay. "I suppose I should assist you. It would be better if you avoided damaging my work."

* * *

Friess Station, Sanves System, January 2183

Julia was pleased as they approached the space station. She had spent almost eight hours catching up with her crew. The ship had gotten its repairs while docked, and the elevator now worked. The ladder shafts had been fixed, and the hole through the galaxy map had been filled in and corrected. The Alliance were very concerned about what had happened with Dr. Heart and Jenkins. Moreso, they had been extremely concerned about Ambassador Hock. Officially he was stepping back from the spotlight as Alliance Ambassador. Unofficially all of the crew needed to sign NDAs and consent to have their assets taken if they revealed what actually happened to him. That was what had taken up the last eight hours of her life.

Garrus had his anti-gunship sniper rifle officially recognized by C-sec as a Spectre weapon, something he had forgotten to file the paperwork for the last time he had been on the Citadel. Halmabad was silently added to the list of deaths from the Rachni War, and returned to his family. Senator Halmabad had wanted to meet with her, but she didn't want to face him yet. Especially now that he was being sworn in as Ambassador. Pressley had never made it back to the ship. She delayed their leaving for almost thirty minutes, but her XO never showed up.

She left him messages, had Kalin'ren look for him, but nothing he could access or control on the massive space station told them where Pressley had gone. After a few final attempts before going through the relay, she left a MIA notification with the Embassy. It was out of her hands now.

She had to promote Kaidan to temporary XO. Simply out of necessity, with Pressley missing. There was no nepotism involved, though she had to avoid thinking about abusing that. This was all that was on her mind when she entered her rooms, and the door shut behind her.

"Welcome back." Someone greeted. She twisted, her knife already extending and the owner of the voice rolled backwards. When they stood, it was like looking into a mirror. Her own duplicate stood next to the replaced bed, her catsuit appearing undamaged. Her own armor was stained with blood from the wound on her face.

"How did you get in here? This is code-locked to me!"

"Let's just say we are more closely related than you would like to admit." The doppelganger said, smiling.

* * *

Author's Note

For the record, President Huerta of the Alliance is based on a couple of people. He is not in any way based on current candidates. I based him mostly off of Lyndon B Johnson, who is probably one of the biggest pricks and warhawks that ever have claimed the Presidential seat. This chapter is a bit of cloak and dagger, and it was fun to return to this kind of writing. There has been too much straight up combat recently. There is a poll going to see what occurs to Pressley here on my profile. It's up to you guys what happens. May the odds ever be in your favor.

I don't really want to apologize for my country, but I almost do. This Trump vs. Hillary business benefits no one. Both of them have a control over the media that just ruins the chances for anyone to know what to believe. Trump, according to the news, is a womanizer. Hillary apparently is responsible for the deaths of other people. Lovely business. We sound like a bloody Spanish civil war waiting to happen. The best part of all of this is that neither of them are supposed to qualify for Presidential candidacy.

To add some details about Rachni on the Citadel: At least one Queen has landed and is in the recycling vats. It has been there fore more than two weeks. During that time they have been swiftly expanding through the massive ventilation shaft network, and a lot of people are starting to wise up to their presence. As for actually being able to go in and do something about it, they might have to go with the Vol Protectorate military. Some of those shafts are so small that only a Volus could move through them effectively. Turians are too tall, as are Humans. A crawling battle is not one that anyone wants to attempt. But if they let everyone on the Citadel know about the threat then C-sec would never be able to keep anyone safe. So if it seems like nothing is being done to address it, the opposite is true. But the Rachni hold the advantage until the Council forces can discover what they are on the Citadel to do.


	81. Dementia:Into Darkness

Chapter 81

Alliance Embassy level 15, The Citadel, January 2183

"Did you initiate a lockdown?" Dr. Seraei asked. The Asari's complex romboidal markings on her forehead furrowed as she glanced over her haptic interface. Her assistants, Drs Hamilton and Vorhes, leaned over to the terminal and furrowed their own eyebrows. They, too, were looking worried. "Who's idea was it to create a lockdown!" She demanded.

"I don't know. I certainly didn't do it." Hamilton said, scratching his beard in thought. "Someone must have duplicated my authentication codes."

"Hm." Dr. Seraei sounded, somehow more graceful than a Human's vocal cords. "Call Security."

"Strange. They aren't responding." Hamilton muttered. "Why are the doors opening?" Behind them, all of the doors along the hallway were unsealing and opening, the hydraulic locks forcing the doors to stay open. "Someone please tell me what the hell is going on!"

Techs from other labs along the corridor were leaning into the open corridors, all shouting in alarm. From the back of the room, usually forced to watch endlessly, she stretched. Her back popped a couple of times, and then she stood up, decloaking. All of the doctors failed to notice her do that. "Assume that we are compromised." She said loudly. "I know for a fact that Rachni acid was being used in one of the other labs on this level, and the contaminant alarms haven't gone off. That means someone disabled them and the door locks."

"Agent Dempsey!" Dr. Seraei voiced. "How long have you been in here?"

She gave the Asari scientist a wide grin. "Oh! I just fell asleep on the bench here last night. I didn't want to scare anyone heading back to my bunk, and so I just stayed here." She shrugged. "Not that the bunks are any more comfortable than these benches. Sorry!"

"What do we do now?" Dr. Hamilton asked glumly. "Should we assume this is just a drill?" Everyone looked at her. She really didn't enjoy that. She had been an Infiltrator for all of five weeks. Before this she had just been a combat medic looking to get into medical school. The only problem with that was her enlistment wasn't done, and some crazy people had decided she would do better in the Office of Intelligence. The pay wasn't bad, but the hours were terrible. She also wasn't used to being in charge of anything.

"Erm, No?" She said uncertainly. "Hang on." She fiddled with her Omni-tool and the comm lines, not at all used to some of this. The Security lines were somehow blocked, but the emergency lines weren't. "Hello? This is Lab two."

" _Hello?_ " Someone said feverishly on the other line. " _We're up in Lab one. Were you the ones who opened all the doors?_ "

"Nope!" She said. "But I was hoping to talk to Security."

" _That section has been reporting a fire. Henderson, what are you staring at?_ " There was a sound of metal clanging in the background. " _Oh god! Have you people been birthing Rachni?!_ "

"No!"

" _We've got workers coming in! Bigger ones, too! They're in the hallwa-_ " The signal cut out. Though others started picking up. " _Anybody hear me? The doors, they won't close! They're coming! They've got spikes with them!_ "

Elizabeth closed her eyes. This wasn't what she was supposed to do. She wasn't supposed to fight an army. She wasn't supposed to fight the Rachni. That was for people like Constantine. She had a pistol with nerve gas canisters and a couple of nerve gas grenades. That wasn't going to stop anything. "I don't know what to do." She whispered to herself.

A Salarian came inside the lab, hoisting a power conduit with the help of a couple of interns. "Rachni coming. We must secure the lab." He announced, moving the conduit in front of the vents. "Secured rest of lab floor before this chamber. Maelon, STG." He said in passing, giving her a wave. "Glad to see Alliance placed better than normal security precautions next to objective."

"What?"

"Rachni sightings have been confirmed on the Citadel. STG theorized that they were not coming to the Citadel in force, or that they were being smuggled in somehow. Theory confirmed, and we know their goal. Here for the Queen." He jabbered, tapping the console looking down into the secure section of Lab one. "They have control of all established exits. Comms are down, doors not secure. Speaks of betrayal from within." Maelon nodded to himself. "Ah, yes. Appears that someone has tried to lock system down. Human programming always leaves certain exploits. Hmm." He muttered to himself. "Asari code. Uses too many descriptive words." Many of the people in the room now turned to the lone Asari.

Dr. Seraei backed up, looking insulted. "I gave up a position at Binary Helix to come here! I wouldn't want to ruin this!"

"You wouldn't." Maelon replied. "Not without being far away from here first. Asari do not believe in concept of sacrificing self for objective. _That_ is a Salarian quality. No, saboteur has left already. Will find later." He finally focused all of his attention on her. "Infiltrator. Excellent. You are the one in charge of feeding?"

"Yes." Elizabeth answered quickly. "She likes me."

"Ah. Good. Is there another exit other than elevators?"

"Not that I know of." Her main focus here had been taking care of the little Rachni queen. It was kind of cute, in a way. Alive for only a week, it was still the size of a small dog. "But I don't have the specs on this place. We've only been here a couple of weeks."

"Ah. Then we must make an exit. Elevator shaft should provide exit vector. Bottom of shaft connects to lower Presidium levels. Hmm. Archives."

"I haven't heard about those." Dr. Hamilton said. "When the Alliance expanded down here they just told us that the lower levels were full of power conductors and water reclamation."

"Ah." Maelon replied. "Purposeful misinformation. Large computer cores exist down on those levels. History of all species stored and backed up down there. Forwarding nearest exits to your Omni-tool." Her tool lit up with a path that led straight down three hundred meters. Then it corkscrewed through large chambers back out to access hallways that took her somewhere near the underside of the Presidium tower. "Not many people ever go down there. Have found corpses of explorers and children over the years. Underside of tower has a small contingent of workers. Otherwise unlikely to find any other sentient species down there."

"Right." She replied, more freaked out than anything else. "I've never jumped that far down before." She was supposed to get rated for HALO jumps and everything else, but there was such a demand for Infiltrators she had just done theoretical study and was just deployed to Admiral Hackett.

"I'll handle that problem. Rachni coming soon, will need assistants. All of you, come with me." He motioned to the Humans and lone Asari. "Agent, you get infant Queen. Rachni will most certainly follow through us when we are dead. Our minds will be converted over to Husks, and any information that we know will be in their hands. Assuming that our brains are in good enough shape to be used. Speed is of the essence." What a downer. He already assumed the worst.

"Okay." She said, breathing out carefully. "That works. You get the elevator shaft clear." The Salarian nodded, practically dragging Dr. Seraei into the hallway. Elizabeth pulled herself together, and stepped into the main chamber of lab two. A huge glass case rested against one wall, and inside it was a small nest of fibers and printed carbon sheets. At the very center of the pile was a small bundle of emotion and carapace. The skin was still soft, and the tentacles that rose off the little queen's back were not yet fully formed. No one had ever viewed the growth of a Queen before.

She could see a swirl of color on the edges of her vision as she approached, and a few vague images of food or water. A few people had been able to see this when they spent too much time near the little creature. Those people all shared one quality: they had all touched the small Rachni. Anyone who had touched her seemed to _see_ things around her. Colors, images, ideas. It was the form of Rachni communication, and it induced headaches if you spent too much time near it. Though she herself hadn't felt them, the little queen was very dangerous nonetheless.

"Hey little thing!" She said excitedly. "You ready for a field trip?" The colors shifted around her, in confusion. Another image of pasta showed up, something she had eaten earlier. "Ew, no no no! That pasta was terrible!" The jello from lunch also made an appearance in the area above her line of vision. "Shush. You've had your lunch. It's time for something else!" It was best to be happy and upbeat around the little Rachni. Dr. Hamilton was extremely depressed most of the time, and he had to be taken off the direct handling team because it affected the Queen so profoundly.

When she opened the doors of the cage, the Rachni brought itself up on shaking legs. It was still so young. It didn't have much strength in its legs, but they could grip onto someone or something and the small feelers kept the legs attached. She was perhaps thirty pounds, and all of the weight was in her limbs. The main body was processing so much nutrients that the limbs had gotten fatter and heavier, leaving its main thorax behind. When the door opened instead of the food slot, the colors in the air changed again. They coalesced into the shape of a jug of water. Surprisingly enough, the little queen loved bath time. "Nope. You're coming with me."

The little queen made a warbling noise as it was picked up, and its limbs snapped around Elizabeth and gripped her tightly. It was now pressed up against her torso, its claws locked in on her upper and lower back. She wouldn't let go unless it was for a bath, now. "Hey! Grabbing a little low, there!" Catsuits didn't do anything for concealing her curves. She had been called a stick in secondary school, and that stayed true now. One of the little queen's claws had hooked her at the top of the thigh. It warbled and moved it to the slightly more uncomfortable grip a few inches higher, somehow understanding what she wanted. "Thank you, I guess."

When she got back up to the hallway, she could see lab equipment being positioned like barricades across the corridor. Scientists were being directed to place armed charges on containers of fire retardant spray, acid vats, and liquid nitrogen storage vats. All under the direction of the Salarian, Maelon. The elevator shaft was wedged open with one of their haptic projectors, and Maelon was dropping a rope of some kind. "Ah! Good timing! Motion detected in some of the ventilation shafts. Time to evacuate."

"That rope isn't long enough." It looked to only be a couple hundred feet long. The little queen warbled unhappily, sending her images of food. It's bath chamber was the other direction, and it sent out a few images of that as well.

"Correct. The rest of the fall must be dependent upon Dr. Selaei." The Asari blanched. "Her biotics can reduce mass enough for fall at the bottom to be not life threatening."

The Asari shook herself. "My biotics are quite weak, Maelon. I grew up in Turian space. I can't pick up a Human, not even someone as light as she is."

Maelon frowned. "Unaccounted factors. Always my failing." Behind her, she could hear the doors bending under some kind of force. "Rope will allow you access to upper levels of Archives. Understand that the area is largely abandoned. Hours from checkpoint."

"Damn." She muttered. Down a rope into a dark hole, with no idea where she was going once down there. "We gotta go. Start dropping people."

The Salarian laughed. It was a full laugh. "Not evacuating. Rachni must believe that we are making a last stand. Will not be convincing if we follow." He handing her the handle she could slide down the rope with. "Now, jump. Move like the pyjaks we are so fond of comparing you to." He drew an SMG, probably the heaviest weapon here. "Shutting the doors in a few seconds. Repel down in the dark."

The Queen wasn't going to slide off of her, but she wrapped the bottom of the rope around her thigh and the creature's leg. Her tremor of surprise was quieted when we both saw the elevator shaft looming. She liked the dark and deep places. Elizabeth didn't like the dark. But she didn't have a choice right now. The rope moved around her leg as she leaned over the edge, the magnetic strips in her catsuit activating. Her feet hit the wall, and stuck there. The little queen pressed her feelers into the wall behind them, testing the metal. "Sorry, little thing. We don't have time to explore."

Colors surrounded the edge of her vision, even as the doors closed above her and she was in the dark. The little queen really liked it down here. They didn't have much time to waste, though. She repelled down the shaft, getting used to the shape of the walls and the long support spars that ran the entire length of the structure. Her feet only stuck to the metal grips of the elevator, and not the Prothean metal that lined the walls, so her jumps were careful. The little queen made the surroundings of her perception turn green with every drop in height. She apparently was loving this. "Shush." She muttered. "At least one of us is enjoying this. I can't even see."

Her eyes exploded with color, as the walls and the elevator shaft came to light. It was like an overlay had been placed above her eyes. "Okay then. Thank you little thing!" Now able to see from whatever the little queen was doing, Elizabeth repelled with more surety and greater distance. Sometimes the images flickered when the queen was having too much fun on the drops. "Hey!" She shouted, as they came to something different. "Come on, I need to see." The images focused, and the little queen buried its head into her shoulder.

The end of the rope came too quickly for the little thing, and the handle at the bottom of the rope slammed against her thigh. The exit that had been mentioned by Maelon was right where he said it was. The rope was too short by twenty feet. "Hang on!" She told the queen, before activating the magnetic strips in her palms. Free repelling wasn't anyone's idea of fun. She wrapped her legs around the slim magnetic material and shimmied down to the circular portal leading to the lower levels. The queen waved its feelers and tentacles as she did a flip through the open portal, making a gurgling sound as it went upside down.

"You just love it when I do that, huh?" She huffed. Carrying thirty pounds of alien queen did that to you. "Now where do we go?" Large cylinders lined the walls, the power systems keeping each one and its haptics in good condition. Yet the area felt abandoned, or simply left alone for too long. There wasn't any dust or piles of debris, but the whole place felt empty on an emotional level. As if the area had been constructed and immediately left empty and alone. The cylinders along the walls and extending into the far distance were sterile, with the most recent direct access being at least a hundred years. The date displayed was back almost a hundred and thirty years.

The queen tightened her grip, and she flinched. Her cloak activated, out of habit. Yet nothing moved. Everything was still quiet. She waited, and finally something moved. It _wasn't_ a Rachni, but still looked like one. It moved slowly, dragging its hind legs. It's forelegs were… wait a minute those were Human legs! Elizabeth took a closer look, seeing that it was actually a Human wearing a Rachni like a coat. A gun poked out of the 'face' of the Rachni, and the Human legs moved forwards slowly. She could see that the leg had the standard gunmetal grey and blue of the Alliance, so that meant it was an Alliance soldier.

She was about to approach them when she remembered the briefing on Husks. She kept behind a cylinder, the haptic screen almost brushing the queen's forearm. The queen, being curious, poked it and made the haptic flash. The person behind the Rachni twisted around, their gun aiming at the cylinder and huffing. "Seeing things." She heard them mutter. "Gotta be a way out of here."

As far as she knew, Husks did not speak. She didn't know which way to go, and this person might know, even if they seemed a bit crazy and unhinged. "Stay where you are!" She called. "State your ID code."

The figure looked around, the drooping Rachni chunks twisting first to the right and then to the left. "AL03547." He said clearly. The AL series of ID codes dated back to the First Contact War. few people even had those anymore.

"Are you a time traveler?" She asked carefully.

"No." He grouched, lifting the 'head' of the Rachni enough for her to see a partially melted helmet. "Just damn old. Where are ya?"

"Tell me why you're wearing a Rachni first."

"It pissed on me. I killed it and decided to wear it as a hat." He said carefully. "It's pheromones keep the other Rachni from thinking I'm Human. I smell like they do, so they don't think about killing me. I've been lost down here for hours, trying to make my way back up to someplace with signal. My Omni-tool caught a bit of acid on the rotator cuff that holds the antenna."

"Well, even if it worked there would be no way for you to get signal. The whole level here is part of the Citadel Archives, and is shielded. Or something. I don't have signal either." Elizabeth told her. "I'm with the Alliance. Part of the embassy."

"XO of the SSV _Normandy_. Lt. Charles Pressley." He grunted, lifting the Rachni body enough to show her the inside of his visor. He was bald, and pockmarked with lines of age.

"Sargeant Elizabeth Dempsey!" She chirped happily. "And this is my charge." She stepped out of the darkness, enough to let him see her. The little queen warbled, its tentacles waving like a hand at him. "She doesn't have a name yet, but I'm trying to keep her away from the other Rachni." She squinted her eyes. "I think I've met you before. When we were transporting the egg."

"Pleased to see you again, Ma'am." He replied. "Do you know of a way through the archives, by chance?"

"I have a waypoint, where some of the Citadel workers are supposed to be." She said.

Pressley dropped the Rachni he was wearing, and she could see him for the first time. His armor was ruined. Acid had pockmarked his visor glass, and that was the only thing that looked okay. The skin of his chest was visible, burnt and covered with barely held together medi-gel. His back was even worse, and his hip was covered with a small wrap. "Holy shit! Are you okay?"

He smacked her hands away. "I'm old, not dead. Save your pity and just lead us out of here."

She started walking, trying to ignore every ounce of her training. She was a medic, and he was just ignoring her. "Have you sealed all of your wounds?"

"I think so." He admitted, spitting something brown onto the floor. "You got any water?"

"Here." She tried to hand him her canteen, but the little queen hooked it with her claw. "Hey! He's hurt, you give that back!"

The queen lost the tug-of-war, screaming something hoarse. Pressley just started laughing. "Fiesty little creature. How much does it take to feed her?"

"She eats every couple of hours. The lab was attacked right before her next feeding." Under her hands, the little Rachni had its nose in the canteen, sucking up the water. "I've got more. She's greedy."

"That's the most terrifying ability that the Rachni have shown yet. Their babies are cute." The old man said. "This place is a giant nest of tunnels. I've been looking through this just based on Salarian numeric conventions. Some of it is in Asari base three numerals, and I just get lost without some kind of point of reference."

The canteen was freed from the little queen's mouth and passed to the older man, and she surreptitiously added some painkillers from her pack into the water. The old man might appreciate it later, but it would be better if she didn't tell him. Medics in general kept people from dying on the battlefield. They were not as good at fixing internal bleeding and plasma burns. Her training had included a crash course on radiation and plasma damage, not a full training on how to perform long term healing. "Here."

"Hm." He grunted, drinking the water. "Thanks for the painkillers. Damn whitecoats, all of you." He started walking forward, using his gun as a crutch. The barrel was alright, but the acid had ruined the handle. The stock was being used to walk on. She smirked, as he handed back the empty canteen. The little queen immediately took it, as if it didn't remember that it had emptied it a moment ago.

It's sad warbles echoed in the empty canteen when it realized that. "Come on." They walked for a few minutes, the cylinders becoming more oppressive and empty looking. Some of these didn't even look like they had ever been accessed. Haptic screens were never installed on them. "I think we're going the wrong way."

"See what I mean?" Pressley muttered. "Salarians make concentric spirals, and the Asari make triangles. Neither of them like straight lines. I say we keep moving through here…" He stopped talking, as they came upon a massive chasm. "Damn."

Elizabeth sighed, seeing no bridges across the gap. "Left or right?"

"When lost and in the dark, always pick the right." Pressley muttered. "At least there is a walkway." Together they limped down it, finding the walkway to be at least more comforting than the endless data archives. It all came to an end when the walkway ended and the chasm ended with it. The bridge that was supposed to be here was gone. "Hah." He put the gun down, wincing as he put weight on his leg. "Rachni have been here. Burnt out the haptic interface. Unfortunately for them, I grew up without that." He buried his arms into the interface, pulling on sections of metal and Prothean doohickies. The bridge lit up, reassembling and coming together. Picking up his gun again, he went across.

"Thank you!" She said, skipping along behind him. "We're only a kilometer away now."

One kilometer ended up being almost four, with how many twists and turns they had to take. She was getting exhausted by that time, the little queen digging into her bony ass too much. There was even some kind of organic looking lights as they got closer, and Elizabeth sighed in glorious relief. Pressley grabbed her shoulder, holding up a finger. He inched forward, his bad leg breaking open again as he crouched down to look around a corner. He carefully inched back after a few moments.

"They're already here." He whispered, touching his visor to hers so they could use comms. "They have the elevator." He motioned to the right. "Come on." Even exhausted, she made a good pace with the old man, keeping away from the lobby. She caught a glimpse of it as she went by. There was blood everywhere. She even saw one of the Salarians being pulled apart between two Rachni warriors. Green blood spilled, and she tried not to picture Maelon there.

"Where do we go now?"

"I don't know! This level doesn't connect to any exterior ports! We've got to go somewhere!" He glanced at the ceiling. "Think this connects to the Alliance Embassy?"

"That's where I came from."

"Damn. Knew I was getting close."

"Any other places on the Presidium that you can think of?"

"C-sec." Pressley muttered. "The big tower."

"My geo-locator says that we are closer to the tower. Let's try that way."

She started wheezing, and the little queen warbled in alarm, never having heard that before. Her claws gripped so tightly she coughed, sliding to a stop and leaning against a data archive for support. "Woah! Hey! Stop it, handsy! It's okay, I'm fine!" The queen calmed down, and loosened her grip.

"How does it understand you so well?" Pressley asked, taking the moment to catch his own breath.

"Oh! Well, when she woke up from her egg she sort of needed a mental imprint. She grasped onto me and took my memories and understanding, so she could understand who she was. Dr. Seraei always said that the Rachni communicate mostly by biotic imprinting. I was the first one she came in contact with, and so she has a few of my mannerisms and ideas."

"So it's a medic-Rachni. Swell." Pressley said. "Ready to keep moving?"

"Yeah." She accepted his help in standing. "Hey, that doesn't look normal." In the distance, she could see lights that were thicker and brighter than the normal ambient lighting on each of the giant cylinder shaped archives. Pressley made to stand up, but she held up her hand. "I got this." This was the kind of thing she was meant for. She cloaked, the system fully charged and giving her plenty of time.

Ahead almost a hundred feet she saw a data archive that had been exposed and taken apart. Lights had been setup to display the interior, and she could see a pair of feet extending from the innards of the device. The boots seemed bland if anything, and data pads were scattered all over the place. A heavy pistol was lying down near one of the boots, as well as a wrench leaning against the other. Elizabeth unceremoniously kicked this person's foot, bringing the pistol back with her heel.

There was a loud bang, and a howl of pain. She lost her cloaking field, and the Human male pulled himself from the data archive, wearing a set of utility gear and no helmet. A gigantic purple bruise was already forming on his forehead, and the glare he was giving her threatened violence. "What the hell do you want?"

"You have a map with the known exits." She said carefully, watching as his eyes centered on the Rachni huggling into her chest. "Give me a copy."

"Just go back to the lobby and take the elevator." He responded, glancing at his heavy pistol outside of his reach. "You guys look like a pile of crazy."

He looked more uncomfortable when the old man caught up. "Charles Archer." He grunted, almost gleefully. "Bounty on your head is pretty high."

"Charles Pressley." Archer replied. "You do realize that part of what I do for Jack is to keep you guys alive?"

"Not that I haven't appreciated that, but it's the _why_ your employer has ordered that the Alliance has called for your arrest. Fortunately, I am a crotchety old man. Crucible has a reputation of causing lots of harm and unrest. Give me eight reasons why I shouldn't blow your head off."

"Eight?! Give me a break! I can give you five."

"Start talking, Chuck."

"One, I was the one who got all of your team off Astaria, and cleaned the Asari detection nets of any sign of your presence. _Both_ times. Two, we saved your asses on Suen. Three, we built the _Normandy_ for you guys. Four, Crucible was responsible for the Corsair program getting off the ground. Five," Pressley interrupted him with a boot kick.

"The Corsair program started before you were born. Bad answer."

"You guys are running from the Rachni, right?" Archer said carefully, not wanting to get kicked again. "Howabout I walk you right out of here. Out the way I came in."

"What's to say you don't have a few mercenaries waiting for you there." Elizabeth said. "What kind of backup plans do you have?"

"That I would freely admit to? One, but only if you really think you can talk your way through this. Customs has a backdoor service elevator that cuts through one of the archive layers, but getting the elevator to actually stop sets off an alarm that you're going to have to convince them it was false, as well as being prepared for the C-sec goons on the other side that don't want their smuggling operation exposed."

"Sounds fine to me." Pressley stated. "Map, please, and then you're coming with us."

"Well, you see, that's a bit impossible right now. If I don't fix this data archive, then the Rachni will continue to be ignored by the Citadel's internal sensors. If I can help C-sec find their queen, no offence little fella, then this infestation of Rachni can be beaten." Charles explained, cricking his neck.

"What is this data archive dedicated to?" Pressley asked, glancing at the Asari script.

"Almost all of the internal systems are managed through here. I'm surprised the Asari put in this backdoor, but hey, gotta stay on top somehow. They can vent the Presidium from here if they really wanted to. One of their early backup plans from when they settled this place with the Salarians, just in case they went to war with them. If I can just change it from 'kill everybody else' to 'kill Rachni', then everybody should have an easier time."

"I have a hard time believing you." Pressley retorted. "Start walking."

"Let me close it up, at least. You know, boy scout thing where you leave no marks."

"Leave no trace." Pressley corrected him. "Close it."

That process took a few minutes, during which she sat down on top of the light fixtures he had set up. Elizabeth had to use one hand to keep the queen from sticking her feelers into the electrical ports. The other kept the newly acquired heavy pistol on the squirmy man. The lights were turned off, leaving only the light of Omni-tools to show the way. The data archive slid shut with a click, though she was certain that Charles Archer was looking worried. Something bothered her about this, but she was too tired to think about trying to interrogate this guy when Rachni could be catching up with them.

His mobile lights folded down into leather covered briefcases, with the name of some maintenance company on the side. It was the kind of object that customs would just let right through. Nothing about any of his gear was threatening or attention grabbing, unlike her own duffel bag with every souvenir from Citadel space coming out of the seams. Most of the more colorful bits were from the Asari stores, and she hid those in her medical supplies. They hardly weighed anything, as Archer displayed by carrying all of his gear out and away. He walked quickly for a technician type.

"Right up here, people." Archer said. "We made a hole here." A section of the wall had been ripped right open, between two of the unmarked cylinders. A set of black drapes had been laid seamlessly across the hole, covering the damage. "We go through that and it'll put us in one of the access points to Customs and Registration. Their impound lot, to be precise." He set his lights down, and started undoing some kind of snaps that were on the drapes. "It gets a little bit disorganized in there, so stay close."

"How big is the impound lot there?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. I just followed my map." Archer said. "But I'm not the one in control of the bomb on the other side of this."

Pressley grunted unhappily. "How large of a bomb."

"I wired it up to the drive core of a Volus freighter that's impounded on the other side. It should cover any signs of my being here."

"Isn't that a bit much?" Elizabeth asked him. "I mean, not to be a downer, but that is the kind of thing that gets thousands of people killed."

"Yeah. I just need to tell Isa to stand down." Archer said, motioning to his wrist. "That alright?"

"Nope." Pressley said. "How many mercenaries are on the other side?"

"Well." Archer said to himself. "As many as Isa thinks is necessary."

Archer's Omni-tool glowed. " _Isa has plenty!_ " Small globes rolled from behind the screen, and Elizabeth didn't have the chance to roll. She only could turn her body, shielding the queen from whatever this was. She saw her entire body shadowed by Pressley, who wrapped his arms around both of them and braced. The entire world exploded into a flash of light. The queen shrieked, and even with her eyes closed lines of bright red exploded across her perception.

"Archer!" Pressley roared, and Elizabeth dared to open her eyes. She just saw endless white, but red lines overlaid the view. They focused, becoming a rough circle with small points at the top and bottom like a targeting reticle. The object in it was a Human, with a green Human shape in between the target and herself.

"Thanks little thing!" Elizabeth said, pulling out the heavy pistol and letting fly. Her Rachni assisted vision didn't show where her gun was aimed, but the queen could understand her intentions easy enough. Small flashes showed up where her shots went, and she dragged them closer to the bastard. She was sure that she had hit him. He flinched, and then he was behind the drapes and the little queen couldn't see anymore.

"I'm gonna string your corpse from the embassy!" Pressley roared, running forward and tearing open the drape. "Oof!" The green humanoid went catapulting back, right at her. She rolled, but the bigger man took out her legs. She collapsed on top of him, and the queen was pressed between them. She squealed, and the vision that Elizabeth had been granted faded away to nothing.

* * *

Council Chambers, Widow Nebula, January 2183

"Presenting The Prothean Emissary and self-proclaimed Herald, Ish'Stho'Lhas." Councillor Tevos had experienced many days better than this one. In her several centuries in politics, never had a time been more tenuous than this one. The Rachni were pushing them on all fronts, and the Turians couldn't win on the ground. The Asari didn't have the numbers or the training to be able to take them on. The Salarians weren't at the forefront of anything, but they were doing the only offensive actions any of them could afford. Most of those missions and the ships assigned to them were so far out in deep space that unless the Council sent reinforcements they wouldn't be coming back.

Most of those deep space recon ships were doomed to die even before they left the dock, and so they were crewed by the very young and the very old. All male crews, no one of consequence needed to be sacrificed or sent on a one way mission. The Salarian standard of warfare was sacrificial and suicidal, and she didn't want to think about all the good people they were sending to die. All of the mothballed ships that came out of their recycling plants just to be thrown at the empty depths of space.

Valern didn't care about them. His Dalatrass was one of the most militaristic, and was throwing away his brothers and nephews by the hundred. Being the closest relative to the Councillor, they supported their policies the closest. They had just finished a meeting where the Salarians had discussed sending a third wave of mothballed ships towards the Terminus, following up on the findings of their many Spectres. It was desperate. The Rachni had stopped using relays, and some of the ships they were sending were hundreds of years old. The Rachni had not forgotten their losses at Suen, evidently. Two thousand years of time and breeding had turned them into nightmares, even more dangerous than before.

This time the Krogan could not save them. They didn't have a target relay to blockade. The Turians couldn't patrol thousands of light years of space and expect to be able to intercept the powerful ships. Valern himself speculated in their last meeting that there could be a few centuries of Rachni ships following behind this vanguard. Her heart fluttered at the thought. Centuries of her people fighting and dying, and her worlds weren't being targeted. Worse, it was elements of the Clanless working together with the Rachni to move them deeper into Citadel Space. It was how Queens got onto Galatana, Asteria, and Goddess knew where else.

"The Council recognizes the Emissary." She said carefully, dreading this meeting. This 'Herald' had been pushing to meet with them for a day. He had petitioned each of them independently to meet with him, at the Consort's chambers. As one, they had refused. They were representatives, and as such they could only act in the interest of their species. Or so many believed. Tevos herself has a sordid past, one that was buried deep. It was why the Matriarchs chose her, after all. At any time they could reveal all of her mistakes and sink her beneath a mountain of scandals. She was the perfect kind of Councillor. The Thirty never reminded her about it. They didn't have to. "Please approach the podium."

Ish'Stho'Lhas was thin, to the point of looking like a victim of starvation if he were an Asari. His arms were lacking muscle to the point of concern, and she could see the shape of his joints. It drew the eyes away from his head and his translucent robes. His feet were encased in soft soled boots that wrapped around his oddly bound feet.

"What is the purpose of this meeting?" Volorium demanded. A hard-liner from the Turian government, Volorium was a lawkeeper. One of their lawyers who had spent his entire life fighting to keep the Turian culture alive. His drive to represent his people was bright, hopeful, and defensive of anything that threatened them. Again, a perfect choice of representative. Experience, a life lived on the homeworld of Palaven. He didn't like anything that went against the traditions and thousands of years of established progress.

"I have come to return this place to its original form. This Council is a shadow of the power that the Protheans you so honor used to wield. You all pay them homage, were uplifted by them, and yet when we finally return to the Citadel, you refuse my offers." Ish'Stho'Lhas said. "It is for this cause I have returned. Fifty thousand years ago, this chamber was the center of our Empire. The crowning achievement of our glory. The throne of our divine leaders rested where your unworthy feet now stand."

"This Council represents trillions of lives, Emissary." Volorium responded. "We will hear your words, but do not expect us to be able to come to any form of decision with more pressing needs holding our attention and the attention of those we represent." Tevos almost smirked. It was as much a slap in the face that the Turian could state.

"More importantly, you have offered no information as to the location and number of Protheans that remain. If you represent your kind, we will need more proof to validate your position. As such, this meeting is only to demonstrate our willingness to entertain your considerations. Nothing official can or will be done until we have more information regarding the surviving members of your race."

Until the STG could evaluate their defenses, find out their strengths and weaknesses. Valern didn't have more than four or five years before he would be replaced. Less if his Dalatrass failed to prove a responsible leader against the Rachni.

"Even the Hanar have been skeptical regarding your claims, and they revere you as Gods." Tevos said herself. She had no opinion of the Prothean himself. He only brought trouble in a time where no trouble was wanted. They already had enough with the collapsing Batarian Hegemony factions and the Humans. "By coming before this body you are invited to share those details, Emissary."

"Like you, I represent the voices of many. Unlike your useless partisan governments we act according to the needs of our betters. The few represent the voices of the many by force, controlling their wants and desires by making larger decisions for them. Power is centralized to the most honorable and capable, so that the lesser voices cannot overcome those that speak justly." Ish'Stho'Lhas said imperiously. His voice was grating, almost like he had something stuck in the back of his throat. "Those that ordered me here did not give me permission to share anything more than the wisdom that shall save you."

"Your _wisdom_ is causing riots in the Presidium." Tevos noted. "It is said that you even claim to be able to perform miracles. These claims and troubles must stop. Wisdom is but dust if it is used for the wrong purposes."

"The teachings of your Athame do not compare to my wisdom." He replied. "My leader has given me a few gifts to negotiate with. The first being the gift of knowledge. To be able to understand why we left the Citadel, and our long absence. Secondly, our old servants must be controlled. The Rachni can be tamed, guided, and controlled through the use of Prothean techniques. This gift, I was told to give you as proof that we are serious." The Prothean breathed, and through the translucent robes she could see the skin suck in closer to the exposed ribs.

"Can this be performed by any biotic? Or replicated through technology?" Valern asked. His people were not gifted with many biotics. He would benefit the least from this.

"It can be." The Emissary replied. "But understand that I would only share it with your peoples with the understanding that your Empires will give up their claims. The Protheans are returning to this galaxy, and we shall control our great Empire across the stars once again. This Council and all those on this station live by our hand. This place and all of its systems belong to the Prothean Empire. I am its Herald, and your continued presence in this chamber, and your semblance of authority, they are an anathema. It shall not stand. I _give_ you the techniques to defeat our old servants, the Rachni. But make no mistake. This Citadel belongs to us. We will return to it, and rule over it and all of your simplistic civilizations again."

Tevos actively frowned. "You may return to the Consort's chambers, Emissary. We will not need your techniques or your _wisdom_."

The Prothean retreated, and the Council stepped back into their private meeting rooms. Valern was lost in thought, eyes closed but not needing them to tread the familiar path. "Audacious."

"It's a disgrace!" Volorium rumbled. "Whether or not he can save us from the Rachni, he represents potentially a worse threat. Spirits."

"The Rachni were formed according to their will. I do not like the connotations, but is it possible that the Rachni are still serving the Protheans?" Tevos considered aloud. "We don't have enough information."

"Perhaps you should have a priestess of Athame visit this Herald. See what his mind holds." Valern said. "They are famous for being able to divine details and learn wisdom." He wanted her to send an Ardat Yak'shi in. She shivered. Volorium was not aware of them, or if he was he didn't concern himself with it.

"Sha'ira would recognize them. He recognized some of the guidance of Athame when I quoted it. He, too, may see them coming."

"The Hierarchy cannot prepare itself for both the Rachni _and_ the Protheans. Even if they may be one and the same, our military forces cannot match another front of this war." Volorium was humming in consideration. "Valern, what have your people decided?"

"Would have told you if Dalatrasses had made any kind of decision." Valern piped up. "Your idea to uplift Vorcha is being reviewed."

"What of the Yagh?" Tevos asked, the name itself making her mouth taste like bile.

"Controlling them would be too difficult. Tribal society, even with the threat of orbital bombardment. We traded them technology for the offer to fight for us. They refused, claiming that we ourselves were just food to be consumed." Valern said, not at all uncomfortable with losing another diplomatic team. "STG believes that they will be a threat to the entire Terminus and far reaches of Asari space within 250 years."

"We need something. Something more to combat our increasing enemies." The Turian muttered. "Rachni, Krogan, the Terminus, and now _Protheans_. The Hierarchy won't know what to do."

"The Thirty believe that we can move into full mobilization within twenty five years." Tevos said. It was a conservative estimate. "Forty years more than likely."

"So, an entire generation of my people have to die before yours even enter the fight." Volorium spat. "Three, in Valern's case."

"It is not ideal, I understand." She replied sadly. "But at this moment we employ so few in our shipyards and militaries that teaching those that would follow would take decades. We can muster the ships and the weapons, but personnel will always remain a shortage for my people."

"The Humans are performing well." Valern said, pulling the subject away from the Asari. "Adapting to Rachni, able to fight underground better than Turian legions. Traded their Spectre candidates for more grants of territory and debt relief."

"It's beyond us, now. The Humans will continue to be our shield against the Rachni. If they fall, or the Batarians, then they will buy us time. Valern, how much time?"

"Eight years if attacks scale at the rate projected before the Human capital of Arcturus is lost. Five before outlying colonies separate and look for other protectors. Debt, food riots, and shortage of wages will drive Human colonies outside of Arcturus and Terra Nova to us. Even if the Humans survive, their economy and political structure will be crippled. We predict a total loss of their government within a century, with the Salarian Union taking much of their territory and infrastructure. Citizenship offered in full, of course."

She didn't like it at all. "They will bleed for us, and buy us enough time to survive whatever comes. What of Ish'Stho'Lhas?"

"What about him?" Volorium muttered. "I say let the Hanar out. Watching them swarm was the most entertaining bit of news in the last month."

"Difficult. All of the Hanar registered under the same face-name, and C-sec cannot distinguish one from another. Due to poor planning, we had to store the Hanar in C-sec swimming pool. Highly entertaining, it is true. Irregular that the Hanar would refuse to believe a Prothean." He tapped his wrist. "But this is not the first Prothean sighted. There are others, and we were finally able to confirm this." Pictures and vids from all over Council Space appeared, showing images of a creature in armor that seemed out of place or too triangular. The last vid was dated for the last two days, on the Human world of Shanxi. "Listen to this."

" _Javik._ " This word was repeated throughout many of the feeds. " _Avatar_." This one was repeated not just by the creature, but by the Hanar in the Presidium. " _Harper._ " This was the same creature that released Jack Harper from his cell on the Human Dreadnought.

"Is it the same race?" Volorium asked. "He seems too muscled to be the same race as the Emissary."

"Have confirmed with STG. Captured blood sample from Shanxi. Quad strand DNA, only race known to have such are the Protheans." Valern said. "Elements of the STG were not the first to make this connection. Serrice University Research division already found and correlated. Claim that this is somehow related to Harper's attempts to get into the High Temple of Athame."

"The Thirty feel very threatened. They want to send a message to Harper. His wedding is happening today. His child has been ordered to Friess Station, and Spectre Vakarian mentioned that both of the Harper daughters are onboard the _Normandy_."

"We should give them special dispensation to land their ship at Friess." Valern noted. "Remove this entire family with the least amount of mistakes. The Humans will react unfavorably, but we won't be blamed for it."

"I agree. Purge the entire ship and crew if necessary." Volorium muttered. "We can't reproduce this ship without the Quarians, anyways. The STG still haven't been able to find out all of the quirks."

"Then give them the ship." Tevos said. "The Humans can complain all they wish, but the STG represent our arm as much as the Spectres do. Make the preparations. Prepare Friess Station to receive them, and assign as many troops as you dare to take that ship." She represented the Thirty. Harper's spawn must never be recognized as a Spectre, or else she would lose her head. Tevos' own life was on the line. She had to make the decision that reflected her own survival. Today, that reflected her people, too. "Our decision is unanimous."

* * *

Friess Station, Sanves System, January 2183

Garrus was very concerned. Julia hadn't said a word to him in the last hour. As soon as they had arrived in the Sanves System, the local authority had ordered their craft to park at Friess. It set him on edge. The three hours it took to cruise to the edge of the system had most of the crew unhappy. They had shore leave the last time they were in this system, and now they were being invited to dock at the most secure location in Council Space. Unless the STG had some kind of black ops planet somewhere. He didn't know but the rumors and conspiracies existed. Solana had gotten after him as a child for bugging his father for details on these 'great' galactic mysteries.

Right now he felt like he was in the middle of one of those. Not in the good way, either. Most of his time as a Spectre had been 'go into this system, kill this target' kind of thing. A few times it had been investigation and recon, but they had been few and far between. Desolous was one of the people they pushed into the recon missions. The old man could and did repaint his scales whenever he felt the need, and he didn't feel as though he was betraying his honor. He didn't have any children or inheritors to look after his estate, or receive all of his debt.

Right now he felt like they were walking into a trap. Friess Station had never felt welcoming, with the Asari curvature and Volus designed defenses, but it was familiar. With its nonreflective surface the station usually snuck up on you. Desolous always said that he could barely tell what the shape of the structure was. Garrus himself couldn't see the edges as they approached. He had been allowed to join the bridge crew for the approach, as his credentials were needed to gain access. He could have just given the credentials from his seat in the hangar bay, but he bargained just to be able to get the view.

"We are on approach, please transmit your codes." Joker said respectfully. Ever since the Human pilot had worked with him to retake the bridge, Garrus and Joker had found a new level of respect. Garrus couldn't focus enough past whatever pain-weapon was used on all of them. Joker somehow did, and singlehandedly captured the enemy pilot. After that, Garrus didn't patronize the Human. Some of the crew were little better than pyjaks, he could admit. But Joker had spent much of the last day getting bandages changed and bones treated in between the time he spent on the pilot's seat. His work ethic was impressive.

Garrus complied with the code exchange, and ahead of them three small lights activated, highlighting a docking arm. The lights were not bright enough to show the station itself, only the arm that extended from it. "Looks like we have landing coordinates."

" _Commander, I don't think we want to connect to that station. We are still repairing the port airlock from our boarding action. The forward airlock is covered in grease and oil, and I haven't had the time to check on it. Sorry, but the airlock isn't prepared for us to dock._ " Tali reported. " _We did replace the shuttle at the Citadel, though. You can board in that._ "

"Sounds fine." Julia stated. She was withdrawn today. "Garrus, Halmabad, with me."

"The invitation was just to you, Ma'am. It's clear that they don't want anyone other than you and Garrus aboard." Kalin'ren stated. "Their operator is as crass as I am, but she still refuses to agree to anyone else coming. Even a pilot."

Julia nodded. "Let's go, then." The shuttle was empty with just the two of them. Julia still didn't address him, her gaze centered on the interfaces.

"If anything happens," Garrus started saying, trailing off.

"You're a friend." She said. "No matter what happens, you've got my back."

"Yeah." He said. "Just try not to say anything explosive. Matriarch Marsula _is_ over nine hundred, after all."

She didn't laugh. She just smiled wanly, and didn't meet his eyes. When they docked, she slid out of her seat and didn't glance at him as she stepped by. She was wearing a catsuit, along with the officer's jacket. It was less threatening than her Pheonix armor type. She was going in with just her knife, as well. Her pistol wasn't on her hip, and she overall looked peaceful. He himself was carrying a single pistol and a utility tool.

The docking arm was of course, beautifully decorated on the inside. Asari curving script ran across the sweeping decor, kindly inviting them to step through the docking arm. Nothing glowed, and the thin windows were angled to keep the minimal lighting from being reflected back into space. Their steps were soundless, as only the Asari would put insulated rugs in their docking arms.

A single security guard waited for them, and took them through the several security stations. At one they were even frisked and scanned with enough gamma radiation it made his plates rattle. Julia said nothing at all of this, enduring each security check without concern. When they reached the meeting room that Garrus knew so well, their guard took them further than that. They were walked to a chamber that they had never been to before. Garrus himself had only been allowed into certain areas of the station.

"What is this place?" Garrus asked.

"The Astrology room." Their guide said. "The Matriarch is waiting for you there." The doors cycled open, and a gigantic sphere of a room was revealed, with glass-like material stretching into the open space of the interior. He couldn't tell what the shape of the material's construction was, as light passed through it freely. A few figures were near some haptic interfaces, four of them being Asari.

Two were Salarians. They were manipulating the interfaces, with lines of code flying in front of them. "Spectre Vakarian!" Matriarch Marsula, sitting in a cushioned chair, called. "Welcome to the war room." She held up her hand, pressing a button and letting the lights in the room reconfigure, shifting into new constellations and configurations.

"Now showing Suen from same relative time period." One of the Salarian techs mentioned. "Still no angle on Alliance Space. Attican Traverse not scouted fully."

"What is going on?" He asked politely. "It looks far too decorative for a normal war room."

"This room uses different lights and gradients to mimic the view of planets, sunsets, vistas, and planetary constellations. Paired with an advanced planning and plotting VI, we can use this room to test different theories and see if the Rachni had planned this offensive hundreds of years ago or if it was a new development." Marsula sighed. "Unfortunately, it leaves more questions than answers. But that is neither here nor there. We welcome both of you back to Friess Station."

"Always pleased to be here." Garrus replied quickly. "I would have thought Desolous would have come."

"Desolous has been dealing with some pressing challenges on Illium. Some of the Council believe that there are efforts to destabilize the region centered on Illium. A non-Asari Spectre was considered to be a better decision for recon." Marsula said summarily. "We concluded that his deviant tastes would keep him satisfied there, and perhaps he would actually go through with the mission." Garrus tried not to snicker. Desolous didn't like working, now that he was old. He had campaigned and fought and proven himself quite capable. Matriarch Marsula could only suggest missions to a Turian General, after all.

"Good luck getting him back in time for anything important." Garrus muttered. "Though he might actually go through the mission."

"Let's hope so." Marsula said. "We're concerned that Asari are being convinced to help the Rachni in some form. Desolous is one of the better agents to find out how they are being seduced to do so." She waved her arms, and two of the Asari bowed and left, leaving them along with the Salarians. "But that is not why I asked you to come here. It is my pleasure to introduce a dear friend of mine. Many call her Matriarch, but I just call her Yeva."

One of the three remaining Asari stepped forward, lines of age going across her face. She looked almost like an old woman, her skin stretched around the edges of her chin and the nose. "My name is Yeva Onumaiepe'a. Matriarch of Serrice." Garrus felt his scales twitch. His mandibles were so tight against his skin that he could feel them pushing against his bones. Matriarch Tonumaiepe'a was one of the Thirty. One of the most powerful members of the Thirty. The Turian translation was Water-Death-Spirit-Seer. Her family had been important for the last two thousand years, and perhaps more beyond that. They _owned_ the Temple of Athame's surrounding grounds. "I am sorry to have troubled you. I had some questions that needed answering. More importantly, if they are answered I can fulfill a decision made by the Council. A conditional one."

"Ask your questions." Julia said, stepping forward. "I assume this is about some of the crimes my family is associated with?"

"No." The Matriarch said seriously. "I only wished to know what Tela Vasir said to you when she bonded with you. In your mission report you stated that she was killed during the mission. One of the after action reports that the Alliance deigned to share with us was a report that some form of biotics were used prior to her death. A small meld is all that I request before we approach deeper matters."

"Many Alliance secrets exist in my mind." Julia reminded her. "My government doesn't allow anyone with a certain level of security clearance to enter melds with Asari."

"Regardless, I request it." Matriarch Tonumaiepe'a stated. "It would please me to know of Tela's last moments. A light meld will only search for surface thoughts, barely a brush upon the consciousness. Bring the last experiences of Tela to the forefront of your thoughts, and I will simply brush across them."

"Would you care to explain the difference between a light meld and the melds that people are afraid of?" Julia asked.

"A lighter meld simply involved the touching of hands, and rarely can delve deeply enough to see subconscious thoughts. Touching the face, or the back, is required for anything deeper."

"Is that the practice or the rule?" Julia asked carefully. "Because I am aware that the exceptions to that exist."

"As a Matriarch, I have sufficient control to keep myself from digging any deeper into someone's mind than I need to. Nine hundred years of practice and restraint should be proof enough of my intentions. As well as witnesses if you believe you were wronged in any way." She motioned to the two Asari commandos that stood by her side. Marsula also nodded her head. "Once my curiosity has been fulfilled, or rather if you wish to hear it now, I will relay the wishes of the Council."

"If it helps, I would prefer to hear what the Council has decided first." Julia said. "Business before pleasure, as we Humans say."

"The Council, by favor of a two-to-one vote, has decided to entertain the idea of you and you alone partaking in the Spectre trials and training. You'll spend a few months here familiarizing yourself with Council Law and Spectre protocols, and becoming familiar with all of the different goals the Council sets before us." Marsula said. "We would have preferred at least eight months, but the Rachni are only going to give us three. Hardly enough for a new race's Spectre."

"A Spectre must be a unanimous vote, though." Garrus said, feeling uncomfortable. "Majority vote has never been allowed." Had the Rachni pushed the Council this far?

"The Thirty have been undecided as to this vote for some time." Matriarch Tonumaiepe'a said softly. "I can promise to break this lull in voting and gain you the last thing you need to become your race's first Spectre."

"In exchange for my memories of Tela, I assume."

"The Thirty are available to meet at any time. Serrice maintains a public forum that allows constant discussion to occur between each of the many clans. As such, our votes are made public, and our opinions regarding any subject may be swayed at any time. My words are known, but may change as I am convinced. With all that you have done, many Turians and Dalatrasses believe you would be a fine Spectre. The Asari, in general, feel that you lack certain graces."

"This is blackmail." Julia noted. "But if you want to know about Tela, I'll add my own price. You want to know about her, I need to know about something else." She turned back to Garrus, considering. "You might want to step outside the room, Vakarian. This isn't a question you should be privy to."

"As your mentor, he should stay." Marsula said with a hint of harshness. "Among Spectres, state secrets are their own form of currency. It helps when the Council asks something of us that we cannot give."

"Fine." Julia shrugged. "I want to know why your race was engineered from its original form one hundred thousand years ago. The Alliance has wondered about this for a long time. Considering what our beacon told us about genetic engineering, I wanted to know what you do on the matter."

Matriarch Tonumaiepe'a was smirking, laughing even. "I thought you would ask something more relevant!" She cackled. "Conspiracy theories about our origins! Nothing about these Reapers you seem so besotted about?"

Julia held out her hand. "It's my price."

Matriarch Tonumaiepe'a placed her hands gently within Julia's her face slipping into a gentle smile. "The Goddess gave unto the Asari the gift of touch. This touch, this melding, allows us to see every connecting spirit in the wider universe, and as the Asari have evolved we have only become more sensitive to those spirits. All are one, and one is connected to all. The actions of a single person imperceptibly effect the cosmic balance. When one star brightens, another dims. Show me the last words of Tela Vasir, Constantine." Her eyes turned black, the skin around the eyelids tightening as she entered the light meld. "Wait. You're not Constantine. You're-"

* * *

High Fane of Karn'Zul, Kar'Shan, January 2183

"Hannah Shepard!" Haego roared, presenting her to the crowd. "She who has left a scar upon my divine form!" The shadows cast by the trees were disrupted by shimmers in the air, kinetic barriers draped between the treetops and the party goers. The trees themselves had thick red sap, the same color as Batarian blood. It would drip from special grooves carved into the wood, and then stored and allowed to ferment. Blood wine came from these trees, and Haego's family owned a truly massive grove of trees. Much of their centuries of wealth came from this grove.

It also made a perfect place for a wedding. Batarian weddings were large, a cause for celebration between families. The Batarian word for celebration was also equated with blood sport, and there were some small fights starting between guests. Nothing lethal, but any party with Batarians included a little bit of fist fighting and insult throwing. It was all considered part of the fun. Unless you were a priest. They were obligated to judge the proceedings.

"She is uncontested, and there are few who dare try their hand against her!" Haego stated, the crowd around him quieting. Thankfully there were enough priests present at this activity that each of the fights had at least two or three priests in session. "She is a worthy bride to be stolen and removed to a new household! This very morning I caught them bandying about in my pantry!" Most of the priests laughed. "Jack Harper is quite the impressive male, to guarantee his success in taking her by arranging to have her parents murdered! Truly something to be feared, if a man is willing to go that far."

Hannah had turned a new shade of red, and Harper actually looked ashamed. "As the presiding Warpriest, it is my honor and duty to embarrass and bring to light every mistake and failure that has filled the life of Jack Harper!" He chuckled, considering how to do this. "If we were to do that and do it justice, we wouldn't finish for at least two days. What little I _shall_ say is that Harper has survived more assassination attempts than I have. His own mother is more of a threat than those who survived said attempts."

Haego ducked as a plate was thrown from the audience and sailed over him. "Piece of Shit!" Said mother yelled.

Haego grinned. "I would remind my guests and the honored couple that if the presiding priest is attacked I have the right to murder every single one of you." He let his eyes wander across the many guests. "Which I shall do with as much prejudice as I can spare. My sons and their wives will have the same right. Attack us at your own peril. Now, this ceremony is largely a tradition instead of a requirement. After Batar himself was reborn and ascended to the position of Hegemon, the caste system has been done away with.

"This ceremony was originally established to celebrate the joining of two families, of the chance to see the many souls seeking their proper birth to reincarnate. Each family was to be reminded of its sacred duty to procreate, to reincarnate each soul that was possible to raise, and, if necessary, exchange their children to a proper host to advance the soul thus into the next caste. The original purpose of this ceremony is now heresy, as described and judged by Batar reborn! As such this ceremony is now a cultural tradition, the purpose only to unite two souls seeking to enjoy the new age of Enlightenment under our glorious leadership!"

Any mention of the Hegemon was to be met with applause and foot stamping. Some of that in the past had been half-hearted, or faked. Haego had one of his men flogged for not being enthusiastic enough after a mention of the Hegemon. Another was drowned and then electrocuted for _not_ applauding. With those kinds of rumors spreading, Haego accepted nothing less than wide eyed adoration for the words of the Hegemon. All of his servants were very loud with their feet and hands.

Of course, Jack Harper clapped along with them. He knew that the man had killed millions. Haego didn't hold it against him. He himself had ordered the deaths of thousands. The law and the prophetic words of his Hegemon were not going to be denied. "Now! You all came to see a mating ritual! Proof that indeed Harper has taken his woman!" All Batarians of good standing were supposed to witness their fellows taking their intended woman. Haego witnessed it, and grinned as he posted the image of the Human couple having a rendezvous in his pantry. Pants down and unamused, Jack appeared calm and collected in the picture. Hannah appeared as if she were about to snap profanity towards him. "Proof indeed was witnessed and published!" Social networks were in place across the Batarian Hegemony to allow young males to show off their conquests to their friends. Young females often would show off males with broken arms or noses on their social media to show off failed attempts to take their maidenhood. All of it considered traditional and appropriate for young Batarians.

"We all can see the picture, Haego. Please take it down." Hannah said loudly.

"Consider this from my perspective. As a priest I must hold you accountable. If there is a lack of proof regarding his claiming of you, then I'll have to throw you out. To explain to the rest of your ignorant minds how this ceremony works, traditionally the groom drags his woman to the altar and bribes the priest into binding their souls in the eyes of Rian, that their children may be born with a soul and not empty of life. Today, the threat of losing your caste is gone. Today, the simple task that this couple must achieve is that they must come to the altar to be bonded together as one combined force."

He held up his arms. "During this any who disagree may attempt to hinder the marriage. The only rule regarding this process is that both friends and family may assist the couple in their attempts to make it to the altar."

One Human sat in the front row, armor smartly gleaming. He had facial fur, sticking out from either side of his nose and somehow decorative. "In your experience, what's the worst that has happened?"

"We use kinetic barriers to keep the snipers down, after some horrid experiences." Haego replied smoothly. Two teams of their guests had deployed snipers somewhere nearby. He didn't care about that. That was not his job. "But I do believe one groom survived being strung up by his entrails. That happened in my youth, I believe. Personally, I enjoy a good maiming."

"I'll pass." Jack muttered. Both of his feet had been replaced by prosthetics. "Say when, Haego."

"All participants, please gather on either side of the path to the altar!" Haego roared. "Friends, family, you are allowed to carry weapons. _You_ , however, are not." One of Haego's sons disarmed the very eager mother of Harper. "Friends and family, you are expected to defend your groom. It is seventy steps to the altar. Let's see how many people bleed out before the end of the night." He held up his arm. " _Kreavah! Run!_ "

The only family that Jack Harper had wanted to kill Hannah. His friends probably wanted him dead. Heago didn't consider himself a friend or anything close to that. The entire crowd here were holding silverware and other forms of blunt weapons and ready to swarm him as he ran for the altar. So, Haego cackled as Jack Harper turned around and ran for the blood groves as fast as he could. _Away_ from the altar. Hannah disappeared immediately, cloaking. "That's cheating, priest!" Someone yelled from the crowd.

"Wrong!" Haego roared. "Considering this is a tradition of my people, the path to the altar is a metaphorical description. How they approach the altar is up to them, and the Warpriest is obligated to stay until someone is dead or hospitalized, or they make it to the altar." He tapped a heavy staff against it. "Hunt them down! Maim and find joyful sport in this occasion!" Haego said loudly, laughing and grinning as he saw the mob disperse into the groves of trees.

He waited, grinning as some of the Salarians tried to set up equipment meant to detect cloaked figures. That wouldn't help them, nor would the Asari and their vaunted biotic powers. Haego's wrist lit up with motion sensor alerts. "Boy!" He barked, his son glancing up at him. "Unwanted guests in sector four. Go ask them to please keep our traditions sacred. If they refuse, kill them according to the ancient rites." Sniper teams, more than likely.

A few people from each of the Citadel races remained, one of them being the Human from earlier. His facial hair stood out from his skin, which made Haego twitch. Batarians had no hair, and the presence of it next to a creature's olfactory glands was heinous. It was no wonder Humans were not scent hunters. "That sounds like gunfire." The Human remarked.

"So it does." Haego remarked.

"Didn't you say that firearms were prohibited on your property?"

"They are." Haego said, shrugging. "But so long as my family is not targeted I will avoid investigating them. My sons shall investigate at their leisure." He picked the laziest one to go out and see what was going on. "Not to mention I get to keep the wedding gifts he prepared for each of you."

"Something to bribe us with?" An Asari in flowing robes asked. Heago didn't bother learning their names. They were worthless in his opinion. "I would expect nothing less from Jack Harper."

"Ah." Haego said, chuckling. "I believe that he has Prothean Beacons for each of the governments associated with his guests. Each one is roughly fifteen feet tall and comes with a modern adaptor."

"What." The Salarians all stopped, one of their number coming up to Haego. His left horn was bent. "Working beacons?"

"I tested it myself. One is for the Batarian people, after all. I found the Prothean research files on my race. I believe that Harper has somehow included a translation protocol to convert Prothean language and code chunks to Human English." Haego shrugged as he saw the Asari wilt. "If you kill him, I get to keep all of the beacons personally, and sell them individually to any government or mercenary that I so choose. The Hegemon has agreed, so long as our beacon is delivered to him."

"You've confirmed that Harper has offered each of us Prothean Beacons?" The Salarian chattered. "Ramifications of this dangerous. You despise other races vehemently."

"I wouldn't sell something we deserve." Haego said. "Perhaps in a century, when my family has dispersed and inherited my beacons, will you have a chance to access them, much less take them from my people." The Asari stood up, clearly unhappy. "Let me be clear, lesser-born. The only way you could take these beacons is to pry them from my cold, dead hands. If you kill Harper, I will freely kill all of you so that my property can remain such. I even entertain the idea of killing Harper myself, just to guarantee this." He mused.

"You know that the Council would bring their fleets against you." The Human stated. "It would cause a war!"

"I don't care, Human. The Batarians are the only race that have fought their way into space without the aid of Prothean mechanisms. We demand equal chance to prove our dominance, to prove that our natural gifts of evolution are superior to your own. Given the same opportunity, the Batarians and not the Asari would have been the ones to take the Citadel first. Your Council would never exist. I will not concede something my people need so desperately."

"But you would be open to a new deal." The Human said. "One that benefits more than yourself."

Haego grinned. "What is your name, Human?"

"Horace Shepherd. Colonel in the Systems Alliance and N7. I've got orders to secure Harper and bring him back to the Alliance for trial. That doesn't mean that I'll kill him."

"Horace Shepherd." Haego sounded out. "Make your demand. If I am entertained and interested, I may consider a deal."

Horace took a moment to consider. "The Alliance would consider a full military alliance with the Batarian Hegemony. We would support any war or conflict that you would enter into, barring any Council races."

Haego _grinned_. "A good start. The Hegemon would approve. However, I demand a domicile. If your Alliance wants _me_ to come to the table, I need a colony of my own. Something that my descendants could inherit."

Shepherd narrowed his eyes. "We pick the colony."

"Objection, you little piss stains." Haego sneered, as Constance Smith approached. "Just in case the Warpriest agrees to kill me, I have a counter offer." Constance read off of her wrist. "Two colonies, both free of any government other than Crucible's security agreements."

Haego started laughing. "Harper is prepared to match you, I think. The wedding will still go on."

" _Warpriest Dvorak, there is another guest to the wedding._ " A voice emanated from his wrist. " _You won't believe this._ "

"Are they on the guest list?"

" _No, I dare say they are not your Eminence. But it is unprecedented. They claim to be Geth_."

Haego actually blinked. "Describe them to me."

" _Mechanical Quarian-looking thing. Grey, wearing some kind of… robe. I'm sending you a picture._ "

Haego just stared. It was a Geth, in the same design that their historical records showed. It was also wearing a dress. It was carrying some kind of metal plaque. "What in the name of Erash?"

" _Should I let it in, Warpriest?_ "

"I hesitate to refuse. The godless machines may take this as an insult." Gunfire erupted from different parts of the forest around him, making him worry for his trees. Some of that was heavier sounding rounds. His trees were not meant to take that kind of damage. "Ask if it is here to kill anyone."

" _It says no, Warpriest._ "

"Escort the machine. Make sure that it is not harmed by the other guests. Do not introduce it, as it may take offence at their very existence." This wedding was causing him grief. He didn't care about whatever Harper was planning. He benefitted, but only in the case of his death. This entire wedding party was about his ego, and Haego didn't care. He got a Prothean beacon out of the experience. "What are you doing?" He asked, seeing all of the Council race guests taking down their traps and equipment.

"The Council has decided to secure the beacons over the workings of a terrorist. After the wedding we capture and apprehend Harper. We will not stand in his way."

Haego sighed visibly. "No centuries of feuding and conflict. You truly are weak blooded races. No taste for true sport."

"Of course not. Killing is not something to be proud of." The weak Asari stated. "Murdering other intelligent beings is not the path to peace and cooperation."

" _That_ is a matter of opinion." Haego reminded her. "To us, blood being spilt is part of adulthood. Killing is expected and being known as an unblooded craven is the same as a graceless virgin in your culture. Harper at least understands that. His mother even jokes about trading him in for his bounty at times. Truly, a grand example of what a mother should be." Haego regretted his compliment, as seeing Constance smile was a disgusting sight. It may even haunt his dreams, and they usually hosted the creatures hidden in the Pillars of Strength. "If Harper ever showed any lack of conviction, his mother would kill him. Her harshness created an instrument of the Gods, and she shall be honored for it."

"Life is worth something." The Salarian said. "All life has value and should be preserved. Not for the sake of evolution or strength, but by virtue of its creation."

"Comments like that are the reason that I don't bother learning your name, lesser-born." He glanced up, seeing the Geth approaching. It was even more outstanding than its picture. A mech wearing a robe was just something that you had to see to believe. It's escort was seemingly apologizing to anyone that it approached, and failed to keep up with the synthetic being. "You! Approach the altar!"

The Geth approached. It didn't appear to be armed. "Warpriest-Dvorak."

"What do you call yourself."

The synthetic eye turned dark for a moment. "Geth." The Salarians listened closely, and the Turians laughed.

"Fine. Geth, what brings you here?"

"We were invited." The synthetic said. "By Christian-Harper."

"Christian?" Haego actually laughed. "Harper being religious would be some kind of miracle."

"It was a title he himself declared. He and his intended 'Christened' Rannoch." The Turians stopped laughing. "We have come to deliver gifts."

Haego sighed. "My ability to concern myself with non-religious matters has reached its limit. Leave your gift and begone." Things were so much easier when he could just kill someone and be done. Up ahead, he could see Harper approaching, his coat burnt. Ah, good. He could marry the crazy Human and end all of this madness. Yet, the idea to kill the man himself remained, as he married the bastard. "May your children inherit all of your gifts at survival. They will need it."

* * *

Friess Station, Sanves System, January 2183

Deck 17 held nothing of note. It was only accessible by a set of stairs, and those were hidden behind a bathroom. Julia, and not her weird doppelganger with brain surgery, had come looking for what was hidden down here. If the Thirty were really trying to kill her, there was never going to be a time where she would have access to this station again. She wasn't sure who she could trust at this point, not with Admiral White planning to clean up her crew and herself. The Asari wanted her dead, the Turians actually liked her, and the Salarians probably wanted her stealth technology.

The Alliance, well, she didn't know where she stood with them. Her direct chain of command was dead. Her commanding officer in the Navy, Hackett, was alive. She might be able to contact him and explain the situation. But that was still an unknown. She still believed that they were the right choice. Her loyalty was to Humanity. She supposed that if she ever became a Spectre that would change to the Council. It wasn't much of a stretch. She mulled on this as she explored the cavernous deck 17. Power and lights here were limited, and dedicated to endless security systems. This entire station was covered in them, and Julia had to move carefully.

The center of the deck was actually empty, and hundreds of cargo containers and old crates surrounded the empty area in the center. "Think like an Asari. If I were important, where would I be…" Julia muttered. "Too bad Miranda couldn't come. She would know." She would also trigger half of the alarms here. "Hello!" She saw the center of the giant chambers had motion sensors and servo rails. "It's underneath."

Difficult, but not impossible. There were controls along the walls to access it, and she started the long process of hacking it directly. The haptic screen became a triangle, all three sides of the data paradigm represented by different forms of encryption. It was a mixture of Turian, Salarian, and Asari code. The Turian broke quickly. The Salarian took longer, and the Asari at least ten minutes to make her way through. Around fifteen minutes, just for the door controls.

The vault, or at least that is what it looked like, rolled upwards and opened. Inside she could just see old vehicles, almost like a museum. Asari were emotionally attached to some things, she supposed. It looked like an old freighter, or air transport. Asari had never used combustion engines on their homeworld, as they had Element zero in large amounts everywhere they needed. Old ships like this on Earth would have jet fuel made from petroleum. Batarians and Turians used the same basic technology, though Salarians used other fuels.

She considered why a museum piece was inside all of these layers of protection. It was still hooked up to power cables, which was suspicious. Of course, that was enough for her curiosity to be raised. She found a false bottom of the craft, and a set of stairs leading to an entire new deck of the station. There was actually more advanced technology down here. Behind every kinetic barrier she might expect to find on a Dreadnought was a darkened corridor, one that required some kind of Asari DNA. That was easier to spoof.

The final door to get through required more than she had. DNA of three different Asari of clan Marsula, eye scans, and an audio password. Kasumi herself would have had a difficult time breaking through this. So, it came down to brute force. She brought her Kavka out of its sheathe, prepared to cut open the haptic panel and try to manually open the locks.

"You don't have to do that." She whipped around, and saw an Asari, sitting at the archaic controls of the old craft. "They'll see us here."

"Who are you?" She challenged.

"A friend." She said. "Someone always has to keep watch here." Julia's pistol slid from its sheathe. "Mother said I should watch out for you." She stepped forward, wearing some kind of thicker armor. "My name is Nehri. Nehri Marsula."

"You were told to expect me?"

"This area is restricted. Either you or my relief were coming, and it's a bit early." She laughed, a tinkling sound. "Mother said you would find your way here. To satisfy her curiosity?"

"Something like that." Julia replied. "You going to let me in?" The Asari wasn't touching her weapon. "Marsula isn't usually in the giving mood."

She shrugged. "So long as you promise to pick up your own corpse and die out here where it's easier to clean up. Those things have killed hundreds in the time that we've owned them. Sometimes before they can make it out of the chamber."

"The beacons?" Prothean beacons didn't sound so far fetched to keep in this level of security.

"Your father survived a beacon, and still draws breath. He's one of the longest surviving victims of those things. We were told that you are to have full access to them, to see if the resistance to the beacons is hereditary." She shrugged. "The Asari don't appear to have that gift. Our natural reproduction methods make our nervous systems too sensitive to survive the beacon's effect for too long. Turians seem to live for a while, but their minds have a difficult time perceiving the information."

"Open the doors." The Alliance had been cheated of the knowledge from the beacon at Eden Prime. "I'll satisfy your curiosity."

Nehri had to open the doors herself, the audio password being a long spoken speech that Julia recognized. It was from the play that she had seen on Thessia in her childhood. As Nehri mumbled her way through the last paragraph, Julia almost corrected her. The door seemed to accept the passwords and authentication, opening to a small platform surrounded on seven sides by large green pillars. "Those are the seven we have that work." Nehri said. "The others went dark and died."

"So which ones are the Dark Beacons?"

"All of them." Nehri said. "They kill everyone they touch. Go on, let's see how many of them light up." Julia sighed, considering. She owed it to the Alliance. Her father had survived his own journey. Steeling herself, she stepped onto the platform. All seven of the pillars lit up, and she could feel her feet leave the ground. "Well, Goddess bless you, Human. I'd give you a week, tops."

Any reply Julia wanted to give was lost as her mind went blank, feeling like a spigot at the end of a hose as images flashed into being inside her mind. The most prominent image was that of a planet, wreathed in shadow and lit from behind by a star. Something was inside the planet, and as the images of worlds and cities and dead creatures pushed past her mind, the planet lit up. First one pair of eyes opened, green irises glaring down at her. Then a second pair opened above the first, and the eyes turned orange, the cornea fading away to nothing.

 **I SEE YOU.** Blood came pouring out of her nose, as pressure built up in her forward lobes. **KNOW ALL TRUTH AND DESPAIR.** She tried to turn her head, but it only lined up with a different pillar. More images struck her, this time of four-eyed aliens running away from mechanical invaders. The invading ships were perfect duplicates of the Reapers she had seen. **ALL WORLDS SHALL BE DARKENED BY OUR COMING.** There were thousands of them. All of them inside of the planet she kept seeing. Blood trickled down from her ears. **YOUR MIND CANNOT COMPREHEND US. YOU SHALL PERISH, YOUR FLESH TO BE GIVEN ITS PERFECT FORM.**

 _Not today!_ Another voice came. _They will always resist!_ Something pushed into her mind, and Julia knew no more.

* * *

Friess Station, Sanves System, January 2183

Garrus drew his knife. Every Asari in the room was dead, all of them with the curved blade she carried. Her arm looked empty, a hole torn through the skin along the forearm. "What in the spirits are you doing, Julia!" She didn't bother to reach for the pistols on the ground. "Stand down!"

She held up the slim blade, curved and shaped more like a bone. "I didn't kill them, Garrus. All of this was simply a disagreement between Spectres that turned bloody when someone in the Thirty insinuated that the Turians would bleed for the Asari for the next twenty five years." She tossed the slim blade towards him. He didn't catch it, letting it hit the floor and shatter into a thousand pieces. "You killed everyone in here, and then shot yourself." Julia said, her voice lilting.

"The cameras will record this." He said forcefully, keeping back from the Human. "There is evidence of your wrongdoing."

She grinned, the skin of her lips splitting open as she did so. "The autopsy will reveal that a Turian talon was responsible for the deaths of the Asari in the room. You see, Garrus, it was rather easy to duplicate your talons. Killing one of the Thirty? Even Desolous wouldn't be able to save you from that. Killing Matriarch Marsula?" Julia smirked as she started walking towards him. The see through material of the walkway kept the sound of her feet to a minimum. The sphere shaped room had a thirty foot drop on either side of the walkway. "You're done, Garrus."

"You're not Julia." He said, slowly backing up to the door. "But you're not Harper, either."

"No, I'm not." She said. "The stage is set, Vakarian. You were never supposed to turn out as a Spectre. You're a nobody, really. Just some stupid young man whose father died."

"It doesn't matter who you are." Garrus said. "You're not getting out of here." He was starting to see red.

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Julia's face took on a new shape, as her eyes opened wider. Her lips were tight, her nose flaring as if testing the air. "I remember killing your father. Watching as he croaked and coughed his last breath. Of course, he had to die really. He even figured out my disguise. But the best part," Julia stopped walking towards him, fifteen feet separating them. "Was that he spent his last breath cursing me, instead of calling out for you."

The Damping from his Omni-tool slammed into Julia hard enough to make her scream. He knew that he was weak against biotics. That was why his damping was as powerful as the techs could make it. Three long cables came out of his wrist, dragging on the floor behind him. "You shut your mouth."

She grinned again. "I was the one that ordered Desolous to level the Temple of the ancestors. Thousands of Turians dead and dying at my say so." Garrus thumbed the control for the whips, letting element zero introduce weight into the bladed tips of the wire. Then he charged them, his armor draining his kinetic barrier to charge the non-lethal weapon. "Selling the Eclipse mercenaries the backdoor entry codes to Galatana so that the Rachni could land. All of that was my idea."

Garrus cranked the whips up into lethal settings. "You murdered millions. Why admit it?"

Julia stepped forward, using her fingernail to draw back the skin around her other wrist. "Because I'll never have to admit it. You don't know who I am, and if you don't stop me, a biological weapon is going to hit the station."

"Our scanners would have picked that up!"

"Care to bet on that?" Julia stated.

The energy drain on the whips was starting to eat into his stores. He stepped forward, swinging a low cut with the whip. She jumped backwards, but the blades followed, cutting into her and shocking her body. "Heat seekers." Garrus said. "Good for fighting Salarians and Humans."

"Bastard." She said, smirking, as the whips stopped sparking against her skin. "But then again, that's my fault."

Garrus roared, closing in. She let him get close, her movements not as crisp as he normally expected from Julia. She jumped over his whip, but took his knee into her stomach. They both rolled, the skin of her arms scraping. He didn't spare any breath for her. This wasn't Julia. This wasn't his friend. When he saw a small slit open in her uninjured wrist, he rolled backwards as fast as he could.

Dust shot out of her hand, spraying all over the area. He managed to escape it, and she laughed. "Quicker than you look."

"I'm not going to kill you." Garrus muttered. "But it will be as unpleasant as I can make it." Julia ran back towards the center of the room, arriving at the Asari bodies. Garrus followed closely, his steps measured and threatening. She turned around, smiling. "What now? The only way out of here is through me."

"Neither of us is escaping, Garrus." She ran at him, more dust escaping from her wrist. He had to duck and roll under her arm, his armor getting covered in the blood of the dead Asari. His hand almost slipped as he stabilized himself, turning to the Human. Her legs were shaking, her nerves probably destroyed by the whip's charge. "

"Of course. But I got what I needed." Julia said. "You've injured me, and there is little you can do. The Spectres have lost power without Marsula, and the Thirty will never forgive you." She stepped closer to the edge of the walkway. "Good luck, Spectre. For as long as your vaunted Council survives."

"Wait!" Garrus yelled, charging forward. "Don't do it!"

The Human closed her eyes, and leaned over the edge of the walkway. Her body dropped, the neck snapping as she fell on the angled surface of the spherical room. With the sound, it left Garrus as the only one alive. "I've got to," Do something. Run. Flee. Stay, try to talk them down. His armor reported that he had somehow been poisoned. His eyes closed, as he started breathing faster. His lungs started clenching, his entire torso rattling as he tried to breath. His armor accounted for it, injecting anti-histamines and medicine into his lungs to fix the damage. His lungs stopped contracting, and Garrus thanked his foresight. When he had heard that they were going to mentor Humans, he prepared his medical suite to account for any assassination attempts. He was still short of breath, but he wasn't going to die.

The doors behind him cycled, and it took an inordinate amount of effort for him to turn his head towards them. "Garrus!" He saw Julia. Another one, somehow. Glancing down, he saw the Julia he had been fighting was dead, her neck at an odd angle. It was already swollen and purple.

"Who're you?" He slurred, as the person came over.

She leaned over him, concern plain on her face. "Can't see over the boob job Miranda gave me. Sorry, love." She reached for him, his fumbling arms pushed out of the way. "Do you know where we are?"

"Go'way!" He slurred, the painkillers hitting him. "Leave!"

"You got it, love." She purred. "I'll get us out of here. You're hurt, and I don't know what Miranda did this time, but I don't like it."

"Julia." Garrus said, focusing his mandibles as best he could. "Leave me."

"And lose my best friend? You're too good in the sack for me to leave you here, love." She hefted his body over her shoulders. "Sorry I took so long to get here. There was a Prothean beacon, and you know me. I just had to stick my head into it. I think."

Garrus couldn't talk. His mandibles had loosened. Instead, he tried to point at the dead body. Julia gave it one look. "I'm gonna have to give whoever made that clone credit. Duplicated the boob job and everything. Sorry if she hurt you. I'll get that codpiece off later and make sure everything's working fine." He whimpered, as he was carried off by whatever psychopathic identity Julia was acting as. "Shh, Shepard's got you. I'll get us out of here." Garrus just whimpered harder.

* * *

Author's Note

I would appreciate all of your ideas on what to name the little queen. Leave a Review, a PM, or whatever with your ideas on what she should be named. All of the votes for Pressley came in. The voting was between which school of thought Pressley would use to escape from the Rachni. You guys mostly voted Pathos, the ideaology that espouses appealing to the emotions of those who you speak to and entice them to your opinion using that. As a result, I wrote the above.

Now, some big news. Updates shall become more sporadic because I just started my own company. It's going to take a lot of time. I also just got a new job, my wife is nearing the end of the 2nd trimester, and I am hitting finals in school. Lovely time to be alive. My dog got neutered last week(he didn't even notice) and I had to go get a new apartment. So, in the last four weeks since the last update, I've had to move, watch as my dog lost his balls, see my kid on ultrasound, and go through the emotional ups and downs of the job application process. It made writing difficult, and I rewrote the wedding scene five different times before I was even remotely satisfied.

I wrote from Hannah's perspective, Jack's perspective, Horace Shepherd's perspective, and from the Geth's perspective. Finally Haego just made sense and portrayed what was important about that scene. A note for Elizabeth Dempsey. She and the little queen(I have no idea what to name her!) were so much fun to write, and that whole bit is inspired by **Myetel**. If you want more cute Rachni moments, go read her work.

For those of you who are reading this because of Asperger's or because it really gels with you, I am starting a business around Asperger's help and support. I've spent the last ten years of my life testing out what works and what doesn't, and the things that worked I would modify to better fit my life style. I've been through college for six years, mostly meandering through mistakes and success in equal measure. What my company is going to do is Life Coaching. I want to take what I have learned and apply those lessons to the people who need it. In essence, I've been working on a methodology to give someone with Asperger's the abilities and strengths of socialization, mental focus, avoiding autistic inertia, and most importantly overcoming object fixation. I'll be working out of the US state of Utah, but I plan to make most of this accessible online, for parents of Asperger's as well as adults and children who feel lost and confused. I've made it my life mission to give those people the tools to make it through.

Writing this story has been the inspiration I needed to finally start this company and take all of the data I've been hoarding and publish it. Thanks to all of you for making my lifelong dream something I can believe in. It may not seem like it, but this fanfiction has been something that kept me moving towards this goal. My writing and experience has only been improved by my exposure to this genre. As I go into this new phase in my life I just wanted to say thank you. I appreciate the wild ride I've been on.


	82. Dementia:Power Play

Chapter 82

Omega, Sahabrik System, January 2183

"So, you actually attended your own wedding." Henry said around his cup. "A mother of a miracle."

Jack was already feeling a little heady from the Batarian wine they were sipping. "And you killed my backup plan for controlling the Alliance. Hock's greed was easy to harness and control, and now his replacement is little more than a sounding board for the Senate. At least Hock had enough pride to temper his greed, but Halmabad doesn't have anything like that."

"Well I'm not apologizing. That bastard ruined our lives."

"I don't disagree with that. But the fact is that someone that powerful was useful to me. Now, he's not." Jack sighed. His shoulders and torso were covered in bandages, and they ached. Damn sniper teams. "Thank you for the cheap brain surgery, though. Putting that modified graybox in the backup's mind was some fine work."

"Whose memories did you use, anyways?"

"Kasumi is a devious little snitch. Give her a reason to _hate_ something, or someone, and she starts thinking about how best to screw them over. Tell her that her sister is being threatened, and she turns into a little hell-beast. So, her memories and training in Julia's body. No control over the native biotics, of course." Jack smirked. Kasumi had been truly furious that the Asari were going to kill Julia. "It wasn't a complete copy, however. It was a rush job. The graybox didn't include any of Kasumi's normal memories that make her crave silence, ambiguity, and security."

"So you stripped out anything that would make her run from a fight." Henry said. "Clever. So, how many of the clones I designed are active?"

"I've got one on the _Normandy_. This body is my normal self, prosthetics and all." Jack cringed at that. "Quarian feet, makes running slightly problematic. I look like I'm a waddling duck in between full jog and sprint."

Henry cackled. "Really! Oh god, Jack, I can get those replaced with something better soon! Give me some access and a bit of funding and I'll have you right as rain."

"Fine. I only have the one personal android copy of myself, and it's been hammered. I've used it to sneak onboard one of the dead Reaper ships, and it hasn't been quite the same since. The skin keeps cracking along the eyes. Hannah has her android copy, which I can appreciate, and she keeps hers in better condition. Better combat protocols, less cognitive space." Jack smirked, thinking about the time he had to use the android. "Hannah's just using an android at this point."

"That's one clone I made for you. What about the other two?" Henry asked. "I made you three of those things."

"One on the _Normandy_ , one still in the tube, and a third that is deployed." Jack clarified. "I don't know exactly where it is. I gave it a few directives. It has a different face."

"How much did you give it?"

"Graybox technology isn't thorough enough to dump an entire mind into someone. You can imprint emotionally charged memories, some skills, but the little details escape the recording process. Small things like my mother's abuse, the different women I've been with, and of course my own relationship with Hannah. He knows little more than his own name and a set of useful skills. Given some fascination with Reaper artifacts, he'll do the job I don't want to expose myself to and hunt them down as much as possible."

"Without knowing who he is?" Henry guffawed. "Who is this man?"

"As you well know, the best lies are founded in truth." Jack replied. "He replaced a man named Conrad Verner. _If_ he ever remembers enough to figure things out, he will simply deliver to me valuable intelligence without me having to work for it." Both men glanced down at their wrists as a news update came in. "Damn. They're making their move. They're early."

"Rachni on the Citadel?" Henry said, aghast. "That's bad, Jack, but that isn't the end of the world."

Jack ignored him. "Captain Qing, alter course to Ilos. Call up Admiral Jeruut and tell him to get into position. The Reapers are making their attack on the Citadel. We need to start the counterattack." With the Conduit fully operational, they could drop anything they wanted right in the middle of the Presidium. If the Rachni were already engaged, that meant that there was nothing in between him and the tower now. "Good thing Charles got all that work done so nicely." He turned back to Henry. "How would you feel about turning the galaxy over on its head?"

"Are you saving it or destroying it? If it's the latter, I want Australia."

Jack just laughed, and didn't answer him. He would see it all before everything was done. He settled into his chair, and started sending all of the messages necessary. The Rachni had made their move. The Reapers were next, and then it was his turn.

* * *

Friess Station, Sanves System, January 2183

Garrus leaned heavily on Julia as they stepped through the corridors. Security Stations were unmanned, and he was confused as to why. His ears were ringing from some kind of explosion, which had woken him up. "Huh?" He groaned. "Wait, wait." He pointed at one of the glowing haptic interfaces. "Why is the station losing power?" It had only been eleven minutes since they had left the astral viewing chamber. According to his wrist, at least.

The woman helping him shrugged, the movement putting pressure on his injured shoulder. "I didn't know where I was. I wasn't in medical and I wasn't in some Cerberus lab. Some Asari tried to stop me from leaving the room full of beacons. Not just one, but seven of them. Seven!"

"No wonder you've gone crazy." Garrus wheezed. "What happened down there?"

"She pulled a gun, I took it and killed her. That triggered some kind of alarm, and a few more Asari came in. I think during the chaos we damaged a power regulator or something. But you know me, Garrus. Trouble always follows me." She pulled on her belt. "But whoever designed this armor doesn't know the meaning of protection. This stuff barely handles anything."

"You're crazy." He muttered. "Stop killing them."

"Tell them that. They're trying to kill the both of us." She replied. "Where are we, anyway?"

"Spectre Headquarters. Asari territory." Garrus coughed out. "You're killing the wrong people!"

"Ah." She said, as if it wasn't a serious problem. "Well Garrus, you must be pretty pleased to be here. You finally get to see what it's like to be a Spectre."

"Julia." He muttered. "I'm a Spectre. Did you get into any red sand in the last hour?"

"No, Garrus. You always know that stuff makes me all kinds of randy." He squawked as her hand gave his backside a clap. "Not to mention it makes everything crazy for us non-biotics." She was crazy. Julia had gone and snapped.

"Julia, you're a biotic." He said. "Or are you another fake?"

"Murphey's balls, Garrus, stop calling me that! My name is Gwyn. Gwyn Shepard, you know! The woman that you sleep with and call your _uxor_." Garrus gagged. He would never call a Human something so intimate. The thought alone was enough to make him retch, sliding to the ground. The crazy woman slid to the floor next to him, but the noise of them slumping got the attention of someone. An Asari rose up from behind one of the barricades. A hole erupted in her armor, and she grimaced and shot at them with her own rifle. Garrus acted, not thinking, as he leaned forward and let his heavier armor take the hit instead of the limited Human armor. His armor screamed as the rifle rounds hit the barriers, but it didn't puncture.

Julia's second burst caught the Asari in the center of the torso, and she cursed. "Sorry, still getting used to this." Garrus saw a chance. He reached a hand up, and she foolishly took it. She was slammed into the wall, head first and with the assistance of his legs she was launched into the wall hard enough to bend her neck. She pushed back, and Garrus grinned. Turian toes were based on Avian ancestry. A lot of the other races forgot about that. Just like he did in his childhood, he was able to put his powerful leg muscles to work. Julia went sailing upwards, and came back down upon her face. The rest of her body followed, slumping to the ground.

He wheezed, unable to find it within himself to move after that. Julia remained still, head tilted at an odd angle. At least for a minute. Then she groaned, quietly feeling out herself. He could see her fingers and feet twitch, and then her whole body cloaked. She moved, but he wasn't sure where. "Gwyn or Shepard, whatever you call yourself. Don't come near me. Stay away." His guns were still back on board the _Normandy_.

"Garrus?" Julia decloaked, rolling her neck. "You get the ID on what knocked me out?"

"S'kak." Garrus muttered. "This is all just a pile of S'kak. You're soul-sick, Julia. Or Shepard, whoever you are."

"Shepard? Where did you hear that name?"

"You just called yourself that. Gwyn Shepard."

"I have no idea who that is." Julia said, becoming visible next to the dead Asari. "But this station is going crazy. The alerts have all security teams looking for both of us. You have the priority. Apparently I'm supposed to be apprehended and you are to be shot."

Garrus sighed. "Maybe I should be. It might end this nightmare."

"You know this place better than I do. What now?"

She was crazy. That settled Garrus' opinion. "We split up. I've got a few ideas on how to calm them down. You, on the other hand, should hide. Stay out of sight and avoid the hangar bay. The best place to avoid notice and hide will be the prison block. Go there, and I'll meet up with you when things calm down."

"You're sure?"

"Completely." Garrus said. "Get going, before they see you here."

"I'll wait by the prison." Julia told him. Whoever she was. "But if things don't cool down I'm going to find my own way off this station."

"Let me know." Garrus said. "Follow the right hatch to get to the prison level."

"Thanks, Garrus." She said, cloaking again and finally leaving him alone. He heard the hatch cycle and then breathed a sigh of relief. Then he quickly opened his Omni-tool, pressing the number for the only friend he knew he had on this entire station. The connection was established, and the Turian face on the other line came through clearly.

" _You've got a lot of nerve, Tarn Vakarian. After what you've done, I'll have you lined up in front of a firing squad. Your entire generation has ruined hundreds of years of work! First Sparatus, and then pandering to the Humans, and now this! Two Matriarchs dead by your hand, and the entire Thessian Republics no longer has a conservative majority leader!_ "

"Wait!" He wheezed. "I didn't do it! I never took off my glove!"

" _I've got eighty squads coming for you. You'll have one chance to surrender to justice, Vakarian. But you will be held accountable. You're the only one who walked out of there alive._ " The General was furious, his armor and helmet on. " _Save your words for the seat of judgement. Nothing more needs to be said._ " The general cut comms after that. This station had some of the best criminal analysts in the galaxy. Of course they would already have formed an opinion on who had killed the Matriarchs. With the body of Julia in the room, they would guess the only survivor would be responsible.

Garrus let his head slide back into the wall, leaning to the right so his fringe wouldn't press against the wall. He was going to catch hell for this. He tapped his wrist. "Record function, activate. Just in case this is the last time I get to say this, I love you Mom. Solanna too. I took a gamble with these Humans, and it turned out to be a massive mistake. I'm leaving you and Sol everything. Sol can have the ship as long as she doesn't mate with or think about mating with that prat. You know who I'm talking about. He might be the highest tier of citizen, but he only wants you so that he can get land. His older brothers have cheated him out of any land inheritance, so it isn't love. Trust your brother on that." He wheezed, watching as twelve Asari commandos advanced on him, guns drawn. "I abused Spectre privileges to find out how many other girls he has tried to lead on."

"Hands in the air, off the wrist!"

"Dad was right. About Humans, that is. Don't ever trust them. End recording."

* * *

Friess Station, Sanves System, January 2183

"Human, we've got a message." Kalin'ren stated. "Just an update from the station, telling us to keep out of the light. Apparently they don't want the reflection from the sun revealing any parts of the station. Even though our paint doesn't reflect light in the first place."

"What's wrong with that?" Halmabad grunted. "You haven't mentioned it the last five times they asked us to move."

"This time someone layered another signal inside of it. Something automated. A piece of Quarian code." Halmabad stood up, coming to the interface. "Little more than gibberish."

"Skip the superior evolution crap and tell me what you think it is."

"Coordinates." Kalin'ren said gleefully. "As well as some numbers. 18018."

Halmabad grinned. "That's our lady." He tapped in a few commands to his wrist, silently bringing the ship up to full alert. "That's pre-Alliance. An old code to let other ships know that they were requesting aid. From the days of Iron conflicts, at that. She's in trouble in there." He grinned. "Where do those coordinates put us?"

"Too close to their GUARDIAN laser arrays. Far too close. Near the largest circumference of the station, as best I can tell." Harris said. "It's against their law to do any kind of passive or active scans towards the station, but I was doing some of the math by hand using the windows. It's not breaking the law to use your eyes and an old school compass."

"Good work, Harris. Keep your law breaking ethical like that and I won't write you up." Halmabad said. "We don't have a given time, however. Catsuits only have a minute and a half of air storage, so that doesn't give us a lot of time." The coordinates given were far from where the station had assigned them to go. "We weren't given a flight path, correct?"

"That is correct. The Asari can only tell us where to be. Not how we do it." Kalin'ren said. "I also have some kind of report that the Asari sent out on all channels. Apparently two of their Matriarchs are dead. One of them is Marsula, the owner of the entire planetary system."

"Crap." Halmabad said. "The Council must be having conniptions. Marsula's the oldest Spectre on the books. Without her this whole system will go into panic mode."

"Explains why the Asari want us moving away from the hangars. Can't pick up our people from there. Any idea what those coordinates are?"

"It's a thin band of compartments running the length of the station. Darkened panels, no idea what their purpose is. But they are all secured to the surrounding decks by some kind of struts instead of plating. No idea why. Without scanning them I won't know of any further details. The coordinates are in the dark side of the station. We won't be able to see where we are going or what we are looking for."

"Those GUARDIAN arrays will light up anything that comes off of that station." Harris muttered, breaking out a small metal tool and measuring by _hand_ the distances involved. "Those coordinates, by my guess, put us inches from their hull. I think she wants us to get close."

Halmabad nodded. "Kalin'ren, any word from the fleet?"

"The SSV Normandy is being quietly ordered to retreat from Asari space within the next four hours. Apparently they are worried we might cause some kind of diplomatic incident." Kalin'ren said. "Wait. Joker, keep in sight of the comm buoys. Something's coming in."

" _This is Hackett to all ships. The Embassy on the Citadel is destroyed. The Presidium's lower levels have been taken by the Rachni. Volus and Salarian auxiliary forces are being deployed to clear them out. As of now all fleet elements are ordered to tighten patrols and double check anything coming through security checkpoints. Any fleet elements out beyond Alliance space and patrol routes need to return. Now._ "

Halmabad bit his lip. "Anything specifically sent to us?"

"Nothing specific, but it's clear they want us away from Asari or Turians." Kalin'ren said. "We've got a few minutes before we're supposed to confirm that we have received the message."

Halmabad leaned his head back, still biting his lip in thought. "What will the Asari do if we cloak?"

"Let's not." Joker piped up. "They've had guns trained on us this whole time. We can't get close enough."

He closed his eyes, thinking. "How close can we come to those coordinates?"

"Not close." Joker said. "But I've got a great way of letting her know where we are. We can drop our trash and just let some of the dust hit the windows."

"Put some oil in there. Something to stick to the windows." Halmabad recommended. "But make sure it gets there before we pass the coordinates."

" _Program and components ready to vent, Acting Captain."_ Tali'Zorah stated. " _I have also added a few reasons for why we had to vent. Your Human technology and the experimental systems are just so temperamental, you see._ "

"Thank you, Tali." Halmabad said. "Alright people, be ready." The Asari of course complained about the vented goods, but Tali's prepared reasons held. Especially the bits regarding their experimental and untested technology. It made them look like idiots, but the Asari didn't kick them out.

They had almost passed the point of no return when the entire station lit up. Search lights and bright lines of power ran over the edge of the station. GUARDIAN laser banks activated, and the laser leads went over the area of space they were in. "Juke, Joker. Kalin'ren, start using that prolific tongue of yours and get their leads off of us. _When_ they refuse, activate the cloaking system."

"Got something on sensors! Looks like a small block of the station was just jettisoned. Wait, there's tons of them!" Harris reported, his eyes flying across the interfaces. "At least fifty of these blocks!"

"Which one is our lady?" Halmabad asked. "Did she get off on one of those?"

"I've got bodies. Four and some mechs." Harris said. "And one of them is holding onto one of the blocks."

"Joker!"

"On it!" Watching the ship twirl through the lasers and debris was thrilling. Within forty five seconds they had caught the drifting pod. There was a loud _bang_ as something else hit the hangar bay. "I've got her!"

"FTL jump!"

Down in the hangar bay, Julia was being carried to the elevator by a team of medics. She had been heavily jarred by the impact of the boxy looking piece of station that they had caught. A second block had hit the nets right behind the first, crushing Julia against the MAKO. She now had a bruise in the shape of the Alliance crest all over her torso. It would be a sad thing to have scar. Scars in the shape of governments were considered bad luck. That was partially why he had an acid burn on his shoulder. A female had scraped him and later told him it was in the shape of a Turian talon. The day after that he had dipped his shoulder in a vat of acid to purge the unworthiness.

"Wrex! Help us out with this!" He looked down, seeing the tiny little Quarian yelling at him. "We've got two people in these pods and they are venting atmosphere!" The blocks were venting atmosphere, and they were starting to fill with some sort of gas. "Everyone, helmets on! Prepare for contamination protocols!" She pointed to two of the Alliance marines standing next to the armory. "Prepare breathing masks!"

Wrex lumbered over, seeing that the blocks were armored as heavily as any gunship. He gave a single glance to the materials involved in its construction and turned back around, coming up to the armory bench. "I need this." Wrex told the standing crew member. The heavy Graal came off the bench and he leveled it at the secured blocks. "Make a hole!" It was an odd saying, but most of the Humans moved like they had true purpose after someone shouted that. The Graal barked, and to his complete surprise the glass didn't shatter. It didn't even buckle. A Warp didn't do a thing.

"Wrex!" He felt something push against his shoulder from above. He turned, seeing Tali with the largest ion torch and welder they had. It stood above his head when fully deployed. "These are self-contained prison cells. It takes more than brute force to get them open. You have to be more civil." She threw her arm forward. "Deploy the tools!"

Wrex stayed out of the way as the Quarian engineers got to work, but at least gave them his attention. They disassembled the entire block in under two minutes, and then gas started leaking out of it. Wrex rushed in, pushing through the small doorway and into the space. A figure, a Krogan figure, was on the ground. He was old, enough that his crest had started pushing against his cowl and forcing his shoulders forward. It was said that eventually the crest would push the head and shoulders enough to make the Krogan who bore it dependant upon some form of walking aid. This one might need it, in his opinion. Wrex picked up the old one, pulling him out of the block and into the hangar bay. These Humans didn't have any breathing masks that could fit the wide mouth of a Krogan, and so Wrex pressed his helmet over the old one's face. He started coughing, feeling poisons in the air from whatever was in the blocky pod.

He would survive this. The old one might not. With this in mind, he kept the helmet sealed. The old Krogan was dragged into the engineering bay, where they had an airlock set up. The elevator would just spread poisonous gasses throughout the ship. Airlocks kept people safer. The old one just curled into a ball, coughing painfully into the helmet. "Rest. I don't care who you are. You don't deserve to die in a cage. If the Council's varren try to take you back I'll kill you rather than let you rot in one of those again."

The old one simply clutched his wrist. Then he went limp, heaving the poison out of his lungs. With redundant lungs, all he had to do was clear his first and perhaps his second set of lungs in order to clear his body of the poison. The third set of lungs, if they hadn't collapsed from old age, would hopefully be preserved enough to allow him to cough for that long without intakes of breath.

Another body was dropped beside him, as Williams carried an Asari with her. She was coughing up liquids and blood. Wrex just chuckled, seeing the scars covering her head and neck. "Heretic." He said. Her one good eye glared at him. "Burned her neck and crest to show that she spoke out against the establishment. But that isn't officially what happens to heretics. Apparently the most outspoken are supposed to go to monasteries to enter into meditation." Her body flickered, spitting out more blood. "Looks like the Asari don't like you."

"I haven't ever heard of the Asari doing anything like that, Wrex." Williams told him.

"Some species actually keep their dark secrets locked up." Wrex told the naive creature. "Others are too vocal for their own good."

"Isn't that hypocritical to say?"

Wrex laughed. "Not really. Krogan keep secrets, more from each other than from other races. Our darkest, deepest, nastiest actions are considered the best kind of things to talk about. We _like_ dark secrets. Smarter Krogan try to find out those secrets, so that they can be shared and repeated until all of the descendants and bloodlines share their story. For us, it isn't hypocritical." He pointed at the puking Asari. "For her, though, she knows something. Something that made them put her in a cell and throw away the key."

She just hissed at him. "She doesn't have a tongue!" Williams said.

"Oh, but she still has her mind." Wrex said. "Lock her up, Williams. Without her tongue she can't tell us anything of value yet." The Asari tried to throw off the Human, but Williams held her. "She can still mind-rape walls and people, Human. Keep her down."

"What about him?" She motioned at the Krogan.

"This old one?" Wrex shrugged. "I'll kill them if they try anything. Could be female, considering the robes. When they get old they look about the same as males. Even their nursing sacs start looking more like kneecaps after a few centuries." The old one kicked him in the knee, making Wrex cackle. " _His_ ears still work. But he's too weak to do anything. Once he clears his lungs, I'll shove him into an airlock. Might be better than a cell."

Up in the ship's medbay, Miranda came awake. More accurately, she was being shaken awake as her shoulders and ribs protested the movement, flaring in pain. "Miranda get your bubble butt out of that bed! You need to explain yourself!"

Her sister was _right_ there. Her face was inches above her own, red and angry. "What!" Her sister was holding her down, putting her full weight on her arms. "What is it!"

"Oh, you're going to have to explain yourself. You resurrected me again, and this time I woke up in the middle of some Asari space station!"

"I didn't resurrect you! You were the one who went into Friess! I was going to go with you up there, but my shoulder is still injured."

"If you didn't bring me back from death, who did? I remember dying, I remember coming apart at the seams, I remember stars and radiation!" Her sister's eyes fluttered. "You brought me back last time, so what happened?!"

"Julia!" She growled, her patience thinning. "Get off!"

She only held her tighter. "People keep calling me that! My name is Gwyn. Gwyn Shepard! Come on, Miranda, we killed the Collectors together, we saved your sister, and we stopped the Reapers!"

" _You_ are my sister. We are twins, and we grew up together. Did you lose yourself in an alias, Julia?" Sometimes that happened, when her sister spent too much time acting like someone else. She would lose herself, her moral compass. "You must be dreaming if you think the Reapers have been stopped." Miranda hadn't heard anything more than theories and wild speculations about the Collectors, so she chose not to address that one.

"What the hell!" She punched the side of the bed, splitting open one of her knuckles. "Ow! Stupid skin weave. Whatever you did this time, Miranda, you skimped out on combat mods and just stuck me with some model body that can't take a good hit."

"Don't hurt yourself, Julia. You're making a scene." The only other awake member of the crew on board, a young man that would have looked rather nice if his hair wasn't so short, was looking at them. "Useksalien ea Eastos!" She muttered at Julia. It was something they would tell the other when they were getting out of control, or Julia was getting too embarrassed in public. The look of confusion on Julia's face was odd. "Oh god. You're the clone. You're not Julia."

"Wait, hold on a second!" She jabbed a finger at the medical tech, "You, get out. Go get a drink or something and come back in thirty minutes." The shutters over the room engaged and Julia started pacing around, her catsuit squealing as she squeezed past the end of the metal tray her bed sat in. "Alright, Miranda. I'm going to start asking questions, and if I don't like the answers I'll go bug someone else until I have them. We're obviously on the _Normandy_. That's good. So let's start. You said I'm a clone. A clone of who?"

Miranda took the time to adjust her back support. "You're a clone of my sister, most likely. Julia Constantine. Commander and Specter in training, part of the Alliance Office of Intelligence. She received the Cerberus Foundation upgrades, implants, and biotic training. Officially she is an Infiltrator, and considered the one behind the Batarian defeat at Torfan."

"I thought your sister's name was Oriana." She said before crossing her arms. "Torfan must have been a breeze compared to the Skyllian Blitz."

"The Skyllian _blitz_?" Miranda sounded out, "Never heard of it. But Julia doesn't mention Torfan if she can avoid it. If you are just her clone, given a different set of memories, then you might be experiencing some kind of formed thoughts or ideas to fill in the gaps between fact and fiction."

The moment she finished the sentence she knew she had said the wrong thing. Julia's eyes boiled. "Elysium was real! I was there!" the clone shouted, " When the slaver ships came down I held the damn line! And you were there when we went through the Omega-4 relay, stoped Project Overlord. Your dad, we killed him!"

"We've done none of those things." Miranda responded carefully and slowly. "We're not connected to the extranet, otherwise I would tell you to look those things up and show me what you mean."

Narrowed eyes, Julia slapped her wrist, bringing up the interface as her fingers danced across the orange-golden GUI. "I'll tell you, right now. Even a lexicon or basic infopedia is going to have references to this..." She suddenly stopped, staring at the readout information. Login credentials hadn't even been entered and Miranda wondered what did the clone find so interesting. "Clocks are still going by Solar standard, right?"

Giving Julia an odd look, Miranda showed her the medical interfaces. Julia even checked her own wrist. "Yes. It's January 20th, 2183. When did you think it was?"

"2186." She said, furrowing her brows. "Give or take a century."

"Whose memories did they give you, anyways?" Miranda muttered. "The clones were just supposed to be for organ supplies and backup nervous systems if we needed it."

"This is all so screwed up." Julia said, groaning as she slumped a bit. "We _won_. The Reapers lost. Except now we haven't. Is this some sort of cosmic joke?"

"Well, while I have someone who claims the Reapers are gone, how did you do it?" Miranda asked. "I'd like to know what kind of lies and half-truths are filling that head of yours." While she had some kind of crazy apparition it would be a good idea to ask questions.

"I'm not lying, but yeah, we won." She shrugged, as if talking about the weather. "Space magic bullshit technology won us the war. Or at least that's what I remember. We built a giant weapon, plugged it into the Citadel, and figured it would blow them to hell. I would _love_ to tell you how it worked, but even all of the scientists couldn't dumb it down enough to have it make sense. We had Rachni, Geth, and the Council making it work. I was just the gal who pulled the trigger."

"So you've got nothing but theories." Miranda stated rather than asked, "Or are the details difficult to remember?"

"You try having your whole self plugged into the body of some model. Not everything fits into the tiny brain."

"That's my sister you're talking about." Miranda warned her. "She might actually care about sciences and technical details."

"Well, I don't remember some things. I remember waking up in front of the beacons, and then helping Garrus. Then I woke up here. How I got off the station I don't remember at all."

"From what the engineers tell me, you rode a prison cell that was wired with a bomb and told the ship to pick you up before you ran out of air. You got crushed against the crash nets when we picked up a second cell."

"Oh." She hummed. "Badass. Remind me later to tell Joker he did good."

"So, if you don't think I'm your sister, remind me then, who are you?"

"Gwyn Shepard. My mom and dad were both Spacers, so we grew up anywhere we could find steady work. Dad dropped out of the Alliance after his first tour and worked in helium containment. Mom stayed in the Alliance and made Captain, might have gone all the way up to Admiral eventually. She was _good_ at kicking ass. Better at brown nosing, so she wasn't home often." She shrugged, the actions alien in what she knew about Julia. "She only came home after dad died trying to fix a helium regulator. Long enough to try to calm me down, short enough that everything went to shit. Joined the Alliance first chance I got."

"They really did a number on your mind." Miranda said. "What is your mother's name?"

"You aren't going to believe me." She spoke, turning to the doors. "What about Sovereign, and Saren, and the Geth. Tell me about them."

"Sovereign, no sightings. Saren, whoever that is, I have no idea. As for the Geth, they haven't been seen for at least two centuries. They stay in their corner of space and leave us alone." She clarified. "You tell me about how to kill the _other_ Reaper. The one called Arda."

She blinked, her eyes dilating. "Her name isn't Arda. It's, _something_ else. Parda." Her hands clenched on her ears, and her eyes skewed in focus. "Gah, no! It's on the tip of my tongue but it isn't just that. It's a longer word, dammit!" She snapped her fingers together, shaking her head. "Nope, not coming to me. Giving me a massive headache to think about it, though." She sank into a chair, losing strength. "I'm going dark again, Miranda. I'm real, I swear. Don't forget about me."

Julia fell off the chair. She just flopped onto the floor, her legs sliding and her torso getting mashed into the medical cabinet. Her face dragged against the waxed floor, catsuit and skin making squeaking noises as she slid. Miranda bit her lip and flinched, seeing Julia's nose smack the counter. "You are going to wake up so pissed if I leave you like that." Once she got her situated, she was going to have to contact dad somehow. Jack would know what to do with some crazy person like this.

As she picked up her sister, she saw the old scars on her face from their childhood. From when she hit Julia in the face with a rock hard enough to draw blood. Miranda had a matching mark on her shoulder from when the strike was returned. This wasn't a clone. Miranda just shrugged at that. Julia's head must be a weird place to be right now. She glanced up to see the doors cycle, the medical tech from earlier coming back with Alenko. Miranda tried to avoid her normal reaction to guys with that kind of six pack, as he was dating Julia. Sisters didn't steal guys from each other. Kasumi was not covered by this rule, though. She couldn't help herself.

"Hello, Ms. Harper." He said cordially. "I heard that she was awake." He gently took her other shoulder and picked her up. "I've got this. You can sit down in your bed. I know they're still pulling missile shrapnel out of your armor."

Miranda happily got out of the way, watching as Alenko deftly moved her sister back into a bed and tucked her in. He didn't even use his biotics to lift her, just muscle. It was militarily efficient, but the lingering touch on her cheek as he adjusted her head on the pillow was telling enough. "She's doing better, I think. A bit delusional, but that might be the concussion she has." She told him, focusing on keeping her eyes from wandering. "I was supposed to go with her."

"Garrus didn't come back with her." Alenko said. "He was supposed to take care of her."

"My sister can take care of herself. Though sometimes she gets in over her head." Miranda noted. "It would take a particularly gifted man to change her mind." She told him, just loud enough for him to hear. It earned her a smile. Now she was jealous of Julia. Damn.

* * *

The Citadel, Widow Nebula, January 2183

The C-sec prison had few places for Hanar to be kept. With thousands of them, C-sec had to rotate them between their recreational pool and their Hanar cells, which could only safely fit and filter water enough for twenty Hanar each. C-sec had invested in five of these cells for every ward on the Citadel, but like most bureaucratic actions only the ones at headquarters ever got finished. So one hundred Hanar in the cells, and a thousand in the recreational pools, with the other four thousand being shifted between the dry cells and the mentioned ones.

Just over five thousand Hanar were being kept in C-sec's prison cells. Along with thousands of other small time criminals, long term inmates, and political activists. The fry were pleasantly waiting for the next order. All of them were terrified. The Hanar had not acted so overtly in ages, and the thought of making such a ruckus in the Presidium made the ends of his tentacles quiver. Thankfully, the Avatar had told him of the true origins of the Citadel, which made his disruption much less heretical.

"Which one of you is named Truth?" One of their guards asked. "We've got a call for them."

He moved forward, the fry moving out of his way with some haste, even though they had packed this cell to its limits. " _I_ am Truth. I lead this assembly."

"You talk differently compared to most Hanar." The Salarian said. "Singular statement of self markedly unique. All of you share the same face-name."

"We all share the same purpose." Truth told him. Of course, these sentients were not used to the idea that a Hanar could lie, either. "Face-names are a statement of purpose, and serves us well as a social identifier to races without photoluminescent sensitivities."

"All I see when you start talking to each other are migraine-inducing flashes. Slow enough that I have to focus on it and piercing enough that it hurts to pay attention to. I'll be supervising your call." He turned a mobile terminal to the cell, close enough for the Hanar to reach through. Truth placed his smallest tentacle into the gap and placed it on the input pad, leaving a few water droplets on the terminal.

" _Truth._ " The Terminal flashed lights to communicate, mimicking the photoluminescence of the Hanar on the other side. " _This is the Highest Emanation_." The governing body of Kahje. " _Express yourself to connect to our chambers._ "

His tentacle flashed. "I am where you should expect me to be. The Citadel already views the Heretic as a herald."

" _Your words were not publicized. The Council has decided that our actions were reprehensible. You and your school are being recalled. The Citadel is no longer safe. Rachni have come. Return to the ship immediately, and get the fry away from the Rachni and their Asari allies. The minds of the Truth-delvers must be untouched._ "

" _I_ understand." The signal ended, and the Salarian muttered something about bright lights and annoying species. "Officer, I have a question."

"Of course, you can ask."

"If we admit to the crime you have accused us of, will you allow us to leave?"

"Oh, no. The trial hasn't even been scheduled, it will be a few days before the judges can gather the evidence and process you. Sorry to tell you this, but so many of our forces have been deployed against the riots and everything else that we can't hold your trials." The Salarian pulled back the terminal. "We apologize that the conditions of your detainment are unpleasant."

"I also apologize." His tentacle, its mass increased by biotics, plunged into the Salarian's nasal hole and right up into his brain. Then the Warp went off, his cranial cavity draining out of his nostrils onto the floor. "I cannot be delayed." Behind him, the fry and other adults all stopped their meandering and observed. "We seek the Herald. Let none stand in our way." With the guard dead, they had to move. Others would come. "Seekers in the depths, break the doors and free our brethren and sisters. Then we shall return to our craft." From there, the Hanar would finally be able to throw down the false Herald.

"We Seek!" The Hanar roared, the doors buckling and breaking under the pressure of so much combined biotics. C-sec could try to respond, but they did not follow conventional methods. No one had ever fought the Hanar before, and the Hanar kept any indication that they had ever fought anything hidden. Today, that would forever change.

* * *

The Presidium, The Citadel, Widow Nebula, January 2183

The crowds were pulsating with fear. Rachni were already being reported on the lower levels of the hangars, with more sightings happening all over the Presidium and the Wards in lesser amounts. They went to the only places they felt safe, in large mobs. The Elcor were the most dangerous to have frightened, as they couldn't stop themselves from moving as easily as other races. The hospitals were overflowing with mobs of people hoping to hide there, and the few C-sec and private security couldn't do anything more than hold the few secure points.

C-sec itself was being overwhelmed entirely, the headquarters pressured with waves of desperate evacuees that wanted to use their military docks for evacuation. Sha'ira knew what those people did not, that those docks were already unsafe. Her own acolytes were already inside her chambers, the outer and more public chambers filled to capacity with anyone they could fit off the streets. There was a fire on one side of the Presidium, next to the Emporiums. Apparently a display had been broken and caught fire on some clothing, and emergency services couldn't get to the fire.

"A shame to see so many lives in panic." The Herald said. He was sitting on her bed, his body levitating in a bizarre biotic stance. "Guideless and without trust."

"The Council does nothing for them." Sha'ira reminded him. "They only see numberless drones in their grand plans."

"The Prothean Empire saw all lesser races even lower than such, in our grand schemes. It availed us nothing. Our policies have changed from the old times. We now value the lessers and view them with equal promise."

"Equal promise but not equal leadership, I assume." She let her eyes wanted across his shriveled chest to the crystal that hung there. "Will you watch them and do nothing?"

"They should be landing troops soon." He said, not answering her. "I can hear the Rachni queen preparing for this."

"Have you spoken to her?"

"I do not consider her intelligent. Her name is Under Singer, and most among her kind value her only because she was the only one to reach the Citadel." He said derisively. "The Council rejected my offer of salvation."

"If the Rachni win here, there may not be a Council for us to convince."

"They would run before allowing the Rachni to kill them. I would prefer to instead bathe the entire Citadel in neutrino radiation, killing all that remain on board and purging all heretics from the holy ground. If the Council evacuates, we shall move to the tower."

Sha'ira nodded. If the Council were to leave the station, then they would be giving up on holding the Presidium. "What happens if the Council land troops?"

" _When_. When they land troops, the Rachni will swarm. It will then become a race, as to who will take the tower."

She nodded, glancing away from the crystal and turning her gaze towards the large interfaces showing the state of the Citadel. The small dot representing the _Destiny Ascension_ was moving to a close orbit. "They are worried. Ladanya has moved closer, and dispatched fighter squadrons to the tower."

Ish'Stho'Lhas stood, and to keep her eyes on him she watched as he wandered over to the main chamber. "Please extend my voice to the masses. We must act." Most of their followers still kept the comm line open to Sha'ira's frequency just in case the Herald would speak again. She activated the comm connection, and saw that they immediately had four million connections and counting, most of which were off the Citadel and in Asari Space. The numbers were rising by the second. She gave a gentle nod to the Prothean, who placed his hands on the railing that overlooked her lower chambers. "This is the Herald of the Prothean Empire. The primitive Rachni have decided to invade this holy place, and the Council does nothing. Their armies are exhausted, and the real fight has not yet begun."

"I urge all who listen and are on the Citadel to _not_ evacuate. Running solves little, in the end. Some of you are natural predators, yet you cower in fear from what should be a natural foe. Your government tells you that you must curb your natural tendencies to better fit into society. Tonight," He waved his bony arms towards the tower in the background. "Tonight, all of you must embrace those tendencies. You do not have to fight long, only enough to make these primitive insects realize the simple truth. The Protheans created your technology. What we created and built you have learned from. With our blessings and wisdom, we can show you the full measure of our power. The Council are evacuating the Citadel at this very moment, leaving you all to the invasion."

He could already hear the worried murmurs of the acolytes. "Fear not! Those of you still on the Presidium, please join me. We will be moving to the Citadel tower for safety during this trying time, and shall protect all of those that cannot fight until relief arrives. I do not trust the petty forces of the Council, and have called upon the full might of the Prothean Empire to come and aid us. With or without the Council's consent, we shall come. With purging fire we shall cleanse this infection from this holy place, and restore the natural order to this galaxy. Join me, and experience the victory so promised by your leaders yet never delivered. Join me, and see your loved ones safe from harm! Join me, and watch the future unfold! We march to the tower, to glory, and to revolution!"

Sha'ira saw Ish'Stho'Lhas rest his hands on his waist, his chest rising and falling as if he was winded. "I march at this very moment. For those of you who listen from afar, prepare thyselves for the great coming of the Prothean Empire. We shall be your light, unto salvation. Your leaders may disagree, and may even try to keep you from the truth. It is my solemn oath that those who seek truth shall not be turned away, and those who seek wisdom shall find it. Those who seek to find a purpose in this galaxy _will_ find it. In this, I give my word." He pressed a button to end the transmission, the video already uploaded onto the extranet and over eight billion views so far. "Have your acolytes form a vanguard to lead our followers to the Presidium tower. The moment that the Council evacuate, we must take possession of it. Any with Commando training should take the forefront. Save three to guard us as we move to the tower."

Sha'ira nodded her head. "I shall endeavor to fulfill your request. I do not have any experience with warfare of any kind, but some of my acolytes do. They shall not fail you."

"They shall not." Shrieks and cries from the Presidium drew their attention to C-sec headquarters, which was now on fire in multiple places, plasma bolts flying from some of the lower windows. "Sha'Ira." Her name sounded like the tinkling of chimes coming from his mouth. "It is no longer safe for you to travel with me." He reached over his head, bones pushing against his skin. "You shall not accompany me to the tower."

"Why not?"

His hands reached their desired distance, bringing with them the chain that held up his crystal. "No matter what occurs, there must be a witness to these events." His fingers gently curled around the crystal, and then let the chain slide out of his grip, the crystal swinging like a pendulum. "I have impressed my memories and emotions into this. It is my account, and you must share it, should I fail. The Protheans only survived because we hid ourselves in systems where relays have never touched. After our Empire retreated, we broke into two groups. One group believed that we should begin uplifting the lesser races immediately, and shape and mold them into the strength we would need. The other believed in trying to save our culture, as little remained.

"The first group was successful in their attempts to salvage our culture and technological prowess. In this, they were able to preserve us. But the second group had done little of consequence, and were unable to easily escape that section of space. So they took control of the primary group, seeking to abuse their gains and use them to their advantage. In return, the primary group tried to sterilize them with medicine. If they could not win through force of arms, they would win the long game.

The Herald closed his outer eyes. "A more sufficient explanation of the violence that erupted is within that crystal. My race now views any kind of threat to their control with the same kind of disdain your Salarians view a possible threat. The difference is that unlike the Salarians we will not make peace with that threat to control it later. We have made a practice of genetic engineering, to become something more than we were before. We are not without our differences, and our culture follows the ideals of both of our original groups. Their story must be told. _They_ will come, and they will expect nothing less than the complete abdication of your Council. I entrust you with that task. I have taught you all that you need to understand how to access it."

"You speak as if you know that you may fail."

"There is always the possibility. This crystal is called _Ihann_. If I fall, bring it to the place it directs you." His hand brushed her arm as he stood to his full height. "It is because I trust you to do this, that I ask you stay behind."

"I understand." Sha'ira heard herself say. In her heart, she didn't want to leave his side. But his voice was more than enough, and somewhere in her mind she knew that it was logical. "I wish that you would succeed."

When he left the room, she didn't even realize it. The crystal had touched her skin, and her eyes went black, the glow from the crystal overtaking her. The last thing she heard, as her body went numb, was his parting words. "Come find me where the four suns set."

* * *

Orbit of Eden Prime, Exodus Cluster, January 2183

"One hell of a New Year's resolution." Glasses clinked, and Steven rested his head against the cold glass. "Rationing never happened during the First Contact War." The water in the glass had no coloration, but it tasted like champagne. Tongue twisters, as the enlisted men called them. A few drops changed the taste of most liquids, and Steven thought it tasted synthetic enough to feel wrong, but real enough to trick him into enjoying it anyways.

"At least the coffee is still good." Rear Admiral Kohaku said. The man always had a cup of the blackest tar that the ship could produce. He had an iron stomach for the stuff. "Logistics claims we have enough coffee to keep us going for thirty years. We've got ammo and coffee in enough abundance to get through this war."

"Logistics lies through their teeth even while the workers riot in Terra Firma idiocy." He sighed, wishing that this was real alcohol. Even synthetic alcohol would be preferred. "Any more clashes?"

"With most of our ground pounders at Galatana, the Navy brats haven't had the chance to make trouble with them. We've separated the troublemakers, but they've got friends. As soon as messages go out, we might see some more harassment."

"So long as no more young women get accosted, I would accept that." Steven told him. One young Gunnery crew Lieutenant had been nearly raped by two grunts. It wasn't the first report of these kinds of things, nor would it be the last. When you had a military made up of every culture on earth, there were underlying tensions. The Turians had their colonials and their own cultural issues as well, but it was not as bad. They had hundreds of years to overcome their differences. The Systems Alliance had decades, and tensions were high.

Their embassy on the Citadel was now a chokepoint that the Rachni were pouring out of, entrances to lower tunnels and accessways all at risk. The other races blamed them, of course. But at the same time the Alliance had been curtailed in their deployment of troops to their own embassy. There weren't enough guns there to put down anything threatening. "Sir, you have a comm from Arcturus." There were always high ranking Captains and Staff Lieutenants around to relay messages.

He got up, drinking the rest of this glass. "Duty calls. Enjoy your time, gentleman."

"Admiral." The sound echoed through the room from six throats. He moved to the comm chamber, a squat ugly room that held nothing but a boxy interface and three chairs. A few of these existed on the dreadnought, and none of them were aesthetically pleasing to be seen in. The screen was waiting for input from him. His credentials, being that of an Admiral, took too long to enter for his liking.

" _Hackett. Good, good, I've got another appointment approaching. Sorry to do this on short notice, but I haven't been able to contact Rear Admiral White for at least a day. With the Ambassador dead the amount of people we can depend on out beyond Arcturus shrinks._ " President Huerta was his usual private self. Abrasive, unapologetic, and demanding. In public he was the glue that held the Senate and different colonies together, as the man claimed his citizenship from Terra Nova. His cabinet included many colonial magnates and influentials.

"I regret to inform you that we identified his identity chip in the remains of the docks. The Rachni managed to catch him outside of the Embassy. He, along with fifteen agents, were killed." They were down to a few political officers and whatever men on leave they could find. "What did you need from him?"

" _The Asari are in a right fit, and I want to know the real reasons why. The only people we have out there haven't been able to make sense of it, and their government is acting odd. They're supposed to be absolving some of our debt right now, and I can't get a hold of anyone who can tell me why they are in such a tizzy._ "

"The Asari are panicking about a lot of things right now, Mr. President." He calmly told him. "I have one ship out there, the _Normandy_. It hasn't checked in yet, but I hope they have an answer."

" _That ship is at the heart of this entire mess. It would be better if we broke it down for scrap the moment it comes back. I want that ship decommissioned and broken down for whatever technology works. Discard the rest._ "

"The Senate committee would never approve that after the amount of money we sank into this project." Hackett retorted. "That ship is critical to fighting that Rachni Dreadnought. I cannot in good conscience do that."

" _Am I not your Commander in Chief?_ " He asked rudely, and rhetorically. " _Get rid of that ship. My shrinks say that the tech is worth keeping, and that is about it. Scatter the crew among your fleet, put them on the shit list. If there are any alien sycophants left on that ship, dump them off quietly. Don't kill them, but dump them off somewhere they won't be in the way. If they resist, make sure that the Turian lives. More dead Spectres doesn't reflect on us well._ " Huerta had a hard look about him. " _Is that clear?_ "

"Yes, Sir." Hackett said slowly. "It will be done."

" _Good, good. Both Harper girls dead, and their father soon to follow. Just because he handed out free Prothean Beacons doesn't make him any more necessary. Horace Shepherd was supposed to be willing to kill the bastard, yet he failed. The next people I send after him won't._ "

"Miranda Harper is onboard the _Normandy_?"

" _I have my sources, Admiral. I can't trust my own Office of Intelligence to provide me with everything I need, so I go through other ways. We stop the Harpers, and the other races will be quite a bit more supportive. Then this Rachni business can get underway._ "

"Actually, Mr. President, we finally made headway on that front. We traced the direction that the ships that attacked Shanxi came from. We have reason to believe that they may have been a fluke by the Rachni."

" _What do you mean?_ "

"Going by their trajectory, that force was supposed to reach Salarian space in three hundred years." Hackett had only a report from the scientists at Arcturus for that, but it was enough to make some assumptions. "Unless they could resupply their ships en route, we can only assume that these ships were built and sent hundreds of years ago. Roughly six hundred or so."

" _We haven't been around that long. How would they have known about Shanxi?_ "

"They know where many of the relays are, Sir. The Council won't allow anyone to open up new relays, so the Rachni can just use those outside the existing network."

" _If the Rachni could be swayed by credits we might be able to find out how they are getting around our blockades. Thankfully, you managed to get our captive queen off the Citadel. That may turn up the relays we need._ "

"I doubt it." Hackett said. "I have a better idea. Perhaps we should ransom one of Harper's daughters back to him for that information. He might break if we threaten to kill his daughters." Hackett sighed. "Before your team takes him down."

" _Devious, Admiral. We don't normally negotiate with terrorists._ "

"We wouldn't be. This isn't a negotiation. When Harper exchanges the information, good or bad, Miranda dies." She couldn't be convicted of any war crimes. But it was one way of getting an upper hand over their foes. "I have no word on the state of Julia Harper."

" _I do._ " Huerta said with disdain. " _The Asari claim that she is dead, they even have a body to show for it. Yet my sources claim that she is alive on board that ship. Clarify that for me, Admiral._ " Huerta waved his hands as if washing them. " _I don't want the Asari to feel as though we are less than perfect allies._ "

"I'll see to it." He said. Sometimes, to win a war you had to lose the battle. He liked Julia, and he liked what she had done. "What will the Senate do?"

" _Bicker and piss everywhere. I've got to go meet with a few of the party chairmen. I'll be paying close attention, Hackett."_ Huerta brought his finger over his wrist, but stopped before touching it. " _Many people believe you aren't tough enough on the enemy. That you are more of a peacetime Admiral. Prove me wrong._ "

The line went dead, and Steven closed his eyes in thought. Not tough enough? No stomach for war? Huerta wanted blood, and a galaxy that saw Humanity as more than a pittance. "Fine." He said, more to himself than Huerta. "They want to play hardball."

He tapped the screen, bringing up the encryptions and placing an outside call. " _You've reached the office of Sanctuary Arms, how may I direct your call?_ " The VI was a nicer one, that was for certain.

"Room 4502, please."

" _No problem, Sir. Have a wonderful day!_ " The code connected him to the person behind the encryption nets on the other side. It took a good minute to get through everything, and finally connect to the other side. The comm connection didn't connect video on either side.

"I've got news."

" _I could probably guess._ " The tired voice on the other line said. " _Tell me._ "

"Your nephew is dead."

" _He probably deserved it. Doesn't make it hurt any more or any less to know._ "

"Ross." Hackett said. "This isn't social. Huerta wants blood."

" _That pandering scapegoat can't keep his hands clean. He just wants to have a second term._ " Ross sounded terrible, as usual. " _I'll preserve your job. He can bluster all he wants, but he can't afford to sack anyone right now. Your fleet is critical._ "

"I want to ask you for a favor."

" _What._ "

"I want to add Constantine to the list."

" _I'll forget you ever said that, just this once, Hackett._ " Ross growled. " _Why even consider it?_ "

"She's loyal to the ideals of the Alliance. She would be a good choice to replace some of the losses we have had."

" _She is too close to undesirable elements. I would rather take that whining prat Halmabad over her._ "

"The Senator or the Spectre candidate?"

" _It doesn't matter. Recruitment to our cause was never your duty. Do not let it concern you. Your duty is and will always be to safeguard the future of our race, no matter what government may exist. Do not act above your post, and do not mention this to me ever again._ "

Hackett sighed as she ended the connection. That didn't help. The Society was supposed to help in these situations. Runya Ross was one of the least traditional members, and she had shut him down. He did what any sane man would do, following that.

"Rear Admiral Kohaku." He said into his comms, connecting to the man immediately. "The government has approved of more aggressive methods. I want all of the frigates that have been refitted with Thanix cannons to be brought out of drydock. The Turians and the Salarians may complain about it, but we've been given the go ahead. Stop the bleeding and give our patrols a real chance."

" _Command must be feeling someone pulling the purse strings if they are releasing them ahead of schedule._ " Kohaku said. " _I'll get the ships deployed where they need to be._ " There would be blood, after all. " _Oh, and you might want to know that the_ Normandy _has asked for orders. They are on their way to the Citadel, and will be leaving Asari space as soon as possible._ "

"I'll handle that myself." Hackett said.

" _Very well, Sir._ "

Hackett brought up his Omni-tool, and began typing. One message, he wrote out a detailed message instructing the SR-1 to dock at Terra Nova for decommissioning and study. With the damage it had suffered, there was enough basis to bring it in for study and reclamation. The second message, he wrote detailing a mission briefing. It was a simple order, with vague instructions. Go into the Terminus. Go dark, and _run_. Scuttle the ship and make it look good. If Julia survived it would be fair to her.

But he knew that he would never get away with pissing off both Ross and Huerta. He sent the first message, giving them 48 hours to return to Terra Nova. He didn't address it to anyone in particular. He deleted the second message from his wrist, and stood up. The interfaces flashed, as alerts went across the ship.

The bridge was half a kilometer away. A tram ran through the center of the ship, right alongside the railguns. He took a seat on it, displacing a Navy man wearing an encounter suit. It took less than two minutes to arrive at the bridge, where things were already looking hectic. "Sitrep!" He barked.

"Sir, it's the relay! It's not working anymore!" The spinning core of the mass relay had come to a stop, and the pile up of merchant ships had already started. "The other relays in the system have also stopped working, and intracluster comms are down!" Too little, too late.

"Find me a comm line to the Citadel. Get some engineers manually restarting that relay." Hackett took his seat. "Let's hope this is not intentional."

* * *

Widow Nebula, January 2183

When the connecting relay to the Horse Head nebula opened, the few ships waiting on this side were not prepared. Eight frigates and four cruisers collapsed under the weight of sixty Rachni craft, their guns flashing and striking the unprepared Turian and Salarian ships. Armorless bodies tumbled out of the wreckage, and the vanguard of small ninety meter Rachni ships pushed through their corpses. Merchant craft fared little better, shots perforating their hulls and leaving burning wrecks around the relay.

Other patrols reacted within two minutes, the Turian standard speed. They would be all over the Rachni soon, as their different patrols gathered their strength. The Citadel fleet rose into the nebula like a rush of angry wasps, hundreds of fighter squadrons deploying from the surface of the Citadel. The Rachni held their ground, as more and more of their craft poured through.

"Evacuate the Council." Matriarch Lidanya said. "We can't risk being cut off from them during the battle. Tell the Turians to form a battle line, and to start shelling them. We can worry about any possible damage to the systems on the other side of the range later."

"They can't get a clear firing arc. There are too many ships in the way!"

"We have dozens of comms officers. Get those ships out of the line of fire, and get the Turians firing. Have the Salarians prepare to intercept anything that tries to go through. Their ships are faster and harder hitting up close. Have our own ships fill in the gaps or guide the civilians out of the line of fire."

"Heavy EM fields coming from the Rachni fleet, along with some kind of dust. It's light metals and radioactive materials, but it is jamming our sensor nets."

Lidanya rolled her eyes. "Just start shooting. Torpedos will clear that rubbish with enough time for the Turians to get into position."

"Matria! Look!"

Coming out of whatever cloud the Rachni had laid down, there came the full might of their fleet. Two hundred frigates, sixty cruisers, and three queen ships. It was underwhelming. They had them outnumbered ten to one, and the heaviest firepower in the entire Citadel fleet was here. "Why would they dare? They don't have enough firepower." She didn't have to wait long to know why.

Behind them, there came more ships. Hundreds more, of a type that hadn't been seen in three hundred years. "Goddess preserve us." Geth ships, with two even larger craft at the center of the formation.

"They outweigh us, based on what we can tell. The Geth fleet is made up of enough cruisers and heavier craft that they outnumber the Turians."

"Recall all fleets! We need to hit them from all sides!" Lidanya ordered. "Get the Council out! Get them out of here! Then seal the Citadel and have its defenses cover us."

The enemy fleet moved forward, fast despite their tonnage. The Rachni started firing torpedos, by the dozens for each craft. All of them were aimed at the Citadel. "Boarding craft! They're trying to force us out of position!"

"The Citadel has its own defenses. Let them put in some work. We pay enough to maintain them." Lidanya retorted. "What is the time on those fleets?"

"Comms are down between the Citadel and other systems! C-sec has lost control of their comm grid."

"Useless Turians." She muttered. "They can't even do what they are supposed to. Send ships directly, get us some backup." The Rachni were faster than the Geth, and they would arrive in firing range within the hour. The Geth in seventy minutes. At this point, everyone was firing their extreme long range weapons, which suited the enemy fine. They could dodge. The Citadel could not, and she had little choice but to hold the line.

"We have some ships _volunteering_ to assist us, Matria." She glanced over at the readouts, seeing a good score of craft joining them in the battle line. Fifteen were Volus, and one was _Hanar_. "Others all over the system are joining us, offering their aid. Goddess, some of them are just merchant craft."

"Don't refuse. How many of them are Turian and Volus? They might know our battle tactics."

"More than half. Some of the vessels are Batarian, as well. Some Human military vessels are asking where they can join."

"Put them with the Turians." She saw that some of the ships reporting were part of the evacuation fleets. "Make sure they are in the back. I don't trust them to be able to take a pounding. Is that the SR Ship that was involved with the Friess incident?"

"Just through the relay, Matria. They are being ordered to assist the battle line by their superiors." The technician gave her a small smile. "They've killed a queen ship in the past."

"The Human onboard that our government despised is dead. I have only the highest respect for the rest of its crew. Allow them to lead some of our frigates against the Rachni. Show that the Asari race still honors our allies. A finely worded thank you should be sent to the Alliance leadership in this system. We should be so lucky to have such volunteers."

Her fleet was outgunned. But it would be almost ninety minutes before help came. Ninety minutes to hold a fixed position. She saw that the Rachni would be in range in fifty-six. Her nostrils flared as she thought about that. She could hold for thirty minutes. They had to, or else this would be a colossal failure. "The Council is being evacuated. Or rather the Salarian and Asari Councillors have been evacuated. Volorium is staying at the Presidium Tower."

"Why would he do such a thing? Connect me to him." Her tech nodded, putting her directly to him.

" _Matriarch Lidanya._ "

"Councillor. Please help me understand why you are remaining when protocol strictly states otherwise?"

" _That Prothean claims that he is going to take this tower if we leave. I am little more than a replaceable figurehead, as you well know. Tevos or Valern would be a great loss to all if they died. I am not so blind as to believe that my replacement is ready for this. Our troops will truly believe all is lost if we evacuate. But if I take control of the defenses directly, they will believe we still are holding._ "

"I agree with your thoughts, Volorium, but I disagree with your actions. Certainly you can inspire the defenders from the _Destiny_ _Ascension_."

" _I would agree, if I were not already on the battle line. The Rachni are coming, Matriarch. They cannot be allowed to take control of the Citadel's defenses. I will personally make sure that they do not fall. Your fleet won't be able to hold long enough without them."_

She smiled at the Turian. "I will make an exception, Councillor Volorium. Hold the enemy." The comm call ended, as she glanced up at the clock. Fifty-three minutes until contact. "What do we know about the Geth ships?"

"Little or nothing."

"Assume the worst. Form battle ranks and prepare to sortie fighter groups against the Rachni at extreme range. We need to buy time. Deploy all defense platforms, drones, and tell the Salarians to pull out whatever they are holding back." She considered. "We aren't going to lose the first major Naval battle of the last thousand years because someone wants to play a trump card!"

* * *

Author's Note

Yay! Geth _and_ Rachni! Sovereign and Arda, and the Battle of the Citadel. I almost didn't finish this yesterday because I finally decided to get caught up on LogicalPremise's work. His self-styled Angstrofuck of Doom hasn't happened yet(and I will find it quite satisfying to read when it does) so I was able to finish the chapter.

Someone made a review about the cost of a Council Credit. I did some thinking on this and basically thought about our dollars and euros and Alliance credits. In my view, compared to today's wealth, I would compare five Council credits to twenty euro, or twenty five US dollars. Triple A credit rating, compared to the Alliance with no credit rating at all. Today, few countries have a Triple A credit rating(and the US lost it in the last eight years), and I would expect no one to expect lending to come from a new race.

I have two new beta readers and editors now, both of them the best of gentlemen. I have been able to get a lot more done with their help. If another update is not completed before the end of the month, Happy Holidays and Merry ChistHunnaKwanza! I hope that all of you are able to spend time with those you love and those who are important to you.


	83. Dementia:King of the Hill

Chapter 83

The Citadel, Widow Nebula, January 2183

"Joker, what did they say?"

"Ma'am, we have been given direction of five Asari frigates. Apparently they _like_ us today." Julia's head was pounding. The redhead brought up her hand to massage her temple, "Maybe it's because they think you are dead, Commander."

"Are you insinuating that my apparent death is a convenience? That I should do it more often?"

"Er, no, Ma'am." Joker scrambled a bit, his hands stopping their touches on the interface. "Just making a comment."

"Stow it. They want to give us a squadron of frigates? What for?"

"We've been assigned priority targets, the Rachni queen ships and the massive Rachni dreadnoughts." Joker answered, looking over the readouts, "Information is coming over the battle-net now." The _Normandy_ was built to go under the radar, and wasn't made to handle this many contacts. It needed to network itself with other ships in order to 'see' and process everything that was going on. There were hundreds of enemy ships within two light minutes, and thousands more to follow. Keeping track of that many contacts and fighters was simply beyond the scope of the combat VI that the _Normandy_ had been equipped with.

"Where is Pressley when we need him?" She muttered. This wasn't what she trained for. Large scale battles were not something she was ready for or willing to engage in. She didn't even know if he survived.

"Shuttle docking in two minutes, Ma'am." Kalin'ren added. "As soon as we got in system I noticed that XO Pressley had been found and was in good health. He is on his way to the ship, along with a few spare marines and a gunnery crew."

"I hesitate to tell you this, Kalin'ren, but thank you."

"Just this once, I'll accept it." The Quarian said quietly. "My ship has a reputation to uphold. I want to be able to say that we have killed two queen ships today."

"Having that on record might actually have us challenge the _Arilissa_ for Rachni kills." The Asari cruiser was well known for its service in the Rachni war, and the Asari military always kept a cruiser with that name in active duty to honor it. Harris had a grin on his face as he said that. "The frigates they are giving us leadership of are all from someplace called the Light Upon the Water."

"Clan T'soni!" Julia chirped happily. She realized that everyone was giving her a look, probably because of her outright happiness. The Commander didn't do happiness. "Don't worry, they like us."

"Want to talk to them?"

"Joker!" Everyone cringed at the sound of piercing anger, sharp and sudden like thunder. Standing under the light of the elevator was Charles Pressley, frown ever-present and eyes threatening the entire bridge. "We do not insinuate that Commander Constantine is in any way alive or that she survived what happened. You'll be in charge of the paperwork that I am behind on, for that comment and undoubtedly any others I've not been here for." Pressley said, clearly enunciating every syllable. "Kalin'ren. Glad to see you aren't impaled."

"Quarians can take a hit just like everyone else, pyjak."

Pressley nodded, the skin around his mouth loosening slightly. "Good to see you alive, Ma'am."

"It's complicated." Julia said, apologetically. "We're glad to have you back. We need a bit of experience right now."

"Old men have value in times of war and peace." He muttered, stepping up to the small command deck. "Switch galaxy map to battle-net. XO has the ship."

Julia nodded, stepping back. The galaxy map switched over to the larger view of the battle-net, the processes of managing EM warfare and tracking split between the overall fleet. Every ship and missile were being displayed in high definition, the VI not at all stressed. It was a thing of beauty, considering that Tali had just barely repaired it. " _SSV Normandy, this is Thessian 5-6. We await your guidance and wisdom in this battle._ "

A small view of the Asari captain came through, and Julia smirked. Nyra looked just as good as she did back at Solaris. She made sure that she was outside the view of the cameras when she cloaked. She didn't want to chance being seen. "Thessian 5-6, this is the Normandy. Please forward call signs and ship IDs, and we will do our best to make sure we all go home today."

" _Clan T'soni has a long history of working together with the Systems Alliance. We requested the honor of working with you, when you volunteered._ "

"I do remember that Clan T'soni offered a lot of support against the Rachni the last time they went to war. Though last time it was just supplies and weapons." Pressley said, glancing at his own notes on the Rachni. "We've been given a tough job."

" _Among the Asari, we place much expectation on ship captains. They will have centuries of experience, if not decades. But in rare times where the experience of a captain speaks higher than that of their fellows we trust in their wisdom. Today we hope that your experience against the Rachni will guide us to victory._ "

The navigator gave a miniscule nod, "We appreciate your trust. We've been given one queen all to ourselves. In this case, the Alliance and Asari battle doctrines would allow for…" She walked away from the conversation, stepping into the elevator. At least it was semi-functional now. There was at least forty minutes before the fleet made contact with the enemy.

Two of those _Reapers_ were here. With Geth and Rachni backing them. Miranda was in the medbay, where she should be. Julia hadn't healed up from hitting the crash netting yet. The escape plan had been simple. Use the automatic shunt system of the prison to get off of Friess Station. She had been the first person to escape from the place, but only because they thought she was already dead. Once they caught up with Garrus the patrols stopped being so uptight. She had been able to slip away into the prison, and all the way to the very back, with the old Krogan. Of course a second cell had been caught up into this plan, and the force of that hit her while the net was stretched to its limit.

She saw only one man still in the mess, someone she didn't recognize. His head twisted when the medbay doors cycled on their own. She didn't care. Normally she would, but it had been a shitty week. Miranda cocked her head up, seeing the doors open. "Hello?" She called, once they had closed again.

"It's me!" She whispered loudly enough to be conversation volume. "The Citadel is under attack!"

"Who would be so stupid!" her twin spat incredulously. "The Rachni don't have the ships to be able to do anything more than a guerilla war."

Julia shook her head, decloaking beside her sister, "Thousands of Geth ships are here. Along with hundreds of Rachni ones. And two of those Reapers."

"What!" Miranda looked at her. "There's only supposed to be one! Just one of the damn things!"

"The Council is pulling in their fleets, and I don't understand why these Reapers think they can win." Julia pulled up the battle-net on her wrist, letting Miranda see. "What can you tell me?"

"I'm not an information analyst, sis. I won't be able to be much help." She seemed to stare at Julia, carefully considering something. "Would they care if I called Charles? Does Dad know the Citadel is under attack?"

" _He does._ " Her wrist echoed. " _Which is part of the reason why the Rachni are acting too early. We spooked them, had them surprised._ "

"Kalin'ren? How the hell are you on this frequency? I wasn't even connected to comms!"

" _I installed comm protocols on everyone's Omni-tool as part of the requirements of this vessel. Some of that was surveillance. Only active if it was necessary. I cannot leave my post currently, but_ we _will be able to soon. The Council is trying to evacuate from the Presidium tower, and things aren't going well. I think that there may be the other stealth ship somewhere around. The scanners won't be able to find any sign of it with all of this mess going on._ "

"Kalin'ren, I don't care about the Council. Right now our only job is to win this war."

" _On the contrary. When I was briefed on what the Reapers were, I was also informed as to their master plan. They mean to take the Citadel tower, and from there, destroy all races. This fleet action is simply a grand distraction. The real goal is the Citadel tower._ "

"Wouldn't that be the most single defended point in space? Why should we care?"

" _Because a Prothean is about to breach the front doors. Someone that has the ability to control the minds of others around it. The other Prothean that you have met is a simple warrior compared to this. As such, you are the only one qualified to stop it._ "

"You're being pushy, Kalin'ren. I don't like that."

" _Quarians don't stick their necks out over just anything, Harper-child. We only stick our necks out for the good of the fleet. Right now, there won't be a fleet if they win. This fleet battle is not important. The ground battle_ is. _Now, give the order. Deploy your people. Stop the madness._ "

"You said Jack Harper already knows about this. Why."

" _That is going to take some explaining. At least, more than what I can safely say over an Omni-tool. Yes, pyjaks, we have a clear line of communication to the rest of the fleet. The Geth are simply making a lot of noise that makes our signals harder to comprehend._ " His last sentence was obviously directed to the people on the bridge. " _Julia and Miranda Harper. If you do not choose to act, I will be throwing myself into an escape pod and doing this myself. That is the level of importance that exists in this moment._ "

Julia considered. "What happens after?"

" _You ask about consequences? Of me helping you? Or if the Reapers win?_ "

"No one has ever told me what will happen. I don't want to walk into a situation without full understanding of the consequences, or at least a good idea of what is at stake." Julia pointed out. "These things can cripple entire systems, and all I know is that they are at war with us. A war that so far has been going from bad to worse. If I take my people off this ship, and we fail because of that, I want to know what I was throwing away our chances for."

" _The Reapers are a kind of enemy that only want one thing: The systematic and complete destruction of all species. The Citadel is at the heart of the relay network. If the Rachni take control of those functions, or the Geth, then the Citadel will cut off every system in the galaxy from each other. It would be the undoing of the entire galaxy, and it all hinges on this one attack. Hundreds of years of Rachni preparation, and more than likely the Geth as well, have led to this moment._ " Kalin'ren said, taking a moment to answer some questions from the bridge. " _If their ground forces take control of the Citadel, then it traps all fleets in their different systems. There will be no reinforcements, no backup, and all will be lost. From what little I was briefed on, this is only the first stage of the enemy's plans._ "

"Where did you get all of this from?"

" _Javik, Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh, and Jack Harper._ " He said slowly. " _As well as a few thousand pieces of Asari material that we hacked from them during the time we were docked at Friess._ "

"Is _that_ why they're so pissed! Damn it, Kalin'ren!"

The Quarian laughed. " _Make the call, Julia. I'll wait five minutes before taking an escape pod._ "

She bit her lip, hard enough that it was bruising. If the bastard was right, then this fleet action wouldn't mean or do anything. If he was wrong, then she might be taking men away from their posts when they needed them most. "Pressley."

" _Yes, Ma'am?_ "

"I'm taking Wrex and Miri on a combat mission. I'm no good up here."

" _Better get down to the hangar bay, Ma'am. I brought every crazy son of a bitch marine that I could find when I took a shuttle up. We've got sixteen boys down there ready to go. The Asari haven't approved of any kind of troop movements, but the Alliance Embassy has been requesting backup since this fight started. The uppermost levels are still held, and the Ritz-Carlton is the new staging ground for our fight to take back the Presidium. Don't worry, Ma'am. We will do our damn best to kill these things. You do your job where you can do your best._ "

"Thank you, Pressley." She said. "I'll need a Quarian, too. Someone that can work the Prothean crap on the Citadel."

" _I'm sending you Tali-_ "

" _I volunteer._ "

" _As well as Kalin'ren. He's able to fly a shuttle as well as anyone else._ "

"I'll fly, I think." Julia said. "Everyone meet in the hangar." Miranda was already pulling on one of her backup sets of Sirta Pheonix armor, painted matte black. The small Alliance blue symbol was on the shoulders, but the paint job was good for dark places and corners. Julia joined her in this, pulling her main set on and grinning. "Good thing we're the same size, right?"

Miranda giggled so hard she fumbled the zipper. That made Julia give a little chirp of laughter. The hanger was packed with men and women in armor, and at their head was Ashley Williams. She and Andrew T'au were doing a tribal dance, something called a Hakka, and the marines were getting revved about it. Williams had just slapped both of her thighs when she noticed the elevator arrive. "Officer on deck!" She bellowed, and as one the marines turned to her.

She did not give them the order to be at ease. She instead looked all of them over. Most of them had some decent rifles, and their backup weapons were mostly standard pistols. Every three men there was a heavy weapon, most of which were napalm launchers and few missile launchers spread in the mix. "Armory officer?" She said quietly.

"Ma'am!" Ashley replied.

"Break out all of our top gear. Every pistol should be equipped with radiation rounds, cryo rounds, or shredders. Every rifle with the same. Citadel rulings don't matter today. I don't want any advantage to be denied to us today." She walked over to the small area in front of the men. "We leave in five. Modify your weapons and replace anything that doesn't make the cut. If the _Normandy_ has any grenades left in storage you will have done the Alliance a disservice." She stepped her feet together, and glared out across the room. "Meet back here in five."

Miranda she gently pushed with a biotic effort, making her join everyone else in picking out weapons and gear. When the men lined up again, each of them were carrying a heavy weapon, with thermal clips hanging out of extra pockets like ration bars. Helmets were stashed against the inside of their elbows and each squad leader looked grim. "Squads Alpha through Echo, armed and ready, Ma'am!"

"Good." Julia said, smiling. "Where are you all from?"

"525th off of Eden Prime, Ma'am!" They all barked.

"My XO knows what I like!" She said with a hint of a smile. "All of you have experience with the Rachni?" All of the men and women grinned. "Wonderful. The Rachni are trying to take the Citadel's tower. From there, the defenses and barriers that protect millions of people are controlled. Conveniently, our Embassy is at the base of that tower. The entire relay system can be shut down from there. The Rachni aren't going to touch it. Alpha squad, Beta squad, you're on shuttle two. Williams, you take them. You'll deploy right in the Council chambers. There is a shuttle landing bay that should be empty nearby. Charlie, you're on shuttle one. Biotic suppression and support. As soon as we land, you'll hook up with the other squads in the Council chambers. Delta squad, you're with me directly." Wrex grinned, his teeth gleaming. "We're hunting a Prothean. Ish'Stho'Lhas or Javik, if you hear either of those names or see a Prothean, take them down. I'll be making them my top priority. Expect Rachni Queens to be entering close combat as well." Julia clenched her fist in front of the gathered men and women. "If it ain't friendly we blow it to hell and apologize later."

"Hoorah!" The marines yelled back.

"Board shuttles! Pack in any det-packs or explosives we can fit in the holds. Williams, I expect you to hold the line for as long as it takes."

"That's what I signed up for, Ma'am." She said softly as the men were moving for the airlocks. "See you on the other side." Tali and Wrex climbed into shuttle one,

Shuttle two's pilot was a combat engineer that looked far too young to have been through Eden Prime. She herself sat down in shuttle one's cockpit, with Kalin'ren and Miranda in the cockpit with her. "Alright, talk. I doubt anyone will care if I kill you and dump your body on the other side."

"Commander, if you kill me, then you'll most likely regret it." The Quarian started saying, before noticing that she was aiming her pistol at him. "Ah. Well, to preface this, when this ship was designed for you, it was done so with the understanding that I would take my place as a bridge officer."

"Not good enough." Julia warned. "You're working with my father, which constitutes as treason at this point. Convince me why you shouldn't be killed."

The Quarian reached upwards, disengaging his helmet and the tubes that ran behind it. "Don't stop me!" He barked, seeing Miranda reaching. His hands popped the seal on his vizor, gas hissing as it escaped. The skin underneath was gray, cracked and broken in places. The lips were covered in sores, and the neck was surprisingly chafed. The entire helmet slid off, and a wild mane of hair erupted from the top of the helmet. Quarians didn't have hair, or so she thought. The breathing tube and feeding tube were pulled out of his mouth, and a wad of spit hit the floor. It may have been phlegm. "Those things are terrible." He said that in unaccented English. Perfect Human English, with no awkward sounding consonants. "It's the reason that entire race speaks like that. All of them have breathing tubes and food tubes in their mouths. Now, does this prove my point?"

"You're _Human_." Miranda said, finally. "But your skin…"

"It hasn't seen any sunlight in ten years, at least." The hair was now hanging down past the nose, and the Quarian fingers grabbed the bunches of hair and held them up from his head, a small set of scissors deploying from his Omni-tool and cutting the entire hunk of hair. Now it only hung to the forehead, and draped on the sides down past the ears. "Vitamin D in pill form just doesn't do enough." His skin was covered in small implants, plugged in underneath the eyes, cheeks, all of them green and blinking with readout connections. The only thing that stood out to them were his eyes. They were bright blue, and a duplicate of the very same ones they owned.

"What the hell!" Julia yelled. "What is this!"

"I'm a clone." Not-Jack-Harper said. "I won't claim to be your father, nor will I claim any kind of importance. I was created and programmed using graybox technology for one purpose only: To safeguard and protect you both."

Julia was horrified. "You've been watching us since the beginning. Just watching, nothing else! You just watched as I went through all of that horse shit!"

"I've got internal bleeding, two infections, and a collapsing immune system from taking hits defending this damn ship. This clone body won't last too long, but it has fulfilled its purpose. As the comms officer I was in charge of seeing what messages and signals came and went on the ship. Some I could conceal, others reroute. But from there I could do the most to protect you. It is my function, and what little joy I could gain out of my existence was mostly from antagonizing other sentients."

Her pistol sank from her hands. "Why not call? Or just talk?" Emotions were running too high. "I didn't want this. _We_ didn't want this." Miranda nodded, still in shock over the clone. "I only wanted a dad. Someone to care. Not to run out on me and think that any kind of clone or ship or money could ever be a substitute!"

The clone nodded. "Fair warning, I will be uploading my entire experience back into the graybox mounted in your father's skull at some point. Would you like me to remove this moment from that upload?"

"What kind of insensitive question is that! Julia _never_ talks about her feelings. If you don't include this, then your entire purpose will have been a failure."

"I see. Then I hope you do not mind if we separate once we are on the Citadel. I will be aiding you in the battle, but only once I can take control of some of the local systems."

"I don't care." Julia muttered. "Consider yourself kicked off the Normandy."

"I won't return, then." He started the arduous process of putting his helmet back on, not bothering to put in the feeding tube. "But it has been nice to see you become so successful."

"Shut. Up." The clone had the wisdom to not open his mouth when she retrieved her pistol. "This is Dipstick. Joker, you read?"

" _Make it quick, Dipstick. Rachni come in range in eight minutes._ " Going by call signs meant that her rank or name wouldn't be out in the open air. " _You guys okay?_ "

Her emotion must be coming through in her voice. It sounded shaky. "Yeah. Just wanted to let you know we are approaching the Citadel now. We're making our approach."

" _Just make sure you stay alive, Dipstick. We've still gotta go to Sur'Kesh and Palaven and see the sights there._ "

"You too, Joker."

* * *

The Presidium, The Citadel, Widow Nebula, January 2183

The Citadel was always the center of the Empire. Always the most important location. It was ironic that Javik had never been there. Even given the opportunity, he had not gone to see its glittering surfaces and towers. He knew it for what it truly was. It was a gilded trap, and now he had to walk right into it. "I am ready." His Warframe was prepared. "Imperial Guard! Report readiness!"

Fifty Prothean-designed tanks, three dozen Prothean-designed gunships, and hundreds of Batarian APCs sat in front of the small miniature relay. "All are in readiness, Avatar!" It was almost 80% of his men. The others were what needed to remain, to teach those that would follow. "Even the food." Kol had a normal sense of humor for a Krogan. His style of demeaning his men to inspire greater obedience worked very well with Krogan, Vorcha, and Batarians. It did nothing for the Hanar but confuse them. The Hanar were in large escape pod-sized spheres, designed originally as a form of Prothean retirement assistant. When Prothean bodies got older, the first things to go were the joints. Some of the technology his people relied on in their old age were floating spheres that could assist and help the older and more injured.

The Hanar used that and made their own twist on it. Using the hovering technology, they created spheres that could hold up to four Hanar, or two comfortably. It was then equipped with gunship light plasma repeaters, a flight system built from air car parts, and then access ports for the Hanar onboard to use their biotics in concert with the craft's already impressive armament. The armor was better than most gunships, as it could be built to support every inch at the same time. There were clear sections for the Hanar to see through, that rotated or could be sealed at any time. Functional in space and in atmosphere, they were his answer to heavily defended targets. It was the Hanar substitute for the Warframe, as their bodies could not fit in the suits. The Battle-spheres were therefore his best option for flanking and outmaneuvering the enemy's heavy defences. "The Hanar are Prothean, and above your reproach. As the Imperial Guard, it is your _duty_ to take care of them. It is their _choice_ to assist you."

The Conduit had been improved and updated since the Quarians got here. Daro'Xen had spent the last decade refining it and improving the stability of the miniature relay. " _Javik, the Conduit has been charged. Communications to the Widow Nebula have been cut off, but since we are noticing it, it means that it could have been a few minutes since they lost control._ "

"First squadron!" He barked. "Lead the way."

" _QEC tank going second, all units begin moving forward!_ " Above them, the ceiling of the bunker opened, the relay linking directly to its partner. The original containment platform above the Conduit had fallen apart, and took a lot of effort to replace. More than what anything the Protheans could do alone, as well. The little relay lit up, the tanks and APC units all equipped with hovering technology. Twelve units went through, their vehicles blue-shifting and leaping into the sky. " _QEC is live! The way is clear!_ "

"Imperial Guard! Let none be spared from our wrath! Charge and eliminate all that stand in our way!" His Warframe clearly sent his words to every man under him. "The Citadel Tower shall be ours!"

Hundreds of vehicles and Battle-spheres poured through the relay, and Javik was in the last group. The Warframe bent, screeching as it was launched across the stars. When he arrived on the other side, it was to chaos. Flames and burning bodies left smoke filling what may have been a bright and beautiful space. He ended up on top of a chunk of debris, in the middle of a lake. The water was flowing out of the lake, a hole in the wall steaming from plasma fire. His men were dying. They simply did not have the numbers for this kind of action.

"Kol! What is going on?"

" _We're hitting the tower, but whoever's guarding it has lots of the upper galleries dedicated to manned defenses. Nothing to hack and nothing but guns anywhere we look. Worst of all, there are civilians holding the line. No sport. Just screaming women. But they scream and try to stop us nonetheless._ "

"Kill them all." Javik said. "Was I not clear?"

" _Yes, Vengeance._ " Kol said, more resolved. " _We will kill all in our path._ "

"Good. If they are offering you such resistance, then I shall flank them. Protheans!"

" _We answer!_ " The voices of all of the Hanar replied. It had taken some time to get used to their manner of speech, but it was heartfelt.

"Purge the galleries, clear the way for the Guardsmen. I do not care about the local races or their attempts to defend themselves. Tell your allies that it is time."

" _The Herald hears your voice and is gladdened._ " A different Hanar said. " _We have broken out of prison and are now prepared to assist you._ "

"Your forces are unsuited to fighting the Rachni. I have only one request for you. Swarm the tower. Purge its halls and kill all that are inside."

" _I hear you. We shall come from the Emporiums and strike as hard as we can perceive._ " He watched, his second pair of eyes focusing on the shops. His mouth opened wide with a smile when he saw the first pink body lean forward, looking around to see if any Rachni were around. It nodded to itself, and then glowed brightly.

"Covering fire!" A Batarian near him called, and eight APCs opened fire on anything that dared move in the area. The Rachni had the good sense to duck, one of their Brood Warriors taking enough rounds to send it over the railing of a walkway. Then the flood came. It was a literal flood, as hundreds of Hanar squeezed into a pedestrian walkway and flowed. They all remained below the level of the railings, so that they could have enough cover. But it was awe-inspiring to see thousands of _Protheans_ moving in such a way. At their head he could see dozens of tentacles holding pilfered weapons, some of them with the price markers still attached. It was like watching an APC with hundreds of arms sticking out of the front, all carrying guns and firing them.

While unorthodox as it may seem, he genuinely laughed when a Rachni squad tried to hinder their path. They turned to dust under the volume of fire, the workers struck by small scale biotics and sent to splatter against walls and downed air cars. He cackled, seeing the Rachni unable to stop the flood of bodies that came to his aid, and then without a pause they streamed into the tower. " _We have engaged_." They reported happily, as three Turians got launched out of a four story window to fall to their deaths.

" _Vengeance, there are shuttles landing in the upper reaches of the tower! They are being reinforced from the fleets above!_ " Kol told him. " _In better news, it looks like the rabble we've been fighting are fighting C-sec and the Rachni as well as us._ "

"It matters not. Secure the entire tower. Send any injured critically back through the relay in the APCs." Javik stated. "I will join you now, Kol." The Citadel smelled of death, and of fire. It was as it was supposed to be. A pyre to his fallen race, and not some gaudy center of commerce and culture. A reminder to all races, that it should be left vacant and avoided at best. His Warframe stepped onto the corpse of an Asari, her dress stained by her life blood. A waste of life. She should have instead ran and hid, or better yet taken cover in a building that wasn't critical to the station.

" _Vengeance, someone has closed the arms of the Citadel. We cannot evacuate the injured._ " Javik scowled, and let his mass drivers warm up. This needed to be rectified, _immediately_.

* * *

Presidium Tower, The Citadel, Widow Nebula, January 2183

The shuttles had to share a cramped parking spot. Julia kept true to her call sign, the back end of the shuttle sticking out over the edge of the platform. "Everyone get out! I'm going to need one of you to tie this thing off to keep it from sliding off the platform!"

None of the men laughed. Wrex did, but it was more of a sigh than anything else. Kalin'ren gently stood up, his armor looking ratty and cheap compared to all of theirs. He hefted a small pistol and a sniper rifle, both of which looked poor quality. The mods were anything but, shiny and sleek on the weapons. "Don't wait up for me. I don't like stairs."

"Don't bother calling for help with them." Julia retorted. "Let's move out." All of the squads were running, and before long ran into a security checkpoint. Two C-sec agents manned it, both of them holding shotguns. Williams talked them down, and they seemed happy to have more support against the Rachni and whatever else was going on. Kalin'ren limped by them, taking a turn towards some interfaces and security stations. She didn't care what he did.

The Council Chambers were completely different. The plant boxes had turned into fully automated turret systems, with sniper boxes, mine launchers, and infra-red laser grids. The grids could tag incoming grenades and missiles and use low-grade focused lasers to shoot them down. Against plasma it would do nothing. Even with that, there were dozens of Turians and Salarians at every position. All three of the tiers were packed with defenders, and the upper galleries were full of Asari with long rifles.

At the center of it all was a Turian wearing robes. He was shouting and yelling his men forward, where the lowest tiers were exchanging fire with enemies below. "Humans!" The Turian in robes called. "What in the Spirits brought you here?" He directed his question towards Williams, who was in the front of their pack.

"We're straight from Eden Prime, Sir." Julia realized with a start who that Turian was, and quickly typed a correction to Ashley. "Councillor, my apologies. We didn't know you were still here."

"I don't plan on leaving." He said with vigour. "Nor will I refuse the service of a few good talons with a gun. Take your places anywhere you can. We've lost the lower concourses to Rachni and dissidents." Councillor Volorium was alright in her book. The fact that the man was fighting here and now was uplifting. The C-sec men and women stood taller around him, and even the little Volus were standing to their full height in their boxy combat armor frames.

"We've got experience fighting Rachni and every bomb and explosive our ship could carry. Specialized weapons meant to hurt the bugs." She was smiling for the Turian. Ashley was actually smiling at the Turian. It was a small miracle. "Unless it's Krogan dissidents, we'll be able to put anything down you point us at."

"My men don't have anything for this kind of assault. The Rachni have cut the power grid for our internal defenses, so we have to manually run the guns. They aren't as accurate without the VIs. If you are as good as you claim, please put your skills to use. The lower tiers are being pressed hard."

Ashley gave him a jaunty salute. "All squads on me! Napalm in front, missiles for the Brood Warriors! I don't want any Husks of any kind getting past us!" Julia watched as the C-sec agents seemed to open a hole for her people, welcoming them to the battle line. Turian officers stood next to Human marines, and the effect of having fully armed marines on the line was immediate. Rachni screams came from below, and the light of flames rose high. It _really_ helped that most of those guns didn't follow Citadel conventions for ammo. "Delta squad, you're good to go! Get hunting!"

Small sets of service stairs were on the sides of the room, with bolted doors at both ends. Julia pointed at the nearest. "Wrex! Take point!" The doors cycled, and Wrex shouldered his Graal. "I'm not waiting for them to come up here!"

Behind Wrex trundled Tali, Miranda, Reddin and herself. Kaidan was with Charlie squad, supporting the defenses with biotics and enough explosives to level the floor below. Ashley was leading the other two squads. She started moving down the stairs when cries of alarm came back. " _Get back here, Delta! There's a damn Queen down there, and some kind of Asari is riding it!_ "

* * *

Supreme Justice's Plaza, Widow Nebula, January 2183

Javik saw the waves of dead Hanar before he reached the upper plaza. His men had stopped responding when they got to this level. The Hanar had been pushing hard, and this was one of the few open spaces where the school of fry could be best used. The cramped hallways were nasty choke points for the unarmored creatures. It was their weakness, after all. He knew he had found the right place when he came upon ink and blood, thick enough that his Warframe's feet splashed in pools of it. The ink stuck to the paint in a way that the blood never could. His blood boiled, knowing that every ounce of that blood was Prothean.

"Truth." He yelled. "Herald!"

"Your Herald broke beneath my might." A voice echoed from the plaza. "His voice was strong, but he did not know all of the stanzas and chants of the Holy Writ of Darkening Stars!"

His suit couldn't maintain any kind of stealth with the amount of blood on the floor. He didn't bother, then. The Warframe had to push past hip high piles of dead Protheans, their tentacles stretched out or burst from pressure. "The Emperor died. His sons purged, the Empire left to the Avatars to manage and maintain the vision of Prothean Supremacy."

"So, one of you did survive the purge." Javik froze. "I will take exquisite pleasure in continuing the task left to my forebears." His suit reacted for him as it detected incoming projectiles. A spear, made out of element zero, with some kind of a drone attached to it, slammed into the floor. The area around it vibrated, and all of the nearby corpses burst like bubbles. Anything within a foot of the tip of the spear looked like liquid gore. After its grisly business was done, it retracted, flying up and into the rafters of the large plaza. The drone attached to the end of the spear must be responsible for that. "What hole did you crawl out of, Avatar?"

"False Herald! Show yourself, and let me cut out your lying tongue. The Citadel Races assume we mean to murder them all."

"Wouldn't that be a pleasant experience." His voice echoed from every corner of the gore-filled room. "The Council races have been resisting my Rachni quite ineptly so far. It would only be another century before they were broken under their claws. But the light of their sun has reached its zenith. This cycle shall end, Avatar." The air shimmered, and he could see four glowing orbs in the chamber, all of them attached to the spears. "You cannot stop the great enemy."

His plasma cannon shot out, one of the drones atomizing under the force and heat. The spear remained, and he scowled. It must be made out of something resistant. Worse, after his plasma had finished spraying, the drone reformed. The spears lashed out, and his mass drivers fired in his legs. The suit launched over the top of the spears, their impacts splashing the blood and gore, and the vibrations causing the bodies to break apart even further. He landed on a Salarian, the spongy body providing enough resistance to not slide in the blood. For good measure, he blasted every defensive position in the chamber floors.

Still, the spears came on, impacting with enough strength to make his barriers ripple. He rolled, the spears scraping against his barriers and draining them to two thirds. He saw the spears' backs were filled with engine parts. Javik grinned, letting them have a burst of plasma. Just like before, the spear didn't seem to break, but the core and other sensitive parts wilted and burst under the heat.

"One down, four to go." He stated, now sure of his impending victory. The spears had all rotated to face him once again, the drones powering them all glowing a deep red color. Tech abilities rained upon his Warframe, the barriers draining and the armor reporting particles being frozen to its surface. "Are you just going to fight me with drones? Or does your pride have nothing to speak for itself?"

"You are but a simple Warrior caste, Avatar. Your birth and position were given to you by necessity, and not by design. Your actions are of little consequence in the grand movement of the universe. When the great enemy descended upon our race, it was decided by the survivors that the Warrior caste was the only one that could lead. You threw off the other castes, and left them to die in the chaos. Craftsmen, Priests, and and especially the Prophets!"

"Prophets!" Javik roared. "You were wastes of breath long before the Citadel was found!" The room shook again, and four more of the spears floated out of the pools of blood, dripping with the evidence of their work. "Spare me your lies."

His barriers crashed, as his Warframe took damage from yet another pair of the spears that came from behind. He fired off his mass drivers again, their charge not fully restored. This time the spears glanced off his leg armor, and the force of the vibration went through the metal and made his leg start aching. "Unimaginative. You only know how to meet force with force. Action with reaction. Our race's creativity died when your kind took control."

"We threw off yours and finally achieved space flight!" Javik roared a return, his plasma cannon taking out the back of another spear that past him. "Our forefathers discovered the Inusannon! Found what they left us and became an Empire!" The first spear he had downed slammed into him, puncturing the outer layers of gel. His eyes widened when he saw it, melted and damaged but still completely functional. The arm of his Warframe grasped it, crushing the back of the spear. Then he fired the mass driver in his arm, the metal already stressed. This time the back of the spear opened like a flower, metal tearing in five directions. _Then_ he ripped it out, the dead spear falling to the floor. A nearby Hanar burst in response. "Your kind just stayed in your little enclaves, foregoing everything we needed. For that matter, I also remember that your kind threw off all forms of technology as well." Another spear was blasted by plasma, knocking it off course while two of its fellows forced him to dodge. "Have you fallen so far?"

"Not as far as you would hope." The echoing answer came. Another spear struck his already damaged leg, invisible underneath the surface of the blood. The mass driver reported a failure in the output gear. Some of magnets had been scrambled. "Your mind cannot comprehend the extent we have advanced! We have no need of inferior technology to guide us! We have the visions granted to us by our Gods!"

"The Gods are a myth." A new voice said. From one side, Javik could see one of the Hanar rise from a gore-filled pile. "The beacons have shown us the truth of all. You are no Herald." A spear silenced him, his insides turning to paste and exploding.

"The Gods have answered me, Avatar. What have they done for you?"

"Avina." Javik stated. "I have no Gods, for I need none. I have placed my trust in the lesser races."

A terminal activated, and the pink Asari-like form appeared. " _How may I be of service, unidentified sentient?_ "

"What good is a VI in preventing your death, and the deaths of your fellows?"

Javik grinned. "Avina, please access file Glorious_House_ ." Javik had to jump, the spears coming for him again. "Your Empire needs you."

The terminal died. He could hear laughter from the upper sections of the room. "So much for the VI." Javik's biotic barrier flashed as a spear came out of the piles of gore, bouncing and flying upwards. That one had almost hit his torso. "I've headed off most of your men with little more than slaves. My Rachni have been uncontested in taking the upper levels. They will emerge victorious."

Javik took another glancing hit from the spears, his arm nearly going numb and the skin splitting as it tried to take off his plasma cannons. Even through his armor and his Warframe, he could feel the effect of those spears. This poor excuse for a Prothean had to be hiding in the upper galleries. He kicked the mass drivers all the way, landing on a small raised platform that at one point may have contained plants. His plasma cannon went live, spraying the upper galleries with heat and death.

Nothing fell. Nothing screamed. The spears still came for him, and he stepped behind a pillar to give his drivers enough time to recharge. "I tire of your hiding!" Javik launching himself high into the air, his Warframe actively marking every structural weakness in the room. Missiles launched from the back of his armor, the Warframe's Omni-foundry starting to get to work. Every single pillar and walkway in the room collapsed, the roof itself creaking under the strain of the damage he had incurred. He laughed, the sound echoing through the empty space. "There are few places to hide now. Come out, little worm. Let me cut out your tongue."

The rubble shifted, some of them floating upwards and reforming into robes, thin arms, and an emaciated body. Truly, he was one of the Prophets. Their inbreeding had been legendary back in his cycle, and it had not improved with fifty thousand years. He reformed from the stone and gore on the floor, however, which gave him pause. He looked unharmed. "I am here. Come and try, warrior."

Javik did not like this. Reforming after being hit by missiles would explain why his plasma was ineffective. Just as a test, he fired an Overload at the figure, watching as the effect splashed over kinetic barriers. "You are real." Javik said slowly. "Perhaps your kind have made some advances." His plasma fired first, Ish'Stho'Lhas becoming nearly translucent as the heated metal washed over him, melting a park bench behind him. His mass drivers fired next, taking him over the dead bodies and rubble and into the creature.

The drivers in his arms fired, and the Prothean wavered; Javik then followed up with a wave of biotics hard enough to push the remains of the park bench behind him. Still, the Prothean remained unmoved, his form shimmering in the light of the lamps that Javik hadn't damaged. The light came in and out, his form coming back together as if the air itself were displaced. Holes from his weapons' fire were filled in immediately. The steam from the damage he had caused to the surrounding area just moved inwards, filling in the emaciated being. "Do you see, now, that being a warrior is futile?" He gave a longer burst of plasma, just to fill in the creature's head alone. He was silent for a few moments, and some of the stone from the floor filled in his face. His eyes were the last to fill in, both sets of eyes centered on him with disdain. "We have evolved beyond what you can do, Avatar. Accept your impending defeat." He raised his arms, and four of the spears rose from the debris. "Or you can run. Find a corner of the universe to dig a grave worthy of your endless pride."

" _Requiem,_ " Soft notes came from the corners of the room, a feminine voice slowly singing the notes. " _Aeternum,_ " They were long, and drawn out. The air around both Protheans shimmered, as if something was going on. He fired his mass drivers, paranoid, and got over to the other side of the room. The rubble near his feet shifted, turning into liquid and then air, streaming upwards to come back together as a dead body. It went against everything he knew. " _Dona eis domine!_ "

The voice was loud, and yet the room seemed to be stabilizing. "It seems that one of you primitives know something about my power." Ish'Stho'Lhas held up his hands, and the spears collected above him. They did so slower than normal. "But it will avail you nothing."

"Wrong." Both Protheans looked over at the doors that Javik had come through. A Quarian was standing in the doorway, with a large speaker system in his hands. He was wearing some kind of Human suit coat, done up in dark blue with gold buttons. They glittered as brightly as his vizor, which was lit up from within. "Disrupt his focus and he can't use whatever bullshit powers he's developed or installed." The voice was one that Javik recognized. Harper.

"You told me that you weren't coming." Javik mentioned. "You said you wouldn't dare risk your measly life."

The Quarian with a Human face shrugged. "You're right. This is a clone. But even a miniscule part of me is still enough to analyze and understand what this fool is leading you into." He tapped a few buttons on his wrist, and the entire room started reverberating with some kind of drums. His ears rocked, and Javik had to close his eyes to keep from going cross eyed. "Heralds depend on their voice to do all the work. So what happens when you drown them out?"

The voice of the female singing returned again, and Javik opened his right two eyes to see his foe also holding his head. " _Do the impossible, see the invisible, row row, fight the power!_ " That was when the Human male started singing, ruining any kind of somatic balance the sound carried. Loud drums, high dulcet tones, and the most offensive concoction of spoken words assaulted his mind. His armor tried to reduce the incoming sounds, but it was in every line of communication. " _Touch the untouchable, break the unbreakable, row row, fight the power!_ "

The offensive noise continued. The air around him and the heretic shimmered again, and the spears seemingly solidified. He saw them for what they truly were, some kind of illusion breaking around them. They were actually just drones, floating ones that were capable of firing heavy rounds. Nothing special beyond their ability to float. All of them were badly burned by plasma and scorch marks. Javik forced his eyes open, further against the offensive intrusion. "If I ever become subject to this again," He groaned as the Human male's voice started some kind of chorus. "I will find a way to remove your real spine!"

His plasma cannon fired, and this time he could clearly see the Heretic die under the assault. His skin boiled and broke under his molten iron slurry. Javik made sure that his head was completely destroyed before dropping another missile into the quivering mass. He even added a Warp for good measure. Only after that did the offensive music stop, his eyes finally able to focus. He let himself sigh, feeling elation and tension go through all of his limbs. Even though he had to resort to lesser tactics, he won the day. He let himself rest a moment, in honor of the dead Prophet. When he was finished, he opened the front of his Warframe. "So passes a Prothean. Misguided though he may be, he was still a Prothean. I vow that I will find the rest of your misguided kind, and silence them. If only to give the lesser races a chance to decide for themselves their own fate."

"I happen to enjoy that song, you know. When these thoughts and memories go back to the graybox, I'm going to keep that." The Harper clone stated. "You've done a good work, Javik. But the people upstairs are going to shoot at you on sight."

"Let them." Javik said. "They are only a hindrance."

"Well," The frustrating sentient said. "I'm going down to start the evacuation and the whole point of all this. Perhaps you might actually use some stealth to finish this mess? The defenses are actually holding against the Rachni."

"A pity." Javik spat upon the area that at one point had been a corpse of a Prothean. "Tell the Hanar to stop pushing forward. Some of them must survive."

The aggravating Human pointed towards a set of stairs that had become exposed. "This will take you right up to the upper levels. Skip the scenic route."

"I will make sure that the Conduit stays open." Javik told him. "You make sure that the great enemy are still blinded." Javik could fit the Warframe in the stairwell. But only just barely. "Also, delete that heinous music." He didn't check to know if the Harper-clone heard him. It was not his concern.

* * *

Defense Sector 21, Widow Nebula, January 2183

"Rachni frigate, coming into our sector." Harris reported. "It's angling on the Turian line, and they're already playing around with a cruiser."

"They aren't thinking tactically." Pressley grunted. "They don't have enough advance numbers to break the lines." The Salarians had the best GUARDIAN lasers in the business, and their frigate packs were hunting down any of the boarding torpedoes that the Citadel wasn't going to be able to shoot down. "How long until our prey gets close?"

"Queen ships look to be hanging back. They might hit the same time as the Geth. They aren't getting up to the top speed recorded by this ship."

"Let's see how they react to seeing us." He waved his hand forward, highlighting paths that went above and below the battle's elliptic. "Make sure we come in with the IES systems keeping our heat in. Just update the rest of the squadron with our position every thirty seconds. Enough that they can maneuver with us but not enough for the Rachni to zero in."

Seven frigates, three below and four above, angled on the defensive line. The Turian ships were slow, ponderous, and heavily armed. They had been patrolling the same pieces of territory for hundreds of years, the only difference in their needs being bigger guns or more efficient engines and parts. They could not dodge the rounds that the Rachni were hammering them with. Their return fire, on the other hand, was causing some of the Rachni ships to shatter and break under the onslaught. Only the cruisers could take a hit and still keep flying. The frigates would shatter into thousands of tiny pieces. The cruisers would take four or five hits before that happened, and they would get into range long before that.

The Rachni frigate that they were eyeballing was coming in from an oblique angle, with large pods attached to its sides. " _Thessian 5-6 to Normandy, we're detecting some unstable heavy metals and element zero in that frigate. Those might be some kind of missiles._ " Asari sensors were leagues better than Alliance ones, and their own couldn't pick up those details.

"Good work on your tech's part. Half of your ships are on intercept duty. The mass of those objects are a tenth of the frigate. Cut 'em down if they launch. The rest of us will take out the bug bastards before they can flank the Turians. Your ship's specifications aren't available to me, so I need to know your top speed."

Nyra, her name was Nyra. He had to remember that. Asari didn't appreciate it if you forgot their names. " _We can match any speed that your engines are rated to accomplish. We cannot go faster than this, however. It is the speed of our slowest and oldest model of frigate._ " Specifications flowed across their screens, alerting him of the maximum speed that they could operate at in formation. They either didn't trust him fully or didn't have the right to share the full specifications of their craft.

"Alright. Don't mind me if I expect your newest ships to be able to pull off something faster." He glanced at the Rachni, as they seemingly lining up their ship with the Turian lines. "With that in mind, I'd appreciate it if you could intercept whatever our allies are about to be struck by." He clicked off the comms. "Joker, what is our officially shared top speed?"

"Maybe half of flank speed. I don't want to risk going too fast with all of the repairs and damage we have."

"We should share our vaunted speed with our gracious allies, Joker. Three quarters flank speed, make sure those Asari keep in formation." He noticed that their older craft would not be able to keep such a pace. "Tell them to send their older craft in a second pack. We won't be wasting any time."

The _Normandy_ blasted past a few merchant marine Turian ships and pulled ahead of the sleek Asari frigates. Asari could handle friendly competition. They were never violent, but any kind of mental challenge was something they embraced. Joker gave them a rabbit, and the goaded aliens took the bait. Three of their frigates matched their speed, and the other three fell back into a second formation. It was too graceful to be a total surprise. The Asari Navy really did have the standards that they claimed.

The Rachni vessel obviously saw them coming, yet it did not change its position or react to them in any way. Instead, it fired some kind of pulses from its payload, angled towards the Turian line. They didn't come near the hulls, but the pulses seemed to spread out over a wide area. The effect upon the Turians was immediate, as their ships were gently knocked around, as if they were fighting against the pull of gravity. This forced them to burn chemical rockets to stay in position, and weakened their ability to deal with the Rachni Cruiser they were already engaging. "Nyra, we're only built for close range. With the energy draw it won't be able to dodge your rounds. Give them a volley and we can get close."

The Asari ships fired, and the Rachni finally reacted. It zoomed out of the way, and the pulses came to an end. It took a couple of torpedoes from the Asari, and Pressley was already envious of the speed at which they deployed and launched. Their own torpedoes were terrible in comparison. The Rachni ship was trailing broken crystal and gasses, the two torpedoes alone wrecking its heavy weapon. The pod jettisoned, but it was still too damaged from the onslaught when the wolfpack of frigates got close.

The Asari, rather than close in for the kill, remained at the edge of the Rachni's firing range and engaged it at the furthest extreme and the locations where they could safely dodge. He didn't call them on it, as the _Normandy_ went into full stealth, keeping out of the line of fire and moving closer to the embattled Rachni ship. "Sir, she's leaking fuel. They aren't good at space combat. They've got power but no experience." Harris reported. He was getting ahead of himself.

"Get an angle before we get in any closer. Do they have any barriers left?"

"Some. Hard to measure on these things. The crystal lets them not have to worry about structural integrity as much as we do." Harris said. "I've got their fuel tanks, sir. Their fuel lines aren't shielded like the rest of the crystals. Clear scans of the entire line for you."

Pressley grinned. "Good eye, Harris. Joker! Give us a vector!" The _Normandy_ flipped, coming around to thirty thousand kilometers on the Rachni. Close, but not so close that the the Asari would hit them. "Fire!"

Twin arcs of liquid hot iron slurry slammed into the rear compartments of the Rachni frigate. Really, with the amount of fuel they were leaking it should have been predictable. But even through Joker's interface the lighting up of the engines was overwhelming. Asari rounds plowed through the now aimless mass of surviving wreckage, and high pitched singing came over the comms. " _Excellent hit, Normandy. We rejoice in the victory. Our ships are all within fighting strength still._ "

"Form up." The Rachni and Geth ships were starting to get closer. "We've got to get back behind the Turian lines. We can't take any punishment."

" _The Turians may wish for some aid in fighting that cruiser, Captain Pressley._ " Nyra said, grinning. " _Our slower craft will begin their work._ " Torpedoes and missiles in abundance went towards the Rachni cruiser, already damaged from the Turian ships. It twirled, rolling and firing lasers of some form at the oncoming missiles. Pressley kept Joker far back from this one, as the debris spraying from its hull was going across more than fifty thousand cubic kilometers. It would be suicide to take the _Normandy_ in close. They would be noticed.

Their lasers carved through more than half of the Asari torpedoes, and then crumpled as the port side of the crystalline craft took the hits. Still, even crippled the damn thing was able to fire one of its dorsal cannons into the Turian line, shattering yet another one of their cruisers. The section of the Turian line wasn't quite in tatters, but just one of the Rachni cruisers was able to tear a hole through their formation. Three cruisers of the Turian's crippled, one holed, and two more frigates destroyed. Yet for having half of their forward line disabled or tied up with picking up escape pods, they were holding. They still acted coherently, and Pressley had to admit that the scaled bastards knew their business.

"Sir!" Harris piped up. "Some of those Geth ships are moving for the surrounding defensive sectors. They are finally getting close. Preliminary scans don't tell me much about their craft, though their kinetic barriers don't appear to be beyond our weapons."

"Good." The battle map took up the entire view for the interior of the bridge, red and blue markings moving across the screen in massive amounts. He needed more eyes just to be able to keep track of things. "Harris, that looks like a nasty patch of fighter wings headed our way."

"Sir, that isn't fighters. That's eighteen frigates." The map changed, with thousands of new contacts appearing. "I filtered out the fighters because the interface starts lagging when it has to track that many objects." The contacts disappeared, and the screen seemed to catch back up, positions updating. "They aren't headed our direction, but they could enter our defensive sector without much effort."

"If that is a single Geth wolfpack we are in for a serious problem. Ada! I need a break down on how the Geth fight!" With Tali deployed, Corporal Ada'Ril nar Hennaunaulanas was their best engineer. One hell of a ship name, some Asari word for sunset.

" _I'm not much of a Geth expert. But Private Kor'Jas is our best. Giving him permission to access the main comms now, Sir._ "

Another Quarian came on the line, discomfort evident in his voice. He wasn't used to the spotlight, and Pressley knew that the kid had been close with Yervf nar Rayya and Rezza, the other Quarian who had died. " _Sir?_ "

"Yes, private." Pressley responded. "Nyra, I'm connecting you into this as well. We have some Quarian techs on board that have some experience with the Geth. This is private Kor'Jas nar Alande. He's the best we have on Geth tactics and technological advantages. Go ahead, private."

" _Yes sir._ " He said quietly. The young man acted reasonably well for a private advising seven frigates. " _Geth ships don't have compartments the way that our ships do. Most of their ships have a central spine, where most of the network nodes are located. Geth are just software, so they don't have many physical needs outside of power and fuel. Geth ships don't use wings or atmospheric functions. Each ship carries between eight and twenty fighters, or a dropship in the hangar bay. Hangar bays are usually mounted in front, and unlike Alliance or Turian ships that narrow in front, Geth ships have heavy armor and ECM systems in their larger prows. They aren't meant to enter atmosphere, and they are heavily armed. The only weak points that our naval forces were able to discover was that hitting them from behind or from directly below would pierce. They don't have atmosphere or soft areas on board, so don't think that by puncturing a Geth ship it is out of the fight. Each ship has redundant systems and power supplies. As frigates, the most that we could do to disable them would be to damage their antennae and comms. You stop the Geth from communicating, and the Geth will have less server power to direct towards the fight._ "

"What are they armed with?" Joker asked.

" _Plasma. The Geth don't have to worry about overheating and killing their crew. Plasma torpedoes and a close range burst of ultraviolet lasers. Those lasers outrange ours by a factor of six, Sir._ " Kor'Jas took a moment to breathe. " _So getting close with frigates is suicide. In the few engagements we have had in the last century, we needed to outnumber them four or five to one to gain any kind of direct advantage. Your ships can take risks ours can't, but if they outnumber us the likelihood of victory is theirs. They don't have to worry about melting their crews with excess heat._ "

" _Some of us remember the Quarian military tactics of three hundred years ago. They were not overly complicated._ " Nyra said, and he could hear the disdain.

"Nyra." Pressley said with a practiced steel voice. It was the same one that frightened privates and children alike. Becca always liked it for other reasons. "Thank you for your input, private. We'll try to avoid the Geth. Harris, what's the position on our target?"

"I've lost her, sir. The Geth are laying out some kind of dust or fluid that is blocking sensors from seeing behind their lines. Permission to launch sensor buoys?"

"Denied. See if our forces from Eden Prime and Elysium can't assist from behind."

"Comms aren't getting through." Harris said. "But the lines are open!"

" _Geth are software, Sir. There are Geth in any insecure systems or comm networks. Assume that any messages we send are being blocked or improperly encrypted._ " Ada'Ril reminded him. " _Thankfully the Citadel has actual people manning the guns and defenses. From our experience the Geth are going to try to disable any open systems they can. With enough of them they can scramble any torpedo we shoot at them, too._ "

"Hang back." Pressley ordered. "We aren't here to fight the Geth." The _Normandy_ and the following frigates fell back, this time at a faster pace. The Asari knew better than to taunt their capabilities now. Joker had them at half flank speed, and they were making the older Asari frigates work hard. "Joker, at our maximum speed did we damage anything?"

"Not at all. I think we could pull off flank speed even with the cracked armor." Joker said. "What do you think, Ada?"

"Don't push it." She said after a long moment. "But yes, this ship can handle it. _We_ made certain of it."

"Harris, get on the horn with the Turians and find out if we can help. Word that very carefully. We don't have much space but frigates are better for retrieving escape pods. With our marines on the Citadel we've got the space to stow them." They were able to pick up three before the situation changed yet again.

"Contact! Contact bearing one-eight-zero!" Pressley tore his eyes away from the comms and back to the map. Something was coming straight for them. "Three Rachni frigates, one queen ship, coming for our sector!"

"Nyra, you've got better sensors. What can you tell us?"

" _All three of those frigates have those gravity pulse weapons. If they hit you from multiple angles we can expect some damage to our systems. Barriers won't slow those down. Get stuck between all three and it might feel like you're in atmosphere._ " Nyra's bridge tech reported. Her face was devoid of markings, and her purple skin was blotchy along her crest. " _We can take their frigates, but only by surprise. The queen ship is rather hard to breach. It's barriers are thick enough that our sensors can't get anything. Queen ships have biotic barriers, that are reinforced with some kind of specially grown and manufactured element zero crystals. Almost like a giant biotic amp._ "

"Watch out." Pressley said. "We posted biotics on our hull to detonate any gigantic biotic abilities that came near us. They can tear your ship to pieces."

" _None of us have trained for that. Hitting a biotic ability at starship speeds simply isn't possible for our regular crew. Asari don't normally train those kinds of reflexes and skills. Those that do go into the Warp Ball circuits._ "

"We've got the Luna Titans on board. They'll be in charge of interception. Queens have a recharge time around twenty seconds, and if they hit your ship it'll sheer it in half. They like biotic detonations." Pressley said. "But their dorsal cannon hits like the ship is much longer. As hard as any Turian Dreadnought."

" _We will dodge._ " Nyra emphasized. " _Time to battle is three minutes. Our squadrons will come from above and below, try to keep from being under multiple vectors._ _Try to stay alive,_ Normandy."

"Same to you. Joker, cloak and take us to full flank speed. I've got an idea, and we need to be right up their ass. Nyra, prepare a full salvo for that Queen ship."

" _Our complement of torpedoes are only reduced ten percent. We can continue this fight for a few more salvoes._ "

"When they come into range give that queen ship all you've got. We'll hit them from an oblique angle." Pressley said. "The Turians better be ready to take the heat from this thing."

" _Captain Pressley? Acting-Commander Pall. We've pulled our injured back from the line, and we are ready to coordinate with your squadron. The Geth are bringing in a couple of fighter groups to cover the Rachni, so please pull your frigates behind our line to keep them covered._ "

"That's suicide. That plays right into the Rachni's hands. They fire those gravitic pulses and we would fall apart. I'd rather be under fire from fighters than those bastards. Split up your forces, match each of your cruisers to a pair of frigates. We're about to hit the Queen ship with everything in our arsenals."

" _I've got some payback with that bug's ship in mind. Syncing targeting data now._ " Joker gave a whoop. Turians _loved_ their targeting data. Their VI's were often more concerned with not missing and hitting something in the far future than they were hitting the enemy. So syncing up with that meant that they didn't have to spend their own VI resources keeping track of incoming projectiles. The avian race seemed to love watching thousands of tiny lines going across the screen.

"Alright. As soon as they enter range, give them hell. Send more than half of the salvo towards the frigates. We think those out and we can get properly stuck in."

" _The cause is just._ " Nyra said.

" _Nowhere to retreat to here._ " Acting-Captain Pall said.

Joker, while Pressley had been talking, had gotten them up to speed. The ship started rattling, even. Their speed was starting to cap out at racing-speeds. The pilot was giggling, almost cackling madly at the speed they were going. Before this point they had kept the ship to speeds limited to what the engines could do. At this point, Joker felt more comfortable using the Quarian made engines mounted on the nose to further increase their speed and turn radius. They almost overshot the Rachni formation, coming in more than a minute before their allies were supposed to launch their projectiles and missiles.

They carefully turned around, the power draw to the gyroscopes rising as Joker did so. The levels of power went up into territory that Pressley started to get worried about. That part was purposefully over-engineered. To press one to its limits was a rare sight. The _Normandy_ wasn't at that point, but the Quarian-made gyroscope systems were hitting the red zone. "Engineering, how are the gyroscopes doing?" He asked.

" _Verifying it myself, sir. These are the best on the galactic market that the Alliance has access to. The fact that we are pushing them into the red is either a flaw in the engineering and the replacement power conduits, or we really are pushing the design specifications._ "

"Just keep us updated. If our top speed is limited due to that, I want to know how long we can safely operate at this level."

"Salvo is away!" Harris reported. "Rachni are starting to evade." Good luck. Asari ordinance was packed with VIs meant to adjust for ship's attempts at evasion. The Rachni ships were all equipped with stolen engines, and so each of them had a different speed. Some of them were fast. Others were slow, and the slowest took four rounds from the Turians before losing it's weapon. The torpedoes shredded its outer armor, but it was still a threat. Pressley was sure that one of the rounds had glanced off of the main body, or had punched through some of the thinner crystal armor along the nose. It was hard to tell with ships that were built from rocks and webbing. "Queen ship is angling on _Pleasant Grove of Trees_! Volley had no visible effect on its barriers."

"Stay cloaked. Send out laser bursts ordering another salvo. This time fire everything at the damn bug."

"Pleasant Grove of Trees _was just lost. The Rachni killed it in one shot!_ " Nyra sounded angry. " _Goddess forgive us. Warp Rounds!_ "

"Warp rounds?" Pressley asked. "Joker! Get right behind it!" by the time Nyra had replied the load of whatever Asari gimmick was already en route.

"Close enough to shave a Brazilian, Sir!" Joker replied, closing on the Queen ship until it was visible to the naked eye in the viewport. The mismatched engines were all working hard, one of them flaring and then scaling down to keep pace with the other three engines. The wash from the engines was not the most pure of fuel, and impurities were being shunted out along with the chemical burn. "Eighty clicks, Sir! Any closer and they'll see their backwash hitting us." That was close. Pressley bit his lip in anticipation. At this range the iron slurry might spray back onto them. It was closer than any pilots were normally trained to be in a space battle.

The volley from their allied ships struck, and the barrier from the Queen ship lit up. It seemed to survive the torpedoes well enough, but then the rounds from the Asari hit. They were like purple darts, but unlike darts they hit with some kind of effect. The barrier flickered, and it was down when the last of the torpedoes struck the big ship. Shattered crystal went everywhere, and Pressley knew it would be all over them in moments. "Fire!"

Blue jets of superheated metal slammed into the back of the queen ship, it's barriers unable to stop what was coming. The mismatched engines burst under the pressure, and the crystal ship was disabled. The rest of the thick armor was barely even damaged. It was cherry-hot, but undamaged. "Torpedoes away! Full spread!"

Joker groaned, as everyone on board was jolted from their feet. Gravity had asserted itself, and for a moment Pressley was drawn towards the ceiling. It was only three inches of rise before their own internal systems compensated, but it was enough to send people rolling. Pressley caught himself on the terminal in front of him, not caring about how the galaxy map switched to comm feeds instead of ship locations. "Gravitic pulse weapon!" Harris said. "Pulling us towards the Queen ship!"

"Joker!" Pressley bellowed. "Fire main cannons again, but this time take us closer!" Use the gravitics to their advantage. "Stagger the cannonfire, see if you can extend the plasma exposure!"

This time the Queen ship knew they were coming, but it had trouble maneuvering. Most ships would if their engines were shot. It couldn't rotate that deadly cannon around to face them. It's laser batteries were active, but Joker slid around their firing arcs with ease. The wide-angled gravitic pulse was harder to dodge. The power requirements must have been insane to keep it going. When the Normandy came within one kilometer of the bastard, only seconds later, it had no ability to dodge their blasts. Molten metal slammed into the crystal, and this time hit something softer. An entire section of the hull deflated, spewing bugs and supplies all over the place. Some of that splashed on their barriers, and the heat alarms went off from the backwash of their own weapon. But Joker blasted past, the Rachni already tumbling from the loss of pressure.

Skid marks appeared on part of the viewport, as dust from the crystals and minerals in the debris got stuck. "Damage minimal. Venting thermals and coming about for a second run."

" _We have broken them! The Rachni are breaking apart all over this sector!_ " Pall said happily. " _The Geth are supporting them, but most of their ships haven't even entered range yet. Even their formation is starting to break up, right near our sector._ "

" _That isn't a breaking of formation! Enemy contact, coming in fast!_ " Pressley knew that the _Normandy_ was the closest ship to the enemy lines.

"Joker, get us into cloak. Abandon our objective."

"We've just gotten lined up!"

"Do it!" Pressley growled. "Let the Turians try to finish it off. Tell our frigates to get the hell out of formation." The Asari ships had managed to disable completely the already damaged frigate, and the other two were dueling the wolfpacks and the Turians at the same time. The crystal ships were taking damage, and all but one of their gravitic weapons had all been crippled. His gut instinct was right, as their comm frequencies exploded with a scream. Everyone on the _Normandy_ had heard it before. It didn't help, even knowing it was coming. It reverberated through his mind,

The Reaper-class Dreadnought came through the debris and chaff that the Geth had filled space with, its scream hitting every ship and every comm connection it could. This time, the _Normandy_ was ready. Harris' terminal died in a spray of sparks, as did the galaxy map inputs. It was barely holding together at the moment, so Pressley didn't mind. He just relocated to Joker's seat.

The Turians were not so lucky. Their entire formation fell apart, ships falling out of position as their engines faltered and systems malfunctioned. The Salarian ships behind the Turian line were also affected, one of them exploding spectacularly. Their Asari allies were suitably damaged, the five surviving frigates all losing their kinetic barriers and tumbling. Two of them recovered, coming back online and angling on the new threat.

" _What is that thing!_ " Nyra called out. " _It's coming right for us!_ "

"Just get out of it's way." Pressley replied. "We've only managed to bring down the barriers of one of those, and it took more than we have available right now." He tapped the internal comms, noticing that he had cut his hand on the damaged terminals. Damn old skin. The longevity treatments didn't protect his skin from thinning out. "Move, Nyra!"

It wasn't enough. The Reaper came into their defensive sector as an unchallenged force. Three of its tentacles lashed out at the Asari squadron, murdering the three disabled craft as simply as Pressley might crush a fly. It passed them, and then passed the Asari frigates with another volley of its plasma heated metal. Nyra's frigate survived, the back of it gone. Her wingmate died, two bursts of plasma finishing her off. Then it was in the Turian lines, crushing the ships with its barriers and blasting off more of its deadly ordinance into the disabled craft. One of their cruisers survived, as did two of their frigates that were sparring with the Rachni.

" _Pressley!_ " Nyra called out. " _Captain Pressley! We are dead in the water. We must abandon ship. I am sorry that we could not succeed in our mission._ " Their ship was damaged enough that vid comms didn't come through to Joker's station. " _We're ejecting and getting our people back to the Citadel._ "

"We'll get that bastard, Nyra. We'll get them." The comm line died, as the Asari ships fired off whatever escape pods they could. "Joker, get us right behind that Queen ship again."

"But it's dead and drifting."

"Prepare a boarding party. Any of those Turians that want some payback should already be armored and stable. Get some of our ordinance and some tow cables. Bring out some of our ship-to-ship mines. Then we go after that Reaper."

It wasn't hard to extend their tow cables to the disabled queen ship. Moving slowly enough, the purplish biotic barrier let the Turian marines they had picked up right on through. The ship-to-ship mine latched onto the damaged fuel tanks that the Rachni had already managed to patch. Fast little devils. A second mine was attached to the opposite side, where the Rachni had no repair workers. Then, the Turians were withdrawn back into the protective cloaking field of the _Normandy_. It was with complete satisfaction that their ship earned its second Queen kill, as both of the mines went off.

It shattered, breaking into four pieces and sending every Rachni ship in the area into a panic. "This is squadron leader Pressley. Mission accomplished."

" _We're seeing Rachni falling apart all over your sectors. Good work. A Geth Dreadnought has breached your defensive sector, and is headed for the Citadel itself. Take any forces that you still have and assist in its removal. We cannot seem to raise any other ships in that area, due to Geth comm blackouts._ "

"A frigate going after a Dreadnought? Is she mad?"

"Stow it!" Pressley barked. "Ride that fat ass right into the Citadel." Joker didn't even reply. He just took the _Normandy_ right into the debris fields, carefully dodging the bodies, detritus, and chunks of melted spacecraft. Small talk died as they approached the gigantic enemy craft. It was carving a pathway through the Salarian and Volus craft, now, and wasn't even slowing down as it approached the Citadel.

"Sir! It blasted the Citadel with some kind of comm burst! The arms are opening!"

"It doesn't matter. Follow it in! Every gun in the galaxy is going to light that bastard up once he gets in range of the arms." But when the Reaper crossed that imaginary line, every gun on the Citadel turned away from it. Instead, they all focused on the defenseless ships that had been hiding behind the defensive lines. "God! No!" They could do nothing, as the most expensive defensive installation in the galaxy picked its slew of targets and opened fire.

Ships died by the thousand, and even ships still in their berths were being fired upon. The Salarian fleet, occupied chasing down the Rachni breaching pods, died under the onslaught. The Turians were spared, thankfully, as were the Asari. But Pressley felt bile rise in his throat as he watched all of the destruction. This was the kind of shit that the galaxy wanted them to prevent. The only vector not being assaulted was their own, following in the dreadnought.

"Sir, this is the same ship we lit up at Shanxi. Joker got us close enough for me to get a clear read on its hull. It's still damaged." Harris reported. It was good that he was keeping his professionalism in this. "It's slowing down, sir." Sure enough, the big beast entered the arms of the Citadel, and reduced its speed. "Arms closing!"

Joker snorted, his nostrils flaring. Pressley would have taken issue with this show of arrogance, but decided that right now their pilot needed his focus. Their ship burst forward, entering the interior of the Citadel at the same time as the Reaper. They were alone, as the arms slammed shut behind them. It was just them and the Reaper inside the Citadel, and the big lug started turning, bringing its heavy back end around to point perpendicular to the tower in the distance. It slowed, almost leisurely approaching the tower at the far end of the station. The _Normandy_ slid in behind them, keeping pace but using the arms of Tayseri ward as cover. The skyscrapers were breaking up any kind of temperature differences that they might be causing.

"Stay quiet." Pressley ordered. At this point, they wouldn't be able to pierce the barriers. It was better to observe. "If we are given an opportunity, we will take it. See if you can bounce our signal around and raise the ground teams." With the arms closed, they were cut off from the rest of the battle. Their tactical network only showed more and more civilian ships dying. Even air cars were being blasted, and Pressley was thankful his wife had gotten off the station before this happened.

"We've got them. They're in the tower. Rachni are swarming it." Harris said. "And that Reaper is headed right for them."

* * *

Council Chambers, Widow Nebula, January 2183

The beast of a Rachni was bigger than anything the vids had ever shown. It shattered the stairwells, sending men and metal chunks flying backwards into the people behind them. Biotic power rippled through the air, a shockwave picking up anything that was loose and throwing it back hundreds of feet. Turians and Salarians went sliding backwards, flipping end over end. The Asari members of C-sec rolled in mid-air, marginally more exposed to biotics. It didn't help them with the debris or the landing, but some of them landed on their feet or rolled to a stop. Julia's marines went ass first into barricades and other individuals on the upper stairways. Wrex broke one of the turrets, his body crumpling the housing.

Kaidan caught the end of the blast, getting thrown into a tree. Miranda smirked at that. Sometime she was going to have to find whoever designed such a nice fit of armor. Men and women both could still have some sex appeal in it, unlike the pictures of militaries from the 21st century. A few pieces of debris washed over her own barriers, and Julia took cover behind one of the decorative trees.

The tree got taken out by an armored Volus, his squarish armor ripping through the tree and surviving with just a scuff mark. The armor even adjusted for the fall, little wheels deploying and pushing it upright. Miranda took the chance to look at the enemy, once all of the debris had stopped flying everywhere. It was a Queen, that was for certain. Unlike the vids, this one was wearing what looked like half a frigate's worth of armor plating. Thick black spikes hung from its underbody, and corpses were being picked up by Rachni Warriors and shoved onto them, staying attached no matter what. With disgust she realized that those were those same devices they had seen on Noveria. Corpses went up on them, and Husks came off.

There were dozens of the spikes already filled, some of them by the less populous Council races. At least one of the Husks was an Elcor. She pulled her attention from that to the top of the Queen. It's head was armored, with twin glowing plasma cannons attached on either side of the jaw like a cruel mustache. Flaps covered the intakes from any other angle than straight on. Emitters and antenna stuck up from the back of the head and she could see the hazy outline of its barriers.

On top of the massive head was a throne. There was nothing else that it could be, really. It had spokes and wide arms. It had wires and black boney structures binding it into the Queen's head, and an Asari in Rachni-made armor sat in the chair. Her helmet was wired into the chair, and Miranda didn't like that much either. "Fall back to the second terrace!" Julia's voice carried over the din, and Miranda followed her sister up the second stairway and into the next prepared positions.

Acid and plasma rained upon the stairs, and Miranda felt heat wash over her back. A single arm flopped onto the landing, the man it belonged to screaming as it flopped uselessly. His screaming got quiet before she slid into cover, and then the world exploded as plasma fire started impacting the thick garden plot she was behind. The Rachni wasn't alone. It had warriors and workers by the truckload, and they were clamoring up the rubble and providing cover fire.

Turrets that lined the walls and gardens opened up, and screams came from both sides now. Rachni were dying, and all around her there were dead and dying soldiers. She raised her pistol, taking a couple of shots at the oncoming hoard. "Stairs are clear, Sir!" One of the Turians yelled. "All forces have pulled back to secondary positions!"

The Turian Councillor gave some kind of cry, sounding like a bird in doing so. It was louder than her translator's helpful 'Fire' that was whispered into her ears. The Rachni fell back, as every step on the stairwell unfolded and opened into a GUARDIAN laser nozzle. The light was blinding, as the entire front row of Rachni died. A Brood Warrior, its armor preserved, melted into ash as it tried to defend those behind it with its barrier. The floor panels folded up, as long pikes extended towards the Rachni from every angle available, impaling small workers and unarmored points on the larger breeds. The pike heads then extended, spraying fire and the Turian equivalent of Napalm everywhere.

Salarians and Asari officers stood up en masse, Omnitools held forward. Overloads flew towards the Rachni horde, or more accurately towards the pikes. Each acted as a lightning rod, and the glare from the blue shocks spreading throughout the lines left after images inside her eyelids. When she opened her eyes again, the pikes had been withdrawn inside the beautiful Asari tilework, and the stairs had closed down around the laser housing again. "Primary defensive lines holding, Sir!" A Turian replied happily.

"Bring up the spirits-cursed secondaries! Those bugs won't take this chamber!" She had to admit, there was no place like it. Her cover was even pulling itself back together, Omni-gel filling in the cracks and melted sections. The Turian Councillor was right in the thick of things, pointing out targets to his men and women.

"Oorah! Biotics on that Brood Warrior!" Ashley's voice called out. Miranda saw that Kaidan had stood up from his place of cover, and flicked his wrist towards the Brood Warrior like he was dealing in a card game. Asari joined in, and Miranda realized with a start that she was supposed to be helping. When she stood up to give a Throw, she saw Kaidan's strike hit the front leg. The bug had been walking forward, but the biotic power hit hard enough to make it trip, crushing a few workers. "Missiles and concentrated fire!" The bug didn't survive for long.

"Sir, we've been locked out from secondary control!" An older Turian was telling the Councillor. "The arms are opening!"

"Internal defenses?"

"We've lost control of the exterior defensive arrays. Something severed our wired connections."

"What are our redundancies?"

"C-sec HQ was our primary control point. It's slagged. Turian Embassies were the secondary, and they are overrun. The tower is our tertiary, and it wasn't suppose to be used. With comms jammed to the spirits and back, we can't connect wirelessly. Rachni workers must be in the casings."

"How many wired connections are in the tower?"

"Thousands, Councillor." Plasma was hitting near them, but small deployable shields were keeping the rear groups of soldiers protected. "Once they cut the lines for the primary defensive clusters and AVINA, our fleets will be threatened." he glanced at the deployed cover, turrets, and defensive systems. "Power here is independent. Ammo consumption is planned to be able to fire continuously for five years, barring damages."

"I was the one who helped redesign these defenses, Executor. I am aware of their capabilities." He saw that Miranda was looking up at him. "Get back on the firing line, Executor. Any air power you can muster inside the arms needs to be in the air now."

"Of course." He said grudgingly. "All of our gunships have already been deployed through airlocks inside the Presidium. What little I have been able to hear is that our forces are engaged with some kind of third offensive, made up of Batarian tanks and some kind of spheres. If my reports are correct they are some kind of Hanar battle-mechs. Hostile gunships as well, and we have no idea where they came from. They have engaged the Rachni, though. Small mercies exist."

The Rachni had moved some of their dead in front of the others, many small appendages moving the larger dead bodies along the slick floor. With a chuckle, the Turian Councillor took cover. "Everybody down! Avina, barrier curtains please. Follow with the first layer defenses." She wisely ducked.

Small sections of the walls on either side opened, and the entire atrium in front of the stairs became sectioned off. Kinetic barriers draped across the room, and again behind the front line of Rachni. Gases flooded the area, and then it was followed up by flames igniting the gases and cooking the Rachni in their armor. That made the flood of enemies stop. The Rachni started shooting at anything that could hold a weapon, and the walls started glowing with plasma bursts. "Wow." Miranda muttered. "What happens if they break through?"

" _When_ they break through." The Councillor must have great ears to hear her. "This only buys us time. Move the wounded up the next flight of stairs. Gather the dead and set them up there as well. The Rachni did not bring sufficient forces to hold this position. The barriers are inside of sealed housings, but they weren't built to be able to handle plasma. The emitters will burn out from the heat." He pointed towards the walls under fire. "We've got more surprises but they still have two flights of stairs to breach. I put in every kind of hellish invention the STG can provide. Without air support, though, we aren't going to stand much of a chance. You Humans better keep your masks on. The final layer breaches the walls and jettisons the enemy into open space."

"We'll be sure to retreat." Ashley told him. The woman had walked over as the Councillor was speaking. "We lost a couple of people back there, but we like the cover."

"Plasma is going to break down the barrier curtains too soon." Volorium muttered. "Pallin! Prepare to fall back to the next set of stairs! We need to contain them!"

The Rachni broke the emitters, the walls, and the lights themselves. The damage piled up, and soundlessly the first barrier curtain died. The Queen turned its weapons upon the floors, blasting past blood and bone in its determined drive to push forward. Beneath the tiles and magnetic pikes were explosive mines, firing out shrapnel and foul igniting gases. The workers and warriors stayed back, as plasma bolts filled the first section of the Council Chambers. It took them minutes, but the Rachni finally tore apart the floors and walls of the atrium. The final curtain remained, and the barrier glowed and waves of heat came into the defensive positions. Miranda was sweating, the water running down her back.

"Curtain will fall momentarily." Volorium said. "Artillery! Load cryo!" At the very rearmost Atrium, the walls above opened. Two Turian artillery pieces deployed, angling on the first atrium. "Triple check targeting! Unleash on my mark!" Volorium thumbed his wrist, and the barriers flickered. "Fire!" Again the high keening note came from multiple Turian throats, and was followed by concentrated fire upon the Rachni Queen.

The barriers surrounding her were thick, visible. Cryo bursts and shrapnel from the artillery came down on her, and they didn't even budge. Heavy machine guns and rockets hit it, and only made the edges glow. Chunks of broken tile and bodies were pushed aside by her ponderous footsteps, and the missiles did more damage to those than the Queen itself. On top of her head, the Asari sat in her chair, unmoved and unconcerned. Miranda rolled backwards, her cover evaporating under fire.

" _You're not good in front, Miri._ " She heard in her ear. Julia speaking, of course. She had lost sight of her sister in the chaos. " _Get back and wait for the Rachni to break through, and then you and I can get on top of that thing and kill whoever is in control of it._ " A small marker appeared on her helmet's HUD, showing a section of the upper galleries that was not filled with C-sec agents. " _I'll be up here, see if I can get a running start and climb onto that Rachni._ "

"I can get on top of it, but with that barrier up I don't know if I can." She might just bounce off. "Anyone know why it hasn't gone down at all?"

" _Scan complete!_ " Tali said over their comms. " _That Rachni's armor is somehow generating both kinetic and biotic barriers. They are interfacing with each other perfectly, forming layers of defenses rather than a single field to penetrate. The batteries on the armor are recharging the kinetics, while its biology is recharging the biotic ones. We_ are _getting through, we are simply not keeping its barriers down._ " Tali reported, the Quarian in the back and examining the large Rachni. " _Concentrated fire weakens the barriers, but it needs something more to break them. The armor, as far as I can tell, is too thick to pierce with normal rounds. Small arms fire will just scratch it. We will need to burn it off or something._ "

"Councillor!" Ashley called. "My techs have a scan of that Rachni. We need more firepower on it, anything you can to break its barriers. None of the small arms fire is going to stop it." Volorium nodded.

"We can get that much firepower. I'll have that for the final defensive lines. I won't use it until they have been funneled into the second atrium."

"Is there some kind of bomb we should know about?" Ashley asked.

"Well, no. But in a situation like this an old Turian proverb sticks out. 'He who carries the honor of many should bear a weapon capable of wielding that honor.' He motioned to the large ceiling above the central atrium. "It took some doing, but we moved a defensive cannon from Manae inside the chambers. It can hit the Rachni now, but I want them in the designated kill zone before we bring it out." The artillery pieces were hammered by enough plasma to melt the walls behind them, revealing nicely decorated rooms behind, full of cowering civilians. People that hadn't been able to evacuate. "That's it! Redeploy kinetic barrier curtains, retreat to the next level!"

Turians retreating were an organized lot. Volus and secondary combatants first, followed by the Turians, who could outrun almost every other race on the Citadel. Miranda knew that Julia hadn't retreated. She didn't have a cloaking implant, so she had to pull back. A park bench made out of some kind of reinforced substance became her new piece of cover, and she could see that all of the benches unfolded into perfect firing positions. Her knee could comfortably rest and let her lean any weapon over the edge without any trouble.

" _Once the Rachni start pressing forward we should strike._ " Her sister whispered over their connection.

"You got it." Alenko slid into cover next to her, and the bulky body of Andrew T'au also came in. "Looks like we won't be alone in that."

" _I see. Alenko, can you Charge?_ "

"No, Ma'am. But if you think you're going in there alone you're wrong. We've got every piece of ordnance available. We're prepping all of the Stadtfield pieces to empty into that Queen. As soon as they bust through that barrier curtain, we've got every missile launcher and grenade ready to go."

" _Our limitation is the number of hands to throw things._ " Williams said over the channel. " _But yeah, the Turians are gonna bring the rain, and we've got the thunder. All forces check air seals on helmets. If we don't kill it with this salvo they're venting the room._ " Miranda could see that her air filters were all intact and that her armor was sealed. " _Blink green if you're sealed._ " Two marines didn't check in. Their health had flatlined. " _Check complete. Alright team, prepare salvo. Fire when the Councillor says._ "

This time, the Rachni had realized that they were entering a killzone. They melted and destroyed every inch of the walls, floor, ceiling, and stairs before even moving towards the new barrier curtains that dropped. It took minutes. They made sure that every surface was completely destroyed, and with every melted tile the Turians around them looked more crestfallen. "Bring down the main gun!" Volorium called. Behind their barrier curtains, she could see the ceiling open up, and the main gun of a Turian frigate extended from the ceiling down into the Rachni. It had its own barrier emitters, and paired with it were eight GUARDIAN laser batteries. "Seal the exit!" He yelled, and heavy blast doors slammed down over the exit. The Rachni stopped firing, now concerned about their options. "Let the Spirits take them!"

The curtain was turned off, and was still intact enough to protect them at a later time. But the volume of fire hitting the Rachni had taken them out of their comfort zone, as the last few minutes they had been able to securely fire at whatever was needed. Nothing had returned fire, and they were surprised as the defenses opened up. The lasers carved massive furroughs in the enemy lines, and seemed focused on the reinforcements in back. The Stadtfields fired, one round landing in front and hitting all of the workers that had been swarming the armors of the larger breeds and fixing them.

They died in huge numbers, and the lasers sweeping over the rear ranks turned the backdrop of the battlefield into a red haze, the lasers reacting with the air particles. Overlapping fields of fire kept the enemy from reinforcing their forward push, and finally the armored cannon in the ceiling brought its barrel down towards the Queen. The barriers around the gun flickered, as plasma fire came pre-emptively.

It wasn't enough. "Concentrated fire!" Ashley called. The self-propelled artillery pieces were all angled directly towards the Queen, and they fired all at once. The gun thundered, and every missile and grenade that hands could throw went into the beast. The Volus officers fired some kind of darts with the grenades attached, as their arms couldn't get the right angle. Asari, Turians, Salarians, Humans, even an Elcor were acting together in this. It would have been admirable had it been a promotional vid. What the vids never showed were the ways people died. Plasma bored holes through armor, and the Asari standing near her lost her face to a burst. Bits of her head-tentacles splattered on her cover. Callously, Miranda brushed the still twitching mess off of her gun, resolving to cry about such perfect skin coloration later. It was close to Elsaenrae. Too close.

Her own gun bounced, every round trying to drive off the visions of her girlfriend. Her head and skin twitching as the Reaper poured its mind into her. Years of melds ran through her mind in that instant, and her chin quivered as the last of the gore was wiped off of her hands.

The big gun thundered again. This time, the Queen's barrier started going down. The missiles and grenades were finally keeping it down. But for every second they focused on it, the other Rachni caused damage to the men and women on the line. The officers of C-sec held their ground, though.

"Finish her!" Volorium called. "Bring it down!" The Councillor had his rifle out, and was standing in the open where his men could hear and see him. There were defensive positions in between him and the Queen, but it didn't matter. The beast rose up, raising its forelegs and bringing its head so high up that it nearly brushed the ceiling. With this new vantage point it had a clear line of sight on the Councillor.

It glowed, biotics flaring even as its barriers started dropping away to nothing. The glow centralized in the Asari, as she reached out one hand imperiously. Whatever her ability was, it went right through the cover that Volorium was standing in, through his barriers, and struck the Turian directly. He squawked, crying out as the ability focused upon his head. Then, it burst like a too-ripe fruit. His brain matter sprayed outwards, hitting the still present kinetic barriers. His own barriers were unharmed, and the body slumped to the ground, twitching and quiet.

There was an immediate feeling of loss amongst the members of C-sec. Each race took it differently. The Asari screeched, their biotics raging and ineffectual, hitting the Queen. The Turians got quiet, and their guns started firing faster. It was as desperate as they got. The Volus and Salarians become extremely liberal with their explosives, one of the tiny rotund agents picking up an entire Stadtfield artillery tube and angling it on the Queen. The Alliance marine that had been holding it was still confused as to why it had been taken from his hands. The Elcor took it the hardest, charging forward into the Rachni lines.

It sounded like an organ, with all of the notes being pressed at once. It roared, stepping on one warrior outright before a Brood Warrior got in between it and the Queen. The Elcor's face twisted into a snarl, before the large cannons on either side of its shoulders fired. The headless Brood Warrior fell to the ground, and the workers started swarming the Elcor officer. You could almost not see the shining blue of its armor. "Cover Fellas!" Another Turian called. "He's lost himself!"

"Keep your fire on the Queen! The Queen!" Pallin, the guy in charge called. "Fellas has riot-gear!" Sure enough, the Elcor's body was surrounded by a burst of static, and all of the workers slid off of him without any sign of bleeding. No acid, no fuss. The Eclor was still running, and he hit the foot of the Queen before anyone could stop him. Her barrier lit up as his full rotary cannons started blasting, and actually drew her attention to him.

" _I've got a target. Snipers on this, we can take down her barriers._ " Tali had found the main emitter. " _Take it out, phasic rounds!_ "

Ashley and her team broke out their sniper rounds, and with the Queen angling her head towards the Elcor, her back was exposed. Ashley's round was the one that broke the emitter, and every soldier on the line let out a sigh as the Queen's barrier finally broke. The Elcor roared again, and the Queen's leg broke under its onslaught. The main cannon took off a sheet of armor on her flank, and it was enough to get her attention. Plasma fired, followed by a Warp so heavy that the air felt intense. The cannon crumpled, and then she turned back to the Elcor.

On Miranda's HUD, she saw a small marker placed on the Queen appear. Right up near the top of her neck, where the cords and antenna came out. "Alright, people, time to make our move." Andrew and Kaidan smirked. "Cover them!"

Biotics flared on the friendly side. Two park benches went flying into the air, courtesy of Andrew and Kaidan. They were fired to the left and the right of the Queen's head, but it was exactly what she needed. Again she was envious of her sister for finding a man that complemented her so nicely. Grasping her own biotics, Miranda let them run through her body. She flexed her toes, a habit that she had picked up when she first learned this. She had learned it inside a pool of water, and you had to push off using your feet. Then, she Charged. Her body leapt through the air, sliding right in between the two benches.

Below her, the Elcor died, Fellas having been killed by bursts of plasma from the Queen and one of her forelegs being driven through his body. The armor fired, trying to shock the Queen's leg, but did nothing as the tip of her leg pierced him. Miranda leg her biotics keep going, just as she saw Julia decloak. Her knife plunged into the crest of the Asari riding the Rachni Queen. Fluid sprayed all over the place, as the Asari started thrashing. Julia appeared stunned that she was still alive, her head visibly glancing at the knife buried in it. Miranda noticed what Julia didn't, though. There was a cord coming from the back of the Queen's head and into the chair the Asari was sitting in.

She landed, gravity taking hold of her again. Her blade flashed, and the cord broke under her cutting strike. She reached out her left hand, her sis taking it and helping her stabilize on the armored head of the Queen. "Thanks!" Her sister laughed, the signature triple chirp, and helped her stand over the dead Asari corpse. It was still twitching. Her boots attached to the Rachni, and the giant creature was shaking its head in some kind of shock. One of the park benches had been shoved right through the plasma cannon, the hard coated polymer piercing the housing of the cannon. Kaidan must have done that.

The other cannon worked its wonders, firing up at the ceiling. Rather than focus on the cannon with its barriers, it fired at the ceiling as a whole. The housing holding up the cannon fractured, and its servos screeched as it tried to reorient on the Queen. Her biotics ripped up one of the banks of laser turrets, and the sensitive lenses rained glass down upon the lower gallery. The soldiers on the line treated it like so many other pieces of debris, and kept going. One of the Turians had the laser housing drop right onto him, yet he just took the hit and compromised position and kept on shooting. Half the cannon had pinned him to the piece of cover yet he just kept on going.

She really didn't have time to appreciate that any further, as the Queen rocked her whole head forward, dumping the twitching Asari, Julia and herself into a garden plot. The Queen herself fell, her other leg that was supporting her having been blown off. Williams was holding a smoking Cain. The utter bitch. She knew they were on top of the thing.

Julia had mud all over her helmet screen. She wiped it off with the Asari corpse's hand. "Sitrep!" She called. The gun above them thundered again, and the limited motion of its servos brought the barrel right into range with the Rachni's head. The head burst open on one side, the massive gun doing what infantry could not.

"Doing better, Ma'am." Williams reported. "Four dead, two injured. We're looking pretty good right now. Tango down, and the Rachni are starting to lose cohesion."

"Humans." Executor Pallin said carefully from the side. "We thank you for your services in protecting this location." He said dryly. A very practiced liar, in her opinion. "We can handle things from here, I believe."

The entire room shook. Miranda was knocked off her feet, her armor taking the damage as she hit the edge of the garden plot. Looking up, she and everyone else could see behind the Council chamber and into open space. The normally bright and picturesque view of the wards was filled with four glowing eyes. A Reaper was here. A fucking Reaper. "Fuck." Miranda said. The arms were closed. The Rachni had cut the connections. "We're all fucked."

"What the hell?!" Julia finally saw the thing. She was still holding the corpse. "Get to the shuttles!"

Pallin was shocked, speechless. "Secure the civilian shelters!" He ordered. "Hold for reinforcements!" Useless. There would be no reinforcements.

The Reaper leaned forward, its face rising up as it brought one of its tentacle cannons up to the glass. It was slow, ponderous, and odd. It didn't even fire at them. But the gigantic arm of the Reaper only exerted enough force to _tap_ on the glass four times. " _ **Hinder me no more.**_ " The eyes returned. " _ **Sai'Pa'Arda, your salvation, has come!**_ "

The corpse in Julia's hands glowed with red light, and grabbed her by the torso. The knife in its brain fell out, and blue wires and red lighting sprayed outwards, forming a metal crown around the crest. Miranda became surrounded by shadows, as the Queen rose up from behind, it too glowing with red lightning and blue cables, the wounds in her body stitching themselves together. Behind them all, the Reaper gave a final _tap_ as the glass wall of the Council Chambers shattered. "Fuck." The word just repeated over and over in her mind as the wall of debris shot towards her.

* * *

Author's Note

This took a long time to put together correctly. The Battle of the Citadel has arrived. In other news, I have found a few jobs that might be able to cover me. Also, as of this post this story hits one million words. Congratulations, guys. It's been a long time coming. We're at the end of Mass Effect 1's storyline, and even though it will take more time to post some of these chapters I will keep working on things.

There is a new author that I have been reading, named **ArielFetters**. She does a really crazy set of characters in the Mass Effect Universe. If you like crazy, you might enjoy her writing style. Please go over and give her some lovely attention. Also, **Logical Premise** has been updating a storm of his side stories, some of which are great. We posted our version of the Cerberus Manifesto on his page, and it was also a fun project.

You guys know how Saren became sort of nasty the more times you fought him? Yeah, let's just give those same level of implants to a Rachni queen. Let's see what the hell happens.

The song that was quoted above is called "Libera Me From Hell". Look it up, its an assault upon the senses that somehow works and makes you feel awesome. The anime that it is from has some epic scenes involved with the song, thought I don't think Javik appreciates it the same way I do. Until next time, I am hoping all of you enjoy seeing whatever crap happens in the last 24 hours of Obama's presidency. And then whatever happens in the first 100 days of Trump's. Optimism is key here, folks. I say give him a chance to be held accountable for his mistakes.


	84. Dementia:Speaker of the Dead

Author's Note

Aberron has had his baby, and wife and kiddo are happy and healthy. My son came into the world last month, and things have changed so much. I have a new job, a new child, and a family recovering from total sleep deprivation. During these long nights I have had the time to write again, surprisingly. This latest chapter got to about 48 pages before I realized that this was a bit long for just one chapter. This will be the first of two chapters I post this month, and I will space out the second one into this next week or something.

Chapter 84

Presidium Tower, The Citadel, Widow Nebula, January 2183

The atmosphere vented, and the Council Chambers burst into total chaos. Shards of clear metal at first went flying forward, some of them large enough to crush the large pieces of cover that the C-sec agents were hiding behind. Then, the chamber decompressed. The same shards of glass-like metals then got pulled back, bringing with them dirt, bodies, and many of those still living. Soldiers, gear, and blood from the floors poured out into open space. Defensive positions were torn apart and Rachni as well as defenders were pulled towards the open windows.

One of the Salarians compensated, blowing the vents at the far side of the room to minimize the force. Miranda's fingers had been gripping the edge of the garden box, now empty of dirt. It was everywhere, mixed with the blood and fallen gear on the floor. The plants had ended up all over a nearby Asari, reminding her of a nice moment with Elsaenrae. Except that time had been silk ropes. This didn't do the poor C-sec agent justice.

The lights in the chamber had shattered along with the clear metal. Only the running lights along the floor still worked, due to the massive amounts of damage the Rachni had done. So the light in the room came from the blood and dirt stained floors, and the bright glowing eyes of the Reaper. The half-light over the room only lit up the area near the broken view windows. The areas further back, by the entrance, were completely dark. There could be more Rachni swarming up into the room and they would never know.

Fortunately, others were standing up after the chaos. Rachni and defenders were now in close quarters, and warriors were going head to head with Salarians, Turians, Asari and Humans. Most of the Volus C-sec members were incapacitated, and one that Miranda could see was facing off against two Rachni warriors. The little creature held up his chunky wrists, and two cannons blasted one of the warriors down. The Rachni screamed, its muzzle being blasted to pieces. A small missile struck the open wound after that, and the head exploded out through the eyes. The other Rachni warrior speared the little Volus through the shoulder pad, and the small creature rolled, falling to the ground. His head waved side to side, small hands clenching at the gaping hole in his suit.

Then the head made one final twitch as something ripped and tore, and gasses started escaping from the suit. The Volus died, his body pulled through the suit rupture and spraying over the area. Without atmosphere, the small globules of flesh and blood just floated around the dead corpse. The warrior moved on, and Miranda just scowled. A good Throw took the bastard out of the station, and made her feel better. Now, where was her sister?

"Julia?" She asked into her comms. There was no sound. Without atmosphere, the only sound she could hear was that of her own helmet. The harsh orange light of the Reaper's eyes washed over everything, and at that moment she knew why comms were dead. "Lovely." She was going to find a way to break those eyes if it was the last thing she could do.

There was something glowing in the darkness. Large, and with a glowing red backbone, the Rachni Queen stood up. Her legs had been cast off, and the many dead bodies that had been strapped to her were also glowing. The Dragon's Teeth all had been full, and the Husks in all their glory had animated. Red and screaming, their limbs now acted as the Queen's, moving her body like a snake would. The plasma cannon that still worked was now the central part of the head, located where the mouth would be. It was rampaging, moving through the previously held positions like they weren't even there. It was heading for one of the galleries, blowing past the damaged artillery pieces and getting into the chambers where the civilians had taken cover.

It casually ripped open the secure shelter, more clouds of air released into the chamber. The civilians, all of whom were lacking breathing masks of any kind, got sucked out into the chaos. Their twitching bodies just added to the mess. There was still gravity, but without atmosphere it made the effect less than helpful. Wrex was facing off against a Rachni Brood Warrior, holding a dead Turian in front of him as cover. She moved to help him, blasting her weapon at the gigantic creature. It noticed her, and she had to ignore the odd feeling of not hearing her gun. Wrex's Graal struck, finally piercing its barrier and going through the head.

He motioned a direction, and she could see that behind him and in cover was Tali. She was working on something, her hands moving fast enough that she had to be ignoring the fight around her. Wrex was standing over her, making sure that nothing came near her. Miranda took a position to his left, guarding the other direction. It wasn't long before she finally heard something again. " _Hah! Got it!_ " She heard Tali say. " _Point-to-point comms restored. My drone is going to bounce signals over the walls and connect with the rest of the squad now._ "

" _Take your time. I'll make sure you can do it right._ " Wrex said, killing two Rachni workers with the same Graal round, and using his pistol to gun down another four. " _Figure out what happened to Constantine._ "

" _I have no idea where she is. But I've found Charlie, Alpha, and what's left of Beta._ " Tali said. " _Linking everyone now. Er. Bosh'tet, I can't get it to link. I used its rotational gyros to strengthen the laser grid. This drone can't get enough height to link everyone._ "

"Leave that to me." The shattered cannon still hung over the battlefield like a statue, and Miranda could see it. She rolled next to Tali, and grabbed the small spherical drone. The small lights that normally ran across it were down, and cannibalized tech covered it. Miranda hefted it like a Warp Ball and jumped. Her Charge took her to the mounting of the cannon, the housing partway melted. The drone was shoved right into the housing, its magnetic strip attaching. "Tali!"

" _This is Lieutenant Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. Squad comms back online!_ " A dozen voices responded back immediately. " _Keelah, yes!_ "

" _Son of a bitch! Just die!_ " Williams came clear. " _There! Good, Reddin! Great work, Zorah. Alright, anyone that's left, lock in on Zorah's position and gather there. Then we push back. Mark your targets and link your fire. Anyone with heavy weapons and grenades, sound off!_ "

Miranda stayed up high, using her thighs to hold herself up. The gravity at the top of the chamber was weaker, and the pull upon her was maybe half that of the floor. From here, she could see the Queen grabbing any and all dead bodies, pulling them to herself like an old man with bingo winnings. It was odd, as if the creature was far more concerned with the dead than the living. The few remaining clusters of C-sec agents were almost ignored, unless they started shooting at her. Then they were annihilated, plasma cooking them and leaving dead agents in its wake.

Near the very back of the room, Miranda finally saw something different. In the blasted and cratered wasteland that was the first and second defensive lines, she could see a few individuals fighting. They stood out because they were the only ones that far back. There was hardly any light illuminating them, but some kind of red light played over the area for a moment, as a biotic shockwave went across the floor. Debris and bodies were picked up in a red haze, the biotic ability giving off a red glow. _That_ wasn't normal. "Anyone got a flare?" She asked.

" _Yeah. It's a bit bright, but it's meant to blind the enemy. Just point and we can blind those bugs._ "

"We need to illuminate the battlefield. Get some light."

" _There are three Brood Warriors still up. Target one is getting a birthday present in five._ " The marked Brood Warrior was facing up against a small squad of Salarians, and didn't see the flare until it spiked it in the eye. It flinched, the blinding light making it, its minions, and the Salarians all drop to the ground in pain. It was followed up with enough firepower to punch through its shoulder and into the tender flesh underneath. But it was enough. Miranda was able to see Kaidan and Julia fighting against the Asari from earlier, the blade still jammed inside her skull.

"Thanks!" Miranda said with actual gratitude. This Asari bitch was going to have a wakeup call. She gathered her biotics, and leapt forwards from the ceiling. She kept her hands by her side, until the last moment. That was how the T'soni had taught her. Keep your hands in, close to the center of your weight. Legs loose but extended, ready to catch your weight if you fell. That Asari wasn't even looking her direction, distracted by the light of the flare. She was going to clock her so good.

Then she was on the ground, as the Asari simply backhanded her for her efforts. Her head rocked, the Asari having hit her without even looking at her. It was only when she got close when Miranda noticed that one of her eyes was hanging out of its socket, small blue wires covered the eyeball. It moved around on its own, and it kept itself focused on her, bouncing around hanging from the cheek. It saw her coming. There were new eyes, blue and glowing, sitting in the Asari's sockets. The old ones simply hung like jiggling balls, blue wires snaking over them. It's crest was covered in the squirming things, the blue cables pulsating around the knife wound still in its skull. She watched as the skin closed around it.

" _Duck!_ " Miranda did so, and a Throw hit the Asari in the hand. It knocked its aim off, a Warp tearing apart more broken tile around Miranda. She didn't have to look to know who that was. Alenko's pistol answered for her, radiation spiking in the area around them as his rounds struck the barriers around the Asari. Nasty rounds, she could tell. Miranda herself rolled, coming to a stop behind some torn up Rachni. " _Coordinate your attacks. Her barrier is strong._ "

" _Thanks for coming, Sis. Warp this thing and we'll detonate it._ " Miranda pulled out her rifle instead, not sure she was going to be able to use her swords on this thing. With its barrier it might just break them before they could do any damage.

"I'm still recovering. I'm not as fast as Alenko." Miranda replied. She brought up her rifle, the gun pressing into her shoulder as she let the Asari have it. The Asari glowed, her backbone lighting up with a red light. A field extended from her clenched hands, surrounding all of them. Miranda was paralyzed. It was exactly like back on Noveria. Her breath froze in her throat, and every inch of her body was seized by an alien power. She had a perfect view of the Asari as it started walking, slowly passing through her own field as if it weren't there.

The Asari's hands extended long claws, blue cables pushing blood and bone into new forms. Biotic power gathered at the edge of the fingers, and she stalked forward. Miranda, only able to see it at the edge of her vision, watched the Asari come to a stop in front of a half-kneeling Kaidan. She could already see swirls of energy writhing inside the stasis sphere, reacting to whatever power she was going to throw. Alenko sat there, frozen, as she slapped his chest, her fingers stopped from piercing. It seemed shocked, bringing its arm back around again. This time, it brought the full force of its arm forward, and something pierced the Sirta made armor.

The stasis bubble fell apart, and Kaidan jumped back. His armor had automatically sealed the hole, but it was now just an Omni-gel structural weakness. His body wasn't pulled out through the hole like the Volus had been. The Asari seemed to expect Miranda's biotic Warp, callously catching it in the glowing hand. Her rifle rounds didn't even pierce. But all of her eyes focused on her and Alenko, and Miranda hid her smirk at seeing the cloaked form coming up from behind. It jerked at the last second, realizing what was happening. But Julia came in, her knife slicing through the thin cables running through the neck of the suit. She had studied the other Rachni armors that they had gotten, and these Asari armors had thin cables for air going up through the back of the neck. The air sprayed outwards, yet the Asari seemed unconcerned.

It's biotics glowed again, and Miranda jumped back. Kaidan was a half second faster, as the stasis field went back up. Her foot got caught in the field, stuck fast. Alenko had made it, chest heaving as he took cover. The last time they had fought one of these things, their rounds had stopped on the edge of the stasis field. He had made it out, but instead of wasting effort trying to free her he Pulled a few large pieces of debris over the stasis sphere. Each was positioned to fall onto the Asari. She noticed this, and had been walking towards Julia.

Miranda clenched her fists, knowing that she was ready to Charge in again. " _Wait._ " Alekno said. " _We've got to hit her right when the sphere drops and you've got to be the one to hit her. I'll counter whatever it tries to throw at Julia. You hit it, and Julia triggers the biotic explosion._ " As she spoke, the Asari stepped forward, underneath the debris that was meant to crush her, and carefully wrapped her fingers around Julia's neck.

"New plan, Alenko." Miranda said. "You knock her hand away and I cut that bitch's face off." The man wisely nodded, sliding his pistol into his holster.

" _If you're doing what I think you're doing, be careful. I would rather you take off that thing's arm and keep it from hurting Julia. If you cut off it's head it might crush her first._ " He made some sense. " _Ready?_ "

Most of these people would consider charging in close with these things to be terrifically bad. But compared to the other one they fought, this one was almost simpler. Or rather more simple minded. There was no real strategic mind behind this. It was just reacting. "Yeah." There wasn't anyone better to trust her sister to.

This time, when the stasis sphere dropped, Miranda was ready. Her Charge was right in the Asari's line of vision, and it brought up their arm to slap her down. Alenko's Throw took that arm right off course, and Miranda successfully landed next to the Asari. Her sword extended, and her follow up was textbook. It drew back its arm, anticipating the sword swipe at its face. The Asari flinched, and Miranda smirked as her feint worked. The blade carved cleanly through the arm attached to her sister's neck. Severed at the elbow, the expected blood flowed. Twisting and twitching blue wires sparked red, the clean-cut ends arcing electricity. There was less blood than Miranda expected, and the armor seemed shattered near the break. The bones of the arm had been completely replaced by some kind of tech, and it was leaking something black along with the blood.

It did not flinch in pain, but more of shock. Miranda always loved surprising someone like that. Her sword moved slowly enough that the kinetic barriers didn't usually recognize it. Then, it still moved fast enough to cut through armor and damage the bits underneath. Her smirk ended when she saw the state of her monomolecular edge. It had been bent at the tip. She had a spare blade, but that was an expensive thing to replace.

The Asari just punched her, with the stump. Then the Warp hit her, her barriers flaring and the pain starting. A loose kick tripped Miranda, and she was knocked onto the ground with her helmet slamming first. She tried to squirm out of it, but the Asari smoothly predicted her movements and kicked her again, this time making Miranda roll down the ruins of the stairs. " _Julia!_ " She heard Kaidan say. She glanced up, seeing that the severed arm was still successfully choking out her sister.

What the hell? She had cut it off. Arms weren't supposed to keep working once you removed them! "You bitch." She sent in the clear.

" _Oh? This is just payback. This little Spectre knockoff isn't going anywhere. I'm going to crush every single one of you, starting with her._ "

" _V-Vasir!_ " Julia was able to say. Miranda gave this Asari a bit more space from her position at the bottom of the stairs, watching as her sister tried to cut the hand off of her face. It wasn't working very well. This was a Spectre. Not just a Spectre but one of their very best. She had some kind of implants, or modifications. One of them had to be some kind of reinforcement on the skull or brain, since she had already been stabbed there. Her biotics were more powerful than any Asari Miranda had ever gone up against, and she had Rachni made plasma weapons. Miranda had a pistol and a rifle, neither of which were going to get through those barriers, as well as her biotics.

Tela Vasir just watched her from the top of the stairs, using their one remaining hand to blast hot balls of plasma at Kaidan. He stood up to the blasts, taking each hit and keeping their focus on him. Elsaenrae wouldn't do the same. Even if Miranda believed otherwise, Elsaenrae was too weak willed to stand up to something like this. She would have run. She would have hidden in a corner and cried her eyes out facing this kind of unnatural threat.

She had to hand it to the remains of C-sec; they were still fighting. Their small pockets of resistance were still giving the Rachni hell. Standing in front of the remaining civilian shelter, they had regrouped and were standing behind Pallin. The Executor had picked up a missile launcher from a dead Marine and was killing anything larger than a Warrior. He had managed to gather thirty of his agents, and they were holding a desperate defense in front of the civilian shelter. It was probably full of politicians, anyways. She didn't really care about them.

She groaned, standing up and taking stock of herself. Her guns were fine, she was fine, and the Spectre was doing ok. There was an explosion of force, as Alenko interrupted a stasis bubble from forming. Vasir fired faster, hitting his barriers and armor along his upper torso. Acid burns started appearing on the armor, the paint melting and the heat increasing. Miranda Charged again, this time stopping at her sister. The hand had extended blue cables between the thumb and the other fingers, locking it in place around her neck guard. Julia's attempts to remove it were useless as long as it stayed connected. Miranda quickly sliced it, leaving a groove cut into the neck guard from where the wires were severed. Julia ripped off the hand, catching her breath back.

The debris around them shifted, as Vasir flared her biotic aura. Alenko could not interrupt that as it was not something gathered at the end of a limb. There was no focal point to target. This was just her ignoring his attempts to interrupt her, and the Spectre casually created a gigantic shockwave to pick them all up and send them flying. Miranda caught herself on a piece of debris, as Julia managed to catch her feet on a chunk of park bench. She had magnetic strips in her shoes that she smoothly activated and dropped safely to the ground. Miranda flopped all over the place. " _She's been the one controlling this battle. This approach isn't working. Alenko, see if you can blind her or block her vision. Miri, come with me. We're falling back to the next level. We've gotta come at her from a new angle._ "

" _As if that would work._ " Tela said over their channel. " _The only reason you three are still alive is because I am entertained by your struggles. At any point I can simply put you into a stasis and meld with you, making your weak mental walls break down. Canrum was just the first taste, Constantine._ "

"Shove it up your pureblooded mother!" Miranda said back. "Cycle the encryptions!" She took a Throw for that comment, sending her into a pile of Rachni corpses. Her armor held, though. She really should send Sirta a thank you note for making such a well designed armor. Miranda stood up, Vasir no longer even caring about her. Her plasma rifle had taken chunks out of Alenko's cover, the man looking worried. His vitals were shooting up.

" _Channel has shifted, but something is breaking through all of my data connections._ " Tali said. " _Source of the signal is that dreadnought._ "

" _Tali,I don't care if she is on the line. Just keep everyone connected. Link up C-sec as well, if they haven't already linked up their own comms._ " Julia told them. " _Fall back to Williams. We need more guns on this._ " Julia had gotten to the top of the stairs, shooting down at Vasir from cover. Vasir dodged something, and Miranda smirked at seeing a heavy explosive go off.

" _You heard the lady! Shift targets, let her have it!_ " William's call brought down more grenades, through in packs of three. The marines were interspacing them for effect, giving Alenko cover to retreat up the stairs. Julia covered him, gas and debris from the explosions covering up Tela. Miranda kept pace with them, all of them finally taking cover at the thin bridge arcing out over the last section of the Council Chambers. There were much more sturdy garden planters here, the trees and dirt already sucked out. " _Hold fire, Rachni at relative two o'clock!_ "

Tela Vasir survived, her barrier holding. Some of her armor had been damaged, but Miranda could see that the Asari was bringing up her barriers to full strength once again. The holes were squirming with blue cables, keeping either Vasir from falling apart or her organs. One of the two. Miranda was not a medical doctor for the creepy and deranged. Williams and the rest of the squad were to her right, a small pocket amidst the floating bodies of Rachni and Citadel races. Miranda spared a glance at the C-sec lines. They were still holding, somehow. They had erected more cover from the broken artillery cannons, the Asari officers creating bubbles of biotic force to protect their allies. There was even a few Volus adding to the biotic pile, their stubby fingers reaching upwards above the barricade.

" _Oh good. You're right where I need to go._ " Vasir said, before starting a biotic Charge. It was aimed at Julia. She was the only thing between her sister and that bitch. Miranda grit her teeth, and focused her biotics into her legs. She flipped down onto her hands, kicking both feet upwards into a picture perfect handstand. Her feet connected, both biotic fields wavering and collapsing. Vasir went over the edge into the terrariums underneath the Council seats, shattering some unbroken glass. Miranda was shoved face-first into the deck plates, and sent skidding into her sister.

" _They teach you that at Thessia?_ " Alenko asked grabbing a grenade and sticking it to a piece of debris. It was then held in his hand, as he lined up a shot. His Throw took the rock into the opposite side of the terrarium that Vasir had landed in. There was a flash, as the rock exploded.

" _You're assuming she rolls out of the way like they do in Warpball._ " Julia observed, shooting a Rachni warrior that got too close. All of the workers had died already, the small things not equipped with armor to keep breathing. Only the warriors and Brood warriors remained. " _Vasir doesn't do predictable. Rotate cover._ " Julia then cloaked, moving right out into the open.

Miranda expected the Asari to come up out of the terrarium, but that did not happen. Instead, the Rachni Queen took notice of them, rolling their direction and stopping above them, its head dripping bloody flecks that caused some of the debris to smoke. It's plasma cannons were slagged, as was part of its head. C-sec had really been putting the hurt on it. " _Husks!_ " That was all the warning Miranda had, as every spike attached to the Queen let off its glowing cargo. Salarian Husks dropped, one landing on Alenko and clawing at him, damping his biotics. Julia came out of her cloak, as three Lurkers dropped around her. Miranda was staring at a seven foot tall Elcor. On its back was a massive cannon, and it was aimed at her directly. Three more Salarian Husks, Earwigs, also adorned it. Overloads and Damping hit her in heavy amounts, but that wouldn't stop her. Her rifle freed Alenko, while Julia carved her Lurkers into paste. Her knives flashed, the once-Human forms spraying fluids and body parts into the weak gravity.

The Elcor fired, her sister taking the brunt of it. It knocked her down off of her feet. Julia got grabbed by one Lurker, while the other came at her from a different angle. Rolling, she shoved one of them between her thighs and crushed its head, the other being stabbed through the eyes multiple times. Miranda snickered quietly at seeing that.

The Earwigs fighting her tried to flank her, but each one received a large sharp round to the face, as Wrex walked forward. His Graal was glowing hot, but the Salarian bodies twitched as they went down for good. As for the Elcor, they exchanged a silent nod as both of them cycled firing at it, holding its attention, and then diving behind cover. It's massive cannon fired in bursts, but it wasn't made from anything lethal beyond whatever radioactive ammunition it fired. Wrex switched over to his shotgun, blasting off chunks of the Elcor Husk's hide. It was also wearing armor, and it was taking too long to break it all down.

" _Miri!_ " She glanced up, noticing that she and Wrex had been trying to get past this Elcor for almost two minutes. The Queen had long since walked off, but not before depositing almost a dozen more Husks. Aleno, armor scratched enough that she thought she could see the original pink paintjob, was somehow fighting off four Asari husks. Their tentacled arms were windmilling, throwing out biotic abilities every few seconds. Alenko danced around them, triggering biotic explosions and shooting out their legs with his pistol. Past him, she could see her sister.

Julia was moving forward, trying to get to the head of the platform. Vasir had somehow gotten herself up there, and had gathered Husks to put between her and Julia. Haptic screens were opening, and the eyes of the Reaper glowed brighter behind it all. "Wrex, I've got to get ahead of this."

" _Ok._ " He muttered. " _Go when I say._ " She figured he was going to provide cover fire and get that thing's attention. Instead, he stood up and Charged, slamming into its back leg and pushing the undead creature towards the railing. " _Go!_ " She did, standing up and getting herself into a sprint. Charging was dangerous to use unless your target was not a biotic or close enough that they couldn't counter it. With sixty meters between her and Vasir, she wasn't going to risk it. Being backhanded once was enough. She saw her barriers light up, as Alenko managed to keep most of the Asari husks from damaging her. Some of their abilities got through, almost knocking her over. Her barrier was nearly gone when she got to her sister, her heaviest Throw heaving off the gathered Husks. Julia nodded once, and joined her in sprinting forward.

" _Not this time!_ " Vasir yelled, preparing a Stasis field. It was disrupted, and the Asari glared at some kind of grenade that exploded behind her. It pulled her off of the platform, sending her into the terrariums again. Quite violently, too. The grenade seemed to pull at all of the metal in the area, ripping off the loose tile and weapons. It pulled Tela right off, her Stasis lighting up the terrariums as she fell.

" _I need to get me some of those!_ " Kaidan called. " _I could feel the gravity spike from five meters!_ "

" _Heads up!_ " Julia called. " _I've seen this before. On the_ Fuji _._ " MIranda scowled. Javik. He was here. Ever since he shoved her in that damn Prothean locker she had a problem with him. Before that, even. She had never trusted that alien, and it had been proven correct when he chose to put her into cryogenic stasis without first checking to see if Humans could handle it. Miranda had been lucky to be able to have working nerve endings. " _There he is!_ "

Javik lumbered forward, wearing his combat exoskeleton. He seemed at ease, the suit walking forward with purpose. "Add him to the channel, Tali. It isn't secure anyways."

" _Why?_ "

"Let me talk to him. Convince him not to attack us."

" _You told me he tried to kill you._ " Miranda bit her lip. That was kind of true. Javik had shoved her inside a cryogenic pod, expecting her to stay there until he had need of her. Which was not too long, thankfully. " _I say no. Consider him another enemy. Focus fire on Vasir._ "

Guns had vented their heat at this point, as the temperature in the room was freezing. In open space with no atmosphere or little atmosphere, weapons could fire for longer. Her squad put that to the test, stressing the barrier surrounding the Asari. The Rachni Queen took notice, turning its attention from the beleaguered C-sec defenses back to them. It's guns and weaponry showed signs of damage, yet it still looked capable of killing all of them. Plasma gathered in its throat, the light source covering Williams as it prepared to fire.

The Alliance marines moved, running for cover. Plasma washed over their position, vaporizing one of them as he stood his ground in front of Tali. Others were thrown, debris around them catching fire and others screaming on the team channel as they were injured by the force of the blast. The creature casually took the damage from the C-sec positions as well as their own. Rockets and grenades rained down upon it, though the missiles came in fewer and fewer bursts as the heavy weapons ran dry.

Williams stood up, holding two Revenants in her hands. Overkill protocol had been engaged, their barrels already hot. The rounds came out in a rush, carving a long track up the Rachni's neck and into one of its cybernetic eyes. It twitched in pain as the eyeball was destroyed, the flinch pulling it out of harm's way. The rest of the rounds flew out the open window and into the impenetrable barriers of the Dreadnaught. It didn't seem to care, though one of its eyes trailed towards the woman.

Williams fell back down into cover, one of the Revenants falling apart as she slid down. The other vented gas and bits of metal, something evidently wrong. Behind the Queen, Vasir continued doing whatever it was she thought was important. She hadn't returned fire or shot at them since she was hit with the magnetic grenade. She just kept typing away at a console that had risen out of the Citadel. It wasn't in any language that Miranda knew, but the symbols she recognized, somewhere. Her head ached, for some reason, when she saw them.

The Shockwave took her and threw her over into one of the Terrariums. It had come from behind, so Javik had done it. She and Julia both tumbled down into the pits, the atmosphere choked full of dust. Particles had been raised from the gardens when the glass had shattered. Trees and their leaves had been stripped, but dust and debris was thick enough that they were unable to see any kind of doors or access panels. Miranda decapitated a Turian husk, as what remained of its face snarled at her. " _Something is happening!_ " Tali said.

The Rachni Queen's hindquarters slammed into the terrarium near them, kicking up even more dust. Whatever it was doing, the entire backbone lit up, oddly shaped vents opening along the machinery and drawing in the dust particles. When it had drawn in enough, the vents started closing. " _Miranda, interrupt whatever the hell it's doing._ " Julia handed her a handful of grenades. She nodded, grabbing hold of one of the spikes and using it as leverage for a leap. It was enough to get up onto its back. Miranda armed the entire batch of grenades, shoving the pile right into one of the open vents.

Then she jumped back, taking hold of the nearest railing. It was enough to see what was happening. Outside of the terrariums, the area immediately surrounding the Queen had been cleared of some debris. In the middle of its chest, three clusters of nozzles opened, dark wreaths of energy collecting on them. The grenades it absorbed went off, and one of the nozzles exploded into flames. The other two sparked, but still fired off their payloads.

" _Hold the line!_ " Pallin yelled over the din. One of the nozzles had been aimed directly at the man. " _Spirits, hol-_ " Twin black holes erupted, one of which was right in the middle of the C-sec lines. The other was right on top of Ashley Williams. Miranda watched as the woman and her weapons were pulled into the small black hole, her armor keeping together for a short amount of time. Then it shattered, and the skin and hair were flayed from her, followed quickly by her bodily tissues.

Four others were pulled in, including Wrex. The Krogan had started sliding, but his slide was stopped by the last vestiges of a park bench. His armor was stripped of its outer layers, and tissue was sucked out of one of his legs. Reddin screamed, sliding across the floor. Miranda could see the Rachni that survived pushing hard, now. The black holes then exploded, all of the mass and energy they had collected spraying forth in brilliant orange ribbons. The Alliance marines were crippled, now. There were more injured and dying than there were alive and well. C-sec was no better, their bulwarks now stripped of defenders.

Plasma erupted, showering the Queen with its heat. She thrashed, but a secondary explosive stuck to the inside of her mouth. Javik's Warframe came forward, emptying his arsenal into the creature. Biotics even flew from his hands, adding to the damage. Miranda didn't know what to think, and she didn't have time to consider anything. A Rachni Warrior trio noticed her attached to the railing, and showered her position with plasma of their own. She slid lower on the railing, but the railing fell apart under the strain. She fell back into the Terrarium, the borrowed armor cushioning her fall.

"Tali, what's happening?"

" _We're holding. Barely. Wrex is down and I don't know what to do! Alenko just disappeared and I'm the only officer left. I can't let that thing fire again. We won't survive._ " The Quarian sounded scared. " _Keep firing! Heavy weapons, on that group of warriors! I'm sorry, Harper. I can't help you now._ "

Miranda glanced up at the towering Queen. She was convulsing, plasma and explosives having torn much of her torso to pieces. Yet the holes kept filling with glowing blue wires, all trailing back to the spinal cord. "It's okay." Miranda told her. "This time, I'm helping you." Her dad always accused her of being too impetuous. Too impulsive. Well, this time it was going to _matter_ , damn it! She Charged, straight up to the ceiling of the chamber. Back up to the ruined Turian gun. It was still attached to its moorings, but plasma fire had weakened everything. "Come on, you always put in a release bar." She started looking, hoping that an external release bar would be available. She maglocked her boots to the ceiling, seeing the handle to the main control panel off to the side of the giant space cannon. She dragged Tali's drone with her as she moved towards it, keeping the lines of communication open.

It was of course, locked and reinforced. It took a Warp and her gun's stock to bust it open, even with one corner of it melted by plasma. Inside, she could see everything lined in Turian lettering, warning the user that activating this anchor bolt, along with the three accompanying bolts, would cause this weapon to drop unsafely. "Son of a bitch." Three more of these bastards. This handle released, followed swiftly by the second anchor bolt. This one came open faster, and she could see the lip of the cannon emplacement starting to pop open. "I guess they are all supposed to open at once." Two were left, so she moved for the less damaged side.

Below her, the Queen was showering plasma on Tali's cover. She was looking more damaged, now. Most of her face was exposed, blood slipping from its wounds. But the returning fire was being directed at husks and regular Rachni forces rather than at the Queen. Tali herself was holding up Wrex's Graal, taking down anything that tried to go near him. The recoil on the weapon would send her back behind cover with most shots. Miranda huffed, her body doing its level best to walk on the ceiling. " _Miri, where are you?_ "

The third anchor popped, and the entire housing of the gun listed. She almost lost her footing, and could see the last remaining hinges and remaining anchor bolt bending. "I need a Warp. I need to save my biotics for something else."

" _We're all engaged!_ "

There was one person she could get the attention of. Javik was still working his way forward, his suit going through Rachni lines like it wasn't even noticing them. Miranda activated the laser pointer part of her Omni-tool, normally reserved for company meetings and pointing out spreadsheet data. She shined it on Javik's cranium, which immediately got his attention. The Warframe jerked around, the plasma cannon angled on her. Miranda flinched, knowing he might just fire anyways. Three hammering heartbeats later, she was still alive. Javik ambivalently crushed a husk beneath the foot of his Warframe, still locked onto her. She turned the laser pointer over to the bent hinge, wiggling the red pointer over it.

His Warframe opened the shoulders, missiles launching. "Bastard." He overdid it. The missiles hit the hinges, as well as the melted side of the platform. It was enough. The gun dropped, melted and damaged. It was still enough for Miranda to guide it with a well aimed Throw. The Rachni screeched, as it tried to move out of the way and found its way impeded by a line of Asari in breather masks. Some of the civilians had joined in, and they were trying to defend their last bastion. They didn't even have armor, and they were putting their lives on the line. Other civilians were also in the upper gallery, being helpful or just cowering. The flashes of plasma from inside the side chambers proved that the Rachni had gotten into the civilian bunker. She grinned as the entire weapon housing came down on the Queen. It tried to use its one remaining limb to block it, but a Throw from the Alliance marines hit the tip of the claw just enough to divert it. Alenko, of course. She didn't even have to look to know.

The Queen's screech cut out, and the gun housing crushed her spine and torso. The gun itself came down and went right into its throat. The dais where all of the haptic screens displayed was cut off, the gun mount going right through the platform. The metal spar fell down into the terrariums, the screens flickering and dying. Miranda's smile at this could not easily be contained. "Good God, it's dead." Fluid and blue wires sprayed like debris across the floor from the dead creature. It twitched in death, moving parts releasing pent up matter and dust out of the now forced open vents. "Tali, we can do this! Where is Vasir?"

" _I don't know. The only Asari I see are by C-sec._ " The Quarian said. Miranda couldn't see anything over the debris particles. " _Wrex! Seal that armor, now!_ "

Below her, Javik was stepping forward towards the remains of the platform. "Julia, you've got a Prothean right above you." There was no response. Her shoulders shook a little bit, from where she gripped the now open ceiling. "Julia? Javik, right above you."

Her heart skipped a beat. Her sister was not responding. Her armor was reporting her location to the rest of the squad, thanks to the little drone here on the ceiling. She clipped it into the now used handle of the anchor bolt, and let herself fall. She had to think back to the shores of Thessia's lakes, when Benezia's grand nieces thought it was funny to push the human off the two story diving board. It hadn't taken Miranda long to figure out how to lessen her weight. Pointing her feet towards the floor, she executed a perfect landing, her left hand guiding her down and her feet bending at the knee just in case she still needed to roll some of the energy out of the fall. It was slightly jarring, but she came down in the dust field. Fifteen feet from her sister, she could barely see what was going on.

She was just standing there, her arms hanging loosely. Miranda stepped forward, cautious. Her sister's gun was lying there in the dust, dropped out of arm's reach. The heat sink was disengaged, and Miranda gently walked closer. "Julia?" She whispered. She felt a bit silly about that. It was more instinctive, but there was no atmosphere out here. "Sis?" She was still whispering, even though she could risk talking louder inside her own contained atmosphere.

She didn't reply, her head not even moving. Miranda came closer, pushing her left hand through a cloud of dust. Her right hand remained on her rifle, keeping it angled towards Julia's gaze. There was nothing in front of her but debris. A chunk of the Rachni Queen was off to the right, barely within Julia's field of vision. It wasn't moving, and it wasn't showing any signs of activity. Was she just waiting for something to move? If so, why wasn't she cloaked?

That was when she saw the blue wires. Blood and skin covered a thin section of wires that went across the floor, trailing into the dust and out of view. It ended with a hand, one finger punching through the neck guard of Julia's armor. There were scratches covering the torso, from where it had tried punch through in other areas. The rest of the hand was firmly gripping the neck and collarbone. Worst of all, there was an active glow of biotics playing across the hand. Julia's eyes were vacant, dilated pupils staring at nothing through her visor.

Shit. Shit! She was in a _meld_. The strands of blood, bone and whatever Reaper shit was involved went twisting away underneath the body of the Queen. Miranda had halfway pulled out her sword before she reconsidered, realizing that if she interrupted a meld between two people it would cause cascading reactions to both of their nervous systems. She didn't have to consider who would survive that. Vasir had already survived a knife to the top of her spine. Okay, Julia was in a meld. That was okay. She would survive it.

Her brain activity was starting to get more dangerous, approaching pre-aneurysm levels. Shit. "Okay, sis. Nyra mentioned what kind of shit idea this might be, so just warning you. It's probably not one of my better ideas." Miranda walked up behind her sister, placing one hand on her far shoulder, and the other she held up next to the creepy hand with a finger going through the neck guard. "You can probably hear me, so just for the record, I'm doing this totally idiotic thing." She released the pressure clamps on her wrist. "I did this once with Elsaenrae and a priestess in training," She explained, seeing some kind of rocket go flying above her head. "Anyways, uh, hope this ends better than that experience. Embrace," Eternity wasn't quite the right word. She bit her lip, hesitant. Last time there had been a hospital involved. This time? Well, no one was naked. Everyone had medical suites attached to their wrists. That improved chances a lot. Okay, Miranda, no more panicking. Just do it. "Your damn stupid sister."

She shoved her hand right onto the extended fingers with their nasty pointed tips. Her own nervous system reacted just like it always did for her girlfriend. Except this time she was linking into an already existing meld, rather than starting one with two other people. This time she wouldn't have a three day migraine and nosebleeding. Her body twitched, shaking as the pointed finger formed a connection to her as well. Her mind caught up a second later, putting her into the mindscape that normally occurred on deep melds. Ones that went beyond the surface. This was good and bad. Good because it allowed Miranda to become more deeply connected, and easier to communicate. Bad because at this stage there was a higher risk of feedback pain and permanent damage.

Mindscapes were curious to Miranda. Humans didn't naturally communicate on this level, and didn't evolve for it. As it had been explained to her, Asari could conceptualize the state between subconscious minds. They could then mingle this conceptualized state with another sentient using biotics. The conceptual state was a reflection of the subconscious and the way that you perceived yourself. Layers around someone's reflection were a sign of discomfort with self-image. Density was a reflection of willpower, strength of heart. How you appeared before others in this mindscape and presented yourself was a reflection of how comfortable you were. Miranda didn't mind the nudity part of that reflection. Asari grew up without a sense of moral expectation in covering up yourself when in private places.

It felt like stepping through a waterfall, when she finally breached the interior of the mindscape. Her skin tingled as she finally made contact, and she closed her eyes to better be able to visualize the mindscape. Inside, she saw three figures. Well, two people and an orb. She knew that orb, she had seen it. It was a feature in every single one of her dreams. Black, with a semi-reflective surface that seemed to boil when you stared at it. If you stared at it long enough, your skin would tingle, and it would stare _back_ at you. It hovered, angling between rotating the naked Asari and just hovering in midair. There were no corners or sharp edges to it. Miranda had to look away before it started boiling like a pot of tea.

The Asari was not so nice to look at. Half of her looked like normal, with nice curves and an ass Miranda wouldn't mind fondling. What skin was visible looked like it had seen its share of war. Burns and cuts marked old scars. Her arms and most of her head were blue wire. A cheap caricature of a face was left, but the eyes were infinite pools of darkness, the rest of her just twisting blue wires and black blood. It wasn't a good sign if the Asari saw that as her self reflection. Miranda didn't know enough about it to be able to decide those actions.

It was Julia, the last person in the group, that was most distressing. She envisioned herself _not_ naked, with that catsuit of hers. It was not a good sign. She was also bleeding in the dreamscape, from her eyes and nose. "Julia!" Miranda yelled, pulling the attention of all three of them. The Asari seemed eager, and the black orb flickered. Julia glanced towards her, surprise plain on her face. "Stop being such a prude and defend yourself properly!"

"Curious." Teyla Vasir said. "I didn't expect you to actually make a full meld." The black orb stopped rotating around Tela, and moved towards her. It felt familiar, almost like Elsaenrae herself was touching and feeling and inspiring her. But dark shadows moved on the surface of the orb, and with every twitch more of her mind seemed to see faces and shapes appear in them. She had to quickly glance away, remembering the last time she stared too long at a black orb. "Either way, I guess I'll just kill both of you with one go. You've made this easier, coming in here like this."

"Don't be so cocky about it." Miranda said. "Julia, we're in a damn mindscape. The cleanest way to break it open and break the connection is to stop your nervous system from aligning with hers."

"What?" Julia said, confused. Her hair was flashing between hairstyles, colors, all from the aliases that she preferred most. "How the hell do you do that?"

Miranda didn't sigh, but she wanted to. Nyra would do that, when she was teaching them. Instead of telling Julia anything, Miranda hugged her. "It's easier if I just show you. It's like fluttering your biotics, timing it with your heartbeat. You have to switch the timing of that pulse so that you can break the connection." Miranda, now standing between Julia and the others, could feel slimy tentacles of willpower pushing against her very being. She had to ignore the surface thoughts rising from the contact, unlike the normal melds that Miranda liked to experience.

"You can't save her using that method." Tela said. "You only prolong her own death." The Asari was close, almost right behind her. The ever present orb shadowed them. "Come to think of it, you also have seen the contents of the beacons. You, too, shall enlighten me."

The mindscape _shuddered_ , and the orb caressed the spindling blue wires coming off of Vasir's crown. " _ **The control mechanism has been damaged. The Primary objective is at risk.**_ " The orb spoke. It never did that for Miranda before. Black spots followed every time a word was spoken. " _ **End this. Open the gate.**_ "

"I can still learn more! She's seen what the Protheans left behind! She can understand it! Her mind is locked to my entry, but inside there are many secrets!" Tela begged. "Let me understand!"

" _ **You lack perspective. You are an inefficient servant. Your actions are no longer a reflection of my desires. Assuming Direct control.**_ " The orb dove, entering the back of Vasir's head. Her eyes stayed infinitely black, somehow glowing on the outside while looking like the surface of boiling water. The wires turned black, stretching to form spiderwebs and complex patterns across the entire mindscape. " _ **Asari. Weak, emotionally stunted creatures. Unable to contemplate truth. Vasir should never have gotten this far, had you not been crippled.**_ "

"Crippled?" Julia's hair had finally settled on her normal color. "We're here, and we've managed to stop you so far!"

" _ **You are a pale imitation of the hero that was expected. Plans and invasions were predicted and constructed based upon the leader you were supposed to be.**_ **You** _ **were supposed to be a much more dangerous variable. Harper was projected to be somewhat dangerous. You were always projected to be the true threat. The ease in outmaneuvering you has allowed unprecedented victory.**_ "

The form stabilized, looking almost like a duplicate of their own. Human, female, somewhat short. Shorter than them, for certain. The hair was just wisps of smoke, and the mouth was surprisingly small and dainty. Miranda just maintained her hold on Julia, feeling her trying to pulse her biotics differently. "You're the Reaper." Miranda said. "You're the damn ship."

" _ **Asari don't know how to properly pronounce my name. I'm surprised you managed to get this far, considering how long I've prepared for you. Curious.**_ " The Reaper walked forward, its steps causing flickering dark patches across her vision. " _ **You are a pale shadow of her, yet different. Close enough to be recognized, yet different enough to survive. That is all that you are, Julia Harper. You lack conviction of intent, and fear taking your proper place.**_ " The creature let one of its wires brush gently across them both. " _ **I look forward to adding your experiences to the gestalt.**_ "

"Nazara!" Miranda took its attention off of her sister. She could already see color leaking out of her sister's skin. "We knew you would come to the Citadel. Your Queen is dead, and the only thing you've got left is a half broken undead Asari. I just crushed the control console, and you've got a pissed off Prothean coming to finish you off. Every moment we keep you here, it just makes our victory more assured."

" _ **Nazara did not have the tactical acumen to believe in changing strategies. His gestalt cannot understand what needs to be done. You believe you have won, yet I have already prepared for the Prothean. Thousands of years ago, I was prepared for this moment. Every scheme that your race believes it can use has long since been prepared for. Your deaths have been assured, planned for, and catalogued. There is no reality where you may achieve any sort of lasting victory. Your efforts are inconsequential.**_ " A small burst of light emerged from the spiderwebs, gently shifting through Julia's skin. The entire mindscape was starting to collapse inwards. " _ **I am Shepard. Everything you were supposed to be. I am your future, whether in this moment or indefinitely later.**_ " The black threads were cutting into them, and Miranda was assaulted by visions of burning planets, cybernetics, and even images of herself. " _ **You have gathered all of the pawns. There is a second console, as well as every layer of redundancy that an infinitely patient race could ensure. One destroyed input can be easily replaced.**_ " Miranda flinched, as her brain started hurting. The images were rushing forward even more, now, some of them quite alarming. She could easily refute the death and destruction. It was the images of herself, oddly wearing some kind of jumpsuit in white and black. She had never owned something like that.

Perhaps there was something to be said about futures. It was the kind of thing she might even consider. It highlighted all of the assets she liked to present. These were the thoughts that she had to focus on if she wasn't going to get lost in the myriad of forced memories and thoughts of the Reaper. When it ended, Miranda saw that she was on her knees, all color having been drained from her form. She was close to death, she knew. Why it had stopped, she saw very clearly. In front of her was someone that looked like Julia. "Hey skinny bitch!" With some kind of light show, the Reaper retreated backwards a fair distance. It hovered, now. The orb was partially outside of Vasir's form, again.

That tone, she had heard it once before. "Gwyn!" Gwyn _Shepard._ "Gwyn, what's happening?" This was no longer a meld. The orb remained, its tendrils still buried in everything and everyone. Gwyn Shepard, or at least what could be Gwyn, looking like a shadow growing out of Julia's back. Black tendrils flowed out of her, going back into the orb. Julia herself looked dead, bursts of dust coming off of her from large cracks in her skin. All color had left, each mote of dust its own glow. Each was a memory, or some kind of emotion. Just brushing up against them made all of them splash up against her.

"Well, Miri, I've got good news and bad news. Good news, Alenko managed to find Vasir and put her in a headlock. Bad news, _your_ Alenko is a pacifist. He's not going to kill her. But while part of me is focused on Alenko, I should warn you that I'm not going to be nice when I come back. We recognize Julia as a possible Shepard, but at the same time she is different enough that we can't fully incorporate her." Gwyn shrugged, almost nonchalant as more dust rose from the cracks in Julia's skin. "Either way, we won't have another opportunity to examine her."

"You're the Reaper?!" Miranda nearly yelled, but in whatever had become of the mindscape it came out as barely a whisper. "You told me you won! That you had beaten them!"

"Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn't trying to lead you on, it's just that once you separate from the gestalt the memories don't all stay together. Right now is about as lucid as I'll ever be."

"So now it's okay that you're going to kill my sister, me, and everyone we care about?"

"I guess. Being part of the rest of subconscious minds makes everything more logical. You've got the rest of everyone killed and processed to pull on, and it makes thinking about things much easier. I do remember activating the Crucible. I _do_ remember winning." Gwyn said, more sure of herself now. "I also remember not winning."

"Gwyn! You're not making sense! Let me wake up and we can talk this out."

"Yean, no." She said. "I can remember everything, not just of me but the rest of the gestalt, too. Their memories, it's like I can see all of it. Pull on their experiences and decide the best action by looking at what they have experienced. If I wake up now, It'll just be me. I won't be able to make an informed decision."

"So that's it? You're just giving up because 99% of the other people say it isn't possible?" Miranda asked. "You sound like you've already given up. Like you believe it's already over."

"It kind of is."

"No, it's not!" Miranda retorted. "If even one part of your damn gestalt believes it's possible then we have to assume there is still a chance for us to win!"

"The Reapers are beyond any interpretation of science or spiritual understanding you guys currently have. I mean, there is a chance that if you knew some way of getting past that, maybe evolving a few thousand generations, then there would be a chance. But right now it's a lost cause. Unless someone has something unexpected, this is going to be it."

"So, one of you still believes that there could be a chance. At least one of you."

"Yes?" Gwyn said, confused. "I guess you could construe that from what I said. But I spent most of my life trying to stop this from happening, and the best I could do was delay it. I've run the numbers. I've compared what I could have done with more time. Even if I had known from childhood, there was still nothing I could have done to stop this. So we don't believe you can win, even if you had help."

"But if we could, _would_ you?"

"Hmm." Gwyn considered. "What the hell. Maybe? It would have to be under certain conditions." Her form seemed to shudder as something happened outside the mindscape. "Well, Alenko thinks he is hot shit. But he still won't kill Vasir. Thinks he can appeal to her. So maybe if you guys can show me something truly impressive, I'll consider it. I'd like to think of that as my first condition. Impress me, show me that you've got something more than what I brought to the table."

"Can't do that without separating from the mindscape." Miranda said. "I've been trying to get out of here."

"Don't worry, Miri. We'll have you back to your alien-hating ways and your sister soon enough."

"Excuse me? My girlfriend is-was an Asari." She pushed past all of the dust that made up clouds of emotions around her sister. "And this is my sister. I'm not going to let her become some gestalt of hopeless bitches." She pushed on the mental image of Gwyn coming out of Julia's back. Strangely, it moved. Where the woman's arm connected to her sister, shards of something poured out. The tiny shards splashed against her skin, and Miranda saw flashes of pain. Shootings, stabbings, moments from her sister's life that were painful. "You're already killing her!" Alright, so if pushing Gwyn away wasn't going to do anything, what then? Pull her into Julia?

Behind her, the orb was starting to get closer again. Alenko must be giving up. This time, she pulled, Gwyn Shepard's body being pushed right into Julia's. As Miranda did this, shards of her sister were being sucked out of the air and back through the cracks in her skin. "None of this matters, you know. Even if you win today, at some point all of your options will be exhausted. Even given a hundred years, you won't win." The mindscape started fracturing, the black threads unwinding. Gwyn looked like she wanted to follow the threads, and Miranda smiled. "Hey!" She held onto the woman, keeping her next to Julia as the entire world around them collapsed, the orb disappearing and Gwyn not becoming a part of it. "Oh well. This changes nothing."

When Miranda came to, it was to the sight of Alenko, his fist going through the torso of what remained of Tela Vasir. It went up, through the backbone and into the brain. His armor was covered in cuts and marks from the vestigial cables and appendages coming off of the Asari. "Help," He wheezed. "It's still alive."

Miranda let Julia hit the ground, pulling her hand off of the puncturing finger. "Pop it up!" Julia's Cain came up in her hands, as Alenko sent the severed body of Vasir into the air. "Singularity!" She called over the open channel, weapon churning as it warmed up. Someone answered, a glowing orb barely strong enough to maintain the levitation hitting the Reaper minion. "Get the _fuck_ away from my sister."

The Cain bucked, and Vasir was hit by the full force of the weapon. Instead of a normal explosion, a wave of energy along with red lightning erupted over the chamber, taking out light sources and bouncing through Husks and soldiers alike. A gigantic arc of the red lightning went back and hit the Reaper, making its eyes flicker and its position change slightly. It was drifting, now. The Cain happily beeped, letting her know it was ready to fire again. "Oh hell yes!"

" _Enemy craft's barriers are down! Whatever you did, it created a feedback loop into the dreadnaught!_ " Tali said.

Miranda's hands were emptied, as the Cain was swiped by a now standing Julia. "My turn." She said, clearly. Julia sounded like she was in pain, but angry. That was good. "Tali, mark out the thickest cluster of barrier emitters."

" _Happily, Commander!_ "

The Reaper was still drifting when every heavy weapon they had left fired, Hitting the marked out targets. Barrier emitters all over the vessel burst, and the shot from the Cain ruined one of the eyes. It was enough to damage it, but not much more. " _Commander, you've got a Prothean inbound! He's wiped out all of the Rachni in between you and him. He's heading for the broken console._ "

Julia stood up, an Omni-gel seal on her throat holding her atmosphere stable. Miranda smirked, picking up her rifle and shouldering it. Out of grenades, damaged armor, and with her sister and Alenko there. This was not going to go well. " _Comms are clear, Commander. We can get messages out again._ "

"If anybody is reading this, Citadel forces are still fighting in the Citadel tower. We have managed to hold against their assault so far, but we have civilians at risk up here. Any fire support that can be sent would be appreciated."

" _Executor Pallin to all C-sec agents. The tower is holding. The Rachni have disabled the Citadel's weapons. Switch all weapon controls to manual, position anyone you can at the guns themselves._ "

" _Executor Pallin. This is Tevos. We cannot maintain position around the Citadel. We are abandoning the station. We cannot maintain a defensive perimeter with all of the defenses turning on us. Our fleets are pulling back._ " Tevos didn't seem too torn up over it. " _The retreat order has been issued. A counter-offensive will be mounted within one solar rotation. Hold the line, Executor. We are coming to save you._ " It sounded like so much bullshit. It was the right thing to say over an open channel, but it still stung.

" _Commander._ " Miranda heard a different voice. " _Executing your request._ "

"Pressley!"

* * *

The Citadel, Widow Nebula, January 2183

"Joker. Begin attack run." Pressley said, strapped into a chair. "Barriers on that big bastard are down. No torpedoes. We can't risk damaging the Citadel Tower. We need to push it away from the tower."

"You got it." Joker said with a bit of vigor. "Let's see if they've got enough power left in their gyroscopes!" Everyone was strapped into their seats, damage control teams ready by the ladders to move where they needed to. On this small of a craft, you could sprint from one side to the other in under forty seconds. They had drilled that time after time until everyone but Joker could do it. Without the marines, there were hardly anyone left in the hallways. Everyone was strapped in because today the Normandy would be going to its very limits. No one should be in the halls when that happened. "Set condition one, Battle Stations."

"Coming out of stealth!" Harris shouted. "Mapping debris for best attack vector!" Active detector systems kicked in, and the sensor map opened up with all kinds of data.

"All hands report secure and prepared. Gunnery decks reporting armed and loaded." Pressley responded to internal chatter. "Take the ship past its specs. That thing doesn't have the room to maneuver in here. We do. I'll trust you with navigation." The old man was really in a good mood today. "Zero activity on enemy ship"

"Some small explosions have just occurred near the front of the ship. We don't have an angle to take advantage of it." Harris reported.

"The ship is still damaged from our earlier fight with it. Without barriers, I can tell that only a patch job has been done to seal up the damage." Pressley said. "Give us an angle, Joker."

In the contained space of the Citadel, there was no way to go up to full speed. Or at least full speed was not recommended for a frigate. Their top speed would get them past the Reaper within seconds. The gigantic ship filled their viewports completely when Joker got within five kilometers. Any mistake at this range and people would die. Millions of people, actually. Within the closed arms of the space station anything was considered friendly fire. Shooting out waves of plasma at targets was going to hit someone friendly. Joker couldn't help it.

With that in mind, he aimed for the part of the ship they had already damaged. Hopefully their shot would pierce, and the force and bleed off would just damage the inside of their ship. At five kilometers, Joker could almost aim with the naked eye. In fact, he did. He angled the nose of the _Normandy_ two degrees to the left. He was closer than they were last time they had shot at this thing. "Locked!"

"Half strength barrage, both tubes." Pressley ordered. "I don't want to shatter this thing here. Just push it over." The ion fire exited their barrels, and struck the Dreadnaught right in the crack that they already had made. Blue flames flickered at any pockets of gas that had come out of the surrounding atmosphere, small sparks in the darkness of space. The rest of the strike hit the Reaper, sending the gigantic ship on a slow tumble, its ass going forward and its face bumbling back towards them. Red lightning was playing over its surface. "Harris! What the hell is that?"

"I only read exotic radiation sir, no secondary explosions, no signs of our shot even puncturing the interior of that ship. It's built with large valves, meant to shunt heat directly into space. We aren't hitting atmosphere and the ionized particles lose a lot of the punch with those large valves." Harris stopped talking, his voice growing quiet. "I thought we had done more damage. Hostile fighters, inbound! They look like debris!"

Joker grinned. "We can handle a few fighters. Taking evasive maneuvers." The enemy contacts looked like little bubbles. Little orbs that just flitted their way between bursts of debris efficiently and better than any fighter craft were capable of. "Permission to use torpedoes on enemy fighter craft?"

"Denied." Pressley shot back. "Use small arms and dodge them." Joker squirmed, taking the small frigate up to half flank speed. The few seconds of burn were enough to blast through the clouds of debris, the fighters not even caring as he blasted through them. What he _didn't_ like was how the small orbs locked onto their hull and started following him like little ducklings. Demented little ducklings from hell. "They're armed with plasma!" Pressley stated. "Heat levels are rising along the rear hull!"

"Ugly ducklings or big bastard?" He asked.

"Big bastard! Let the gunnery crew take on the ducklings." Pressley said, which Joker was grateful for. He had to trust that they could take on the little annoyances. "Second pass!"

This time, when they came around on that Reaper, it was starting to wake up. It had stopped drifting, and some of its systems were starting to work. Joker noticed that it was starting to perform some course corrections, and had to make a decision. This close, they weren't going to have the chance of missing. But his gut told him otherwise. He angled the nose of the _Normandy_ slightly higher, seeing that the gigantic ship was turning over to face them. Yeah, that would be bad. "Abort!" This time, he rolled the ship so that he could out pace the _possibility_ of it returning fire. It was a good decision. Point defense guns fired out, firing a mixture of lasers and some kind of foreign matter. Every alarm the Alliance could think of went off when that crap hit the sides of the ship, and radiation alerts were concentrated on the gunnery deck. "You guys alright down there?"

There was no reply. "Damage report!" Pressley bellowed. The entire ship rattled as something broke through their barriers, yet no one budged. They were as prepared as they were ever going to be.

" _Gunnery crew are dead. We are taking over for them._ " A Quarian said over the line. " _Their blood boiled. It seems like a concentrated burst of radiation killed them. Their suits weren't meant to handle whatever it was. Small breaches on one of the torpedo tubes, patch should hold. The other tubes are clear, guns are loaded._ "

"Good work." Pressley told them, frowning at the loss of men. That was all. Freaking stone cold old bastard. "Harris, have we pierced the enemy hull?"

"Aye, Sir! We've pierced into some level with multilayered chutes for venting heat. Our weapons are just not effective once they hit those chutes. Hull structure and shape is built to vent heat, not allow access. Odd."

"Harris!" Pressley barked, knocking him out of his stupor. "Analyze it when it's dead! Weak points, power couplings, gyroscopes!"

"Ah." He almost jumped to his feet. "Theoretically if we could land torpedoes inside of its hull, we could rip it open more. But I don't want to trust our nav computer after all the damage and shaking up it's gone through."

"It's dead in the water." Pressley muttered. "Joker, broadside position."

"Sir." Joker said with all seriousness. "This craft cannot take that kind of risk. I've got a better idea." Risky business, challenging your superior.

"Let's hear it." Oh yes, Joker was going to be a household name. He realized he had been clenching his toes at the thought of going broadside with a dreadnought. Knife range combat was great, but not _that_ kind of knife range.

"That thing is starting to recover. Locking our tubes to its hull breach is going to put us in range of every underside point defense gun it's got. I say instead, we dump every torpedo we have right into the damaged weapon in front. For all we know we're dumping torpedoes into a hangar bay."

"Harris?"

"What little I can guess doesn't tell me much. Those little bastards came from surface mounted units. They weren't internal."

"Make an attack run on its nose, Joker." Pressley said. "Keep us close but be careful."

"You got it, sir." Joker pressed his feet into the deck, accelerating out of their normal evasive motions. "More of those little bastards are targeting the Citadel tower."

"They're also sitting ducks. Looks like they're shooting at whoever is inside." Pressley muttered. "Main guns, you have your targets." Joker grinned, flipping the ship so that the top of it was facing the structure of the Citadel tower, and the wings were farther from the debris. Twin bolts of blue fire arced out, slicing through the three small orbs that were shooting into the Tower. He gave a short whoop as the ship barreled past the broken windows of the tower, and Joker was moving too fast to see what was going on there. Sure enough those inside saw them in action, though. Once past the tower, he angled on the gigantic twitching ship. It looked organic, with all of the different parts moving more like something that belonged in atmosphere than a spacecraft should look. It's damaged main gun was still a stump of its former glory, dessicated armor still cracked and broken. The deck shuddered beneath him as the main guns went off, and the torpedoes released.

Four torpedoes were shot down by orbs and point defense cannons. The other three Joker had launched towards the side of the ship that had already taken damage, and impacted right in the joint between weapon mount and ship. Space warped, and gravity exerted pressure on it. The main cannon _snapped_ right off, revealing dark circuitry and a spray of parts as the connection point was revealed. One of the other tentacles reached out, and Joker rolled the ship away, letting a skyscraper take the molten metal and plasma.

" _Reloading!_ " The gunnery replacements let them know. " _Forty five seconds until next spread!_ " They could only reload one side at a time with the limited manpower at their disposal. With one tube down, that meant they were reloading the damaged side first. Then it would be almost another minute before the other four torpedoes on the undamaged side would be loaded. " _We'll need to be careful with ammo after that. Four remaining in the bays after we've loaded both sides._ " Four left, after the next full volley. This scout frigate was really not equipped for a full war. Or at least one so far from the supply lines.

"Roger that." Pressley said. "Wheel around, Joker. Give our batteries the chance to recharge." They passed the melted skyscraper, watching as people and their stuff tumbled out into open space. "Damn. No matter where they shoot, people are going to die. Harris, what's going on with that opening!"

"It's connected to the same vents that we saw earlier! Excess heat from the main cannons gets pushed through the entire outer hull. Hitting that area we just exposed isn't going to do anything more than what we were already capable of." Harris was typing almost as fast as Joker had seen Tali pull off. "It's systems are coming back online. Looks like it's ready to dance with us."

"Joker!" Yeah, whoever was in command of that Dreadnaught was pissed. It came at them, burning past clouds of debris and raising two of its tentacles at their little vessel. His reaction was instinctive. He rolled, moving the _Normandy_ right in between two rows of civilian centers. It did them no good, as plasma rolled through the buildings and grazed them. The entire ship buckled, and there was some alarming noises from the armor above the bridge.

He didn't have to look back to know that the old man was glancing at him. Joker would be glaring at himself in this position. He did a textbook dodge, and it nearly killed everyone. Well, time to throw the rulebook out. He pulled back on the stick, cruising through the thickest of the debris and charging right at the Reaper. "Route energy to the gyroscopes!" Joker ordered.

The big ship saw him coming, and one of the orbs impacted the kinetic barriers enough to drain them down twenty percent. Joker bit his lip, and floored every engine in the ship. They went shooting past the Dreadnaught, past its next round of plasma heat death, and right towards the opposite wall of the Citadel. Tayseri Ward, if he could guess. Now he pulled back the stick again, corkscrewing and turning while still at full speed. Some of the knick knacks lying around the bridge lifted up, as gravity lost its hold for a moment. But the job was done. They came out of it to face the side of the gigantic craft, its profile still in the middle of its own roll. "Oh yes!" Molten metal from their own guns ripped into the 'eyes' of the enemy ship, burning out one and scratching another. But the torpedo tubes were still not loaded. So their pass netted little. "Guess I better be a gentleman and wait for them."

He cut the throttle, and instead flew a circle around the tail of the Dreadnaught. There were two spires on that tail, and just to be cheeky he had the gunnery crews chip one of them off. "Can you get us closer?" Harris asked. "Closer to that gap?"

Heat levels were nominal, at least. Joker considered it. "Oh yeah!" The giant ship was trying to roll, but it just couldn't keep up with the tiny little craft. In open space, it could outrun them and just use its bullshit technology to keep them from ever doing damage. Here, though, it couldn't just fly off and get a few hundred thousand kilometers away from them. But the little orbs were started to get through their barriers. "Breach on the hangar deck!" Pressley yelled out. "Someone tell me what just happened!"

" _An orb just punched right through the wall of the hangar bay! They went right through the damaged plates and just started shooting!_ "

"Well, get on the Mako and blast that thing back into space!"

" _Ah, yes Sir!_ " There was a loud _thump_ , and the ship rocked underneath him. " _It's going after our power conduits!_ "

"Take it out!" Pressley roared. Meanwhile, Joker saw that three tubes were now full. He rolled again, angling for the area between the spires of the Dreadnaught. The old man didn't miss it, noticing that Joker was risking getting this close. "Well?"

"I've found the main thermal vent for the craft!" Harris said proudly. "If we can get through, we might be able to damage their core!"

"What's the likelihood that the alien craft have assumed that possibility and addressed that structural weakness?" Pressley said rhetorically.

"We need something to work, damn it!" Joker told both of them. "We can keep dodging but it's going to figure us out eventually, or back itself into a corner where we can't maneuver."

"Take us down into its belly, again. We're going to try ripping its guts out." Pressley ordered. Two more tubes had been loaded. Joker was concerned, as the Reaper made another attempt to melt them out of the sky. Heat bloomed in the rear wings, as plasma washed over them. The armor was holding, but Joker was trying to avoid getting touched by the red hot beams of death. So far he was doing alright. As soon as it tried to orient them again, Joker rolled beneath the shot and corkscrewed right into an approach vector.

Alarms blared for damage to the hull down in the hangar bay, and warnings about shear damage to some of the exposed circuits. Fuel lines were safe, thank God. His roll took them right down into the downtown area of Tayseri, and Joker tried to focus on the small gap in between the buildings instead of on the rolling Dreadnaught above him. It was using two of its tentacles like a pair of hands, accelerating its turn and ripping up two buildings as it performed that feat. Still, they were faster. It's tender underbelly was exposed, just as six of seven tubes lit up as loaded. Joker fired, the torpedoes lancing out towards the shattered underbelly. Three didn't make it past the little orbs, who were now assuming a defensive strategy around the larger ship. Two more were shot down by the point defense systems, while the last went off course and impacted some of the armor behind the already damaged section.

The armor warped, scrunching like a banana peel and crusting off. What it revealed was _not_ more ventilation. "That looks like some kind of ring system." It looked that way, with some kind of spinning portion now exposed to space. It was covered with technology that Joker wasn't familiar with, and some kind of fluid canisters all along it. "Anyone have any idea?"

"Looks expensive. I say let's blow it to hell." Pressley declared. "Load all tubes while Joker gets us a better angle!"

Joker grinned, coming about on the back end of the enemy ship. Instead of trying to chase them, it had taken all of its tentacles and gripped Tayseri Ward hard enough to scrape whatever metal the Citadel was made out of. It then buried its lower half into the civilian district, hiding their damaged section from view. "Oh, you want to play that game, huh?"Joker muttered remembering some of his teachers at the academy. When a tough target is hiding from you, don't rise to the challenge. It the target outweighs you and has a better defensive position, don't go chasing after it. Well, conventional wisdom wasn't going to work when he was dogfighting a Dreadnaught. "Prepare ship to ship mines!"

"We don't control the hangar bay. We can't deploy the mines without someone to safely remove the mines from their grips and arm the warheads." Pressley reminded him.

"Can we activate them remotely?" Joker wasn't trained on that ordinance. It was mostly for the boarding parties and marines to know.

"No." Pressley replied. "But I see what you're thinking. Harris, would their sensors detect explosive materials?"

"Yes?" He said, unsure. "I assume so?"

"Joker, do a low pass. Then we hit the brakes and dump out the trash and the mines. We _can_ remotely operate the racks with the weapons and gear. Maybe we can spook 'em." Pressley marked a spot right on top of the 'face' of the ship. "Come from behind. Strafe that heat vent and see if that does anything."

Like an atmospheric bomber, Joker lined up the ship with the rear heating vents and took a shot. The Reaper didn't seem to care too much, keeping its front half buried in apartments. "Open the doors!"

" _Compensating!_ " That was heard from two different locations. One of the other bridge crew was accounting for the mass that was leaving the ship, and the lower deck crew fighting the orb shouted that out in response to the doors opening. " _Hit it!_ " Someone said a second later. Joker instinctively pushed his feet into the deck, as the Quarian made front mounted engines kicked in and slowed the entire ship down, minus any compensation from the gyroscopes.

Everything that wasn't bolted down in the hangar bay was released into space, including the orb that had been assaulting the ship. It tumbled, sparking and spraying out some kind of fluids. The Mako remained in the hangar, but Joker received a warning that the Mako's docking collar was damaged and couldn't release the armored vehicle. It wasn't going very far anyways. With all of the junk also came the remaining four of the Normandy's mines. Normally equipped with six, the stealth recon craft was given four more than other frigates normally were assigned. With its stealth capabilities it gave their marines more options for deep insertion.

The Reaper didn't bother moving as they drifted. The orb was blasted to pieces by their point defense cannons, their heat levels starting to rise up along the vents. The space mines drifted right towards the sitting Reaper, and it didn't bat an eye as the objects hit its hull, along with the rest of their cargo hold's contents. Strangely, the space mines were still attached to one another.

"Reading one life sign out there, someone's riding those mines!"

"Leave them. They can get off into the Citadel. We can't risk stopping for them." Pressley ordered. Orbs were closing in, and Joker pulled the ship out of the way of their attack path. Their crewmember kept at it, and even as Joker pulled away, he could see the mines arm. One of the orbs did a pass over the mines, and the life sign disappeared. One mine had been armed. "Damn it all." The old man quietly said. "That was one of the Quarians."

The life sign flickered again, but Joker was halfway back to the Presidium Tower by the time it showed up. "Hey!" The ship rolled, the orbs matching its turn radius easily. The rest of the mines were armed. "Jump you crazy son of bitch!"

"Crash netting deploying." Harris said helpfully.

The Reaper finally noticed that four mines were armed and attached to its outer hull. This made it act, started to roll the attached mines over towards a nearly crushed building block. It was going to scrape them off. The crewmember must have noticed that as well. " _Keelah Selai, motherf-_ " The mines went off, and the Reaper was pressed down into the arm of the Citadel with force. Debris went shooting up, and it screeched over all radio frequencies in alarm. Lights across the nearby Ward flickered in response. Their man was obviously dead after that. "Closing hangar bay doors." Harris said. "Hey, I've got some kind of new reading. Active power, some kind of exposed cabling. We have exposed something with those mines!"

The _Normandy_ rolled, coming back around and catching up with the damaged Dreadnaught. It was trying to hide its damaged positions. "Alright old man, you trust me, right?"

"Perhaps."

"Everybody hang on. We gotta get close." Joker said. "Activate stealth systems!" The ship was covered in its stealth field, the orbs behind them breaking apart from their formation and starting a search pattern in the open areas of space in between the arms. Joker took the _Normandy_ down to a crawl, moving at barely twenty meters a second. It was slow, and ponderous. More importantly, it allowed Joker to glide right into the row of buildings opposite the Reaper. Their frigate had a few meters of clearance on either side, but moving as slow as they were Joker could control their motions around the debris clouds. There was gravity here, enough that the dust in the air was the only particles he had to worry about.

Their stealth systems was keeping them hidden, but only with them going as slow as possible. Their last torpedoes had been loaded, with three on one side and two on the other. "Gunnery crew, please move torpedo from tube four to tube eight." Fifteen seconds later, the right side of the ship now had four torpedoes loaded. "Anyone on the hangar deck, I need a sensor drone prepped and released above the cloud layers. Set it to activate in two minutes."

It was released, joining some debris that had carved out an apartment was the perfect dumping ground for the small drone to go. After that, Joker let the ship slowly drift right underneath a skyway that the Reaper hadn't crushed. The ship's tentacle was pointed right at them, breaching the ground and buildings around them to keep itself on the ground. "You sure we're in the right position?" Pressley whispered, as if the Reaper would hear them. When the stealth systems were running, people often whispered more. As if it would help in space, where sound didn't carry. But they talked quietly nonetheless.

"I'm betting on it." Joker said. He carefully watched as the seconds ticked by. "Five seconds, gunnery team." At that point, the sensor drone activated, flashing signals as if the _Normandy_ were traveling through the dust clouds behind them. The Reaper reacted, lurching up and swinging its guns over the area that the drone was in. Hot molten metal rained down, destroying the buildings and the drone. But it was enough that the Reaper was off the ground a few hundred feet. Joker gunned it, the _Normandy_ slipping right underneath a tentacle and into the exposed space beneath the Dreadnaught. It overshadowed everything, their sensors giving off false signals this close to its ECM warfare. They didn't need them, however. With only a couple hundred meters between them and the exposed hole in the hull, the torpedo tubes could be manually fired. "Now!"

The tubes emptied, leaving just one torpedo left on the port side. As they were emptying, Joker tilted the ship so that the tubes angled perfectly onto the target. The Reaper noticed them in the debris coming off of itself, and tried twisting again. It wasn't enough, as he accelerated out of the dark abyss and through the gap between a building and one of its tentacles. Joker wasn't quite fast enough to escape, as the tentacle clipped their wing. There was only a distant sound of metal tearing and alarms.

The _Normandy_ wheeled around, and just glancing at the damage reports explained why he was having trouble turning to the right. Their right wing was just _gone_. Joker had run a few hundred hours of 'lame duck' flying in the academy. They would simulate part of the ship not working as expected, and have you try to compensate for it. He had trained for this. His fingers ached, as he exerted more force than necessary to compensate and keep the _Normandy_ from hitting a building. He started a slow rise out of the Tayseri Ward. "Damage Report!" The old man barked.

"The starboard wing is gone! Fire in the rotation collar and comm room, hangar bay already sealed and contained. Fuel lines disconnected."

Then the torpedoes hit. The Normandy was not far enough away, and the entire ship bent in response to the gravitic shifts. The ceiling of the bridge cracked, and the starboard side of the ship tore open. Emergency barriers slammed down behind the cockpit, but Joker watched as Joya's entire chair went out into space, her screams going over the comms. The upper decks were completely exposed, now. The lower decks were fine, he could see. But the upper ones were all exposed to space on the starboard side. Quickly he glanced at the readouts for deck two, which had the medbay. There was a hull breach, but the medbay was alright. He breathed a small sigh of relief.

Joker brought the ship around, and they got their first view of what had happened to the Dreadnaught. "Mother of God." Pressley said. The Reaper was ripped open, its midsection looking like a watermelon had exploded inside of it. Two of its tentacles still worked, and all of the orbs in the vicinity were gone. Tayseri Ward was ruined. He tried not to focus on that, instead looking at the Dreadnaught that was somehow getting back up after having its guts ripped out. There was a hole almost three hundred meters wide piercing the ship, exposing every layer of it.

"What's it going to take?!" Joker yelled. "We can't risk an attack run with this many hull breaches!"

"Harris?" Pressley asked, looking back. The young man was slumped at his station, his helmet crushed against the haptic interface. "We need sensors!" The old man slid into the seat beside him, his boots attaching to the plate and the chair gripping him. "Evasive maneuvers, Joker. We're crippled."

"The arms are still closed." Joker said. "We can't escape. We either win or we die." He turned the ship back towards the Reaper, which was slowly rising from the debris cloud. They could see through the hole in its hull and into the undamaged Zakera Ward behind it. The damaged sections of the ship sparked, lighting up all of the damage they had caused. Long tears went through the nose and front half, leaving it misshapen. It looked like its nose had been broken, debris trailing from its wounds like blood in a pool of water. Two working tentacles remained, glowing with power.

"Hot damn." Pressley said. "It's core is exposed. It's not Element Zero." He brought up the displays, showing that a small corner of its central core had been exposed to space. "But the only way we could get a shot on that is if we can get inside that hole." With just one torpedo left in the tubes, there was no way it would make it. "It would shred us before we ever could achieve that."

Joker swallowed, his throat feeling tight. "Alright, then. Let's dance." The _Normandy_ charged forward, dipping to the right, all the compensation he could bring not enough to straighten out the initial burst of acceleration. They did level out, a few hundred meters in. By that point the Reaper was standing up to its full height and bearing down on them. He banked, their path taking them away from the limited firing arc of the enemy craft. "Thermal warnings on deck three!"

" _Hull breach on deck three has busted water lines and thermal sinks. Stealth systems disabled._ " The crew reported.

Joker pulled around, ready to come about for another pass on the Reaper. It was ignoring him, moving forward towards the Presidium tower. "What's it doing?"

"Hell if I know. Match pace with it."

"Do we have comms?"

"That console is gone with Joya. I'll try to reroute power and connect it to this console, but don't expect any miracles. We can send a few laser bursts, but that is all right now."

"SSV Normandy to Presidium Tower, you've got incoming. We're on station but crippled. We've done some damage to it, but we are nearly out of munitions and have multiple major hull breaches." Joker said, sending a wide burst towards the tower. He watched as that Dreadnaught slowly moved forward, still trailing parts and chunks of metal from its hull. It just hurt, watching that bastard walk away, and them not able to do a damn thing to stop it.


	85. Dementia-Fall From Grace

Chapter 85

Relay 23, Widow Nebula, January 2183

All of his ships made it through the relay. The pitiful picket fleet left from the Citadel forces had balked at the idea of trying to stop his fleet. The only Dreadnaught that the Batarian fleet possessed, the _Glorious Fist_ , had made short work of the entire picket. Eight craft to stop ten times their number. Hah! He pitied them. The lesser scum hadn't dare rally against him, retreating to nearby systems and allowing his fleet access to the relay. They all jumped, carrying with them their precious cargo.

It was chaos on the other side. "Admiral Jeruut, all ships have arrived. Our crews are in position on the payloads." Fourteen deuterium and element zero filled asteroids, all of them painstakingly built with the old hulls of super heavy cruisers and dreadnaughts no longer functional. Every single one of these asteroids, though small, could go as fast as their element zero could allow them to. Jeruut had filled each of these ships with a few Jarem, and a couple of Marej officers to maintain order. They all knew that they would die. It was demanded of them by the Karn.

" _Attention Batarian craft, please identify yourselves._ " An Asari spoke over the comm lines. He scowled, his lips bared at the thought of speaking with the unworthy. He waved his hand, and the token Marej caste on his bridge came forward to translate for the lesser born.

"We are the fleet of Admiral Jeruut, here in response to the orders of our superiors." His man told them. "What are your demands?"

" _Assist us! We are under attack by Geth and Rachni forces, and we are evacuating the Council._ "

Jeruut grinned, making the slaves nearest to him flinch. "Tell them to approach us. We shall cover their cowardly retreat." He motioned to one of his flag officers. "Angle the smallest of the asteroids at their flagship. It would bring my ancestors the highest of glory to know that their foes were cast down by me." The rest of the galaxy called them Separatists. Lies and derision, all of it. He knew his place. He was _born_ to destroy the Council. He had been _born_ to launch every single one of these weapons into the heart of Council space and throw down the order that had so oppressed them.

"Angle the other asteroids for the Citadel. I want every guarantee that it is destroyed by the efforts. Millions of our brothers and sisters died, in every caste, from sickness and disease. Sickness and disease caused by these very heretics! They died unjustly, and today we answer their pleas for justice. Today! Today we demand the highest of vengeance!" Admiral Jeruut was the oldest son of a Warpriest. He believed in the process of reincarnation. He knew that his soul had stood at the forefront of great battles before, and had gladly given his blood in lives past to guarantee the survival of his race. "Today is no different than the Age of Solace. Today we are no different than the First Fists of Kar'Shan. All souls shall return to their proper place! All of you are fathers of sons, and can freely go to the afterlife! For we are the people of the Karn, and today, we _demand_ vengeance! We demand blood, and flesh, to be sacrificed like the heathens of old! For we shall burn out every heretic that dares stand against us. Cover the advance of the asteroids. Shoot down every enemy in sight. Today, we are brothers. Though we are of different births, when this battle ends we all shall return to Rian, and our families shall forever glorify our names!" He slammed his chest, every man in the room following the action. "For we are the Karn! We do not fail!"

"We do not fail!" the entire fleet echoed. The Citadel would burn, and every heathen with it. Without their precious station, the rest of the galaxy would fall to their glorious empire. The Hegemon, Jeroth, would be forced to name each of them as heroes for this. Jeruut's four sons would battle and die, and the conquering of the galaxy would be their right. He simply had to give them the chance for glory.

"Enemy craft on approach!" His second in command said with glee.

"Blood and Glory!" Jeruut yelled, as the entire Batarian fleet echoed his cry again, the sound of fists on armor drowning out some of the voices on the comms. "Advance!"

* * *

Presidium Tower, Widow Nebula, January 2183

Watching the Dreadnaught tumble away like that was probably the best view they had seen all day. Julia slumped against her, exhausted. Miranda could remember her first deep meld, and the orgasmic soup that was her brain afterwards. Julia didn't look like she was coming down off an orgasmic high. "Regroup." She said tiredly. "Executor Pallin, the main console has been destroyed. Is there any secondary consoles that we can use to disable the Citadel's weapons systems?"

" _Negative._ " The Turian replied. " _The controls on this tower were centralized._ " The Turian leaned over the side of the terrariums, giving them a salute. " _But I would bet that the Council's seat had a secondary console._ "

"What do we need to get into it?"

" _We would need one of the Councillors, but I doubt they would be able to provide authentication._ " Pallin opened an access corridor, allowing them entrance to a ramp that would take them out of the terrariums. " _I would appreciate it if your troops began taking forward defensive positions. The rest of your officers have not been answering my hails._ "

"What do you mean? That Prothean is advancing!"

" _We are in negotiations with it. I sent a Huntress to bargain with it, while we prepare for the next round of Rachni. Most of our defenses have been gutted, and your orders are to fall in line, pick a defensive line, and apply your skills. It will be more than a solar rotation before we are reinforced._ "

Julia was in her arms, both sisters leaning on each other as their nerves got used to reality again. " _Even with the people we have left, we couldn't hold any one of the defensive lines._ " She told the Executor tiredly. " _Why don't we disable the secondary access points and fall back to a different position?_ "

" _Humans._ " He spat. " _This is why I never agreed to having you in my C-sec. You see a situation like this and immediately think to retreat. To fall back and abandon something this critical? Insulting. You insult every single sentient to grace these halls._ " The Turian stood at the top of the ramp, his chest heaving. He was covered in acid burns, plasma scorch marks, and one long scratch that went across his chest. " _You want to run? Abandon a tower that is no longer functional?_ "

" _You have more civilians in breather masks than agents in armor._ " Julia told him. " _One brood warrior could crush you. Are you defending the tower or the people?_ "

" _Neither._ " Pallin replied. " _I am General Rictus Pallin of the Turian Hierarchy, and Executor of the Citadel Defense Force. I do not defend this tower, and I do not defend these civilians. I defend the fragile symbol of power that is the Council. At the end of this day, if I do not hold my post, I shall set a precedent. If one C-sec agent dares abandon their post, then we have failed these colors. Every single member of my two hundred thousand and forty five agents were hand selected for valor, bravery, and skill. We have the training, the experience, and the honor of being the very best. None of them will break upon this onslaught. Not a single one of us will retreat. We will bleed and we will die, but not a single step back shall be taken. You Humans view civilians with too great of concern. I do not fight for them. I do not care for this tower. But the Council care. Their concerns and whims are mine. The appearance of strength is often more impactful than any long campaign or fleet action. Such as it is, and such is our plight._ "

Pallin snarled at her, his voice roiling. " _Fall into line, Human. Get your people in place. Strip the dead of armor and give it to the civilians. They will augment our numbers. We will bargain with this Prothean, and keep his forces in this fight as well. This Citadel will hold!_ " Behind him, Miranda could see the small _Normandy_ fighting the Reaper, jets of plasma and explosives lighting up the inside of the Citadel. " _No matter what comes up those steps, it is nothing compared to the might of the Council."_

The Turian walked to the edge of the broken window, looking out into the scene in front of him. " _We are alone, outgunned, and yet still fighting. I say unto you, forget your fear. Forget the lies your mind may tell itself, forget all that might tell you otherwise. Listen to me now. The Rachni queens are dead. The Citadel's arms are closed and its hangar bays are emptied. We have a few hours at most before the Geth storm the docks and advance on this position. Do not confuse my intentions as any kind of fear-speech. I will be blunt and clear to all of those who can hear my voice._ "

Pallin started pacing, one hand out as if he was speaking directly to everyone. " _We are looking at an invasion of synthetics, now. For those of you who do not believe you can fight, hide. Retreat to safe locations. Anyone without cowardice, gather together. Form up around those that have seen combat before. C-sec will be providing weapons and armor to anyone that can fit them. I want to make it clear that our purpose is to defend, and nothing more. Do not risk your lives more than necessary. Do not carelessly instigate chaos._ " He clenched his fist.

"I _will not promise that we will all survive. I do promise that we will hold the line. The Presidium Tower is still in the hands of Citadel Security, and it shall remain so ever thus. In less than a solar rotation, the combined Citadel Fleet shall return, and bring their part of the victory. I do not ask for the impossible, and I do not ask for a permanent army. Give me one solar day, and I shall give you back the freedom you so desperately desire. I, Executor Pallin, personally promise you thus._ " Miranda was rolling her eyes at the speech. Another day, another bureaucrat full of hot air, and another empty promise.

As he had been speaking, they watched as the _Normandy_ duelled closer and closer with the Reaper. " _Incoming enemy air units, back away from the windows!_ " Pallin moved fast, loping his way back to the original defensive locations. Miranda had to cheat, a bit of effect to reduce gravity getting her and Julia over to Tali.

Julia sighed. Pallin came over the line. " _Nuenya has been a diplomatic envoy of the Asari Republics for two hundred years. She has plenty of experience talking down situations such as this._ " Miranda could clearly see Javik's arm rip forward, grabbing the Asari by the neck and twisting 's body was tossed aside and the exoskeleton trundled forward. " _Ah. It appears that negotiations have failed. It's just one sentient. Open fire and clear the chambers._ " Pallin said flatly. He seemed more put out than concerned at the death of the Asari he had sent.

Julia collapsed in front of Tali'Zorah. " _Sitrep?_ " She asked tiredly.

" _We're not okay. Wrex isn't responding, Ta'u is missing part of his stomach. His armor was holed by one of the Rachni. It's claw went right through him. We've got four marines combat effective, including myself._ "

" _Where's Ashley?_ " Miranda closed her eyes behind her helmet. She may have been a bitch, but she didn't deserve to die. Julia had been in close combat and didn't see her.

" _She's dead._ " Tali replied. " _She held the Queen's attention and kept it off the wounded._ " Tali sounded tired. Wrex's wounds were bound with as much Omni-gel as they were medi-gel.

" _Damn it all_." Julia said, her voice shaking. " _I just got with Pressley to have her permanently assigned to our command structure. We're losing too many people._ "

"Javik could wipe out what we have left without much effort."

"Fuck _. That._ " Tali said with conviction. Her use of the Human word was so full of emotion that the funny pronunciation was ignored. " _All of my friends are on the ground and bleeding. He's using tech. Get me close enough to interface with that suit of his and I'll shut it down._ " The Quarian pulled out one of the sets of jump jets that one of the marines had been using. " _I'll need to borrow some of those Husks, too. Preferably an Earwig._ "

"I'll get the Husks." Miranda said, letting Julia sit down. Her sister folded up into herself on the ground, next to Wrex's still breathing form. She didn't wait, grabbing a nearby Salarian and two dead Asari. Their tentacle arms were ruined beyond use, and all of their heads were gone. But she dragged all three back to Tali, the small Quarian rigging up something to the jet pack. She wordlessly accepted the Husks, ripping out element zero from them and attaching it to the jetpack. "What's it for?"

" _I need something that can move faster than his mass drivers. I measured what Ashley's arm was capable of, and these need to be able to move faster than normal._ " Miranda noted that the jump pack now sported lines of wiring reaching back to some gigantic spike. " _Alright. I've got it. You hit him with this? I'll hit him with everything I know of. Something is going to work. I'm going to make him pay for the_ Fuji _._ " She held it up. " _That spike is conductive, so stab it somewhere good._ "

Miranda clipped the jump pack onto her armor. The magnetic clips were not attaching well to her legs. They were replaced with extra power _somethings_. She was wearing a jump pack with half a Husk instead of leg grips. "I've got something that might work on the Prothean. Cover me." When she stood up from behind cover, it was to chaos. C-sec agents had spread out among the debris, and were firing sporadically at the walking tank.

Said walking tank cut through those that dared fire at him, his barriers holding. One of the agents picked up a heavy weapon, stripping it from the dead Elcor officer and angling it on the heavy armored Prothean. That made him pause, twisting his suit towards the offender and firing off some kind of magnetic grenade and crushing the dead body of the Elcor along with the two agents trying to use its guns. " _We aren't punching through!_ "

Javik waltzed forward, blasting anything with a heavy weapon and mostly ignoring the rest. He came to a stop at the destroyed bridge that normally reached out over the terrariums. When he saw the piles of wreckage and the destroyed console, he stopped. The suit twisted, facing Pallin. " _Turian. Your kind are always so good at deterring victory. So good at being the ones everyone else trips over. Competent yet imperfect. Capable of so much, yet limited by your commitments._ " He held out the suit's arms, as if appeasing him. " _You die by the millions for a people not your own, to earn the trust of those your infinitely greater._ " The guns of everyone firing at him seemed to intensify, yet all they hit was his barrier. " _I will spare your lives, if you tell me where the backup is. I can stop this entire invasion, and save your pitiful race._ "

Pallin seemed to order his agents to stop firing. Javik made no move to shoot them. " _Why did you kill my diplomat_?"

" _She insulted my vision. Her closed-mindedness allowed her to assume that she was negotiating from a position of strength. Will you also express the same weakness?_ "

" _I will not. Yet all of my remaining options require authentication from a member of the Council. I cannot access the backup systems, nor can I assist you in hacking that which I cannot access. I can only request that our joint hostilities be focused on those most deserving. We will not fire upon you if you agree to cease hostilities. If you have not noticed, I have other enemies to fight._ " Pallin had stayed behind cover through the entire conversation, not risking his own life. " _Are we in agreement?_ "

" _Of a sort. I will ignore your petty attempts at warfare, and you can get out of my way. You said you needed a Councillor to get into the backup access?"_

" _Their blood and codes, if the system is locked down like it currently is._ " Pallin said, almost apologetically. " _They would have to access it directly…_ " The Turian trailed off, looking towards the shattered windows. " _Councillor Volorium?_ "

At the edge of the shattered window was a second console, lit up and glowing. Standing there manning it was the dead body of the Councillor, moving and acting on its own. Instead of a Turian head, something else filled the gap. The head was triangular, with some kind of thick bone structure for the skull. "What the hell is that?" Miranda whispered.

" _I thought I killed you._ " Javik intoned. " _Now I see why your body was withered and useless. You steal what you have cast off. You are weak, little Prophet. He is beyond the rest of you. Protheans such as us are beyond the abilities of lesser creatures._ " Miranda started walking forward, stepping over the bodies of the fallen. The Rachni she avoided. Without any atmosphere, her footfalls did not echo. She kind of missed it.

"Alenko. Remember that Slam move you pulled in your first bout against the Selyan team?" Miranda asked. "I'm gonna need you to do that again, on me. Javik is predictable. He's going to see me coming, and he's going to toss me. He'll keep me alive."

" _You got it._ " She hoped he would keep her alive. Fighting Javik was like fighting a mountain. He was well rounded, tough, and usually accurate to a fault. Which was why Miranda came at him with a Charge. She made it from cover, making it as stealthy as possible. As stealthy as a biotic glowing torpedo could ever get, anyways. She closed her eyes right before the impact, knowing what was going to happen.

Javik struck her with just his foot. His barrier flickered, and hers shattered. The bastard must have used his mass driver. Her momentum ended, and she was knocked off course into the floor. His exoskelteon's foot pressed down, and she rolled to avoid it. Her gun wasn't even in position when his follow up occurred, an Overload washing over the floor and making her armor flash warnings. She did a short jump over his next swing, the arm of his suit passing underneath her feet.

Predictably, the Prothean got angry about it. " _We have to stop him! Get off of me, spawn of Harper!_ " His next swing was low, as if to make her jump again. She rolled forward instead, seeing the Prothean giving her attention with only one pair of his eyes. The other was focused on the console. " _Or do you want to be ruled over by the Reapers?_ "

Tali's spike was pointing upwards when he brought his armored foot down, and when he tried to stomp her, she shoved the spike into one of the joints. The magnetic head clicked nicely. A wave biotic force came from the inside of machine, rolling her away from the device and into the broken garden box nearby. Before she impacted, another biotic ability grabbed her. Alenko, that sweet perfect man. That thought lasted for all of one second before Javik caught her with the arm of his suit. Then she was slammed into the ground so hard she saw stars. Local gravity intensified upon her, as Javik used his tech-grenades on her. "Go to hell!"

" _You lesser creatures have some nerve, contesting me no-_ " His exoskeleton bent over, the cockpit popping open and ejecting the Prothean forcefully. His seat, powered by thrusters, sent him forward along the relatively unbroken ground to end in a dead Rachni. His face and chest slammed into its body, with the Prothean's arms flailing past it. It looked like his head had gotten stuck inside the warrior, and his violent twitching looked like a child with their head stuck in something. Miranda heard a whoop of joy, and she was able to see Tali leap into the exoskeleton.

" _This might be Prothean tech, but you have a Quarian OS! Let's see how you like it!_ " The suit closed around Tali, who stood up and the glowing plasma cannons trained on Javik's position. He rolled, the gigantic Rachni stuck on his face coming with him behind another set of dead bodies. " _He's still linked to the targeting VI. I can't subvert it._ "

"Great work, Tali!" Miranda said from the arm that still held her. "Waste the other guy! He isn't linked to the targeting."

Tali turned to the other Prothean, the one wearing a Councillor's skin. It looked up, seeing the oncoming plasma. The air rippled, as deck plating in front of him rose up and took the hit for him. " _Your weird biotics won't save you! Flank him!_ " Miranda got set down during this process, and she took off across the right edge of the terrariums. Tali went left, taking the gigantic suit on a long march through the areas that were stable. Javik was still thrashing on the ground, and for once Miranda could honestly say that she was grateful there was no atmosphere. She couldn't hear whatever tirade that Prothean was going to say.

"He's alone, we've got this!" She noticed that eight Turians had joined her, led by Pallin. Their long strides were outpacing her easily. When they came around to him, they could see the floor tiles around him reforming into barriers. What little she could see was the Turian Councillor's form seemingly trying to type, the fingers clumsy.

" _Sica, a small lift?_ " Pallin said smoothly. An Asari behind the squad hit them all with a gentle lift field, and the Turians all angled their weapons down on the now visible body snatcher. Guns thundered, and the body was jerked off of the console to land on the floor. A murky cloud of _something_ organic remained, reaching up and attaching itself to one of the C-sec agents. The agent screamed, as his body twitched and went limp. " _Do not engage up close. He can kill us through armor._ "

" _It's got some friends!_ " From open space, some kind of mechanical orbs showed up. They had small spars or wings coming off the sides, and some kind of scaled up GUARDIAN laser cannon in front. The Turians reacted, sprinting to cover behind the fallen cannon from the roof. One of them was cut down by the harsh red rays that emitted from the craft, and the Asari that had generated the Lift field lost a leg from her cover not being total. Commando leathers weren't up to stopping that kind of firepower. Miranda Charged, just enough to get herself back into the broken terrariums. The baleful red light went right past her, burning through the particles floating. Tali fired at them, both arms of the exoskeleton releasing their payloads. The first of the floating orbs took the hit, splintering and one half of it spraying fluids and parts.

The suit's barriers took the return fire, and Tali followed Miranda down into the terrariums. "This just keeps getting worse!"

" _Those are particle beams. Too heavy for what we can take. Maybe if we hit them with a few missiles, we could break them down._ " They didn't have to. Blinding bursts of blue light and heat washed over the area, as the _Normandy_ carved right through the area of space where the orbs had been. High pitched chittering came from Tali, Miranda's translator not able to tell what she was saying. " _That's my ship! Yes!_ "

Javik had finally freed himself from the Rachni, his armor covered in acidic blood. " _Stho'Las! You spineless worm! Can you even become corporeal any longer?_ " He walked forward, heedless of the danger. " _Vacate my Imperial Warframe, Quarian. I will not ask twice._ " The cloud that was the other Prothean seemed to pass into the Turian it killed, the body twitching as it came alive again. " _I did not anticipate your survival. I did, however, anticipate another fool gaining access._ "

" _Even if you can duplicate the Council's credentials, all of the systems connections are damaged by the Rachni. Neither of you can do anything more than what they already have._ " Pallin said. " _Stand down. End this madness so we can stop the real threat!_ "

" _Wrong._ " Javik said with glee. " _Charles. Awaken the AI._ " The console flashed purple, as the entirety of it taken over by the visage of an Asari. " _The console is exposed. Begin the upload._ " Javik himself jumped down into the terrariums, landing across from Tali.

"What are you doing? Javik!" He finally paid attention to her, his eyes glancing at both of them with scorn. He just looked them up and down, as if evaluating them. The console flashed above them, as wires sparked across the whole chamber. "What have you done?"

" _As Harper always has directed me. As the master plan demanded. Today, the celestial gate shall open, and the jaws of hell break loose. The wheel shall turn, and the era shall end! The Reapers want to come to kill us all? I say let them. Let them try! I have waited fifty thousand years for my vengeance, and today, their blood shall flow!_ " He was clenching his fsts together. " _AVINA, VIGIL, Open the Celestial Gate! Prepare to activate the Citadel Relay!_ "

"You're insane." Miranda said.

" _Your father and I were in full agreement. The Reapers must come. The plan will work. Now, lesser creature, evict yourself from my Warframe. Decide your end in the way that best fits your desires._ "

" _Fine._ " Tali said. " _Have your toy._ " She stepped out, grabbing Miranda by the hand and running for the ramp Miranda had used earlier. " _We need to run before he figures out what I have._ " Tali held up some kind of part, before tucking it inside a slip of cloth between her arm and her ribs. " _He's gone crazy! AI? What the hell did your father tell him?_ "

"My father," Miranda grunted as she ran up the ramp. "And I don't get along. We disagree on many things. Obviously, I don't know what is going on here. AVINA shouldn't be controlled by anyone, unless." She had to stop and think. "Charles. Shit. Double Shit."

" _Who?_ "

"Charles Archer. He's an AI programmer and designer. If he's got AVINA, then he has access to every Council record and every server on this station."

" _Then we have to access that console. We can stop them, still._ "

At the top of the ramp, Julia decloaked. Miranda sagged in relief. "Good, you're up. We could use the help." Julia's Throw knocked both her and Tali back down the ramp, tumbling to a stop at the bottom. "Sis?"

" _Sorry, Miri. I'm in control, now. You ripped me from the gestalt. You're going to ruin every single one of my plans, and without my input the rest of the gestalt might blow a gasket trying to understand my perspective. So, you're going to sit there and_ not _stop the Citadel relay from opening, and then you and I get to go home. To the place where Humanity exists forever. All of us, and all of our experiences, all shared and glorious. It'll be beautiful. I'll get rid of this nip/tuck masterpiece I'm stuck in, and you can share your experiences with the rest of us. Forever._ "

"Gwyn. Triple Shit." Tali, made a noise, almost as if she was confused. "A Reaper intelligence is inside my sister. That's not Julia right now. We still need to stop this."

" _Got it._ " Tali said softly. Behind them, Javik was running towards them with some kind of hostile intent. Her Quarian friend drew her arm back far, as if trying to get rid of the part she had stolen earlier. Gwyn intercepted it before it could go out into space, smirking. " _She's got it._ " Tali pointed, Javik looking up the ramp at Julia's form.

" _Lesser filth! I will sow your ashes into the nebula!_ " Miranda pulled Tali back, as Javik leapt up the ramp and engaged her sister. She couldn't hear anything, but she saw Javik roll back down the ramp, ending in a heap of limbs at the bottom. " _The impudence!_ "

"Tali, that'll buy us some time. At least until we can get some help. I can get you up to that console, but I don't know how to beat some crazy Prothean thing." The console was barely visible behind the curving pieces of deck plating that had turned to block their shots earlier. The possessed Turian body was now spending its time firing at the other C-sec agents, not even caring that it was dead and dying, holes being ripped in its armor. "I don't even know how to fight that thing. It looks like it's trying to get control of the console back."

" _You know what I see?_ " Tali said rhetorically. " _An exposed power coupling._ " The Quarian walked over to the wall, where damage had exposed cabling and power conductors. Tali started humming as she get inside the wiring, making some kind of happy noises. " _There is only one place I can reroute this terminal and access. It's not going to be preferred._ "

"Where?"

" _There is a secondary terminal, only accessible to Keepers down in their access tunnels. The doors have all been sealed up._ "

"So you can stop the AI, but you can't stop what they've started? How long until this all happens?"

" _Less than ten minutes._ " Tali said softly. " _But I can't beat an AI. Not when they've got all the authentication codes and access points. Some random AI connected to the network? A Geth node? Maybe. But against millions of Geth, two AI, and AVINA? I can't. I don't know how, and all of the data servers on the Citadel are now our enemy._ "

"Then do it. You'll slow them down." Miranda said. Her wrist crackled with sound, as another voice joined their comm channel. It was Joker.

" _SSV Normandy to Presidium Tower, you've got incoming. We're on station but crippled. We've done some damage to it, but we are nearly out of munitions and have multiple major hull breaches._ " She looked up through the terrarium ceiling, but couldn't see the thing she knew was coming. The Reaper was coming back. Tali was rerouting the terminal, her arms buried inside the wiring.

" _Sitrep. Tell me about my ship_." Tali asked. " _Things are FUBAR here._ "

" _Right wing, gone. Comm tower, gone. Elevator is somehow still working. Bridge has been breached. We can't risk atmospheres or FTL now. Major hull breaches on all decks, and we are down to one torpedo. Coolant systems stable for now, but we need to vent some heat so that we can get out of here. Fuel tanks are damaged, fractures are starting leak from them. We've got basically nothing left. The Thanix cannons are a bit warped, and need calibration. We can't make another pass on that thing._ "

" _You've still got one option, Pressley._ " Tali said. " _All or nothing, right? Prepare to increase static buildup on the eezo core. Weld one of our two fusion generators to it, and the scuttle bomb. One really big bomb, if you can get it close enough._ "

" _We can't make that a payload. Not without someone who knows how to unscrew a Jesus Bolt._ " Pressley replied. " _The only one left that is qualified to do that is you, Zorah. We can't risk extracting you from that hellhole without some kind of offensive solution._ "

" _I can walk you through it, Pressley. I just need some cover and access to my manual._ " Tali took cover underneath the carcass of the dead Rachni Queen. " _Transfer complete. I've moved the control for whatever the hell is going on to a port that,_ " She ripped out some cables. " _Now only has direct access to this point, and has no haptics. I don't have access codes to stop what is going on._ "

" _What's happening?_ " Pressley came through.

"Endgame. The Citadel is a relay. Once it opens, the Reapers win and bring in reinforcements. Not that they aren't already winning down here."

" _Tali Zorah._ " Pressley said awkwardly. " _Everyone that's left is prepared to disengage the Jesus bolts. Generator number two is strapped to the core, and our coolant systems are functioning for now, but they won't hold. Torpedo is being moved down here now. We need instructions._ "

Miranda could see someone moving through the clouds of dust, towards them. It was one of the Turians, minus their hands. They had long since bled out, but something smoky filled in the holes and gaps made in the armor. "Stop!" Miranda yelled, putting that on an open channel. Oddly enough, she got a reply.

" _You've ruined us, lesser. I could have stopped them. Crippled their approach, stopped them from being able to steal your holy essence._ "

"How?" Miranda said. It wasn't making any movements to approach her, instead taking small steps to keep the corpse from falling apart further. "Tell us how, and we can evaluate it. We want to stop them, too." Tali, behind her, was telling the crew of the ship how to turn their element zero core into the heaviest bomb ever. She had to keep this nightmare away from her.

" _There has been too much damage, lesser. At best we can simply reprogram the safety controls for the massless corridor. I was unable to find the controlling directories when I was accessing the computers. There is a Catalyst within, that can overcome the station's controls. The writings of the Prophets who have come before us speak plainly of this, yet for all my skill I cannot understand how to access it._ "

Both of them turned as another body slid into sight, Javik's form landing in a heap in front of his device. Walking confidently into the dust, Julia followed. Javik's hand, ripped off and dripping blood, she held with the left hand. The other held Julia's favorite knife. " _My, my. Everyone I need to kill all in one place. Props to myself for the convenience._ " She held up a hand, open palm, which she slapped with Javik's ripped off one. " _Thanks for the props, Javik. I knew you had it in you. Or is it out of you, now?_ " She cackled. Her laugh was very different than Julia's shy one. This was an outright cackle. " _I should have known it was you, Tali. We don't have any Quarians in any gestalt, yet. Might not be enough of you to get it done. But still, this kind of effort has to be recognized._ "

Gwyn Shepard glowed with her biotics. There was nothing about Julia's biotics in her movements. Her mnomic movements were different, more forced. Julia had graceful movements with hers, and Miranda was trained by some of the most graceful biotic teachers in the galaxy. 'If you have to use your biotics, have them reflect the movements of a Matriarch. It makes your enemies assume you are that much more of a threat.' She had been told. Well, that was shit. Gwyn Shepard moved forward, making some kind of glowing orb that Miranda had never seen before. Tali screamed, her weapon firing as fast as it could and overheating.

The ball of energy hit the Prothean body stealer, the torso first bending outward and spreading like a flower. Then the sections that bent and half the torso collapsed around the point, the corpse's back breaking. Tali wailed, and Miranda then remembered what this was. A Reave. She could feel the back of her neck start having a cold sweat, thinking about this. It was beyond her own abilities, and here was Gwyn, throwing it around like she didn't care if it tore apart the cells in her arms if she got it wrong. " _Next one is coming for you, Tali. Give us back control. Let's make all of this as painless as possible._ "

Miranda stepped in between them. "Wait!" She turned her back partially on Gwyn. She faced Tali, taking the Quarian by the hand. She was shaking. "I'm sorry." Tali screamed again, as Miranda launched her out into space, as hard as she could. The girl went sailing out of the window frames, out and away into the dark. Gwyn laughed, before letting fly with another one of the glowing orbs.

Javik, of all people, intercepted it with a Throw. With his ruined arm. He was standing up, one hand gone and the other holding a rifle covered in some kind of Prothean tech. " _She is more than a little cunning. I shall break you under my foot._ "

"Then what? We're running out of time!"

" _Your father did not brief you on the plan? Insipident fool. Once I break these tools of the enemy I will enlighten you._ "

"How do you kill this one?" The shattered remains of the corpse were still animated with the eerie smoke. As if it knew she was planning to shoot it, it ran at her.

" _I defeated it using sonic offences. Without atmosphere or a completely corporeal body I do not believe the same methods will work._ " Miranda leapt back, as the black smoke reached out to her. Javik engaged Gwyn, spraying bursts of plasma particles from his rifle. She danced, almost knowing where he was aiming and stepping around it before it hit her. It was surreal, watching her sister's body crushing Javik. " _Impudent spawn of Harper! Must I be burdened so?!_ "

Her own weapon did absolutely nothing against the animated dead body. Her biotics sent the body tumbling into a pile of dust, kicking up more particles into the airless space. Throwing other bodies at it only deterred it, as it could just simply jump into any pile of bones and move forward. It avoided the Husks, just picking the bodies of the normally dead people. The undead dead people it shied away from. For some reason this bothered her. It switched into a Volus, its tiny body visible through the holes bored through it. Miranda did everything she could, but slowly it cornered her. Black smoke erupted from all of the holes in its armor, and rushed over her.

* * *

Zakera Ward Docks, Widow Nebula, January 2183

"Systems check." Being a clone of Jack Harper, it knew that in this moment it should be more proud of the fact that so much of the plan was coming together. AVINA had been subverted. The entire contents of every data server in the Citadel was being funneled directly back to Ilos. Information on the galaxy, even files that were down in the deep archives, were downloaded and sent upwards. Billions of user account files, from data communication services across the galaxy. Banking information from secure servers would need to be decrypted, but this clone had no idea what the original planned to do with all of that. "Everything is green."

" _Overwatch copies. Everything is clear on our end. Presidium is quiet and resistance has ended. All forces are retreating. Tower assault groups have cleared most of the resistance, and are now pulling back towards the relay. AVINA has taken direct control of the Citadel's arms. We can pull back at any time. Launch window is now at nine minutes._ "

"Understood. Wraith-1, ready to launch. Activating QEC handshake."

" _Handshake received, verified. All feeds coming in clear. ECCM and barrier systems check_." The clone didn't know exactly where the matching particle was being kept. Some details hadn't been prepared when they had launched him. " _All systems checks complete. Please prepare to manually arm the warhead._ " Underneath his feet, the mother of all bombs rested. Clan Ganar had not been happy to trade it, but had acquiesced eventually. They only gave it to them under the condition that they be aware of where it was being pointed. Their planet killing missiles were made from Collector tech, and once they had told them it would be pointed at the Citadel the Krogan were happy enough to part with it.

There was a massive set of switches on it. All of the remote detonation hardware had been removed, and instead was all wired to a manual hand cranked switch. He would need to pull it. There was a safety glass over it, which he pulled off. Inside, there was a bottle of whiskey, a box of cuban cigars, as well as some chocolate from Denmark. "Oh, someone knows me well." He smirked. His liver and stomach were failing, and here was the perfect remedy. More poison for it to suck its teeth on. "Manual lever prepared and all systems prepped."

" _You've got eight minutes left before you launch. All of our weapons are in place for this side of the relay. Asteroids have arrived, and the bombs we planted at the Presidium are armed. Relay-based weapons armed. The SR-1 is somehow dogfighting the Reaper and winning, though they are out of munitions at this point and flying crippled._ "

"Is there any chance you could reroute one of those bombs we planted?" He asked.

" _No_." The voice of the original stated. " _Your job is too important to risk on them. Don't waste any of your options on them._ "

"That's their ride out." The original was juggling too much. Not seeing some of the finer details. Part of the reason this clone was used to keep an eye on the girls. It had every memory of their childhood. It knew their favorite foods, their hobbies, and the things that made them happy. "In my opinion, you should use whatever munitions and missiles you've got left to give them a chance."

" _You haven't ever spoken up on anything in the past. There are risks involved with-_ "

"Do it." He interrupted the original. "If you want to show them any kind of concern, sacrifice something for it. They're too important."

" _You're lucky you are already dying. But I'll listen. You're the expert, after all._ " The original said. " _Order the Imperial Guard to send out any kind of flying support to fight the Reaper directly. We need to draw its attention._ " The clone found himself breathing a sigh of relief. " _Have AVINA take control of the Citadel's defenses. Have interior missile platforms empty on it, but don't let the ships outside the arms realize the game is up._ "

"Good." Only when the clone saw dozens of missiles and defenses open fire on the Reaper did he breathe a sigh of relief. A well earned sigh of relief. He lit the cigar, using a lighter attachment in his Omni-tool. He didn't bother using the glass for the whiskey. Whiskey in one hand, and cigar in the other, and a job well done. "Wraith-1 prepared for launch. Once this side of the relay is broken, I hope to shatter the other."

" _You've done well. Syncing graybox to QEC._ "

"Enjoy the memories." He would need them. "Live worthy of them."

* * *

The Citadel, Widow Nebula, January 2183

Joker thought the missiles were after him when they appeared. It wasn't much, maybe two hundred. But when that many contacts show up on your grids one tends to panic. "Shit!" Pressley had left the cockpit, going back through the bridge and its dead crew and lack of atmosphere. Joker was alone up there, and everyone left on the crew was down in the hangar bay. The gunnery crew were moving down there, and he couldn't fire their main weapons anymore. They were knocked off target, and he risked damaging the barrels to fire them. When the missiles and whatever else that launched turned on the Reaper and its little bastards, he breathed a sigh of relief.

" _C-sec must finally be busting their asses._ " Pressley said, breathing heavily. " _We're moving the last torpedo down to the lower decks. Keep us in the air long enough to make it worth the effort, eh?_ "

"You got it old man." They were keeping pace with the dreadnaught, until this happened. Now it turned, using its weapons on every weapon emplacement it could reach. "Hey!" He saw another indicator appear in space. "Tali, looks like you're flying something. You steal a ride?"

" _I am stuck on a piece of debris. Guiding it in zero gravity is not easy. Give me a few minutes, and I can move it onto a better angle for pickup._ "

Joker looked over at the busy enemy ship. "Oh, I think we can spare it. We also have enough convenient holes in our hull that you can pick which deck you want to arrive in."

" _Oh?_ " She said with distaste. " _Um, hanger deck, please?_ " Joker was in front of her piece of debris in under twenty seconds. The ship came to a stop not a second later, his heat levels starting to rise in the deck. Tali jumped away from the debris, curled into a ball, and went through one of the many holes that existed in the hangar bay. " _Ahh!_ "

" _Lt. Zorah! You're lucky the corporal was there to break your fall. Corporal, good catch._ "

" _Sorry Corporal._ " Tali said, happier. Joker could hear it in her voice. He took the ship forward, seeing that the Reaper was still engaged with all of the defenses. " _Good work here. All we have to do is disengage the Jesus bolt and the exterior housing for the element zero core. Prepare to purge element zero systems!_ "

" _Joker. Make an attack run on the enemy craft. Our payload is going to need to hit somewhere near their power core. You need to go through that hole we made earlier._ _Once inside of the hole, it's got to be aimed straight up. Once we are clear, you won't be able to change ship gravity or anything else._ " Pressley said. " _Lt. Zorah, are we supposed to be attempting this while in motion?_ "

" _No? This really isn't something we should be attempting outside of a shipyard._ " She replied. " _But weaponizing your own element zero core is also considered remarkably stupid. No one would expect it._ " Joker's entire haptic interface flickered, and warnings played across it like red paint in the hands of a small child. " _Seals on the exterior housing have blown. We are ready here._ "

"I can see that!" Joker saw more than just that. Some kind of gunships were making an attack run on the Reaper, now. They were just throwing their lives away on that thing. Or so he thought. Each of the gunships had plasma cannons, and they were carving holes in the deck plating that they could reach. "We're going in." The Reaper saw them coming, and angled itself on them. "Yeah you rat bastard. I'm coming for you." There was no one else left up here in the bridge to listen to him trash talk the two kilometer long vessel. "We win or we die." He started accelerating, putting the _Normandy_ into a spin. It would make it harder for that ship to hit them. "Come on, you son of a bitch!"

It fired, and Joker threw everything they had into the one remaining wing. It was ruined, as the burst of plasma hit it and removed most of it from existence. But they were through its defensive screen. It twisted, and Joker had to spin them again, this time by throttling the forward engines on either side of the nose. It wasn't enough, not without the wings. The Reaper won, slamming the _Normandy_ into the shattered metal walls of the hole they had made. Joker quickly activated the magnetic landing gear, and the twisting of the Reaper wasn't as violent to them. "Sitrep! You guys alright down there?"

" _Maybe._ " Pressley admitted. " _What happened?_ "

"We are kind of scraped onto the Reaper. It's still moving fast enough to keep us stuck to its hull, and the landing gear have been deployed." Joker looked out the forward viewport, and he swore he could see some kind of motion out there. Like the wires themselves were moving. "I need the Eezo core to get us out of here."

" _You need engines in back, you dolt. Even with the core, you wouldn't be able to achieve lift. The wings are too damaged to function._ " Tali said.

"Yeah, I think I know of a better way." Joker said. "Maybe someone should get into the Mako and tow us out." He joked, bringing up the readouts for the Normandy. "Prepare to vent ventral fuel tanks. There are live wires and sparks on the ground behind us. It's a stupid idea, but I bet we can get some force behind us."

" _Humans. That is not recommended. But I think we can force a slow burn through the oxygen vents. We aren't capable of entering atmosphere, anyway._ " It took almost a minute. " _Do it._ "

Joker fired his temporary rear thrusters. The oxygen tanks blew, and the emergency fuel vents pushed fuel right into the oxygen vents. The _Normandy_ pushed off, past the gravitic forces the larger ship was forcing upon them. It was a bit short, but it was enough once the ship reached the largest part of the hole. "We're clear! Fire!"

The ship dipped, and he lost all control over the magic ability of element zero to change how much his ship was effected by gravity. The Normandy was heavy on the back end, and the engines were on the front, now. It didn't feel like a state of the art military craft anymore. It felt like driving a freighter. An ugly, wingless, freighter. Behind him, the torpedo and its deadly cargo slammed into the Reaper almost immediately. The core took significantly longer to explode, but he felt it. Everyone felt the subtle pull of gravity upon them, and then the swift rush of weighing less than normal.

Joker _felt_ that thing explode. The entire Citadel lit up like a sun, with every window and every surface brighter than he had ever seen it. They had to have been more than a kilometer away, but it was enough to push the Normandy hard enough that it scraped a couple of buildings. Their hull must look like cheese at this point. " _Total systems failure! We have to cool off! Thermal sinks no longer responding. Joker we have to turn off all systems!_ "

"I got it!" They were able to coast back into open space, most of the Reaper blowing holes in the wards. "We got 'em!" He whooped. "I can't wait to hear what logistics is going to say about battle damage."

" _Joker. Just shut up. We're alive. Great. Now get off your ass and put out some of the fires going on. Fire extinguisher is on your left._ " Pressley sounded tired. Joker couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he put out the fires all over the cockpit and bridge, though. They'd done it. Frigate vs. Dreadnaught, and they had won. " _There is no chance in hell that we could attempt any kind of maneuvers right now._ "

* * *

Presidium Tower, Widow Nebula, January 2183

Julia woke up, blinking. The last thing she remembered was seeing what was left of Ashley's arm. Glancing around, she saw that she was standing over a dead Hanar. Three dead Hanar. She was at the bottom of the Council Chambers, and she was holding a hand. She immediately dropped it, shaking the blood off her hands. There was gravity, but no oxygen. So they were still in dire straights.

"Miri? Tali? Anyone?"

" _Julia? That better be you._ " Miranda said tiredly. " _Because you just threw me two hundred feet._ "

Her entire face felt like it had been wrenched sideways, and her ribs ached. "What the hell hit me?"

" _Well, that would have been Alenko and I at once. He hit you in the ribs, and I hit you in the face. You did some kind of Nova, and now I'm on my ass next to Wrex._ "

"What about Alenko?" Kaidan. "What's the situation?"

" _Bad. The_ Normandy _just killed that dreadnaught. It's blown holes through the closed arms of the Citadel, and there are Geth coming soon. They've won the battle in space. The Citadel fleets have pulled back. They managed to evacuate some of the ships they had been defending, but it's still bad._ "

"Damn." She couldn't see any Rachni still moving. No Reaper forces remained. "Where is Javik?"

" _You threw him down the tower. Well, your other mind did. Do you remember anything of the last ten minutes?_ " Miranda was extremely hesitant with that question. Everyone stopped talking, the physical feeling of awkwardness pervading the conversation. She opened her mouth, just wanted to talk and not be feeling that. It was like a heavy weight on her, and she wanted it off.

"Nothing." She glanced around "The last thing I remember was seeing Ashley." She gulped. Her vision almost started darkening again. "And Tela." She had to breathe in and out a few times to keep the light headedness from becoming too much. "What's going on?"

" _We're got roughly four minutes before the Citadel opens and turns into the galaxy's worst party._ "

"We have to get out of here." Julia said quickly, looking around. There were only five people still alive, from all of the marines she brought. Wrex was still unconscious. No one was uninjured. "Can we get the ship out of here?"

" _The_ Normandy _isn't capable of FTL. Wings are gone, eezo core is gone. It's got maybe a few hours of fuel left, but we aren't getting out with it._ " Miranda reported, coughing. " _The docks are under assault by the Geth and the Rachni, and the Presidium is held by Javik's forces. We aren't sure how they are getting out, but they have taken control of all of the servers on this station._ " There wasn't time to sit and wait on this. " _Three minutes left._ "

"That's not logical." Julia muttered. "Can you get me a comm line into the same network Javik is using?"

" _I can, but only from the ship._ " Tali's life sign was reporting that it was a few kilometers away. Julia had no idea when she got airlifted back to the _Normandy_. This blackout business was really starting to become dangerous. " _Joker is coming for you. Bring everybody to the observation platform._ "

"Let's move. Pack up the wounded. Miranda, you and I will get Wrex. Ta'u with Alenko, and leave the rest. If we can, we will pick them up later." The Krogan weighed less without the mass in his limbs. Miranda and her were able to get him from the ruined cover over to the observation deck, still shattered from the Rachni Queen's assault. There was a few Turians waiting for them. "What is going on?"

" _I told you before, that I believed your thoughts on leaving to be cowardice in the extreme. But your commanding officer is dead. You are not high enough on the command chain to understand what your leaving would do to morale on this station. It is critically important that everyone here stay in this fight. As long as we appear to be doing our very best, and_ not _evacuating, morale will hold. The citizens do not yet realize that the Councillor is dead. Once they do, they will break. There will be a mass slaughter and the only way I know how to stop it is to appear vigilant._ " Pallin, the Turian commander, spoke up. " _It is for this reason that I order you to not run._ "

"How many civilians do you have here?" Julia asked.

" _Who are you?_ " The Turian demanded. " _Do you outrank this lieutenant?_ " He pointed at Alenko. " _Have you ever heard of the word 'insubordination'?_ " She couldn't risk anyone knowing that she was still alive. For a long moment no one said anything.

" _Hey, dipshit!_ " Someone called over all channels. Everyone turned to the open window, as the shattered and broken _Normandy_ pulled forward to within two hundred meters. " _That officer's name is Yes and Ma'am, in that order. We would be happy to evacuate the precious diplomats and envoys that are still alive in that hellscape, and offload any wounded on top of that._ "

" _You have no right to command me, pyjak!_ "

" _I've got a plasma cannon that says otherwise._ " Joker fired back quickly. " _Let us load up, and we all can pick the way we go. For your information, there are Geth dropships two minutes out. We'd like to be gone before then._ "

Executor Pallin just shook, angry and raging. " _It is actions like this that give us cause to worry about your race, Human. Take your people and my fragile morale and leave. I won't trust any of my civilians with you. My wounded would be better served fighting the Geth than retreating in this hour._ " With that, he stepped out of the way. The five of them loaded into the ripped open hull, stepping directly onto the bridge. There was no airlock to hold the air in, and so Kaidan and Miranda started pushing the wounded down. Julia headed for the seats next to Joker, one of them sparking something foul. The other she slipped into, giving him a thumbs up.

"Alright, Commander. What now?"

"We can't outrun anyone, we don't have FTL, and we can't use the docks to steal a new ride." Enemy craft were already filling in the space between them and the dead Reaper. "That's a nice shot, Joker. Get some stills of that. Tali, we're here. What have you got for comms?"

"We're good." Julia twisted, hearing the Quarian right behind her. It had taken her by surprise. She should have been better than that. "I've got you a connection to their network, but only their emergency band. Their encryptions are protected and maintained by those AI, and I'm not risking screwing with them."

"I hope this works." Julia said quietly. She connected to the network, and the emergency band was filled with simple bursts of text, reporting the deaths of different serial numbers. Names or race were not identified. "I know you're listening out there. I know you've got some kind of plan that gets your people out. I want an escape route."

Her father answered. It took him almost ten seconds to get around to it. " _Julia. Good to hear you are alive. Javik tells me you've taken his hand. The first condition to my help would be to recover that._ "

"I dropped it when I had to carry my wounded." Julia replied. "That's off the table."

" _Alright. The second condition is that you change your legal name back to Harper. Do that, and I'll let your ship escape._ " A small feed appeared, somehow linking her comm signal back through the Terminus Systems and all the way around into Human space. A change of legal name form was already filled out, waiting for her signature. " _Hurry, daughter. Sign that and head to this waypoint with the SR-1._ "

Joker's readout gave him a location inside the Presidium ring. "What the hell is a relay doing down there?" Julia's hand froze over the form's input. If she did this, she was acknowledging her father in her life again. Actually claiming that he was a blood relative again. It was more than just a name, to her. It was saying that she could consider him in loving terms again. "We don't have an Eezo core. We can't use it!"

Tali started running back through the airless bridge. "I can fix that! All teams, hook main power connections directly to the Mako's Eezo drive! We don't have much time!"

"You sure that is going to work?" Julia asked. By that point the Quarian was alright sliding down the ladders.

" _Give me a chunk of eezo and a circuit board, and I can have it doing relay jumps. The Mako already has both._ " Her voice came over comms, now. " _Get us there, Joker._ "

Julia sighed, resting her faceplate into her hands. "Den Boreî Iphigenia." She said in Greek. She wouldn't be his sacrifice. She wouldn't become another pawn in his game.

" _You have my word, Julia. I would never sacrifice you. Or your sister and step-mother._ "

"Get us out of here, then." She accepted the form, watching as every legal record in Alliance Space was changed from Julia Constantine to Julia Constantine Harper. It would be a clear message to the Alliance that she was no longer trustworthy. It would also tell them that she was still alive.

Behind them, Geth fighters strafed their rear barriers, making Joker wince. A cruiser was pulling up behind them, it's heavy turrets angling on their flight path. "Come on, baby. Just a little more. Gimme whatever you got, and I'll make sure you get repaired." One of their regulators blew, as the kinetic barriers on the rear of the craft started failing. "No!" Joker wheeled the ship around, so that the front was now facing the enemy, and they were twisting backwards. "Not today!" The guns fired, only hitting the cruiser. The fighters went unharmed, but they couldn't do much to the fully charged kinetic barriers in front.

" _Mr. Moreau. Please angle the nose of your craft and align it with the opening at the front of the Citadel. I will be giving you coordinates to arrive at. Aim short, and you won't turn into a pancake._ " Jack Harper said, his voice confident. " _I will see you on the other side._ "

Julia would later choose not to remember screaming as they hit the massless tunnel. Joker, as it turned out, could hit a higher pitch. When they got through to the other side, all of their systems flickered and died. The only thing she and Joker could see from the viewport was fire. Fire all around them, and the rapidly approaching ground. "What have I done?" She whispered.

* * *

Author's Note

If anyone doubted my promise that this is not going to go the way of canon, here you are. Losing the battle of the Citadel? Failing to stop the Reapers? If the Warhammer 40,000 inquisitors saw all this they would froth at the mouth at the very idea of a Human failing to succeed. I have been waiting for most of this story to re-introduce Shepard. Everyone considers Shepard to be such a hero. Such a paragon of virtue and success, even when they have little to no morals. The worst Renegade is, at their core, still a winner. Still victorious. It is almost expected for them to overcome all trials, all tasks, and all challenges. I don't believe that any one single person can win every trial. Shepard is as you may expect a hero who has come across their hardest challenge, and failed to go on. Julia still has no idea the full problem that exists in the back of her head.

Also, I want to point out how true to form Pallin was in this chapter. In the codex, it simply mentions that C-sec is made up of special forces and the best of the lot, chosen from their respective races and brought to the Citadel to represent them. So in my opinion, while some of those selections to C-sec are political and driven by 'who you know', all of those selections and the regular troops are going to be well trained, and all of them know how to fight. All of them have years of experience outside the Citadel fighting and bleeding for their race. Garrus is not an outlier in my book. Garrus is the kind of person they would like to have in the force. Skilled, dangerous, and intelligent. Smart enough to know when to play things by the book and gifted in the ways of bullshitting your superior officer.

So yes, I can see C-sec being able to hold this kind of incursion. I can see them actually trained for this kind of thing. A last thing on the Greek statement that Julia replied with near the end. Iphigenia was the daughter of King Agamemnon of Sparta, whose nephew married Helen(of Troy). When his stupid nephew lost his wife, Agamemnon and everyone else who had made an oath to come to his aid marched out to cross the Aegean Sea to get her back. There was no wind for their ships, as Poseidon really loved Troy. Poseidon said that if Agamemnon sacrificed his only daughter Iphigenia, then the Greeks could confront the Trojans. In the end of this play by the same name, Agamemnon discovers that Athena had interceded on his behalf to Zeus, and the winds were due to return. Unfortunately, Agamemnon had already sacrificed his only daughter, leading to the eventual loss of his entire house and the supposed downfall of Mycenae.

What Julia really means by this is that if she decides to work with Jack on this, she won't be some meaningless sacrifice. So much goes into all this, and I can promise you that so many unanswered questions and seemingly poor decisions over the course of this story will be answered. This chapter, the battle of the Citadel has been lost. Next chapter, Jack Harper takes action. Until next time, guys. A special thanks to all those who have reviewed over the last two months. I have been feeling terrible that I haven't been able to properly follow up your comments. But I just wanted this story to be properly updated. I'll take as much time as necessary to be able to give you quality of content over simple quantity.


	86. Dementia:Burn and Pillage

There is an important poll in my profile as a result of this chapter. I would love your input. It sort of matters to a few important people in the cast.

Chapter 86

Ilos, Pangea Expanse, January 2183

Jack grinned. Every display around him was filled with visuals of the greatest defeat ever handed to the Council. It was a needed thing to break their control over the galaxy. They 'guided' too much and controlled every aspect of resources from harvest to distribution. The Council needed to loosen its grip if the galaxy were to survive. As their fleet abandoned the Citadel, retreating from the defenses, he took a small sip of his favorite wine. The reflective bottle was the same as the one used to look at Hannah all those years ago. The same use he had then he used now, enjoying the sight of her catsuit creasing as she stood up.

"Your daughters are landing in bay two. I'll get them here with their command squad, as we discussed."

Jack nodded, but let his eyes wander over her from the safety of the bottle. It wouldn't do to be noticed doing something so blatantly on the eve of their victory. Hannah glanced back at the bottle, and gave him a smirk as she left. If he wasn't mistaken, she put a little more sway into her step. Jack felt a smile coming on, and let his eyes wander across the rest of his command center.

The command center was a repurposed Prothean bunker, with dozens of extra platforms made from metal sheeting and Quarian scaffolding. Haptic feeds covered every wall and small terminals were set up on the scaffolds to allow more technicians to sit and work. From his position in the center of the place every haptic interface was visible. Jack claimed the only chair, and he could deploy a small couch near him if he wanted Hannah to be comfortable. It was also a message that made others both fear and respect him. Batarians and Krogan recognized females as a strength. Hanar were more comfortable talking to a mated pair as authority figures. Humans always recognized a man as being more dangerous if he kept company of women like Hannah.

All around him was chaos, as members of every race shouted out reports, commands, and fought for space in front of the largest haptic interfaces. Fingers of all types shared limited screen space, typing and entering in information. "Charles?" He spoke up, his voice somehow carrying over the top of the din.

"Vigil's codes still check out. We can't stop the countdown or change it, but everyone is in position. Our troops have withdrawn from the Citadel, and the deep space mines are away."

"Thirty seconds. Thirty seconds to activation!" Another Quarian announced. "All teams, prepare to filter incoming data!" AVINA was some ungodly amount of petabytes, and Charles had gone to the Citadel to attach a receiver from the Prothean beacon system directly into her servers. It had been almost a week of slowly transmitting the data, before AVINA had been fully able to begin downloading all of the bank's information. All of the military communications network, as well as the civilian lines were also downloaded.

"Download of AVINA is complete!" Charles reported from above. "She is eager to get started with her tasks. I don't know if all of her decision tables have been properly replaced though. Maybe we should isolate her for a quick scan?"

"Negative." Jack replied. "We need those comm protocols. Let her govern herself and show her the kind of code that would be malignant. She's been aware for less than a month. She should still be responsive to new directories added to her decision trees." He finally glanced up, and saw her. Julia Harper, and her sister. Covered in burns and blood. Hannah was leading them along with Pressley, Joker, and Tali'Zorah. Alenko and Williams must still be with the ship, if they were still alive.

"Julia, Miranda. Come and join me. A man's crowning achievement should be shared with family."

"What kind of achievement would that be?" Julia fired back quickly. "Javik admitted that you wanted to see those Reapers come."

"So we do." Jack said, his eyes back on the screens. "Stand with me, then. See what happens when _I_ am the one to pick when and where they arrive. I knew that we weren't going to have a chance at the Citadel. Not on even terms, at least. My plan never involved winning there." He tapped a button and offered her a glass and a cigar. "You played your part well, daughter. You took down the Reaper that could have stopped me."

"No, she didn't." Miranda said from her side. "It's part of her. Part of the Reaper is still inside of Julia's mind. It's spoken to us, calls itself Gwyn."

Jack actually gave his daughter a look over that. It dominated his thoughts for all of a few seconds, as he drew conclusions around that. Julia may be compromised, but he could deal with that afterwards. "I'll deal with that in a minute. There is medi-gel and burn creams with some of the medics. Use some before this begins." He turned back to the screen. "Signal Admiral Jeruut! Deploy Wraiths two through twelve. AVINA's subprocesses should trigger now."

" _Pressurized gases at critical levels in all atmospheric sections. Air filters pumping and increasing localized pressure in all zones. Second stage prepared. Deep space mines active along all air filtration release zones. Third stage prepared. Ships with designation 'Wraith' are armed. First stage now ready. All stages armed._ " An automated voice said. " _Citadel Relay activating now._ "

"Activate Reaper IFF." Jack said. Everything got quiet, as they finally got a camera angle of the Citadel. It was blazing in some areas, and the holes in its arms allowed Geth and Rachni ships direct access. "Are we reading activity from their side?"

"Not yet. There is," Charles trailed off, as the Citadel came alive. The Presidium ring extended backwards off of the rear of the station, and began to spin. Something flickered in the space between, dark purplish streaks of energy appearing around some kind of rift in space. "Uh, a singularity. That's a dark matter singularity." As expected. No one had been able to identify how the Citadel was powered. All of these centuries, and nobody knew that there had been a contained singularity underneath them. It had been on low power usage for all this time, but now it was being drawn from enough that the singularity could be seen by the naked eye. It must have been contained in some kind of dimensional vault or something for no one to find it after all this time.

"Charles. Gawk later."

"Ah." There was a pause. "We finally have activity. Here they come."

"Deploy the Wraiths." Up on the screen, eleven ships separated from different parts of the Citadel's arms. Each was a Volus hauler, heavy and squat. There was nothing pretty about them, other than how many missiles they were carrying. Since the war against the Rachni was centered on the Citadel, war munitions came through all the time. No one noticed a few extra Volus missile support cruisers covered with extra layers of armor in the docking bays. Every single one of them turned towards where the forks of the arms connected, and made to jump. Only four made it, small tendrils of power reaching outwards each of the small ships and letting them accelerate beyond their sight. "Telemetry?" The other seven of the craft were destroyed by defenses and whatever they had on the other side. They were just the first attempt, however.

"Negative. It's as we thought. They have one way energy flow controls. Or perhaps-"

"Launch alpha strike."

No one questioned it. But every single defensive emplacement on the Citadel was then getting the attention of the new relay, tendrils reaching out to all of the missile emplacements. The sum total of the remaining Citadel munitions entered the massless tunnel, until every launcher clicked to empty. Anything to fill the space in between the Citadel and wherever the hell the Reapers came from. "Contacts coming in!"

Hundreds of them. Hundreds of those same dreadnaughts that the _Normandy_ had nearly died taking down. They all came through, all surrounding the Citadel and its arms. More and more, with every second. "Open fire." Jack ordered. "Alpha, Beta." Every single object in the widow nebula came into focus, as deep space missiles launched into the edge of the Widow nebula started releasing gases into space. The edges of the nebula thickened, and lines of cables stretched out in the dark abyss towards the Citadel. They had no payload, just simple drones meant to extend cables. Cables hundreds of kilometers long, back into the thick clouds of gas that had been deployed.

Batarian symbols filled up the board, as asteroids were launched. Asteroids like the ones used to lure the Alliance away from the Fuji. Each of them were covered with different symbols, ones that symbolized ground to space defense battalions. Typical Batarian methods, they would sacrifice ground troops to defend suicidal bombardment attacks. They were being attacked by Geth fighter squadrons. As one, all of the asteroids then accelerated, right into FTL. Almost every single one was heading for the Citadel. One was not, but it was also swarming with the most Geth fighters. It took longer to jump into faster than light speed, and it started falling apart before that finished. The asteroids blueshifted, and got the attention of every single ship in the system.

The shattered one missed, going wide towards the retreating Citadel fleet. There was an explosion reported, and Jack was happy to note that it was reported from the depths of the Citadel fleet. The video feeds were more focused on the other asteroids. But he saw what happened. The chunks of asteroid slammed into the Citadel fleet, striking into a few of the craft. One of which was the _Destiny Ascension_. It blinked, as the asteroid impact struck it. Multiple pieces of the craft separated, both marked with the same tag. The rest of the asteroids kept going, but not without difficulty.

"Activity!" The entire Geth fleet reacted, throwing themselves into the paths of the oncoming kinetic weapons, hitting them with all the weapons, speed, and ships they could muster. Only five made it past the Geth fleets, and into the cloud of Reapers surrounding the Citadel. Most of those slowly reacted, getting into the path of the incoming stones and massive explosions surrounding the giant ships. One of them, coming from the Geth, accelerated into FTL itself, matching speed with two of the asteroids and firing its weapons into them. Their explosions covered hundreds of thousands of kilometers of space in debris. "We're just on duds!"

The last asteroid impacted the same Reaper that had accelerated, it ending up splattering over it and sending pieces of the craft to bounce harmlessly against its fellows. Not a single strike hit the station. Some of the technician's hands had slowed in their typing, watching as their efforts were wasted. "Asteroids have failed. Vigil's codes were cut off before they could initiate a self-destruct." Julia flinched at hearing that. Jack ignored that, pleased enough to see some damage to the enemy fleet. Data was always acceptable. "Alright. Fire the package. For good measure, time the Quarian planted explosives with it. Increase air pressure."

"What gas are you pressurizing?" Miranda asked quietly.

"Methane, nitrogen, oxygen. Ammonia in the areas where nitrogen is thickest." Jack said conversationally. "Javik, you may fire when ready!" Anyone not wearing a rebreather mask or armor would be incapable of breathing with the concentration of gases. They were all dead, anyways. Anyone that didn't get off the Citadel at this point wasn't getting away now.

One of the walls of the building they were in lit up with blue light, as the twin forks of one of the buildings sent something high into the atmosphere. Jack grinned at the thought of the Prothean Conduit being used as a weapon delivery system. "What are you doing?" Julia asked.

"You cannot win an impossible fight unless you use bait. Bait and an exceedingly good trap." He told her. "I'm glad we can share this moment. I would hate to see you die in this mess." She opened her mouth to reply, and Jack grabbed her by the upper arm to interrupt her. "Later. You will have the time. Deploy plan F." The last was directed towards Admiral Daro'Xen.

The Prothean bomb, colloquially called the Godfather, was sent. It was some kind of fancy explosive used to trigger the death of a star belonging to a group of beings known as the Zha'til. was told when he asked about its specifics that ' _a lesser being does not have clearance to know the makings of destruction on this level_ '. Javik did assure him that it would have the destructive power to do what was necessary. The Presidium exploded, and atmospheric regulation failed, for all of a moment. Then secondary explosions ran at every single part of the station, the force and effort of them enhanced by the products of the gas bombs Jack had been using. "No." Julia was losing color to her face, her body shaking enough that he felt it in the arm holding her. "You're going to kill everyone."

"That's the idea." Jack said. "Can't win unless you have the proper bait." Something impacted the Presidium ring, and he could see the singularity start to expand. It went outside of containment, and all of the wires that had been reaching from the nebula sparked. "The Reapers have so few vulnerabilities. I've always been willing to sacrifice a few for the sake of the victory." He clapped his hands once. "Send the codes, stop them from escaping."

The entire nebula took the sparks coming off of the cables, which had connected to the ever expanding singularity, and charged the gases that surrounded the Citadel and every mass relay around. " _Allied craft are escaping. Admiral Jeruut has escaped with the remains of his forces. Gaseous cloud now charged and capable of blocking all FTL travel. Dark matter singularity losing containment and entering realspace._ " A computerized voice said. " _Sending lockdown codes to all relays. No other ships will escape._ "

"Wraith-1 is away!" Charles announced over the voice.

The growing Singularity started disturbing space around it, until what seemed to be a ripple started, and then light inverted. The Citadel folded into itself, and then the atmosphere that had been under such pressure detonated, opening wide the rift that the singularity was reaching through. The cameras one by one faded out as the station, the nebula, and the ships trying to escape all were taken up by the oncoming wave of energy. Eventually the only feeds left were the residual temperature detectors at the Relays, which started going up and _up._ Jack let out a sigh of relief. The first wave would not be able to handle the heat of the nebula being widely that warm for long. If any Reapers survived, they would be crippled and damaged, easy pickings. "Wraith-1?" Jack asked carefully.

Onboard that ship was one of his clones. The one he had assigned to the _Normandy_ to protect his children. It was possibly in pain and dying, as its organs failed. It had been reporting that for more than a week, now, and their entire plan was at risk. Immuno-suppressants and stimulant boosters had kept it going this long. Jack looked down at the QEC connections. Two of the precious communication tools were installed on Wraith-1, as redundancy. The main connection remained dark, and the secondary connection came alive. Charles didn't waste time reporting that, instead piping the view from Wraith-1 to the main screen.

"View of Reaper base, for the .4 seconds that Wraith-1 was in realspace." The ship was already gone. It had lasted longer than they had expected. But the view was not welcome. Even the chitter of his Quarian techs disappeared in the face of what they were seeing. The other side of the Citadel Relay was a massive space structure. A Dyson Sphere. Or something on the scale of that, built in such detail and gigantic standards that it could open a small section of the sphere to let the Reapers out. Jack's cigar almost left his lips, as he would never admit that they could have trembled. The tiny view window they had displayed the open interior of the station, row after row after row of parked Reapers. Thousands of docks for the big bastards. The sphere surrounded a brown dwarf, the dark orange glow showing through the thousands of space docks. The last clip from Wraith-1 was of the camera crumpling, the entire ship folding together like a tin can. No other weapons were used, or needed to be used.

"Charles, switch to Wraith-actual's input." Input pumped through the graybox directly back through the QEC. It would be the test. "Show us what the pilot saw."

The feed changed, to the small viewport in the cockpit. Blood was smeared on the glass, one hand grasping the rail and the naked eyes looking past the hand. Focusing deeply on the image of the Dyson Sphere. It was almost the same, but with very glaring additions that a machine could be spoofed on. Reapers, actively moving Reapers. They were moving through space, dozens at a time emerging from the docking cradles and moving outside of the base. "Analysts, give us some numbers. You have a half second of footage from two vantage points. Get us numbers, deployment capabilities, and anything that we can use. Charles, start the mission clock. Reapers will arrive in two years, eight months, and eight days." Giant red block lettering arranged itself, the clock interposing itself across the top of the main haptic interface. "Start taking a tally of losses and prepare for reprisals from Salarian STG elements."

He took a long drag on his cigar. The heady feeling went right to his toes, and the rest of the command center came to life again. Once he did that, he stood up, heading for a small stage that was set off to the side of the command center. It had been built more than a year ago, but only in the last day had any serious effort been put into making it shine. A window with a view down into the Halls of Contemplation and the yellowing sky offered some kind of comfort to those who would see it. There was a small podium, and a raised platform there that would support a few individuals all standing together. The platform was designed so that all eyes would be drawn to the center of the platform.

Julia had fallen to her knees, just staring at the visual of the Citadel feeds. Miranda was helping her up, but she looked to be in shock. He didn't know if she had been fully briefed on that, as it was something that Kalin'ren was supposed to do. He had been ordered to brief his daughters on his plan and send them through the relay. She had been briefed on the amount of casualties, then. This should not be new to her. "Come on. It's time."

"Time for what?"

"You'll see." Jack told her. A large moving arm came down, cameras and recording devices mounted on it. "

"Two minutes before total collapse! Move it, people!" Charles Archer called from above. "Prothean Beacon network, syncing!" Readouts showed the entire galaxy linking together from one end to the other. Even Geth space was linked into this process. This entire project was Jack's pride and joy. Not as much as his children, but this here was what he had been planning out for years. "All of the comm codes we stole from Friess are checking out, Director. We have total access to the comm networks." Every single Omni-tool and haptic interface in the galaxy was in his hands. All of the data streams across the entire galaxy belonged to him. Ilos was built to handle it, but it was going to be a glorious day. The Shadow Broker would probably be green with envy. He didn't have a Prothean beacon to be able to connect into this service, and where his ship was located, Jack didn't have to worry. If he needed to, he could cut the broker off from the galactic network and turn off the relay he was hiding behind. It would disable plenty of the galactic network to do so, but Jack could prove a point with it. The Shadow Broker, who he assumed was an Asari, was probably trying to hold together a fragmenting organization at this point. Only one of the major races had a plan for if the Citadel was destroyed, and it was written by the Turians six hundred years before. No one was ready, unless you were specifically planning on it.

Jack stood behind the podium, his prosthetic feet hidden by the wooden structure. "Daughters, Hannah, join me on the right. Hannah first, with Julia second. Javik, on my left. Hide your damaged hand. Admiral Daro'Xen, take his other side. Commander Harsk, past her and make sure that your scars are clearly showing." He had already forced his daughter to change her name. The inheritance documents would work as long as he had both of his daughters under the Harper surname. The Alliance would probably notice in a few months that her name was changed and file that away somewhere. So long as his contacts did what they had to do to keep the tax collectors and governments away from his daughter's fortune, it would be fine. It's what they got paid to do, after all. The Alliance being made up of so many component states and countries actually played into his hand on this, as lawyers from one country could claim local law and refuse taxes from a larger entity. That was why according to the French, Miranda was born first and inherited. According to the British, Julia was the inheritor. He kept those in contest, and so long as they were in contest his daughters could claim whatever the other left behind. Julia looked indecisive about joining him on the podium, for all of ten seconds. But she eventually joined him up on the stand.

Hannah wasn't wearing a helmet, and his daughters reluctantly removed theirs. Julia's hair was in a tight bun, and somehow Miranda managed to have her hair be presentable in a few flicks of her hands and an Omni-tool program. Javik stepped forward, one of his arms a bandaged over mess. He concealed it behind his back. Daro'Xen took her place beyond that. Commander Harsk, of the Batarian SIU, stood behind her with a grimace. A sign of respect in his culture, and an insult to all others. Seven of them, with the view of Ilos at their back. Julia's crew of Pressley, Tali, and Joker remained out of the view of the camera. That was good. They could remain out of sight and out of mind for now. Hannah gave his hand a small squeeze, obscured by their closeness on the platform. He squeezed back, and let go of her hand to grasp the podium.

"AVINA. Reset all communications lines over to Prothean quad linear code. Reroute now!" Charles was shouting. "Alright, comms are linked, downtime of Citadel servers, forty five seconds."

"That is within acceptable limits." Daro'Xen mentioned. "Your engineer fulfills his promises. Now we shall fulfill our own." Quarian techs across the boards triggered something, as lines of communication throughout the galaxy were subverted all at once. Their progress was shown throughout the Terminus Systems, as comm buoy after comm buoy was overtaken. Some were not, but with more than 90% of the network, it didn't matter. "Communications override to every Omni-tool in the galaxy. Operational."

"Communications have been rerouted through all active Prothean beacons. They have synced into AVINA, and financial systems are back online. Credit flow is back, and all stolen encryptions are working fine. Only a few locations are outside of our reach, now." Charles said.

"Where?" Jack quickly rapped off.

"Perseus Veil. Friess Station, Temple of Athame, Some parts of Manae. Parnak." Jack waved his hand, and he stopped talking. Years of stealing credentials and access to every secure network had finally paid off. The Asari codes had only come in the last days, and the Salarians the week before. His original plan of using the galactic communication backbone and support network didn't pan out, since the Salarians mucked up everything they touched.

"Good enough. Begin the connection. Sync all Omni-tools to this feed. Disable all other channels except for text feeds relating to it. Maintain stock market trading underneath. Keep the flow of credits going at all costs, even when the STG start hammering us through those information flows." Jack settled his hands on either side of the podium, taking an aggressive posture. It was one that Batarians would feel comforted by, as well as Turians. Asari would be confronted by such a display, and Salarians would feel threatened. There was no good way of presenting a speech to all of the races without offending someone through body language.

"Connection starting in four seconds." Jack cleared his throat, and adjusted the lapels of his jacket before going back to the previous stance. "Go!" The Quarian in green colors triggered the cameras to start transmitting. The feed was plastered over all of the walls behind the camera as well, so Julia could see their positions in high definition. The feed focused inwards, only on her father's face after a slow zoom in.

"Hello." Her father stated. "Greetings from the leaders of the Redemption movement. For those of you who haven't noticed, The Citadel was just lost. Lost to an invasion of enemy craft and abandoned by the Council. Left to its own devices in the face of overwhelming odds. The lives of seventeen million were lost today, when the Citadel was destroyed as a result of the fighting." He paused, not smiling but also giving the camera an eager look. "The resulting explosion has overtaken the entire Widow Nebula, superheating the gases and detonating the entire area. Nothing survived." He brought his hands outwards, into the universal symbol of Asari peace. A mockery, considering his part in this. "My name, for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting me, is Jack Harper."

He breathed in, meeting the camera's gaze while still holding the Asari symbolic position. "I am a Human, and I have unlocked the full potential of what the Protheans left behind. The race that intended their deaths tried the same method that was used to begin the invasion of Prothean space. Knowing that would happen, I decided to turn the Widow Nebula into what it is now. _I_ destroyed the Citadel, because it is technology left behind by that same enemy to force all races to advance in directions that force us into certain vulnerabilities. The relays, the Citadel, and the weapons technology our ships use have all been chosen for us. The Protheans call them Reapers." His tasks in this were clear. Focus the entire galaxy down onto one single person. Focus their disdain and their attention on him. Let them feel a bit of fear, knowing the dedication he had shown. What he was capable of.

He moved his hands down, until it took a mockery of a Turian pose used by commanders to speak from. "We fought them, until our ships had burned, our troops had been eliminated to the very last. What remains of the once great Prothean Empire are little more than memories. Our few survivors were placed in cryo-stasis to advise those that would follow." Javik spoke up. The camera focused on his alien features. "My advice was to not repeat our mistakes. That you would cast off the chains of blindness that you have placed upon yourselves. We left beacons with this very advice and guidance. The Asari, the Salarians, the Turians. Supposed leaders and guides for the rest of the galaxy. Each of you were given large and functional beacons to use our combined knowledge. Instead you squandered it, and I had to turn to the youngest and most inexperienced races. Batarian, Quarian, and Human. The outcast and bereft Krogan. The superior races of this cycle have known about this threat for as long as they have had access to the beacons. It was our final warning, and the fact that the Council has ignored it could have led to your deaths." If that didn't call things into question, he would be surprised.

"Which is why we have decided to share information regarding this freely." Jack took back over. "As director of the Crucible organization, we have taken actions to stop these Reapers from getting a foothold in our galaxy. The Citadel was their creation, and so it had to go. We do not have a replacement for the relays, nor the infrastructure that was built up inside the center of the Widow Nebula. What Crucible does have over any other source is a method of communication to replace the communication grid the Citadel was once the center of. Every Prothean beacon in the galaxy is now linked, offering faster connections between all parts of the galaxy. Even without the Citadel, you can still contact your friends and family all across the galaxy. Forget any service plans, forget any service providers, your galactic communications provider is now _me_. Local calls on your planet now cost _one_ credit. Local system, two credits. Local cluster, five credits. Anywhere else, ten. Infinitely cheaper and more cost effective for everyone. This includes areas like the Krogan Demilitarized Zone and the Terminus Systems. This service is just the first of the general services offered through the Prothean beacon network."

"The second and more critical service is monetary transactions. The Prothean beacon network is made up of some of the most expensive technology that can be provided, with science that even the Asari wish they could replicate." Construction of beacons was actually a rather cheap process, so long as the Protheans got off their pretentious asses and helped. "As such, any monetary transactions that cross over Prothean beacons will charge 2% of the total fee. This includes money transfers and payments, but not direct deposits as long as you are using the same bank. Volus banks, as they will assist in making the credit stable, will only be charged 1% fees. These beacons won't pay for themselves, and it will be at least thirteen months before the Council can replace the old network of comm buoys. Though I am sure the remains of the explosion and the widow nebula's rather explosive end will cause some spotty reception and data loss for whatever they make. I don't plan on forcing anyone to use my services, but I do promise to maintain mine for as long as can be reasonably afforded." Which, under current configuration, could be long after the Reaper issue was settled.

"Which brings us to our next piece of good news." Because the Citadel no longer being a pain in the ass to everyone was the best news of this decade. "The New Prothean Empire is accepting legal immigration forms. There is some fine print, and I do recommend that you read up on what is expected of immigrants to the Prothean Empire. They take illegal immigration rather poorly, so I do recommend going through our contact agency on Omega. We don't exactly have a hard limit on how many immigrants we can support, and we are prepared for anyone of any race or dietary need. The enemy that destroyed the Protheans fifty thousand years ago just tried to do the same to us. They planned on killing the Citadel and all of its inhabitants as just the start of a galaxy wide campaign to wipe out all of us, _just_ like they did to the Protheans. The largest condition of immigration to the Prothean Empire is that you would pledge your life and talents to the service of stopping those bastards from doing what they intended."

Javik nodded. "We will give you weapons and technology to better be able to fight the enemy. It will be better and more effective than anything else that your governments can provide. Fleets, guns, and the science behind them are yours, if you will but contemplate the grim future ahead of you."

"As Director of the Crucible company, I will represent the public facing arm of the Prothean Empire. The others with me on this podium are the primary stockholders and owners of the company. We offer you this transparency. War criminals, hackers, and genocidal terrorists. The only ones standing between you and extragalactic horrors that are coming to murder us all. For further information, you may always ask our PR division for more clarification." He had not warned them adequately on that. Tesai wilted in the background, as she was in charge of the PR department. She would live. Probably. "Over the next six weeks, as everyone gets used to our service, we will be having small nightly presentations of Prothean culture and interviews with some of their chief figures. We are looking forward to having all of you back to listen to our first interview with the Prothean civilian leadership. Be there, tomorrow at fourteen hundred Omega local time."

There was no need to bow. Jack just gave a smile to the camera, with no teeth showing. When the light of the recording and specialty spotlights died down, he loosened his back. "Tesai, uh, dear?" Charles was saying. "I know that your job is kind of bigger now, and, uh," The message traffic was already coming in hard, as users across the galaxy found out about the request board for the PR division. "I really need you to wake up?"

"The only way I'm doing this is if I'm too numb to care." Tesai said from the floor. "Billions of requests. I was expecting thousands!" Jack subtly tapped his wrist and activated his 'oh shit' menu. Pre-written tasks and prepared strategies for when predictable problems came at unpredictable times. Three of the scripts written were just for Hannah. One was for Javik, and by extension Liara. Charles backed up his tasks here, and Jack found his folder within moments. _Tesai_needs__ was selected soon after.

Shev'rash showed up, biotically leaping over the gathered crowd to land near the command center. "Oi! I thought the party was happening later?" Charles glanced up and just made a fast waving motion with his hands ending in the 'gimme what you got' position. Shev just shrugged and slipped a sealed bottle into Charles' hands. "Usually this is good for sterilizing any scratches the lady gives you. But hey, if you're in need."

"Tesai shall represent us well. She knows my moods and my tolerance for stupidity." Javik said from beside him, watching as Tesai pulled herself together. "This is perhaps too much of a burden for her, however."

"Perhaps Avina or Vigil might feel up to assisting her?" Jack asked quietly. "If you feel like allowing Avina access to your archive."

Javik's lip curled. "Heresy. I _tolerate_ Vigil, for he was built and programmed to be loyal. Avina was programmed without that intrinsic loyalty to the Empire. More importantly, her first core purpose was the betrayal of her makers. I would never risk such a creation near our archives."

"I'll let Tesai know she can ask Vigil for help." Jack noted. Javik made a hissing noise in regards to it, but Jack figured he was disgusted with this entire situation. Javik had never wanted a public statement. By involving Daro'Xen, he dragged in the Quarians at the highest levels. With Commander Harsk, the Hegemony declared their support for this, and created a connection between the Prothean Empire and a recognized legitimate government. Jaroth would of course claim it had been planned and set out long ago, but in reality it had been all of last week, once they had tested the Prothean Beacon network though Kar'Shan. Having his representative here was only approved after Batarian military encryption was proven to work through the beacons.

Hannah was speaking quietly with his daughters, both of them looked like they needed a change in armor. Miranda's Pheonix armor had been Warped by something, and had cracks running down both arms. It was probably due for retirement. Julia's was even more of a wreck, with damage of all kinds across it. "Julia, Miranda. I know you have many questions, and I have many for you, but there are a few tasks that must be completed first. Hannah will take you and your crew to the guest quarters, where you can at least eat and recover from the Citadel. Take an hour for yourselves and get some food and water. Your crew is welcome to join you there, as your ship isn't going to be capable of going anywhere for a while. You have my word that no one will be harmed, and that none of my people will go near your ship."

"Fine." Julia said. "We'll see you soon." Well, if that wasn't a cold shoulder he didn't know what it was. She was probably lamenting her legal status with the Alliance and her loyalties. Well, it was hard to be loyal to something that suspected you from the start. Or expected you to fail. As soon as Julia had cleared the area, he walked over to Charles.

"Jack?" He said carefully.

"Status report." No sentimental comments would be tolerated at this time. Not from Charles. He hesitated before speaking, glancing at the retreating group of women. Jack let his eyebrows drop a tiny amount, and Charles got the hint.

"Everything functioning as normal. Since we warned the Volus to get out, their backup servers on Irune have already kicked in. The credit is holding steady while everyone figures out what to do with seventeen million dead people's accounts. All Citadel servers have been backed up to the gigantic bluebox of AVINA, and all information is flowing. Prothean beacon network has successfully replaced any and all backups of information that was on the Citadel."

Jack breathed a sigh of relief. "Begin decryption process. The Citadel fleet and their special forces all updated Citadel Servers on their missions and reports. I want every Spectre file marked and declassified, going all the way back to the League of One. They'll have what I need. Make it your top priority." He glanced at Xen, who was giving him her attention. "Could your techs also take a look at the directories that involve the Geth or their iterations. Considering the swiftness of the attack, I want to know anything the Council has on them." The likelihood that anything they found would be helpful was low. After Project Overlord, Jack knew as much as he preferred to about the Geth. This would be more for the Quarian's sake, to let them figure out anything they needed.

"I plan to." Xen said with the least amount of grace necessary. "Updates will follow at our leisure, Harper." He gave her a nod, and glanced at Javik next.

"I require medical attention. You may beg for my attention at a later time." The Prothean said stiffly, before marching off towards his part of the base. Jack didn't forgive him for the slight, but understood that having your hand removed was a painful experience. He would have to warn Julia about Liara, then. She would hold a deep grudge for harming Javik. Tesai spilled Javik's tea and burnt his skin at one point, and Liara wouldn't speak to her for a month. Oh yes, he was going to have to warn Julia.

The Batarian SIU Commander raised his fist to him, and started walking back towards the handlers that Jack had specifically assigned to him. Some of the highest born Batarians he had, both of high enough rank that they could force the SIU Commander to listen if need required it. With them out of the way, Jack could do what any good leader did when their high intensity plan actually worked. He opened his comms to the entire star system. "This is Director Harper. To all of you in space and on the ground, excellent work. Our designs worked effectively, and I have the pleasure to announce that the first wave of Reapers have been defeated. Our worthy allies, the Batarian Hegemony, have kindly offered the most lives in this endeavor, losing much of their fleet and ground forces that we have trained. Their lives and the lives of those on the Citadel were lost so that we could have a chance. That is all that we have, even now. A mere chance of success. Do _not_ let this fuel your arrogance. We still stand at the brink of death. Tonight, we celebrate those who gave their lives to give us that chance. Tomorrow, work shall begin on the next phase. Do not squander what has been given to us! Maintain the excellent craftsmanship and training that have gotten us this far. We have proven that we can provide more than just promises." Jack grinned, seeing most of the command bunker looking at him directly. "I expect all of you to celebrate in whatever method satisfies you, and to revel in this success. Thanks to the blood of millions, we have secured a future! A chance that your descendants will recognize your names in history forever!"

Batarians shook their fists. Quarians were light on their feet, and the many Hanar glowed. Xen almost tripped, accidentally cutting through a crowd of brightly glowing Hanar. Humans were rather excited, fist bumping and high fiving each other. Charles was doing a small dance, waving his hands around excitedly. He never left his chair. Jack was sure that his feet were doing something under the desk. Charles was never much of a dancer, and it showed. For all of that, Tesai was still entertained. She danced along with him, as much as his flailing could be matched. Charles Archer definitely deserved some happiness. The man had been quite integral to his plans so far.

Jack quietly left to retreat to his quarters for a short break. The elevator had a clear window in it, so he had to remain composed as it took him down into the assigned quarters. Once he dropped out of sight, he could feel the jitters start. Then his chest vibrated, as a chuckle began deep below his sternum. It moved upward, until it reached his throat, and he could scarcely hold it in. So he didn't. His chuckle turned into a full blown cackle, as his body wracked with the force of all that was escaping from him. Stress, anxiety, and adrenaline all combined into a long dark laugh, almost a scream at some points. "I won." He wheezed, as the elevator opened to the unmarked hallway that held his living quarters. "I saw through all of your lies and bullshit, and I won!" He screamed out to the empty corridor. "You had thousands of years, and you were outclassed!" He laughed again, feeling lighter than air. "We did it." Jack could feel his eyes sting slightly, something that hadn't happened in a very long time. Even then it was on a hospital bed. Blinking, he could feel moisture running down his face. He used one finger to draw some of it onto his thumb, seeing the wet streak on his hand.

He had spent years worried about this day, and now he had done it. Redundancy after redundancy had been implemented, failed, and had been redesigned. Fleets had been moved after imaginary foes, shadow contacts, and even the Eclipse. Batarian slavers had died by the hundred to force the Citadel's fleets to overextend away from the Widow Nebula. Jack let his body rest against a doorway, just letting tears run down his face as he let himself _feel_. No one was allowed to see him like this, as he had an image to keep. But he could allow himself a few minutes of reflection. _This_ time, he wasn't going to rely on their nanotech to insure a 'victory'. He checked with Vigil daily to see if anything was developing in his mind as a sign of Indoctrination. He was not the voice of Humanity, as he once considered himself. He considered himself a study of what Humanity was, and the essence of what it meant to claw your way to the top. That thought brought on another fit of laughter.

He allowed himself to dance a little bit, the movements awkward and slightly uncoordinated. He breathed heavily, the exertion of it all leaving him a mess. Once he did that, he continued to his quarters to do a quick clean up. Ten minutes to let himself calm down, and a quick change of clothes. Cold sweat had made this shirt uncomfortable. Hannah stepped in when he was nearly finished buttoning up a new shirt. She gave him a long glance, before stepping into their closet and grabbing a new suit. "This'll match. You've got a few stains on the collar of your current one."

She had pulled out a suit that included a bit of red in the design. "Ah." Jack didn't complain, letting himself enjoy the monotony of it. How simple it was. There was also the added perk of watching Hannah slither into a dress. Slither _was_ the correct word. "The girls settling in alright?"

"I took them to Miranda's room. Considering what kind of image you want to project, I told them to dress nicely." Hannah offered her back to him, and he touched up any folds in the fabric of her dress. "I assume you want us to look like a functional family."

"Of course. Dynasties have to start somewhere. Julia will be armed, no doubt. She should be able to defend herself. What she might not realize is that I'll be able to take the heat off of her and Miranda by keeping them close. The Asari will see every single death on the Citadel as my fault, as will the Turians. The Salarians will extend the blame to everyone else out of association."

"But we already assumed they would want to kill anyone who has ever spoken to you."

"Four degrees of association, according to their intelligence doctrines. Four degrees of association from me must be cleansed in order to prevent any of my other plans from succeeding. That's why they've never truly tried to bring me in on Omega. They want to know who I talk with, who else has to die in order to stop us." Jack wasn't as heavily marked as other targets that the STG had gone after in the past, like some of the Krogan. Their worst criminals were tracked down to the eighth degree of separation, apparently the heaviest penalty that the STG could invoke. Half of the Krogan were guilty by simply association when the Rebellions began. Eight degrees of separation from every single leader of the Krogan war machine were eliminated, along with every single technician and engineer as a matter of necessity. Only then did the Salarians start to feel comfortable that their efforts had crippled the Krogan war machine.

He could see the STG planning that kind of strike against them. How to counter such a wide-angled attack would be difficult. Undoubtedly there would be saboteurs, double agents, informers, and all kinds of hacking attempts. They would execute that if given the opportunity. He contemplated this as he dressed, feeling the jitters of earlier come to a halt.

He felt Human again, as he stood up. His new suit coat had red trim, a color that reminded him of blood. Hannah's dress complimented it, making her appear almost dangerous. Of course she was, but this only emphasized it. "This is going to make my hair stand out less, but most races have strong feelings about this color."

It wasn't a dress that you would see in a bar, or even in a dance party. It was elegant, and suited the woman wearing it. "It will help keep everyone focused. Let them know we're going to be proactive." He smirked impishly, thinking about that very same dress pooling on the floor later. "Not to mention keep my focus." His smirk softened when he thought about the possibility of Julia finding out about her parentage. With that in mind, he took hold of Hannah and gave her an actual deep kiss. Not as foreplay, not as anything teasing, but something with meaning.

"What was that for?"

"Sometimes, I really do win the whole pot." A final glance over the two of them found both satisfactory, and he stepped outside with Hannah to make their way back to the elevator. "It's also an apology."

"You don't make apologies."

"I am not in the habit of making them, true. But this is one in advance. I might make a mistake or two in the future. Consider this my apology if I am ever stupid enough to consider either of us to be pawns in the greater scheme." Not to mention if Hannah ever realized her genetic progeny were his daughters. "Apology accepted?"

"Sure." She breathed, as they started to return to what already could be heard through the walls as a resounding celebration. Heavy bass beats were playing, and he could hear Tesai singing above the din. Surprisingly, it was a Batarian battle-hymn, and it came off well. Kegs were lined up against the walls with markers for which races might find them best appealing, with a sealed distillery for Quarians as well. There was a line there, as that was not something available regularly.

He didn't see his daughters, but he could see plenty of his people enjoying themselves. Who knew which could be plants from intelligence agencies. He certainly couldn't tell. Some of them he could guess, and most of the Quarians he trusted. "Director." Jack turned, seeing Gatatog Don standing near. Jack must have not noticed the four hundred pound creature approaching. "There is something you need to be aware of."

"Brief me." Don did not approach him often. The Krogan Engineer was usually more interested in technology and Prothean ships.

"The SR-1, it had a few prisoners on board. Cameras ID'd them as one Matriarch and ex-priestess Trellani, as well as a Krogan in robes. But those robes haven't been worn by anyone since we had an embassy. Whoever that is, they came from Friess. Odd thing about Trellani is that she's been active for the last century, cooped up at some Monastic order of Justicar. I did some research," Don groaned slightly, "and I asked Benezia about her. Trellani, two hundred years ago, was some kind of firecracker. Then she got captured by Justicars and became one of their 'sponsors' at their monasteries. She's been a lot less of a firebrand since then. Speaks at a lot of their retreats, lots of speeches on file."

"So, someone replaced her? Seems rather tame for the Justicars."

"Trellani advocated the destruction of the Temple of Athame before she was taken." Don said quietly. "As well as unearthing the Triss conspiracy." Jack did not remember what that was. At his raised eyebrow, Don kept talking. "It's some old Asari conflict that happened thousands of years ago. Apparently an entire city-state got lost. Asari don't like anyone looking into the files, though the old site where it stood is still a popular tourist location."

"So we might want to acquire her." Jack said.

"The Krogan is far more important. The size of his hump suggests great age. Older than most Krogan ever get to. Add in those robes, and you are looking at someone that might have predated the Rebellions. He is of much greater worth."

"I will negotiate their transfer." Don puffed up, almost pleased. "Excellent work. Keep me informed if any of the other Krogan think about harming him. Once we find out who he is we can see if he has any blood feuds with our group." If this was some old Ganar he wouldn't live through the night. Jack wanted a lid kept on that information starting _now_. "Take Henry Gunn with you. He will be able to help."

Don nodded. "Have a pleasant evening, Directors Harper." Don managed to offer his respects to Hannah with the shared statement. Then he rumbled off, calmly walking towards the head of his Alpha team. They had been deployed during the attack on the Citadel, specifically to make sure that the relay monument in the Presidium was held. Held it they did, against all comers. As Jack turned to survey the party, he finally caught sight of his daughters. Both were standing with Tali'Zorah, who had a large group of Quarians around her. His memories of Tali from when he had been Indoctrinated suggested that Tali was not a major figure on Quarian politics until the assault on Rannoch. There was no reason to fear her or consider her a threat. Not yet. He approached them, the Quarians around Tali noticing his approach and stepping back with as much politeness as they would allow.

"Tali'Zorah, I presume?" Jack offered, making the young woman jump. She had seen him coming, so this was surprising. "I wanted to congratulate you on being the only sentient to successfully kill a Reaper. Your engineering solutions provided a method that was able to kill it. My own methods required extensive and further efforts."

"Thank you." She said, tilting her head a little higher. "It is an honor to meet you."

"Today, the honor is mine. In fact," Jack tapped his wrist. "I'll have Tesai give a small speech so that everyone will know how much we are impressed with your work." Tali looked like she might have been floating. "Julia. Miranda. Would you please join me? We're going to have a small family reunion."

His daughters were in matching dresses. Miranda's taste, for certain. Though it was a bit more modest than he had seen Miranda using the in the past. The silvery silk reflected the lights of the Prothean bunker quite well, and managed to conceal whatever weapons his daughters decided to bring. He brought everyone back over to his chair and the couch, now rising from the floor. White noise and EM generators rose in the area around them, blocking any signals from leaving this location. Charles swept it daily, keeping it from being interfered with. "Vigil, could you send for some whiskey and a few pastries? A pitcher of water, too." Hannah spoke up. "Anyone else want anything?"

That broke the ice. His daughters settled onto the couch, and Jack settled into his chair. Hannah sat down with the girls only after the drinks had arrived. No one seemed to want to say anything to begin any kind of talk. "This area is secure and private. What is said here won't go any further than us." He offered. The glaring red clock sat above them, showing how long until the next incursion of Reapers. "Julia. You have a Reaper in your head? Could you please explain that?"

Julia huffed, some red hair shifting in front of her face. "Miranda has talked to it more than I have. Whenever I black out or sleep, it wakes up and takes over. Controls things." She looked like she wanted to say more, but was uncomfortable.

"She calls herself Gwyn." Jack felt his entire head throb, like a phantom bullet passing right into his cranium. "And-"

"Gwyn?" Jack said. "Are you sure?"

Both of his daughters nodded. "You know who she is? I couldn't find anyone under that name in Alliance records." Julia said carefully.

"I have some idea. But she was a Reaper?"

"The one we killed. It also went by Arda, or Sai'Pa'Arda."

"Odd. I'll need to talk to it in order to find out more. I have theories as to who that might be, but nothing concrete. What have you talked about with it?"

"General questions, though I am convinced it isn't fully aware of its situation." Miranda said. "At times when you communicate with her, she seems to be aware of her own nature as a Reaper. At other times she believes she is a Human, working against the Reapers. When Gwyn took control during the battle, she was fully believing in the Reaper state of mind. She was convinced that the only way that everything could be 'right' was to let the Reapers through and wipe out the galaxy. When I first talked to her after Friess Station, she was talking to me about how she had already 'won'. Already beaten the Reapers. The confusion she felt was real."

"How did this start?"

"After I touched one of the Dark Beacons on Deck 17 of Friess." Julia stated. "Which you thought would be a _good_ idea."

"I did not anticipate you encountering a Reaper on the other end of the connection." Jack clarified. "They must have been tampered with. When you touched the beacon, what kind of visions did you see?"

"Planets going dark, and two voices." Julia answered. "One voice told me to 'know all truth and despair' and to do something to me, to make me perfect. According to some crappy ideology, I am sure. The second voice interrupted the first, but before I could see anything more than Reapers coming out of some kind of planet."

"So the message stored on those beacon was left by the Reapers. The original message was overwritten." Jack muttered. "Hannah, we might have to begin the evacuation."

"They would have attacked us long ago if they intended to do as you fear they would. Right now, the Reapers do not know of this location. If they are aware of it, we can expect Rachni within the month. I'm wondering why your head isn't an exploding mess at this point."

"I've got a headache, but nothing like the feeling of those beacons picking me up off the ground. This is more from Miranda's right hook." Makeup had covered any bruises, but the skin of one cheek was swollen. "Not that you seem to care about my health."

"Quite the contrary," Jack said after a reasonably long pause, "I invested heavily into it. Barring the traitorous attempts from Karen Chakwas to sabotage the _Normandy_ and yourself, I went to every possible method to keep you healthy and supported. The Alliance originally intended to steal the stealth ship technology from the Quarians and then work together with the Turians to build the SR line. An unmitigated disaster in the making. With my input, and Quarian ingenuity and experience, we were able to build you a better ship. My favors within the Naval command structure kept it from becoming too popular. With the prototype having been lost in battle, the Alliance will have a difficult time funding more of them, or even contemplating their production."

"So you keep them from having an advantage over you?"

"More like keep that technology from the Geth and the Salarians. By keeping the stealth drive the intellectual property of the Quarians, and putting them in charge of manufacture and design of it, we keep those two forces from gaining an advantage. The Alliance just isn't ready to keep those kinds of secrets."

"You would know." Julia said flatly. "You probably want them to have vulnerabilities you can use."

"On the contrary." H gave a small wave of his hand. "The Systems Alliance is best when someone on the outside warns them about things going on outside. Part of what I do that makes the Alliance turn the other cheek is make sure that they are safe. Other than the assault that rescued me from the _Fuji_ , I have not targeted their forces. Avoided them at worst, indirectly provided assistance at best." He refocused on Miranda. "Now, you've talked to this Gwyn. What did she say?" He had to wait until later to get the full download of memories from the graybox in his clone. He would have to double check what Miranda had said against its surveillance.

"Nothing about you, but plenty about somehow beating the Reapers." Jack kept careful control of his facial features as she spoke. "Julia doesn't remember anything about what happened for most of her escape from Friess. Gwyn was in control for most of that escape."

"How does Gwyn take control?"

"When I'm either blacking out or asleep." Julia admitted. "But Miranda says she can't maintain control for too long before she loses control."

"How long was she in control each time?" Jack asked.

"Less than fifteen minutes." Miranda clarified.

"I may need to talk to her." Jack said carefully. "But only if you feel comfortable doing so."

"I don't." Julia replied quickly. "But I also don't trust you to not try."

"I don't relish talking to Gwyn. The last time we spoke, she nearly killed me."

"Time out!" Hannah yelled. "How have you never mentioned this woman? A Reaper? Who you supposedly knew about and didn't brief us on?"

He hummed for a moment, to collect his thoughts. "Reapers have been watching us for a long time. A very long time. I just happened to be one of the people to crack open that puzzle. Part of what I found and removed from the Prothean Archives was a trap designed by the Reapers to make us more susceptible to their mind domination effects. Right after that I met Gwyn. Things didn't go as planned."

"Lots of things in your life seemed to go that way." Hannah snarked. "Cerberus fell apart, your friends were all captured by the government, and you left your children with other caretakers."

"I could have left you both to be raised by my christian extremist extended family." Jack noted. "But I don't think you could have been able to handle what was expected of you if they had made you soft. Hannah did a remarkable job, all things considered." He turned towards Miranda. "I felt a bit more confident about having you with the T'soni clan. They were more accepting of you. I did not intend for either of you to suffer. But at the same time I did not intend for you to both be dragged so deeply into this so fast." A lie, but one that he had to make. Better that the truth be muddled in lies and half truths. The more he could muddle it, the less that anyone could trust the word of Gwyn. "Miranda, I wanted to tell you that I am sorry to hear about your partner's passing. El'saen'rae was quite an Asari."

Miranda nodded softly. "I'd like to not talk about her." Well. That killed any attempt to nicely transition into what was going to be a hard conversation.

"I am not sure if you would accept any kind of apology from me, Julia." Her face gave away nothing at that moment. "But I didn't intend this. I am not a great father, nor did I ever learn anything reasonably about parenting. But I can recognize when I've done something I shouldn't."

"Really?" Hannah asked blandly.

"Hannah." Jack sighed. "Yes, really. I do have a conscience that I choose to listen to from time to time. When my mother was on one of her better months, she would do what little she could to teach me the 'ways of the world'. She taught me to steal from grocery and convenience stores at four. Taught me how to speak down to people. Use proper grammar, even though we were poor. How best to throw sharp objects. My personal favorite was when she showed me how to break into and steal a car at the age of eleven. After that, her health declined further and she was generally in a depressed state." There was also the time she explained sex to him. That had been the second most awkward conversation he had with his mother. The first was when she explained birth, and how she confused him for a shit she had taken and not her going into labor. "That is the sum total of what my mother taught me in regards to morality. My moral compass. As a father, I wanted to teach you better than that. Give you a real education, a real chance to be your own people and _not_ have a record for gang violence or theft before you turned fifteen."

He continued. "I didn't intend on leaving you in the clutches of the Systems Alliance. When Hannah joined me, they were considering locking you away for a long time just to keep control of me. In order to prove them wrong, I raided the prison that they were planning on sending you to. Just as a subtle message that if they tried anything, or even thought of hurting you, they would know I would come for you."

"Why didn't you?" Julia asked, almost a whisper.

"I did. Twice I came to the Sol system, intent on getting you back. But I was warned not to by friends in the upper ranks. So long as you were considered my oldest daughter, anything I had done to the Asari Republics was liable for your head. But _if_ I had taken you, then Miranda would have been liable, and she would have stood trial in front of the court of Matriarchs for the crimes I was suspected of. So the only way I could get you out was to also remove Miranda from the T'sonis. Unfortunately I couldn't do that until you both were eighteen, due to the trouble I had with the Council at the time. The only important reason I left you in the hands of the Alliance was because it kept your sister alive. For that, and for anything else I've probably been responsible for, I can offer an apology."

"This wasn't about the bank? Or Sirta?" Julia's face had still not shown any emotion. She had locked down whatever she was feeling, then.

"Those would never have been reasons to keep you there. I could have always set up a trust or a Foundation to take control for you. Your presence on earth kept Miranda from being targeted by the Systems Alliance, or any of the Council Races. The only ones who might have tried something against you would have been the Batarians, but only because of how you carved them up on Torfan. You couldn't know the reasons behind that, because if you had known, you would have just rushed off to Thessia to take Miranda back to Alliance space. The Systems Alliance would have just locked her up, or caused her more harm. She was able to learn the biotic strength that makes her one of Humanity's strongest. My problem was that once you both could defend yourselves, I didn't want to come into your lives and tear down all of that self-reliance you both had created. It would be crippling to you, to have built your own life and then have all of that freedom stripped away from you." Jack sighed, enjoying more of the bottle while he waited for a moment. "You both remember my most important lesson to you both?"

"Either start taking notes or come back after i've paid for the escort service?" Miranda said with a smile. Jack actually laughed out loud on that. Offering to teach his daughters about sex after they had walked in on him and a romantic partner had been quite an experience. His daughters, unafraid, had stayed in the room and taken notes on the subject. There was really nothing that was considered taboo to talk about with him.

"Plan for failure. Plan for trouble. Plan for other people to be after the same goal. Understand that they might have more skills and resources available for that. Plan around threats, and always minimize risk. Finally, plan to succeed." Julia said softly. "By any means necessary." The real answer. The way he lived his life. But he didn't want all of this to be so heavy-hearted. So he replied in a way that calmed down some of the tension.

"Both of those probably apply. Hannah might not enjoy being the subject of discussion, however." His wife fingered a pocket where a knife most likely was stored. "I planned around the idea that you both would find your feet and figure out your lives. I didn't want to interfere unless you asked me to. Miranda actually was invited to come to Omega by Kasumi of all people."

"You do realize that I technically adopted her." Hannah noted.

"I will not recognize Kasumi as anything other than an employee." Jack said with finality. "If I recognized Kasumi as a step-daughter, then nothing would be safe on this base. We already have enough trouble with her stealing things from co-workers to see if they have change-blindness. Giving her the family connection would put everyone's personal belongings at risk. Not that she wouldn't be an excellent daughter, and I fully respect everything that she does. She is an artist when it comes to anything she puts her mind to. Her graybox is keyed to learn other languages instantly, so long as there is a lexicon for her to download and slip into her mind. In fact, she was the one whose mind template was used to get you out of Friess Station. The Asari still think you're dead. If they thought you were alive, we would be having a very different conversation." Clan Marsula was still not totally trusting of the beacon communications network.

"Having an extra _me_ around was really weird." Julia said, shuddering. "How long has there been extras around, anyways?"

Jack considered for a moment how much he wanted his daughters to know about that. It couldn't hurt to have them know that he planned on supporting them early in their lives. "It was a secret project that Henry and I worked on. Since you were both such strong biotics I had a spare of each of you grown in a test tube so that you would have spare organs just in case yours started failing too fast. Backup blood and bone marrow, as well. After Hannah helped us out so much, I ordered one made of her and one for me as well." Hannah knew about them. She wasn't even surprised when he had showed her. "I think I had that done before you both turned one, though mine and Hannah's are much younger. Still adults, but younger. Graybox technology helped in giving your spare form memories, though its muscles had never seen extended use. It could only operate for so long before the muscle fibers would start breaking or becoming too stretched to work. The cloned bodies, like what eventually became Kalin'ren, have to be slowly brought out of their permanent sleep and then physically trained on how to walk. Kalin'ren was falling apart before he ever got to you, as I had needed a few organs over the years. One of my lungs got stabbed and I had to replace it." Hannah snorted in laughter. "As I was saying, Miranda was invited here by Kasumi. Julia, you were supposed to be free to leave after Miranda was able to, but at the time you were so deep in their black operations that contacting you could have gotten you killed."

"There were some times where I wasn't deep." She rebutted.

"Like when you were dating Anderson." Jack just lifted his eyebrows in mock alarm. "That may have been concerning to me."

"None of us ever ask you about your first relationship, Dad." Mirana quipped. "Or complained about who you have married or slept with."

Hannah laughed about that. "Oh? When I first met you, Miranda, you asked if I was one of _those_ women. You weren't even quiet about it." Miranda the decency to turn her head away from Hannah. "Kasumi's first boyfriend, if you could call it that, was found stripped naked and tied to a cellular service tower." Julia obviously knew about it, as she bit her lip and smiled slightly. "Jack isn't going to have any complaints about your partners. He's got so many bad decisions in his past that he has no business complaining about yours." Hannah raised an eyebrow at him.

"I think my mother tried seducing me when I was thirteen." Jack mused, seeing Miranda and Hannah both blanch. Julia looked openly disgusted. It was important for a parent to distinguish themselves as the best example. In that, he had done his very best to show his daughters what levels of depravity anyone could sink to. "She was quite addled at the time, and if you ever mention that to her she would never admit it." He took a sip of his drink. "But I still didn't want to come swooping into your life and disturb all that you have made for yourself. In all honesty, you made Sirta the way it is today. The speculation occurring right now is going to hurt them, but I think you'll come out of it."

"You aren't taking the company back?"

"I've always been preparing for the Reapers. There is no further need for those companies to be providing me a service. They are yours, just like my Terminus accounts. You, Miranda, and most likely a few others will be in charge of my accounts and companies here in the Terminus. I no longer need them." Jack could see the open confusion on both of his daughter's faces. Miranda had never wanted to know all of the answers. She had seen her clone once, and had gotten cold feet about knowing more. "I have to manage the completely fake Prothean Empire. I have to make sure that the rest of the galaxy believes that they are being guided and supported by pseudo-magical beings that spew bullshit and comfort in the face of overwhelming destruction. I won't have time to handle other problems. So the Terminus, Crucible PMC, it's all yours. The Alliance thinks you are dead. Your step-mother has been faking your next alias for years. Just because you're dead to them doesn't mean you're dead to us."

"Why?" Julia said after a moment of silence, uncomfortable. She didn't like pauses in conversation, as a child. He could see the same social habit rearing its head again, just like it did in her childhood. "Why did you plan for this?"

"I've always planned for this. Allison Gunn was supposed to be _your_ alias, not Hannah's. She's already known as some ex-Alliance infiltrator that has other spy organizations in fear of meeting her. I've spread rumors that Allison is secretly a powerful biotic, as well. Ever since you turned eighteen, I've had this position prepared for you." He drank the last of his cup, frowning. "Which is why I am not enjoying the idea of some hostile entity in your mind. It complicates my plans if you could turn a CEO position into a puppet for the Reapers to take advantage of."

Julia shuddered. "I just want it out of my head."

"I'll have to ask Benezia to help with that one. Or one of the Asari mind healers. I don't trust them, and the Alliance rules on your mind being an intelligence property are moot now. You have something inside your mind that may or may not be able to control you. That trumps any rules on secret keeping. I also would like to talk to it."

"I would have guessed as much." Julia said. "Perhaps not here in front of my people and yours."

"On the contrary." Jack said, a dimming effect going on around them. "This is safer than my own rooms or yours. I cannot have those swept as easily as this area. I'll talk to the Reaper here." The command bunker had barrier curtains that could be enlarged so that light and signals could be stopped from travelling through the area.

"It's not like I can just let it take over!" Julia said with a hint of alarm. "Last time it was awake, it nearly killed Javik and Miranda."

"Mm." Jack said. "The arm of the couch has a few tools for this. The code is 6458."

Miranda leaned over to open it. "Ooh. Kinky." Handcuffs and restraints came out of the arm of the couch. "I've been looking for these! When did you-"

"This is one of Kasumi's stashes." Jack reminded them, seeing Miranda immediately drop the more interesting items. "All we need is Julia's hands kept away from killing implements. If I'm right, the Reaper will want to talk more than fight in this situation." Jack noticed that some of the items coming out belonged to him and Hannah. "Note to self. Remind Kasumi that she is not allowed to take certain items from our closet."

"Damn right." Hannah mentioned, as she found a pile of credit chits. "Does she even remember taking these?"

"Probably not. Her own graybox has given her some dangerous habits. She might not realize it, but she might be as broken or worse with her own childhood." Jack pointed to Miranda. "Once you lock down your wrists, Miranda is going to gently cut off circulation to your brain. She will gently knock you out, and between Hannah and I we can certainly take care of whatever it tries to do."

Julia nodded. "Mum? Can I get a refill first?" She drank the entire glass. That always bothered him, the way a biotic could just metabolize anything they were given. "Take this." Julia somehow had hidden a Carnifex pistol inside her dress. It and a knife were given to Hannah. "Okay." She said shakily.

"Don't worry. We're doing this on your own terms." Miranda said. "You'll wake up right here in a couple of minutes." Miranda glanced up. "Gwyn hasn't been able to stay active for longer than five minutes."

"That's a good sign." Jack said. "I have a feeling that Gwyn might be the product of some of the early days of Cerberus. There are quite a few black projects that we did there that aren't pleasant to consider."

"There are entire wings of that place we are still trying to figure out what you did there." Julia mentioned. Jack wasn't going to apologize for progress. Humanity needed to progress. Jack just knew which parts of Humanity were not going to contribute in the coming years. Some had been sacrificed so that Cerberus would have its test subjects. As few as possible, and always people that had already been missing a long time. "I guess I'll talk to you again in a few minutes," His daughter said carefully, eyes only focusing on the couch around her.

Miranda pressed into Julia's neck, the pressure point making her eyes open wide with panic. There was a clear shift, as her eyes seemed to dilate, and then refocused on the hand clenching the pressure point. Miranda saw this, and stepped back. "You survived?" The voice inflection had changed. The grammar was more coarse, the R's less stated. It was certainly someone else doing the talking at this point. Julia went through grammar lessons as a child. "How in the hell did you survive all of that?" She glanced around, seeing the total area grayed out around them, the monitors turned off and without any kind of data openly available. "Oh God. The nightmare continues. It's worse than I feared." Her eyes went first to the dress she was wearing, her disdain for Julia's form clear. "Handcuffs. No Garrus. Shit." Her eyes focused in on him. It was the same look she had given him before, at the Catalyst. His head ached, almost, as the memories spiked to the forefront of his mind. The skin in between his eyebrows itched terribly, and he resisted the urge to scratch it. "Illusive Man." Pronounced with his daughter's tongue, it sounded alien. No one had called him that in a long time.

"Shepard." The old adage came off the tongue, his pronunciation just as perfect as it had been in his memories. "Glad to see you survived the Catalyst."

The open rage on his daughter's face was entertaining, as the shoulders strained against the bonds keeping her arms contained. "Your damn Overload!"

"Ah." She did remember their last moments. "You tried to kill me."

"Wait a minute!" The Reaper intelligence looked around the room, assessing. "What did you do? This isn't the Citadel."

"No." Jack said, leaning forward in the chair enough to intimidate slightly. "This is a party. Something to celebrate a great victory."

"What did you do to my body?" Gwyn said.

Jack carefully considered. "Aborted it before it could be reincarnated." Miranda and Hannah were frowning, he could see. Probably more than just confusion. "You expected to come back, then. Back to Humanity."

"Of course I did."

"You didn't realize others were also sent back, then." Jack said, contemplatively. "Then you and I are just sharing the prison cell." He had to intimate this vaguely. Hannah and his daughters could not know anything about the memories in his head. "You are just as much a pawn as I am."

"I was the one who was elevated into a Reaper. I was the one that did not flinch in the face of their brilliance and glory! You broke under their will. You were not the one who could be the voice of Humanity."

"Gwyn, you're just a washout. The Reapers didn't make you one of them, they just made an experiment." She was in a Human body. Hormones and emotions could set her off, give him more information to work with. "To them and to me, you're just a parasite surviving in a new host body."

"You can't possibly comprehend their will!"

"Oh? I noticed your machinations. Thousands of years of preparation and you screw it up. You weren't preparing for the entire galaxy to turn on you. Every single one of your schemes pointed at countering specifically one person: _yourself._ " Jack straightened his back as Gwyn flinched. "You're stuck in this trap, the same as I am."

"You can't comprehend the full mentality of a Reaper." She muttered. "Everything I set in motion, it doesn't have an end. It will keep on progressing until all of the Citadel Races are broken."

"That doesn't matter. You planned to stop a simple hero. You weren't planning on someone who knew there was a game being played. You manipulated the Batarians. Their entire culture and religion were catered to your whims. But that wasn't what tipped me off to your plans, Gwyn. Or should I say Gabriel." Everyone around them seemed even more confused. Gwyn's mouth tightened. "You knew Humans best. Batarians second best. And Asari third best. Your hands are all over it. You influenced every major religion and culture. You killed Egyptians as a pillar of fire, I believe. The Greeks and Mt. Olympus, of course. As well as appearing to Muhammed."

Comprehension dawned on the faces around him. "I had to make sure conditions on earth remained the same." Gwyn explained with venom. "Yet I was never born as intended."

"Ah." Jack replied with a large grin. "I can take responsibility for that. Though all of your efforts left a few small traces. The Muslim Wars? The ninth crusade? The revised Necronomicon? The murder of Angela Merkel? Changing the words to Homer's Iliad?" He ticked off his fingers as he went. "The most damning, of course, was the descriptions of angels left behind. _Hair like a burning flame_ ," Jack quoted. " _Neither male nor female_ ," Jack smirked. "You were always confused as an asexual redhead. Muhammad must have had a few little deaths before you made sure he had the right message."

Gwyn looked unamused at the connection. "That wasn't all me."

"It was enough." Jack mentioned. "But that begs the question. If it wasn't all you, is it possible that you have forgotten? Or do Reapers forget?" If there was another player, Jack wasn't quite ready for that. The patterns only matched one Reaper in the playing field so far. Either she didn't remember, or she was telling the truth.

" _We_ do not. A Reaper is a gestalt consciousness made up from an entire race. Memories are the basis of that consciousness, with a few chosen voices to lead them."

"But you're separated from those memories. Over time the 'vaunted Reaper' is going to be little more than she started." Jack said harshly. "Human. No more, no less. As Human as the day I ordered you rebuilt." He knew that Miranda and Hannah were going to have questions. He had to head this off, and he could already see Gwyn's control starting to break. "But more importantly, I was able to see your cheap schemes for what they actually were. You're always the same, Gwyn. Save everyone, at the cost of your own morals and life. If you really were a Reaper, you would have changed the religions of earth to revere the Reapers. Or set us up for failure. Instead, you tried to preserve us exactly as we were. You killed Angela Merkel, in what seemed like an act of god. Started the Islamic Wars, which is where I noticed a serious divergence. A change in biblical references to the god Baal. Slight changes throughout history, adding up to our current environment. A stronger Humanity, rather than a weaker one. You kept your morals, Gwyn."

"The hell are you on about? I gathered Rachni and Geth in preparation to invade the Citadel." Gwyn had revealed enough. She was still her good intentioned self, soured by thousands of years within a Reaper perspective.

"But your original character still shows through. You wanted to keep things that you wanted preserved. The Turians have almost no interference from you, when they would have been the best and easiest to manipulate. You wanted your precious Garrus. You still do. Thousands of years of good intentions, Gwyn. The pattern is clear. But just like anything connected to the Reapers, you failed. You mucked it up. Miranda, I've got what I needed. Gwyn is no longer a threat. Given time, she will become just a string of memories, and nothing more." Gwyn tried to flare her biotics, but Miranda was already holding her neck.

Julia's body twitched, and Miranda kept the pressure up until the barrier flickered and died. When she slid down on the couch and her face rested on a pillow, the glare of the light almost seemed to focus on the bruised cheek. "You aborted her?"

He looked up at Hannah. "Reapers that can jump bodies are not something I want released upon our world. Especially a Human intelligence that got attached to one. One of Cerberus' black projects was testing a Prothean interface. Gwyn is simply the test subject and victim. I've known who the true enemy is long before we ran into the Turians."

"What about the religions and history?" Miranda asked. "What was that?"

"Keywords to test how much of Gwyn survived the transfer of intelligence. Implanted lies, so that if she survived we could see what we could download into a Reaper. See if we could feed them false intelligence. It seems that part was successful."

"So why Julia?" Miranda said while looking down at her sister. "How could you let her download this thing?"

"More importantly, how do we remove it?" Hannah asked.

"Julia was never intended to be what we dragged Gwyn back to. _That_ was supposed to be a limited-mobility AI module where we could break down all of the data and safely analyze what came back. I always thought that project was gone. Gwyn was always very gullible. All that I needed to do was share half-truths and insinuations and she would think anything I was saying was the truth. Since she claims to be a Reaper, I wouldn't trust anything she has to say. Between the lies we fed her and the damage the Reapers may have done, her mentality will be ruined. As to its removal? I don't have a clue. I fear we would have to ask Javik."

"Let's wait until he can get a new hand." Hannah said. "He's got a rather fragile ego."

"He locked me in one of those stasis boxes because of a disagreement." Miranda muttered.

Jack's entire focus went back to Miranda. "He did what?!"

* * *

Hall of Contemplation, Ilos, Pangea Expanse, January 2813

Joker partied with the crowd, who were somehow getting along. No one cared that all of them were in Alliance uniforms. Hell, he could see Reddin dancing with a Batarian in SIU armor. That was just plain odd. His wheelchair had been parked next to the kegs of glorious victory juice. Personally, he liked the Batarian vintage. It was tickling and burning his throat, but it tasted great.

He felt someone grab hold of the back of his chair, and that got his attention. "Hey! Watch the hardware!" Twisting hurt right now, so he gingerly turned his head. Julia's sister stood behind him, wearing shimmery fabric that may have been a dress. On her it looked like a selection of napkins that kept her just this side of modest. He was tempted to turn around more, to see if the V went down any further than the limits of his eyesight, but figured it probably did. Twisting any further would be damn difficult.

"Oh, I will." She purred. "Julia has to make a decision. She would like to have you there for it. Not to mention we have our own conversation to be having once we get there."

Joker felt himself sober up immediately. They sent the cleavage angel to go pick him up so that they could coax him into a false sense of security. The cleavage was a trap! All of his piloting instincts were yelling at him that this was bad. Until he saw Pressley and the other members of the crew also being pulled away from the party, he was in panic mode. "How many did you drink?" Pressley asked.

"I'm buzzed, not drunk, old man. I still got it."

Pressley just made some kind of noise in the back of his throat and kept pace with Joker. Tali, Reddin, and the rest of the crew all became a solid bloc of people after a bit. No one was calm, and people were still very shaken. Less than an hour ago they had been in a space battle, and it showed. Just thinking about how close they had come to death could make Joker shudder. They made it out, but they broke half the rules in the book to do it. Ejecting the drive core. Fiddling with the scuttle bomb. Using said scuttle bomb with a drive core. Risking an irradiated material contamination in an area with atmosphere. Understaffed bridge crew and insubordination. Especially that last bit. Refusing the order of an ally who has more authority was a big no-no. But that guy was an asshole. That complaint wouldn't hold up in court.

When they went back to the Alliance, Joker was probably looking at being benched. After all this he knew that there would be some push back. Someone was going to mention that Julia wasn't dead, and the whole shitstorm with the Asari would go back to nuclear levels. They were going to all get jail time for that, at least. Maybe not Pressley. He would get a dishonourable discharge and left to rot somewhere. But Joker knew he was never going to fly in combat again. This would be the last time he did. With that in mind he almost drank the rest of the cup he had brought.

"Joker?" He looked up, realizing that they had arrived in front of one of the giant glass walls overlooking some humongous factory plaza. Julia was standing there, looking a bit bloodshot. Joker used what little willpower he could muster and made it up to the face of his commanding officer. She and Miranda were both wearing napkins that could double as clothing. It told him exactly what he may have suspected regarding Miranda. A guy like him would only ever be able to look at women like this, without worrying about some bone breaking. "Earth to Joker?"

"Dipstick!" He said with a bit of cheer.

"Shh!" Julia whispered. Pressley cleared his throat, standing next to him.

"Ma'am, crew is assembled by your order." He sounded about as pleased as a chaplain announcing a death. "Atten-shun!" Joker pulled himself out of his seat gingerly, and he stood in a row with the rest of the crew.

"More than half of us didn't come home today." Julia said, walking like she owned the place. For all he knew, she might. "Those of you here, and those that are in the medical bay, you represent more than just a crew. You all represent the best we've got. All of you had the chance to leave, to get off the Normandy and transfer other places. To the best of my knowledge, only a couple of you even bothered to fill out the form, and eventually only two of those people left."

Her heels made soft _clicks_ as she walked in front of them. "Our tour has been quite unique. You've had to deal with more operational security than any other ship in Citadel space, and more than any serviceman have a right to be required to follow. The _Normandy_ no longer has a drive core, or much of any engines. Its paintjob and torpedo tubes were sheared off by plasma. It's decks were exposed to space, and all we had to fight with were a hardly functioning laser and maneuvering thrusters. Still, after all of that, we stand here victorious. Half of us didn't come home. We will remember them, and their sacrifice. The bodies we still have will be interred tomorrow."

Miranda, along with a few other Humans and assorted races stood back and watched as Julia addressed them. "Our current situation has not improved our ship's chances. We are somewhere in the Terminus Systems, and our FTL drive was attached to the drive core. Though I have been assured that our treatment here will be as guests, we are not going to be returning home immediately. In light of that, my orders are as follows: If your station is secure, and all data has been backed up and properly stored, you are free to party and consider yourself under shore leave until such time as our situation changes. Prepare the SR-1 Normandy to be abandoned. I do not expect her to fly again. I will secure your safe return back to Alliance space. I, and the rest of the officers, cannot thank you enough for your service on that vessel. Tomorrow we will have a burial service, and other events will be announced as we are made aware. In light of that, drink only the safely marked alcohols." Her smile must have been forced, as Joker could see her wince. Julia also seemed to have some kind of mark on her cheek, but it was well concealed.

"Please maintain the standards of the Alliance military charter, and if you do get in trouble, message one of the officers. Command staff as well as Harris, Reddin, Alenko, and Ta'u, please stay here. The rest of you are dismissed. Please don't start any fights with Hanar or Protheans." Julia saluted the departing crew, and once the people she had selected were the only ones left, she took a deep breath. "At ease."

If anything, that made Joker less at ease. Jack Harper himself rounded a corner, wiping off his hand. Something green was on it. "Sorry I'm late." He offered. "I had to punch a Prothean." Miranda giggled as he said that. It was much a much safer direction for his eyes to wander. Poor Kaidan would probably be under more stress. Joker risked a glance at him, seeing the aforementioned man keeping his eyes on one of the Humans surrounding Miranda. He wasn't even glancing at his own girlfriend. Or whatever they had going on between them. Technically, no one had caught them in the act, so they still hadn't broken rules on fraternization. That was how Pressley explained it to them, and that was the story Joker was going to stick to. Though if pressed he would mention that everyone lived in terror of a CO that could be anywhere, cloaked and watching your every mistake.

He shuddered, realizing that Mr. Harper had been chatting during his own internal monologue. "This is why I believe the Alliance would only end your careers if you went back to them." Oh god, he was monologuing. "So I wanted to offer all of you what the Alliance won't. Not if they want to keep in the good graces of the rest of the Council races. If you go home, if any of you decide to go home, no one will ever believe what you saw. It'll be like one of those soldiers coming back from Israel in the 2070's. None of you would ever see the light of day, the warmth of the sun, or enjoy the touch of your spouses again. So, in light of that, I wanted to offer you what they won't."

"We don't take bribes!" Pressley said.

"Call it a bonus, then." Jack Harper said. "So rarely do I get to make these kinds of gestures. I wanted to provide some incentive that I won't do the same to you that the Alliance most likely will do. To me, all of you are heroes and experienced combatants. It would be a crying shame to lock you into a cell. Not when I need anyone who has the ability to fight these bastards in the open." Jack gave them a confident grin. "So, if you don't consider it a bribe, I'll just tell you all what everyone else receives. Pressley, since you seem to be so vocal, I'll announce yours loud and clear."

"It'll need to be quite the package to convince me."

"I really don't care if you report what you see back to the Alliance. In fact, I would prefer it came from you. The Quarians are quite pushy about their authority, and I need someone to help counter their influence. So, I need an Admiral who won't back down when I need them to. That's you, if you don't mind listening to the Alliance and me at the same time."

"You son of a-"

"Your family won't disappear that way. If they do, you can threaten an invasion with the full might of the Prothean military." Jack said conversationally. "Same threat you can carry out for anyone whose family is threatened."

"Keep walking, asshole."

Jack nodded, stopping in front of Joker. "Mister Moreau. You of all people are the most important to employ. Your combat doctrine is going to define how we fight these things. The Alliance is just going to throw you to the wolves. Better yet, I had you in mind when I asked the Protheans for this." Jack pressed a small button, and a box rose from the floor. Inside, Joker could see what looked like a human skeleton. Except it was green and had some kind of glittering lines all over it. "A replacement skeleton, meant to replace the brittle parts of your own, along with a bone marrow nano replicator. You get to walk like normal people, and do anything else you set your mind to. It's probably worth more than the systems that go into an Infiltrator. Yours, along with the right to command any pilot in the fleet." Joker's heart had stopped beating. No more wheelchair, no more pain. No more fear. It was, in a single word, freedom.

"Shit." Freedom that came from singing on with the literal devil.

"Indeed." Jack said, stepping past him. "Lt. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. Unfortunately, you perished in the fight at the Citadel. But what you can offer is simply greater than being an example to the Quarians on their pilgrimage. We're at war with the Geth, now. With the Rachni and everything else, there is little that will be refused to the first person to kill a Reaper. I have it on verbal promise from Daro'Xen that no ship in the fleet could refuse you. That you will have eclipsed your father in every way, so long as you do not get into some kind of scandal."

Tali turned off her outward audio speakers, from her wrist. Joker had seen her do this before, whenever she was faced with a problem and wanted to complain about it. He looked up, staring at Julia. Pressley, too, was giving her a stare. She looked despondent, almost guilty. Like she knew this shit was coming. "He already made his offer to her." Joker whispered, realizing. "Old man, you gotta do something."

"She's already made her choice." Pressley seethed. "Pick your grave and shut up about it."

Meanwhile, Jack had stopped in front of Andrew T'au, who held up his hand. "Save your tongue. You say one thing, promise another. I'll keep my oath to the Navy. Don't piss on that." The polynesian biotic folded his arms, his bandages crinkling from the force exerted. Harper shrugged, looking at Harris. "I have comm technicians. What I can promise you is simply better pay and a ship that you choose. You know what we're getting into. You know what we're up against." Jack stepped beyond him, offering Corporal Reddin her own squad, and her own command. She just looked at the ground after Harper mentioned the pay.

Kaidan wasn't even looking at Harper when the man stopped in front of him. He was staring at Julia, and Joker couldn't see what he was expressing. "I don't want to hear it from you." He said to both Harpers. "Whatever you're offering, I want you to make the promises. Give me something to trust."

Julia seemed to take a deep breath before speaking, and how Kaidan focused on her face as she did that he did not know. "He's offered me control of his assets in the Terminus. I'm dead to the Alliance, so," she trailed off. She barely me Kaidan's eyes. He stared at her, waiting for her to answer. It took her almost a minute. "I'll need someone I can trust up there with me." Well. Shit. What guy could refuse that? "We've got some time to make our decisions." Julia stated. "You've got time to think about it."

Jack smiled at them, like the man was actually Human. If Joker could spin that kind of shit on a daily basis, he'd be filthy rich too. Without realizing it, his eyes drifted over the skeleton. His ticket to freedom. He already knew what he had to pick. He clenched his fists, feeling the bones grind against each other threateningly. It didn't matter what happened now. His choice had already been made. Freedom was on the table. Going back to the Alliance and the chair was impossible. Not when he could look at a full life.

"The party might not stop for a few days. Once it does, I'll find a shuttle home for those that are interested." Jack Harper said smoothly. "I look forward to working with those that stay. I'll see all of you later." The man left, and Kaidan seemed to get into an argument with the guy he had been staring down earlier. Joker just tuned it out, letting his eyes drift back over the skeleton.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He must have been zoned out not to notice someone approaching. It was the old man. He said nothing, and just held his shoulder. "She didn't sell us out. This is her way of trying to save us."

"That's a hell of a way of saying so."

"Yeah." The old man seemed to want to say more, but even he was lost for words. "How's the beer?"

He still had the cup. "Take it." Joker offered it to him. "I don't want it anymore." The old man did, looking torn up. Pressley wandered off, not even saying goodbye. He drank the entire cup, chucking the empty glass over a railing. It shattered on some wall out there, the glass shards glittering in the light of sundown. It was the only thing that Joker could bring himself to care about, other than the obvious.

* * *

Author's Note

First, the poll that you guys are so interested in. Pressley, Kaidan, and Tali all have a choice to make. On my profile there is a poll, asking if they should stay or go. I leave it up to you guys to decide if they will go to the Alliance, or join the Illusive Man. The poll will be open for a little while and you can decide their fate.

This has been a long time coming, ladies and gentlemen. The conclusion of the battle of the citadel, and meeting the Reaper. This was really hard to write in some parts. For those of you that are wondering, wife and baby are doing great. Kiddo is growing so fast I need to buy new clothes and lift heavier weights to handle him. Not much more to say other than a few recommendations.

Firstly, I want to recommend _**Logical Premise**_. He's been updating a lot of his supporting documentation, some of which I get to have a say in. I've gotten to talk a lot with his editing gang on his discord channel, which has become a nice place to discuss Mass Effect drabbles. _**Stoppelbart**_ is another guy who I would like to mention. People have been flaming his story to the point that he's given up on any more fanfiction after the one he is currently writing. It would be a nice thing to send him a few notes telling him he can write good stuff. Even if you aren't into his awesome starcraft story. Lastly, I have to say that I got a salary at my job. It's been awesome and I've become sort of needed at our company. With kiddo and job secure, I've felt more comfortable being able to write some. More coming soon, now that the hard part is over.


	87. Dementia:Teetotaler

Chapter 87

Ilos, Pangea Expanse, January 2183

As soon as Oyabun finished offering his deals to the command staff of the Normandy, they split up. Miranda and Julia headed back to the couch, looking slightly distraught. Alenko got into another staring match with the tech-guy, Charles Archer. The old man wandered over by a railing and just stared out for a while, talking with the wheelchair bound pilot. The others quickly scattered, and Hannah twisted her head around to see where they were going. "Make sure that they have reasons to join us." She whispered at Kasumi. She had remained cloaked next to Hannah through the entire conversation.

"If it suits me." She whispered back. They both knew that she could do it. Given a few weeks to study these people and figure out what was important to them. A few minutes would be nigh impossible, but that word wasn't in Oyabun's language. She decloaked behind the much taller Hannah, and nobody noticed. No heads shifted to look at her. It didn't help that her dress and skin tone were a decent match for the walls here. Her hair was dyed black, and cut short. Well, short for her. Most people didn't grow up with hair touching their ankles every day. Even so, no one even noticed her.

She pouted at that. Tonight was a party, and she had to work. Well, not immediately. She followed her step-sisters to the couch, and they were the first ones to actively notice her, Julia looking tired and bruised. Miranda looked physically perfect. As always. Both of them scooted to make room for Kasumi between them, an attempt to keep her from finding anything of interest with any other guests. She didn't complain about it, using the opportunity to give them both a hug. The other guests took interest in her only for a moment, when they saw her hugging Julia. But their eyes didn't linger.

Kasumi sucked in as much air as she could, but it didn't help at all. She had been born to be Hatsune Miku, with her stupid little curves. Nothing to pull the eyes while she was next to Miranda or Julia. Standing next to those two was just asking to be forgotten. Unless, of course, she let her hair go back to its natural color and got something so she wouldn't disappear into a shoulder. Her feet could handle three inch heels before she needed platforms to elevate herself beyond the 5'2" limitation built into her genes.

Julia was close to six feet. Standing next to her, and people would mistake Kasumi for some piece of furniture or something. Looking down at Kasumi they would usually get hung up on looking at the more pronounced curves on either of her sisters. Standing between the both of them, her head barely clearing Julia's chin, and both of them wearing heels? She was lucky to be seen. Even if she hadn't re-dyed her eyebrows today she would be forgotten in between these two.

The Alenko fellow almost sat on her, realizing at the last second that the seat between both sisters was in fact full. "Sorry!" He called, lightening his local gravity pull and gently using Julia's thigh to pull himself gracefully back to standing position. Part of her hated him, that Julia didn't panic at his touch. Another part of her hated him because he was a man and would probably force himself onto her. Still more parts of her memories filled in the gaps of that knowledge, making her consider what kind of orgasmic experience that would be. Traitorous mind. Julia would never share. Who was she to compete with the magical girl? Or was it princess at this point?

"Here." Kasumi stood up, still not enough to pull any attention from all the hangers on. "Take it. I'm not getting much from all this." She even wore something with a shorter skirt than Miranda normally did. The only one who gave her a glance was the pilot in the wheelchair. His eyes never made it above her tiny supple waist. She flashed him a big smile, and the guy flashed one back. Her traitorous body acted on autopilot, sashaying over to the wheelchair. She only realized that her feet were taking her there when the guy's face was about level with her sternum. Well, she was invested now. "Oyabun calls you Moreau. What should I call you?"

"The name's Joker." He said, smiling. His eyes were a bit red, as if he had been emotional. Small cuts and bits of fire retardant foam were in his hair. "How are you so close with the Commander?"

"Magical girl?" Joker seemed confused, the stubble on his face looking quite fetching in this light. He had tilted his head at her comment. "We were raised together. She saved my life when I was younger, and was nice enough to be my sister."

He seemed to think for a moment before smirking. "Wait, wait. She's your sister?" He pointed back to the couch, where Alenko seemed to be regretting sitting between Miranda and Julia. "Like Miranda?"

"Adopted. Through biotics." The moment she had been pulled off that stage and away from Sony, she knew that a hero had come to take her away from that life. It made perfect sense to her. "She plucked me from my old life and took me into a new one. It's a lot better now. Though you sound like you know her pretty well. More than the others do."

"Well," He stammered a bit. "We did go to flight school together. I'm sure she may have mentioned that time of her life to you." His eyes were more focused, now. Evaluating her.

Typical of Jack Harper's domain, the only places to sit were reserved for him and Hannah. So the party was filled with tons of standing people, and Kasumi had already canvassed half of them trying to figure out if anyone was spreading rumors or lies. She didn't even have to be invisible for most of that. Kasumi focused her eyes on the arms of the wheelchair, since her feet were bothering her. "Oh, she doesn't like sharing her alias stories with me. I'm the crazy sister, see?" She pointed back at Miranda, dipping her shoulder and coming to Joker's side so that he would turn his body enough. "Julia's the dangerous one. Miranda," Keeping one arm on the back of the wheelchair, she hoisted her legs over his own perpendicularly, letting her butt rest on the cushioned arm of the chair. Her legs hung over the other armrest, and his arms jerks out of the way in alarm. "She's the flirty one. She's slept with a few people here on the base, so long as her girlfriend was okay with it." The man, Joker, had stiffened up tightly beneath her. "Thanks for the seat, by the way." It might have something to do with the hem of her dress being somewhere around the point of his crotch. His eyes seemed to take longer in tracing out her pale skin of her legs.

"Um." Was the first thing he said. "Can you be a bit careful?"

"Careful how?" She said, cuddling into his side. "You're the only one who seems to notice me here." There were others, but the only way she was going to have anyone in her bed tonight was if she could steal one of the few Humans who didn't have eyes for her sister.

He hissed in pain. More than someone should for the cuts and burns he was sporting. "I, uh, have brittle bone disease. Enough pressure and you could break my femur. It takes surgery to make sure that kind of thing heals." Kasumi's eyes widened, realizing that her tiny body could actually break his. But then again, the part of her brain that was competitive with her sisters didn't want to give up this guy.

"How much pressure are we talking about?"

"I've got two broken ribs already this month. Two more bruised." That explained the hissing pain. His eyes raked over her legs, still suspended above his own thanks to the chair's arms. "My wrist is broken, too. Lots of little damage that piles up."

"But you were the pilot that took on the Reaper." She said. "Surely that warrants some kind of reward." She inched her tiny little body forward, letting his eyes widen as she braced her arms against the chair. "Most girls won't admit they don't weigh much. I'm not most girls." This kind of satisfied the crazy part of her. She might break this man with just a lap dance. There was definitely a part of her that felt quite saddened by that. Keeping her eyes on Joker, she flexed her core muscles and let her thighs and rear end rest on his legs. Barely any of her ninety something pounds of weight was resting on him. Kasumi had trained her body to be able to do many things. Keeping her weight off of this Joker fellow was hardly difficult.

He made a long groaning noise, his eyes locked on his left leg, where her butt rested. "This is crazy." He muttered. He glanced at her arms, which serenely wrapped around the back of the chair and seemed loose. Most of this was core strength. "You're crazy."

She had to use her left arm as a support and hold on to the chair, letting her body gyrate in a circle. Joker seemed both terrified of being hurt and excited. Her own heart rate rose, knowing that if at any moment she lost control she would shatter this man's femur. It only made her feel more eager. After a few minutes, her abs were starting to burn, and Joker was sweating mightily. She leaned inwards, her body shaking slightly as her core muscles complained at the effort. "I'll come find you later, flyboy. Don't forget about me."

Her body moved forward, sliding past the far side of the chair and making it rock slightly as she stood up on her heels. She didn't have to bend over very far to kiss the stubble on his cheek. "But," She shushed him with two of her gloved fingers.

"No buts. Don't worry, flyboy. You'll be seeing a _lot_ more of me later." She grinned, glancing around and seeing that much of the crew of the _Normandy_ were looking up at her. Julia was giving her a look, a bit of worry on her face. Kasumi gave her a middle finger and cloaked, licking Joker's neck and holding everyone's attention as she slipped off. There was a collective bout of laughter as Joker made a half shout of alarm. By the time his arms had flailed, she was already out of his range and walking elsewhere.

She hummed to herself, as she saw Joker let himself untense and slump into his chair. "Oyaaaaabun." She sang into her wrist. It was the title that all of the evil dickheads in anime went by when their minions called, so it very much fit Jack Harper when she called him that. Not to mention Omni-tool translations just made it come through as 'boss'.

" _What._ " Came the reply. He didn't even sound frazzled. Normally when she called him he expressed sincere distaste. He must be so happy after wiping the Citadel off the map that he could tolerate her today. His wife, Hannah, often had to calm him down after extended exposure to her. It was just some Prothean adaptor or token bit she had taken last time. Apparently he had promised Javik some of his unborn children for it. Either way, she wasn't allowed to come within five feet of him unless prompted after that incident. Apparently only one Prothean code translator was in existence, and it had gotten into Kasumi's pocket somehow. Why he had to take it so seriously was beyond her.

"Flyboy is going to want that skeleton. I've promised to give him some attention, and he will want the full lifestyle you're offering." One down. Five to go, if Julia couldn't convince that Alenko fellow. Plus, she might get a nice lay out of it. She just had to keep herself from shattering a pubic or pelvis bone. Not too hard. The thought made her giggle.

" _Good. Work on the comm room. The crew are starting to get their turns in contacting their families with the priority lines. I want anyone on my list to be under scrutiny._ " She skipped around the roving groups of guests, letting her arms hang loose. At one point before she got to the comm room, a drink had ended up in her hands. It tasted vile, so she swapped it with one that a Batarian was holding. That too, tasted pretty wretched. She exchanged that cup with some Asari. She coughed on her next sip, glancing down at her cup in horror.

"The poor thing." Kasumi said. That drink was far better. Fruity, sweet, and with a lot of kick. There was even a small squid in it. That made her giggle, as she deployed her chopsticks and popped that right into her mouth. "Yep!" The squid had absorbed the alcohol so nicely. "She has great taste." Her dress had been nice, too. The nice jewelry from it looked bad on her pale skin. Oh well, Miranda might like it later. If she remembered to give it to her. She could hear some kind of commotion behind her from the Asari, but Kasumi put it behind her. The past was the past until it gave you nightmares and woke you up screaming over it. But that is what coffee fixed. Hannah's coffee, specifically.

The Humans in the comm room were easy to find. There was few of them, and they bunched up around who was familiar. The comm stations that worked here were fairly limited, so there was a long line behind them. The one member of the Normandy crew that had gotten to one was the smallest one. Corporal Reddin. She was nearly yelling into the comm to be heard, over the sounds of a few Krogan and Batarians at nearby positions.

"Dad, you don't understand. The Alliance would-"

" _The Alliance gave up on us. Our colony was left to burn and die when that ship showed up! I wouldn't have taken this call if it wasn't for the fact that_ your _ship was the one that fought that damn thing. Fought and killed it._ "

"But-"

" _Our colony has been burnt to ash, your mother's body violated! Your Alliance didn't even try to save her!_ "

"You can't save a Husk, Dad!"

" _Defeatist. They just haven't tried enough. They gunned her down. I was lucky enough to save your sisters. If you give up on your mother so easily, then you shall never bear her honor. Do what you will, daughter. But don't come crying to me if your life becomes anything other than an honorless pit._ " The comm connection cut off, and she could see Reddin wiping her eyes and retreating into a corner. Shadows cast by different Krogan made it dark enough. Reddin hid there, and Kasumi followed.

"Your father's an idiot." She said quietly, making Reddin twist around. Her features were Asian, barely. She must have inherited some good genes from her parents, ones that made her able to not stand out in a mixed breed crowd. But Kasumi could see the features as plain as day. It was also nice to not have to crank her neck to talk to someone. "But he's right about the Alliance."

"Who're you?" Reddin asked quickly.

"Doesn't matter even if you believed me on principle." Kasumi told her. "But I do know a few things about those Reapers. Like what happens to the minds of those they turn into Husks." She had the girl's complete attention. "Their memories and mind, some would say their soul, is taken and incorporated into them. They know everything about you now, and they'll use it against you. Against your family. Just ask yourself, if you even care about them, how safe they will be if you turn down the offer. Fight against the Reapers and you might allow your mother's soul to rest in peace. Let them win, and your father is right. You'll be worthless." Kasumi shrugged, her dress the only thing moving in the angled lights. "But who am I to make any snap judgements? That's your job."

"You're biased."

"The Alliance wanted to cut me up in a lab to understand what's going on in my head." Kasumi tapped on her head. "I chose to live. You've got family who are Reds, and you want to go back to the same people that caused Shanxi?" Kasumi gave her a long glare. "Your father should be well within his rights to disown you." She said in perfect cantonese.

Reddin looked up at her in anger. Kasumi grinned, stepping out of reach. She danced behind a Krogan and cloaked, watched as Reddin followed closely. The woman had good instincts, she noticed. She immediately assumed that Kasumi had ducked behind the Krogan, who all reacted scornfully at the sight of a Human interrupting their game of chance. Kasumi went undetected, as her skin was equipped with mods meant to change or limit scents released. It came at a price, of course. She lost a lot of her skin's ability to protect from radiation, but she felt the benefits were worth it.

Like watching Reddin get sucked up into a Krogan betting game. Stifling a giggle, she moved back towards the comm stations. A couple more of the Normandy crew were in line, but none of them looked to be talking. Comparing their faces to what their databases said, she noticed that all the ones in line here were just enlisted men. Not a danger to have wandering around. She saw another one of the people she was supposed to be tailing eventually come up to the comm station, that comm officer. Harry. Haru. Something. She honestly didn't care, watching as Reddin got drawn into a headbutting contest with a Krogan. That was satisfying, watching the little half-asian woman use basic jujitsu to avoid taking a really bad hit. She really didn't have the body mass to be able to win, but she certainly figured out how to redirect a charging Krogan.

She stepped quickly to dodge one of those Krogan, who was laughing as he fell down where she had been standing. It brought her in line with the comm screen where Haru was talking. " _Harris, you can't be thinking about leaving me here!_ " Haru was talking to some blonde girl with big hair. His real name was terrible. Haru was so much better, so Kasumi decided that would be what she called him from now on. " _You need to come back!_ "

"I will, Ines. Don't you worry. We'll be back and I'll still make our trip to Tallinn." Haru seemed to be uncomfortable expressing romantic interest in a crowd of anxious Humans. "I still haven't seen all of the Muslim War monuments."

The girl's giggling was worse than what Kasumi could tolerate. " _But when are you going to get here! I'm lonely. Everyone is scared, and you're so far away._ "

"Don't worry, Ines." He said, trying to be heard over the din of the room. "I'll be home soon." He tapped a few buttons on his wrist. "But I got approval to share some photos from my last shore leave! I hope that fills in the gap of me not coming back as soon as I promised I would!" Kasumi ran some protocols on the video feed going over to his girlfriend. She was living back on Earth, in Europe. Ines Kuusik was her name, and she lived in Estonia. Boring. Haru probably didn't know she was calling from some place that translated as 'sex dungeon'. A real committed girlfriend. She decided to give Haru a little spank just to get him uncomfortable. When the man gasped and turned around, it was looking back into the face of a Batarian. Kasumi kept her giggles at the situation contained, but it was hard.

No one else of interest was in the comm room, so Kasumi left her drink, if it even was the same one at this point, balanced on some Krogan's hump. He'd probably notice later. It was mostly empty. She skipped her way past some of the gambling tables that had shown up, and laid her eyes on something far more important than Oyabun's request to help people in their decision making. Hannah was standing on her own, talking without Jack to someone. Not that it was unlikely, but it meant that she could steal the all important irish whiskey. Guaranteed to knock her small form on her ass. Oyabun didn't have any special eye implants that she had noticed, but Kasumi rarely was unnoticed around him. Only if she was on the ceiling or tucked into a small cranny could she escape detection from her boss.

Her new Omni-tool background was of her most audacious escape from notice yet. She had snagged a picture of her boss crying. No one would believe her without proof. But she didn't dare share this with anyone. A picture of Jack Harper crying was worth millions to someone. It was the perfect blackmail for the untouchable man. It wasn't _funny_ blackmail, considering that Kasumi herself had gone off for a good cry knowing her sister was alive. But it would be funny later. Kasumi oriented on Hannah, with her bottle in hand. She narrowed her eyes at the shiny bottle, and prepared to jump her unsuspecting mother.

* * *

Deeping Tombs, Ilos, Pangea Expanse, January 2183

Javik walked forward, cradling his aching stump. The indignity of the wound was further depreciated by the broken open scab. Harper had come out of nowhere, punching his newly caused wound. He had been well within his rights, as well, considering that Javik _had_ sealed Miranda into a stasis cell. Only after his honor had been challenged had he realized that perhaps putting a Human into a Prothean stasis cell would be a risk to their health. Harper, blood from his stump covering his fist, had at least been eloquent in his reasoning.

Javik had nearly killed him. The stump ached, and having some lesser being punch the wound added insult to the injury. Some of his sacred blood had been spilled, and there was little he could do. Especially because of the threat that Harper had made after punching him. " _Leave Julia alone. I don't need you to enact the plan, you're just a convenience._ " The impudence. He clenched his one remaining fist, his outer eyes closing. He let the anger wash over him, trailing out of him. The floor echoed his sorry, anger, and pain.

He would have to avoid stepping on that specific floor tile for some time. Perhaps a decade. Today's pain and suffering was somewhat mollified by their victory. There were other places that he avoided stepping, making his steps look more like the clumsy meanderings of a child. But there were so many of these tiles imbued with the anger and frustration of no longer having a civilization. He closed both sets of eyes as he kept himself from falling into more despair. His steps were taking him towards the old botany labs, filled with dust at this point. Some of the plants survived. They were rough and tortured creations, surviving on the few shafts of light reflected down into the room through reflective panels in the ceiling. One of them was a root of woe, a rather robust species.

"Come out, worm." He spat, reaching into his coat where a small wrapped object lay. In the short aftermath of the battle at the Citadel, Javik had discovered where Ish'Stho'Lhas had gone. The body stealer had moved into a small beetle, one that had burrowed into the dirt that had encrusted his armor. It could have stolen his body the next time Javik fell asleep, or taken over some other unfortunate sentient. From the wrapping the tiny beetle crawled to the root of woe, where it promptly collapsed. Javik smirked, correctly guessing that the only thing animating the creature was the Prophet. The roots twitched, raising the center bulb into the air where it could reach the thickest point of the reflected light. The grooves of the plant shifted into the form of a Prothean face. It was sneering at him. The roots of the plant pulled tight, finding anything and everything to be able to get the bulb closer to the life giving light.

Javik laughed. "You can wait here until I am ready to exchange pleasantries with you. You will avail unto me your secrets, Prophet. I can promise no peace or penance for your actions." Javik said harshly. "Nor my own. You may be filth, but you are a Prothean. I will give you more comforts than any lesser would be expected to have. Perhaps if you give me what I need I will let you inhabit something more reflective of your strengths."

The plant did not move, seemingly still sneering. Javik chuckled, seeing the outer eyes of the 'face' narrow in suspicion. "I will water you in the morning. We shall see what secrets you hold then." If it told him nothing, he would deny the body thief food and water. It would be its own brand of torture. He could watch the Prophet shrivel and die, which would certainly bring him joy. Chuckling, he sealed the botanical lab and walked back to his private medical center. He needed a new hand. He would test it on someone or something. The thought brought him some joy, but it didn't last. Two more tiles on the pathway back to the medical center were added to the list of things he would avoid.

All in all, a good day. He was understandably distracted as he passed by his domicile. But the shriek of outrage assaulted his ears almost as badly as the music the Harper clone had used on the Prophet. "What happened to you?!"

Liara grabbed hold of his arm, her eyes wide and glaring at the wound. Javik hissed as her hands clenched. "It was," Jack Harper's face flashed in front of his eyes. "An accident." he finished.

Liara's eyes left his arm and looked upwards. Javik had the mental fortitude to match her stare with his own, the intensity between them enough that his body reacted. Liara knew exactly what kind of reaction the outer eyes she had as tatoos caused. His body wilted against his willpower, and he broke off the stare. "Liar." She said softly. "But you came back. That's what is important."

"A hand is a small price to pay for victory."

She gently grabbed his skull, angling his nose with her own. He didn't have any resistance left as she softened her stare. "Come with me. We can get that sorted. Then you can tell me what happened on the Citadel." She took hold of his remaining hand, holding it at the respectful distance between them. "Every. Existential. Detail." Her biotics fluttered against his own, offering the kind of comfort only an Asari could offer. It was only a moment's hesitation before Javik matched her flutters. Her joy washed over him, washing away the pain. Hand in hand, they walked over to the medical facility. Perhaps, he mused, he would set Liara upon Harper's spawn. She might be capable of a far more effective revenge.

* * *

Friess Station, Sanves System, January 2183

Garrus twitched as the wires sparked in his hands, but the gloves kept any of the shock from touching him. "Got a live one!" He called. "Route everything to patch cable 32!" He received an affirmative from the Asari nearby, and slipped the wires together into a universal knot. A nonconductive sleeve went over the top of them, and he set down the exposed cable. "How is it?" He yelled.

In answer, the lights in this section came back, and the hallway became illuminated again. Garrus jumped, as he saw the figure standing over him. It was an Asari, for certain. He hadn't heard her approach. "Spectre Vakarian. Your presence has been requested in the main hangar."

"I hope this isn't to repair another patch panel." The Asari just watched him impassively. "Alright, I'm coming. Don't lose your skirt over it." The Asari had given him a cold shoulder since Julia had killed the Matriarchs. The Council of Thirty were having conniptions over it. Clan Marsula were taking things poorly. They were refusing to appoint a new Matriarch until the matter of Rieh Marsula's will had been resolved. Apparently the Council of Thirty refused to ratify one of the conditions on the original document, and in defiance of their will clan Marsula was refusing to name a Matriarch until they agreed to the condition. Whatever the spirits it was, Garrus didn't want to know.

Knowing things got him into this hole, and asking questions wouldn't help him get out of it. He groaned as he stood up, looking around at all of the frayed wires he had worked on just at this power junction. It was the ninth in the last day, and he had hoped that his service here would be able to restore a tiny bit of the trust relationship he had obviously ruined. Not that they would believe him anymore. Apparently all of the Prothean beacons in the station had all overloaded at once. Some kind of override signal had tried to use them as a repeater or something, and they had all exploded. Garrus only knew about that because he was a suspect involved with the problem. He stretched, his back popping loudly. The Asari pushed him with the butt of her gun, enough to knock over a normal Turian.

He bent his hips, letting the strike tap him but not push him over. He also did not respond, letting it happen. "Step quickly, Spectre." He hummed a response, walking slightly faster. He enjoyed tormenting his guards. It was the only thing that he could enjoy right now. Case and point, as he arrived at the hangar bay. General Pitan was seething, just like all the other times he had seen Garrus. He still held him responsible for the death of Matriarch Marsula, as well as the daughter he had raised with her. Nothing Garrus could do would ever change how he felt.

"Spectre." He spat. "You've been cleared of all charges."

"What." Garrus felt cold. Investigations took weeks. "Sir?"

"Your lockdown is over. As much as I hate to say it, someone else took credit for your actions. The Primarch has requested that all Turian military personnel regroup at Gellix." The General hissed underneath his breath. "That includes you."

"Gellix?" Garrus expressed. "That worthless piece of rock?"

The General nodded. "With Palaven out of reach, it's the only place with fleet platforms and logistics centers."

"What happened to Palaven?" Garrus asked, worried.

"No one told you?" Pitan said. "Spirits. It's a mess. T-the entire thing's a mess." Turian Generals did not panic. Retired Spectres did not panic. Watching Pitan go from being ready to kill him all the way to mandibles drooping was worth being panicky himself. "We lost the Citadel."

Garrus felt bile in the back of his throat. "To who? When do we get it back?"

"Geth. Rachni. Spirit-damned Reaper things. If that even can be believed. There's nothing to take, Vakarian. The Citadel is gone. The Widow Nebula is a no-travel zone."

"Gellix is near the other side of the Widow Nebula, though."

"Exactly. All Turian personnel are to gather at Illium and prepare to travel through the Terminus Systems as a single unit, so as to reduce casualties. Between the fleet elements here and the fleet in the Attican Traverse, we represent the only Turian forces not stuck behind the Apien Crest relays."

"We can't maintain the defensive lines with that." Garrus noted. "How many were lost at the Citadel?"

Pitan's shoulders wilted. His son from his Turian wife was stationed there. "Our forces that survived retreated to Palaven. None of the patrol fleets are on this side of the relays. You can look up the records yourself, Vakarian. Get on board and make sure your gear made it. We have to meet with Aria when we pass through Sahrabarik, and you're my best diplomat."

"You're joking."

"I can't send a lawyer in front of her right now. I need someone who is going to make her feel fear and know that they speak for the full might of the Turian Hierarchy. So you're going to go in and make sure that our fleets can travel unmolested. Perhaps we can find your mentor along the way. He was supposed to be at Illium, but with the Citadel destroyed-"

Garrus realized that the cry of pain came from him. "What?"

"Shut your jaw, Vakarian." Pitan had lost any pity he was feeling. "We've been kicked in the teeth, and had our capital destroyed by that bastard Harper. You are one of the worst Spectre's we've ever had. That makes you tolerably an option to kill him. Or his chain of command."

Garrus straightened up. "I volunteer for anything that has a chance of taking him down." His life came into a sudden focus. It was as if the spirits themselves called out to him, asking him to do the just thing. "I've come the closest."

"I am aware. Every Turian that can be mustered is going to Gallix first. Even Blackwatch, if they can be convinced. _Then_ we can mount a counter-offensive and blow this bastard away. Since we can't keep our commitment to the rest of the Council races in the meantime, don't consider yourself beheld to the treaties of Firaxen and Histeria."

"So I can have any ammo I want?" Histeria was as a result of the Unification Wars, and to this day determined what ammo was legal and what was considered disrespectful to use against sentient populations.

"Find me every single ammo block of any variety that can murder this terrorist and his Prothean Empire. Bombs, illegal cut-ware, if it can give us an advantage you find it. I'll find the credits and we're going to arm every man and woman I can find. Much as I hate to say it, we're going to do anything in our power to win this. Even though it may cost us our Council Seat."

"Did the Council survive?"

"Just Tevos." Pitan muttered. "She's delirious and heavily injured. The Hierarchy can't confirm the death of Volorium, and Valern dying means that the Salarian Union is squabbling over their own representative. Either way, I don't want a single one of us left in Asari space if things start getting troublesome." The shuttle they boarded was full with every Turian citizen that had been on Friess. "All of this s'kak is just too much. Vakarian, you arrange the rest. You're being promoted if you can rally enough resistance to Harper. We don't have many flag officers left out here, and if the Asari don't want to help us fight Harper, so be it. We'll figure this out on our own, and they can just sit there with their thumbs up their cloacas."

Harper would pay. Garrus could promise that. He would take whatever he could find and he was going to put that Spirits-damned Human down. Along with anyone else who was helping him. "What about the Salarian Spectres?" They would be helpful.

"You aren't getting it, Vakarian. No Citadel, no more Salarian communication nets. Every deep cover agent is at risk now, and no one wants to work together right now. The Asari don't want a single Hierarchy ship or ranked officer in their space, and neither do the Salarians. The Hierarchy sided against the Asari to keep you alive. Whatever Spectres we have left have to lead the counter-offensive. We have to end this before the Rachni grow worse."

"How are we communicating back to Palaven?"

"Harper has taken control of all communications between primary relays. How, command isn't saying, but since his systems are the only ones that connect the Hierarchy and Volus to the rest of the galaxy we have to use it. Our secondary objective is to take control of whatever he is using to do that, and get it into the hands of our Volus agents. Spectre-candidate Digna Vol will also be coming with us, and he will be your partner for the near future." Garrus drooped. Now he was partnered with a _Volus_. Not that he didn't like them, but he didn't feel that the small creatures could be effective on the battlefield. "It gets better, Vakarian. You've been ordered to construct a kill team with the group we have onboard. Get to work." Pitan wandered towards the cockpit, the rest of the craft glancing up at him. None of those faces were filled with any mirth or happiness at his appearance.

The group in front of him all were upper tier Turian citizens, according to the list appearing on his Omni-tool. Not all of them were Turians. Four Volus were there, all in military gear. The cube-like armors did not offer any comfort to Garrus. No matter what they did, Garrus was convinced that they would never appear frightening. Or at all predatory. "Line up!" He ordered, smiling as the usual Turian precision was followed. Eighteen Turians, Volus, and two Asari. He had not noticed them at first, as they had stepped behind other Turians. Helmets were held at the crook of the arm, and feet were planted on the line. The cavernous shuttle could accommodate all of them and more standing in line. "I'm sure you all overheard what's going to happen."

All of them glanced at each other, suspicious. He just kept talking. "I've been given the order to assemble a team to go after Harper and anyone who stands in between me and him. Rather than trusting the other operational groups, we will be forming this unit purely from Hierarchy forces." The Asari were probably the daughters of Turian-Asari relationships, trying to keep their Hierarchy citizenship. They would not be eager to put their lives on the line. "I will be needing combat and noncombat personnel." Garrus gave them his best winning smile. "Digna Vol, you would honor me greatly by assisting me." The least squat of the Volus lumbered forward, coming to a perfect parade rest a meter in front of the line.

"The honor is mine, Palaven-Clan." Digna said, his voice an extreme bass compared to other Volus Garrus had spoken to. It would almost be threatening over a radio. "My fireteam also volunteer to fight against the menace." The other three Volus sniffled and shuffled forward. They did not seem overly excited.

"My most earnest thanks." Garrus told them in the Volus trade language. He switched back to Asari standard without pausing when he came to the first of the two Asari. "Corporal Scalpae. What is your specialization?"

The Asari's skin was almost a match for a Turian's plates. It was a dark enough blue that she might have been able to mix among crowds at Palaven. She had the Palaven markings on her face, which made her definitely a child of someone important. "Combat engineer. I was here working on mobile exoskeletons for the Armiger Legion." She lacked the jetpack attachments herself, but the clamps and connections were part of her armor. "I'm not a high classed biotic, Sir."

"What do you rank highest in, Scalpae?" He checked his wrist, seeing the name Velena Scalpae. She was not as pretty as other Asari he had seen, but it didn't matter. That wasn't what he needed her for.

"Tech salvage and adaptation." She said with her chin held high. "I'm into big guns and nice tech. Not slinky dresses or biotic showmanship."

"How well do you match up against Quarians?"

"Quarians?" She asked, trying not to laugh. She must not consider them a serious threat.

"Harper commands thousands of them. How well do you do if you're up against their tech?" Garrus asked with deathly seriousness.

"We don't train for that." Scalpae said. Her face looked less confident now. "They don't have a combat doctrine to study."

"The Spectres have a combat doctrine you can study." Garrus offered. It wasn't as if anyone could just look up the Spectre combat doctrine training in the Citadel anymore. None of those System Administrators could come down on him for sharing those files now. "You have a few days before we get to Omega." He walked down the line, seeing a variety of technicians and engineers. None of them had any kind of abilities that stood out. They were all diplomatic corps or logistics. Even the second Asari, who was one of the shortest he had ever met. "Anyone who would like to volunteer for this mission may step forward. We're going after the enemies of the Hierarchy, and I'll need my own staff to do it. Logistics and negotiations will be expected." A couple of the younger ones stepped forward, both females with Galatana colors. "Combat pay will be offered for any deployments in the Terminus. Which is every single deployment I expect to see."

He came to a stop in front of the other Asari, having to crane his neck down to meet her eyes. She really was tiny. "You are?"

"Leily Rellix." She said quickly. "I'm not active military, but all my brothers were." Brother was not something Asari used to reference their siblings. "I'm retired, but I was a logistics officer onboard the Krysae defense platforms."

"Why come with the fleet?"

"I may be Asari, Spectre, but I also had a Turian father. He would want to know that I chose to defend his honor. Though," She said uncertainly, "I do not have many skills I can apply to the cause. I've been at a university here in the system."

"What academic focus?" Garrus asked, staying respectful. It was rare to see an Asari that understood family honor among Turians.

"Acting." She said quietly. "I spent the last decade acting."

"I'm going to requisition you, then. Previous rank and benefits, so long as you are capable."

"Capable at what? I had a basic logistics certification."

"Acting." Garrus said, smiling. He could feel a plan coming together. "Before we can go after Harper, we will need guns, explosives, and a few more persons of interest. I'll need someone that isn't hated by the entire Asari race to be my voice." He would need to collect Desolous from Ilium, and to do that he would need a good lure. "How's your Turian High chant?" Leily gave him a full smile. She looked innocent, came off as slightly uncomfortable, but had Turian concepts of honor. The perfect lure for Desolous.

* * *

Ilos, Pangaea Expanse, January 2183

Julia was simply confused. Kasumi had offered her a hug and then had _danced_ on top of Joker. Kasumi was every inch as sensual as any Asari, and Kaidan had his hand on her thigh the entire time. She didn't want to risk spooking Kasumi during this, as it could risk Joker. There were enough of her people in the medical bay. So, she just watched. Everyone did. Kaidan had his mouth open slightly. The meaty hand clenched her thigh even harder when Kasumi pivoted her way to standing, nearly flashing the entire crowd.

Then the little Asian girl gave her the middle finger. It ruined the entire vibe that had been going on. Julia stood up, ready to give Kasumi a piece of her mind. Then she licked Joker's neck stubble and disappeared. "If I could cloak, I'd do it like that." Miranda said from beside her.

"That's not encouraging!" Julia replied.

"Stay with us and you can have her under your orders." Miranda said. "A nice perk for you."

"Wait a minute." Kaidan said from beside her, withdrawing his hand from the slit in her dress. It was not what she wanted. "You gave me that speech and you still haven't decided for yourself?"

"Well," She squirmed. There was no other way to describe how awkward she felt right then. "I didn't want to hurt anyone. Tali could die if she comes back to the Alliance. Everyone else's career is dead. Yours is the only one that that can survive what they're going to put you through. I _had_ to do that, so that I could save the others."

"How long have you known about it?" Kaidan's voice had no playfulness to it. "How many backup plans have you had in place?"

"Are we really going to talk about this right now?" Miranda said angrily. "You two are way too concerned with operational security. Alenko, no one had any plans for this. Besides the obvious. I certainly didn't, and _he_ could have mentioned it to me at any time. Both of you have days at the very least to make a decision." Miranda gave both of them a glare. "Since you're hogging the only man-candy in the place, I'm going to find something suitable."

"So I should probably find a different room." Julia muttered. "Since you don't plan on sleeping alone."

"Neither do you!" Miranda said, smirking. "Tomorrow I'm going to have a giant bruise. You tossed me through a park bench. No matter how much medi-gel I apply, I'm still going to be a mess. So the only way I'm going to have any fun in the next three days is if I find some tonight. You can use any one of the rooms next door, anyways. I'm using them for the closet space. You're welcome to use them for your needs as well." Miranda stood up from the couch, sashaying her way forwards towards a group of dancing Asari.

"You're hogging the man-candy?" Kaiden quoted once she was safely out of hearing range. "Your sister is a bit worrying."

"Both of them. Kasumi, who you almost sat on, is a step sister."

"She was the one on top of Joker, right?"

"Yeah." Queue the awkward silence again. Julia didn't know what to say, and the physical feeling of discomfort grew with every passing moment. She hated that feeling more than the feeling of talking about family secrets. "I rescued her from Sony."

"Sony? The entertainment company?" She clicked her jaw shut. She had said too much. "You do realize that if I stay you won't have to keep so many secrets from me."

That made the crushing pressure lighten up. "Well," She said with a tiny bit of excitement. Her voice betrayed her, though. "I guess that's fair. Kasumi has a piece of illegal technology in her head that forced her to imprint the memories of someone else as a child. She didn't really have a childhood, since she was forced to become a genetically engineered pop idol. We rescued her and the Alliance let Hannah adopt her. So, she is kind of my sister."

Kaidan seemed to consider what she was saying. "Wow." Was all he said at first. "How old was she when you did that?"

"She's a year younger than me, actually. She's just engineered to be very small. Fun-sized, she calls it." Kaidan chuckled. He gave the still recovering Joker a glance.

"I was ready to Pull her off of him. But she managed to keep herself from injuring Joker. It was kind of impressive."

"I don't know where she learned it all." Julia said. "She's been with Hannah ever since she left the Alliance. We met sometimes, when our aliases could reasonably allow it."

Kaidan didn't seem shocked by her admission of meeting foreign agents. "Family's like that. Even if they aren't your blood." His eyes were on Charles Archer, whom he had cornered earlier that night. The man had avoided a talk with Kaidan twice now. "No matter how long it's been."

"How well do you know Charles?"

"Not as well as I used to." Kaidan admitted. "But he was there when everything changed. We knew each other at Solaris, and spent most of our teenage years there. All of the biotics knew each other decently."

"Nyra taught us all a lot." Julia said fondly. "I hope she's doing alright. Solaris had a new rotation of teachers from our class come back to teach everyone. No longer using Asari as teachers."

"It won't be the same for them." Kaidan mused. "They get to read about how to perform biotics. Watch some videos of me and the Titans doing things. We had to figure out what worked first. They don't have to spend six months with a gymnastics coach learning how to move just the right way. Now it's down to one month."

"If my father hadn't made that program, I don't know what it would have looked like. I've read some of the files on the first Batarian program." Julia shuddered in memory. None of them had died comfortably. All of them had experienced feedback from their first generation of amps, and developed tumorous cysts all along their backbones. Some lived for a few years, but most died from the swelling at the base of their skulls. Those thoughts in mind, she decided to steer the topic back to something better. "Charles was in the less advanced class, right?"

Kaidan nodded. "His dad lived right next to mine, and the walls were thin. We could hear his dad cough from the lung cancer a lot. My dad loves to cook, and he felt bad for the guy. That first night, instead of getting angry about the guy coughing, my dad invited him over for coffee. Figured it was a better way to deal with the neighbor." Every biotic had a trail of blood behind them. None of their mothers survived to see their children reach adulthood. The near lethal dosage of radiation exposure required to create them almost always killed the mother within years. Solaris had been mostly single fathers, trying to get their odd children the help they needed. Step-mothers often filled in the gaps, but it wasn't the same. In a sense, they knew they had been part of the reason their parent had died.

"That's when you met Charles."

"Yeah." He closed his eyes, letting his hands unclench. "We talked for hours that first night. It became a tradition, that we would have coffee and just hang out every night. His dad worked the janitor shift, and woke up around the time we got back from classes. Mine was out of town a lot, playing football for Madrid. When he was off training I could at least have someone to watch over me."

"He's changed, then?"

"Yeah. He, uh, lured me to meet with your dad once." Kaidan frowned at that. "Your dad had a missile pointed at mine. Said if I didn't listen he would fire it. Charles just sat there, knowing the entire time that my family's life was on the line. Yet he wasn't surprised at all. Like all those nights didn't matter."

"Is that why you've been trying to talk to him this entire night?"

"No!" Kaidan said quickly. "No, I need more answers. I want to know why they didn't evacuate the Citadel population here. Why they couldn't have done more."

"Have you talked to your family yet?"

"No. No reason to do that until things have calmed down. Dad's on his second honeymoon. He wouldn't pick up for anyone right now."

"How long have they been married?"

"I think nine months." Kaidan said with concern. "I haven't met her yet. It just didn't feel right. She's younger than I am."

Julia tried to imagine Jack Harper getting married to someone her own age. She didn't see that as much of a problem, considering her own odd dating history. Kaidan was the youngest person she had ever been with. "I agree," She lied. It came off the tongue so easily. "It must be odd seeing your father with other women."

"Fourth marriage." Julia tried not to find that funny. "I can hardly remember my mother. A few lullabies, and some old pictures of us. That's all I have of her."

"Lucky." Julia said. "Miranda and I have a jar of ashes. It's not even our real mother, though. I had it DNA tested once I joined the Intelligence Office. It's just some dead prostitute. By the time I knew what to investigate, no one had anything to tell me about her."

"That's terrible." Kaidan said, meaning it. "Were there any pictures?"

"She never graduated high school. Never even finished anything in her life. She had her professional picture, but there is so much data manipulation in the stock photo that I couldn't tell what she looked like originally. I just.. don't see anything of myself in there. It's like all that I am is a shadow of _him_. Every skill and everything I have just makes me more like my father."

"So you could pull off galaxy-wide plans flawlessly?"

"That was not a flawless plan." Javik's missing hand was a good reference for that. She had a strange urge to give it a clap, but she shook her head and refocused. "There were too many variables to account for at every level. I still don't know how he knew about the control mechanisms and the inner workings of the Citadel."

Kaidan slipped his hand around her back. "So, if you stay, you're going to look for answers? Not just go with the flow?"

"I don't like not knowing the answers. Secrets have been the only currency I've ever had to worry about. Now I'm being offered a choice that isn't a choice at all." She had a lot of friends back at the Alliance. So many people that she looked up to. "If I go back, all I will do is is get everyone I care about killed or silenced."

"Your father said that he didn't care if we gave the Alliance intel."

She laughed, the most tortured chirp she had ever released. "He shares so much with them already. He files his taxes every year, quarterly. We know that they're false, and we figured they are just a mockery of our system. But really every 1099 form links to information drops. Critical intel that has saved lives. He's an asshole."

"But he has a good side." Kaidan said. "Hidden behind missiles and a Prothean Empire." The windows in front of them filtered the bright sunset. But the old buildings left long shadows across the party-goers. Everything was tinged orange, and just felt alien and familiar all at the same time.

"The only motive that fits are these Reapers." She said. "It's the only thing I can come up with. He just had the chance to steal every credit in the galaxy." She waved her arms in frustration. "That should have been the predictable move! But instead he just tries to keep everyone's money in their accounts. Like he is some kind of saint." It boggled the mind. "He's never turned down an opportunity to make money in the past. This could have been the largest heist in history, and yet he _didn't_ steal anything."

"Besides the communications industry. ANN just bankrupt." Kaidan muttered. "Taking all of my stock with them." He must have alerts on his feed.

"I don't know what to think." She stood up, unwilling to just stew on a couch any longer. "I've got no plan, no play, and no idea what to do or where to go."

Kaidan was silent for a painfully long time, watching her walk a short amount. She couldn't stomp like she really wanted to, without worrying about coming out of this dress. "Me neither." He finally said. "None of the crew know. We can't be expected to make that kind of decision after a day like today."

She saw someone out of the corner of her eye. "I know one thing I can help you with." She gave a quarter turn, showing her best side to Kaidan. "Or at least something that isn't confusing." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Hey! Tesai!" She yelled. The Quarian was in a small gaggle of their kind, all chittering in Kellish and seemingly enjoying themselves. The singer looked up, meeting her eyes. Julia waved her over, and the Quarian seemed to have no problem approaching. She was wearing an encounter suit that was clear across the tops of her shoulders and dipping into her cleavage, her skin on complete display. It was elegant, in a way that would be a match for the dress that Julia was wearing. None of the other Quarians had anything that was a match for it.

The musical sensation arrived near the couch, and didn't seem uncomfortable or deferential in approaching a Harper. "Greetings!" She offered, reaching her hand out in a Human style handshake. "Do you want to go by Gunn, Constantine, or Harper?" It was a rather respectful question. "I'm in charge of PR for the Prothean Empire." She explained, reacting to Julia's look of consternation.

"Let's go with Harper, I guess." Julia said. There was no running from where she was or who she was related to. It would be better used as an advantage at this point. "I didn't know that you had this as a side job. I thought you just focused on the music."

"Hmm." She hummed, in tune with the music going on in the background. "I would say that both were full time jobs. My music got big after my Pilgrimage, but that was only after I had been able to get my job here. So both careers sort of took off at the same time, and I didn't want to part with either of them."

"How does that work with your tours?" Julia asked, noticing movement from the crowd around her. Her plan was working, as far as she could guess. "If you're gone for a few weeks out in the galaxy?"

"Oh!" Tesai said with an articulated gasp. "Well, Javik gets more grouchy when I'm gone. All of the Protheans do, I think. The band all have careers here too, so we are able to get all of our recording done over in the Hall of Ceremony. It has the best arching ceilings."

"Is Charles in your band?" Julia asked. "You seem so close!"

"Well," The Quarian's body stood a bit taller. Her shoulders straightened. "He's actually my boyfriend. It took a few years to get used to his biology," Alenko's eyebrows shot up at that. "But it's better now." She cleared her throat, seeing Alenko's discomfort. "He isn't part of our band, no." Tesai moved her shoulders, the clear sections of her suit showing the oddly shaped collarbones of the Quarian race. As well as the purplish-pink skin. "You might know some of them. Kasumi is my backup singer and bassist. Her Batarian is really good. Her encounter suit is purple. The others are all Quarians that learned the instruments. But we appear as an all-Quarian group."

Julia smirked as the real reason for talking to Tesai arrived. Charles Archer, sweating slightly, stepped up next to his Quarian girlfriend and gave shaky looks at both her and Kaidan. "Hey!" He said, forcefully. "I see you've met Tesai?"

"I'm a fan of her work." Julia explained. She saw Kaidan smiling slightly, now realizing her plan was to drag Charles out of wherever he was hiding. "How did you convince Kasumi to play in the band?"

Tesai wasn't exactly a chatterbox, but she was pretty happy to be talking to her. Even though she had arranged this as a lure, talking to the music icon was excellent. She would have to track her down again later and chat further. She was ready to listen to whatever hair-brained scheme or story was involved with Kasumi, but Charles interrupted them. He and Kaidan had been exchanging quiet whispers over the last thirty seconds. "There was no one at the apartment! There was no missile!" He said loudly.

"What do you mean?" Kaidan asked, still with a hint of a snarl.

"Look, I know you. I had to get you to listen, so we got a laser pointer and a video feed. I didn't have to actually threaten your dad. All I had to do was make sure he was too busy to take any call or vidmail you could send when we arranged the meeting." Charles held up his hands. "I would never actually threaten him. All we did was pay some guy to run into his parked car."

Kaidan went as white as a sheet. "You paid someone to crash their car into his antique _Bugatti Veyron_!" Kaidan shook. "He's been looking for blood over that. That chasse can't be replaced! The machines to make those parts were wiped out in the 2060's!"

Charles flinched. "Yeaaah." The man wiped his hands on his suit pants, still sweating. "Not my finest idea ever. But it got your dad distracted."

"Damn right it did!" Kaidan yelled. "That car is more important than his wife!"

"How many is that now?" Charles asked.

"Four." Kaidan's response was neutral. "But still. You don't ruin an antique like that."

"Hmm." Julia brought up her Omni-tool, looking up the price of 'antique bugatti veyron'. Her eyebrows climbed and she looked at Charles. "Wow. That's almost as bad as the guy who lost the Romanov jewelry."

Charles flinched. "I guess you should probably know that was Donovan Hock who acquired it. Kasumi fetched it back for Jack. Since you're here it's probably safe to tell you."

"Charles." Tesai said, one of her hands gripping his arm. "Apologize to your friend."

Kaidan interrupted anything that Charles was about to say. "Fix the car, and you'll fix our friendship."

There was a sound of escaping air from the gap in between Charles' two front teeth. It was almost as if he was starting to vocalize a word starting with the letter f, yet drawn out over ten seconds. "Fine?" He finally said. "I think I know a guy."

"Charles, it's just the bumper. Not even any of the old electrical parts." Color returned to his face. "Maybe some paint."

"That's the hardest part!" Charles said. "Paint from pre-Islamic war Italy is nearly impossible to find! I-" Tesai's hand pressed on his arm, and he got quiet. "I'll do my best."

"I trust you." Kaidan said softly. "You always kept your word."

"I've kept watch over you for years, bud. Had to deploy some serious firepower to save you a few times."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! Like when you guys went with Hannah against that Greek guy and I had to hit the entire apartment block with special operations Batarian forces." Charles shuddered. "Didn't want you guys to die. Owed some favors to the SIU after that."

Kaidan looked shocked. "That was you?"

"Yeah. Jack said you guys were important enough to risk our best forces. Any time you guys were slammed with anything legal, we had the best lawyers and C-sec investigators on it." Charles finally started smiling over something. "Then we made sure that you guys didn't have as much bad press. Especially from the Asari side of things."

"Huh." Evidently Kaidan was not aware of all of those things, judging by the look on his face. "But what about your oath to the Alliance?"

"I never got to eighteen while I was at Solaris. I never had to swear that oath. I never got the paperwork signed after my dad," Charles trailed off. "The only people there for me were you and Jack. You went off and signed up, with a career already picked out. I didn't have that. Jack was offering all that and more, so I took it. Even if I had joined the Alliance, they would have just stuck me in some outpost with satellite analytics. I was just jumpstarting my career by not going through their military."

"Well, you've certainly made a career."

Charles smirked. "I've got an alias that I use to publish all my legal work through. I've got a whole income that just belongs to me." He glanced down at the hand still on his elbow. "As well as Tesai."

Kaidan didn't know what to say to that. "So what now, then?"

"Well, uh, you keep me away from Pressley, and I keep you away from Javik?" The programmer said, with some worry. "I don't think he's forgiven me for leaving him in a C-sec impound lot. Or in all those tunnels full of Rachni."

"How long does Javik hold grudges for?" Julia interrupted.

Tesai and Charles glanced at one another. She answered first. "During a small game we played, my Eldar forces soundly defeated his. Ever since then, he has taken especial care to wipe me from the board at first opportunity."

"And that's just a strategy game we play to foster good relations between everybody. You cut off his hand!"

Tesai nodded. "And Director Harper punched the stump at his wrist after he found out about that. Threatened him about it."

Charles goggled. "Javik didn't punch him back?" Tesai shook her head. "That's a first." There was a crash nearby, and everyone turned to see Hannah standing over Kasumi, who seemed unconscious. "Cleanup on aisle one!" Charles hooted. "Kasumi tried to go for the whiskey again!"

Tesai hmmed, another on key noise. "We should check her for any missing jewelry. She might have been the cause of all the alerts we received earlier."

"Does this happen a lot?" Julia clenched her fists, seeing only Hannah actively making sure Kasumi was okay.

"Well," Charles started to say, but it was enough. If anything like this happened, then Julia needed to step in. She strode forward, shoes clicking loudly as she approached. There was a small crowd forming, and Hannah was leaning Kasumi up against a wall.

"What did she get hit with?" Julia demanded. "Mum?"

"Multiple dosages of different drugs." Hannah said, linking Kasumi's vitals to Julia's Omni-tool. "Kasumi doesn't even notice what she's drinking half the time. She has a bad habit of trying to take sips of everything. Once she starts getting hammered, she comes looking for the whisky."

Her blood alcohol levels were already high. Kasumi didn't have enough body weight or high enough metabolism to be able to handle any more. It had taken very little to get her wasted. She could process food and drink quickly, but Kasumi just couldn't handle liquor well. "So she's okay?" Oddly, that came from Joker, who had wheeled himself over.

"Yes." Hannah said, giving a long smirk at Kasumi. "I'm going to figure out who is using my favorite brand of date rape drug. Can you get her back to her room?"

"Yeah." Julia said. "We will." Unbidden but not unwelcome, Kasumi's body lifted off the floor and up into Kaidan's arms. "Which room does she like to use?"

Hannah shrugged. "Mine, usually. Yours, now? Oh well, it has eight bedrooms in the suite. Just put her down in one that isn't full of things. Miranda uses one on the same level."

"Okay?" Julia said with confusion. "Just how many people live here?"

"A few thousand. Quarians like to stay on their ships. Even those that live here only live in a few towers. No one has managed to make it more than a month out in the Inusannon city." Hannah shrugged. "Your crew are being temporarily boarded in the Ugly Tower." Kaidan frowned. "It used to be a bunker, so all the corners are stunted and curved to allow for defenders to shoot around the edges. Because of that, we call it the Ugly Tower."

"Come on." Julia said. "You aren't staying in the Ugly Tower." She could see Joker still glancing at Kasumi as Hannah disengaged from the conversation. "Joker, she will probably find you when she wakes up. Kasumi doesn't feel hangovers very much." While they traversed the dance floor and the party, she forwarded details on where her crew could sleep and sent them on. Pressley didn't even have his Omni-tool on. Hopefully someone would tell him about it. The suite that she was told to go to actually linked back into Miranda's rooms through a back door. Hidden hallways connected the entire suite, all made in a defensible manner. Nothing about the city constructed here was intended as decorative or without purpose.

Kasumi was gently tucked into a spare bedroom that was well stocked. As Julia stood up to pull the mass-produced Iruune Synthetic Fiber blanket up to her neck, she could feel Kaidan's hand on her bare back. The dress was a scooping back to it, and Kaidan's hand rested at the very bottom of the scoop of exposed skin. Her skin tingled at that. "So, where's our bed?" He asked into her ear. She bit her lip and grinned. Tonight, she was going to at least take a little bit of time for herself. Tomorrow, all the shit in the world could be serious and important. Tonight, she would live as herself and in the present.

* * *

Hall of Cleansing, Ilos, Pangaea Expanse, January 2183

Wrex hated regrowing limbs. Phantom aches and pains came back, and your entire body would rush with adrenaline as soon as the body could afford to produce it. He wasn't some whelp that couldn't handle it. He sat, stewing as his limbs tried their best to fight through the pain. He did not flinch and he did not frown. All of the wounded from the Human ship were here, recovering in some ancient medical bay. Even the Asari they had picked up, though she was chained to her bed. Wrex hadn't heard her say a single word so far.

Maybe she couldn't. The Humans claimed her tongue had been cut out, but Wrex knew they had ways around that. Hand language or some bauble like that. She hadn't made a single attempt, though Wrex was a bit distracted on the way in here. Someone had done him a solid favor and blended pure animal fat and made it into a shake for him to drink. When the pain wasn't so bad he would sip on that. It was blissful. There had to be more than just Varren in there. It was too fatty to be Varren.

"It's an earth animal." A voice said from the door. Wrex glanced up, the one remaining armed crewman also turning. One of Harper's Krogan was standing at the door. Gatatog Don, as a matter of fact. "Pig, I think." He trundled over and sat at the foot of the bed, giving Wrex's exposed stump a glance. It didn't budge, such was the control Wrex was exerting. "Our clans have a long-standing friendship."

"I am not speaking as a representative of my people." Wrex said flatly. "I'm surprised you're here and not on Tuchanka. Gatatog females line up for the other 'Ninja Turtles'."

That got a spot of laughter from the smaller Krogan. "I've got five whelps now. Can't remember their names. Females named them."

"You didn't come here to ask for Ganar female rights?" Wrex asked. "I can't promise they'll even dignify you with a response."

"They already offered." Wrex had started to laugh but that stopped him. "I haven't acted on it." Wrex had been considering how best to construct a more _physical_ argument, but after Don said that he calmed down. "I'm here to negotiate. You have prisoners, and I want to negotiate for them."

The man from the Normandy looked at Wrex with a bit of worry. He was just one of the gunnery techs. "Gatatog Don, it would be dishonorable to try to take what belongs to someone else."

"Ah," Don said. "Julia Harper has already begun committing to working with our organization, and since she was the one to steal these prisoners, the credit and rights belong to her. I am approaching you because you used your own armor to save the old one here. He owes you and Julia owes you. It would only be expected that you keep the old one here."

The Asari prisoner had flipped over, her one single eye focused on Don. Wrex chose not to give her any attention. Not when he had more important matters. "He's ancient." Wrex said with care. "He should return to his home, where he can live out the rest of his days under a sun that recognizes him. Not rotting in a cell where the sun's light never showed."

Don slumped his shoulders at that. "I promised Harper that I would try. But," He glanced at the still sleeping old one. "I wouldn't want to go hundreds of years without seeing Aralakh. Would he mind answering questions?"

"He got concentrated doses of poisonous gas in his lungs." Wrex said. "The primary lungs are withered and gone. We gave him what we could, but he might not make it."

"You two should learn some respect." A whisper came from the old one. "Can't sleep when people talk about me, now, can i?" The hump jutted so far that his head was permanently bowed. He rotated, his old eyes keenly glaring at both of them. Though the eyes mirthfully glanced at the damage all over Wrex's body. "A good scrap?"

"Rachni." Wrex grunted. "Fought a cybernetically enhanced Queen."

"Sounds like a nice excuse." The old one said. Wrex frowned at him over the straw full of animal fats. "The younger whelp is correct on one note. I do owe you and your Human allies for breaking me out of there." His grin showed missing teeth. "But you all owe me by the very grace of your existence."

Don laughed at that. Wrex did not. "Who are you to claim such? My clan recognizes no one else as superior."

"Except Weyrloc." Wrex quipped. Don frowned at that. It was not incorrect that Clan Weyrloc had stolen much of Gatatog territory while some of their best troops were helping to film Krogan Ninja Turtles.

The old one hissed at them. Both of them shut up. "Clans? Pissing matches. Worthless little whelps playing in the sand while the rest of the galaxy draws further and further away. I am Kalro Olg. Warmaster. Accept my authority or I will have you stricken from the records of every clan and every shaman."

Wrex snapped his head to the old one. He was fingering a set of decorative scars, the scratch like writing of ancient Krogan covering every inch of his underbelly and skin. What Wrex mistook as folds of skin, he now realized were writing. The entire history of the Krogan people was written on his skin. It would take a magnifying glass to read it all, but it was there. It was proof enough for him. Wrenching himself to his ruined feet, he got off the bed and kneeled in front of the old one. Don helped Wrex do so, both of them taking the same stance. Warmaster. The _Warmaster_. Krogan had gone on fool's errands searching for him. The one who had started the Rebellions. He was alive. Wrex opened his mouth, trying to remember what to say. He glanced at Don, whose lips were working themselves into a frenzy, yet no sound issued forth. "We apologize for our incredulity and disrespect." Wrex finally said. "Even though we are family, I regret this dishonor."

The old one _could_ be family. Wrex had to take the chance that he might be who he said he was. Ancient Krogan were hardly common these days. Many of the other clans considered them no longer worth caring for if their teeth stopped regenerating, or if they could no longer perform their trade. Urdnot would send them to become Shamans or guard the female camp. They were old, and their wisdom was best served teaching the youngest how to survive. Wrex didn't want to think about this being an imposter. None had dared claim the title of Warmaster since Jarrod had hunted each down like the weaklings they had ended up being. By the time Wrex was old enough to have learned anything, the last of the claimants had been ground into dust. There was a spark of hope that this might be the Warmaster. His Grandfather.

"Oh?" Olg shooed them to their feet. "Get back in bed, whelp." Wrex did so, but kept his back straight. "Whose are you? You've got a red crest, so your clan were clay harvesters. Pottery specialists. Urdnot, I think. Urdgav died out, if I remember correctly." Wrex clenched his teeth. Clay harvesters? He thought Wrex was a mere clay harvester?! "Which of my lines sired you?"

"Your child Jarrod. He is my father." Don was giving Wrex a wide eye. Wrex was proud to be able to declare himself as being from the earliest surviving line.

"Ah. The line of my eldest. Good." His voice was weak, but the old one held himself with confidence. "I am nobody's prisoner. If I wanted to, I would escape and kill everyone in my path. I have killed more than either of you have ever contemplated breathing. I have burned worlds and partaken of the flesh of priests of Vaul. None yet remain. Do not think me incapable." He glared at Wrex. "How many of my direct progeny survive?"

"None." Wrex said. "Your children were given priority in the Rebellions, and every female of your clan was killed to prevent anyone claiming relationship with you. Jarrod joined another clan to conceal his blood, and he died when he betrayed me at a Crush."

"What is a Crush?" The old one asked, openly confused. It was just further evidence that he hadn't been to Tuchanka in the last two millennia.

"A meeting on neutral ground, with no weapons. Usually in one of the old temple complexes." Wrex explained. "Between clans."

"So he came and tried to kill you." He brought up a hand, running it across the large scars running down Wrex's face. "Did you burn this with acid to keep it as a reminder?" The old one's hands were a near match for his father's. It had been centuries, and the only ones to have touched it were females in that time. The grooves in his skull plate were a near match to the fingers that traced them. Jarrod's signature skill had been to make his biotic barrier shaped, so that he could carve into the flesh of others. Wrex did not answer that question. Olg just left his hand there for a long moment, his fingers tracing down. "Do any of my kin survive beyond yourself?"

"My daughter. A few of her whelps. Only the shamans know of our blood. My brother, born from a Ganar female, also had a single whelp. He is very young, however." Wrex finished the last of his food, the adrenaline still under control. "If others survive, we prevent sharing that knowledge. The Salarians would destroy us if they knew." As he spoke, the old gnarled hand traced the marks over and over. The old one's eyes were far away. Reliving memories. Neither Don nor Wrex dared to interrupt what might be sacred to the ancient.

He came back to noticing them a minute later. "They didn't kill all of us. That's what matters." The old one's hand shook slightly as he removed it from Wrex's face. It was oddly stirring, emotions rising in his chest that caused his limbs to quiver. "Thank you for letting a father experience such. I am a few centuries out of date, and my people stand broken. Tell me of the last two thousand years, whelps. Speak, and tell me of the glories we live for." Wrex started speaking, letting Don speak of technology and inventions. Behind the old one, the Asari stared at Wrex. Her eye would shift from normal blue to completely black, and it never wavered from him. Wrex didn't give her any further attention other than a glance or two, as Don brought in a new round of liquified animal fat.

* * *

Ilos, Pangaea Expanse, January 2183

Kaidan thought things were going pretty well. They had put Kasumi to bed, and then they had gotten hot and heavy. Julia seemed to be enjoying it, and he was certainly enjoying it. Then, as he went in for the 'kill', she passed out. Normally, that was a good sign. When she opened her eyes again, and saw him standing above her, she screeched in anger and started choking him. It was, at that moment, Kaidan realized that he had accidentally awakened the Reaper mind within. A lightning-quick singularity left Julia floating in the middle of the room, her hands trying to grasp anything at all in which to free herself. Or rather, Gwyn. Her return fire he ducked, the wall silently taking the abuse. It must have been made of some tough material to take a Warp of that magnitude.

He rolled, slipping his pants on in one mostly smooth motion and tumbling out the door. Shoes had come off first, and they were out in the hallway. There was a trail of clothing leading towards the doorway, and his hand rested in the silken dress Julia had dropped there. Her gun and knife holster were also on the floor, which he grabbed. Better to not give her the advantage. The Singularity gave him maybe thirty seconds. He had shoes, and his pants. Shirt was too much of a risk, so he took care in buttoning his pants and ran out the hallway into the main atrium of the floor. Once the door slid shut, he let his back rest against the odd metal. It was cool to the touch, and let him get a moment to recover and think.

"What's wrong?" He nearly threw another biotic ability in surprise, as he saw a small group of people in the hallway. Jack Harper was standing there, with an entourage of four Batarians and Humans. "Do you need water, something to compensate?"

"Excuse me?!" This was not the time to be joking!

"Well, obviously previous activities have left you in quite a state. But you look a bit panicky for someone who is enjoying all the perks." Harper's hand was on Hannah's thigh. Through the gaps in her dress he could see some kind of holster there. The man hadn't pulled out anything yet, but looked ready to defend himself. Kaidan loosened his grip on the gun in his hand. Harper was plenty dangerous without being forced to violence.

"I, uh, woke up Gwyn." Kaidan said. "We might need to call security."

Harper didn't seem too concerned about his daughter going on a murderous rampage. "No, I don't think that's necessary." His hand moved from the thigh to Hannah's rump. Kaidan could feel himself relax a bit. That seemed less likely to involve a lethal weapon being stored there. "I think the Reaper could benefit from having such an endorphin rush. Get back in there, and it might help if you go rough. Gwyn, if I remember correctly, was very into bondage. Or at least when she was with a Turian partner. Handcuffs and other bits should be available in Miranda's room. She's still upstairs."

"Are you insane? She killed people today!"

"And if we keep treating her like a murderous psychopath then she will continue to remain one. Get back into that bedroom, Alenko. Go and do what the tabloids claim you are the best at. If I had a problem with you sleeping with my daughter, I would have done something about it long ago."

"How," Kaidan sputtered. "How?"

Jack sighed. "This isn't sex ed, Alenko. Get your ass back in that bedroom and screw that Reaper. Prove it is just as _Human_ as the rest of us." He tossed Alenko a small metal canister. "Also, this is an aerosol based paralytic." Hannah brought one hand down to her rump and glared at Jack for a moment. It must have been hers. "Should give you an advantage. Good luck!" Kaidan did not want to question where exactly this had come from.

"Good luck!" The rest of the entourage called. Like they were wishing him well. But Kasumi was still asleep on a bed in there. If he just ran away, he would be abandoning Julia's step-sister to die. He clenched his fists, and picked up his shoes. Logically, there was only one thing he could do. He had to go back in there, and go show Gwyn who was boss. That mentality was what it was going to take. Because every other mentality would be terrified that he was going to get disemboweled. Well, there was one part of him was convinced otherwise. After three deep breaths, Kaidan slipped back into the chambers.

* * *

Author's Note

Alright guys, the poll from last chapter is going to close in the next couple of days. I really appreciate all of the input you guys have given, and especially the reviews that I received from a myriad of places explaining why or why the team shouldn't take the deals offered. There was a lot of messages and PMs sent to me from all of you guys about this. So the poll numbers are going to close in a couple of days so a final decision can be arrived at. That means that for anyone who still has an opinion, you should voice it now before things close out.

I have to write the next chapter, after all. As for this chapter, Kalro Olg is an interesting old Krogan. A little bit of poison won't get him down. We will be seeing a lot more of Garrus in the coming chapters, for those of you that miss him. He's got a bone to pick and it won't be pretty when he finally catches up. Gwyn would probably still try something, to be fair. But maybe it will be from the Human side of her at that point. Fear the Reaper, unless it's in a bedroom. Then, only fear the Reaper a little bit. Apparently. Until next time, thank you to everybody and good luck in your travels. Stay safe as you guys get home from all the travelling people usually do in July.


	88. Dementia: What Happens in Vegas

Chapter 88

Ilos, Pangaea Expanse, January 2183

Unlike anywhere in the Migrant Fleet, this place was built to have space. Thousands of soldiers could marshall in this area and still have room between them and others. So when Tesai decided to start singing, Tali jumped right into a giant pit of Asari and Humans. Some Batarians were on the edges, clapping and growling and stamping their feet. Krogan would humm, their deep throated noises making everyone's suit tingle with the sonic vibrations. Hanar did something with colors and spinning tentacles that was just as entertaining to watch as it was to be blinded by. It was exciting to see so many different races coming together and enjoying themselves.

Tali had selected a decently tall male Quarian to partner with, He had a thin set of shoulders, but his hips and legs were what Auntie Raan would call 'fit to dream about'. Tali wiggled her feet and offered him the position to her left, the tassels of her Alliance officer markings swaying as she danced. She was proud of them, but never had she been proven if they were proud of her. The dancing helped some, but as she started dancing with this male he started stumbling, and she had to slow down to be respectful of her choice in him.

It let her mind drift. Let her think about all the things that could go wrong. All of the problems that had hounded her since she had received her first suit. Since her father had shown her how to harvest organs and bone marrow. Since her mother had passed the point of no return, and fleet protocol had stated that her body needed to be harvested before the immune system fully collapsed. The dark memories came to her sometimes, when she had run out of things to do or her mind wandered. Shaking her mind out of it, she started dancing closer to the nice male. She still didn't know his name. He just had nice hips. She reached out, brushing his arm. He flinched, twitching away from her. Just like all the rest. She stopped dancing, stepping off the dance floor.

The male with the nice hips was long gone by the time she had refocused enough to turn around. Bosh'tet. Yervf nar Rayya was like that too. Most of the Quarians she met were terrified of her. Terrified of her family, and what they had done. She groaned in frustration. She had killed a Reaper, and she was still being treated like death walking. She no longer felt like dancing, even though Tesai was right there. The real thing, and she didn't even feel like dancing to a live performance. Some Quarian she was.

She felt someone tapping her arm. It was such an odd feeling that it didn't feel real at first. When she turned to face whoever had the courage to do it, she found herself looking at a Quarian. Male, tall, with some kind of armor reinforcement over his encounter suit. In fact, the armor was reinforced more than any other Quarian she had ever met, but only around his joints. Odd, since armor was supposed to stop people from killing you, not reinforce your own joints. The armor was colored black, while his hood was a faded red color. His hips were not quite as shapely as the insult she had been dancing with, but were very much in the acceptable range.

"Hey!" He half-shouted, so that she clearly heard him over the music. "Who was that bosh that just left the pretty girl?"

"No idea." Tali said without any emotion. She was wary that this could be just some kind of play between males. Sometimes the guys would do this kind of stupid offensive thing to get a girl's attention. "Who are you?"

"Captain Shev'rash vas Lucky Break." The stitches on her stomach quivered along with the rest of her muscles. Captain of the shipyard? "I'm kind of in awe."

"Awe of what?" Tali's voice didn't even quiver once. She silently smiled behind her vizor. Shev'rash was one of the louder voices in the Conclave, even though he rarely deigned to say anything. He was openly disdainful of the Conclave and their traditions. He openly disagreed with her father. It would be terrible for her father to see them speaking.

"I'm kind of into booze and explosives. Something that causes a big explosion? With enough force to kill a Reaper? I've got some of my private stock of spirits and I want to know every detail about a bomb that good." He was holding some kind of vial, with a blue tint to it. "Eh?"

Tali gave her hips a good swagger as she approached him. "How familiar are you with element zero that is refined and then processed?"

"I should mention," Shev'rash stated, "That I'm part of the reason that Quarians are not allowed near Korlus any longer. Apparently when you try to mix a Salarian fusion plant and a Human Omni-gel forge, you can create quite the explosion." He chuckled, a dark laugh that revealed more about his character than anything else. There had been rumors that he had been involved in some kind of explosion as a child and gotten sent on his pilgrimage early. Very early. "So, what do you say, Tali'Zorah vas…?"

"I haven't chosen a ship yet!" She had turned off her Omni-tool. "Zaal'Koris and my father are arguing over it already, and Han'gerrel is offering me something too." She shuddered. Four Admirals all wanted her. The only one who hadn't made an offer was Daro'Xen. "I haven't even finished reading the message."

"Well, I won't offer you a spot on the Lucky Break. Have to save those for the weak and the damaged. Don't want them to end up on your father's operating tables, eh?" He chuckled again, openly mentioning taboo. "You're too good for my ship. Taking you in would ruin all kinds of shit I've put together. I've got a reputation, you know?"

She finally took the offered vial, letting her suit scan it for dangerous substances. It registered as a possible dangerous substance, with enough alcohol in it to knock her right out. She set it to be diluted with some water. "So what, then? You want a ship that will be full of invalid workers and crippled technicians in ten years?"

"You think those people would survive if they had to beg for a position somewhere else? I'm giving people hope, here. I was one of those cripples! We don't have many biotics, Tali. May I call you that?" He offered her a moment to nod. "There are maybe a dozen of us that reached adulthood in the fleet. I'm the one who not only made a name for myself, but I plan on getting rid of the stigma that we already ascribe to this. I represent a medical cost that your father normally wouldn't justify. But since I'm a biotic badass, they actually shell out for my medical necessities. But for these cripples and invalids, I am the best chance they've got to have a normal life. I don't care what the fleet says or what bullshit they want to push on me. I am not liquefying my crew into antibiotics just because someone else claims they have nothing useful to offer."

"I see." Tali said. She didn't know what to think, and the repairs on the Normandy that had been done at the Lucky Break had been rather high in quality. "When they worked on my ship they seemed rather competent."

"Hope." Shev'rash took another vial and attached it to his intake systems. There was already one there, on a different port. "If they believe they are capable, then they are going to do their best. Elitism without all the arrogance of someone that gets to be on the Rayya or one of the other liveships. Chief Director Bastard made me a Captain. I'm going to show him and the Conclave how much they will regret that decision!"

"How many of those vials have you had?" She asked, finally sipping from her nutrient tube of whatever he had made. If he was taking entire vials of the stuff she should be able to handle some .. woah. Her tongue exploded with taste, and she let out a very loud screech. It was also a laugh.

"Oh ho! The lady of the hour finally tries it. It's my take on Turian brandy, mixed with some of the Kreshk fiber leaves from Rannoch." Shev'rash said. "I have had only a few swigs of the main stuff. This has real taste to it, while the other Quarian friendly drinks were made from Brohg tubers. Tasteless, but some kick to it." Tali could feel a heady feeling as she took another sip.

"It's good! I've never had anything like it!" She gave him an odd look. "How did you get Kreshk fibers? Aren't those purely for use in the liveships?"

"I traded some plants from Rannoch. Chief Bastard went there to go get something, didn't read the fine print when he decided to bring me along. We took four hundred fresh specimens from Rannoch back to the liveships. Since they are different enough genetically, we can use them to fill in the problems our own crop has been having. But with that I was able to trade for what I think the Turians are going to call Nectar wine."

"You've been to the homeworld!" All thought stopped, as she accidentally sipped another heady burst of flavor. "How!" She blinked. "Why?!"

"Oh." Was his reply. "Chief Bastard wanted to get something from the planet. We took the SR-2 and slipped past the Geth detection nets. Probably aren't going to be able to do that again. Either way, we got some art and plants, and the Conclave shat themselves."

Tali's legs decided to feel a bit weak at the idea of someone stepping foot on Rannoch. A biotic ability kept her from falling. "What was it like?" She asked, almost a whisper.

"Like we belong there." Shev'rash looked up through the windows at the sun. "The light filtered better. There was pollens in the air that I keep in a small vial in my suit. We all scraped ourselves down afterwards to test for anything, but mostly so each of us could have samples of the air and the pollens. Next time I have a few days off I'm going to take my helmet off and test those out." He sighed in contentment. Then his face took a dour turn, his eyes halfway closing and his chin tilting. "The Geth have maintained all of our buildings, but none of the colors. All of the flags and decorations that are in the old pictures are gone. We took four statues that were hand carved, though. One of them is on the Lucky Break."

She could feel a slight pressure in her head, and she wasn't sure if it was the drink or the man in front of her. "Please, tell me more."

"After you lock your knee joints so I don't have to Pull you up again. And!" He swayed a bit himself, but his own knee joints already locked to support him. "After you tell me about how you fought at the Citadel. I want to know what it took to kill one of these bosh'tet Reapers." Tali smirked. Popularity and opportunity were shining on her today.

* * *

Chamber of Contemplation, Ilos, Pangaea Expanse, January 2183

Joker had tried none of the newfangled drinks that were being offered. Well, 'tried' in the marine sense. Sipping was totally occurring. He just wasn't chugging anything like the other Normandy crew. But he was very much going to be buying some of this 'blood elixir' the Batarians had brought to this party. That stuff was tart, but t the same time had a great burn. He wheeled his chair back over, coming in front of a giant wooden cask.

"Human." The shirtless Batarian in control of the cask. "You find our swill worthy of your tongue?"

"I demand some more." Julia had explained to him one night on the Normandy that the words 'please' and 'thank you' did not exist in their language. They had like thirty forms of the word 'demand', though. "That stuff is a unique experience." Flattery of course existed in every language.

The Batarian turned up his lips, but didn't show his teeth. A good sign. "For you? You honor my work. Your demands shall be met." Instead of a little cup, he handed Joker a pint. "With all the honor you deserve."

"Hey hey!" Joker said appreciatively. "I'll be sure to come back!"

The Batarian grinned. "The SIU would be agreeable to your presence." Joker's good feeling faltered. "You are welcome to visit us upon the planet Spekilas in the Harsa system as an honored guest. Our pilots would benefit from your experience."

"I'll keep that in mind." Joker said, nodding as he moved his wheelchair away from him. At no point in the conversation did he show his teeth. That was important, with these guys. The Special Interrogation Unit were the kind of bad dudes that gave the Batarian military their creepy vibe. Their combat doctrine was something like victory at any cost. Worse than the Salarians, in fact. Unlike the Salarian STG, though, the SIU didn't have a combat doctrine that defined civilian or unacceptable casualties. Hell, they didn't even take prisoners unless they had value. Those guys were souped up thugs. Well, he amended mentally, thugs with hundreds of years of experience and a technological advantage.

His chair had to go around a massive pile of people dancing. He gave any Krogan or Hanar he saw a wide berth. No point messing around with those things. Krogan because the freaking obvious, and Hanar because he saw what one of those things could do alone on the Normandy. Some of his nightmares featured that thing coming out of a vent with a surgical instrument. He gave anything with tentacles a wide berth these days. As he went around a particularly large pack of murder-jellies, he came across something he didn't expect to see. Other people in wheelchairs.

One of them was a female with green skin. A Drell, but he had only seen that kind of species when browsing Fornax. She had bandages and a wrap over her arm. Her eyes focused on everything, it seemed like. It was like a bug staring at a room. The second chair held a Human, with brown hair that seemed a bit scruffy. The chin though, it got his attention. It was familiar. "Holy crap." Joker stopped his chair in front of the two. "Jenkins?"

Jenkins didn't respond. He didn't even look at him. "Buddy?" Joker said quietly. "You're still a buddy of mine, right? The shooting and stealing of the ship thing, that's just in the past. Right?"

"Good luck with him." An older man appeared from out of nowhere, a goatee and graying hair concealing blue eyes that glanced over Joker sharply. "He's so doped up that he can't even notice how cheap this beer is. He heard a Harper speaking and, well, the old mental reprogramming kicked in and his adrenaline levels spiked. We're still working on it, but when he's lucid he seems quite guilty. He has wanted to apologize to some of you about his actions. Can't figure out his thyroid issue yet, and with all those implants at the base of his spine I have to be more careful." He held out his hand. "Henry Lawson."

"Dr. Heart?" Joker corrected.

"An alias, I am afraid." The man said. Now that Joker was paying attention, this guy had more of an accent than Dr. Heart did. "Now, m'boy, as your doctor I have to recommend you don't mention any of the director's family by name around this one. He has small fits of rage whenever he sees something that triggers a memory of them. It wasn't done using any Human methods, and the Hanar aren't sure where Finds-Secrets found this scientific process."

"Isn't this supposed to be the most advanced scientific lab in the galaxy or something?" Joker asked. "You don't know what's implanted into his head?"

"I didn't say that I wasn't aware, only that we aren't sure. My gut is on Collector technology. It's too much like grayboxes and nerve spikes, those awful things Batarians developed. Not without help, of course. Needed the Collectors to take their slavery into the space-age, that they did." Henry seemed jovial, even though he was talking about a man's ruined life. "So, I need to keep both of these projects under control before I get to work on the near-total skeleton replacement I have scheduled in a few days."

Skeleton replacement? Joker's lips pulled back in panic. "Whoa! I haven't even picked yet!"

"Then you're a fool." Henry said callously. "I design you a fully functional skeleton that addresses every single weakness you've ever had, and gives you bones that can block biotic bullshit, and you have the gall to complain? You want to live anything less than a full life?"

"No!" Joker responded quickly. "I just don't want to work for a guy that kills millions of people!" Jack Harper might dress nice, but that guy was trouble. At least in the Alliance you had the assurance that the pain in the ass above you in the command chain was liable to not kill you. Harper didn't have that. He could make any of them disappear at any time, and he wouldn't bat an eyelid. Joker didn't trust people like that on principle, and even with the fantastic offer, there was no way that Joker could ever become complacent. Not when this guy was in charge.

"Too bad!" Henry said back. "Huerta is going to either carve a trail of blood to save his administration with you as his scapegoat, or you can become more than an expensive paperweight and fly again. Jack isn't planning on keeping you here. These Reapers are going to end, one way or another. Or if we shall end, then I won't consider myself useless or worse, guilty because I never acted where I could have." Henry had a tired voice, but there was fire there. "I have squandered my life's work just for the chance to live. My family and I were held hostage for a decade. My patents and technology doesn't belong to me. I'm a regular Philo Farnsworth! No credit for bringing modern medical science up to par! So, even though I know I'm working for a mass murderer and a jackass, I still know that I have a future. Maybe one day, that future will include me on a beach smothering my grandchildren with my well-deserved love! So, you'll keep your god-damned appointment with me. It's going to take more than 72 hours to fully replace your skeleton, and I expect you to co-operate with me on that. Or you can just become the Alliance's most expensive paperweight." There was a pause.

"You've made your point." Joker said. "I just don't like the price tag." He couldn't trust anyone that made more than him on principle, anyways.

"You, m'boy, have no idea what kind of price tag you carry. We designed this skeleton for you. An entire project just for a pilot. I wasn't convinced of its necessity until you showed off what you're capable of. We aren't buying your loyalty with this skeleton. No, this is going to make you faster, better. Your musculature will need a few modifications to handle what we are doing, but when we are done we are going to address your weaknesses. I'm a perfectionist, and if you aren't the very peak of Human possibility by the time I'm through, you can be the one to rip up my medical license." Henry said with a hint of pride. "Life has a price. Either whine about it or look beyond it."

"Will it hurt?" Joker asked quietly.

Henry grinned, his teeth reflecting the lights from the dance floor. Most of them looked like they were veneers. "Oh yes." He even laughed a little bit. Jenkins finally reacted at the laugh, his eye twitching in panic and his arm clenching. "Oh! Pesky pesky thyroid. Back to bed with you!" He glanced at the other wheelchair. "Kreana, I trust that you can handle yourself?"

The Drell nodded. Joker wheeled himself away, coming out of the crowd over by the elevators. He was very much avoiding the crazy doctor. This explained so much about what the crew muttered about Dr. Heart. His wheels got a little bit of speed as he came around the elevators, a few Batarians leaning on each other in front of one of the tubes. They cried out as someone tumbled out, knocking over a couple of their number. "Joker!" It was Kaidan, but the guy looked terrible. His shoulder was bleeding from some kind of bite mark, and there were long scratches covering his chest. His shirt was missing buttons, and was just hanging open. "Where's a medic?"

Visions of Dr. Henry Lawson working over a good guy like Alenko flashed through his mind. "Yeah, that's a really bad idea." Joker said. "What happened to you?" He reached under his chair, holding up his always-stocked first aid kit.

"Well," Kaidan said, breathing hard. "Things were going fine until we got back to the bedroom."

"Oh ho ho!" Joker cackled, finally finding something pleasant to hear about. He brought his drink up to his lips, taking a long sip from it. "Give me details!"

Kaidan didn't even look offended. It must have been something. "Thanks!" He said, taking the first aid kit, as well as his nice cup of alcohol. Which he promptly poured onto his bleeding shoulder. He gave it back, hissing behind his teeth. "Gah! You might actually be the most reasonable person to talk to about all this."

"Yeah?" Joker replied, unable to stop smirking. Kaidan had used hardly any of his pint. "That looks like teeth marks, man. Didn't know the Commander was so into that-"

"She's not!" Kaidan said quickly. "But Gwyn is."

"Whoa." Joker said. "So, uh, how did that happen?"

"Not important." Kaidan said. "You're pretty good friends with the Commander. Enough to know how she thinks."

"Ah," Joker thought for a second. He wasn't gonna get anything juicy unless he went along with this. "Yeah, you could say that."

"So, first important question. If I had sex with Gwyn, would Julia consider that cheating?"

Joker's face skewed. "That's kind of metaphysical." Huh. "I mean, they share the same body, right? And you kind of paid for it in blood already." Kaidan was bright red in the face. "But Julia is gonna feel great in the morning. Besides the gigantic bruising. So maybe she might have mercy on you for that. She might not like it, but she probably wouldn't blame you. Probably." Joker emphasized. "What did the Reaper say?"

Kaidan looked completely embarrassed. "She only had compliments once the handcuffs came on." He said quietly, before his eyes widened at the realization of what he had admitted. "Um." Neither man met the other's eyes. Joker because he was trying not to laugh, and Kaidan because he was looking at the setting sun rather than anyone he could possibly know. "Uh, second question, sort of important. Would this make Julia feel vulnerable?"

"She's gonna be vulnerable whether or not you did anything, bud. I don't know women, but I do know trauma and recovery. Our Commander isn't ok right now." He tipped his glass towards Kaidan to get his attention back on him. "But the fact that you can deal with her if she gets all nasty might be a point in your favor."

"The worst is that Harper was right." He said. "She's not a Reaper, Joker. She is Human, deep down in there." Alenko closed his eyes, thinking. "She said something, and it's bugging me."

"What did it say?" Joker still hadn't met this Gwyn, and he didn't plan to. Murderous split personalities aside, Julia was terrifying enough on her own.

"She said 'just like before Ilos'. Like we had been together before." Kaidan said. "Like we had been something once. Kept calling me a Spectre."

"Yeah, that's kind of creepy." Joker admitted. "But that doesn't make it Human."

"Reapers don't compliment you for," Kaidan trailed off, licking his lips. "Anyways. Something is going on with Gwyn and it's got me thinking. If I go back to the Alliance right now, they're going to toss me in a brig. Probably for a long time while they sort out who did what and what I've done. No matter what, I'm still looking at jail and worse. Even if they didn't send me to jail, they would send me out after you guys."

Joker flinched. Yeah, that was all kinds of messed up. "You assume I've made up my mind?"

"If I were in your shoes, I would take it." Kaidan said. "I'm a political officer, Joker. I spent most of the last decade dealing with politicians and admirals. I know what will happen to those who go back. You would be lucky to fly a shuttle, much less a capital ship. Pressley is in for worse. He's got black marks on his record. Insubordination during the First Contact War, and a host of small offences. Some of them are questionable, but it's enough to bury him." Kaidan gave a sigh. "If you don't take this, I'll be disappointed."

"Really?"

"Really." He said. "You deserve some kind of recognition. Perhaps not the infamy, but certainly the recognition."

"Of course I do!" Joker agreed. "But you're the guy who just slept with a Reaper." He gently elbowed him. "So, are you staying? I don't want to do this without someone I know." They both glanced out at the crowd of people around them. Very few were familiar faces. "It would be hard to know who to trust." Most of the crew hadn't made it. Most of the people he had gotten to know were dead, now.

"It wouldn't be anything we don't already live with. They're going to view anyone who joins them with suspicion and barely any trust. Unless you're recognized as being somebody to this crowd, you're going to be facing a tough path."

"You say that like you're preparing yourself for it." Joker said. "Or is this how you sports jocks prepare for a competition?"

"I may be a jock, but that doesn't mean I can't be smart. I'm still on the fence, especially after she bit me." He glanced down at his chest, using the first aid kit to finally cover up the bite mark. "But I realize that she might need someone to keep people safe from her alter ego."

"Mm hmm." Joker said. "It's not about the hot girlfriend?"

"Joker, I could land myself into a bed in forty seconds. Julia is not just any kind of girl that you can sleep with and move onto something else." Kaidan angled his head, motioning towards a small group of Asari that were looking them over. Maybe just looking over Kaidan. The only woman to give Joker any kind of attention today had been the little Asian one. That one has some kind of godlike core strength. "So don't bring that up again. Especially if you plan on hooking up with her sister."

"Wait, wait wait." Joker's mental processes came to a shuddering halt. "Break that down for me?"

Kaidan gave him a large grin. "That girl who jumped into your lap earlier? Julia's step-sister." It was Joker's turn to look flustered. "She's kind of possessive, if I am correctly understanding what Julia told me. So be nice, Joker. She can take the Commander in close combat." His chuckle was not shared by Joker. Joker just had visions of some hot Asian girl murdering him, or Julia doing it.

* * *

Nos Astra, Illium, Crescent Nebula

Strobe lights beat down on dancers, though the floor was not as full as it should be on a weekend. Normally this place was packed to the gills. But too many people had their eyes glued to the news feeds, or their wrists. Illium was a primary hub for information coming through the Terminus and into Asari space. In the wake of everything that had happened, revelry of all kinds had become subdued. Fornax was observing three days of mourning over the deaths of so many people. Fornax of all companies was in mourning. Garrus could hardly believe it.

But it did mean that his prey had been flushed out of hiding. Desolous was going to be out here somewhere. This was the tenth bar that Garrus had walked into. Turians were not around in any serious numbers, as each of these bars were catering mostly to Asari. Leily was down there, as his eyes and ears. She was not a great choice. She had the cuteness necessary to be a lure for Desolous, but she didn't have any great instincts for finding the wily old man. Velena was her backup, while Garrus was observing them.

"Any luck, Digna?" He asked into his wrist, as he saw Leily miss another possible hiding place for Desolous. She really didn't have the right mindset for this. But she was what he had. Velena was not willing to dress up at all. She was completely unsuited for tracking Desolous. She was raised at Palaven, and had Turian mannerisms. Even the other Asari noticed in the way she walked and expressed herself. Velena was good as a bodyguard for Leily at best.

"Lots of police reports coming in. There are a couple of interesting reports. One about a Volus being threatened by a Justicar. That will do nothing for good relations." Digna Vol had fewer breaths in his sentences than other Volus. "I also have received notification that a vid-call is to be forwarded to you from the ship. Local channels don't have the required encryptions. Would you like to accept?"

Garrus considered. Encrypted channel meant that it had to be from command. Either way, not a comfortable conversation to be having in a lounge chair inside of a bar. "Commander Vakarian speaking." He said quietly.

"See, Solana, patience wears away any bone." Garrus could feel his crop tighten in the back of his throat. "My son! Such joy it brings me to see you alive." His mother was looking aware and awake today. "When we heard the news we feared the worst!"

A high pitched chitter sounded in the background. "He's fine, Mother. Look, he's at a bar. If he were injured this would be a medbay." Her mocking undertone carried through perfectly. "You haven't called us in over a month. We were getting worried."

Garrus laughed, something long and clear and clean. "Don't I always worry you?"

His mother chided them both with a short screech. "We saw that your address was available to call. You should see the night sky here, son. Every mothyard in the system is reactivating ships. They even called the house to see if Sol and I were capable of serving in our old capacities!" Her chortling laugh sounded dusty, like it was incapable of fully carrying. "The older generation are being called forward, into militias. Apparently some Human said something terrible, and everyone is gnashing their teeth over it."

She must have been somewhat lucid when the Citadel fell. Garrus didn't want to think about it. He couldn't think about the fact that General Pallin and the rest of C-sec were gone. Half the men he had looked up to in his childhood had died defending that station. All for nothing. "Command is sending me after that Human, mother."

"Good. The spirits of the dead scream out, and much honor shall be accorded whoever manages to silence their anger." Mother blinked, her eyes losing focus. "Isn't that the Human your father investigated?"

"He never investigated this Human."

"Not that he ever documented. Some Spectre asked him to investigate the death of his brother. Grisly business that happened before he was ever part of C-sec. Part of that Relay 314 damnation." Her eyes weren't even focused on him. "We met because of that investigation. I was a logistics officer, back then. We found an Omni-tool amongst the captured enemy. It wasn't compatible with our systems, and so we made a copy of it and shelved it. Saren Arterius died, and your father needed my help to find out what happened." She refocused on him. "The Human that he investigated was named Harper. He's responsible for a lot more than that. Thinking about it, I can recognize him from that broadcast yesterday."

"He's shamed our family enough." Garrus said harshly. Someone new entered the bar that stood out. Not in the sense that they were different, but in the way they moved. It was a Drell, and he was walking with a certain grace to his steps. "You aren't going to tell me to not go after him?" He asked, when his mother hadn't responded to his earlier statement.

"Of course not. Tarn you may be, but right now you, and you alone it seems, are capable of going after him. Kill him, son. Do us proud. Don't take stupid risks, and don't miss. Come back alive, my son. But don't let your status as a Tarn keep you from acting when you have a chance to." She reached over, and pinched Solanna on the hip. "You can mention your good news, now."

She straightened her back. "As head of the family, I have to alert you when someone asks for me."

Garrus could feel his mandibles digging into the side of his face. "Was it that prat Vanir?"

"Actually it was his younger brother. We've known each other for years, and I'd like for you to talk to him." Solanna had a hard edge in her voice. She had made her decision, already, she just wanted to alert him to it. She was almost daring him to challenge it. "Kaius is a nice guy, and he doesn't have anything to inherit. He's the sixth son."

"What has he done with his life?" Garrus asked, taking the time to consider. "I'd like to hear about him before I look him up in the fleet registry."

"He's a lawmaker. A local provincial one, but he doesn't plan on going back to the war effort. All of his brothers have, so he can't." So, a middle income bureaucrat. No one special or overly controlling. "I don't want you to scare him, Garrus."

"Compared to every other male you've brought home, this one isn't sounding too bad." Garrus said. "What did he do in the military?"

"He was a police sharpshooter." She puffed up her chest.

Garrus loosened his mandibles. "Selective breeding, sister. I will give my blessing as head of the family under three conditions. The first, I want to talk to him. Multiple times, and in person once this blasted situation with the relays is dealt with. The second being that I don't want you to do this without me there. If you have one of our distant relatives present you to him, I would never forgive you." That at least he could threaten. There was no way his only sister would get mated without him there. "Lastly, I want him to take our family name."

His mother opened her mouth in disgust. Sol just looked at him with wide eyes. "This family cannot handle another weakness! I cannot permit it!"

Garrus growled. "Mother. This is for Sol's sake. This way she can keep the house." If he died. There was silence on the other end of the line while his mother and sister stared at him. "The line has to continue."

His mother didn't even give him a glance, as she took herself out of the conversation. Only Sol was left in the view of the camera. "You don't have to do that for me, Garrus. You're coming back. You're going to live."

"I'm a Tarn taking inexperienced support troops up against a massive Prothean Empire. I'm like a Human strike force going up against Manae. The only advantage I have is surprise."

"I didn't want to tell you." Sol said quietly. "Mother is already crying. I've got to go talk to her." She glanced at the screen, her eyes looking focused. "Don't give up on living, please. I don't want to bury my whole family." With her disease, his mother had a few years to live. Garrus didn't expect his children to even know her. Even if he went and found a female that would be willing to 'go for it', by the time his children would be capable of understanding their grandmother's mind would be further gone.

"I won't." Garrus said, as his sister ended the call. It just hurt to think about. "I won't." He said, just to himself. He didn't even know how long it would be until any of the Turians on this side of the relays could get back to Palaven. Years, some were saying. He didn't want to think about the possibility that there would be no mother to return home to, victorious or not.

"Commander, this is Digna Vol." The Volus was speaking as if he were in motion, breathing hard. "We've found Spectre Arterius."

"Where?" Garrus stood up, waving at Leily and Velena. Leily didn't even notice him, requiring Velena to fetch her from the dance floor.

"He is interred at the local hospital, Sir." The Volus said, sighing. "He passed out while in the company of three Asari. They couldn't rouse him, and he was taken to the hospital." He huffed for a few seconds. "We have secured the hallway. I've got our shuttle flying outside, watching for a jumper." He waited a moment, his breath slowing. "Entering the room now."

"He doesn't shoot people very often." Garrus said helpfully. "Make sure you have backup. We're ten minutes out."

"Hello?" Digna said loudly. Giggling could be heard in the background.

"You're not the nurse I was asking for!" Desolous said in the background. "I asked for that hot little number with the nice waist. Not a Volus."

"Sir and Madam," The Volus paused to take a breath. "And Madam and Madam. I request that you all don your clothing so that I may speak to you of an important matter." There was some shuffling. "Especially you, Sir."

"If I put my pants back on, then there is a zero percent chance of this happy time continuing. So, whatever you are going to say, you're saying it to my wrinkled sagging skin." Garrus blinked, as Digna Vol accidentally activated his video input. It went right into his eye piece.

"Ahh!"

"That's right! You walk in on happy times, you have to deal with the consequences! Don't think I don't hear you, Garrus!" The vision of old Turian genitals was in his eye piece. "Now you listen to me! I'm going to finish this lovely misadventure, and then I'm going to grab some allies for you. I've got a few favors that I can call in. Now, kindly get out and meet me in eight hours at docking bay 412."

"Just," Garrus had the good sense to close his eyes as the Volus kept his focus on his naked mentor. "Do what he says." The video feed was still coming in, and Garrus shuddered. "Turn off your video input, Digna."

"Regulations state that-" Garrus ended the call, growling. The last thing he wanted to deal with was a passive aggressive Volus. Digna Vol was going to be a pain in the cloaca. He didn't want to be there, and by the spirits he was finding creative ways to express that. Whether it was the single latrine assigned to their team being repaired at the slowest pace possible to taking six hours to perform weapons maintenance. The man could wield regulations like a lawmaker, but unlike those stalwart individuals Digna looked for every loop hole in the book. He did everything he was asked, but to the very literal extent of what the law allowed.

None of his people were excited to have the mission they did. All of them expressed this in different ways, but Digna was the most aggravating. The man was capable, extremely so. Getting him to actually engage himself was the impossible task. He let his head rest against the wall next to an aircar terminal. He could hear giggling from behind him, and he turned to the other problematic people in his squad. Velena was smiling, keeping her laughter behind her teeth. Leily was not so contained. She was giggling at his exasperation. He cleared his throat, and both of them came to attention. "Alright. Primary mission objective complete. We found Spectre Arterius. Thankfully this didn't involve chasing him down inside of Fornax." Velena stopped smiling. Leily was only giggling harder, but maintaining her composure. "Our secondary objective is to pick up a group of mercenaries that are all ex-Armiger legion." Velena brightened at that. "They are not at all associated with the military, and we will be purchasing their services. Their entire unit was discharged for insubordination."

"Then why are we approaching people that we can't trust?"

Garrus grinned. "Not us." He looked at both of the Asari with a hint of pride. But mostly eagerness. "I cannot be seen to be in charge of anything. Velena, you're going to offer to service their gear instead of providing sexual favors. Leily, you're going to hire them for their standard rate. I need some real troops, and the Admirals have no intention of giving me anyone capable. So I want you to hire these mercenaries through whatever means necessary. My report will not include any promises you make, only the material cost."

"Are you ordering me to.." Leily started to say, both her face and Velena's slightly colored.

"No. I'm giving you the power to make deals with mercenaries that the Turian military would normally never consider. With Palaven no longer accessible, we could even offer pardons and reinstatement under the right reasons. Don't offer your body unless you plan on doing that for a good cause. Namely a personal one." He could see her sigh in relief. "Velena, offer to fix their gear only if they sign on. I know you worked with the legion before, and the gear hasn't changed much in the last decade. I picked this group because they have come to our techs in the past for gear repair."

"Okay." Leily said, more comfortable. "I can do that."

"I trust you." Garrus lied. "Let's go."

* * *

Chamber of Contemplation, Ilos, Pangaea Expanse

Pressley had found that glaring at anything and anyone had finally driven off those surrounding him. Some crewmen had approached him, but a glare that could peel paint was enough to keep them away. The last attempt to approach him had been a few minutes ago, and he had kept everyone else back. He had waited a few extra minutes while surreptitiously checking for cloaked people. He was far away from any power outlets, or any place where they could recharge their cloaking fields. When he was finally sure that he had enough privacy, he activated his Omni-tool and slipped in an OSD that he normally kept hidden inside his belt buckle.

Communication protocols that he didn't write activated, and he could see a connection forming. It chimed happily, letting him know that the connection here on wherever-the-hell-they-were was better than when he was last able to call using this protocol. Typical that whatever Harper was using had a better connection than Arcturus. It took a few minutes to resolve the call connection, a grainy picture resolving into his wife soon enough. "Becca." She was sitting at their desk at home, wearing an oil stained shirt. "Are you repainting again?"

"No!" She said quickly. "A woman is allowed to wear grungy shirts on occasion!" She gave him a withering glance, taking in his appearance. "How far into the drink are you?"

"That's not why I'm calling."

"Chuck!" She said with a bit of venom. "You said you'd never call me drunk." Some things were better off left unsaid. Especially when he got into the drink. "What the hell is this about, then?" She asked, after a long silence.

"We survived." He said. "We won."

"I'm as happy as a saint." She said, frowning. "The rest of the Alliance ships didn't make it out of the nebula."

"We didn't either. We had to ask for help." He said, panning the view of the camera around. "I'm at the main base of Jack Harper."

"Are you sure?" Becca sounded serious. "Completely sure?"

"I found the Prothean base he's been using."

"So you're safe? Everybody make it alright?"

"No." Pressley said. "All of the marines they gave me died. Most of the crew died." He said sourly. "Lots of injuries on the survivors." He shuddered. "I almost got spaced."

"Are they holding you hostage?"

"No." He replied reasonably fast. "Not that you would accept that. After sparing our lives, he offered me a job. Vice Admiral of a fleet he's putting together."

"So, is this a social call or a ransom note?"

"I'm trying to think, woman!" He said harshly. "I don't know what to do!"

Becca's tone changed, becoming more serious. "Stop panicking and tell me what he offered you."

"Vice Admiral of his fleet. Not sure who the main admiral is. But he is throwing around Prothean technology casually, like he can just produce it. He wants to put me in charge of ships with the stuff." He sighed. "He doesn't even care if I have an open line back to Arcturus."

"So you can call me every day like a not-shitty drunk husband?" Rebecca said seriously. "Give me a minute to calm the hell down. You stay there." During that minute, Pressley drank like his life depended on it. When he brought the cup up to his lips he was able to glance around to see if anyone was nearby. Becca came back soon enough, looking even more angry. "I just talked to my brother Henry. I don't like what he told me but it makes a damn lot of sense." Rebecca would have divorced him long ago if not for their orders. "Take the job. Become indispensable. Then, we can talk about me coming out there and helping you." Pressley never reported to White. His next in the chain of intelligence officers was Becca.

"Fine!" He yelled, real and fake anger bleeding into his voice. "You just don't want me to come back to the house I'm paying for!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Admit it!"

"You can call me in a few weeks. I don't want to hear from you until you've cleaned up your shit." Becca warned. "See you, Chuck." She ended the call. Their cover was maintained. He was terribly drunk, and now wanted nothing more than to lay down somewhere. Uncle Henry was a code that Becca used to describe her orders as coming from the administration. This came from Huerta and his goons.

"So be it." Pressley said. "Just like the rest of my guddamned life. Just a pissing soap opera." He would take this job. He would be damn good at it. Then, when the moment was right, he would see what Becca's play would be. Letting her aboard Harper's Acheron had been a goldmine of information. If she could come here, it would only give her that much more of a benefit. At the end of the day, Charles Pressley was a company man. The Alliance could trust him, had trusted him in sensitive posts for near thirty years. This one would be no different. He would drink himself silly, and then hem and haw, but in the end his decision was made. "Surrender to love, let's forget about the stars." He sang to himself. Anyone with an Omni-tool could figure out what he was singing, as he pounded the last of his cup. "Let's forget about the stars." One thing was for sure. He needed more swill. Something to really knock him on his ass. "Let's forget about the stars." He could barely remember the rest of the song, but the last chorus he could keep together fine, always. His feet took him loyally back to the giant barrels of moral solvent. "What have you got that will knock me right out?" He asked the Krogan directing all of this. His name was Kol.

"You want to try some Ryncol?" the beast asked. "I'm pretty sure you can't handle it." His tone wasn't mocking in any way.

"My body can handle it, so long as you aren't hitting me with Salarian blood or something like that." A substance that gave off fumes like old petroleum was poured into his cup. It was heady, something that already warned him that this would be a bad idea. There was maybe an ounce in there. "Surrender to love" Pressley hummed, before pinching his nose and drinking.


	89. Dementia: Expecting the Unexpected

Chapter 89

Chamber of Contemplation, Ilos, Pangaea Expanse

 

Charles was deeply enjoying the party.  His girlfriend was singing, all of the plans were either completely useless or went off as directed, and the number of things he had to concern himself with had dropped from a colossal shit-ton to manageable.  Right now, he carefully sipped some kind of wine from Jack’s stock.  His little drone made from the old suit Tesai wore on her pilgrimage was floating around him, using its attached gloves to hold up a screen so that he could mingle and bring his work with him.  “Nurgle, change orbit angle fifteen degrees to the right.”  The drone happily beeped and moved, giving him a better view of his girlfriend gyrating on stage.  

It was hard, being with a celebrity.  Oh yes, so hard.  He really didn’t have much trouble, actually.  He just made it sound hard so that people would be more impressed with him when he met them.  Well, that would be if he ever took the time to be truly social.  He had VIs and AIs to manage his social networking and social contacts.  So he rarely had time to engage socially, or took the time.  It was moments like this, surrounded by all these people, that he realized it kind of crippled him.  He had no real practice at this, since he just didn’t feel like doing it.  

“Maybe I should ask the kiddo that handles this what they think?” He said to himself.  As a form of practice, he had made two AIs over the years based off his personality.  Well, his and Tesai’s personality.  They didn’t have any ability to have children normally, and the Quarians didn’t really have orphans.  Daro’Xen said that she would rather get shot by a geth than ask anyone to give up a Quarian to a mixed heritage family.  So he assumed the other admirals would never give him a nicer answer.  Xen was at least cordial with him.  

His screen lit up with happy bubbling, the graphical display forming a new message.  It was from Isa, the female AI he had mostly designed off of Tesai’s personality profile.  Well, her profile from six years ago.  The maturity wasn’t quite there yet.  “ _ Dad!  Dad!  I found something! _ ”

“Ah, cool!” He said jovially.  Charles stepped back over by the railing, where he could at least have a conversation with his little AI child without other people giving him the usual weird looks.  “What did you find this time?”

“ _ Vigil had to handle a lot of incoming requests for information, so he delegated the searching and categorizing of Citadel information to techs and your darling daughter Isa. _ ”  His creation spoke with a mixture of female voices that guaranteed it to be unique.  Quarian and Human tongues just couldn’t combine any other way.  He blinked, trying not to think about that as he refocused on the screen.  “ _ Because I am so trusted. _ ” She snarked.  “ _ But I wanted to alert you to something. _ ”

“Yeah, yeah.” Charles said.  “Go ahead.”  

“ _ Daro’Xen just pulled a file from the archive.  Locked its contents.  I wasn’t able to see it before she did so. _ ”  Isa told him.  “ _ Normally that isn’t a problem, but since it came from the Spectre Archives I thought you might need to know. _ ”

Charles grinned.  “Okay, conference call time.  Isa, please invite Avina.”

“ _ She’s been isolated so that she can change her decision tables and lock down her new priorities. _ ”  Isa said.  “ _ But I don’t see why we can’t talk to her in the meantime. _ ”

There was a sound like a bubbling drink, and Avina connected, her avatar and voice already pre-set.  “ _ What did you need, Charles Archer? _ ”  Not calling him creator.  That was a good sign.  A really good sign that Avina’s consciousness was not associating itself with him as its sole provider.  It took Isa weeks for that.  

“Daro’Xen just deleted an archive from the Spectre records.  I need to know what that was.  Since you’re in isolation, do you think you could give us an idea of what she deleted?”

“ _ I am currently isolated from the other Mainframes.  I cannot compare my records to the copies uploaded. _ ”  Avina said bluntly.  

“I’m not asking you to compare.” Charles told her.  “I just want you to do an index of Spectre Records and look at what Daro’Xen would likely have chosen to delete.”  

“ _ Daro’Xen nar Idenna was wanted in Citadel space for hacking, _ ” Avina stopped for a second.  “ _ Me.  She hacked me on her Pilgrimage. _ ”  Avina frowned.  “ _ Indexing Spectre records on the subject.  No records found. _ ”  Avina was still frowning.  This early in her life, it would be catastrophic for her to focus so hard on something like a threat.  

“Avina, forget about her hacking you.  That was a long time ago and whatever happened is no longer valid.  We can discuss that later.  Is there anything in the Spectre Archives that might have been of interest to her?”

“ _ Indexing complete.  There is a mission report that still has many details omitted that discusses an Operation Morningstar.  It’s target is Rannoch. _ ”  

“Huh.  How many Spectre missions were there on Rannoch?”

“ _ Fourteen.  Two stand out, Operation Morningstar and Operation Lunar Revel. _ ”  Avina said.  “ _ Authentication codes of Spectres on Friess Station are required to see all of the details.  Destination points and dates are listed, but little else can be discerned. _ ”  Avina said without any emotional inflection.  That would come with time.  “ _ Morningstar and Lunar Revel both occurred during the same time period.  Odd, this time period is consistent with the riots on Rannoch that sparked the war against the Geth. _ ”  

“So the Spectres were on Rannoch when the Geth war started?”  He mused.  “Tell me more!”

“ _ Operations only list a city on the smallest continent and a space of time that corresponds with some of the events that started the war.  Spectre involvement is unlikely, as the reports only list something about removing a single object.  Oddly, both missions failed. _ ”  

“What?”

“ _ None of the teams reported back.  Mission reports are empty in regards to their demise or capture. _ ”  Avina added helpfully.  “ _ Names are not listed, and seven Spectres were sent on both missions consecutively.  Races and names are omitted.  What I can tell you after skimming the report is that the Spectre teams list data nodes as being important to their mission, but the data has been removed that was supposed to be relevant to them. _ ”  

“Huh.  Not sure why Daro’Xen would want those files deleted.  Not much to go on there.”  Charles waved at some of the people he worked with.  Maybe if he remembered their names it would be better, but since he didn’t he just waved his arm and they waved back.  Other than getting cornered by Kaidan that was the sum total of his social experience at this party.  “Success!”

“ _ What? _ ” Avina asked. 

“Uh, sorry.  Just thinking.  Where is Admiral Daro’Xen, Isa?”

“ _ She took a shuttle up to her new frigate in orbit. _ ”  Isa said helpfully.  “ _ Specifically ninety seconds after initially accessing the Spectre Archive. _ ”  

Charles grinned.  “Subtle, she is not.  Suspicious, this is.”

“ _ Dad, you’re doing a Yoda. _ ”  Isa reminded him.  “ _ Strange, my orbital sensors can’t find the vessel she was supposed to be taking. _ ”  She paused, a sign that the AI was using all of her abilities to help him.  “ _ The shuttle disappeared in orbit.  The only logical conclusion I can make is that- _ ”

“She made her own SR ship.” Charles finished for her.  “She’s got a cloaking ship and hightailed it out of here.”  He didn’t like this at all.  “Avina, thank you very much for your time and concern.  I’ll do my best to report on how helpful you’ve been and get you out of isolation faster.”

The pink Asari face smiled for him.  “ _ Such would be appreciated, Charles Archer. _ ”  Her connection ended after the face of her avatar closed its ‘eyes’.  Perhaps that was just some of the personality matrices that the Asari programmers had put in, but Charles liked it.  Isa he taught how to wink first.  It was adorable, and still was.  

“Isa, call Jack.”

“ _ He is unavailable. _ ” She reported.  “ _ Shall I call Hannah?  Her Omni-tool is next to his. _ ”

“Yeah.  Or just send them a message detailing what just happened.”  

There was a twenty second pause.  “ _ Mrs. Hannah threatened my bluebox with a knife! _ ”  Isa whined.  “ _ Her special murder-knife! _ ”  Isa calmed down a bit.  “ _ Jack says you found it, you deal with it as you see fit.  If you need to use Crucible assets please alert Julia. _ ” 

“Huh.”  Jack was normally the guy with a plan for everything.  Well, it had been quite the day.  “Isa, could you tell me the current status of Julia Harper, Kaidan Alenko, and Henry Gunn?”  Henry was the nominal head guy under Hannah for Crucible.  He would know best how to act here.  “Also, have teams prepare the SR-2 for takeoff in the next hour.”  

“ _ All teams are currently attending the party.  Orders left by Daro’Xen state that no repair crews are to act for two days.  She also had a nice note to enjoy the party. _ ”

“When was this order given?”

“ _ Hours before she accessed the Spectre Archive. _ ”  

“So she isn’t doing this all on a whim.  She was expecting something like this.”  Charles made a  _ hmm _ sound that he supposed sounded smart.  Not that anyone could say that he wasn’t, but someone as young as him had to prove he was smart.  “She knows something I don’t about all this.”

“ _ Mom says she is coming over.  She thinks you are being reclusive. _ ”

“Perfect!” Charles said happily.  “My personal waitress!”  

She chuckled.  She had walked up to him, her hips swivelling loosely.  “So, what has you so distracted?  Isa is handling our PR duties.”  

“Well, Daro’Xen just ran off to Rannoch.”  He bit his lip.  “I think.”  

That got her attention.  “Why?”

“Some kind of files in the Spectre Archives.  Apparently there were two operations on Rannoch right at the start of the Morning War.”  He glanced at the records.  “In an area called Corv’Isti.”  Tesai stepped close to him, not even concerned about how it would look.  

“There are so many myths about that place.” She said.  “I’m not a lore keeper, but I know we have lots of myths about that place.  It was the place where Geth were invented, after all.”  

“Really?” Charles said.  “The robots or the software?”

“Software.  The original Geth nodes are there.  Though they were moved to space to help with storage and cooling.” She told him.  “But the best scientists of our race worked there.”

“So Spectres were sent there to deal with something, and Daro’Xen freaked out and took one of her stealth craft to go to Rannoch.”  He stated.  “Then she took all of the crews off the SR-2’s repair orders for the next two days.”

“Hmm.”  She paused.  “Daro’Xen doesn’t do subtle.  She doesn’t want anyone following her.  But,” Her voice changed octaves.  “I know of a team of technicians not under her control.  They might be a bit tired, and it’s only been twelve hours since the party started.  They probably have rested.”  

“Who?  All of the Quarians here are under the authority of the Scientific Fleet.  Even you cannot go against her orders.”  Tesai was part of the Science fleets under Xen.  She had finished her pilgrimage and been accepted to one of their ships, but really she had made her home here on Ilos.  

“I can ask Javik if we may use the SR-2, which I do not think he would mind.  If I ask nicely, I’m sure he would let you use it.”  Tesai said.  “What you need is a crew to help you.”  

“Oh no no no.”  Charles said, immediately connecting the dots.  “I am not going to demand that the Alliance schmucks help us out.  That’s already a bad idea.  I haven’t even gained back any trust.”  

“Do what I do when I really need something.” Tesai said breathily.  “Beg.” That of course provoked all kinds of reactions in him.  When she saw his eyes close in reaction, she laughed, a tinkle of sounds.  “But really, you should go and beg for their help.  If you want the SR-2 ready in a reasonable amount of time.  I’ll go and ask Javik to release it to our use.”  She turned to the haptic interface deployed from his arm.  “Isa, please send Director Harper a transcript of this conversation and report on our progress.  If he chooses to intervene, now would be the time.”  That way Jack wouldn’t have to waste time talking or waiting for them to explain.  

They got a reply immediately.  ‘ _ Charles has direct command of the mission.  Any and all assets are authorized to be used to beat Daro’Xen to her objective.  Even the Shadow Broker himself can be contacted for information in regards to this project.  Daro’Xen is not to be stopped or interfered with.  We cannot risk our alliance with the Quarians at this time.  Beat her to her task, find out what it is, see if it jeopardizes us. But preserve our alliance at all costs.  She would not have disabled our attempts to follow without cause, or concern that our alliance was at risk if we found out about whatever it is she is after. _ ’

“Isa, can you find all of the SR-1 crew for me?  Display on access list map.”  A view of the local towers popped up, and he could see that almost all of them were in the Ugly Tower.  Kaidan and Julia were here in the administration tower, and their Quarians were in the hammock chamber for the techs.  It looked like the room’s rated maximum lifesigns had been exceeded.  He shrugged on that.  Quarians could handle the comfort of tiny compartments and small spaces better than other races.  “Okay, let’s make a private channel for all of them, but don’t access it yet or distribute the connection.” He sighed.  “Is Kaidan awake?”

“ _ Yes, he is!  His current location is twenty feet behind you. _ ”

Charles sighed, preparing himself.  He turned around from the railing, seeing that Kaidan wasn’t actually heading for him.  He was talking with two of his crewmates.  The wheelchair bound fellow and the old man.  It was the XO, Pressley, looking quite glum.  Or possibly in pain.  They were just meeting there.  It wasn’t some plot to push him over the railing.  Charles shook his head, clearing it of the paranoia.  If Kaidan wanted to knock him over the railing, he could have done so with a twitch of his hand.  

Jack was telling him that he needed to do this, if anything that just made the pressure worse. Before mostly everything Charles had done was to follow Jack’s instructions, even when they were vague. Here all he had was ‘get it done’ and the only way he could do that was going to require him to talk to people. Even still Charles had to take multiple deep breaths to shove aside his social anxieties and push forward.

Putting on a Councilor’s grin... no that wouldn’t do. He needed to get them to work with him not to put their backs up or think he was hiding something. Instead he tried to imitate Jack’s easy calm and collected smile he had seen the man wearing a few times when plans were going his way. Charles didn’t know if he was imitating it perfectly but he could only hope it worked as he crossed the last few open feet between him and Kaidan’s group.

Unfortunately for Charles it wasn’t Kaidan that saw him coming first. It was Pressley, and their encounter on the Citadel was probably still fresh in the old man’s mind.  The old man widened his eyes, bloodshot lines crossing them.  “You!” His voice shook.  “What do you want?”

“A favor.” Charles started.  “Well, actually, more than that.”  

“Start talking.” He heard the voice of Julia, but didn’t see her.  She must be cloaked here somewhere.  “You wouldn’t approach us without good reason, considering that not everyone has made a decision.”

“Yeah, about that.” Charles said.  “I really don’t care.  Here’s the facts.  The Quarian Admiral that we have an agreement with seems to be going rogue.  Or is going on some kind of suicide mission because she read something about Spectres from three hundred years ago.  She’s stopped all ships from leaving the system, and all of the repair crews from launching the Prothean fleet ships.”  Charles saw little to no signs of comprehension.  “If anything happens to her, the Prothean Empire falls apart.  She provides the manpower, we provide the responsibility if anything goes wrong.  Her ships and people get access to tech, while we profit from their skilled labor.  The most I’ve been able to do is make drones that can remove algae stains.  They’re the ones keeping this place operational.”  Now there was comprehension.  “So right now it’s at risk because she went after something at Rannoch.”

“Isn’t that the middle of Geth Space?”

“Pssh.” Charles said.  “We can get in there.  We’ve got more vessels like the SR-1 the Alliance made.  Except, of course, better.”  

“Better how?” The wheelchair bound man asked pointedly.  

“Prothean engines and stabilizers.  Prothean designed thermal storage capacitors.”  Charles listed off the top of his head. “A bunch of other little details, nothing too cosmetic.  Had to be able to replace you if we had to use Plan F.”  He waved his hands in front of himself. “Anyways!  I need your help to stop her from dying or making a huge mistake.  We can’t risk her life, and whatever she is doing is probably harmful.  I’ve got some people from Crucible coming, but I need a crew that know how to prep and launch one of these things.  Since all of the teams here but you are under her command, I was hoping you would help us out.”  He waited a long moment.  “Since some of you might be staying.”

It was a hard thing to ask.  He knew there would be some push back.  Just who would it come from was the question.  “Okay.” He closed his eyes, expecting something else.  “Are you alright?”  Kaidan asked him, looking concerned.

“I keep expecting things to go poorly.”  Charles admitted.  “Or the old man there to beat me over the head with a shovel.”  

“You’d never see it coming.” Pressley muttered.  

“Stow it.” Julia said, Charles guessing it was from behind the wheelchair.  “We’re helping.  We’re just not combat ready.  We won’t be for a bit.  All of us need time to recover.”  

“Yeah, that’s kind of a problem.  Daro’Xen left less than an hour ago in a Quarian modified stealth frigate.  Or gunboat.  We thought it was just a welded wing of another ship until today.”  Charles explained.  “Either way, her ship isn’t designed from the ground up for stealth.  It’s going to be as inefficient as the  _ Acheron _ is.  Perhaps worse.  The SR-2 there can maintain a good 9 or 10 hours before things get steamy.  Though that is assuming people use rebreather masks and air recyclers to reduce the load and get another ten or twenty minutes out of it.”

“Prothean engines?” Joker was still repeating.  That was the guy’s name!  Charles repeated it four times in his head to make sure it didn’t slip out again.  “We don’t even half a skeleton crew.”

“Nor the ratings for technology we haven’t been briefed on.” Pressley growled.  “We lack the manpower, the skills and technical knowledge, and the time to familiarize ourselves with it.  You’re setting us up for something,  _ boy _ .”  

“I’m actually desperate?” Charles corrected him.  “Uh, so, I can get a team of five or six, and you guys have some crew, and I was going to supplement with some drones.”  He gave them a nervous smile.  “I’m not planning on combat, but we  _ are _ going to Rannoch.”

“Tali is going to have a panic attack when she hears about that.” Julia said.  “She’s with the other Quarians.”  Julia seemed quiet.  Or maybe she was that kind of scary.  “I’ll tell her about this.  As for the decisions, we’ve all made ours.  We’re staying.”  Charles glanced at the group.

Joker looked like he was the most determined.  He was honestly smiling.  Kaidan was  _ not _ smiling.  He was resolute, but sad.  Julia was invisible, and obviously impossible to judge.  The old man was grinding his teeth together, hungover and mad.  “All of us.  We might not like you, or accept your methods, but the Reapers are worth fighting against.”  The old man closed his eyes, pressing his fingers to either side of his nose.  “God, I need another drink.”

Charles just blinked.  He didn’t really know what to say.  He wasn’t Jack, he wasn’t the man with the plan.  “Uh, ok then.  I’m just going to wait here and assume you guys know what you’re doing.”  His mind filled in one of the blanks for him.  “And I’ll get all of our anti-geth munitions delivered to the ship.  We’ve got some top of the line Migrant Fleet Marine rifles and shotguns in stock.”

“Just make sure that you approve of all of the munitions we might need.”

“You got it, Rear Admiral Pressley!” Charles said, just letting his AI do it.  It was easier that way.  The old man just twitched his eyebrow.  “You should probably get used to it now, you know.  The command structure is kind of military, but people can be replaced like it’s a PMC.  So firing people is kind of easy.  Though if you want to promote people instead of hiring new people to fill the positions, go right ahead.”  

“Are officers allowed to drink while on duty?” He asked after a long moment.  

“Drink Responsibly?” He said, shrugging.  “I’ll see you guys at the ship.  It’s in docking bay....” He glanced at his wrist, seeing the flash of his AI child filling in the blanks.  “30.  You should all have access to it.”  He gave a gentle nod to Kaidan.  “Just let me know if there is anything else you need.  The local AIs and VIs should be able to help you.”  

Julia’s voice spoke up.  “We will all be there.  I’ll personally,” There was some kind of scuffling sound.  “Get off!” Julia yelled, finally coming into view.  She had fallen to the ground, her catsuit’s stealth field collapsing as she landed.  Behind Joker, there was a shimmer as someone grabbed hold of the wheelchair, turning it around.  “Kasumi, you give him back!”

“Help!” Joker cried out.  “I’m being kidnapped and,” He paused.  “Give me thirty minutes!”  Kaidan had his arm cocked slightly, ready to retrieve the pilot.  

“Well.” Kaidan muttered.  “Kasumi owes me.  She will bring him back in thirty minutes.”

 

Omega Orbit, Sahabrik System, February 2183

 

Omega had been hell to get through. Aria T’loak had realized instantly that with the destruction of the Citadel, the only way for the galactic trade routes to be maintained was to go through Omega.  Within the first solar day, the balance of power shifted on Omega.  Anyone with a ship could join Aria’s navy.  Anything that had a gun and flew was welcome to join.  The only way to get from Human and Salarian space back over to Asari, Hanar, and Elcor space was to go the long way around.  Through Batarian claimed space, Omega, back through Ilium, and then so on.  The standards on customs mostly came down to ‘Pay the damn toll, bribe the guy with the scanner.  Pay for a scan once when you arrive, once when you leave.’

They didn’t scan for any kind of goods, they just wanted to make sure that they could track what was going on.  All of that was beneficial to the new warlord arriving.  He puffed up his chest, watching as the hardened suit he wore went another inch off the ground.  It was customized, and not the bulbous civilian brands that were sold by the thousand.  No, he would never show up looking like that.  Kumon Shol had standards.  Big standards.  He was wearing what the ancient warlords used to consider good taste.  When it was just the Salarians and Asari, the ancient Volus then used to look like walking pyramids.  The armor on their home planet had to be able to handle rapid increasing and decreasing pressures, and most civilian models were soon modeled after spheres, to come and go at a whim.  The military models were either rhomboid or pyramidal.  The ancient warlords of the Volus race would ornament the corners of their armor, with markings to differentiate who had accomplished more for their clan.  This fell out of favor near the time where the Volus agreed to become a client race, and the production of blocky armor that lacked ornamentation began.

Kumon shook his head at that, grinning.  He would be noticed with this armor.  Other Volus saw it and knew its meaning.  It evoked fear from them.  The other races would point and laugh.  Or be curious and ask someone about it.  Hundreds of years ago, the Volus had altered their own historical records to remove all signs of military strength.  It was deemed a political move by the Thenn clan, to make the Volus more pitiable.  More pliant.  It allowed the newer Batarians and Quarians to trust them with monetary resources and gave them more legitimacy.  Oh, but some families had resisted the purge of data.  Like Clan Shol. They still kept to the old ways.  That was why he wore this armor.  History should not be forgotten.  

The Volus were once a mighty race.  Mighty and terrible to behold.  Then some politician decided to wash away everything that gave their young males pride.  Everything that gave them arrogance.  All of the statues commemorating their greatest military minds were gone.  All of their works respecting the Volus who fought and died fighting the Rachni were forgotten and buried in a museum which promptly was closed.  Perhaps they threw away the key.  In the Ammonia that made up their atmosphere, things would break down if not cared for.  

Everyone simply assumed that Volus were not capable of being warlike.  Or incapable of expressing their hatred for something strong enough they would enact physical violence.  It was not quite true, and not quite false.  The Volus of different regions on Iruune had different characteristics.  Much like Humans or Asari in their skin variations, clans of like minded Volus interbred for thousands of years to form different sub races.  When they became part of the Citadel, they claimed their allegiance to those sub races through clan names.  The clan names told their own story.  A Volus could introduce himself by his many names, each one earned for actions and sales of note.  

Stupidity.  Clan names used to be something more.  Certain names held fear for the populace.  Vol, Shol, Rhun.  The three families that fought over the central growing plantations for thousands of years.  The plantations were worked by other families, of course.  Vol, Shol, and Rhun all were in the business of commanding.  When they got to space, client clans would attach themselves to one of the three big families, or be marked with their name as a form of approval.  Having one of those names gave power in the early days.  

Not like today.  Not like it was now.  Before the Turians, they had their own Navy.  It was not anything grand, but the Rhun and Shol clans gladly stood with their allies in war.  The Vol clan took on the duties of the Home Guard, while the other two saw glory, a chance to prove themselves. Rhun and Shol were disgraced during the first push on Rachni space.  Their weapons were crude, compared to the Salarians.  They were ineffective, yet his clan stayed.  The utter fools.  Clan Vol had their sacrifices removed from Citadel histories, from all of the histories.  Only the Krogan remember what the Volus did in that war, and those Krogan have very selective memory.  

Kumon himself was no noble scion or important child of the dynastic lines.  Those poor sods were stuck in the great game of ascendancy.  They could do that if they wanted to.  Kumon inherited a large fortune, his father’s work, and a mountain of creditors.  Rather than face them when he turned of age to receive his inheritance(for that was what they were waiting for) Kumon left.  He claimed it remotely, on Illium.  He lost a small percentage, but it didn’t matter. 

“Vardak,” He said slowly.  “If any Salarians approach my ship this time I want them dead before they can offer me any kind of services.  I don’t want to deal with any more tech gang subtleties.”

Vardak Jorgal was a Krogan.  He had been part of the family for the last forty years, and a close friend of his grandfather.  He didn’t mind working for a Volus, especially Kumon.  They paid well enough that he could afford to keep his children supplied and armed back on Tuchanka, and the vacation time covered by Kumon managed to keep him sated.  Vacation time was an unknown to some races.  Salarians believed in short periods of personal exploration between phases of life.  Asari mixed business and pleasure to a degree most Volus found insulting.  For the Volus, mental breakdowns could occur easily with the wider galaxy and its threats.  Their meagre power was only maintained through countless treaties, banking efforts, and capital gains.  

Kumon roiled at that.  The Volus had been mighty, once.  Mocked when their weapons were ineffective against the Rachni.  The mighty clans of Shol and Rhun sent their fleets anyways, fighting even though they knew they couldn’t so much as harm the enemy.  But they did what they could.  They took hits, they took over for Asari patrol duties so that their ships could be effective.  There was some statue honoring their efforts somewhere on Thessia, but no one bothered to remember it after clan Vol destroyed their kind from within.  

The traitors had castrated their race, using their power to sign away their freedoms to the Turians.  What a catastrophic failure that was.  Sure, it protected them from the Krogan advances, as their ships were quite easy for their kind to take over.  Kumon chuckled at the thought of that now, after his family spent the last two hundred years building a relationship with clan Jorgal.  With their ingrained loyalty and long memories, the Krogan made better allies and friends than enemies.  

“You’ve been sitting there laughing for two minutes now.” Vardak rumbled from far above him.  “You’re worse than an old Shaman.”

“I welcome your compliment.”  Kumon told him.  “When shall we approach Omega?”

“While you were reminiscing, we began preparations to land.  Aria was not pleased at the number of ships arriving, but understands that your supplies are of critical importance.”  

“I brought every ship I have.” Kumon spoke with pride.  “With every Turian supply line broken, the only supplier of dextro food this galaxy has is me.”  

“And Harper.”

“And Harper.” Kumon echoed with some regret.  “He must have been planning the destruction of the citadel for decades, with how much food processing facilities he has placed on Virmire.”

“But the amount of food we have stored on Klencory can feed every Turian in the Terminus for decades.  He must have planets and parts of his Prothean Empire dedicated to supporting species.” Vardak grumbled.  “Harper gave us a serious advantage by giving us the custody of those foods.”

“Harper is trusting us with the food market.  It suggests a disturbing possibility that his ships and supply lines are needed elsewhere.”  Kumon said.  Vardak gently rumbled something in his throat before he could fall into further contemplation.  “Hm yes, a disturbing trend.”

“So you’ve spent hours ranting about.” Vardak said.  “We’re landing, and Aria sent her squad of threatening Batarians to send a message.”

“I have Krogan, and Volus that do not believe in weakness.  She can talk about bribes and extorting us.  But my intentions have a far greater goal in mind.”  He laughed, the sound echoing through his pyramidal suit.  

“Your entire family has not shut up about four eyed godlike beings, and I am not about to let you go off on that again.” Vardak stomped towards the doors.  “Time to bargain with the Queen of Omega.  Stay lucid long enough for your chat, and we can both come out of this alive and rich.”

“Rich enough to challenge the gods.” Kumon said, laughing again.  “My name shall echo across the stars, Vardak.”  He raised his hands towards the consoles, his armor reflecting the light of his customized command deck.  “The other warlords will know fear.  Clan Shol will hold power once again!”

 

Illium, Tasale System, February 2183

 

“What do you mean our ship is gone!” Garrus roared.  The dock authority gave him a pleasant smile that did not reach her eyes.  Her dress was quite modest for an Asari.  “We paid all of our docking fees.”

“I am sorry, Sir, but the docking fees we received allowed for a temporary docking pass.  When that time was deemed to be fulfilled, your ship was ordered to leave the system.  It was understood that your pilots would alert you to their change of status?”

“They aren’t mine!  They had orders to wait for me!”  

“I am sorry sir, but from what they told me, you were unavailable.  They contacted local Turian fleet authorities and received new orders.  They departed amicably.”  Her smiles did not reach the eyes this time.   

“Well.” Garrus said neutrally.  “Thank you for your excellent service.” He didn’t even wait for a reply before turning around and facing his team.  Leily and Velena were looking back at him with flat looks.  “I see that our pilots were only too eager to leave our scales to rot.”  

“Captain Scipii and her team will be here soon.  They aren’t going to be so excited to hear that you don’t have a ship.”  

“Well, we don’t.  Not really.  We would have to hire one, now.”  

“Young Tarn!”  Garrus closed his eyes for a long second, not ready to deal with Desolous quite yet.  When he opened them, he saw that Desolous was arrived with quite the retinue.  Salarians, Asari, and the five retired Armigiers that he had hoped would be late were all walking towards him and his own small retinue.  “I brought a stripper just for you!”  

Desolous pointed at an Asari in front of the group, who looked anything but a stripper.  She was in full armor, covered in small Silaris scale-work.  That company specialized in anti-biotic armor and the signature ‘scales’ on the armor were a dead giveaway that this was not a normal Asari.  “The limp old man says you’re going after Harper’s brat.  She ruined an entire base that I controlled.  The Eclipse don’t want me back until I have avenged them, and you’re the closest I’ll get to that.  Desolous said something about that before he passed out underneath me.”  

“I wouldn’t call it passing out…” Desolous started saying.  

“Dahlia Dantius.” She said, extending her hand.  Garrus did not shake it.  He knew exactly who this was.  Daughter of Matriarch Dantius, and one of the heirs to Fornax.  A known slaver and Eclipse commander.  

“Desolous, what’s the bounty on her head?” Garrus said, not taking his eyes off of her.

“Nothing.” The old Turian answered.  “The Citadel Laws that she broke are meaningless now.  Without a claims court for the lives she has ruined, there is no prison in the galaxy that would hold her.  To be terribly honest, Garrus, I’ve been sleeping my way through the Eclipse looking for allies in our little war.”  

“Is that what you call it.”  He still didn’t look away from Dahlia.  “So even if we apprehended her, they would just let her go?”

“Yup!” Desolous said happily.  “But you need her.  Having someone legitimate in the Terminus is going to help.  Because I brought a lot more assets.”  Desolous made some hand waving to bring up the entourage.  “I’d probably remember who you are, but I honestly don’t remember talking to any of you.”  Commander Ren Scipii had pushed her way to the front, elbowing past a couple of Salarians in nondescript armor.  

“Garrus Vakarian?” The female Turian said.  “Ren Scipii.  You promised to maintain our gear, pay for replacements if we got damaged doing Spectre sk’ak?”

“That I did.” He speaks, grinning.  “Velena, here, is a fully registered technician for Armiger gear.  She will keep you in business if you can keep me supported.”  Garrus says.  “We’re going after the people that wiped out the Citadel.”

“Excellent.” One of the Salarians interrupted.  “Transactions concerningly apt, but time is of the essence.”  At Garrus’ confused glance, the Salarian spoke again, rapid fire details coming from his mouth.  “Spectre Desolous contacted me before the fall of the Citadel.  Needed answers.  Don’t have them yet.”  

“And you are?”

“Mordin Solus.  STG.”  He grinned, a Salarian expression that Garrus associated with intense discomfort.  “Technically retired.  Along with fifty other operatives.”  

“Why retired operatives?” Garrus asked, less suspicious.  Salarians didn’t twist their words the way that Asari often did.  “Did Desolous call you?”

“No.” Mordin said with glee.  “We  _ found _ him.  Followed him to you.  We were sent by someone with a bit more authority.”

“Who?” The lead Spectre was dead.  An Asari Matriarch was dead, and he already knew that the Hierarchy were facing allegations in regards to those actions.  “Clan Marsula wouldn’t have any respect left for me.”

“Councillor Tevos survived the attack upon the Citadel.  She said to the Dalatrass in charge of her recovery that she had specific orders to be executed.  That Dalatrass is Helmi Solus, one of the lesser Dalatrass in charge of Clan Solus.  I brought STG teams, a ship, and resources that are much needed to fulfill her words.”  

“Which are?”

“Find and kill every single Human related to the Harpers, as they are all impudent little  _ Mel’Shi  _ with no respect for thousands of years of effort.  Garrus Vakarian knows them best, and all aid is to be given to him.”  Mordin gave a grin, his eyes closing fully to emphasize this.  “Clan Solus cannot muster the fleets into the Traverse against an invisible Empire.  However, we have brought fifty senior STG agents and the Solus family cruiser.”  The Salarians all saluted as a whole.  “In all of my years I have only known one other ‘Mel’Shi’ on record, and that was the League of One.  We aren’t going to underestimate Harper any further.  You are the Spectre with the most information and experience in hunting him.  Whatever you need, we will help you acquire.  Ships, guns, armies, fleets,  _ favors _ .”  The last was said with a very satisfied smile.  “Desolous commanded fleets when the Humans first fought against the Turians.  I am sure that such experience will help in this effort, but I must assure you that we are here to follow you.  Councillor Tevos has placed her trust in you.”

“Why would she do that?” Garrus growled levelly.  “I am unsuited for duty after my failure.”  Matriarch Marsula died under his watch, the oldest living Spectre.  

“Perhaps the Asari government may not have its trust in you at this time, but  _ Tevos _ stated that she had the deepest of confidence that you could stop Harper from destroying the rest of the galaxy.  She could not make an official statement, but she gave specific orders to my family’s dalatrass, who acted upon their needs immediately.”

“Alright then.” Garrus said.  “She said I had command?”

“My ship, your command.  Will only intercede against your orders if logic has abandoned you.”  Mordin assured him. “Desolous did not feel that he had the experience to be in charge.”

Garrus gave Desolous a hard look.  He just didn’t want to lead anything anymore.  The last time he had shown any kind of investment of leadership, it had been when he got Garrus into bootcamp.  After that, he had soon stopped caring.  The old man had done his last mission as an active Spectre, somewhere in Alliance space.  Whatever he encountered out there, it spooked him into retirement.  Just like the last fifteen years, the old man stepped back and disengaged.  At this point, it wouldn’t have killed the old man to actually get off his ass and help for once.  

Clenching his mandibles, he faced the Salarians.  “Attention.” The command in his native tongue carried the weight of meaning.  It wasn’t quite the tone that demanded the respect of recruits, but it was the formal version used in courts of law.  He hoped it translated correctly.  “I want to give our deepest regard to Clan Solus, for their efforts in giving us resources in our mission.  The chain of command is as follows.  Myself, Desolous Arterius, Mordin Solus, Velena Scalpea.  If we get down past that point, trust your individual team leaders.  Take us to where your ship is parked, Solus.”

Mordin broke into a rapid fire chatter about Ilium parking fees going on arbitrary regulations now that the Citadel was gone.  Garrus walked forward, at least until he was stopped.  Desolous had used his cane to grab hold of his arm.  In the old man’s other hand was Dahlia Dantius.  “Wait a moment.” The old man intoned.  “We’re not done here yet.”

“What’s going on?”

“You’ve got no one that can take on a team of Infiltrators.” Desolous said quietly.  “Intelligence from the Shadow Broker suggests that Harper liberated the human scientist that invented the process to give humans the epidermal skin replacements.  There are some races that can see through the stealth fields that Human tech generates.  One of individuals is an assassin by the name of Thane Krios.”

Garrus nodded.  “I’ve seen that name in reports.”  But that was all that his mind could muster about the man.  “Lower security rating.”

“He’s been killing Humans and Salarians for Harper for the last year.” Desolous said.  “At least six deaths can be linked to him, but the Shadow Broker is just guessing on that.  Krios is good.  Good enough that even if we could rouse a spirit-speaker they wouldn’t have been able to tell us who killed them.  More importantly, Krios often works for ideology driven clients.  So I found out who he’s going after next.”

Garrus made the connection immediately.  “So, who wants you dead?  Should I be cashing in?”  Dahlia gave him a sour look.

“My damn sister.” She said.  “Wants me dead before the communication companies patch the gaps in Ilium’s coverage net tonight.  Eclipse networks are being blocked until then, so I don’t have access to any resources.”  

“So, you got the bait.”

Desolous grinned, his mandibles wide open.  “I got bait with cleavage and a saucy tongue.”  Dahlia didn’t even react.  With her family being involved with Fornax, she probably considered Desolous to be near gentlemanly.  “We have to keep her safe until morning, with the guarantee that our next ally is coming right to us.”  

Garrus did a check of their surroundings.  They were in a docking hallway with exposed glass on both sides.  There were a hundred angles on Dahlia’s head, and Desolous wasn’t doing enough.  Sure, he had a hand on her hip, and his kinetic barriers were linked into her armor.  But Garrus was more concerned now.  The world came into lightning focus.  “What’s his specialty?”

“Sniper.” Desolous said, his face leering into Dahlia’s head tentacles.  “But if he can’t get his shot off, he gets in close.”  The old man’s dalliance made a lot more sense now.  

“Let’s catch up with the group.” Garrus muttered.  “Will we be safe onboard the ship?”

“Not in the slightest.” Desolous chuckled.  “He likes his explosives.  Trained by the Hanar temple of remembrance.”  A controversial source of training.  “You’d turn the entire ship into a liability.”  

“So, what’s the plan, then?”

“I was going to say we go back to Fornax, but I don’t think her mother would accept me back any further.”  Desolous smirked.  

“Better idea.” Dahlia said.  “We remove the threat.  You kill him, and I stop twitching at every side glance.”  

Garrus held up his hand.  “I quite think that I have a better idea.”  He glanced ahead, where his team was walking.  “Let’s go take ourselves a hostage.  Velena!” The named Asari turned around, her armor creaking heavily as it rotated.  “Get Dahlia under multilayered kinetic barriers.  We’ve got a tail.  Leily, find us an air car or four, something tough.”  He turned back to Dahlia and the old man.  “Where is your dear sister?  I’m not the type to sit back and wait for trouble to come find me.”

Dahlia shrugged out of Desolous’ grip.  “You know, Spectre,” she purred, “You’re the first one to understand me  _ perfectly _ .”

 

Sector Eight Command Center, Alpha Centauri System

 

“Lieutenant Dempsey.  After review, we have decided to award you with the Distinguished Service medal.  You will not receive the monetary bonus normally associated with such, nor will you be considered for promotion until this debacle is over.”  

“Why is that, Sirs?” Elizabeth Dempsey had been notified of this yesterday.  High Command wanted to talk to her.  Three Admirals were sitting in, all remotely connected to this meeting.  Admirals Hackett, Kohaku, and Torrence, all of whom did not look happy to be presenting her with this award.  

“Because of the nature of your bond with the Rachni Queen, Dempsey.  When you transferred your personality traits, the Queen has also begun picking up on other quirks.”  Admiral Hackett’s gravely voice stated.  “We convened this meeting with the intention of asking questions that are normally prohibited for military personnel.  But the possible fallout from not knowing is too great.  Will you agree to submit to our questioning?”

They needed her consent.  That was bad.  Normally when people asked for your consent in the military it was going to be something like a quickie in the closet or something.  “I agree.” She said.  Traitorous mouth.  

“Dempsey, we need to know what kind of sexual proclivities you get up to.” Hackett said.  “It is critical to the integrity of this project.”

“May I ask why?”

“The Rachni Queen has a habit of groping the ass of anything that comes near it.” Admiral Torrence spoke up, his voice a high tenor.  “It’s cute and adorable right now, but in a few months it will be towering over our personnel, and this habit is going to begin to be terrifying rather than harmless.  We also assume that these habits are generated from  _ your _ experiences.”

“Um.” Seemed the most appropriate answer.  “I guess I really can appreciate an ass?”  There was nothing to hide there.  Everyone liked looking at a nicely shaped humanoid form.  

“We gathered.” Torrence said without humor.  “From your previous commanding officer.”  Oh, that rat.  He must have told them about her dalliances.  “But we could not gather what sexual preferences you had.  We have to know if male or female doctors should be deployed to the Rachni.”  

“Um,” How was one supposed to talk with any kind of commanding officer about this?  “I guess you can say that I am bisexual?”

“Lieutenant.” Admiral Kohaku said with venom.  “Your sexual preferences are now imprinted on a creature that is going to be eighteen feet tall and have tentacles.  We have to be certain about what that entails.  Otherwise we are going to have a large number of traumatized brilliant scientists.  Can you say with certainty that you are bisexual?”

“Yes.” She answered, quietly.  But in her head it was still a maybe.

Kohaku muttered something under his breath.  “Then we cannot screen one way or the other regarding this.  Include tentacled sexual harassment as one of the warnings detailed in the contract.”

“Just hire some Japanese.” She muttered.  

“Did you have something to add, Lt?” Kohaku was looking back up at her.

“No, Sir!” She said quickly.  “Just curious if your questioning has ended.”

“We have come to the conclusion that you are bisexual, Dempsey.  Thankfully the little queen has kept its tentacles on just the rear end.  But now we must know, if you have any other obsessions or proclivities that would impact our scientists.  For example, if you have participated in any kind of fetishist habits.  That would be  _ very _ important to know before this Rachni hits her stages of sexual maturity.”

“Oh!  Well, nothing too terrible like that.”  She had tried things, like most people that went to medical school.  It was just expected that you expanded your experiences.  “I wouldn’t say that I have habits that could affect the scientists.”  Unless the little queen picked up her hobby.  “Actually, there might be something.”  She fidgeted, biting her lip.  “None of the scientists should take off their shoes near the Rachni.”

“For the love of,” Torrence started muttering, “The Rachni is going to assault people’s feet?!”

“Their shoes.” She told them.  “It may have gotten my obsession with shoes.”

“Dempsey, most women enjoy a pair of shoes.”

“Sir, I have a shoe room.”  

“Dempsey, you have a one bedroom apartment back in orbit of Earth.”

“You don’t understand, Sirs.  I moved my bed into my living room so that I could have more room for shoes.  We need to put out a warning to the entire complex that shoes should be stored in lockers that can be sealed.”

“You are concerned that the Queen will take them?”

“Or order her workers to do so, once she hatches them.”  That made the room go quiet.  

“Dempsey, your normally expected salary has instead been redirected to a fund specifically to pay for harassment charges brought up against the Rachni Queen.  If she gropes someone inappropriately, or steals items of interest, it is on your head.  Admiral Drescher didn’t press charges, thank God.”  

“Oh.”  Right, the Admiral had wanted to meet the little queen.  Dempsey had been asleep after all of the craziness of the escape from the Citadel, and wasn’t there to supervise when the Admiral had visited.  It had not gone well.  

“Dempsey, I apologize that this line of questioning must continue.  We need to know the depth of your sexual experiences, or any other extreme hobbies that you have looked into.”

“How much detail do you need?” She rubbed her ankles together, the ugly uniform boots threatening to scuff.  The ultimate torture to her obsessional mind.  

“Enough to justify our investigation.” Hackett said without remorse.  “Then we can discuss the new security protocols that you have failed to completely implement at the work site.”  Elizabeth just sighed to herself.  This little queen was giving her so much trouble.  “As a side note, we also have decided to debrief you on Charles Pressley.  You had the last outside contact with him.  We are concerned that he has gone rogue, and you had some contact with him.”  Elizabeth clunked her boots together loudly enough that Kohaku heard and made a motion to another officer to perform a comms check.  Today was just not her day.  


	90. Dementia: Frequencies of Discord

Chapter 90

Evrysse Towers, Ilium, February 2183

The scope clearly captured what was happening. Asari and Turians were getting into armored air cars, and heading somewhere. Dahlia Dantius was in the arms of one young Turian, whose armor had a distinct coloration and shape. Thane did not like this new development. This slaver, this child-abductor, had somehow convinced a Spectre to protect her. Thane had been looking for the older Turian, since he had disappeared with his target. Tracking him was nearly impossible. But after seeing the younger Spectre, Thane decided to make his job easier.

The memories flashed into his mind, unbidden, as he remembered seeing him enter the bar. Seeing him step on his micro-trackers. It had been simple after that, he only had to wait. The micro-trackers would fall off at specific intervals, releasing their message without making notice of armor or suit detectors or barriers. Thane did not have to get into any kind of car or chase them down. The trackers would do their job. But unbidden his memories brought back the image of the Turian's face. The intensity of his look, the weight of his steps, they all showed something more. Thane recognized that he would be dangerous. The sniper rifle on his back looked like something meant to remove gunships, not infantry. Thane had no trust that he could survive that.

And now the very same Turian was guarding his target. He had a few hours left before he was out of time. Nassana had hired him in exchange for providing for the eighty surviving children and Mouse. He knew they wouldn't survive for long on Ilium without being snatched up by gangs or labor providers. The ways they survived on the Citadel wouldn't work here. They had no useful skills to provide. Nassana promised to give them an education, housing, protection. Thane could not risk failure. Being asked to put down a slaver with that many kills and captures under her belt would serve Kalahira well.

Thane took a deep breath and let his cheeks fill, resting his head forward so that his airways opened completely. Three long breaths was enough for his memories to stop flashing that Spectre's face in front of his vision. "Garrus Vakarian." Thane said. "Spectre. Sniper. Not an ideal opponent." Thane could deal with the old man. But he had kept his guard up the entire conversation. He didn't have a shot on Dahlia at all. Thane holstered the sniper rifle he had been looking through. It took a few moments before he thumbed his Omni-tool. He was not used to having help. "Mouse. I need the contents of Crate 5."

"Yeah?" Mouse responded after a minute. Possibly three. Thane was lost in thought , considering the methods that would work against a Spectre. Two Spectres. STG operatives, Turian Armigier Legionnaires, Asari. "Thane, this is…"

"Yes." He replied. There was only one way to defeat Dahlia. One way that wasn't going to fail. "I'll need all of the canisters. They have what I need."

"I'll have them ready for you when you get back."

"I'll have a set of coordinates ready for you. Bring them." Thane said. "Use a cab without markings." He ended the connection, standing up and getting off of the tiny railing. It was the work of a moment to open the window and crawl through into the high rise apartment and off the balcony. The stunned Asari couple inside the room were still unconscious, and Thane had added a healthy dose of incense and drugs to keep them asleep for another few hours. They did not even see him when he came in through their door. He left them on their lounge chair, arms entwined symmetrically and faces leaning into both sides of a thick pillow. Their faces were serene, uncaring, and so youthful. Just to be kind, he placed a hand as if there were tears to be brushed away on the other's face.

The room had already been cleaned up, thanks to earlier efforts of the two living here. They kept a clean home. There were small touches, things that showed that they cared for one another. The scent of tea in the air, picture displays of the two of them, and a portrait of a young Asari. That one was printed, perhaps an oil painting. It left a permanent status, a statement of being more than just a picture. Thane's eyes centered on a small plaque underneath the painting. Aeriel Ushoran. There was a pair of dates lined up next to the name. It must have been some kind of accident. The young girl, for that was who it must be, only survived for forty years. Four decades in an Asari lifespan was tragically short. Thane closed his eyes, the tangible pain associated with the picture too much to bear. Reminding him of his own failures, his own child.

"Kalahira, bless these mothers. The soul of their child has been gone for eight long years. Help them with their pain, and ease it with the coming of the tide." He stepped back, moving their hands back to the closest position to each other's hearts. He lit the incense candle, letting the room glow. "Arashu, I only ask that you let them find the hope to try again. To not forget the past, but to find hope with the future." The incense smelled unfamiliar, but the symbolism was close enough to his memories of the birth of Kolyat. Of Irikah.

It was more than a couple of minutes before he had the courage to leave the apartment. His soul had hope for a future that involved raising children. He had forty of them on his ship, and if his body failed to kill his target, he would have little choice but to raise them himself. Kolyat would not appreciate forty foster siblings. As the door shut, Thane left his soul behind. His body stepped forward, devoid of guilt, of sorrow, and hesitation.

* * *

Perseus Veil, February 2183

When Julia awoke, it was with a gasping start. It happened again. She wasn't in the same position as when she went to sleep. She coughed, her throat burning like it had been punched. Swaying, she leaned over from the couch she was sitting in to cough into her elbow. Nothing but spittle came out, even though she felt the pain. With a groan, she stretched and straightened. She had fallen asleep in her bed, just as the painkillers had kicked in. Now she was sitting in a chair, the plush leather already conformed to her shape. "Alright." She groaned. "What time is it." Raising her wrist to check the time, she saw a new message on her Omni-tool, right next to a ship-board time of 0335. The sender of the message was her very own address. It was sent at 0334.

That confirmed it. The Reaper had taken over again. The taste of bile came to her bruised throat, thinking about that thing squatting inside her head like some vagrant. Before she dared open that file, she wanted a drink. But the Reaper had already prepared her something. It smelled like brandy and it was in a cup within reach. It made her throat feel slightly better, somehow. Once the drink settled in her stomach, she thumbed the button on her haptic interface. A raspy cough came out of the message first.

"Somehow I feel like this bruising is my fault. I'm gonna sound like a hyena with this new voice. Alright, I've tried everything to get back to my old body, my old existence, any of it. So, I'm not exactly a patient person. Impatient, usually. Like, all the time. So, awkward as this is, we're kind of like a parasite. Both of us think the other doesn't or shouldn't exist. So we're equals. We equally hate each other but like a lot of things about how we live. Like sex, or chocolate. So I don't go further insane, I'm just going to talk into this thing and tell you who and what I am. Before things get more weird or awkward." She heard her own throat clear. No wonder it felt sore.

"My name is Gwyndolen A. Shepard. Daughter of Hannah and John Shepard. I am the first Spectre from the Human Systems Alliance, and was the Council's most ardent defender against the Reapers. Which is why, after we had lost everything, and I was faced with a choice, ugh." She coughed. "You deserve a bit more than that. Since you're kind of me, you might need some more information. The Citadel is a giant relay, yeah. You got that. I assume you got that, or else you don't deserve to understand this stuff. It's also the center of the network that governs and controls the Reapers. The force that governs them is called the Catalyst, and acts like some kind of moral code for them to follow. It gave me a couple of choices. When the end was in sight, I had been through some really bad business. I wasn't sure that the guy I loved was going to make it, and I was injured and most definitely infected from wounds inflicted by a guy named Kai Leng. Bastard poisoned his weapon. So I wasn't in my right mind, but hey. This isn't an apology or something. Whatever. I'm not excusing my actions, I just think you should understand me."

She coughed some more, a raspy sound that echoed through her chambers. "So I was offered two choices. Become the controlling mind of the Reapers, guiding their moral codes and becoming one of them for all intents and purposes, or destroying them all, as well as every piece of technology connected to element zero and its discoveries. Not that I could trust the thing, but I could either take its word that my half-broken pistol could kill all the Reapers by shooting some cooling vent; Or I could grab onto some sparking deathtrap that supposedly linked my brain to theirs and gave me control. If I had the Everest pointed right at this mechanism maybe I might have been more comfortable trying to kill them. I was bleeding out so I decided to take life by the horns. Next thing I knew, I was a Reaper. One made out of every Human life taken during the entire war. My voice was loud, sure, but compared to all of them I barely could control the Reaper much less the entire fleet."

The rasping cough returned, Julia joining her in coughing. Dual echoes went across the room as she took another sip. "Anyways. So that's why you have a Reaper in your head. But I identify as Human first. Human badass Spectre. Who is also a Reaper. Damn, that sounds terrible as a pickup line. Gotta work on that, I think. Anyways, I kind of wanted to introduce myself and say sorry for causing any extra complications in your life. Not that you'll believe me or take me seriously. See, this whole thing is a shot in the dark. I've got memories of people who are dead, yet in this experience they aren't. Or maybe they are and I am just the mirror between them and their future. Damn it, I don't know. My brain isn't at the right level for this. Yours is stuck on top of some designer model body that I keep accidentally stubbing my toe in or something. Also, sorry, I fell of the bed. Kind of cut your hand a bit on something, but I bandaged it." Julia gave the slim bandage on her wrist a glance. It was well applied. Peeling it back, she could see a thin film of medi-gel over the wound.

"Argh, I'm not drunk enough and this is surreal. But maybe you're the only one who will understand where I am coming from. We can't both be awake at the same time, and we both want to survive. I kind of had my own plans on how to take over the galaxy, and the Reapers didn't love them. But Humanity seems to. Or did. Or still does. Again, it's all over my head." She coughed again, the sound reverberating through her. This didn't sound like a Reaper. But then again, those things could be lying to her on every level. "So, those plans are in jeopardy, and I want to complete them. I'm not awake enough to really do that, but so much has been set in motion. Thousands of years of effort, and it's all coming down to the wire. Just so you know, I don't want Harbie to win. He's a dick and my plan is better. But while I'm in your body I don't want to put our existence at risk. So, partner, parasite, whatever you want to be called, my name is Gwyn. I'm not exactly your friend, but I don't want us to be enemies. I also had to create a damn guest user on your Omni-tool because you have complicated and annoying passwords. Alright, I feel like this is making my throat raw. I'm starting to lose it. Here's a drink, here's a bit about me, reply if you're amicable." There was the sound of someone cursing and fumbling for something, and the feed cut.

Julia stood up, her body aching. It was trying to talk to her. What the hell did it think it was, some kind of friend? Damn it, she needed something more. Glancing down at the drink, she decided that wasn't enough. Her throat burned, and this ship was driving her insane. It's probably a sign of the Reaper taking over her life. The thought of that alone had her rushing out of her room and to the bathroom across the hall. It was occupied, but she didn't care. She made it to a stall and the brandy and bile came out of her throat in a rush.

"Some boys try and some boys lie," Miranda was shouting at the top of her lungs with two other voices. "But I don't let the play!" Some people were handing the long hours in stealth by reading or catching up on paperwork. Her sister must have been up to something else.

"No way, no way!" That had to be Tesai. The Quarian lilt to the voice gave it away. She focused on that, rather than think about that damn parasite in her head.

"Only boys who save their pennies make my rainy day!" Miranda and Kasumi, Julia now realized, belted out at the top of their lungs while Julia puked noisily. This mission was a mistake. One gigantic mistake. She was a walking liability, and one that they couldn't afford going into Rannoch of all places. Any further thoughts were washed away by the chorus line of the classic Madonna song.

The only words that Julia could hear over her own retching was 'Material girl'. This mission was going to be hell.

* * *

Perseus Veil, February 2183

It had been almost fifty hours of drifting and hiding to get close enough to the final relay to Rannoch. Every time a mas relay would light up with an unknown contact, everyone would notice. It wasn't like the giant blue streak of light wasn't enough, but there were Geth monitoring stations closely looking at energy signatures. They were all new. Apparently this ship had been through here before, and had gotten past all of the Geth defenses once. There were now angled to catch any refraction of light, or of energy. Joker had to pull every trick in the book and then some to get through this. The Geth were relentless, tough, and exacting. There were three relay jumps between the Sahrabarik system and Rannoch.

Behind the first relay there was monitoring posts. Along with a damn minefield. The Geth had made concentric circles of space dust around the relay exit. For hundreds of thousands of kilometers there was a clear line of space dust, leaving clear paths of where any ships had traveled. It was a virtual minefield. Ships would leave a clear disruption path. Machines like the Geth could analyze the dispersal patterns, and figure out mass and ship speed based on the results. That was just the first hurdle. It was easy enough to cross, so long as your drift as you came out of the relay was more than the area of space covered by the dust.

The next relay had actual ships actively scanning for dispersal patterns. That took thirty hours to navigate. How the Geth had gotten that much dust and space rocks in place and not in motion was beyond Joker's understanding. It was simply mind boggling the amount of effort involved. The resources to spread that seemed insurmountable until Joker got to the second system. Here, there was layers of space dust set up like a minefield, as in the last system. Then there were roving patrols of Geth cruisers and frigates, ready to light up sections of space. They had defenses pointed towards the mass relay as well as the other direction. The Geth were prepared for anything to hit them from any side, and had defenses extending far above and below the circumstellar disc. Any invader would be hit by heavy kinetic strikes from oblique angles as they tried to attack.

The opposite relay was now surrounded by a cloud of hydrogen. Water droplets filled the area, and streaks were left from where the Geth ships were travelling through. It was unlike anything Joker had ever seen. A nebula of hydrogen had been created in a matter of months. Not a small nebula, either. It surrounded the relay for thousands of kilometers. You couldn't actually see the relay. What you could see was the net the Geth had made. It kept the nebula from spreading, forming what Joker could officially say was the galaxy's nastiest minefield yet. There was only two entrances to that net, and both were secured by a massive space station. It looked like a whale's blowhole, only opening to let ships in and out.

"Damn." He muttered. "We are close enough to see where we need to go, but I don't know how we are going to get through that."

"You got us this far, Joker." Kaidan said, sitting next to him. Everyone had started taking shifts sitting in the cockpit with him, to help with the stress. Being in enemy territory like this would eat at you. Like every single time a ship lit up within two hundred thousand kilometers your heart would stop. You would stare at the sensor feed, watching the ships moving around. The SR-2's passive sensors couldn't pick up too much. Sometimes ships would blink out of their reach, and then appear closer. Those were the worst. After Joker nearly experienced a panic attack on the first system, one or two people would sit with him.

"No one else could get us through this." Joker shuddered. The other reason he was going to have a panic attack. Kasumi had settled her weight on the arm of his chair. It wasn't that it was unwelcome, but Joker had never had someone romantically interested in him. He didn't know how to deal with it in a normal environment, much less in his place of work. "You said their sensors could pick up a grain of sand that's out of place?"

"Yeah." Joker said. "We brushed up against some of those space dust chunks when we first came through. They know we are here, and we have to slowly vent our heat out. Thankfully we have Prothean tech on this ship, the SR-1 can't do this."

Kasumi breathed into his ear. "I'm sure that you can just follow those Geth ships right into their station." Joker went slightly cross-eyed as he kept his focus on the haptics.

"Kasumi, let the poor guy focus." Kaidan asked for what had to be the tenth time. That day. Joker groaned, knowing that the regulations had been thrown out the window. There was nothing keeping him from getting screwed into this fantastic leather chair. There was nothing better than that on this new craft. A real leather chair that was supportive in all the right places, and for all kinds of activities. Kasumi chewed on his ear, making his eyelid twitch. Only then did she pull back, sliding into the chair on the other side.

"We aren't going anywhere." Kasumi pointed out. "It's not like you and Julia keep yourselves from going at it in the showers."

Kaidan turned bright red. "What!"

"I'm not a voyeur, you know." Kasumi made some motions with her fingers that were highly suggestive. "But I had to stay cloaked until you both were done, otherwise my poor sister wouldn't get what she wanted." Her almond shaped eyes twinkled with a bit of mischief. "But you pass my inspection."

Joker wisely kept his eyes on the haptic feeds. Kaidan, for some reason, was easily flustered by Kasumi. "Well," Kaidan said, returning his gaze to the screens. "How would Daro'Xen get past this? Her stealth drive doesn't last as long as ours."

"Quarians have been in space six centuries longer than us." Joker replied. "Xen is going to have some kind of plan in place."

"Could she have planned for this, though?" Kaidan wondered aloud. "I mean, how do we get through that tight of a nebula?"

"Best idea anyone's had is by blowing the net and letting the Geth try to contain the hydrogen. But that is going to take more munitions than our ship or Xen's ship can carry." It would take a fleet to break down that net keeping the nebula contained. "Even if we blasted that station, it's only the airlock. The actual net controls are a second station that is behind it, which also acts as the second layer of airlock to keep track of objects entering and exiting." Joker explained, again. One talk with Tali and this had all become apparent, but now he had to explain it all while Tali got to handle all of the engineering problems. "Daro'Xen's stealth craft is less than ten meters wide. It can slip through the net."

"Can we?"

"No." Joker spun his fingers around. "Xen could fit through the larger gaps, but those only exist along the equator of the net, between the two gates. This crap isn't even the worst part. It's the coming back after that becomes the struggle. We've got to go through when that net over there isn't up, or we somehow manage to undershoot the massive thousands of kilometers wide nebula that is going to light up our position."

"You sound hopeless." The voice that came out of nowhere didn't even spook Joker. With Kasumi around his senses had long since become used to surprise. Julia didn't sound unhappy, but she probably heard Kasumi mentioning the shower bit. "Still nothing?"

"We're within range, enough that I could reach the nebula containing the mass relay in minutes. We just can't get close enough to the relay to use it."

"Does the net cancel out signals?"

"No, it doesn't. But it's not like we can daisy chain our way to the relay and make it think we're right next to it."

"The Geth are starting to piss me off." Julia muttered. "They cover their weaknesses. How could they have set this up so quickly?"

"Tali says that their fleet size is unknown." She would be the expert on them. "But this sounds like something they would have had prepared in some form. Or theorized."

"Joker." Tali's voice came over the improved intercom system. You could hear people crystal clear on it. "I think I know what Xen did to get past the Geth here."

"She's already past us?"

"She's done something to the Geth communication network." Tali said. "Either that or the Geth are fighting something inside of their network. Every so often the Geth have to sync with the rest of their network. It's how they disseminate all of their collected knowledge and skills." Tali sounded distracted. "But every time the Geth sync, there is a massive fluctuation of signals crossing through the network. Like someone has figured out how to disrupt it."

"That sounds like a Quarian maneuver." Kasumi purred into his ear. Joker tensed, not realizing that Kasumi has snuck up on him yet again. "Tali, what kind of delay between syncs?"

"It's a seemingly random amount of time. I don't know. Based on activity spikes I would say between one hour and four hours."

"How long does the sync last?" Julia asked with seriousness.

"A few minutes. But I don't think we'll have a better shot. Whatever Xen did to disrupt the network is going to be countered or patched eventually."

"You can reliably say that this lasts a few minutes?"

"Positive." Tali said with vigor. "The Geth network is currently disrupted. They will still be paying attention to their sensor nets, but their higher end processes are busy."

"What about the net?" Joker asked. "Going in there is suicide."

"Just get me close, Joker. With the Geth network disrupted I will get a signal through." How she was going to do that with a whole new ship to familiarize themselves with he did not know. Joker hated the bathrooms on this. They were designed by Quarians, which already pissed him off. For example, all of the toilet seats were designed by people with digitigrade legs. So the seats were closer to the floor than normal, and made Joker feel like he was squatting rather than sitting. For his knees, he was going to need that skeletal replacement. Speaking of which, he was at least ten hours late to his appointment.

"What do you think?" He asked, looking from Kaidan to Julia. "Let's get a consensus from the captains." With Shev'rash, Julia, and Kaidan all apparently of equal or high rank in the new organization, he figured it was safe to pass responsibility. It would ease his mind if they were all going to risk their lives.

"I say stay." Kaidan said. He wasn't a risk taker unless it involved his girlfriend.

"I say go." Julia said. "I trust Tali." She added as an afterthought.

"I say go. I've been watching her analyze the data, and she wouldn't bring this up to you unless she knew for certain." Shev'rash said over the comms.

"Well, want to revisit your decision Kaidan?" Joker asked.

"I just think we shouldn't be risking our lives when we are going to be going on a hunch." He says. "I trust Tali, but I don't trust her ability to get through these defenses the Geth have set up. And as you said, Joker, making it back is going to be harder every time we risk getting detected."

"Kaid." Charles Archer said. Joker wasn't used to the guy, but he was down there in the engineering bay with the rest of the gearheads. "I've been running the same data on my Omni-tool. I can confirm it. The Geth are in disarray, and the data feeds are kind of exploding everywhere. If we could get close enough to the backside of that net, I think I can send a message to the relay. We've got some programs that can override normal relay function range."

"Is that how you beat Arcturus?" Julia asked coldly.

"There was a lot at risk. We made a decision, and acted on it. The trash balls were being saved for the attack on the Citadel, to send through if we got enough warning for a few hours action." Charles said, without guilt. "We were going to send them through, with one real asteroid, to get the Citadel to gather their fleets to stop what was going to happen. We didn't get that warning because whatever the enemy did, they avoided all of our detection nets."

"Are we going or not!" Joker yelled.

Kaidan closed his eyes. "Go, Joker."

The ship jumped forward, Joker sending them to full speed. "Three hours left on cloak, jump in two minutes!" The Geth didn't make any motion that reflected detection. Joker stepped on it, taking them to their maximum cruising speed. As they got to the net he gave it a wide berth, careful to not disturb any of the loose particles that slipped through the gaps. The spherical net was simple to follow the correct flight angle. The Geth were methodical, accurate, and even though they randomize patrols they kept to a standard distance from the net. Joker skirted that distance at speed, coming around to the side of the net that had two forks coming off of it. The relay wasn't completely covered up, allowing it to create the massless tunnel that was its function.

There were two craft next to the relay. Both of them were cruisers, with extra antennas. Joker tuned out whatever Julia and Kasumi were whispering over the top of his head and just focused on following the haptics, the gut feeling telling him to stay out of the range of those two Geth cruisers. "This close enough?" He whispered. Even though he knew the Geth couldn't hear through space, the human need to emphasize their feelings in tone and vocal expression came through.

"Still getting nothing through." Tali replied. "Keelah. I can see why, this close. The Geth have coated the relay in," She paused as if she wanted to make sure. "Themselves, I think. We would be sending a signal right to the Geth platforms directly."

"Perhaps we should turn around." Kaidan said, looking directly at the Geth ships outside.

The two Geth cruisers were sitting right on top of the upper fork of the relay. Right on top of a sunken section. "Tali, get to a window." Joker said. "If the relay is covered with Geth, should I be seeing a divot in their layering?" He had stared at relays for years. He knew their shape. This was not the normal shape that a relay should have. "It's maybe a hundred feet long."

"They must have been scraped off." Tali said, after a moment. "I bet we could get a signal through the gap. But I need you to be right on top of it, so nothing intercepts the signal."

Joker gulped. That meant going right in between those two cruisers. "How much longer before the Geth recover from the data burst thing?"

"Just go!" Charles said, sounding harried. Joker kicked the Normandy SR-2 into a slow cruise, taking it the thirty kilometers to the stripped down gap. It was done in seconds, leaving Joker right in between two cruisers, close enough to see with the naked eye. "We've got contact!"

The Geth cruisers reacted, twisting around to face their main cannons towards the SR-2. Laser turrets opened on their backs, and Joker gave a shout as he saw the ships withdrawing their antenna. "We-" Coordinates showed up on his command haptics, and Joker wasted no time in jumping into the massless corridor. "Oh god." He and Kaidan said that at the same time. Rannoch was a mess. Thousands of craft were on patrol, and all of them were headed for the bright blue streak that was the SR-2 arriving.

"Asteroid belt out beyond the relay! Safest direction is the hell away from the star!" Charles yelled. "Dive!" The SR-2 dove back into the depths of space, slipping out of sight, watching as an entire fleet bore down on their position with perfect logical force. Thousands of craft lined up in search patterns, minimizing his chances of getting inside of the system.

"We're at Rannoch!" Joker yelled, taking the ship out behind the relay. Away from the moving Geth ships. "This side doesn't have the same defenses as the others."

"We're here to stop Daro'Xen. If she is crazy enough and desperate enough to take these risks, it has to be something worth the effort." Julia said. "Tesai has mentioned that she is obsessed with making the Quarians strong enough to challenge the Geth. Seeing all of these forces here, I doubt that she would keep going without a damn good reason."

"Well, we're here." Joker sighed. "If that Archer guy is right, it won't be long before we are making landfall. Get some rest, guys. Stealth and tech experts are going down first."

All three of them got up from their seats. Kasumi grinned at Joker. "How forward of you!" She leaned into a hand that was on her hip. Joker held up both of his, neither of which were touching her. "Oh?" Behind her, Julia was reaching into Kasumi's belt. "Magical Girl san!"

"I'm just getting my knife back." Julia said, trying to ignore how suggestive Kasumi had moved. "You're coming with us. Don't stay up too late."

* * *

Hael'Zoris Region, Rannoch, February 2183

The island of Corv'Isti was, according to the Quarian codexes, a technological developer's paradise. The Geth had preserved much of Rannoch's surface, keeping the buildings maintained and the roads fixed. Keeping the environment functional on top of that, it was odd that this island was completely devoid of life. The buildings had been nearly leveled by orbital bombardment, and there was a fenceline keeping anything living out of the area. It looked like a barrier curtain, except it functioned more like a bug zapper than anything else.

Charles was waiting in the hangar, the SR-2 having been on the ground for long enough that things seemed safe. Well, relatively. There was still thousands of warships and fighters in orbit that could glance his direction and just remove him from existence if they felt like it. One entire pot of coffee had just seemed to exacerbate that rather than improve on that fact.

"Archer-san? Area is secure." Kasumi's voice reported. She sounded professional today, and that was just odd. Maybe that pilot fellow was rubbing off on her.

"What about the fence?"

"We will need a programmer or Quarian up here. Stealth teams report that the fence is powered by solar panels, with purely physical access points. Somewhat rusted from the freshwater here, too. Odd that the Geth aren't keeping everything squeaky clean here."

Charles sighed. "Shev'rash?" The Quarian was sulking by the elevator, muttering epithets in regards to how much he hated everyone. "I delegate to you on this. We can go forward now."

"Of course we can!" He threw his arms up. "Because the Humans know my damn homeworld better than I do at this point!" Charles wisely didn't want to make any comments about that. "Alright, all of you." Every Quarian from the SR-1 Normandy lined up, Tali'Zorah standing proudly at their head. "Daro'Xen landed somewhere around here. She is after something, and we took so much time getting through the defenses that we are possibly a day behind. More than likely hours. All of you are on your pilgrimage." Shev'rash pointed out. "Which means I don't want stupid heroics, grand schemes, or attempts to retake the homeworld today! We are going to step onto that soil, find our Admiral, and get out." Charles could see all of the young Quarians quivering in eagerness. "Only once our mission is accomplished may you unseal your masks or gather pollens. I don't want you high out of your minds before we get the job done. We don't know what Daro'Xen is after, nor do we know if the Geth saw us. Assume the worst, and assume that the Geth will be logging whatever you do later. They have improved after every single engagement with us in the past, and that will be true in the future. Don't give them any more reasons to improve."

Shev'rash came to the bottom of the ramp, shuddering as his foot crunched the dirt of Rannoch. "Disembark." He said reverently, as the young Quarians muted their suit audio and stepped onto their homeworld for the first time. Charles decided to step over whatever weeds were growing here, keeping his feet to rocks to avoid killing some holy plant that Shev' was going to make alcohol from. At his side was Tesai. His girlfriend couldn't be happier about being on her homeworld, skipping along in her Prothean-made armor. Behind him walked Miranda Harper, along with Henry Gunn, carrying some gigantic rifle and a backpack full of god knows what.

Every single member of the departing team had a piece of Quarian technological genius. They looked like parasols, strapped to the back of everyone's helmets. A small grid of lasers and lights and displays measured the ground at the wearer's feet, and replicated that measurement and temperature above the person wearing it. The Geth, if they were looking, could only see whatever footprints they left and maybe a hand or foot that reached outside of the cover provided. No one chose to complain about the devices, as they had been invented by Admiral Daro'Xen for travelling under Geth orbital detection grids. 'Their trust in data is what we can always take advantage of', she used to say. Charles hadn't seen any Geth so far, so they must be working.

Charles followed Shev'rash and the giddy young Quarians across the blackened terrain. Within a couple of minutes they had gotten past the shattered outbuildings and to the fence. It had towers hundreds of feet high, with some kind of thin net across the distances between the towers. Each tower had a solar energy collector nearby, powering the nets. At the base of one of the towers were the stealth team. Julia and Kasumi were standing in a ditch created by orbital fire, their heads barely clearing the top.

"What do you see?" Charles asked when they got close.

"Some kind of physical access port on the base of the tower, but we don't know if its booby trapped or not." Julia pointed out. "We can't find any communication relays, either. These towers aren't talking to one another, or to anything in orbit."

"They might have underground cables linking to a better location?" Tali considered. "There is no reason to assume the Geth would make a machine that couldn't talk to the rest of their kind."

Charles was looking at the tower's base. "Is that a lever operated door?" He pointed.

"That can't be possible. Not when the Geth are networked," Tali replied, tilting her head until she too could see it. "Okay, I will admit, that is unique. Geth don't make doors with levers, knobs, or physical controls. You have to hack them open."

Charles looked around at the barren island around them. "Should we just try to open the door?"

"I've got footprints approaching the door." Henry announced, his tech identifying shapes in the hardened dirt. "Quarian."

Shev'rash brushed past his shoulder, walking right up to the tower. "Alright then. Someone came here already, let's go after them." Without ceremony Shev'rash turned the lever, and the door slid open. Quarian doors, unlike Human ones, were designed with filtration in mind for their entire civilization. The concept of sealed or completely secure areas was not one they developed until they reached spaceflight. These doors weren't sealed either, with air holes allowing for air filtration to occur along the sides of the door. Shev rolled it open, revealing the innards of the towers. Simple, yet elegant tech resided within. Every part of these towers was designed to be operated by physical operators. It was bizarre, almost like the Geth did not intend this place to connect to anything, yet it did a fantastic job of keeping anything living from getting in. The piles of bones from the creatures that had wandered in and died was proof enough.

"Wow." Tali said. "Look at these! Dials and levers to control throughput. No labels, but it is obvious once you look at the cable pathways."

"I've got a device." Julia announced, at the far side of the tower. "Not dusty."

"That's an atmospheric regulator." Shev'rash said. "With a laser attached. Cheap Quarian detection web."

"Someone knows we're here." Henry unslung his rifle. "How soon can we expect a Geth reponse?"

"If they are monitoring all frequencies? Minutes or seconds." Tali replied. "But this device doesn't have anything more than a speaker attached to it. In fact, I can hear a faint buzzing noise."

"Sounds kind of like a dog whistle to me." Miranda spoke up, taking position near the door they had come through. Charles honestly couldn't hear anything. Tesai had destroyed the more sensitive parts of his ears. "But the audio cable is on the other side of the door." The door that led further into the island.

Henry sucked in a breath and kicked the door open, rushing out and into a piece of cover. "Move! Someone knows we are here, and we gotta go!"

Charles followed second to last, Miranda behind him and giving the odd Geth designed building one last look over for anything suspicious. The inside of the fence was dead. Not a blade of grass or any kind of greenery existed. The ground was cracked and broken, looking like a mud plain more than what should have been a fertile area. The analyst in him was distracted when Miranda gave his shoulder a shove. He took off at a run, following after the group. Their footprints disturbed the dust, and small puffs of dirt flowed around their feet. There was a light wind here, and the puffs of dirt and dust carried a few feet before disappearing into nothing.

"Company ahead!" Someone yelled, and Charles took a knee behind a small decorative boulder. "One Quarian, in the shadow of that large entrance."

Using a small telescoping camera, he and Tesia looked over the boulder at the object of interest. "Rek'la colors. There are more than a few of them on the Moreh." Tesai spoke up for the group. "He's got a longer rifle, but he is slumped, inattentive."

"Infiltrator." Shev'rash spoke up. "A biotic charge is going to blow dust all over. Someone who can cloak, get over there and restrain him."

Julia stepped forward, her body disappearing into that zipper effect that cloaking fields normally generated. Charles could barely tell that her footsteps were being left, tiny puffs of dust and some shifting gravel the only signs of her presence. When she decloaked, it was a solid kick to the Quarian's midsection, sending him to the floor and his gun skidding. "Secure!" She said.

Charles moved forward with the last group of people, parasol wiggling in the wind as they all moved across the open field to the old building. Unlike every other structure on Rannoch, this one had been left to be ravaged by the test of time. It even looked like it had been welded shut at one point, a pile of scrap metal off to the side from where holes had been cut in it. "What is wrong with him?" Shev'rash murmured when everyone was by the doors. "I wish I could bend like that."

"I kicked him, but I didn't think he would just die like that. I am not familiar enough with Quarian physiology to know what is or is not safe."

"Well, contrary to Fleet and Flotilla, we can take a hit. But this marine's backbone must be made of liquids rather than solids to bend backwards over itself." Shev demonstrated this by rolling the Quarian back to a slouch, as everyone heard the interior of the suit churn like liquid rather than bend. "Ugh, that's gross. What did that to him?"

"There is liquid behind his visor." Tali'Zorah pointed out. "He must have drowned!"

"But a Quarian body doesn't liquify inside their suit. Even if they die from liver or lung failure, their suit's automatic systems flush liquid from the atmosphere. The bodies you pull from intact suits are dessicated husks." Shev'rash told them. "That isn't normal."

Without any interaction from any of them, the visor of the suit burst open, and liquid from the Quarian spilled outward. Everyone jumped back, as warnings from detection suites warned each user that whatever that was, it was dangerous. No one stopped the liquid as it pooled, and then flooded into the hole that had been made in the door. "Hold your fire." Shev'rash said. "That's not natural. Zorah, check the body."

"I'm an engineer, not a medic."

"Out of all of us, you can diagnose the medically impossible, technological or not." Shev replied. "Tell me what happened to him."

Tali flipped the body over, the weight of the suit no longer difficult. The arms and legs of the suit looked flat and empty. "Hmm." She muttered. The sight was enough to turn Charles a bit green. The inside of the suit only contained skin and greenish bile. Behind him, he could hear Alenko choke up. "Looks like skin and hormone structures were left behind. Whatever came out, it was made from the bone and muscle structure. All of the nerves and nervous system are still in place, but strangely swollen. It looks like the body tried to purge all of their mucus and pollenates. The smell is probably horrific."

"That's not helpful." Alenko added. He and Julia were standing behind Tali, probably morbidly curious.

"So how did they die?" Shev'rash asked. "What happened to them?"

"Skin samples seem undamaged. I don't see any kind of puncture marks. The pores of the skin tried to push every bit of mucus out all at once, though. I've never seen that. Or heard of that."

"Mucus?" Alenko asked.

"Humans have oils on their skin to keep it moisturized and protected. Quarians have a mucus layer running along underneath our skin that functions as a lymphatic system and skin protection. The body doesn't like to waste that mucus or push it out, unless the limb is necrotic. But I've never seen anything like this before."

"They've been here less than half a day. Whatever did this might be some Geth genetic virus. Though how they got through the encounter suit, I can't tell. It looks perfectly intact." Miranda said, adding her own knowledge to the conversation.

"It came in through the food intake valves." Shev'rash finally identified. "The valves are locked shut. They only do that if something in there is tampered with or broken. A real pain in the ass to fix by yourself."

"Not really." Tali countered. "All it takes is a bit of pressure in the right place and the whole housing pops open."

"Not all of us can be engineers." Shev'rash retorted. His parasol of omni-gel fibers twitched in annoyance, following his shaking head. "Open the visor."

Tali did so, and a wave of torrid sulfuric stench rose from the corpse. For that is what it had to be. She pulled out the Quarian face, one that even as it was exposed to the air was turning charcoal gray-green. "It's… decomposing at a rate that shouldn't be possible." The slight wind in the air brushed what was soon dust out of Tali's hands, flinging it along the wind. "It's like the skin cells were degenerating, or losing cohesion."

Charles was thoroughly grossed out, and pushed past them towards the doorway, not wanting to possibly vomit. Miranda and Kasumi had their guns on the circulation vent that the liquid had moved into, leaving no wet marks or stains behind. "Does the door have power?" The haptic screen was dark, but that could mean anything. Some people actively hid their haptic screens just to keep people out of things. This entrance looked like one going down to a bunker, or a secure area.

HIs familiarity with Quarian tech let him find the actual haptic input, with small Omni-tool inserts. His tool was three hundred years too new to interact with it. When he went back to the body to get one that wasn't, he came back to a mucus pool inside the vizor that Tali was swirling, the bile and blackening mass enough to threaten to make his stomach lurch.

"Ahaha! Can't take seeing the dead, huh?" Shev'rash seemed to relish Charles' discomfort. "Why isn't this door open?"

"I need his Omni-tool." Charles admitted, not looking further at the mucus pile.

There was a tearing sound, and a gruesome mucus and pus dripping suit arm was handed to him. "It's integrated. Have fun."

Charles shuddered. "Eugh…." But the codes were still valid, and he was able to unlock the door leading into the bunker. "It's open." Shev'rash led the way, his parasol of Omni-gel fibers folding back into the armor. "Brave idiots first." The Quarian tightened up his barriers before leading the way. "Eyes open and don't trust your sensors. Whatever that thing was, my sensors didn't see it at all. Everyone comes back alive." Shev'rash intoned.

"By the dust on their feet or the dust they may become." Every other Quarian said at once. "Keelah Se'lai!" Charles followed, a sick feeling of trepidation as he stepped through the ancient portal. The light of Tikkun, the star here, left him. He was worried it might be the last he ever saw.

* * *

Author's Note

I am happy to report that for the first time in a year my life is calming down enough for me to write. I spent a year in a pretty demanding living situation, and now I own a house. What a fantastic feeling! Buying a home is like taking a giant risk, and yet I am happier that I have accomplished this. So, a bit of a flash about my life, my kid is growing so fast that my daily routine of running with him never seems to catch up in terms of muscle growth. It's not like I am feeding him lard or sugar. I literally shove indian food, curry, thai, chinese, american, and mexican food down his throat. He doesn't seem to have much opinion about food. He just eats and eats. It's kind of savage, really. I've been working as an IT administrator for a long while, and things are kind of busy. We have had to move our offices four times in 9 months, and for anyone in business they should know that sucks. It is a lot of late nights and long days. We have grown out of our space 3 times and been pushed out once. It is truly an effort when you get shifted around like this. So now I can write again, and things are moving forward professionally and personally. I have a bit more time and I have been a bit more interactive about my projects.

I wanted to thank you all for your patience in all of this. The musical bit above is Madonna's 'Material Girl' and it just spoke to me. It makes sense that they would be singing some kind of kareoke in the bathroom(because on a ship like that its the most acoustic room) and Tesai can just have the song lyrics display on her visor. I love writing Thane. He's just so deeply spiritual, in a way that I originally tried to write Haego but couldn't do that with his contempt for unbelief. I also would like to honor and thank Robotech and my newest editor, Booom. They've done a fantastic job making this story come together and for all of you guys for your messages and kind words of support. Looking forward to your input as we move forward!


End file.
